Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 193 The Final Heart-to-Heart
【The sound of rain at night is like the cry of ghosts.】

The Divine Emperor stood in the clouds, looking at the city where his iron fist had just fallen, and remained silent for a long time...

He was no stranger to murder and massacre. In the dark ages of the past, he had directly or indirectly killed at least tens of millions of people, forcing the entire Ming Dynasty to live under a terrifying and oppressive rule.

Therefore, for Him, feeling remorse and sadness for killing someone is actually ridiculous.

[Besides, when has He ever truly treated the people of this world as human beings?]

Others may not know that this is an illusory world, but doesn't He know it? This world is fake to begin with, and everything is created based on His memories and knowledge!

[To Him, the people here are not human at all, but merely His natural food. At most, they are rice grown into a human form, but rice in a human form is still rice...]

Therefore, in His subconscious, He had never considered the people here as human. And since they were not human, He certainly had no reason to think from their perspective.

[Kill them if you will. Do you still want to give them human rights? ]

Therefore, He never believed that He would develop feelings of sympathy for His own kind due to killing too many people.

But this time...

Gazing at the silent ruins enveloped by the thunderstorm, the Divine Emperor remained dazed for a long time. The sounds of wind, rain, and thunder all resembled the weeping and wailing of new ghosts, filling Him with an immense fear from the depths of His heart.

[For this reason, he even felt like Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty on Bagong Mountain. The only difference was that Fu Jian was terrified that every tree and grass looked like an enemy, while he was terrified that every wind and rain looked like a ghost...]

[How ridiculous! The dignified Divine Emperor is actually afraid of ghosts!]

He comforted himself in a self-deprecating manner: "Right! It's definitely not that I'm afraid of ghosts, but I... I'm afraid because I think all the people in the Ming Dynasty have died and I'm worried that they'll starve to death because they'll have nothing to eat. That's why I'm afraid!"

【Right, that is it! 】

He pretended to be fierce and nonchalant, trying to shift the blame for his fear onto this aspect, so that he could maintain his image as a cold-blooded emperor...

But this was meaningless, because no matter what kind of psychological suggestion he gave himself, he could not deceive his own heart: his heart clearly told him that he was afraid of ghosts and that he was just being sympathetic to his own kind!

【But...how is this possible?!】

He tried to argue: "How could I possibly feel sympathy for my own kind? I'm not even one of them! I'm the Chongzhen Emperor, descended from the real world. Therefore, I'm the Son of Destiny, born a high-dimensional ruler who sees lesser beings as worthless!"

[Yes! Yes! That must be the case, I...]

[“I, I, I, dog-foot I!”]

【Standing beside Him, you can’t help but laugh.】

“You’re fantasizing again. You’re fantasizing that you’re Emperor Chongzhen, that you’re a real being who treats all illusory beings as worthless and as food…”

[God Emperor:...]

You burst into laughter: "Stop lying to yourself! You're not Chongzhen at all! You're not a real being that descended from the real world!"

"You are just a native, an ordinary person who emerged from the illusory world. Aside from mastering the key to the survival of the world, you are no different from other illusory people... Therefore, it is natural that you will feel hurt by your own kind because you have killed so many people..."

“Sigh… Even at this point, you still refuse to admit your illusion? King Haki, you…”

[God Emperor:...]

[What the hell! What's wrong with Zhou Dianzi lately? Why does he keep saying these weird-sounding sentences... Are mentally ill people really that imaginative?]

[Haki Emperor... Pah! The Divine Emperor was furious: "Zhou Dianzi, what are you talking about?!"]

"How could I not be Emperor Chongzhen? I..."

[The Divine Emperor, whose soft spot had been touched, was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He excitedly tried to prove to you that he was Chongzhen himself, but... facing your unwavering mocking gaze, he ultimately failed...]

[“How do you know everything…”]

He drooped his head weakly, his body swaying, as if he was about to fall from the clouds at any moment.

Seeing His pitiful appearance, you couldn't help but laugh and said, "I know much more than you think... Let me tell you a story, and you'll understand after you listen."

"Listen? This is the first time I'm telling anyone all my secrets."

【Do you listen?】

The Divine Emperor was stunned, seemingly having not expected you to reveal your secrets at this time... But out of deep curiosity, he hesitantly nodded. Seeing this, you finally let go of all your worries.

