Facing Ebner's question, Klein calmed himself from his earlier worry. He weighed his tone carefully and asked cautiously in return, "You remembered the events from your previous lives?"
This undoubtedly confirmed that he had long known that the many transmigrators in the past were all "Liu Bo"...
However, Klein didn't intend to keep hiding it. After all, the other party was already a demigod. Even if he learned part of the truth, it should not be a problem... Otherwise, those goddesses would have intervened, just as They had warned and reminded Mr. Tower before.
"I only remembered a small part, but even with those fragments I could infer quite a lot!" Ebner nodded slightly, then looked at the "World" below him, and said with deep meaning, "So you really did know some of the inside story... But why bother disguising yourself? Is watching me make a fool of myself really that amusing?"
"That is indeed very amusing!" Unexpectedly, the "World" Klein nodded in all seriousness, and then pretended to request permission before projecting many of Ebner's own self-mocking remarks.
Soon, scenes where Ebner mentioned "Calamity Seal," Alvin, and Dannit, accompanied by labels such as "lyb" and "cunning old fox," played out one after another before his eyes.
Looking at these obviously "edited" scenes, Ebner froze for a while before regaining his senses. He helplessly complained, "Maybe my film company should hire you as a director. The movies you shoot would definitely be blockbusters!"
"That's only natural. As the future 'Marionettist,' when it comes to directing plays, I'm at Spielberg's level!" Klein said with a beaming smile. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. In the earlier "showdown," he had been completely on the back foot, but now he had managed to win a round back.
"You think I was complimenting you?" Ebner replied irritably, then wisely chose not to dwell on this topic. After all, Klein's biggest "handle" was still in his hands. The "victory or defeat" didn't need to be decided immediately.
He instead asked, "You didn't hide things from me just because of these silly matters, did you?"
Hearing this, Klein had wanted to say it was Mr. Fool's warning, but after thinking about it, he felt it wasn't very safe. So before the words left his mouth, he changed it to: "'Arrodes' told me that if anyone knows about the existence of 'Liu Bo' without your permission, they would be polluted. Even it didn't dare to investigate further... And you told me before that Lilith asked you not to explore your 'cheat' before becoming a demigod... I thought these two might be related, so I wanted to wait until you became a demigod before telling you in detail..."
Without my permission, just knowing about 'Liu Bo' would cause pollution? Am I really that powerful? This is something at the level of an Old One...
That means the source of pollution in the "Unknown Land" might really come from the name Liu Bo, from that concept itself?
But I am Liu Bo. Why would even my "Clairvoyant" avatar be polluted?
Also, Lilith doesn't want me to explore the secrets of "Liu Bo" before becoming a demigod, and she also warned me not to enter the "Unknown Land" before angels...
This all shows she doesn't want me to come into contact with the concept of "Liu Bo" too early... Or rather, not to be polluted by it too early?
Would I be polluted by myself... what kind of situation is this?
And this "pollution" shouldn't refer to being impacted by memories of my previous lives... After all, based on my experience absorbing Giuseppe Castilla's memories, after fusion, emotionally I was still mainly this life's Ebner. Although those memories all felt very real and natural to me, in my perception they were indeed my own experiences.
Of course, maybe Giuseppe's life wasn't long enough... But even a short one lasted nearly ten years, which was still more than my less-than-one-year-long current life as Ebner...
But in reality, I am still primarily the "me" of now, which shows that the pollution isn't a "mental" issue like this. My self-identity hasn't been affected at all. I'm not some stitched-together monster.
Giuseppe is Ebner, Ebner is Giuseppe, and also Dannit, Alvin, Vicente, Rhine...
"Looks like if I want to figure out the essence of this 'pollution,' I'll still have to improve my Sequence and go deeper into the Unknown Land!"
After thinking for a while, Ebner temporarily set the matter aside, looked again at "World" Klein, and sighed, "Take them out!"
"What?" Klein didn't understand.
"All the Roselle Diaries involving 'Liu Bo'... I bet you have quite a few. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered asking Arrodes." Ebner said with great certainty.
"As expected of the 'Hero Detective,' your reasoning ability really is impressive!" Klein first praised him, then tapped his finger on the edge of the long table and smiled. "Mr. Fool did grant me some of those diaries... but I can't just show them to you for free."
Old Zhou feels less and less like Gehrman here. Wasn't he supposed to strictly act in character?
