Above the gray fog, Klein sat at the head of the long bronze table, his gaze lowered slightly as he looked down at the scene transmitted from Miss Magician.
"Honorable Mr. Fool, I recently learned an enormous secret. I believe you will definitely be interested in it, which is why I took the liberty of disturbing you so late at night."
"Speak." Klein responded indifferently.
"It's like this. I received reliable information from an important figure that George III, the king of the Loen Kingdom, intends to advance to Sequence 0, Black Emperor in the near future."
Hearing this, Klein immediately became alert.
From Roselle's diary, he had already learned for certain that at the final stage of Roselle's life, he had forcefully switched to the Black Emperor pathway.
If George III successfully advanced to Sequence 0, Black Emperor, then Roselle, who had not completely died, would perish for good.
Klein was still grateful toward this fellow transmigrator who had helped him so much. However, if he wanted to interfere with George III's advancement to Black Emperor, his strength alone was still far too weak.
"I don't know whether Mr. Fool has heard about the Capim case that caused such an uproar in Backlund back then. The Loen royal family was the force behind the Capim case. They trafficked large numbers of slaves in order to construct the mausoleums required for advancing to Black Emperor…"
Fors continued speaking, recounting all the crimes George III had committed.
After finishing, she lowered her eyes, feeling extremely nervous. She was afraid that Mr. Fool might suddenly ask where she had obtained this information.
Klein indeed wanted to ask Miss Magician about the source of this intelligence, but considering Mr. Fool's image as an omniscient existence, asking such a question would seem far too cheap.
"Advance to Black Emperor? This is not a good time for that."
Klein gave a mysterious chuckle before severing the connection with Miss Magician.
To verify whether the information was true, Klein used the power of the gray fog to perform divination.
The final answer showed that every word Miss Magician had said tonight was true.
Klein fell silent as he remembered the innocent girls from the Capim case, then thought of the Great Smog of Backlund.
George III had joined forces with the Demoness Sect and committed so many atrocities just to advance to Black Emperor.
Could Klein really stand by and watch him successfully advance?
After only a moment of thought, he already had his answer.
"I need capable helpers."
Klein quickly thought of Bernadette, the mysterious Queen Mystic.
She was Roselle's daughter. When it came to George III advancing to Black Emperor, she would undoubtedly be even more proactive than Klein.
She was now a believer of the Stars. With the Stars' authority of observing everything, He would certainly have informed Bernadette of such important news.
Klein thought carefully for another moment. After returning to the real world, he contacted Will.
Among the existences in Backlund currently capable of interfering with George III's apotheosis, Will could definitely be counted as one.
Will appeared in Klein's dream wearing blue floral pajamas printed with star patterns, looking lazy as usual.
After hearing what Klein wanted to ask, Will immediately became energetic. He looked at Klein with a complicated and troubled expression.
"George III really does intend to use this opportunity to become a god, but with your current strength, you have no way of stopping him. Not to mention that he has gathered plenty of useful subordinates and helpers around him."
Will was not optimistic about the matter.
"I know. That's why I came to ask whether you know of any way to stop him."
"Destroy his mausoleums. That can shake the foundation of his apotheosis. The more mausoleums you destroy, the easier it will be for his advancement to fail," Will suggested after a brief moment of thought.
"Thank you." Klein was very satisfied with this suggestion.
Will lightly coughed and said, "Originally, I could have helped you a little, but lately that stupid snake Ouroboros has been staying in Backlund and keeping watch on me. It's difficult for me to spare any effort to help you."
"Will you be in danger?"
"Don't worry. I've played hide-and-seek with Him more times than I can count. He still doesn't have the ability to catch me, but I also can't expose my identity on my own initiative."
Klein smiled. "That's enough. I'll find suitable helpers myself."
"Look for Bernadette. She's currently in Backlund. She will definitely get involved in this matter."
"Mm." After ending the dream with Will, Klein glanced at the time. It was already past eleven at night.
He didn't go to sleep. Instead, he moved a chair in front of his desk, spread out a blank sheet of letter paper, and began writing.
He wanted to write to Mr. Azik and ask for his opinion and assistance.
Interfering with George III's apotheosis was extremely dangerous. At a critical moment, Klein needed Mr. Azik to help him once.
