Chapter 567: Source of the Matter

"9th April. I just returned from Countess Wawrinka's masquerade party

when I suddenly felt an emptiness in my heart.

"One woman, one woman, one woman after another. The monotonous and

mechanical movements, the indistinguishable smell of perfume, and the

warmth from the entanglement of their limbs; all these in exchange for a

few seconds of pleasure, followed by endless boredom, disgust,

emptiness, and numbness.

"What pleasure is there in such a life? Is the meaning of life to just

do this every single day?

"I can't go on like this. I have to get out of this sorry state.

"Also, I need to remind myself that I shouldn't habitually write Arabic

numerals."

*...Emperor, there are actually times when you reflect on yourself and

act like a hipster? This doesn't fit with my image of you!*

Klein almost pricked his brows up.

He looked down at the second entry of the diary.

"11th April, Countess Wawrinka invited me to a private salon, and she

told me that Ma'am Julia would be there, too.

"Ha, will this conservative blonde girl who hails from Loen because of

her marriage participate as well?

"I really look forward to it!

"I've been imagining her in bed for a long time. I hope her husband,

Viscount Dellien, doesn't mine."

*Emperor, have you forgotten what you wrote a few days ago in your

diary. Tsk, how nice, isn't it? Also, you have a typo. Mind!*

Klein couldn't help but lampoon.

"14th April. I've been attending too many events recently, and the flesh

is weak even though the spirit is willing...

"But that's nothing!

"Although I'm still young, I should be careful about the risk of

retrograding. Temperance! Temperance!

"The Archaeologist Sequence has improved my physique and effectively

enhanced a certain degree of my powers. However, this isn't its area of

expertise, but just something that comes with it.

"As I continue raising my Sequence, the changes from the previous

potions will also intensify. This is my motivation.

"Apparently, Apothecaries can concoct medicine that lack side effects.

Perhaps, I should ask a few of them.

"Also, I really have to control myself. Unrestrained behavior will only

lead to continuous increases in the threshold, and the degree of

satisfaction wouldn't be like how it would normally be.

"After calming down and thinking about it carefully, there are many

things that can be done. Humans are always like this, bound by desire,

unable to see what's of value. Why did I transmigrate over here? What

secrets lie hidden in the cosmos above my head? Where did the original

consciousness come from, and if self-cognition purely comes from one's

consciousness, then who was I before I had the identity of Huang Tao?

Who does the essential part belong to..."

*Emperor, are you describing to me what it means to be a pervert and

philosopher before and after the deed? Hehe, so you do have worries

about such matters. I thought you were already fixed in certain

traits... Thankfully, you didn't teach Chinese to your children. Yes,

you likely didn't teach them. Otherwise, what would they think after

seeing such content? Zaratul prophesied that your eldest daughter,

Bernadette, would be at odds with you and betray you. It's not without

reason... Of course, not teaching them is more of a form of

protection...* Klein was successfully amused by Roselle's diary

entries, but he didn't show it on his face.

To him, the diary of Emperor Roselle was both a book of knowledge and a

collection of jokes.

With this thought, Klein turned to the next page of the diary.

"2nd October, Zaratul came to visit me again.

"Now that I've become a demigod, he wishes that I can honor a promise.

He wishes to steal that dangerous Sealed Artifact from the Church.

"That is a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact, the Antigonus family's notebook from

the Fourth Epoch!"

At this point, Klein's pupils contracted uncontrollably.

*This was likely the notebook that the Secret Order lost later

on.*

*This was likely the notebook that led to Klein Moretti's death and how

he, Zhou Mingrui, had used Klein Moretti's corpse to successfully awaken

in this world!*

This was the source of everything!

*It turns out that it didn't fall into the hands of the Secret Order

from the very beginning. Instead, it was sealed within the Church of the

God of Craftsmanship which later turned into the Church of the God of

Steam and Machinery. Zaratul successfully obtained it through Emperor

Roselle.*

*Right, the Secret Order member inside Creeping Hunger was very fearful

of Zaratul. He believed that Zaratul is an undying and abnormal monster.

Does this mean that Zaratul gained benefits through the notebook, but an

accident happened? He turned from a person who could communicate

normally with Roselle into a monster. Therefore, this eventually led to

the loss of the Antigonus family's notebook?*

*Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Zaratul deliberately allowed it

to be lost...*

*Yes... As Zaratul became a monster, the Secret Order lost all the

mermaids, causing subsequent Faceless Beyonders to risk their lives out

at sea? Rosago succeeded because he attempted to enter that sea which is

a ruin of a battle between gods?*

All of these thoughts flashed through Klein's mind, causing his heart to

feel abnormally heavy.

He didn't assume that the Antigonus notebook that he had encountered was

closely related to Roselle, because the theory he always had had stemmed

from the law of convergence of Beyonder characteristics, and that some

of the details that followed were in line with similar logic.

