Chapter 576: A Conversation Between Father and Daughter

Leiketon gave a half‑smile, nodded, reached out to pull Penguin Rosel off his own body, and said to Bellnadey:

"I've read many Rosel diaries; if you want to know what's inside, you can ask me to translate parts for you at any time."

Penguin Rosel glared viciously at Leiketon and said, "Shut up, don't force me to turn against you."

Leiketon squinted, pinched Penguin Rosel's head and asked, "What would happen if you turned against me?"

"I… will… damn it, let's discuss this privately." Penguin Rosel's tone softened quickly.

Bellnadey looked at the two before her, who bore no angelic or true‑god aura, sighed inwardly, perhaps that was why they could become friends so quickly.

After a two‑second silence she walked to the desk, sat down, and steered the conversation back on track: "When do you plan to go find Chara Tu? Do you need help?"

Hearing that, Leiketon stopped teasing Penguin Rosel, leaned back slightly, rested against the chair back, and said calmly:

"After I become the 'Knowledge Emperor', I'll handle finding Chara Tu myself, but the matter of stealing from the Steam Church does indeed need help."

Penguin Rosel looked left and right, then placed a few books under his feet to raise himself above the seated Leiketon and Bellnadey, and said solemnly:

"Steam Church? You plan to steal the Knowledge Emperor trait I left behind; aren't you worried Steam will discover you and immediately descend as a deity?"

"I even think it could burst out of the Perfect Realm, its true form descending to powerfully slay you— that's quite possible."

Leiketon tilted his head slightly, looked at the captain's cabin ceiling, and said, "Stealing from a true god and then running away— isn't that more thrilling?"

Penguin Rosel, speechless, retorted, "You really should become a thief; I feel your demonic elixir could melt the moment it touches your mouth."

"Thanks for the compliment; actually, if this route didn't involve A Meng, it would indeed be a good option." Leiketon chuckled twice, then turned to Bellnadey and continued, "Bo Nuo Wa is in the Steel Cathedral; when the time comes I'll need you to hold him off for a while. You can ask Sasilier for help, adding some fallen, negative humanity to him to counterbalance his overly intense divinity."

Mentioning Bo Nuo Wa, Penguin Rosel's aura instantly faded; he lowered his head and sighed, "…".

"Bo Nuo Wa is my fault; if I hadn't passed so many traits to him back then, he would have had more time to grow and accumulate humanity."

Bellnadey pursed her lips and whispered comfortingly,

"This is an unexpected development; no one anticipated Steam would split off a 'Knowledge Mentor' trait for him."

During their chat, inspiration struck Leiketon; he reached out and caught a pale‑yellow letter that had fallen from the spirit realm.

He gave it a quick glance; it was a letter from Frank about plants that can survive in darkness— his research had already made some progress.

"You, messenger, are quite unusual," Penguin Rosel withdrew his dark‑red gaze upward, sighed thoughtfully.

Leiketon chuckled and brushed past the topic, saying, "Just a book; we need to discuss payment."

"I thought you, like me, were a good person who values friendship, but it turns out you're also someone who leverages kindness for gain."

Penguin Rosel wore a look of disappointment, lounged on the stacked books, and continued, "What do you want? Or, what do you need?"

He seemed to enjoy this little pet form, letting himself go, and thought two sentences in his heart; Leiketon raised two fingers and said with a smile:

"Two things: first, I need you to help me retrieve the traits and authority from Steam; second, work for me for 200 years."

Penguin Rosel leapt exaggeratedly from the books, craned his neck, and said,

"Two hundred years!"

"Impossible. I, the universally revered Emperor Rosel, could never work for anyone!"

Leiketon smiled, nodded, and continued, "You can have Bo Nuo Wa or Bellnadey work in your place; the salary is a 'Knowledge Mentor' or a 'Knowledge Emperor' trait."

Penguin Rosel opened without hesitation,

"Two! You don't need that many traits; giving a King of Angels position won't affect your state."

Leiketon lightly nodded, "Fine."

"Agree so readily?" Penguin Rosel suddenly asked suspiciously.

He shrugged, saying lightly, "Just drawing pictures; anyway I have nothing now."

Penguin Rosel took a deep breath, waited two seconds, then looked at Leiketon and said, "I really want to punch you in the face." Leiketon lifted the coffee on the table, took a sip, and sighed, "What a pity, you can't beat me now, and probably never will."

