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"Azik, you absolutely must not be afraid of what I'm about to tell you."
"Go ahead, I'm not afraid."
Hearing this conversation, which felt particularly like déjà vu, Klein's mouth twitched. He felt someone poke his arm. He turned his head and saw Lin Ruo winking at him, clearly wanting him to cooperate and continue the running gag.
Taking a slight breath, although he felt a little apologetic to Mr. Azik, Klein, whose playful side was also piqued, chose to cooperate and said, "We've discovered that you might be Death's biological son."
"Death?" Azik Eggers was visibly stunned, clearly very surprised. He subconsciously confirmed, "Which Death?"
"It's Death who ruled the Southern Continent during the fourth epoch, established the Balam Empire, and whose True Name is Salinger!"
Lin Ruo's expression remained serious. He wasn't worried about telling Azik now that he was Death Consul, fearing it might lead to some undesirable outcomes. Firstly, in the original work, Azik didn't react much when he learned he was Death Consul of the Balam Empire. Secondly, if any problems did arise, he could simulate the Audience Pathway's abilities to give Azik some psychological treatment.
All in all, it wasn't a big problem.
"Salinger..." Azik Eggers almost subconsciously repeated the name, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat lost. "I seem to remember that name... but I can't recall it."
"If you can't remember, then don't bother," Lin Ruo quickly said to comfort him. "He's just human scum who wanted to use you as a vessel to resurrect. If you've forgotten him, then you've forgotten him. It's no big deal."
"Huh?" Azik was visibly stunned. He looked at Lin Ruo in bewilderment, wondering if he had misheard. "What?"
Not only him, but Klein and Medici also looked at Lin Ruo. The difference was that while the former was surprised, his eyes clearly held worry, while the latter seemed not surprised at all by such a thing, completely adopting a spectator's attitude.
Facing the gazes of the three, Lin Ruo remained unhurried. He didn't intend to continue the running gag and said, "It's like this, Azik, according to the information I've found, you should have been Death Consul of the Balam Empire in the Southern Continent, the son of Salinger. The reason you are now caught in a cycle of constant memory loss is because Salinger seems to have done some terrible things to you in the past."
"I'm not sure what he exactly did to you, but according to the intelligence I've obtained, it's probably related to the Death uniqueness, and there's a ninety percent chance that Salinger did this because he wanted to resurrect using your body."
"Resurrect using my body..." Azik Eggers' expression was neither surprised nor sad, just a little bewildered. He frowned, seemingly trying hard to recall, his expression slightly pained:
"I... I can't remember..."
"Mr. Azik..." Klein called out worriedly, but he didn't know how to offer comfort. Finally, he looked at Lin Ruo helplessly and said, "Why would Death do this...? Isn't Mr. Azik his child?"
"Heh?" Before Lin Ruo could answer, Medici, who was beside him, had already laughed out loud unceremoniously. His blood-red eyes held full mockery as he looked at Klein, the upward curve of his lips revealing a smile that was not gentle but rather unmasked malice.
He raised his chin, looked at Klein, and said, "little Seer, what do you think Deities are like?"
"Gentle? Kind? Or the so-called 'God loves the world'?" Medici's tone was full of mockery and coldness.
"Don't be naive. They are a bunch of guys whose humanity has long been squeezed to almost nothing. How can you expect their benevolence?"
Medici continued to look at Klein, his gaze mocking and pitying, as if looking at a lost lamb.
"Or, did their friendliness towards Lin Ruo give you some inappropriate illusions? And do you know how much of that benevolence and friendliness is built on the foundation of self-interest?"
Klein opened his mouth. He wanted to say something to refute, but he didn't know what to say.
He had actually heard Lin Ruo popularize the difference between humans and gods a long time ago, but it wasn't until this moment that Klein finally had a clear understanding of Deities.
Believe in the power of Deities, but do not believe in their benevolence.
Klein suddenly remembered this sentence.
"Alright, stop talking. These days, which human relationship isn't based on self-interest? If I hadn't been a cheat player back then, would the Main God have picked me up? It's not like being based on self-interest means there's no emotion." Seeing Klein's expression turn gloomy, Lin Ruo immediately gave Medici an elbow with annoyance, then looked at Klein and comforted him:
"Don't listen to his nonsense. Even God-level existences aren't without emotions; they're just relatively weak. For example, Roselle, that daughter-con, he was still a daughter-con even after becoming the Black Emperor. And take this Mr. Medici next to me, I don't believe he'd abandon me after becoming a god..."
"Tsk." Medici pouted at this, but didn't refute.
"However..." Lin Ruo paused, raised his hand and ruffled Klein's hair twice, then still said, "Don't trust Deities too much, unless you're really close. If you're not very close, they might turn around and sell you out."
"When interacting with Deities, maintaining aligned interests and win-win cooperation is the best choice. When we and Deities become like grasshoppers on the same rope, that's when we have the least to worry about them betraying us."
"I understand." Klein nodded, his expression thoughtful. He wasn't entirely ignorant of this principle; he just hadn't experienced enough to have a deep understanding of the various human relationships in this world.
"If we're not on the same rope originally, we can also find a way to get on the same rope..." Lin Ruo lowered his eyes, his demeanor still gentle but with a subtle, inexplicable meaning. He whispered, "Opportunities always have to be created by oneself."
"Of course, the methods shouldn't be too drastic; gentle persuasion through temptation is the best choice."
Klein immediately looked at Lin Ruo. He pursed his lips, then finally nodded, "I understand."
Medici, hearing Lin Ruo's words, merely smiled, unsurprised.
Because he had always known that Lin Ruo wasn't some overly gentle pushover; such a person couldn't have survived from the second epoch until now.
Gentle yet scheming, unconventional yet steady, able to see through your desires at a glance, to beguile you with words, to bind you with interests, making you willingly stand by his side—this is Lin Ruo.
This is the Angel of Judgment who, since the second epoch, has been able to navigate effortlessly among numerous Deities and Angels, building a network of relationships unimaginable to others.
"Klein, there are actually quite a few people whose interests align with yours. Work hard, and perhaps you'll become the new era's Sea King," Lin Ruo suddenly said in a teasing tone. Before Klein could get angry, he looked at Azik and said sincerely, "Azik, the reason I suddenly sought you out this time, besides telling you about your origins, is for another very important matter."
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