I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 341

Marx and Engels didn’t always get along and often had disputes.

Engels was usually the one who got angry but ended up forgiving Marx, suggesting that Marx was at fault most of the time.

A typical anecdote: when Engels’ common-law wife died, he sent a letter to Marx, who replied with something like, ‘Yeah, that’s sad, but I’m broke, so can you lend me some money?’

You might think, ‘Hey, that’s an exaggeration, right? People have a conscience; how could he write something like that?’ But surprisingly, it’s a well-known fact.

Marx was such a difficult person that if they fought, it’s safe to say he was at fault most of the time.

However, listening to their arguments, it didn’t seem like a personal squabble.

“Look at what you’re doing! You’re a ghost of capitalism! Who would look at you and think you’re the Marx of old!”

“It’s natural to be different! People should develop and grow, but what are you doing, stuck in the past!”

“Development? How is that development! It’s betrayal!”

The voices were so loud they could be heard clearly from outside.

I didn’t hear the beginning, so I don’t know exactly, but from what I’ve heard, I can guess what’s going on.

It seems Marx’s recent research on the development of capitalism looked like corruption to Engels.

It’s not unreasonable to think so, since he’s comfortably writing books about capitalism when he should be emphasizing the unity of communists and urging revolution.

In short, a legitimacy dispute has broken out over the purity of the Communist cause.

“Haa… Engels, didn’t I tell you before? If we go on like this, communist revolution is just a pipe dream.”

“Wasn’t it your role to create that ideal and mine to organize and complete it? That’s what I thought.”

“It was. But with the old approach, no matter how much you organize the theory, you’ll only end up in disaster. I think I’ve explained this until I’m blue in the face?”

As far as I’ve seen, Marx was definitely one of the rarest geniuses in the world.

Such a genius only needs a direction, and he’ll automatically derive conclusions and run forward.

That’s why I’ve been patiently showing him fragments of the future system competition little by little for over 10 years.

No matter how much of a con artist I am, there’s no way a genius of that level would be fooled by my sweet talk in a day.

However, after 10 years of generous material support and subtly injecting high-quality data and future knowledge he couldn’t find on his own, his insight began to spread like a world tree [Yggdrasil, a giant mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology].

Of course, to others who don’t know the inside story, he’s just a traitor who changed after getting a taste of money.

“Marx, to be honest, do you know how your words sound to my ears?”

“How would I know when I’m not you?”

“I heard you got citizenship in the British Empire and even received a knighthood?”

“It’s clear evidence that the British Empire recognized my academic achievements, so is there any reason to refuse?”

“Not only that, but you live in a mansion in the most expensive neighborhood in London, keep several maids, and even invite beautiful women to drink once a month, don’t you?”

Wow, he even invites women to wine parties. I didn’t know that, but Marx is having a fun life.

Well, he’s not even 50 yet, so it’s time to enjoy his life.

“To correct any misunderstandings, only people with not only simple appearance but also culture can come to my parties. No unhealthy things happen.”

“That’s none of my business, and to the eyes of others, including me, you are no different from those corrupt capitalists! No, it’s even worse because you’re clinging to those capitalists and sharing their sweet water.”

“Hmph… I can’t believe Friedrich Engels would say such ignorant things. Listen, my friend. Am I a henchman of the capitalists? Just because I enjoy a luxurious life? If that’s the standard, you won’t be free from criticism either?”

“The degree is different, the degree. You’re beyond just living a luxurious life; you’re enjoying a luxury that rivals an aristocrat.”

In fact, this is something Marx can’t argue about, even if he’s called ‘Naeronambul’ [a Korean idiom referring to hypocrisy, doing what one condemns others for].

I honestly thought he would at least pretend to restrain himself when I said he could use as much as he wanted.

I knew he originally liked to enjoy a luxurious life, but I thought he would restrain himself since he was now a world-renowned scholar, but I was wrong.

He was originally born into a wealthy bourgeois family, squandered all his family’s wealth on luxury, then sold all his mother and sister’s property, and then lived in luxury with his friend’s sponsorship.

Looking at it this way, there’s no one quite like him.

Looking at it all together, I wonder if you need this level of shamelessness to achieve great success in Demonic Arts.

Still, he had a minimum of conscience, so when I gave him a large reward for his research achievements, he asked if he could give some money to his mother and sister.

“Isn’t it inevitable? That’s my natural disposition, so are you telling me to change my nature?”

“If you want to prove that you haven’t fallen, then preach the scientific socialism and the ideology of a communist society that can unite the workers of all countries that you have been shouting for!”

“Hmph, it’s really frustrating. Didn’t you hear what I said? What I’m doing now is the shortcut to that true communist society.”

“Communist society is bullshit! Don’t you know what you did with the reward you got for the paper you wrote at the request of His Highness? You bought a huge diamond ring for your wife as a gift that even an aristocrat would hesitate to buy!”

“I bought it as a reward for all the hardships she’s been through, so what’s the problem?”

