Chapter 50: Confess for Leniency

‘Kal’tsit, are you there?

We really need to sit down and have a good talk now.’

You unconditionally trust the decisions you made in the past, but now you are starting to seriously doubt your own mental state.

Throughout the entire return journey, you have been staring blankly at the vehicle’s ceiling.

Rationally speaking, the quickest and safest method right now is to march straight to Kal’tsit, confess everything, and reconcile the details of this mess.

But you cannot afford to be rational.

You snuck out of the landship, and Silence is currently risking her neck to cover for you in the Medical Department!

The ordinary citizens of Terra only need to worry about whether the world will be consumed by that gray space.

You, on the other hand, have to worry about being hung upside down from the ship’s bridge by a certain ancient feline!

In the front row, you are agonizing over the rise and fall of civilizations.

In the back row, Robin has stiffly begun to bond with the others over casual hobbies.

“I usually like watching movies and things like that.

I actually learned most of my combat techniques from the action scenes.”

“Wow, that is so cool!

Kafka likes you already.”

‘If it were the past me, those two people should not be dead.

It is just that I do not know who holds the authority over Originium right now…’

“Mr.

Mountain, do you not watch these kinds of things?”

“I must apologize.

While incarcerated in Mansfeld, I mostly restricted my reading to classical literature.”

“Isn’t that a little boring?”

“They are actually quite fascinating.

They allow me to shift my perspective on many complex issues.”

‘However, the absolute priority is to first determine the underlying principles behind the existence of that gray sea.

The past me would absolutely never grant it an independent will…’

“Miss Robin, what kind of movies do you usually watch?

I want to learn too!”

“Ah, for example, Phantom Thief Robin.

It is still really embarrassing to say the name of a film that shares my own name out loud…”

“What is wrong with that!

We will not laugh at you!”

“I am also quite interested.

Once I am officially no longer a prisoner, I will be sure to try your recommendations.”

‘What are the three major forces in that film?

If it were me, the first thing I should consider is Laterano’s Heavenly Fulcrum, and secondly, the Preservers?

No, that is not right.

I also have to account for my own twisted mental state back then.

Perhaps the Preserver Project would be my first choice…’

“What else, what else?”

“Ah, there is also the massively popular Masked Armorless Union from Kazimierz.

The action choreography is very exciting.”

‘Calm down, calm down.

Stop eavesdropping on the casual conversation in the back seat.

You are currently considering world-class existential problems…’

“My favorite character is the Platinum-rank position, the Demon King of Time.”

You cannot take it anymore.

You absolutely have to comment on this.

You suddenly whip your head around and insert yourself into the conversation.

“Wait a minute.

Why is it called Masked Armorless Union?

Shouldn’t it be Masked Rider?”

Robin looks at you with genuine surprise.

“Doctor, you like watching these too?

It seems it was indeed called that originally.

But due to the complexity of the later plotlines and the protagonist not acting righteous enough, the production studio was sued by the Kazimierz General Chamber of Commerce.”

“The reason given was that it negatively affected the public image of the Radiant Knights.

So, the later installments were forcibly changed to feature the Armorless Union, that urban legend dark organization, as the main faction.”

‘…Unexpectedly rigorous in places where it absolutely shouldn’t be, Hypergryph.’You quickly turn back around in your seat.’No, you must think about the survival of the Terra continent right now!

Doctor, oh Doctor, you cannot let your attention be diverted by such irrelevant pop culture trivia again!

Gray Sea…

Gray Sea…’

In the back, Robin continues her cinematic lecture.

“If we are talking about movies native to Columbia, then Captain Columbia, Iron Man D32, and Master Strange are also very famous blockbuster works.”

You completely lose your grip on reality.

To hell with the world crisis!

You cannot help but spin around again.

“I can accept the first two, but what in the world is Master Strange!”

“Doctor Strange sounds like a brilliant scholar with magical powers.

Master Strange sounds like a miserable graduate student who had to resort to cheap parlor tricks because their thesis plagiarism rate was too high and they couldn’t get it past the review board!”

“Does Terra also have massive academic fraud scandals!”

“Why can’t it just be Doctor Strange?

Has the copyright for the word Doctor been bought out by some megacorporation!”

Robin taps her chin in thought.

“That is not it.

It is said that during the initial filming period, the Sarkaz had not completely fractured yet and had fought a brutal war with Columbia.

Some high-level government officials, for whatever reason, were extremely wary of the word Doctor, so the title simply did not pass the censorship board.”

“According to the director’s published memoirs, the official reason the first version was pulled from theaters was that the title contained extreme horror elements.”

She offers you a kind, comforting smile.

“It is okay.

Columbia almost fell as a nation back then, so the higher-ups were completely neurotic and allergic to everything.

Maybe Doctor is just the name of some terrifying historical figure or something?”

You sit back down peacefully, staring straight ahead.

‘Haha…

that is perfectly fine then.”What Doctor?

I do not know any Doctor.

