Chapter 152: Otto, Clench Your Teeth
"Interesting. You say you're helping me?" Irene raised an eyebrow, looking at Otto. "Is Overseer Otto being this kind-hearted? Why do I find that hard to believe?"
"Oh, it seems that in your world, I am equally not considered a good person. Hmm, that's normal." Otto nodded; he knew exactly what kind of person he was.
As long as the majority of the major events remained unchanged, he would still have this villainous image. It was perfectly normal for Irene to distrust him so much.
As for why he could guess her origins, it was actually quite normal. Irene had revealed a Ruoshui Sword that was almost identical to theirs, along with a Wendy who was almost identical to theirs.
Especially this attitude towards him—it was obvious she had faced him before. Yet, in Otto's memory, he was absolutely certain he had never come into contact with Irene.
So, where could Irene have come into contact with him? Naturally, it would be in her own world.
"You certainly have a clear understanding of yourself." Irene twitched the corner of her mouth as she looked at Otto's unapologetic demeanor. "But speak clearly. What did you mean just now?"
"Naturally, I meant it literally." Otto smiled, not caring in the slightest that Irene currently had him skewered on her sword. Since this body was shoddily made anyway, giving it to Irene didn't matter.
Besides, the Void Archives had already severed his connection with his other clones. He didn't mind chatting with Irene for a bit; after all, he was very curious about her.
"Perhaps, Miss Irene, what you say is true. You really have convinced Sirin to let go of her hatred, making her willing to live alongside humanity and fight against the Honkai as a human."
"But that is merely your side of the story, Miss Irene. You haven't let anyone else know about this yet, have you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have put on that act in front of everyone."
Irene remained silent. Beside them, Benares seemed to understand their conversation. Hearing them mention Sirin, she leaned in, glaring intently at Otto, who was pinned beneath Irene.
[Are you talking about the Queen?] Benares asked through the connection Irene had previously established with her.
[We are indeed talking about her, but could you wait for me for a moment?] Irene casually patted Benares's head. It felt extremely smooth to the touch, which was rather strange.
[Mn, I hope you aren't lying to me.] Benares looked at Irene and shrank back, silently absorbing the surrounding Honkai energy at the same time.
Her current condition was truly poor, and the Queen greatly needed her combat strength. She wanted revenge, so Benares would naturally respond to the Queen's wishes.
After dealing with Benares, Irene turned her head back to look at Otto. "Even if what you're saying is true, so what? In the end, what does that have to do with what you are doing now?"
"Of course it matters, Miss Irene." Otto smiled. "You have indeed done a lot, but you are also exceptionally naive. Just how many things has Miss Sirin done? Could it be that you are unaware, Miss Irene?"
"As the Second Herrscher in Siberia, quite a few people developed deep grudges against Miss Sirin. Leaving everything else aside, how are you going to explain Cecilia's matter to Theresa?"
"..." Irene looked at Otto and pursed her lips. She had indeed overlooked this point, or rather, she hadn't figured out exactly how to handle it.
The Second Eruption had indeed caused a massive impact on many people, and Cecilia was an absolutely unavoidable issue. Sirin would eventually find out about this matter sooner or later.
Theresa would also hold a grudge in her heart over this. Furthermore, there was Siegfried in this matter as well. How was he supposed to view Sirin, who was coexisting together with Kiana?
Soul rebirth, reincarnating as a human—this kind of explanation was far too hollow.
There might even be many other problems. The Second Eruption had indeed left behind far too many grudges. Kiana from the original storyline was relatively fine.
Kiana had conquered the evil in her heart, or rather the Queen, and had always fought for humanity. She became Flamescion, became Finality, and became the one who saved everyone.
But now? She had chosen to let Sirin stay and tried to make her coexist with Kiana. But what was to be done about Cecilia's matter?
Watching the silent Irene, Otto smiled. "That is why I said you are very naive, Miss Irene. This matter is not so easily resolved. You can only insert yourself in the middle and try to gradually ease the tension."
"Perhaps one day, Sirin will indeed be accepted by those few people, but before then, just how much more will Sirin have to do?"
