Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

Longjin I did not finish his words.

But just like when Charles hesitated to speak before, others knew what he meant without him having to say it clearly.

So the pastor took a small step forward, nodded, and looked a little heavy.

“Well,” she said, “the two investigators…are still missing.”

At this point, she and the witch beside her couldn't help but look at Charles, wanting to seek his opinion on whether or not to inform Longkin I of the results of their investigation.

Charles seemed to have predicted her and the witch's actions, so he looked Longjin I in the eye without dodging, and continued with the priest's words:

"In fact, the two investigators did not return to the White Tower. That is why we came to the White Tower to take over their investigation."

As he spoke, he observed Long Jin I's expression:

"In fact, our mission is to find out why the two investigators disappeared and where they went."

"..."

Longjin I fell silent.

He did not immediately try to clear himself or the entire Diesel organization of suspicion. On the contrary, he was even considerate enough to put himself in the perspective of Charles and his group.

"If the two investigators did not return to the White Tower, then indeed, we in Diesel are highly suspected. After all, they had been to Diesel before they disappeared, and even carried out missions here..."

The emperor shook his head:

"But I really don't know what happened and why they disappeared."

"They did visit me and talk to me, but I couldn't hear anything unusual or suggestive from their conversations. At least, before the two investigators said goodbye to me, their behavior was very normal."

Charles thought that if the two investigators were normal, then using the process of elimination, could he come to the conclusion that "the emperor they met was the abnormal one"?

However, Longjin I had no such idea at all, and he never seemed to question whether something would go wrong for him.

But at least, in the end, Longjin I finally provided them with a very valuable piece of information:

"But... the second investigator, the young man, gave me a letter and asked me to give it to the investigator who visited Diesel after him."

[To be continued]

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62. Mother of the child

Longjin I took out the letter and gave it to the witch.

The witch quickly handed the letter to Charles.

Charles took the letter, was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked:

"You haven't opened this letter before?"

"Why should I open this letter?" The old emperor was surprised by the brave man's words. "I am not the owner of this letter. I am just keeping it for him. When its real owner shows up, I will hand it over."

"..."

The hero nodded.

He once again gained new insights into the rumors about Longjin I circulating among the Disel people.

Before, they had only heard about Longjin I's great kindness and generosity, but now after meeting the emperor, they found that he was indeed worthy of those praises...

If, as they guessed, Longjin I really saved his kingdom thirty years ago.

But in fact, all the Diesel people may have turned into a tall and thin ghost. Does this result reveal the truth - that the emperor failed to save his country, and he himself has become some kind of indescribable monster.

or……

The person who made a wish to the wishing machine to save Diesel was not Longkin I, but someone else?

Is it Crazy John? That doesn't make sense. If it was Crazy John, why didn't he tell the truth now that he was sober?

With such doubts in mind, the brave man opened the letter that the second investigator left for his successor.

The letter read:

"Hello, my successor.

After I arrived in this country called Diesel and conducted a series of investigations, I began to think about a question. In fact, until now, that question still bothers me -

'After me, which investigator will the White Tower send to this damn country to complete the task that Mr. Schilling and I failed to complete?'

Some legendary investigator, I guess?

Because Diesel's abnormality has probably deteriorated to a level that cannot be solved by non-legendary investigators.

Oh, by the way, by the way, before that... maybe, maybe I should introduce myself to you.

My name is Ivan Thorne. I am from the Principality of Ceylon. My father is Earl Thorne. Besides me, his illegitimate son, he has... dozens of other children.

My father doesn't love me, he doesn't even know I exist. I have been dependent on my mother since I was a child. In my father's eyes, she is a lowly commoner. She has nothing except a good-looking appearance.

After being thrown away by Earl Thorne because he got tired of her, my mother, who was pregnant with me, could only survive by washing clothes and gluing some cardboard boxes together every day.

My birth further increased her burden.

Before I came of age, my mother had to work three or four odd jobs to support our lives. Overwork gradually led to many illnesses. When I was young, I was often awakened in the middle of the night by the suppressed, painful coughing of my mother, who was only one bed away from me.

Later, I heard from my mother's co-worker, Mrs. Margaret, who lived in the next room, that my mother had fainted at work more than once due to hunger and malnutrition. She was also diagnosed with a terminal illness and would not live long because of coughing up blood.

But finally she got out of bed.

Unbeknownst to me, she loved me more than anyone else.

As far as I know, she has always been very strict with me. She worked hard to support my studies, hoping that I could become a noble like my father in the future. She even begged my father for this.

After she was beaten and driven away several times by the servants of the Earl's Mansion, she finally met my father again...

The cold-blooded, heartless, and arrogant Earl Thorne.

And Lord Thorne didn't even recognize her until my mother shouted his name and took out the ring that she had kept well from her pocket, and then Lord Thorne finally remembered with difficulty who she was.

Then he waved his hand and ordered people to drive my mother away, preferably to a place where no one could see her so as not to dirty his eyes.

If my mother hadn't told him that she gave birth to me, I'm afraid he would never bother to look at my mother again in his life.

Later, Earl Thorne took me to his residence.

