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"Good boy!"
When someone was saying words to coax a child while stroking the silver-white great serpent, regardless of how the person and the serpent felt, Klein, who was beside them, definitely broke out in a cold sweat.
After all, Lin Ruo's series of words and actions were quite audacious.
However, while worried, Klein also had a nagging thought in his heart—judging by the situation, could this Will Auceptin also be one of Lin Ruo's good friends?
Although he had fully accepted Lin Ruo's identity as a social butterfly, at this moment, Klein thought of Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate who served beside the True Creator, and Lin Ruo's recent statement, "Their competition has nothing to do with me," and he couldn't help but genuinely marvel at Lin Ruo's powerful social skills.
Klein even became curious: among Lin Ruo's former friends, were there still any existences like the Angel of Fate and Will Auceptin, who were destined to fight to the death? If so, how did Lin Ruo manage their relationships?
Like facing the Angel of Fate and Will Auceptin, not helping either side?
Klein, who didn't understand Lin Ruo's past, naturally wouldn't know that even a social butterfly like Lin Ruo had always found this issue very troublesome. Therefore, in most cases, he would try his best to avoid befriending those involved in Sequence disputes.
For example, back then, if he hadn't been too disappointed with Ouroboros, Lin Ruo wouldn't have even bothered to contact Will.
He absolutely disliked facing the problem of choosing between two friends.
But even with intentional avoidance, Lin Ruo still inevitably encountered such problems. After a series of psychological changes, his attitude basically became the same as his attitude towards the competition between Ouroboros and Will:
Whatever happens, I can't control you anymore. You can fight all you want, I'm just going to lie flat. At worst, I'll help out the unlucky one who loses in the end, ensuring they can still retire with a high Sequence!
In fact, this attitude is also one of the reasons why Lin Ruo never fails in making friends—who could refuse a friend who can be a logistics provider, a healer, and even a frontline attacker, and most importantly, someone who will help you when you seek assistance in difficulties, never cheats you, and will always find a way to help you out in the very end?
Of course, if it were truly unfortunate and one friend killed another, if it was a normal competition, Lin Ruo would be sad and pained, but he would also accept it.
Because that was their mutual choice.
But if it was a betrayal like that of the three gods in the past, Lin Ruo would immediately turn hostile. Normal competition is about relying on one's own abilities; using a friend's trust to backstab them is betrayal!
It's the same with the Pathway of the Leaper. Lin Ruo can accept a friend leaping Pathways when there's no other choice, but he cannot accept a friend doing so when they clearly know that leaping to a certain Pathway will inevitably kill another friend.
Normal Sequence disputes are unavoidable, different in nature from premeditated leaping and backstabbing.
Of course, Lin Ruo basically didn't remember these things, but he was indeed troubled by such matters. So, while thinking about how to save that stupid serpent who loses after these two serpents decide a winner in the future, he also stroked the silver-white great serpent's lower jaw and commented:
"Honestly, the texture is great. Although I usually prefer stroking fluffy cats, your cool touch, tsk, it's really good!"
Will: ...
Crap!
Are you really suffering from amnesia, you bastard?
Recalling some memories that could be called dark history, Will's face darkened.
The silver-white great serpent was very angry.
Lin Ruo watched as the silver-white great serpent instantly moved away from him, coiling itself atop the black spire, and blinked.
Oh, this!
So easily provoked? Much worse psychological resilience than Medici.
Lin Ruo pouted, then smiled again, as if nothing had just happened, and said to Klein beside him, "Let's go, Will should already be waiting for us inside."
Klein: ...
Klein retracted his gaze from the top of the tower, and for some reason, his heart suddenly felt much more balanced.
This feeling was probably—ah, so I'm not the only one being persecuted?
Although he had long witnessed Lin Ruo persecuting Roselle, the latter had never truly appeared, and that kind of remote persecution couldn't compare to the directness of this on-site persecution.
As for Medici?
Alas, he hadn't seen him much, so Klein only remembered the War Angel and Lin Ruo exchanging sarcastic remarks, and hadn't yet seen Lin Ruo persecute him.
If he had seen it, he would understand—in Lin Ruo's circle, all friends are equal; every single one is a victim of Lin Ruo's mischievous nature.
Even Ouroboros, who became increasingly dull after advancing to King of Angels, was tricked by Lin Ruo into drawing… ahem, drawing some artistic picture books. The blame for Amon's naturally crooked nature was even placed on Lin Ruo, and even Sasrir, the first corporate slave of the Heavenly Kingdom back then—oops, the Vice Monarch of the Heavenly Kingdom, Dark Angel Sasrir—experienced moments of public humiliation because of Lin Ruo.
Want to be Lin Ruo's friend and not be persecuted?
Impossible.
The little black history notebooks Lin Ruo had collected from various Angels and True Gods over the years were piled high. The only reason he hadn't been beaten to death was because Lin Ruo was truly skilled at repeatedly dancing on the line of life and death, and even after each dance, he could pacify people and gain more goodwill.
—Of course, this is just an aside.
In any case, Klein, who knew little about Lin Ruo's glorious achievements, followed Lin Ruo into the black spire after retracting his gaze.
Perhaps because this was a dream, or perhaps it was intentionally designed, the layout inside the black spire was exceptionally chaotic.
Klein looked around and saw stairs that spiraled upwards, then slanted downwards. Halls, libraries, and various rooms were either normal, inverted, or embedded within other sections. If this were in the real world, Newton's coffin lid probably wouldn't be able to stay down.
Lin Ruo also admired the layout inside the black spire with great interest. Regardless of the little serpent's personality, the place where he first met him truly exuded an overwhelming sense of grandeur and mystery. If Lin Ruo hadn't been aware of the other party's true nature and had residual instincts, he might have genuinely thought this was a legitimate Sequence 1 big shot.
After admiring it, Lin Ruo and Klein headed towards Will—Lin Ruo, of course, didn't know where Will was, but he knew Will would definitely guide them to him.
And so it was. Soon after, they arrived at a room that resembled a library. On the only chair in the room sat a boy who looked chubby and naive, around ten years old, with a childish face.
The little boy was staring at him with wide eyes, puffing out his cheeks, clearly looking annoyed.
Lin Ruo's gaze dropped, lingering for a moment on the little boy's empty left lower leg.
He naturally knew that the person in front of him was Will Auceptin, and also that the other party was the other Snake of Mercury of the Fate Pathway.
Despite the other party's expression, Lin Ruo couldn't tell at all that he was an old geezer who had lived for thousands of years.
Hiss, so this is the Snake of Mercury? I love it, I love it!
Lin Ruo muttered to himself, then, before Will could speak, he asked with a smile, "Will, have you restarted?"
It's good if he restarted, just in time to remind him and gain a favor.
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