Chapter 199: Chapter 198 The Third eting
“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 ti 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 sothing, his hand paused mid-air, slightly hesitating.
His eyes flickered and narrowed before returning to normal.
“Sigh—”
The next mont, 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 so 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 sowhat ordinary face, his pupils calmly blazing with oily green Flas.
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 is that you still haven’t let down your guard around . If you would put down what you’re holding in your hand right now, I think our second eting 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 so of my precautionary asures 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 . 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 tis,” 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 mont, then spoke sowhat self-deprecatingly, “Well, with age, my mory 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 et you at that ti.
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 , it’s rely 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 mont of silence, Richard spoke, “In my view, people like you don’t play such word gas.”
“Heh,” chuckled the Black Robed Man, “or to put it more bluntly, I shouldn’t be so shaless 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 erge. What do you think, which one is the real ?”
“Are you sure you want to keep going with this topic?” Richard’s eyes flickered, “At this mont, do you really want to have a serious conversation with 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-mont spoke, “Alright, I was wrong. I must admit that I shouldn’t have joked with soone 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 , shouldn’t you?”
“I…” Richard’s lips moved, but no words ca 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 ssier 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 ntioned was thrown from the bed because of the aftermath of your battle. Logically, you carrying her back is sothing you ought to do.”
“Oh, is that so…” the Black Robed Man realized, “So you don’t need to thank , and I’m the one who should apologize?”
“Do we really need to waste ti 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 ti, 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 outco 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 ans 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 so very unpleasant experiences, and out of the resentnt in my heart, I wanted to get so revenge on them.”
“So…”
“Stop!” the Black Robed Man suddenly interrupted Richard.
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