Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1893 Fear of the aftermath of failure

”As long as you donʼt know what youʼre talking about, keep your mouth shut and quietly continue trying to increase the speed of the soul energy absorption technique, and make the task of compressing the royal stars easier.” Robin shot a sharp sidelong glance at Arkalon, then at the thousands upon thousands of Treant bark boards piled chaotically around him, each one scorched with strange symbols and half-finished inscriptions. ”If you had even the faintest idea of what Iʼm actually doing here, youʼd piss yourself on the spot.”

”I doubt that~” Arkalon waved dismissively before returning to his work, his movements calm and practiced. ”Still, since Seraphim is operating automatically through your fifth consciousness, and your soul force continues to rise thanks to your second, third, and fourth consciousnesses, why donʼt you take the first consciousness or any other one thatʼs currently free- and go pay a visit to the Soul Society? Iʼd wager youʼve accumulated a rather impressive amount of Pearls there by now.”

In truth, the apartment was not limited to the presence and movements of Robin, Arkalon, and Seraphim alone. There was something else occupying the space-something unsettling, something that made the air itself feel heavier and caused an instinctive shiver to crawl along the spine.

At this very moment, three white soul portals with gleaming golden borders were embedded into one of the apartmentʼs walls. From each portal, something was partially emerging.

From the first portal extended half the body of a soul creature with a writhing, tentacle-covered head. From the second protruded a single massive claw, thick and ancient-looking. From the third stretched out the gnarled root of a colossal tree.

All three were in contact with the same object: a mound of radiant soul emeralds, piled to the size of a bed and glowing with an intense, almost blinding spiritual light.

There was no need to activate any form of soul perception to understand what was happening. Even a mundane glance was enough to reveal that the three entities were siphoning vast quantities of soul force from the emeralds, dragging it relentlessly into the soul realm in a scene so unnatural that it bordered on the grotesque.

”...” Robin cast a brief look toward the phenomenon, then casually waved his hand. Instantly, the pile of soul emeralds expanded once more, growing upward until it nearly brushed the ceiling.

Only then did he turn back to Arkalon. ”Youʼre saying I should head to the Soul Society just to collect Pearls? Why?” He shook his head slowly. ”Thereʼs no need. Even fifteen years ago, during my last contact with Lord Sahir, I didnʼt bother asking to see the balance. I wonʼt touch it again now!”

”...” Arkalon lifted his head, stared intently at Robinʼs face for several seconds, then broke into a smile, his eyes oddly damp. ”Have you finally decided to follow my example and work for the greater good without expecting any compensation in return?”

”No thanks. Iʼm not a stupid dead man.” Robin chuckled, then raised both arms and rested them behind his head, sinking deeper into his seat. ”The real reason is simple. There are only 350 years left until the ascension I told you about before. Just 350 years, and weʼll draw the attention of the entire universe by becoming the first complete galaxy to ascend without anyone having prior knowledge. No matter what happens then, Iʼll need an absolutely massive

amount of Pearls to keep everything running smoothly.”

”Tsk-” Once Arkalon confirmed that his master was still the same money-loving scoundrel at heart, he lowered his head and resumed drawing. ”I donʼt think your followers will be very pleased with that decision.”

”Theyʼll have to learn to live with it.” Robin shrugged indifferently. ”I know perfectly well that building a great empire in a short amount of time requires an absurd amount of wealth. Thatʼs exactly why Iʼve been exhausting myself to gather every last bit of it.”

He let out a long, weary sigh before continuing.

”If you observe a tightly knit mortal family whose story spans no more than a hundred years, youʼll usually find the same pattern repeating itself. The great-grandfather works himself to the bone while living in poverty, enduring hardship day after day, yet in the end he manages to leave his son a single piece of land. Then, after twenty more years of relentless effort, that son pours every bit of his savings into building a small shop on that land. By the time the third generation comes around, that modest shop has begun to grow; the grandchildren add one or two extra floors after working for another two or three decades without rest. And finally, by the fourth and last generation, you might see that humble shop transformed into a full-fledged chain of large stores, stable and prosperous.”

A faint, mocking smile curved his lips.

”As for me, my task is far more absurd. Iʼm expected to compress those hundred years into a single month. I started from absolute zero, just like that great-grandfather, yet Iʼm supposed to establish a massive chain of stores within mere weeks-something his descendants only managed to achieve over the course of an entire century. And accomplishing that requires only one thing... money. An outrageous, almost unreasonable amount of money.”

”But you know what?” Robin turned his gaze back toward Arkalon. ”I think Iʼve spent far too much. So much, in fact, that Iʼve spoiled my followers to the point where money has completely lost its meaning to them.” After a brief pause, his voice dropped slightly. ”...Iʼve started to worry about them.”

”Oh? How so?” Arkalon casually dipped the tip of his pen into the ink again and resumed drawing. It was obvious he hadnʼt been listening to even half of what Robin had said.

”Take Caesar, for example. After fifty fleets were stripped from him and reassigned to Hedrick, he kept fighting on every front as if nothing had happened at all. Instead of adapting with what he had left, he requested an enormous sum from the Shadow Swords just to buy second-hand fleets. Or take Aro-he launched an assault on a damn millennial empire with an army that wasnʼt even fully prepared, simply because he knew more fleets and Pearls would inevitably arrive to bail him out.”

He snapped his fingers sharply and pointed at Arkalon.

”And Emilie-sheʼs level-headed, one of the most rational among them. Yet even she, according to the latest report, placed an overwhelming burden on the budget, exceeding it by 320 million Pearls per year just to satisfy the demands of the wars, all because she knows Iʼll cover whatever deficit appears. Who knows how massive that gap has become by now?” He exhaled deeply, the sound heavy. ”And Theo in Sector 101-heʼs following the plan exactly, but the scale of his support for Hedrick is affecting every other region. Still, he isnʼt afraid in the slightest, because he knows Iʼll step in every now and then with a few dozen billions to stabilize things.”

Arkalon paused for a moment, then scratched his rigid head with the pen in

thought.

”Hm. Isnʼt that a good thing? That your followers rely on you so completely?”

”I know, I know theyʼre doing all of this for the sake of the empire, not for personal gain,” Robin replied, his expression tightening with discomfort. ”But...” Pain flickered across his face. ”What if one of my dreams comes true earlier than expected? What if the All-Seeing god drags me into that promised hell and leaves them behind... what will they do without me then?” ”Haha!” Arkalon burst into laughter, clearly amused. ”Whatʼs wrong with you, you walking contradiction? Did you build the empire so it could serve you, or are you the one who wants to serve the empire? Why worry about what happens to it after youʼre dragged into hell, as you like to say? Donʼt worry-Iʼm sure youʼll still be thinking about the annual budget while watching your skin

melt.”

Robin fell silent for a long while. Then, in a voice so low it was almost

swallowed by the room itself, he finally spoke:

”I just... donʼt want them to suffer too much after Iʼm gone.”