"..." Irene took a deep breath. "Then what does this have to do with what you're doing right now?"
"Of course it matters, Miss Irene." Otto nodded, then raised his hand and pointed at himself. "Just as the enemy of an enemy is a friend."
"Although it's impossible to completely resolve the potential rifts, if a common enemy appears, it will always be better than before, right?"
"And here, who is more suited for this role than me? What do you say, Miss Irene?" A smile hung on Otto's face. "How about it? This is indeed helping you, isn't it?"
"Then aren't you afraid we'll just kill you directly?" Irene listened to Little Corruption telling her in her ear that she had already cracked 80% of the functionality of Otto's clone.
Even with the Void Archives, on a data level, he would absolutely be no match for Little Corruption.
Otto nodded in considerable agreement. "Mn, if I had already accomplished my goals, I really wouldn't care. Stepping over my corpse to climb to the top is a good method to rapidly accumulate prestige."
"But it's a pity that I haven't achieved my goals yet, so I cannot step down from the position of Overseer of Schicksal just yet."
"Therefore, I have another clone currently staying in one of my armed bases, and the missiles have already been activated. Oh, please rest assured, that place is already completely disconnected from the network in a physical sense, relying entirely on autonomous operation."
"Even if Miss Irene has the help of the Herrscher of Corruption, under the circumstances of not knowing where that base is at all, there shouldn't be anything you can do, right?"
Hearing Otto's words, Irene immediately sensed something was wrong. "Where have you aimed the missiles?"
"Let me think... a few explored Anti-Entropy bases, some belonging to the Conservative Faction, some belonging to the Radical Faction. Oh, and the battleship Hyperion. After all, you haven't broken away from Schicksal's order yet, so continuously locking onto your position is not difficult."
Otto still wore an unhurried expression on his face, casually listing them off as if reading a menu. Finally, amidst Irene's ugly expression, Otto spoke slowly.
"Oh, and of course, St. Freya Academy. This is my leverage for the time being."
"How could you?!" Irene reached out and directly grabbed Otto, hauling him up by his collar. Her face was exceptionally ugly, and at this moment, a hint of blue flashed in Irene's eyes.
Otto raised an eyebrow. For some unknown reason, he suddenly felt a very familiar aura, or rather a sensation, from Irene. For some unknown reason, Otto suddenly felt that he shouldn't continue speaking.
But Otto temporarily tossed this feeling aside, raising his hand to grip Irene's hand, that careless smile still hanging on his face.
With a forceful push, the sword in Irene's hand plunged deeper into Otto's clone. At the same time, Otto drew even closer to Irene. "Miss Irene should know me very well."
"These are nothing more than a few buildings, a few enemies that needed to be dealt with anyway. Miss Irene, do you think I'd be reluctant to part with them?"
"I imagine Miss Irene didn't anticipate this layer and didn't set up defensive systems, right?" Traces of being corroded by the Corruption virus gradually surfaced on Otto's face. He also felt that some systems within his body were beginning to disobey his commands.
But what did that matter? Otto still wore a smile on his face, looking at Irene, whose expression had already become incomparably ugly. "So, Miss Irene, do you want to make a bet on whether I dare to press that button?"
"Or rather, does Miss Irene dare to place them on the gambling table?"
Just as Irene was about to say something else, Kallen's low voice echoed in Irene's mind:[Irene, let me do it.]
"Mn." Irene lowered her head, reached her hand into her pocket, and crushed a certain card. Amidst a burst of golden light, Irene seemed to regain her white hair, but Otto's eyes suddenly widened.
"Otto, clench your teeth!" Kallen directly raised a fist and punched it straight towards Otto's face. The immense power born of her fury directly sent Otto flying.
Kallen extended her palm forward, and the Starry Judah instantly appeared in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, the chains immediately yanked the airborne Otto back.
"How could you do this?!" Kallen grabbed the collar of the still-dazed Otto and subsequently pinned him to the ground. "What do you treat the lives of others as?!"
"Ka... Kallen." Otto, who had been smiling previously, was now utterly bewildered. Looking at that familiar, dream-haunting face before him, his previously clear mind instantly turned to mush.
"I..."