*Are they all involved with the upper echelons of the Seer

pathway?* Klein glanced over the palace and took in the endless

gray fog.

Could it be the cause? he asked himself this question once

more from the bottom of his heart.

Steadying his emotions, Klein went on to read the subsequent diary

pages.

"Heh, I'll have to do it depending on the situation. If it's easy to

steal and there's no risk of exposure, I'll try to do it. Otherwise,

I'll pretend as though none of this ever happened.

"It doesn't matter even if Zaratul were to expose me. With my present

identity, status, Sequence, and influence, as long as I'm willing to

repent, the Church won't do anything to me."

The other two diary pages recorded Roselle's train of thought towards

constructing his plans to steal the notebook, but none of them seemed

likely to succeed. However, Klein knew that Roselle eventually obtained

the notebook and handed it over to the head of the Secret Order,

Zaratul.

After a moment's thought, Klein turned the page.

"10th December. I once again attended that ancient and secret gathering.

"At the gathering, I discovered that they were unanimous in being

extremely hostile to the Solomon Empire of the Fourth Epoch.

"I raised the question which Mr. Hermes quickly answered. In the Fourth

Epoch, the ally and supporter of the Solomon Empire was the True

Creator.

"This is very real.

"I resisted the urge to ask what exactly our organization had done in

the history of the Fourth Epoch, but as I left the palace and returned

from my dreams, I found that Mr. Hermes's route this time coincided with

mine to a certain extent.

"This ancient man who lived since the Cataclysm definitely knew more. I

build up a rapport with him and earnestly asked him the question---is

that why the organization hates the True Creator? Is it solely because

'He' had used the Creator's holy name in 'His' name?

"Mr. Hermes chuckled and said that they weren't such superficial

creatures.

"He asked me in return if I knew what the actual abilities of the

Shepherd were.

"'Of course' was my answer.

"He asked again in a profoundly meaningful manner, 'Who do you think

would be most likely to develop in the direction of being omnipotent and

omniscient among all the present gods?'

"This... The first thought that came to me was the Shepherd pathway

which could engage in Devouring and Grazing, so as to control the souls

and characteristics of other Beyonders.

"So that's the reason..."

*This page only had this diary entry, but it contains a lot of

information... The Solomon Empire originally came under the True

Creator's camp... Yes, in the Tudor family's underground ruins, there

are humanoid statues of the six true gods. Although it isn't certain

whether they were worshiping or desecrating the gods, one thing is

certain. The six gods were involved in the affairs of the three empires,

and they later had a close relationship with the Trunsoest dynasty...

Did the three great empires represent three different camps of

gods?* Klein tried to use his "archaeological" discovery and

historical knowledge to decipher the hidden truth of the previous epoch,

but he was still shrouded in fog.

Towards Hermes, the oldest master of mysticism, Klein's answer came

close to Roselle's.

As a Beyonder's Sequence was raised, the saints and angels of the

Shepherd pathway were able to engage in the Grazing of more souls,

gaining more and more Beyonder powers. In the end, if the True Creator

had finished Grazing the other twenty-one Beyonder pathways, he would

be, to some extent, the omnipotent and omniscient Creator.

*There are still a lot of secrets hidden in the Sequence

pathways...* Klein turned to the fourth page.

This diary page recorded the actions Roselle took after he consumed the

Savant potion. He read a lot, studied a lot, tamped down on his

foundation very firmly, and increased the scope and depth of his

knowledge to a whole new level.

In this period of time, he had almost no entertainment. Learning was his

greatest form of entertainment.

In one of the diary entries, he wrote: "... When a person knows with

certainty how much he will gain after putting in the effort, and is able

to directly tell how much he gains, then he will certainly work as hard

as I am now."

Isn't this the fundamental attraction of many games? Klein

turned over the last diary page and read the legend of the ancient gods

provided by Little Sun.

During the entire process, the majestic palace was completely silent. Be

it Justice or The Moon, they were both considering what to trade and

communicate later on.

It was the first time that The Hermit Cattleya had encountered such a

situation, but she didn't feel uneasy or uncomfortable at all. Instead,

she carefully analyzed the information that the scene revealed.

*This isn't the first time this is happening... Mr. Fool has the habit

of reading Roselle's diary at the Tarot Gathering... The members will

proactively or passively search for the pages for "Him." However, it

can't be confirmed if there were any advance payments...*

*"He" really can read Roselle's diary... He's searching for secrets that

have sunken in the river of history?*

*Just now, that Sun mentioned that the information he handed in was

about legends of ancient gods... This is roughly in line with my

previous speculations...*

At this point in time, Klein had roughly finished reading the new piece

of information regarding ancient gods.

In the Second Epoch, in those dark years, every ancient god had a "god"

attached to them, just like the Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt and "His"

child, the Dragon of Nightmare, Alzuhod.