Like most of Russell's diaries, the personal record of this former Intis emperor is filled with a strong egocentric style.
In his early years, he stepped into this unfamiliar world in a daze. Perhaps it was his privileged "family background" and a series of "adventures" that gave him enough confidence. The great achievements of the "son of steam" in changing the times were also enough to support all his dreams.
In short, from that time on, Russell embarked on a path of indulgence from which there was no turning back.
Even in his later years, when most of his old friends had passed away, his children and subordinates had turned against him, and the gods surrounded him as his enemies, Roselle still did not give up his pride and stubbornness.
With a courage that Klein... Zhou Mingrui could not comprehend, he forcibly transcended the sequence to become a god, pushing his absolute self to its limit.
He did not want his children to continue living in ignorance and under the control of others, so he raised the banner of rebellion against the Sauron royal family.
He did not want his life to become a script for the gods, so he chose to become the only emperor on earth.
He did not want his daughter, who was still free after his death, to die a violent death. He hoped that his bloodline could live carefree lives, so he left Princess Bernadette a legacy that could ignite the fervor of major churches and secret sects.
A legendary choice is difficult for ordinary people to understand, but that doesn't mean ordinary people are not qualified to judge.
At least in Klein's opinion, judging from the two pages of the diary in his hand, Russell's decision was undoubtedly reckless.
This "young man," who at the time was merely a "son of steam," not even a demigod, seemed fearless of death.
In his subsequent diary entries, he entered the abyss, and as he gradually sank deeper, even with the protection of the "Black Emperor," his crew could no longer resist the corruption from the source of absolute sin, and a knight was left forever on his adventure.
Zarathustra had clearly warned him... Klein couldn't understand Roselle's thinking at the time.
Where did he get the courage to put an angel's judgment into practice?
Shaking his head slightly, Klein decided to continue watching.
On the two yellowish-brown pages, less than a page and a half of text remained. This page of the diary contained an unusually large amount of information. All the text was indeed copied in a crooked handwriting, but it was clear that someone had deliberately reduced the font size, so much so that after Rossell expressed his eerie fear of the abyss, there was still a lot of content.
"On May 8th, my lovely Bernadette will be almost two years old. She is growing more and more adorable. She is truly a little girl who has inherited the best genes from me and her mother."
"Hearing her call me 'Dad' in her clear voice and watching her lively figure, I suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction."
"Since I transmigrated to this world, I have done many things. Some of them have benefited the world, while others are shameful. The people I associate with are not the main angels in the legend, but powerful figures in the secular world. Cooperating with them often means abandoning one's conscience."
"Fortunately, I didn't have much of this stuff to begin with."
"It's strange, but I don't feel much guilt about what I did. Haha, maybe Huang Tao was just a bastard to begin with. It's just that the peaceful environment suppressed my nature. I never realized that I was a bastard before."
"But Bernadette... my daughter, every time I see her pure and innocent smile, I don't know why, I always dream of the faces of the children I killed."
"I don't know them, I've never even seen them. I've climbed to my current position, and so many people have died because of my inventions. How could I possibly have seen every single face?"
"When I first transmigrated to this world, I treated everyone as NPCs: my 'parents,' my wife, my boss, the angels who fawned over me with unclear motives, and everyone in the world. But Bernadette was the only one whose soul I could not ignore."
"She is so radiant, she is my treasure. I cannot accept that she is like everyone else in the world, an NPC without her own will, revolving around my life and serving my desires."
"She must be independent, she must be free, she must be someone no one can manipulate, not even me."
"It's such a contradiction. I'm starting to believe that there's a heaven and a hell after people die."
Klein saw tear stains on the paper.
He suddenly realized the special nature of this diary.
It is true that the diary was copied later, but the person responsible for copying it must have been extraordinary. They must have had some purpose in order to compile Russell's self-analysis completely onto a single sheet of paper and perfectly reproduce the details of that time.
Klein could even guess that this page of the diary was aimed at him.
