Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: Library Debate

Berlin University was the academic center of the era, storing almost all famous literary works, making it a dreamland beloved by scholars.

Leader One and Karl shared a love for philosophy, history, and studying law.

After their morning class each day, the two would stay in the library until lunchtime, continuing to read in the afternoon after classes, only returning home to rest in the evening.

The era was facing a significant historical turning point, transitioning from feudal society to modern times, with Prussia having feudal nobles, a newly emerging capitalist class, urban poor, and landless serfs.

Berlin University, though modern in name, was actually in a semi-feudal, semi-classical state. It was nearly impossible for a commoner’s child to enter, as its students were either wealthy or noble, belonging to the upper class.

Karl’s father was the most prestigious and highest-earning lawyer in their hometown, and his mother belonged to a special class of Jewish teachers. Their family owned a large vineyard in the countryside and a residence in the city with ten rooms.

His aunt married the Dutch giant merchant Leo Philip, who later became the founder of Philips, a still-large company in the 21st century.

His family was full of talents, with relatives mostly mingling in high society. Karl’s distant relative even held the position of Prussian Prime Minister in the 1840s.

Karl’s background was considered pretty good, right? But among the students at Berlin University, he was basically the most "ordinary."

At ten o’clock in the morning, only twelve people were in the library’s large reading room – eight were teachers, one was the administrator, and the rest were Leader One, Karl, and a passerby.

As for the other students, most of them belonged to the children of nobles and wealthy merchants. At this time, they should be at some banquet hall or opera house, splurging money and having fun.

About twenty minutes later, a newcomer entered the reading room, their gentle footsteps catching everyone’s attention at the door.

Since these were the usual people who studied there, with barely any outsiders, everyone wanted to see who it was.

It was Anna von Bismarck.

Leader One had invited her to the library with him before, but she didn’t agree.

After Leader One and Karl disappeared, Anna found her own way to the library and entered the reading room where everyone was watching her and the books in her hands.

One was "The History of England" and the other was "1914 AD."

Everyone stopped paying attention to her, and focused on their own books instead.

Anna sat in a corner of the reading room, two tables away from Leader One and Karl.

The two books she held were very interesting. "The History of England" was a serious history book about the early Middle Ages, while "1914 AD" was a science fiction novel written by the famous science fiction writer Leader One.

The author and the reader were not far apart, but Anna didn’t know.

Leader One smiled gently and said to Anna, "The book you’re reading is written by me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Anna: ???

The books’ front pages featured the author’s portrait, a handsome young man who looked almost like a deity, while Leader One himself was quite ordinary, resembling a low-quality version of the man in the portrait.

Leader One said, "I had the artist make me look a little better, hmm."

Karl buried himself in his book and casually remarked, "It’s indeed written by him."

Anna walked over hesitantly and sat across from Leader One and Karl.

"Your novel is very interesting, but you have added too many unrealistic elements for dramatic effect. If you remove those flaws, I believe it would be an unparalleled masterpiece," Anna commented.

Leader One asked, "Oh? Where do you see flaws?"

Anna flipped to page 15 of "1914 AD," where a long passage began describing the Iron Blood Empire.

"The Iron Blood Empire is a fictional country you created, but everyone can see it is based on real history. It seems to be a country established after Prussia unified the German region, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"However, the Iron Blood Emperor Wilhelm II you describe is completely unrealistic. No emperor would be so foolish. The character you created for entertainment purposes is detrimental to the story of this novel."

"Also, some parts of your writing are ambiguous. Why would the Wilhelm II in your book aggressively expand the navy? Doesn’t he know the consequences of challenging England’s naval power?"

Listening to Anna’s criticism, Leader One rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then explained after organizing his thoughts.

"I’m writing this science fiction novel without introducing, Anna, I should tell you the story before talking about this novel."

A man named Otto, the Iron Chancellor, unified the empire and liked to control the emperor as his advisor, always making the emperor agree with his thoughts.

While the old emperor was fine with him, the new emperor Wilhelm II disagreed with the Iron Chancellor on diplomatic ideas, national policies, and personality. Eventually, Wilhelm II used religious factors to force the Iron Chancellor out.

The Iron Chancellor had high prestige in the military because of his efforts in unification. Wilhelm II couldn’t stand anyone shining more brightly than himself in the empire.

Wilhelm II wasn’t satisfied with cautious development strategies. To achieve his grand ambitions, he began to get rid of the Iron Chancellor’s cabinet and supporters in the parliament, and took control of the army.

The army didn’t listen to him much, so he had to develop a new army and expand the navy greatly.

Listening to Leader One’s story, Anna said, "Despite various objective factors, the Wilhelm II you’re describing in your book is still a fool. He should have listened to the Iron Chancellor. What’s the use of the navy? Germany has no possibility or need to develop a navy and wants to provoke England?"

After discussing Wilhelm II, Anna started talking about the end of the novel set in 1914 AD. At the end, Russia underwent a change of power, becoming the Red Russia, and later transforming into the Red League.

Anna raised many objections and criticisms about this event, thinking that Leader One described strange things that completely disrupted the overall storyline of the novel.

Originally, Karl was reading his philosophy history book on the side, but when he heard that, he suddenly put down the book and started arguing with Anna.

The two of them argued more and more fiercely, and there were even signs of a physical fight. Leader One felt very uncomfortable being caught in the middle. He tried to pull the two apart to prevent them from actually fighting.

In the distance, there was a group of elderly professors who were continuously improving their knowledge. They didn’t scold the students for debating loudly in the library. Instead, they thought the young people were quite energetic.

"Can you believe those two kids arguing over a novel? It’s not even a true story."

"I’ve read the novel that Leader One wrote. It’s quite interesting, but it’s just fiction."

"The book ‘1914 AD’ was published by Leader One in 1829 when he was only 17 years old. It’s normal to have a lot of imagination at that age."