In the end, Engels keeps criticizing him for becoming a money-crazed pig and abandoning his ideals, and Marx maintains that the two are separate.

Then, if he responds to Engels’ claim to create more communist theory, Marx draws a line saying that it is not helpful, so the emotional rift can only deepen.

Marx’s voice, which had been listening to the endless debate like a squirrel running on a wheel, became increasingly irritated.

“Engels, please have a constructive discussion. And didn’t you also agree that Prince Killian is the person who can practice the dictatorship of the proletariat?”

“I thought so. I firmly believed that he was the hero who could end this contradictory capitalist system and achieve a communist society!”

What nonsense is this again.

Not only me, but even the escorts around me felt a subtle expression on their faces as they glanced at me.

That’s not it, you pathetic humans!

Fortunately, before the spark of misunderstanding spread, Engels denied this fact himself.

“But that was the wrong idea. His Highness does not have the will to go to such a position himself. Even though he has the ability to do so, even though the times want it, he does not have the mental余裕 [yoyuu, Japanese for leeway or margin] to take on that heavy responsibility!”

Uh… um, yeah. I don’t know if the times want it, but I don’t have that much leeway.

“I agree with His Highness’s opinion. Social change is coming. Capitalism is fundamentally flawed. If it is to survive, it must eventually accept socialist ideas, constantly supplement itself, change its form, and adapt to the situation. When the time comes when it is closer to completion, it will naturally open the road to true communism.”

“So you’re not going to do anything?”

“I’m not doing nothing, but my role is to guide society to that path, constantly preach the contradictions of capitalism, and urge supplementation. The era does not change with artificial revolution! Did anyone hold a knife and threaten to do medieval serfdom? Did anyone rise up and destroy everything to do capitalism? The flow of the times naturally reveals its appearance in a changing world, and we only have to prepare for that era, so what’s the rush?”

“Your words are just the logic of a loser. It’s no different from the errors that people who believe they are smart make. Revolution doesn’t change the times? In the end, it’s distorted, twisted, and fails? How do you know that without even trying? Did you go and see it in the future? If that’s the case, I’ll admit it.”

I did see it, but…

However, there’s no way such persuasion would work on someone armed with thorough ideology.

Engels continued to argue with Marx, then slammed the desk and got up from his seat.

“Now I know. The fact that my friend Marx disappeared years ago. The you in front of me is no longer Marx. Marx, whom I respected for his insight and intelligence, even though his personality was a bit bad, is no longer in the world! Marx is now dead and gone!”

“I don’t know why you’re killing someone who’s still alive at your own will, but… still, clear your head and review the books I’ve written. Then you’ll realize something.”

“I hope you come to your senses and realize the reality. What you’re doing is just making the capitalists richer.”

I wondered if he would come this way, but Engels opened the back door, almost kicking it, and left.

The sound of the door closing with a thud was heard, and Engels’ voice was no longer heard, followed by Marx’s deep sigh.

Uhm, after all, the end of the civil war is only division.

It is questionable whether Engels, who left the Demonic Church, will be able to stand on his own, but it was fortunate for me that the two broke up.

This way, I can manipulate the contents of the Demonic Arts book that will stain the world with blood even more as I please.

I waited outside for about 10 more minutes and then told him to knock on the door with a face that he didn’t know anything, as if he had just arrived.

“Professor Marx, are you there? His Highness has come to see you.”

* * *

“Damn it, revolution only leads to disaster? How can you say such a thing?”

The discussions that he had so passionately in his youth.

The ideological companion who firmly believed that he could lead this world to a better future stabbed him in the back without mercy.

“If he just tasted the money and couldn’t escape the magic it brings, it would be less ugly. To justify himself by packaging it with his glib tongue!”

Indeed.

There are many people with abilities in this world, but few have the will.

Killian, who was once seen as having the qualities of a great hero who could achieve the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Marx, who believed that he had the qualities to provide the ideological foundation to Killian and fundamentally change this era.

As a result of continuous exposure to impurities such as money and power, didn’t he lose his original purity and become corrupt?

Still, Engels was not completely desperate.

“My friend Marx is dead. He’s gone now. But he still lives as one in my memory, in this work. My friend… I will never let the brilliant achievements you left behind in your pure days, the traces of the real Marx, be in vain.”

The traces of the stories he had shared in the past and the research records that the current Marx had thrown away as flaws in his immature days were still in his hands.

However, if the original owner has lost his senses and chosen the path of becoming a slave to capitalism, is it right to attach the name of the original author to this anymore?

No. How long will you leave this great work to others and hide only as an assistant?

He already has the weapons to use on the battlefield, so now is the time to move directly.

It will take quite a while to organize the vast amount of data in his hand, but there is no problem until completion.

The day these data are released to the world, the workers of the world will once again unite under the banner of unity.

Friedrich Engels boarded a ship leaving London that day.

A weapon to achieve global class struggle.

For the completion of Engelism.