Kallen hoisted Otto up, her eyes burning with anger. "What on earth are you doing?! Did my death really affect you this much?"
Originally, Kallen had planned it all out: after arriving here, she would have Irene take her to meet Otto. She still needed to see this world's Otto; she didn't want Otto to go mad because of her death.
After all, no matter what was said, it was impossible for Kallen to not have a place for Otto in her heart. Even in the past, it was because Otto was not just Otto.
He was also Otto Apocalypse, and she was not just Kallen; she was also Kallen Kaslana. Given the circumstances at the time, she couldn't marry Otto Apocalypse.
That would bring a disaster of sorts upon her family. They both had to be responsible for their own families, and Kallen, even more so, wanted to be responsible for the justice in her heart.
So, for her, it seemed that relationship could only stop at that level and end up coming to nothing.
But later, when Otto flew in to save her and died for her, how could that kind of emotional impact not leave a mark in Kallen's heart?
She had heard from Irene about the things Otto would do after her death, but she still wanted to try. What if Otto could still be turned around?
That was what she had originally thought. But now, as she listened to every word Otto said from within Irene's body, nothing but anger remained in her heart.
How could Otto say such things so nonchalantly? Why could he so blatantly exploit the kindness of others? Why could he speak of such things with such complete indifference?
She couldn't understand, and she felt even angrier. Didn't Irene say Otto wanted to resurrect her? But how was Otto going to face her after she was resurrected?
She had read St. Freya's textbooks and seen that her counterpart in this world seemed almost identical to herself, perhaps even a bit more glorious. At the very least, she didn't think she was that perfect.
Although Irene said there was a bit of Otto's artistic embellishment involved here, it still proved a point. Her counterpart in this world should have a personality nearly identical to her own.
If Otto truly resurrected the other her, after everything he had done, how was he going to face the other version of herself?
Meanwhile, Otto, who was pinned to the ground, gradually recovered his calm expression after his initial panic. Looking at the Kallen who haunted his dreams right before him, he had already understood one thing.
"Long time no see, Kallen. Even though you are the you from another world, it truly has been a long time since I've heard your voice."
"That's not what I asked you!" Kallen gripped Otto's collar tightly. The Judah chains wrapped around Otto grew tighter and tighter, emitting creaking sounds.
"I know, I know. Don't be anxious, Kallen." Otto looked at Kallen and smiled, a rare gentleness in his eyes. "What do you want to say? Do you feel that me threatening Miss Irene with missiles is wrong?"
"Everything. Everything you have done. Why did you do it?" Kallen stared straight into Otto's eyes, blazing with fury as she looked at the already calm Otto.
"For you, Kallen. Your dream was to save the world; I have always remembered that."
Otto raised his hand and patted Kallen's hand, as if simply saying, 'You're hurting me, could you loosen up a bit?'
"That is why I created Schicksal. I created the Valkyries and passed down your creed as the creed of the Valkyries, little by little."
"This world has been saved by Schicksal and the Valkyries for 500 years. Isn't this exactly what you wanted to see?"
"That's not what I'm asking about at all!" Kallen glared at Otto. "Disarm the missiles, immediately! "
"I'm very sorry, but I must refuse you this time, Kallen." Otto shook his head. "Just like I said earlier, I merely took some preventive measures. I still must complete my plan."
"So, I will not disarm the missiles."
"Why?!"
"Because I have to go save my Kallen." Otto looked amicably at the Kallen before him. Although he missed her greatly, and although she was so familiar, this was Kallen, without a doubt.
But Otto knew very well that she was not his Kallen. This was the Kallen from Irene's world. Since that was the case, she could not stop him.
"Then how are you going to face the other me?" Kallen looked at Otto, confusion in her eyes. "Do you think the other me will just accept everything you've done?"
"She won't be able to accept it, that's for sure." Otto nodded. "She'll probably beat me up fiercely, just like you, Kallen, if she gets the chance."
He naturally understood Kallen. After Kallen was resurrected, upon learning of the things he had done, she would definitely beat him up without hesitation, just like the Kallen right now.
She would then question him, asking him why he did it, asking him why he had become like this.
But, what did that matter?
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