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Upon hearing this, Apothecary Darkwill and Danitz naturally left the room tactfully, closing the door considerately behind them.
Lin Ruo casually picked up the teapot on the table, intending to pour himself a cup, when he heard Klein next to him remind him, "That's coffee. If you want tea, I can ask the waiter for another teapot."
"I know it's coffee. I'm just trying a different flavor occasionally," Lin Ruo said with a smile, pouring himself a cup of coffee without stopping his movements.
"You didn't say that last time," Klein said grumpily. He hadn't forgotten how disgusted a certain person had been with coffee before.
"Really?" Lin Ruo, however, directly feigned amnesia, tilting his head and saying, "Who told you I'm a changeable person!"
"Heh heh!" Klein decided to express his speechlessness with a "heh heh" and lowered his head to start unwrapping the gift Lin Ruo had brought back for him this time.
Almost without exception, it was a painting, and the subject of the painting was a beautiful woman.
If it were anyone else, they might not recognize who it was, but Klein had, after all, seen Roselle's portrait and was a Faceless, most skilled at recognizing people. He almost immediately confirmed that the woman in the painting was Roselle herself.
Even with prior speculation, Klein's eyelids still twitched involuntarily at this moment. He felt like laughing, but also thought it would be too unkind, so he could only suppress his laughter, looking at Lin Ruo with a strange expression and saying, "You really tricked Roselle into becoming a Witch?"
"Strictly speaking, no. This is just a continuation of the previous historical projection," Lin Ruo shook his head, briefly explaining, then added with a hint of regret, "It's a pity the time was still too short this time. Roselle only advanced to Instigator. The next time I see him, he will probably already be a Cognitive Scholar, and I won't be able to trick him into drinking the Assassin potion anymore."
Klein subconsciously felt a bit of pity upon hearing this, then thought of something and couldn't help but say, "Aren't you afraid the Great Emperor will beat you up after he's fished back?"
"If he dares to beat me, I'll spread the translated Roselle's diary and the portrait of Witch Roselle across the entire continent the very next day," Lin Ruo said, completely unafraid, then looked at Klein and said with a smile, "Similarly, if one day in the future you grow wings and want to take revenge for past persecutions, I will also spread your dark history across the entire continent."
"It's so much better if we all die together!"
Klein almost instinctively imagined such a scene and immediately shivered.
Social death was far more terrifying than physical death.
Otherwise, why would so many people say, "I'm not afraid of being shattered, I want to leave my innocence in the human world"?
If his dark history were truly known throughout the continent, let alone a normal human like him, even those gods with thin humanity wouldn't be able to bear it!
After all, gods merely have thin humanity, they are not devoid of it. Even a normal god would strive to maintain their humanity; everyone cares about their reputation.
"You're ruthless!" Klein said sincerely.
"You flatter me, you flatter me!" Lin Ruo accepted Klein's "praise" without any guilt, even quite proudly. He then took a sip of coffee and said, "Although the time I was away this time was short, my gains are not insignificant."
Klein immediately perked up, ready to hear Lin Ruo recount his experiences this time.
Lin Ruo didn't keep him in suspense. He swiftly explained that historical phantoms could serve as experimental grounds for revolution, that he himself had recovered some memories from the fifth epoch Roselle's era and would likely continue to steadily recover more memories, and that Klein could also enter historical phantoms and exploit their convenience once he became a demigod. He even shared the story of the small dark room as amusement for Klein.
"So your small dark room not only held the Great Emperor, but also Mr. Door, Solomon…" As Klein listened, his expression gradually became subtle. He looked at Lin Ruo, hesitating to speak, and then said, "Why didn't Mr. Door break off relations with you?"
Think about it, was what Lin Ruo did humane? He built a small dark room with Mr. Door, then, after finishing, he ambushed Mr. Door and threw him into the small dark room, and not just once. He even composed a nursery rhyme about it.
Even as an outsider, he couldn't bear to hear this!
"Perhaps it's because of my personal charm?" Lin Ruo said, pinching his chin with one hand, his face full of seriousness.
Klein immediately looked at him with an expression that said, "Are you serious?"
Lin Ruo then became displeased, crossing his arms and saying seriously, "Of course I'm serious. Although I have a bit of a distorted sense of humor, basically none of my friends can escape my distorted humor, but I am loyal and a good friend."
"Moreover, I'm generous, capable of both fighting and healing, and a top-tier support and logistics provider. I can help friends in need, think of them usually, and finally, I can back up my friends. Take now, Medici, Sasrir, Roselle, and even Bethel himself—which one am I not desperately trying to save? With my personality charm, even if it's not maxed out, how low could it be?"
"As for being persecuted by me…" Lin Ruo paused here. He suddenly smiled, his smile carrying a hint of sincerity and profound meaning: "If you can't even endure this little bit of persecution, what right do you have to make me worry and toil after you!"
Persecution itself, to Lin Ruo, was a threshold, a threshold that separated closeness from distance. Lin Ruo would only inflict persecution on those he wished to acknowledge, be close to, or already acknowledged and was close to. This was different from his usual casual teasing.
People who truly considered Lin Ruo a friend would naturally tolerate his harmless acts of persecution. They might be annoyed but wouldn't truly distance themselves from him because of it, as Lin Ruo always acted with great discretion and was skilled at comforting people.
For such friends, even if their initial intention in befriending him was more about benefit than emotion, Lin Ruo didn't mind investing emotion and other things.
Conversely, if one wasn't willing to pay even such a small price, then no matter what your purpose in approaching Lin Ruo was, it only indicated that you were not suitable to be Lin Ruo's friend, and you would be politely confined by Lin Ruo outside of his truly intimate circle.
You could, of course, still be considered Lin Ruo's "friend," but you would never see Lin Ruo's true self. In your eyes, Lin Ruo might always appear steady, gentle, and polite.
You might still gain some benefits from Lin Ruo, but you should never expect Lin Ruo to think of you, to unconditionally help you when you are in danger, or to avenge you and work hard to save you after your demise.
Lin Ruo distinguished very clearly between different types of friends.
He was never some naive, gullible fool.
So Lin Ruo continued, "A friend like me, would you break off relations?"
"…I actually can't refute you." Listening to Lin Ruo, Klein immediately recalled everything from the past and had to admit that Lin Ruo was right.
Even he himself, though angered by Lin Ruo's persecutions, had never thought of breaking off relations.
Because Lin Ruo was truly a very good friend, and probably not many people in this world could do better than Lin Ruo in terms of being a "friend."
It would be even better if you didn't write my dark history into a book… Klein couldn't help but add in his mind.
"Now that I've finished with my story, tell me about your experiences these past few days. Did you do anything big?" Lin Ruo didn't intend to dwell on this question, putting down the teacup in his hand and asking with a smile.
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