But he never thought of training me as his heir. He has never lacked heirs. I have dozens of brothers and sisters. No matter what, it is not my turn to inherit his title.

But therein lies the problem. Earl Thorne has too many heirs, but only a few of them are qualified and capable. He hopes to eliminate those "defective products", and for this reason he does not mind showing some kindness to illegitimate children like me.

And at this time, I happened to be detected to have excellent magical talent.

Earl Thorne is becoming more and more fond of me, so my mother no longer has to do odd jobs to make a living. If nothing unexpected happens, I might be able to fulfill my mother's wish, inherit the title of Earl Thorne, and become a noble like him.

But fate always has unexpected things.

I don’t understand why I want to become a disgusting noble like Earl Thorne. I don’t understand why my mother wanted me to become like him even though she became like that because of a noble like Earl Thorne...

I don't want to be him, I won't be him.

So I joined the White Tower - I wanted to make my mother live a happy life, I wanted to change..."

The handwriting on the letter suddenly became sloppy, the letter paper was crumpled and punctured, and large patches of ink soaked it, as if the writer was on the verge of madness and had little reason left. So, with great sadness and despair, the young man poured all his emotions onto the fragile letter paper.

"I'm afraid... there won't be another chance."

Under this line of text that was obviously added later and was particularly messy and confusing, after a few blank lines, the young man's handwriting became clear and stable again. He did not talk about his origins again. Instead, he began to describe his experience in Diesel:

"After Diesel conducted a period of investigation, like Mr. Schilling, I quickly noticed something was wrong with Diesel:

First, all Diesel people have some abnormal, almost fanatical feelings for their emperor.

Second, there is a suspected limited wish-granting machine within Diesel.

Third, those black shadows - I suspect that those black shadows that appeared in Diesel were excavated from the ruins of the previous civilization along with the limited wishing machine.

Isn't it too coincidental? The limited wishing machine was just discovered from the ruins of a previous civilization, and then the dark shadows attacked Diesel. Longkin I and his servant John didn't even have time to do anything before Diesel was destroyed by the dark shadows.

Then, perhaps the emperor made a wish to the limited wishing machine, and all the Diesel people who were contaminated by the black shadow returned to normal, and the country that was reduced to ruins by the disaster returned to its former peace and tranquility.

That's all I can conclude from my own investigation, Mr. Schilling's belongings, and Crazy John's testimony.

But is this the truth? Have all the Diesel people who were contaminated by the black shadow really returned to normal?

I do not think so.

If the pollution caused by the black shadow can be easily eliminated by relying on the limited wishing machine, then why was the black shadow discovered along with the limited wishing machine?

I even have a guess - the unsolved mystery of why the ancient civilization was interrupted, which has been debated throughout the academic community, may be revealed today, in Diesel.

I guess that the Diesel people did not return to normal due to the emperor's wish, their "symptoms" were just suppressed by that wish.

To do this, I am going to do an experiment.”

Below this, two lines apart, Ivan Thorne's handwriting became sloppy again, clearly revealing his excitement and excitement:

“The experiment was successful!

The wishing machine was indeed unable to eliminate the influence of the black shadow on the Diesel people. Once the stimulation they received exceeded a certain threshold, they would be "awakened" and they would quickly transform into black shadows!

No! Maybe they had already been transformed into shadows, and all I did was wake them up...

Wait! So that's how it is... I think I understand why Mr. Till locked up Diesel... Oh, my God..."

The handwriting suddenly stopped briefly.

This is an especially heavy blank space. After this blank space, there are several lines of text that have been crossed out. The criss-crossing lines representing struggle and hesitation cover it, making it impossible to see its original content.

Finally, the investigator made a decision, and the handwriting continued:

"I will conduct a second experiment. May the mother bless your child..."

Two lines later, he wrote:

"Mom, please forgive me, this is something I...have to do."

Another large area was left blank, and then the handwriting of the "child" became chaotic, making it impossible to guess his condition. It was like the claw marks of a wild animal, or an oil painting that presented a madman's nightmare.

In the midst of the oncoming madness, the brave man heard Ivan Thorne's last words:

"I... Shadow... Pollution...

The experiment... was successful...

I saw...a dream...we...were sleeping in a dream...

Oh my god… that’s a wishing machine… I’m dreaming…

We are all in His dream...sleeping...

Don't wake up... the shadow...

Wishing Well... My successor... Please go to the Wishing Well... Dive into the Wishing Well... The real Diesel... Wish...

Remember…the sleepers are awake…the awake…are mad…

My... time... sanity... madness... I am... pre-civilized... no... I am Ivan Thorne... I cannot... sleep... I have not yet finished my... huh... shadow... oh... Ivan Thorne..."

The investigator's handwriting stops here.

All that was left was the call that came from instinct, anchoring the last bit of humanity he had left.

At the beginning of life and at the end of life, the child calls out the same name:

"Mother……"

The investigator wrote these two simple words over and over again on the letter paper with sticky and messy strokes.

The handwriting overlapped again and again; the fragile letter paper was almost soaked by the ink and torn by the pen tip, and had solidified into a black color that made it difficult to distinguish the details.

Mother's child fell asleep.

The letter he left to his successor also ended here.

[To be continued]

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