He set the coffee cup down, rose from his chair, and said, "Alright, it's time to say goodbye. Wish you a pleasant life."

"By the way, if you're not satisfied with this penguin body, you can come to the Southern Continent to find me; I'll handle after‑sales service."

Penguin Rosel waved dismissively, "I don't need to switch from a penguin to a panda."

Leiketon shrugged, sneered, and his body instantly became ethereal, disintegrating into countless tangled strands of knowledge, turning into a pure information‑flow entity that surged like a torrent into the depths of the spirit realm.

After Leiketon left, Bellnadey gazed calmly at Penguin Rosel, her voice cold, and said, "What was that diary about just now?"

"January 1, 1184, the grand New Year banquet— and what was the unfinished part behind Mrs. Floranalf's speech?"

"The diary is… is… at the evening… gathering."

The dark‑red glow in Penguin Rosel's eyes dimmed, its voice became choppy, as if its battery were low, about to shut down.

Bellnadey looked at the seemingly on‑the‑brink automaton, said evenly, "This is a demi‑god‑level trait‑powered automaton; it won't fail easily."

Penguin Rosel sat on the desk like a sorrowful frog, head bowed, sighing heavily.

"Sigh, I regret more than once; why couldn't I understand writing diaries back then, and let them spread."

After a moment of silence Bellnadey gave up further questioning; knowing her father, she only needed the front part to guess the rest, sighed lightly, and said in a low voice,

"Those diaries served their purpose."

After another two seconds she added,

"There is an entity calling itself 'the Fool' collecting your diaries; through Jiade Liya, a little girl I adopted, I passed some diaries to that 'Fool'."

"Someone calls themselves 'the Fool' and is consciously collecting my diaries? Interesting, this path didn't originate from Sequence 0; which hidden‑identity old guy? Or perhaps a newcomer?"

Penguin Rosel propped his chin with his tiny wings, tried to look thoughtful, sighed twice, then suddenly sensed something off, widened his eyes, and asked Bellnadey,

"Did you give him the diaries I wrote later, or the earlier ones?"

Bellnadey recalled, "The parts concerning Mr. Men, as well as some of your later diaries when your emotions were volatile."

"Phew—still okay," Penguin Rosel patted his chest, but before he could be pleased Bellnadey continued,

"His diary‑collecting channels aren't singular: the Rosel Memorial Exhibition, gatherings of extraordinary beings, etc.; those diaries have no fixed order."

"In Beckland, a follower of the 'Fool' obtained the Black Emperor (Item) you disguised as a bookmark and successfully activated it."

"Damned diaries! I feel I've become socially dead within the time‑traveler circle, reduced to a laughingstock as a mechanical penguin for their idle chatter; Rosel feels his spirit twisted and snarling, I'm about to crawl in twisted darkness. Damn it, I must destroy those diaries, all of them!" Bellnadey added, "I previously contacted that follower, wanted to learn that peculiar script from him, but he refused."

Haha. There's nothing worth learning about it; it's just a special encryption method.

Qǐ'é Luósāi'ěr gave an embarrassed laugh, the stone hanging in his heart finally settled. Phew~ Good, good he refused, otherwise I would have almost been stimulated to crawl out of the grave and kill someone.

"Can you teach me this special encryption method?" Beiernadai stared intently at the little penguin in front of her, her tone without any fluctuation.

Qǐ'é Luósāi'ěr stared blankly for a moment, then said somewhat hesitantly: "Um, of course I can, later, after I revive, I will personally teach you this script."

"Isn't it an encryption method? How did it become writing then?" Beiernadai stared at Qǐ'é Luósāi'ěr with a smile in her eyes.

"Um"

Before Luósāi'ěr could continue making excuses, Beiernadai calmly said: "I hope that after you successfully revive, you won't forget today's words again."

After her words fell, she opened the cabinet under the desk, found paper and pen, and began writing a letter to Jiādélìyǎ, so that she wouldn't have to keep delivering the diary to Mr. Yúzhě.

After handing the finished letter to her messenger, she turned her head to look at Qǐ'é sitting on the desk and asked curiously:

"What kind of animal is the prototype of this mechanical puppet? Whether on the north-south continents or the five seas, I have never seen such a creature; is it a variant of some kind of bird?"

Luósāi'ěr let out a light sigh and said: "It's called a penguin, a creature that once lived on this planet; that was a very long time ago."

(End of chapter)