"I didn't expect you all to be so interested in that fellow Otto's story."
Welt took a sip of tea.
"Uh, it's not exactly interest. It's mostly that listening to your stories, Uncle Yang, is particularly interesting."
"If you want to hear Otto's voice, you can go chat with Shush for a bit. Shush voice source is Otto."
After it was repaired by the Void Archives, it inherited the Void Archives' voice. That voice had been used by Otto for five hundred years until it was thoroughly seasoned; the moment it opened its mouth, it was full of Otto's flavor.
"Then... why do I feel like that Bishop is a bit of a jerk?"
"That's just a stereotype. This man is extremely cunning."
"True, but Uncle Yang, you were really capable when you were young."
Stelle looked at Welt with the kind of worshipful gaze one has for an elder.
"Ahem, of course."
Clearly, Welt was enjoying this.
He felt satisfied.
"In that case, I'll talk about this man's motivations."
Welt set down the teacup in his hand.
"Actually, over five hundred years ago, Otto once had a sweetheart."
"Over five hundred years old... Uncle Yang, are the people on your planet also this long-lived?"
"Uh, his situation was special. He swapped bodies."
Welt coughed.
"In short, the original Otto Apocalypse was actually a sickly child with no friends."
"I always feel like you're vilifying him, Uncle Yang."
"I can testify that what Uncle Yang says is actually true."
Aidan sat nearby, propping up his face with one hand.
"For real?"
"Of course it's true. And Otto actually had experiences with cross-dressing."
Welt leaned back.
"You even know about that?"
Aidan glanced at Welt.
Welt knew about this?
Welt:?
No, I was just saying that Otto had cross-dressed; I didn't expect that guy to actually play it so wild.
Images of that fellow Otto in women's clothing surfaced in Welt's mind—no no no no no, brain, don't be so imaginative at a time like this! I don't want to see Otto in a dress!
"Ahem, anyway, the young master of the Apocalypse family was like that."
Welt performed a tactical glasses-push to alleviate the awkwardness.
"The most tragic thing is that the woman he liked eventually claimed to have fallen in love with another woman..."
"Pfft."
Aidan's expression was beyond words.
It was indeed all history, but in Welt's mouth, Otto's image was truly a bit...
Like a stray dog on the side of the road.
It was reasonable. It was all facts anyway, and it was good to let Uncle Yang vent. Besides, the Lord Bishop wasn't exactly a good person, and the Lord Bishop himself wouldn't have any objections. Not to mention Bishop Otto is currently dead; even if you brought him back to life, he'd probably listen with a grin.
Otto's greatest strength was his thick skin, followed by the fact that he stubbornly used Kallen's matters to mentally torture himself every single day.
"Sickly, no friends, a shut-in loner, his crush didn't like him, and the person he liked liked someone else, and finally the person he liked died—Uncle Yang, the person you're talking about sounds like one of those tragic side characters you see everywhere."
Although he really wanted to laugh, Welt tried his best to keep his expression serious: "While the facts are indeed so, you shouldn't underestimate him. This man later did many great things and changed the course of the entire world."
"Oh oh... like sneak-attacking you, Uncle Yang?"
After Stelle said this, March 7th accidentally burst out laughing.
"Ah... cough... no, sorry, I didn't mean to laugh... haha, Uncle Yang, please continue..."
Actually, it wasn't an accident.
Although Dan Heng remained expressionless, if one looked closely, the corners of his mouth were also twitching slightly.
His shoulders were even trembling slightly.
Wow, he was practically a talking steel plate.
"Alright, let's end the story here."
Welt stood up.
In reality, he didn't know how to make up any more.
"Are you all free?"
Seeing that they were quite free at the moment, Aidan spoke up.
"Of course we're free, what's up?"
"Are you interested in a game of chess?"
"Chess?"
"What's that?"
"Let you help me execute [Equilibrium]. For the balance of all realms, the strong shall find opportunity, and the weak shall have a chance to breathe. Of course, in short, it's combat. You will fight against your own phantoms. You won't be truly injured; nothing will be added, and nothing will be lost."
Aidan spread his hands, and a black and white chessboard emerged.
"Will you come? For [Equilibrium], how about participating in a round of [Heteromorphic Arbitration]?"
"Wouldn't that mean we can never win?" March 7th scratched her head. "How can you win against yourself?"
"It doesn't matter whether you win or lose; I can use this to gain the power to maintain cosmic balance."
Dan Heng's gaze fell upon the empty black and white chessboard. Although his eyes were calm, Aidan could see the hint of interest hidden within.
"What is the significance of this kind of combat?"
"The significance lies in [Equilibrium] itself," Aidan explained. "When two identical existences fight each other, it makes the universe more balanced. Of course, for you, it's also a rare experience—to fight yourself and understand your own limits."
"Indeed, this is a rare training opportunity. Within the domain of equilibrium, all external interference is stripped away, leaving only your understanding and application of your own abilities. Aidan, this arbitration space shouldn't cause physical damage to the Express, right?"
Aidan hovered in mid-air, his tone still leisurely: "No. It is an illusory crack; nothing will remain, and nothing will be taken away. Start whenever you are ready. If you are good, your opposite is evil; if you are evil, your counterpart is good—just as electrons have positive and negative, and magnets have two poles."
"Sounds quite interesting. If I win, it proves I'm stronger than myself; if I lose, I lost to myself anyway, so it's not embarrassing."
"That logic of yours..." March 7th opened her mouth. "It seems I really can't find a flaw in it?"
Dan Heng had already walked up to the chessboard.
"How do we start?"
"Touch the chessboard."
Instantly, Dan Heng transformed into a small chess piece. Aidan reached out and placed Dan Heng on a white square of the board. On the adjacent black square, a chess piece appeared that looked similar to Dan Heng but emitted an eerie black aura.
"Alright, who wants to challenge next?"
"Me!"
Stelle had long been unable to restrain herself. She rolled up her sleeves and pressed her hand directly onto the chessboard.
"Let me see!"
Corresponding to Stelle on the chessboard was a special chess piece; this piece was reversed.
"Hmm...?"
Stelle looked up.
A person wearing a pink fluffy hat appeared.
"...Where the heck did I end up? Is this still ----?"
The person who looked very much like Stelle scratched their head, as if they had taken a wrong turn.
"Eh, leaving, leaving."
Stelle didn't quite understand what happened, but immediately afterward, it seemed the proper Boss appeared. Its appearance was identical to the person who had just taken the wrong turn.
"[?ezalbliarT I od yhW]"
"[.dne on si ereht,ees I tahw esuaceb ylnO]"