"Durandal appeared in Manila?"
Sitting in the Archbishop's seat, Otto frowned as he looked at the report in his hand.
This was the first time Otto had encountered such a situation in so many years.
Although like many children, Durandal would have moments of minor rebellion, Otto considered them harmless.
But this was the first time she had gone to a battlefield thousands of miles away without a word, even taking Rita and a series of her personal belongings.
Whether it was how she managed to leave undetected by everyone and arrive in Manila almost as soon as she vanished, or her almost plundering operation of taking even furniture, it all made Otto feel perplexed.
However, being Otto, who prided himself as the smartest person in the world, he quickly connected all the unreasonable things that had happened recently.
"YoRHa, the Tinder, the masked man, and World Serpent, huh."
Otto let out a light chuckle as he looked at the intelligence before him.
For him, this suddenly appearing Tinder website was not without benefits.
He originally thought that ordinary people's only use to him was to create wealth, establish a public image, and provide test subjects.
So he had never paid attention to ordinary people's thoughts about the Honkai. Although he had never deliberately suppressed information about the Honkai, politicians in various countries had tacitly chosen to conceal and block it.
For him, concealing or not concealing was completely unnecessary; the same went for other organizations. In fact, for the stability of the world, concealment might even be better.
Therefore, Otto realized that the person who publicized the Honkai must have some special ulterior motive.
Just like him, protecting the Honkai was merely to utilize its power.
Otto liked to have everything under control, but he also liked some variables. So far, he hadn't found a truly effective way to achieve his goals.
Other people's stones can polish one's own jade, so he didn't mind the emergence of more talented individuals. As long as they didn't pose a threat to him, he would even actively cultivate them.
Just like Anti-Entropy once was.
"So that organization is called World Serpent. This Tinder actually did a good deed. Amber, investigate based on the intelligence provided."
Otto had long known that there was another organization operating in the shadows in this world, but their actions had always been very covert, like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows. Compared to the YoRHa, which openly went around eliminating Honkai, Otto felt the former was more threatening.
"Do we need to bring Lady Durandal back?"
"No, if she wants to come back, she'll come back on her own."
Otto placed the report on the table: "If she doesn't want to come back, more people won't help."
He glanced at the report on the table.
It wasn't just Durandal who appeared in Manila; several Valkyries from St. Freya Academy also appeared in that area, which was not under St. Freya Academy's jurisdiction.
"Don't disappoint me, little Theresa..."
Currently, those openly appearing in Manila included Anti-Entropy, the masked man, YoRHa, St. Freya Academy's Valkyries, and Durandal. Excluding their own Valkyrie forces, and with Anti-Entropy personnel even appearing in the masked man's live broadcast.
It wasn't difficult to see that YoRHa and Anti-Entropy were collaborators, and within this collaboration, St. Freya Academy and Durandal had also gotten involved.
Even Otto couldn't guess what gave them the confidence to stand out and openly betray him, but he knew that all of this was inextricably linked to the masked man's objective.
"June 1st, don't disappoint me."
...
Everything in the Manila Honkai incident was developing in a positive direction, with no further incidents occurring other than Ais's Herrscher transformation.
And Ais's Herrscher transformation had been temporarily controlled by Hestia, which saved them a lot of trouble.
Globally, Takatsuki's actions also brought immense turmoil to the world.
Regardless of how various countries tried to block it, after realizing that the Tinder forum could not be blocked, they also lifted the keyword restrictions on the internet.
After all, it was meaningless. Even if other places were blocked, as long as there was one place that could allow discussions regardless of distance and country, the popularity would not decrease.
The Honkai, something that could appear at any time and claim many lives, should have originally caused more panic.
But the public wasn't entirely foolish. Although information was blocked, many things had actually shown signs, and many conspiracy theories had already circulated among the populace. It was just that there was no clear evidence, so there were many different theories. Takatsuki's live broadcast merely unified these theories for everyone.
The biggest recent event was the large-scale destruction of the Second Eruption, which almost half the world had witnessed. Only fourteen years had passed since then, and the official explanation was an ordinary natural disaster, but those who experienced it knew that it was not a natural disaster in the conventional sense.
Furthermore, alongside the Honkai, various organizations fighting against it also appeared in the public eye, especially the existence of Schicksal and YoRHa, two organizations globally combating the Honkai, which reassured many people. Rescue videos were continuously broadcast live on TV and websites, putting everyone at ease.
There were even rumors circulating in the streets about humanoid androids that had been seen on patrol.
So, the initial anticipated panic did not occur.
Of course, a large part of the reason was the hope stored at the very bottom, after the disaster was unleashed.
Although it was kept a secret, it was only to be announced on June 1st, which was just a little over a week away.
A week is not a long time; some project negotiations even take more than a week.
A week was also enough for most of the Manila rescue operations to be completed.
Time quickly arrived at the agreed-upon moment. Almost everyone worldwide simultaneously turned on their televisions or accessed websites.
Even those in different time zones had set their alarms for early morning to remind themselves.
And as the time arrived, a familiar masked figure appeared on the screen.
"Hello, viewers around the world. It's been a week, and I'm sure you've all missed me. I've missed you all terribly too."
"Alright, no more idle chatter. I believe you're all gathered in front of your screens not to hear me do a monologue, but to know what that hope I mentioned earlier is."
"Before I say that, I want to ask everyone a question: Do you think humans have souls? Where do people go after they die? Do they simply vanish into thin air, or is there a so-called heaven, hell, or underworld?"
"Regardless of the country, there are legends about the afterlife or discussions about reincarnation. After all, humans emotionally always believe that our loved ones are immortal and eternal. Even I am just such a person."
"So, here, I'll give everyone a clear answer: Yes, souls exist, and the afterlife also exists. Although different from what is recorded in myths, they do exist in this world. However, the vast majority of the deceased will not have the chance to leave their mark on this world again."
"But there is a method that allows a portion of the deceased to reappear in this world after their life has ended... And I call these people — Heroic Spirits."