Chapter 269 - 221: Fool

"But, for me... this is more than enough."

Chu Bamboo took a deep breath and began to read, line by line.

"The Golden Dawn has a massive hidden collection of texts. And because I was candid with them, they gave me a great deal of trust, even though they still had some reservations! By reading through them, I quickly understood the root of some of the inconsistencies in their past timelines..."

"It’s not explained very clearly, but I have a suspicion. The so-called ’God’ might be an existence similar to me!"

Chu Bamboo’s heart skipped a beat. But in the next moment, he found that his good brother, worthy of being another version of himself, had anticipated his confusion and explained everything in detail...

"No, I’m not saying he has the ability of Dream Travel. I haven’t detected any possibility that He has an ability similar to mine.

What I am saying is that He might possess some other special power—

Some special power that far surpasses Divine Techniques...

Just like how our Dream Power currently far surpasses so-called Divine Techniques!

But as for what His specific ability is... I don’t know! I’ve pored over every text I could find, and there’s no record of it!

This is actually quite normal. It’s like how the texts within the future Time Club would never record my Dream Power. Even if the members of the Time Club knew the truth of the apocalypse, I would only fob them off with prophecies...

Only core members like Lin Xia and Zhao Shao would I even consider telling! But even then, it would have to be a verbal secret, never to be written down.

It’s precisely because I considered this that I suspected the higher-ups in the Golden Dawn might know part of the truth. So... unfortunately, when I asked Howard, all he did was piously say: All-Powerful!

It made me burst out laughing! All-Powerful? Then why didn’t He kill all the enemies on Mars? What a load of bullshit!"

"..." Chu Bamboo nodded in solemn agreement.

"Alright, but I did have some pleasant surprises.

Let me think... hmm, explaining the relationship between the Golden Dawn and God is a bit complicated... Okay, here’s a rough analogy: If Catholicism is equivalent to the Celestial Court we will build in the future, then perhaps the Golden Dawn is equivalent to the Time Club?

Of course, this is a very poor analogy! The Golden Dawn was founded a long, long time after the death of Jesus...

But you can get the general idea...

God... although I’m still not sure if he’s an Alien or something else, perhaps he’s not entirely bent on destroying the whole world!"

"He might be on the side of saving the world... except, he’s probably a very cruel ruler! A temperamental god!

And right now, I can’t be sure! I don’t know if He is already dead."

Chu Bamboo’s pupils constricted. ’So there’s a chance God is still alive? This matter...’

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Bamboo shook his head. ’It’s just a possibility!’

He was inclined to believe that even if God were truly alive, He might as well be dead. If He could still influence the world from time to time, things wouldn’t be the way they are now.

He continued reading.

"This was also the root of why the Golden Dawn’s attitude changed so drastically the moment I was candid... because the apocalypse I described fit their internal narrative perfectly!

Because I proclaimed myself the Saint and presented irrefutable evidence, they even gave me the codename for the first of the twenty-two tarot cards: the Fool!"

Chu Bamboo silently stared at the words, his mind reeling.

"I formulated a plan for the future! Early stage: go all-out to develop production capabilities. Mid-stage: go all-out to venture into outer space. Late stage: go all-out to establish a settlement base for human civilization in outer space!"

"And if feasible, formulate an escape plan! That is, build as many spaceships as possible and flee with all our might toward the space beyond the Solar System."

"I remain pessimistic about the future! But if I can get the Golden Dawn’s support in this timeline, even if their support is limited... I believe this is the closest we’ve ever come to crossing the doomsday line."

Then...

"I failed. Utterly and completely!"

"?" The sudden turn of events nearly gave Chu Bamboo whiplash. ’Seriously? Are you some kind of defeatist strategist? You were so full of yourself a moment ago, and now you’ve completely flipped?!’

Chu Bamboo instinctively read on and noticed the following handwriting was significantly more chaotic. Apparently... this entry was written under... unstable circumstances?

"Okay, I barely escaped the Witte Clan’s pursuit! Yup, you guessed it. The Witte Clan of Arthur Edward Waite, creator of the tarot cards!

They hold a monopoly on the Pope codename within the Golden Dawn! They possess unimaginable power... or should I say, the Scriptural Interpretation Authority?

They’re one of the three great families within the Golden Dawn, on par with the Raven Clan!

