Early Tuesday morning, before the sun had risen above the horizon, after spending the latter half of the night aboard the Black Death to create the appearance that he placed sufficient importance on the "Vice Admiral of Ailment," Ebner was awakened by Mr. Fool and then arrived above the gray fog.
Within the ever-unchanging gray-white mist and the vast, majestic ancient palace, Mr. Fool's "true body" was not present. Only "The World," whose temperament was slightly different from before, sat at the lowest seat of the long bronze table.
Ebner carefully sized him up a few times. His expression gradually turned strange, and then he revealed an amused smile, repeatedly saying, "Congratulations, congratulations."
These repeated "congratulations" blocked all the questions Klein had been about to ask. He replied in bafflement, "Didn't you already congratulate me on becoming a demigod before?"
Ebner smiled and shook his head, blinking as he said, "What I congratulated you on wasn't your advancement… As for what exactly it is, I think you know very well yourself."
Klein froze on the spot. After quite a while, he touched his own face and said incredulously, "With the gray fog obscuring, and with me using the 'Clown' ability to maintain Gehrman's 'persona'… how did you see through it? Don't tell me you can also 'divine' inside Mr. Fool's divine kingdom."
"Observing 'fate' inside Sefirah Castle is naturally impossible…" Ebner replied first, then stared at The World Klein's face hidden by the gray fog and teased with a smile, "But your mental state betrayed you!
"Didn't you notice that your whole state feels a bit floaty?
"That simply can't fool anyone with experience—let alone me!
"You're still too green, Mr. World."
Hearing this, Klein showed a look of sudden realization, then retorted irritably, "Fine, fine, I get it, you're experienced. No need to emphasize it…"
"So, how far have you two gone? Have you possessed each other?" Ebner suddenly asked gossipingly.
The question came out of nowhere. Klein subconsciously replied, "No… we were interrupted by Danitz's prayer…" Then he reacted, flushed with embarrassment and anger, and hurriedly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, the reason Danitz asked Mr. Fool for help earlier was your doing, right?"
Tsk tsk, you're not even pretending anymore? Have you already accepted that the questions you're about to ask can't avoid the fact that you're Mr. Fool? Ebner chuckled inwardly, then nodded frankly. "That's right. At the time, I took a brief look at Danitz's fate and found that every one of his 'fate tributaries' was closely connected to Mr. Fool… And in the confrontation between Adam and the 'Angel of Fate,' letting him establish a connection with Mr. Fool was the relatively safest kind of 'fate.'
"So I disguised myself as Gehrman Sparrow and gave him Mr. Fool's honorific name."
You're already so practiced at making decisions and bestowing honorific names on behalf of Mr. Fool—how am I supposed to keep pretending? This is really awkward to keep up… Klein glanced at Ebner, feeling utterly powerless to complain.
At this moment, Ebner changed the topic again and returned to what they had been talking about earlier. "What, did Danitz interrupt you? He probably didn't understand Mr. Fool's benevolence and kindness, so he got scared and chose to pray.
"This matter started because of me. I'll apologize to you on his behalf."
"It's fine… actually, I should be thanking him…" Klein revealed an expression that was both relieved and tinged with a bit of inexplicable regret. "Without his prayer, I might have made a mistake…
"You know, the pollution of the Mother Tree of Desire on Sharon hasn't been cleared yet."
Ebner looked at him strangely and asked, "You're already a demigod. Removing that bit of pollution should be something you can manage, right?"
"It's not that simple… I need sufficient preparation, and I need to find someone to test my plan first before letting Sharon try it," Klein said seriously.
This feels even more meticulous than when you plotted to 'murder' Ince Zangwill… Ebner muttered to himself, but did not refute him. Instead, he politely asked, "Do you need my help?"
"No!" Klein refused decisively.
So straightforward? Ebner immediately guessed what he was thinking and said irritably, "I mean helping you provide a test subject."
"A test subject? What kind?" Klein asked curiously.
Ebner casually manifested a wine bottle. Inside it lay a sailboat "model," with both its bow and stern raised high, its overall shape resembling a crescent moon.
It was the former flagship of the "Immortality King," the Death Announcer.
The essence of the Death Knell was the former subordinate god of the "King of Aberrations," the War God. In order to break free from the control of the "God of Luck," He had actively believed in the Mother Tree of Desire and was subjected to limited "pollution." It was just right for practice.
Klein had long heard about the "tragic" past of the Death Announcer from Ebner. At this moment, the corners of his mouth twitched as he thought, The War God is really pitiful. Is He destined never to escape the fate of being a 'test subject'?
Of course, pity was pity, but Klein did not refuse.
The Death Knell had committed countless evils on the sea. Being used as a test subject was actually letting it off lightly.
After this topic, The World Klein finally became serious again. He took a deep breath and asked the question he had wanted to ask from the very beginning:
"Sefirah Castle grabbed many transmigrators from Earth and 'deployed' them into different eras of this world…
"It's not like what I originally thought—that there was a time difference between the two worlds, which caused Old Huang and me, who only differed by a few years before transmigration, to end up separated by over a hundred years here…
"Those three empty cocoons—according to what you revealed earlier, one was the Goddess who arrived in this world in the Second Epoch, one was Old Huang from over a hundred years ago, and one was me…"
"You already knew it was like this… didn't you?"
Ebner had long expected this question. Seeing that Klein, unlike in the original timeline, was mentally and emotionally very stable—and that his attention had been diverted by whatever had happened with Miss Sharon—Ebner no longer worried that Klein would "collapse" over this. After thinking briefly, he answered:
"Yes… I knew.
"And I also know an even more cruel fact."
"An even more cruel fact? What is it?" Klein frowned and pressed.
Ebner once again observed Klein's state. After confirming there were no issues at all, he slowly spoke:
"There's something you got wrong…
"This world—this planet—is actually Earth!
"It is the future, thousands or even tens of thousands of years after that highly advanced era of civilization…
"You never left your homeland. It's just that you're separated from it by time, and you can't go back."
(End of chapter)