Hmm... His current demeanor is closer to Klein back in Tingen... I can't tell if this is his real personality, or if he's just switched to another acting template... His acting is too good, I really can't distinguish it... But the ease he's showing should be genuine...
Ah, hopefully he hasn't specifically created a "persona" just for interacting with me. That would be too exhausting... I really don't want him to carry heavy masks just because of the changes I brought!
Unfortunately, even with the help of the "Pure White Eye," the Seer's ability can't see the "tributaries" of the Destiny Anchor.
While Ebner sighed inwardly, on the surface he asked, "What do you want from me in return?"
His tone was relaxed, since he was sure the other party wouldn't really make things difficult for him.
"I just want to ask you a few questions..." Klein said in a deep voice.
"What questions?" Ebner asked curiously.
"I want to know, who is the 'Turncoat Dragon'? And who is Lamia?" These were doubts Klein had accumulated over time, but Ebner had never answered them before.
Ebner hesitated for a moment, but felt that telling Klein now wasn't a problem. After all, with Grossel's Travel Notes in his own possession, the other party might lose many opportunities to uncover secrets.
"The 'Turncoat Dragon' refers to the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom.' He was also one of the Eight Archangels serving the Ancient Sun God, the 'Angel of Wisdom'!
"As for Lamia, she was actually an avatar of the 'Earth Mother'..."
After listening to Ebner's brief introduction, Klein was surprised but also showed an expression of "as expected."
The surprise lay in the fact that the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was actually a dragon, and had once served the Ancient Sun God... Based on that, it wasn't hard to imagine why he carried the nickname "Turncoat."
And the "as expected" part was that his earlier suspicion had been correct—Liu Bo really was the "toyboy" of the Earth Mother!
The progenitor of the Vampires, the Earth Mother, and the still-to-be-confirmed Evernight Goddess... not to mention several angels like Lady Yalolan...
Liu Bo, aren't you afraid of getting chopped to pieces?
Klein gave Ebner a strange look, then manifested those diaries containing "Liu Bo," and casually asked, "Why was the God of Knowledge called the 'Turncoat Dragon'? Also, since the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was one of the Eight Archangels, then the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' and the 'Lord of Storms,' who were alongside him in creation myths, were they as well?"
Ebner accepted the diaries but didn't immediately read them. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he also manifested a projector and passed it to Klein, saying, "Watch this and you'll understand."
After that, he lowered his head and began to read.
Seeing this, Klein felt a stir in his heart. He quickly created a projection screen, opened the machine, and moments later saw a penitent monk speaking with devout sincerity:
"Only the Holy Spirits can truly serve the Lord...
"The Lord stands above billions of lights, His mercy spreading across heaven and earth, with eight 'Kings' standing beside Him.
"The 'Angel of Darkness' was the first angel created by the Lord. He is His left hand, His executor, the Vice Sovereign of Heaven;
"The 'Angel of Fantasy' is the Lord's eldest son. The Lord said: In the distant future, you will become the savior of life;
"The 'Angel of Time' is the Lord's second son. The Lord said: You are the God of Trickery, the God of Mischief, the light at the end of days;
"The 'Pure White Angel,' the 'Angel of Wind,' and the 'Angel of Destiny' are the Lord's loyal followers—resolute, brave, devout, never changing from weak to strong;
"The 'Angel of Wisdom' was saved by repentance, sanctified by redemption, the exact opposite of those who ate the fruit of sin and fell to earth;
"The 'Angel of War' is the Lord's wrath, His punishment. He descends upon the earth to bring the sword..."
Klein recognized this penitent monk. He was one of the "main character" party members whom he, Ebner, and Edwina had encountered asleep inside Grossel's Travel Notes.
"Did Mr. Tower later meet people from other eras while exploring the Notes?
"Maybe when Miss Justice completes Mr. Tower's commission and earns the reward of entering the City of Miracles, I can take the chance to go again... After all, with the Black Emperor card in my possession, she'll need my support to enter safely..."
As Klein's thoughts spun and ideas popped into his head, Ebner, who was reading the diary, felt as if waves were crashing violently inside his heart!
The one in Roselle's diary was really me?
Lilith... Aurore... Tamara...
And these were just Rhine Karendaria's "friends"...
And I even boasted about it to Roselle...
Were my past lives really this "wild"?
(End of Chapter)