Master Strange actually sounds pretty good, and it has great evolutionary potential for sequels.

Good, what a fantastic name!”I will say it again, the world-building in this Terra is terrifyingly rigorous!”Speaking of which, I do not think I have actually told them my codename yet…”Hmm.

Having been dropped into this world for a few months, I have already brushed off Kal’tsit three separate times, scammed Robin once, left Amiya at headquarters for two-thirds of our field operations, fooled W until now, and even used the Elite Operators as disposable tools before tossing them aside immediately…”It will be fine, right?

The people of Terra are of such high moral quality, it absolutely must be fine, right?”Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid.

You possess the strongest strategic brain in all of Terra.

It will absolutely not explode.

Stay calm, stay calm…”Calm my ass!

It is already chapter fifty, and there is not a single living person who can know my plans in advance.

What difference is there between me right now and the Evil Spirit of Babel!”In Kal’tsit’s eyes, my recent behavior is basically a walking horror story, isn’t it!’

Your eyes instantly lose focus.

Your body goes completely limp, and you silently, drowsily endure the remainder of the journey back to Rhodes Island.

In a thoroughly foul mood, you casually open that Lonely Housewife Late Night Chat application on your terminal again.

This time, after thinking for a moment, you punch in the code 2906.

Just as you expected, it still does not open.

You no longer hold any real hope for it.

You are purely trying to divert your own attention from your impending doom.

‘This will not do…

I really need to confess just a little bit of the truth.

If I keep hiding everything like this, sooner or later I am going to be minced into meat sauce…’

After making up your mind, you look out the window at the gradually enlarging shadow of the Rhodes Island landship.

Gathering all your courage, you bravely…

Slide out of your seat and hide underneath it.

“Shh.

Do not tell them I am in this car too.

I do not want to be used as a feline grip strengthener again.”

‘Just kidding!

I am the Lord Evil Spirit of Babel, calculating everything without a single omission.

How could I possibly fail to hide my tracks!”It is just the Medical Department duo.

They wouldn’t jump out and point me out to the higher-ups, would they?’Robin looks completely shocked at the young man curled up into a pathetic ball under the front passenger seat.’There is workplace bullying in a pharmaceutical company?

Has he been living such a hard, miserable life all this time?”That makes sense.

Maybe he was heavily ostracized by management for being too smart and physically weak, which is why he risked his own life to personally infiltrate the Mansfeld prison.”Even though he was in such terrible danger, he still went out of his way to help me.

He really is a kind-hearted person at his core!’

Kazdel, the Royal Court Council.

A representative of the Shapeshifter Cluster is curiously questioning Theresis.

“So you just sent Duq’arael over to them just like that?

You should know that when it comes to infiltration and espionage, we are the undisputed experts.”

Theresis speaks with cold indifference.

“He has clashed with us for far too long.

Have you not had your perfect disguises seen through enough times by now?

Sometimes, only the completely unexpected approach can be effective against a mind like his.”

The Nachzehrer King looks deeply at the Regent.

“Then do you know what kind of fatal situation Duq’arael will fall into the moment his identity is seen through?”

Theresis’s tone grows heavy.

“I know better than anyone…

but this is a necessary sacrifice.”

“For our great cause, I need to take this gamble.”

The Shapeshifter Cluster narrows their myriad eyes.

“Really?

Theresis, you had better not have already betrayed us.”

“There is no need to worry.” Theresis stands up, sharply adjusting his heavy cloak.

“I know better than anyone just how dangerous he truly is.

It is impossible, and it is destined that he will never walk the same path as us again.”

At that exact moment, the massive monitor inside the Royal Court suddenly lights up.

It is accompanied by the incredibly distinct, upbeat Babel six-star promotion sound effect.

A much younger Theresis appears on the big screen, looking somewhat uneasy but deeply moved.

“Doctor, you actually trust me this much?”

On the screen, the supposedly evil and dangerous Doctor is solemnly pinning a medal symbolizing an Elite 2 promotion onto the young Sarkaz’s chest.

“Of course, Theresis.

I trust you more than my own eyes.”

“I will certainly not let you down!”

The Columbian-manufactured big screen, purchased by the Sarkaz Royal Court at an exorbitant cost, boasts extremely high resolution.

Every single ancient monster present clearly sees the excited, deeply flattered look shining in the eyes of that young Theresis.

Theresis stands frozen in absolute silence.

‘Damn it, why hasn’t that useless Nachzehrer fixed the internal network system yet!

Are you kidding me!’

[Rhodes’s Note: The Doctor’s rant about “Zhai Tianlin” refers to a real-world Chinese actor who infamously ruined his career during a live stream by asking “What is CNKI?” (China’s primary academic database), exposing that his Ph.D.

and academic papers were entirely fraudulent and plagiarized.

The Doctor is joking that “Master Strange” must be a victim of a similar academic fraud scandal, unable to legally use the title of “Doctor.”]

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!

to use the links!)