Who could it be?
Roman Ambrose? Friedrich Zarathustra?
It doesn't matter... For Klein, the emotions he gleaned from the words of his "old friend" at this moment were more precious than any realistic calculations.
He continued reading.
"Although those gods' kingdoms are real and they may actually collect the souls of believers, I never cared before."
"The heaven and hell I believe in are more like the belief in karmic retribution held by the elders in my hometown."
"I treat everyone as puppets to serve me. I betray my wife's feelings, I play with other people's bodies, I betray my parents' love, I can deal with former acquaintances without any burden, and I can kill an entire village for a little convenience."
"A bastard like me deserves to be punished after death, doesn't he..."
"Let's not talk about whether I will die or not. I can probably become an angel and enjoy an endless life. But if I really die, haha, then die. Going to hell is fine too. My second life has been wonderful enough."
"It's just that Bernadette must live happily ever after. People are so hypocritical. I've committed so many sins, yet I still hope that my daughter will never meet someone like her father."
"Perhaps it's too early for me to think about such things, but if Bernadette ever brings back a man who looks a lot like me, I will kill him without hesitation, even if my daughter hates me."
"I know all too well what kind of scum I am."
Thus ended all of Roselle's reflections after concluding his exploration of the abyss, and Klein lowered his half-raised hands.
He paid no attention to the group members whose minds were divided due to the extra time spent reading; his heart was heavy with an indescribable unease.
Back on Earth, he was a lowly office worker who hadn't been working long enough to have children or even a girlfriend. He was one of the most emotionally unsuccessful people his age.
But that doesn't mean he's incapable of empathy.
Compared to his experiences, Russell was undoubtedly a beast.
Russell's love for his daughter is genuine... Klein sighed.
He viewed the humans of this world as symbols created by novelists, or as a string of data in a video game. But when he faced a living baby who inherited his bloodline, he vehemently rejected his former self.
Pure emotion, a father's love for his daughter. Combined with his previous diary entries, it's clear that Rosell not only favored his daughter, but also valued his two sons. However, neither the short-lived Charles nor Bonova, who was swept up by the god of steam and machinery, were able to enjoy this preferential treatment for various reasons. Therefore, their sister naturally became the object of all Rosell's love.
Perhaps the reason Roselle was able to become a god under such immense pressure and make the mad decision to bypass all paths was largely because of his children… Klein casually waved his hand, and the yellowish-brown paper disappeared from his fingertips.
The Fool's silence made the members below cautious, and no one dared to test the emotions of an ancient god.
Anyone could see that Mr. Fool's mood was not quite right.
As a god who should be high above and indifferent, "The Fool" showed unnatural fluctuations.
This could be anger, emotion, or inner turmoil... or it could simply be contemplating something.
But as a god, He should not have acted in this way.
Klein thought for a moment and decided to do what he always did: leaning back in his chair, he tapped the long table in a slightly lazy manner.
"You may begin."
"The Sun" Derrick had planned to be the first to speak during the Q&A session, but he had to abandon that plan, as the opportunity to speak was taken by "The Hanged Man" Alger.
The busy pirate captain looked down at the "world" at the bottom and spoke up.
"I suggest launching a general offensive as soon as possible. The Church of Storms has mobilized the scattered raiding captains today to prepare to build a buffer zone between Tirinius Island, Longtail Island and Bayam."
"Some of the Governor's Office staff have already evacuated Bayam, but the Governor himself has not left yet. I suspect that the moment the Empire entered the fray, they had already planned to temporarily abandon Bayam and prepare to let the Sea King fight without restraint."
"The privateer captains are not a small force. The fact that they want us to act as a buffer zone means that the Rune government is likely to draw on other fleets from the Sunia Sea for support. After all, the countries of the Northern Continent are now united against external forces on the highlands, and it is highly unlikely that any one side will break the hard-won internal peace first."
Alger glanced at the "justice" opposite him as if by accident, and said something nonsensical.
