Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Chapter 199: Chapter 198 The Third Meeting
 

“Tap tap tap…”

On the third deck of the ship, Richard walked down the corridor toward the cabin he was residing in.

Being at the very end, by the time Richard reached the door, everyone else had already returned to their cabins.

Richard glanced over the empty corridor and reached out to open the door. It was then he sensed something, his hand paused mid-air, slightly hesitating.

His eyes flickered and narrowed before returning to normal.

“Sigh—”

The next moment, Richard took a deep breath, placed his hand on the cabin door, and pushed slightly.

With a “creak,” the door opened, and Richard stepped in, quickly closing it behind him. Turning around, the first thing Richard saw was, for some reason, Pandora, who had automatically gone back to bed to sleep. Turning his head, he then saw a man sitting in the chair at the desk.

The man was dressed in a black robe and was intently studying the small gadgets on the table, such as a finely crafted carving knife, a White Jade Plate with engraved patterns, and a Papyrus Scroll filled with various numbers and design sketches.

After studying them for a while, the man smacked his lips, turned around, and looked over. Lifting his head, he revealed a somewhat ordinary face, his pupils calmly blazing with oily green Flames.

Richard showed no surprise. His body shifted slightly as he calmly looked at the other person.

“This is our second encounter,” the Black Robed Man said.

“So?”

“So, what saddens me is that you still haven’t let down your guard around me. If you would put down what you’re holding in your hand right now, I think our second meeting would be much more pleasant,” the Black Robed Man said, spreading his hands with an apparently harmless expression.

Yet Richard remained unmoved, “I don’t think so.”

“How so?”

“Although I am certain of your strength, and perhaps some of my precautionary measures are laughable, they still pose a threat to you, right? In that case, I believe our conversation can proceed on more equal grounds,” Richard said.

“Heh,” the Black Robed Man chuckled lightly. “Alright, alright, I admit that the Crystal Skull you are holding in your right hand can indeed inflict substantial harm on me. And since you insist on it, I will not force you. But you should understand, I truly hold no malice toward you. Otherwise, I would have taken action during our first encounter.”

“It wasn’t the first encounter,” Richard corrected.

“Hmm?”

“The previous two times,” Richard said, “The first was in Cuijin City, and the second was recently in this cabin. In fact, this is our third encounter.”

“Uh, this…” The Black Robed Man clearly hesitated for a moment, then spoke somewhat self-deprecatingly, “Well, with age, my memory isn’t as good as you young people’s. I almost forgot about that encounter in Cuijin City. Truth be told, that was an accident. I didn’t intend to meet you at that time.

As for the encounter in this cabin recently, it was indeed intentional because… during these days on the ship, I’ve found you quite interesting.”

“Found? More like you’ve been spying,” Richard bluntly said.

“However you wish to interpret it, you can consider it spying, but to me, it’s merely simple observation and discovery,” the Black Robed Man said softly, “Besides, since you’ve already noticed my presence, it wouldn’t qualify as spying, would it? At least, not conceptually.”

…

After a moment of silence, Richard spoke, “In my view, people like you don’t play such word games.”

“Heh,” chuckled the Black Robed Man, “or to put it more bluntly, I shouldn’t be so shameless and despicable?”

Richard: “…”

“Hahaha,” the Black Robed Man burst into laughter, “Everyone has their own personality, which is very difficult to change, regardless of their strength. Or should I say, everyone has many sides to them. When facing enemies, I’ll show one side; in front of strangers, another; and when dealing with people I’m more familiar with, a third side will emerge. What do you think, which one is the real me?”

“Are you sure you want to keep going with this topic?” Richard’s eyes flickered, “At this moment, do you really want to have a serious conversation with me about ‘personality,’ a psychological topic? Where would you like to start? Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality? Allport’s trait theory? Taipes’ Big Five personality traits? Trigan’s seven-factor model? As a guest, I’ll let you pick an entry point.”

“Um…” The Black Robed Man fell silent, and after a half-moment spoke, “Alright, I was wrong. I must admit that I shouldn’t have joked with someone like you, at least not in the current situation.”

“So, can we talk seriously now?” asked Richard.

“Hold on,” the Black Robed Man interjected, “Before we have a formal conversation, there are two things I want to say.”

“What things?”

“The first,” said the Black Robed Man, sitting in a chair and pointing at Pandora on the bed, “you really don’t know how to take care of a little girl. When I arrived, I found her lying on the floor; it was I who helped you lift her back into bed. So, you should thank me, shouldn’t you?”

“I…” Richard’s lips moved, but no words came out.

“What, you don’t want to say it? Then forget it, let’s move on to the second thing,” the Black Robed Man said, pointing at the cluttered desk, “This desk of yours is messier than it should be.”

Richard retorted ungraciously, “If the power you leaked during your fight with the wizard on this ship had been less, it would still be tidy. Also, that little girl you mentioned was thrown from the bed because of the aftermath of your battle. Logically, you carrying her back is something you ought to do.”

“Oh, is that so…” the Black Robed Man realized, “So you don’t need to thank me, and I’m the one who should apologize?”

“Do we really need to waste time over such trivial matters?” Richard couldn’t help but say, looking at the Black Robed Man.

The Black Robed Man shrugged: “You have to understand, as an old man who hasn’t spoken to anyone in a very long time, I tend to have a compulsion to talk nonsense.”

“Let’s reserve that for after the formal conversation.”

“Fine, fine, let’s start the formal conversation,” the Black Robed Man finally got serious, “Let’s talk earnestly about the matters concerning both of us. Out of courtesy, I will let you ask the first question, and I will answer.”

“Then my question is simple, what exactly do you want to do?” Richard asked, ready with his question.

“Hmm? Is that your question? I thought you might ask about the outcome of the recent battle, whether I won or lost. Aren’t you the least bit curious about the result of the fight?” asked the Black Robed Man, slightly surprised.

“That’s not really a question,” Richard said, “If you had lost, you would not be here. The only reason you are here is because you won. That means your power is greater than the four wizards on this ship. With such strength, you must be one of the more powerful wizards in the Wizard World, aren’t you? That’s why I’m a bit curious, why are you targeting White Stone Tower so precisely? Is it revenge?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“Which aspect? Emotions? Interests?” Richard observed the Black Robed Man crossing his arms, “Ah, it’s interests then?”

“You could say that,” the Black Robed Man slightly relaxed his arms, “They’ve caused me some very unpleasant experiences, and out of the resentment in my heart, I wanted to get some revenge on them.”

“So…”

“Stop!” the Black Robed Man suddenly interrupted Richard.