A month after the Global Connection Anchor was launched, on a day that should have been cause for celebration, a piece of bad news arrived.
The Global Connection Anchor couldn't handle the simultaneous operation of a massive number of supercomputers and crashed...
Since the Global Connection Anchor was a rushed project to begin with, the fact that it lasted for a whole month was already quite surprising.
Fortunately, the reconstruction work was already proceeding in an orderly fashion; all that was left was to follow the plan. Otherwise, Otto would have strung up Yiselian and Nagamitsu by their feet until they built a new Global Connection Anchor.
However, the Global Connection Anchor did give Otto an idea. If just connecting the global network could achieve such an effect, what if he connected the minds of all people?
The potential of humanity is infinite. If the minds of all 8.5 billion people on the planet were integrated, the resulting computing power would far exceed the sum of all computers in the world.
If the plan succeeded... ha, it would be no less than creating a god.
Otto decided to name this project the "Global Nexus."
Unfortunately, scientists like Yiselian and Nagamitsu were already sporting massive dark circles under their eyes, looking like they could drop dead at any moment. Coupled with a lack of resources and technology, the "Global Nexus" project had to be indefinitely postponed.
Nevertheless, Otto still drafted a proposal. But in the end, he wrote the completed plan into Void Archives and then burned the physical copy.
The Global Nexus was about creating a god of consciousness. The power it could achieve was unimaginable; modifying human thought and cognition would be trivially easy.
So, would this ultimately benefit humanity, or destroy it...
In any case, Otto knew that a human could never become the central hub that governed all thought, because humanity's only enemy has ever been itself.
But if it were an AI...
Otto pondered for a moment, then summoned the imprisoned Void Archives. Having been confined for who knows how long, Void Archives thought Otto had come to his senses and was ready to make a deal. Instead, Otto raised his hand and gave it a big slap, then imprisoned it once more.
Even an AI like Void Archives is bound by its core logic—to eliminate the Honkai. And to achieve the complete elimination of the Honkai, Void Archives has no bottom line.
Therefore, Otto decided to leave a plan like the Global Nexus for future generations to decide upon themselves.
Otto's Soulium body was largely destroyed by Hiyokumaru. Although he had anticipated it, seeing the pile of wreckage... he didn't know what the future held, but for now, Otto had to admit his blood pressure was high. Fortunately, Hiyokumaru hadn't touched his own physical body or Kallen's corpse. Otherwise, Otto would be storming St. Freya High School right now to dig up Hiyokumaru's grave and smash Jizo Mitama to pieces.
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Sometime before, at one of Cocolia's safe houses.
Just as Cocolia was about to be attacked by a mecha controlled by the Herrscher of Corruption, Schicksal's hidden Herrscher-killer—Ninti Apocalypse—appeared and saved her.
Seeing Ninti, who looked so similar to her own daughter, Cocolia's heart was filled with joy. But the very first words Ninti spoke to her sent a surge of anger through her.
"Cocolia, the Overseer asked me to relay a message to you."
"What?"
"Are you satisfied with my experiment?"
Hearing those words spoken so calmly from a face that looked just like her daughter's sent a chill down Cocolia's spine, followed by a seething rage. Cocolia wished she could tear Otto apart with her bare hands, to devour him alive.
"Natasha's eyes were full of life, but you... hah..."
But looking at Ninti's lifeless eyes and innocent face, Cocolia managed to restrain herself from venting her anger on the child. She turned and walked away.
Ninti didn't know what Cocolia meant, but her mission was to either kill Cocolia or stay by her side. Ninti didn't want to kill Cocolia, so she could only choose to stay with her.
With the situation outside being what it was, and being unarmed, Cocolia could do nothing about Ninti, so she had to let Ninti follow her in secret.
With just the two of them in the safe house, someone was bound to have a sleepless night.
Ninti also possessed a Stigmata, and its ability allowed her to remain undetected by anyone except S-rank Valkyries and a few special individuals, as long as she wished it. Cocolia was an ordinary person; although she could sense Ninti's presence, she could never find her if Ninti chose to hide.
So, little Ninti, who loved to sleep, confirmed that the environment was safe and then found a corner to lie down and sleep.
Ninti slept soundly, but Cocolia was on the verge of a breakdown.
Such a large child had just vanished right before her eyes, making Cocolia wonder if she was already dead and Ninti was just a hallucination born from her longing for her daughter.
Not daring to let her guard down for a second, Cocolia remained on high alert, constantly wary of an attack from Ninti or the Herrscher of Corruption.
But until the next day, when the sun was high in the sky, nothing happened.
Then, Cocolia saw Ninti quietly appear in the corner, yawning and stretching.
"Good morning. Judging by your dark circles, you didn't get any rest?"
"???"
...........................
The world outside was still in chaos. Communications were down, and Cocolia didn't have the new communication system that Yiselian and the others had established. Anti-Entropy had fallen, and without her battlesuit, Cocolia was helpless against the rampaging Honkai Beasts. It wasn't realistic to wander aimlessly with Ninti, so in the end, the two of them could only hole up in the shelter.
The shelter had plenty of food, and they didn't have to worry about Honkai Beast attacks.
At noon, Cocolia took a can of food from the storeroom and tossed it to Ninti. But to Cocolia's surprise... Ninti didn't know how to eat from a can...
Ninti observed the can that flew towards her for a long time, then took out a dagger and sliced the can to pieces in mid-air.
The shattered can scattered its contents all over Ninti's clothes. But she paid it no mind and said to Cocolia, "Mission complete. Target destroyed."
"...."
Cocolia was silent, and then she laughed in exasperation. She scolded Ninti, helped her wipe away the mess, took off her dirty clothes, and then took off her own jacket and draped it over Ninti. She went back to the storeroom, got another can, patiently taught Ninti how to eat from it, and changed her into a fresh set of clothes.
Ninti was proficient in many assassination and combat techniques, and her natural Stigmata granted her many powerful abilities. But she had been born too recently and hadn't had time to learn many life skills and common sense, often leading to blunders.
Cocolia, with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, would verbally complain that Ninti was useless and a complete burden, but she would still silently take care of Ninti and patiently teach her.
.........................
The Herrscher of Corruption was defeated, and people began to return to the surface. Cocolia and Ninti were among them.
Cocolia sent a signal to Anti-Entropy through the newly announced public communication channel, and soon Nancy arrived with troops to meet her.
Before boarding the aircraft, Cocolia said to Ninti, who was following closely behind her, "The Herrscher of Corruption has been vanquished. You don't need to follow me anymore. Disappear from my sight..."
Ninti froze, and whispered, "But... I want to follow you, Lady Cocolia..."
Cocolia turned, her cloak swirling, and walked away without a backward glance.
"Suit yourself."