Chapter 5: Zimourman Axel Robin

  Charlot Meburg never imagihat he would be assigo work at Kilmainham Prison, gain the appreciation of Miss Menielman, his senior, and even receive an ued promotion with a raise.However, no matter how perfect the start, it could not alleviate the pressure deep within his heart.

  The room gradually darkened. Charlot didn’t turn on any lights—there were no lights to turn on. Outside the window, the street itch-bck with no streetmps, a stark trast to the world he had e from.

  In that other world, every city had streetlights, illuminating the night brighter thaars in the sky. But such a world was now a thing of the past.

  After a long pause, Charlot ched his fist gently, gave a small wave, and muttered under his breath, “Huang Haisheng, you did well today. Keep up the good work tomorrow. You’ve got this.”

  He gave himself a word of encement, pulled out his kerosene lighter, flicked the gear, struck the flint, and lit an oil mp in the room.

  No lights to turn on, but a light to ignite.

  Though dim and faint, an oil mp was still a source of light.

  Charlot observed his room for a while. The Savings Union apartments were exclusively provided for single young people, so all the units had one-bedroom youts.

  It had a private bathroom, a sign of this era’s advances in sewage systems, but no separate kit. Meals had to be simple—coffee brewed on a keroseove, some soup, or basic pe.

  The room’s yout bined a bedroom and study. There was a desk, not te but suffit for writing, a wardrobe for clothing, and a single armchair.

  When Charlot saw the keroseove, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of hunger—he haden all day.

  Miss Menielman had apparently fotten this, as she haden anything herself, nor had she prepared food for Charlot.

  Charlot got up, lit the keroseove uhe faint glow of the oil mp, and found a few potatoes, some vegetables resembling peas, a bottle of what looked and smelled like curry seasoning, and half a loaf of hard, bck bread.

  This era cked electricity, but the apartment had running water. Charlot filled half a pot with water, peeled and chopped the potatoes, tossed in a handful of peas, and added two spoonfuls of curry seasoning. Ohe water boiled, he broke the bck bread into pieces and threw it in.

  A few mier, Charlot served the meal onto a pte.

  To be ho, it tasted terrible.

  But after a day without food, Charlot didn’t care about the fvor. He quickly fihe pot of food and boiled half a pot of water to brew some bck tea.

  The tea, part of his rations, had a strong and peculiar fvor. Unlike Earth’s bck tea, it tasted like a mix of chili and Si pepper water—stra invigorating.

  Charlot frowned as he sipped the tea, sat ba his wicker chair, and pulled out his Diary. He hesitated for a moment but did not open it.

  Wheurned from es, Charlot had entrusted his luggage to the Imperial Postal Service for shipping, carrying only this Diary with him. He had discovered it just before leaving and had only skimmed the st few pages, which firmed that its previous owner had died while summoning an evil god. He had yet to examihe full tents.

  The faint light of the oil mp strained his eyes, discing him from reading.

  What worried him even more was that the Diary carried traces of the evil god’s aura. Its former owner had perished due to summoning the god, and Charlot feared seeing something "un."

  Taking small sips of tea, Charlot idly reflected on the dots he had read earlier in the day, trying to pass the time.

  To be ho, he hadn’t expected to uncover so many shog secrets.

  Most of the files revolved around one man.

  Zimourman Axel Robin!

  This man came from a noble lineage. His inal name: Zimourman Robin.

  Five epochs ago, Saroses Robin had helped King Axel rise from oo the throne, seg the kingship with loyalty, valor, iron will, and great achievements. He became the eternal ior of the Fars Empire’s highest title.

  Even before Saroses Robin’s meteoric rise, the Robin family had already been one of the oldest noble houses in the Ingrima Empire. The family had produced tless schors, military strategists, adventurers, unparalleled warriors, and swordmasters who roamed freely, defying all straints.

  In the newly formed Fars Empire, the Robin family’s power, prestige, and status surpassed even their standing during the Ingrima Empire era.

  From an early age, Zimourman exhibited extraordinary talent. At the age of six, he was admitted to Habosk Public Academy and graduated first in his css three years ter, earning admission to the First National Institute.

  All public academies in the empire followed a credit-based system, with the average time to plete all coursework being six and a half years.

  Habosk Public Academy, the empire’s top-ranked academy, was notorious for its rigorous curriculum. It wasn’t unon for students to take more tha years to graduate, and even ten-year veterans were not rare.

  That Zimourman pleted his studies in just three years, graduating first in his css, made him a figure of unparalleled brilliance among his peers. To call him the empire’s future star was no exaggeration.

  Charlot, by parison, had graduated in five years, ranking 89th in his css from the much less prestigious Leman Public Academy, a sed-tier school.

  But Zimourman Robin’s aplishments didhere. At thirteen, he pleted his studies at the First National Institute with ease, earning admission to Royal Hogwiiversity. There, he was hailed as a on-a-tury prodigy, finishing his studies before the age of twenty.

  After graduation, he deed numerous lucrative job offers, choosing io join the Imperial Navy. Within a year, he rose from the captain of a third-css ship to the ander of a five-ship naval fleet. Under his leadership, the fleet crushed eight pirate groups in succession and subdued the Dongli Kingdom, turning it into an imperial overseas territory.

  He should have naturally bee the governor of the Dongli Kingdom, but this man refused the appoi and... revolted!

  He joihe rgest pirate group.

  This prodigy of the heavens immediately became the most wanted criminal on the Imperial Bounty List, with a staggering bounty of 500,000 gold écus—an unpreted sum!

  Before his infamy, the highest bounty for a pirate king was just 116,000 gold écus, and the bined bounty of the top ten pirates totaled only 486,000 gold écus.

  The empire was gripped by a frenzy of specution. No one could fathom why he would abandon such a promising future to pluo depravity.

  The king was furious, publicly humiliating the Robin family patriarch multiple times.

  In respohe enraged patriarch disowned Zimourman, announg in a public decration: “The Robin family will never accept a traitor to the empire.”

  No one could have foreseen what this audaan would do . Zimourman Robin joihe pirate king’s fleet, and within half a year, he challehe pirate king head-on.

  In a carefully orchestrated public showdown, he killed the pirate king—a legend who had ruled the seven seas for over fifty years and had even rivaled the Imperial Navy.

  In the hree years, Zimourman Robin uhe sixteen pirate fleets of the seven seas, earning unrivaled prestige as the new pirate king.

  Then, Zimourman Robin made a decision that shocked the world. He led the united pirate fleet back to the empire...