Chapter 268 - 220: Good Bro: Starting by Exposing My Saint Identity to Golden Dawn

Chu Bamboo questioned Nuwa No. 17 again. This time, he asked for intelligence related to Li Kang, Ning Linglong, Guan Fei, Wall Announcements, and the shantytown redevelopment district.

Ultimately, he came to a conclusion.

’For now, it looks the same as the last few times! Although the butterfly effect has caused massive changes, what I did before has still been largely preserved.’

Chu Bamboo mused. In this timeline, Zhou Ze was still dead, and he had still successfully secured the official redevelopment project for the shantytown... He had even successfully brought Hai Mingyue under his control yesterday, allowing him to indirectly influence and control the Hai Group.

Even most of the intelligence he had gathered from his repeated resets was still usable.

’On second thought, even when I entered the Ruin Timeline, Li Kang, Guan Fei, and the others still existed! Logically, with the timeline changing to that extent, the butterfly effect should have erased them all... So...’

Thoughts churned in his mind. Chu Bamboo lowered his head and stared at his palm. ’Is it because of me?’

’Is it because I exist in the past and future simultaneously? Or is it because history itself has inertia? Or perhaps, it’s like in Doraemon, which I watched as a kid—no matter how history is changed, the people who are supposed to appear will appear in the end?’

’Whatever! The future will provide an answer eventually.’ Chu Bamboo pushed the matter to the back of his mind and stared grimly at the Little Mushroom Head before him. "Nuwa No. 17, show me my diary!"

In the next instant, a screen of light appeared.

Chu Bamboo’s gaze swept across the screen. As he expected...

"After waking up, the first thing I did was summon Lin Xia and Zhao Shao. Together with Z, I told the three of them the truth about the future—the partial truth about the Extraordinary, the Golden Dawn, and the final apocalypse!"

"The three of them... or rather, only Zhao Shao was truly shocked? After all, Lin Xia already knew, and Z’s shock was just a simulation!"

"Zhao Shao believed me quickly, no matter how unbelievable it all was! It explained all the mysteries surrounding me. After I extended the invitation, he joined the Time Club without hesitation!"

"At Lin Xia’s suggestion, we established the membership regulations for the Time Club. The most important rule: my absolute authority!"

"No matter how dire the circumstances, no matter how much the world condemns them, all I have to say is: ’This is part of the plan!’ Then, even if I can’t give a precise answer or explain why I’m doing something, the members of the Time Club must carry out my every command without fail!"

"In exchange, I promised that in some future, I would lead them to survival! I would lead their families and their children to survival... helping them overcome that desperate future."

"After a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Shao agreed."

’...Is this a reference to The Three-Body Problem?’ Chu Bamboo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, realizing he’d become a Wall-Facer in this timeline. ’Still, it does make sense!’

"Zhao Shao was adamantly against me going to America! He felt that going there to make contact with the Golden Dawn was too risky!"

"He truly is a genius. Once he was free from all constraints, he immediately came up with many incredible suggestions."

"These included, but were not limited to, the idea that there was more room for expansion in Russia and Ukraine than in America!"

"The situation in both countries meant that their regulations on weapons sales were looser than we’d imagined."

"That’s right. Zhao Shao thought our previous idea—getting the Divine Continent’s approval to start a security company—was too tame."

"He was a fervent supporter of the Cyberpunk project and thought we should just establish a weapons-procurement channel with the Mao Bear and then set up a security conglomerate in Southeast Asia!"

"He believed that by doing this, we could gain immense influence in Southeast Asia by ’26—in just one year! And by ’27, we could begin to establish our own base of operations—a Cyberpunk Society rooted in a single location."

"I partially agreed with this decision! But I still had to go to America."

"Zhao Shao ultimately chose to use Z. Through big data analysis, he sifted through Z’s millions of users and found several talented individuals with experience doing business with the Mao Bear! He then sent invitations to these people."

"Coach Yuan and I went to America!"

"The usual routine: release a song, become a track and field champion, become world-famous, and then embark on a path of rapid expansion!"

"Using Z as a front, I established a new company in America and accepted an investment from the Golden Dawn! Behind the scenes, I got an American green card and formally joined the Golden Dawn."

"I openly revealed my identities as a Transcendent, a Body Cultivator, and a Cultivator..."

"I know you’re confused!"

"But based on the last timeline, the Golden Dawn didn’t seem to be an absolute enemy. I had my reservations, but since this was all trial and error anyway, I decided to give it a shot."

A jolt went through Chu Bamboo. He subconsciously straightened his back; he had to read this part carefully. He had a strong premonition that he was about to learn some real secrets.

"The Golden Dawn was naturally thrown into chaos! In response, I just came out and said it: I have the power of Precognition, and I’ve foreseen that the apocalypse is coming!"

"I was actually prepared for the worst... After all, before this, the Golden Dawn looked very much like they might be connected to the apocalypse! The Mars incident made me doubt that a bit, so I took a gamble!"

"And fortunately, the gamble paid off."

"I became the number one ranked member of the Golden Dawn’s tarot cards: The Fool! I know what you’re thinking, but the thing is, tarot cards exist in the Real World, and they really were created by the Golden Dawn! Although at the time, they were called the Golden Dawn..."

Chu Bamboo’s brow twitched as he subconsciously recalled the information he’d researched about the real-world Golden Dawn.

The Golden Dawn was an organization founded in London, United Kingdom, in 1888 by William Robert Woodman, William Wayne Wescott, and Samuel Liddell Mathers—three Kabbalah scholars who were also members of the Freemasonry and Rosicrucian Order.

It is considered one of the most influential mystical orders on Western occultism in the 20th century, renowned in the West for integrating the secret knowledge of Jewish Kabbalah, Islam, Hinduism, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and even ancient Celtic esoteric traditions, and for developing systematic courses on tarot cards, Divine Techniques, and spirit-summoning rituals.

And the Waite Tarot Deck, which includes "The Fool," "Justice," "The Hanged Man," and others, was designed by Golden Dawn members Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Coleman Smith and first published by the Rider Company in 1909.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chu Bamboo read on.

"James Raven is the third-ranked member: the Priestess! Mmm... I’m sure he’s a guy! He’s transgender."

"?" Chu Bamboo tried with all his might to keep a straight face, but he just couldn’t hold it. A thousand words formed a single thought. ’What the fuck!’

’So you guys in the Golden Dawn are pulling this kind of shit too?!’

"What’s even harder to stomach is... James Raven! He seems to be a little interested in me... I think I finally understand why the bros are either extremely hostile toward James Raven or just don’t want to talk about him! Fuck... But what can I do? I’m this handsome, and I can sing... Oh, and James Raven is a fan of mine! So... ugh. Shaking with anger. When will men ever be able to stand up for themselves?"

"I’ve completely lost all hope for this utterly bizarre American society!"

"Thankfully, my nominal status is higher than his, and I’m stronger than him... Otherwise, I really don’t dare to imagine what someone who used to frequent Luo Island would do!"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

There were just so many things to ridicule that he didn’t even know where to begin.

"I became one of the Golden Dawn’s shareholders! Of course, the Golden Dawn itself isn’t a unified group. I’ll repeat: it’s a very fractured secret society..."

"And, probably because of my race, they only acknowledged my status as the Golden Dawn’s Saint and promised they wouldn’t place any limits on my development in the Europe and America Region!"

"As for conquering the world, I’ll still have to do that myself."

"The idea of being like Howard Raven, making one phone call and getting parachuted into an embassy as an aide... yeah, I can forget about that!"

"Um, but if I pay him enough, I can commission Howard to help me with some things! So, that’s more or less the situation?"