As for those who would destroy the mausoleums, besides Bernadette, he also intended to ask Miss Messenger to help, although it would cost him a certain amount of gold coins.
Sigh, I'm going to become poor again.
...
At a royal estate in the suburbs.
In the second-floor study, former Duke of Southville Drink Augustus wore a gloomy expression as the letter in his hand crumbled into powder.
His son, the current Duke of Southville, was dead!
The cause of death was supposedly excessive drinking. He had accidentally fallen into the artificial lake at home and drowned.
It sounded like a perfectly normal cause of death, but Drink was certain that Beyonder powers had been involved!
The person most likely to have done this was that young Count Campbell!
A few days earlier, he had received another letter from Southville County stating that the people he had sent there had already died at Count Campbell's hands.
Because of that, he had sent another trusted subordinate to Southville County, yet this letter reporting his son's death had reached him first.
"Heh. To clear yourself of suspicion, you even deliberately returned to Backlund together with the second son of Earl Hall."
Drink Augustus's eyes were filled with icy killing intent, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
In the face of absolute strength, such petty cleverness would only lead to one's own death!
To make sure nothing unexpected happened, he decided to personally send this promising young count on his final journey.
As for giving an explanation? Who did he need to explain himself to?
Even the current king, George III, would not punish him in the slightest.
The Loen Kingdom belonged to their Augustus family!
He pulled a portrait from a drawer of the desk. It depicted both him and his child, although the painting was already several decades old.
At three in the morning, he left the study. With a single step, he arrived in the bustling Empress Borough.
The distance separating the two locations was itself a kind of rule, and he had long since become highly proficient in using the power of rules.
Finding a road that directly led to Empress Borough was simple. He could even reach Count Campbell's doorstep in a single step.
However, in order to show some respect to the three Churches, he didn't act so blatantly.
Thus, he chose to walk from Empress Borough.
There were already very few pedestrians wandering the streets this late at night. Even in the prosperous Empress Borough, the recent chaotic situation had made many people afraid to go outside in the middle of the night.
Even the bars that normally remained open from evening until dawn had shut their doors early and stopped business for the night.
Drink Augustus walked along while recalling the years gone by.
He had indeed wronged this son of his, but he had never cared too much about it. After all, he did not place much importance on bonds formed through bloodline inheritance.
But when he truly heard the news of his child's death, he still felt a long-forgotten ache in his heart.
Although it was very faint, it was already enough to sentence Count Campbell to death.
Just as Drink Augustus's solitary footsteps were about to bring him close to his destination, the scenery around him suddenly changed.
Drink Augustus stopped and calmly observed the scene before him at leisure.
He had known that powerful Beyonders would definitely be protecting Count Campbell.
But this was Backlund, and he was a member of the Augustus family.
More importantly, he was a Sequence 2 Balancer.
Yet after waiting for a long time, aside from the scenery before him changing from a bustling street into a dense forest, no one appeared.
Drink Augustus narrowed his eyes and patiently waited a while longer, but still no one showed up.
"Deliberately delaying me to buy time to escape?" Drink Augustus wasn't worried about that possibility.
If this were not Backlund, then with his abilities, he wouldn't even need to be so cautious.
He stepped forward with his right foot.
A black rule extended from beneath his foot, then split into two, four, hundreds, and thousands of strands, crisscrossing like black pythons.
The dense forest world before him instantly shattered apart, restoring the original street.
He was still standing on the same street. However, hanging in the sky above him was no longer the crimson moon of the deep night, but the brilliant morning sun rising at dawn.
This caused him to frown slightly. Even while trapped inside, he had failed to notice the change in the flow of time.
"No. The flow of time didn't change. Someone stole this period of time." Drink Augustus's expression became solemn.
After sensing carefully for a while, he realized that the other party did not possess such tremendous ability themselves. They had likely achieved this effect with the help of some sealed artifact.
It was only a few hours.
How far could you possibly run? Drink Augustus carefully sensed his surroundings, only to discover that Count Campbell had not taken the opportunity to leave Backlund.
Instead, he was currently near Holy Wind Cathedral, happily strolling around while carrying a small black cat in his arms!