Death... and me
chapter-2745

No one there was an idiot. The world had evolved greatly in the many millions and millions of years that Romario stayed in suspended animation. When he came out, humans took over. Obviously, it was during that time Romario must have met Rean's mother, Juliana.

"Alright, I can understand that you met my stepmother because of this," Tamires commented. "But how? I mean, so what if there were now humans on the planet? Why would you even bother to interact with any of them? Look at your cultivation level, your plans, all of that. It doesn't make much sense."

Rean and the others nodded, even Juliana. Thinking about it, Romario's appearance in her life truly didn't make any sense considering his background.

Romario already expected that question. "Well... I was bored?"

"Bo...Bored?" Yet, no one expected that answer.

"I've been consumed by the task of saving the Universe from Lingan," Romario explained. "But when I awoke and saw the civilization above, I was intrigued. Earth, with its unique blend of technology and culture, seemed like a fascinating place to spend a few years."

"You see," Romario continued. "That side of the Universe didn't have cultivation energies anymore. And yet, they were able to develop technology without its aid. How impressive was that? Truly marvelous! I had to see it for myself. I accompanied as it all transformed how technology exploded and development skyrocketed. I was amazed."

He then looked at Tamires. "I even thought about waking you up so that you could see it with me. However, I knew it would be too complicated to explain everything, so I gave up."

"Coward!" Tamires answered straight away.

"Yes," Romario accepted it. "I was just a coward afraid of the backlash."

Romario looked in Juliana's direction after that. "It was during one of these moments traveling around Earth that I met you. Obviously, I was disguised. I've never shown you my angel form. Well, one thing led to another, and we ended up together. To be honest, I even thought of staying there forever."

"But you didn't," Juliana commented. "Why did you leave?"

"You know the reason," Romario answered, looking at Rean this time. "Our son died, and that reminded me that if I didn't do something to stop Lingan Universe, they would eventually find this place again. When that time came, how could I stop them? Thus, I set off from Planet Earth to continue working on my plans. It was around that time I heard about the Fragments of the Universe Foundation."

"Gabriel?" Roan asked. They knew that Gabriel had one of the Fragments with him.

"Yes," Romario nodded. "When I arrived back in the Heavens, my soul worms had long since spread over the entire realm. I had them all in my hands, and I intended to use them to prepare a defense against Lingan. Only by saving this Universe would I be able to save Juliana and Tamiries as well. I later came to the Ruins of the Stars, preparing to recover some of the technology sleeping in there. Too bad the space around it had become quite fragile, and its shields were still active. I couldn't go in myself."

Back during the exploration of the Ruins of the Stars, only those in the Space-Time Realm and below could enter it. Romario was already in the Peak Stage of the Divinity Realm, so he obviously couldn't.

"In the end, all my plans involving the Angels fell through," Romario sighed. "You guys found a way to make the liquid that could the Soul Worms and had it spread all over the Heavens as well. I was planning to take Gabriel's Fragment, but I wasn't able to in the end since he also woke up from his trance once the Soul Worm in his soul died."

"That's when you shifted your target to the Floating Islands of Time, right?" Rean asked.

"Yes," Romario confirmed. "I found out about the communication system that was spreading around the Realm of Gods. During my time controlling the angels, I also managed to gather information on probable spots for Fragments to be found. Everyone agreed that the Floating Islands of Time probably had a Fragment, but no one could approach its center. I, on the other hand, knew how to make use of the communication system towers to triangulate my position. That way, I would definitely be able to reach the center of the Floating Islands of Time."

That was exactly the same method Rean and Roan used when they entered the Floating Islands of Time. Romario came from a much more advanced Universe, so it wasn't surprising he could hack into the communication system and use it to his advantage. Obviously, that's when Romario and Rean had their encounter. Romario had arrived earlier, but Rean and Roan came with Jeskli-Go, the Peak Divinity Realm Minokawa. Many things happened, but they succeeded in driving Romario away.

Rean snorted at that point. "Hmph! Did you know? There was absolutely no need to have the whole region of the Floating Islands of Time destroyed to acquire the Fragment? I succeeded in the end. I got the Fragment without killing any of the living beings there."

Romario nodded. "I found out about it later. About how the Floating Islands of Time were slowly losing their power but without causing any calamities. Truly impressive. I was prepared to simply bring everything down as long as I got the Fragment."

"Tell me, Romario," Roan intervened. "You said many times that you wanted to protect this Universe against Lingan. But where do the Fragments come into this plan of yours? We tried to ask you this back when we met in the Floating Islands of Time, but you fled in the end without telling us anything."

Romario laid back on his chair and sighed. "The Fragments... You probably think it can be used to get strong or some bullshit about using them to breakthrough into the Celestial Realm. However, did you know it is possible to use them to restore the Foundation Pillar of the Universe? If I did that, I could unify the two broken sides again. A whole Universe would have a much more resistant Chaos Origin Source. That would make it much harder to be stolen."

Romario shook his head right after. "However, this would be a dangerous journey. I couldn't possibly involve Rean, my son, in this. That's why I tried to take the Fragment away and refused to talk about it."

Everyone there was taken aback. "So... you were collecting the Fragments to do the same thing as us?"

"What?!" Romario was the one shocked this time. "The same reason as you? It can't be, right?! Then... then... then why the hell have I gone through all this pain in the ass?!!!"

Juliana approached Romario and patted his head. "One of the strongest experts of this Universe and you still haven't changed. You have always been hasty in your decisions. Truly... just what will I do with you?"