[Although there's an old saying that "villains die from talking too much," but then again, if you don't show off after landing a dragon on your face, isn't that just like walking in the night with a brocade robe?]

[Now that the big thing has been decided, you don't have to hide it anymore... So, you start to share all your secrets with others with great enthusiasm...]

【…】

[From the time traveler's reincarnation in northern Shaanxi, to his first death after reporting illegal activities...]

[From being suppressed in the imperial examinations to winning the top three prizes consecutively... From the "Answering Questions in the Hall of Preserving Harmony" to the Prime Minister's reforms... Until the final moment when the Holy King committed suicide and the Emperor was moved...]

The Divine Emperor becomes increasingly bewildered as he listens: Is this... true?

"Of course, he wouldn't easily believe a plot that sounded like a storybook, but this story didn't seem to be fabricated... The characters, plot, and logic all stood up to scrutiny."

He even speculated: If there had really been a kid from northern Shaanxi who had achieved three consecutive top honors in this way, and even criticized me during the palace examination, then I… might have been so inspired that I would have impulsively appointed him "Prime Minister" and ordered him to preside over the reforms…

[So, even though the Divine Emperor was unwilling to believe in the existence of such nonsense as "simulated reincarnation", he gradually accepted this setting and even took the initiative to imagine the image of "Prime Minister Zhou" who was concerned about the country and the people!]

[However, precisely because the "Prime Minister Zhou" he imagined was too perfect, he was unable to fit this perfect image onto you as you are now. After all, your current image as a "world-destroying lunatic" is too abstract...]

What kind of catastrophe had occurred to turn you into such an abstract thing? The Divine Emperor is truly baffled!

So He continued to listen.

[And then comes your second life: instead of continuing to take the imperial examinations as you did in your previous life, you paid for fame and honor...]

[He bought the title of Juren, created the theory of class, overturned the officialdom of Shaanxi, and built the Jinyiwei… From being the Jinyiwei in power, to becoming the Prime Minister, and even having a close relationship with the Emperor…]

[At this point, you laughed and said, "Back then, you insisted on trying to pull some trick on me. I even revealed my identity as a time traveler, but you said you didn't know..."]

The Divine Emperor, entranced by this, immediately shook his head: "I'm not trying to get something for nothing!"

“I wasn’t wrong. The illusory world became what it is today because I didn’t know anything about the Emperor… So my answer was correct, it’s you who misunderstood it!”

"Furthermore, you've already revealed all the clues of your identity as a reincarnationist, yet you only revealed your identity as a time traveler to me... Isn't this deliberately concealing the truth?"

The Divine Emperor said disdainfully, "I must have seen through your cover-up at the time, so I'm just reciprocating... If you don't tell me the whole story, then I can naturally claim I don't know."

【"yes……"】

You didn't refute Him, and sighed, "Later, I realized that it wasn't a scam at all. It was that you discovered my deliberate concealment, so you were just returning the favor..."

"After all, a teenager can manage the Ming Dynasty's affairs so neatly and is so familiar with all matters... Under such circumstances, I only told you that I'm a time traveler. This is truly an insult to your intelligence..."

You reminisced, "It's precisely because of this that I finally understood why you insisted on me revealing everything the last time we met in my previous life, even laughingly saying we were exchanging information... Unfortunately, I was so blinded by rage at the time, my mind completely focused on revenge for your tricking me, that I forgot this..."

[With a self-deprecating sigh, you continue your story.]

"So from the beginning of this life, I've been thinking about how to take my revenge on you, and the way I came up with is to starve you to death!"

“So I successfully starved you to the brink of death, and then you gradually discovered the illusory nature of heaven and earth…”

You slowly told Him the outcome of the previous branch: the restoration of the Divine Emperor, the killing of innocent civilians, the inevitable destruction of heaven and earth... Finally, you mentioned Wang Chengen.

“It was from his mouth that I learned the origin of everything. I also knew that you were not Emperor Chongzhen. You were just an indigenous creature who believed himself to be Chongzhen…”

[The Divine Emperor remained silent for a long time.]

Finally, He sighed and spoke.

[“Well…I understand everything about you.”]

[“However, I still want to ask you one question... Does the Western Paradise really exist?”]

[“Are all your efforts really meaningful?”]

[Everything is over. Now only this last question remains, and it is also the most fundamental question...]

……

(End of this chapter)