Their leader, the ’Pope,’ is also one of the three giants, alongside James Raven."

"As for why they suddenly turned on me and started hunting me down... I don’t quite get it yet! I have a suspicion it might be because I usurped the Scriptural Interpretation Authority, but... I also feel like it can’t be as simple as it seems on the surface.

Hmm, let me explain in detail what I did... You can think it over for yourself based on what I describe."

"Using the Golden Dawn’s intelligence network, I looked up information on Guan Qianyu! Hmm, this good brother’s wife is truly... a very capable woman! It’s just, I get the slight feeling that she and I wouldn’t necessarily get along...

I have no idea how my good brother can stand a woman like that! Could it be because she has a pretty face?"

Chu Bamboo: "???"

’Hey, be a little more specific...’ Chu Bamboo’s eyes glazed over. Then, as expected, the text cut off!

After a brief silence, Chu Bamboo was so exasperated he laughed. It had to be said, this was exactly what he expected from his other self.

When it came to fundamental truths, these other selves from different timelines would definitely explain things in detail!

But when it was information that he was personally interested in but wasn’t important to the world, they would probably mess with him on purpose!

To put it bluntly, his other selves definitely held a grudge against him!

"Aside from that, I found a Chinese aerospace expert in the White-headed Eagle nation: a Mr. Hodges! This man’s abilities are... beyond imagination.

How should I put it... although he doesn’t seem to have much of a reputation globally, he’s on the list of people strictly forbidden from leaving the White-headed Eagle’s borders!"

"He worked at a very famous rocket company in his early years! But later, he was kicked out for questioning the development path of that Mr. Ma. He was even suppressed in various ways!

Old Ma probably wanted to tame the man, but he’s too stubborn, so he’s having a pretty miserable time right now... And don’t ask me why, after being kicked out by Old Ma, other organizations like NASA didn’t recruit him!

Of course he went to NASA, he even worked there! But after solving some of their problems, he was kicked out... just because he’s Chinese! You know how things are over in the White-headed Eagle nation now! The more capable you are, the more helpless you become."

"Howard Raven told me: if we can get this man’s full support, then combined with some of the high-end technology I have, perhaps... we could successfully land on the moon within five years!

I want to see this man’s ability and character for myself! If he’s truly reliable... I hope to bring him into the Time Club in the future."

Chu Bamboo took a sharp breath, his heart stirred by waves of emotion.

Five years! Just five years.

Five years might sound like a long time... but the crucial point was that his other self no longer had his golden finger, the ability to cross timelines!

Under these circumstances, even with some technology that surpassed the era, to land on the moon in such a short time... and without the backing of a national power!

Just how exceptionally talented would one have to be?!

Then...

"The cause of my utter failure was this: when I went to visit him, he was assassinated...

Hodges wasn’t against returning to the Divine Continent; he simply wasn’t allowed to! After he even hinted at the idea, his daughter was kidnapped... He promised me that if I could rescue his daughter and get him safely back to the country, he would help me accomplish anything that didn’t violate universal values—after all, his wife was already dead! His daughter was his only remaining family.

Originally, I was planning to use the Golden Dawn’s connections to rescue his daughter!

It’s just that...

After this assassination, I was inexplicably framed as the murderer of Mr. Hodges, and was also accused of stealing a large amount of classified intelligence from the ’White-headed Eagle Aviation Program’!

And so began my great escape!"

"I just can’t understand... Even if the Witte Clan was dead set on killing me, would the other families just stand by and watch? The Raven Clan... that SOB, James, that son of a bitch... Ugh, let’s not talk about that jinx of a guy!

During my escape, I didn’t even dare to contact Howard, let alone James...

This country should be a complete wreck by now, but... heheh. I can only say that even in this state, when the White-headed Eagle nation truly mobilizes, its power is utterly terrifying!

Though I suspect it might not be the White-headed Eagle nation targeting me, but just the Witte Clan. The other families might just be watching from the sidelines.

I traveled arduously for half a month, crossed half the White-headed Eagle nation, and finally made my way to South Mexico. In the end, after Zhao Shao paid a hefty price, I barely managed to make it back to the Divine Continent."

"But, as you can imagine... yes, what followed was an unimaginable, all-out siege, from finance, to politics, to business... a full-scale assault!"