Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 118: Luo Lin starts to blame others

After painfully losing a gold coin, Klein ultimately failed to deliver that friendship-breaking punch to Rowling's face. He rolled his eyes at Rowling before continuing to settle the score: "So, when did you know I was a time traveler?"

Luo Lin blinked, put the gold coin away, and smiled awkwardly, saying, "Probably when we first met?"

Klein's expression froze. He hadn't expected Rowling to figure out his identity so early. He looked at him in disbelief and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

He shouldn't have revealed any flaws when he first met Jack.

Luo Lin took another bite of his apple before slowly saying, "Is it possible that I named myself Jack Jones so that I could quickly identify others of my kind?"

Klein was stunned for a moment, then instantly understood what was going on.

If Jack is really a naive person, then he may have chosen such a name for fun, or to commemorate the past. But since Jack is not a naive person, but a serious white-cut black, then he obviously has his own purpose in choosing such a name, such as screening out time travelers.

When Klein heard the name for the first time, although he tried to control his expression, he was not a clown after all, so it was normal for him to reveal some flaws.

As for the fact that "Jack Jones" was a pseudonym, Klein was not surprised. After all, the possibility of such a name being a real name was too low. It was obvious at first glance that it was a pseudonym just like his "Sherlock Moriarty", which was chosen to facilitate operations.

After learning that Rowling had identified his identity as a time traveler during their first meeting, Klein instantly understood something and looked at Rowling.

"That's why you were so eager to answer my questions about the Antigonus family. You weren't simply out of enthusiasm, but rather wanted to further confirm my identity."

"This is normal, right? Once you've locked onto a suspected member of the same species, you'll definitely want to confirm it further. Isn't it the same for you?" Luo Lin said this without feeling guilty at all, and even felt very justified.

Because that was the truth. He had known about Klein's identity as a time traveler for a long time but had always pretended not to know. But wasn't Klein the same?

Klein was speechless, feeling guilty, and then he heard Rowling continue:

"After all, I can't be sure whether you are a good person or a bad person. What if you are a bad person like Russell? I don't want to be backstabbed by a time traveler."

"Well, even though Russell is a bad guy, he wouldn't backstab his fellow countryman." Klein instinctively retorted. After all, he had received a lot of favors from Russell through his diary, so he naturally had to say something good about his senior. Especially since Klein really didn't think Russell would backstab his fellow countryman.

"I'm just giving an example." Luo Lin waved his hand. He then took a bite of the apple, chewed it, and swallowed it before continuing, "I'm sure you have concerns about this too!"

Klein was silent for a second, then nodded honestly.

He was indeed concerned about this, so he did not recognize Jack as his relative immediately after discovering that he was a time traveler.

Klein then thought of something else and said, "So this is why you pretend to be a naive person?"

"Right!" Rowling nodded. He clearly knew what Klein was thinking. A hint of pride lingered in his smile as he said, "A fellow countryman who seems naive and innocent can quickly determine whether you're a good person or a bad one, right? Besides, such a persona can minimize others' suspicions, making it easier for me to integrate into an unfamiliar circle." "But..." Klein suddenly thought of something and said quietly, "Didn't you say earlier that you'd judged me a good person from the start and had no suspicions about me?"

Rowling, however, remained unfazed. He took another bite of the apple, looked at Klein, and said, "My intuition does tell me you're a good person, but who can completely trust their intuition? It always requires further confirmation."

Klein... Klein was convinced by this reason, because he wasn't the kind of person who would completely trust his intuition. Especially in such a major matter, some testing was indeed necessary.

Luo Lin continued, "And after I roughly confirmed that you were a good person, I actually stopped playing the role of a naive person, especially after leaving Tingen. For example, when I faced Xiaohong, I didn't act like a naive person at all. I thought you could see that."

Klein was speechless again. Could he say that it was because his early filters were too strong that he rationalized some of Jack's previous behavior?

I can only say that stereotypes are very harmful.

"So, in the final analysis, it's because you, Klein, have used too much of a naive filter for me. Otherwise, you would have discovered long ago that I'm a white-on-black!" Rowling began to shift the blame with confidence.

Klein… Klein didn't know what to say for a moment. He raised his hand and rubbed his temple, feeling a slight headache from the overload of information.

Klein then thought of something and asked, "Since you're not some naive person, why did you use the Time Stone on Mr. Azik..." As soon as he asked this, Klein actually thought of the answer himself.

Luo Lin looked at him the next second and asked doubtfully, "Is it strange to help your friend reunite with his family?"

"It's not surprising. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked this question." Klein shook his head and apologized slightly. After all, his question was simply questioning Jack's feelings for Mr. Azik.

"It's okay, I understand. After all, I'm a fraudster!" Rowling waved his hand and said very generously.

His attitude made Klein feel relieved, but also a little helpless. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "What about the Fool's Honorable Name? Given your personality, you wouldn't accidentally say the Fool's Honorable Name, right?"

If Jack really was a naive person, then it wouldn't be surprising that he caused such a mess. But since he wasn't, Klein had to ask him why he did this.

Luo Lin's expression immediately turned serious, and he said, "I really can't say I was careless. In fact, I pronounced that honorific name on purpose."

"Why?" Klein was confused and nervous, afraid of getting an answer like "Because I know you are a fool" from Rowling.

That's too social.

Rowling could naturally see what Klein was thinking, which made him a little eager to do something, but after thinking about it, Rowling decided to wait until later to do so.

Luo Lin simply glanced at Klein and said, "Because there shouldn't be any fools in this era, and that fool's honorific name... don't you think it's very indicative? I told you, I dreamed of that gray fog, so the moment I saw that fool's honorific name, I knew he must have some connection with the time traveler, so I chose to test him."

(End of this chapter)