"I estimate... at least three demigods will arrive in Bayam, and there may also be level 0 sealed artifacts, or angelic support."
"I don't know how the war will end, but I'm afraid that after this, the hundreds of thousands of natives and civilians around Bayam will no longer exist."
The three demigods... Audrey listened quietly to what the "Hanged Man" had to say.
She knew that it appeared to be the "Hanged Man" communicating with or reporting to the "world," and that was indeed the case.
But the civilians mentioned last were undoubtedly targeted at her; it was a form of intimidation and coercion.
Having been a "spectator" for some time, and even having been promoted once, Audrey is no longer the naive girl who knew nothing at the beginning.
The disaster brought by the smog made her more mature and more realistic.
She knew that the "Hanged Man" wanted to take advantage of her kindness to force her to reveal some of the internal workings of the Rune.
Although what she knows, the Trensault intelligence department will also know, the "Hanged Man" is, after all, a half-hearted confession and has no background in Trensault, so there is a lot of information he cannot grasp.
And he happens to be someone who lacks a sense of security; he becomes uneasy if he doesn't have control over how things develop... Audrey calmly analyzed the psychological image of the "Hanged Man," then pretended to know nothing and shook her head slightly.
Noticing this detail, Alger, whose attempt had failed, was not discouraged and nodded slightly.
"The Earl went to the branch office and said he would help Colonel Franz with military affairs."
"Although he left many secret puppets on my ship, I don't think I'm qualified to participate in making such decisions. The decision to influence the Earl's will can only be left to you."
That's true, but you're underestimating yourself... Klein doesn't think Tristan is the kind of arrogant person who cares too much about hierarchy and wouldn't take advice from his subordinates even if they make the right suggestion.
He accepted the Hanged Man's request and decided to do it after the gathering.
Just as I thought, Rune still had to mobilize the nearby demigods for support... Thinking of this, Klein felt both annoyed and relieved.
He remembered Roman's reminder.
The Highlands War tied down most of the angels in the Northern Continent. There was no other way; there were simply too many angels under the command of the True Creator, Trensost... no, the True Creator.
The holy scriptures alone record as many as eleven angels, plus Orsono I and the vampire angels who are loyal to the emperor, making a total of fifteen angels.
This does not even include the level 0 sealed items possessed by the Creator.
If the true Creator weren't in such a terrible state and consistently insane, Klein estimated that the top of this "Mystic" path could have produced several more angels from this path, instead of just the "Angel of the Holy Word" being the only direct descendant.
Without angelic intervention, we currently hold the advantage on the Rothschild Islands battlefield.
Tristan Eugen and his "fiancée," along with Mr. Taylor and the priestess Trislana, make up the four demigods, not to mention the "Cataclysm" as the grand finale.
Thinking about this, Klein realized that the key to the war might lie in whether he could find a way to communicate with the "natural disaster" in time.
Even if it meant going along with the "mysterious" will and letting the ancient god's will return to reality, he could accept it.
After all, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the Rosedeck Islands are not virtual; he cannot be like Russell, who treats everyone except those he cares about as worthless.
If it were Roselle, and I were to act like Huang Tao, things would probably be much simpler… Klein's lips curled up, the curve hidden behind the gray mist carrying a complex expression.
Under his manipulation, "The World" first looked around before turning its gaze to "The Magician" Fors.
He decided to make up for what he hadn't been able to get from Emlyn White.
"I've heard that the situation in Backlund is quite tense right now?"
Fors, who had been in charge of paperwork lately and occasionally assisted Hugh, immediately nodded in agreement.
"MI9 intends to take complete control of Backlund's underground order, and we have to shrink our influence in many areas to ensure that the branch does not suffer unexpected losses."
After thinking about it, she decided to share a rumor she had only heard this morning.
"His Highness the 'Angel with the Lamp' took a batch of 'explosives' from the Ark of the Sacred Relic. The Backlund branch is currently under renovation, and His Highness has decided to use the 'explosives' to surround the entire branch, just in case."