Zimmerman Axel Robin

Charlotte had never imagined that he would be sent to Kilmainham Prison on official business, earn the appreciation of his senior, Miss Menilman, and even receive an unexpected promotion and raise.

But no matter how perfect the start was, it could not ease the pressure in his heart.

The room gradually darkened. Charlotte did not turn on the lights—nor was there any light to turn on. There were no streetlamps on the road outside, and after nightfall, everything was pitch-black, utterly different from the world he had come from.

Every city had streetlights. Once night fell, they blazed brightly, sometimes outshining the stars in the sky. That kind of world was now a thing of the past.

After a long while, Charlotte gently clenched his fist and gave a small wave, murmuring, "Teacher Huang Haisheng, you did very well today."

"Please keep working hard tomorrow. Keep it up."

After giving himself some encouragement, he took out a kerosene lighter, lightly turned the wheel, struck the flint, and lit an oil lamp in the room.

There were no lights to switch on, but there were lamps to light.

Though dim and yellowish, an oil lamp was still a lamp.

Charlotte examined the room that now belonged to him. The Savings Society Apartment was only provided to unmarried young people, so every unit had a single-room layout.

It had its own bathroom, indicating that this era already had sewer systems. However, it had no separate kitchen; at most, one could use a kerosene stove to make coffee, cook some soup, or prepare a simple wheat porridge.

The room combined a bedroom and study. It had a desk, not large but sufficient for writing, a wardrobe for clothes, and a single armchair.

At the sight of the gas stove, Charlotte could not help feeling hungry. He had not eaten anything all day.

Miss Menilman seemed to have forgotten about that. She had not eaten anything either, so naturally she had not prepared food for Charlotte.

Charlotte stood up. By the faint light of the oil lamp, he lit the kerosene stove and found several potatoes, some vegetables that looked like peas, a bottle of seasoning that looked and smelled like curry, and half a loaf of hard, black bread.

This era had no electricity, but the apartment had running water. Charlotte filled half a pot with water, peeled and diced the potatoes, tossed in a handful of peas, added two spoonfuls of seasoning, and once the water boiled, crumbled the black bread into it.

A few minutes later, he served dinner onto a plate.

To be honest, it tasted terrible.

But Charlotte had been hungry all day and did not care about the flavor. He quickly finished the whole pot, then boiled half another pot of water to make some black tea.

The black tea was also part of the supplies. Its flavor was heavy and vastly different from black tea on Earth. It tasted somewhat like peppercorn water mixed with chili—strange, but invigorating.

Charlotte frowned as he took a sip, then returned to the wicker chair and took out the diary. After hesitating for a moment, he did not open it.

When he returned from Senis, he had entrusted his luggage to Imperial Post for delivery and carried only this diary with him. Since he had only discovered it right before leaving, Charlotte had merely skimmed the last few pages, confirming that its previous owner had died summoning an evil god. He had not yet read it thoroughly.

The oil lamp gave off too little light. He did not want to read anything under such conditions; it was bad for his eyesight.

More worryingly, the diary was tainted by the aura of an evil god. Its previous owner had died from summoning one, so there was a chance he might see something "unclean."

Sipping his black tea, Charlotte slowly recalled the documents he had seen during the day, passing the time.

To be honest, he had never expected to uncover so many explosive secrets.

Most of these documents concerned one person.

Zimmerman Axel Robin!

This man had been born into nobility. His original name was Zimmerman Robin!

Five epochs ago, Saroses Robin assisted King Axel in ascending from a commoner to the throne. Through loyalty and courage, iron-blooded resolve and great achievements, he became the inheritor of the Empire of Fars's highest hereditary title.

Even before Saroses emerged so suddenly, the Robin Family had been one of the Empire of Inglima's oldest noble houses. The family had produced countless scholars, military strategists, adventurers, peerless warriors, and uninhibited swordsmen.

In the newly born Empire of Fars, the Robin Family's power, prestige, and status surpassed even what it had possessed during the Empire of Inglima's era.

From childhood, Zimmerman had displayed monstrous talent. At six, he entered Harborsk Public School. In his third year, he graduated first in his class and was admitted to First National Academy.

All public schools in the Empire used a credit system. On average, it took six and a half years to complete all coursework.

Harborsk Public School was the Empire's top-ranked public school, and its academics were especially demanding. Students taking more than eight years to graduate were everywhere, and even students who had lingered for over ten years were not unusual.

For Zimmerman to complete his studies in three years and graduate first was enough to put all his peers to shame. Calling him a future star of the Empire was hardly flattery.

Charlotte had graduated in five years, but he had ranked eighty-ninth. Leman Public School, where he studied, was also far inferior to Harborsk; it was merely a second-rate school.

Zimmerman Robin's record did not end there. At thirteen, he calmly completed his studies at First National Academy, once again earning admission to Royal Hogwich University with astonishing results. As the once-in-a-century genius of Royal Hogwich University, he completed his studies before even reaching twenty.

After graduation, he turned down a lucrative job placement and chose to join the Imperial Navy. Within a single year, he rose from captain of a third-rate ship to commander of a naval fleet with five warships. Leading his fleet, he swept through eight pirate fleets in succession and conquered Dongli Nation, which had long been a thorn in the Empire's side, turning it into an overseas vassal state.

He should have naturally become Dongli Nation's governor, but this man refused the appointment and then... led his troops in rebellion!

He joined the largest pirate organization.

This favored son of heaven immediately became the most vicious criminal at the top of the Empire's wanted list, with an unprecedented bounty of five hundred thousand Gold Ecu!

Before he made the list, the Pirate King, who had originally ranked first, had a bounty of only one hundred and sixteen thousand Gold Ecu. The combined bounties of the ten most wanted criminals totaled merely four hundred and eighty-six thousand Gold Ecu.

At the time, an indescribable frenzy swept through the Empire. No one could guess why he would abandon such a brilliant future and willingly sink into depravity.

The king was furious beyond measure and publicly humiliated the Robin Family's patriarch several times.

Enraged, the patriarch announced that he was stripping Zimmerman of the family name and published a declaration in the newspapers: "The Robin Family will never accept a traitor to the Empire."

No one expected this reckless madman to do something even more earth-shattering!

Less than half a year after Zimmerman Robin joined the Pirate King's Fleet, he openly challenged the Pirate King and, at a carefully arranged public event, killed the pirate king who had dominated the Seven Seas for over fifty years and had even faintly rivaled the Imperial Navy.

He then spent three years unifying the sixteen pirate fleets of the Seven Seas, becoming the new Pirate King through his immense prestige.

Then Zimmerman Robin made a decision that shocked the world: he led the allied pirate fleet back to the Empire.