Elysia continued pushing the story forward with full concentration.
After clearing out another swarm of Honkai beasts, Durandal suddenly had an idea—she asked Dr. Tesla to run a diagnostic scan on Otto.
And sure enough…
They discovered numerous puppet threads tangled around his body.
The moment Tesla saw those threads, her eyes lit up with excitement.
She immediately began tracing them, hoping she could follow the lines back to the precise location of the Herrscher of Domination's core.
Theresa transmitted this major discovery to the Hyperion at once.
But…
When the comms connected, they learned that Schicksal's own researchers had already reported the same information to the Hyperion earlier.
And the person who delivered the report was a woman named Changguang—someone who proudly claimed to be Tesla's fan.
Her first line was:
"Long live the Tunguska explosion~!"
The viewers collectively choked.
Good grief.
That's not a fan. That's a certified anti-fan.
…
After going off on a tangent for a moment, Changguang suggested that Tesla and the others visit several specific locations to collect further data.
"Once you finish collecting everything in those areas," she said brightly,
"return to the Hyperion and regroup with Kiana. From there, we can figure out a way to infiltrate the space where the Herrscher core resides."
The plan set, everyone prepared to depart immediately.
But at that moment, Kiana suddenly requested to go with them.
Theresa hesitated at first…
But after some gentle "5-10-0 persuasion" from Durandal, she finally agreed.
Soon, Theresa's group went to meet up with Kiana.
The audience still had no idea that Durandal was actually the real Kiana in disguise.
So when the "sisters" reunited, nobody suspected a thing.
"Long time no see, Kiana Kaslana."
"Yeah. Back when I escaped from you all, I never imagined we'd end up fighting side-by-side like this."
Of course, she was referring to the events after Sky City—Chapter 19.
"You could say that our paths converged again because of our shared mission to fight Honkai."
"Yep, yep~" Changguang said cheerfully. "Leave the past in the past. The future of Schicksal will belong to our generation."
"Even Otto Apocalypse found his own path before resigning. His future likely won't overlap with ours again."
Her words left everyone stunned.
Theresa: "Not… overlap? What do you mean?"
Durandal: "Changguang, what exactly do you know?"
Changguang smiled. "Let me say this first—I'm only sharing a hypothesis. But personally, I find it very reasonable~"
"Let's start with the conclusion…"
"I believe that during his previous experiments, Otto really did find a way to go back to the past."
The moment she said that, Tesla immediately jumped in to refute her.
After all—time travel made zero sense in normal physics.
"You're right, Miss Tesla," Changguang nodded.
"Time travel—the kind of fate-twisting nonsense seen in sci-fi—is impossible."
"But… from the perspective of ontology, I believe Otto still has a method to 'go back' in a certain sense."
Then Tesla and Changguang launched into a long, convoluted discussion about "time."
None of the players understood a word of it.
Nor did the characters in the story.
Then—out of nowhere—Kiana spoke up.
"I didn't really get it all, but… are you trying to say…"
"Because our world exists in a stable state, no power within it can interfere with the flow of time?"
The barrage instantly exploded:
[??草履虫你...你偷偷补课了?]
[我居然智商不如虫虫!!]
["听不懂"]
[其实琪亚娜说得完全正确]
[听君一席话...]
[简单说就是:在世界内部无法时间旅行,但虚数之树能做到]
[所以虚数之树能帮奥托时空穿越?]
While chat was in a frenzy, Changguang used a simple analogy.
Kiana's world was like a video game.
Kiana and the others were characters in that game.
They could "recall past memories" — like loading past save files.
But they could not change those recorded memories.
However—
The Imaginary Tree, acting as the game server, could take any save file from any time point… and generate a new parallel world from it.
Just like a game company reopening servers, merging servers, or creating new ones.
"This is no different from parallel world theory," Changguang continued.
"The new 'you' generated by the Imaginary Tree isn't the same as the current you—just like the Otto we met earlier. He's Otto, but not our Otto."
Changguang nodded. "Exactly. But—"
She then used another metaphor.
But after hearing it… most players were still utterly lost.
Except Kiana.
She understood again.
"So you mean… Otto plans to use some function of the Imaginary Tree to… relive his life?"
Changguang thought for a moment before answering:
"Hmm… 'relive his life' isn't quite accurate. In fact, it's almost the opposite."
"But… for convenience of understanding, let's stick with that phrasing~"
Meaning—Kiana wasn't exactly right, but she wasn't wrong either.
Players finally relaxed.
For once, miHoYo wasn't being cryptic.
…
[Holy crap—so Otto can actually reload a save and go back to the past?][Pay attention! Changguang said "live it again" isn't quite accurate!][In other words… Otto might not necessarily be going back alive?][This is so complicated…][mmp, I'm just trying to play a game and I still have to use my brain…]
Like the chat, Elysia didn't understand any of it.
But she didn't need to understand.
She just needed to push the story forward.
Eden, however, was deep in thought.
Just then, Otto spoke again—and instantly recaptured her attention.
"I see…"
"If I truly had 500 years… perhaps I really would change like this."
Otto was always clear-eyed enough to understand himself.
At this point, a seed had already formed in his heart—
the desire to return to the past and save Kallen.
But without 500 years of accumulated obsession, the longing wasn't as overwhelming yet.
If he lived 500 years, he reasoned…
He might truly become the Otto whom Tesla condemned.
"Miss Tesla was correct…"
"From a selfish perspective… perhaps I joined the anti-Schicksal rebels simply because I didn't want the name 'Kallen' to suffer any more defeats."
"My motives may sound laughable to you… insignificant, even."
"But you must understand—when Kallen died, the part of me that could be called a 'self'… vanished with her."
Tesla: "…"
"You're telling me you never had your own life?"
"That the future Bishop of Schicksal—someone who shaped the destiny of the world for five centuries—was merely a walking shadow? A pitiful puppet?"
Tesla's words echoed Eden's thoughts.
For so long, Otto had been nothing but a wicked schemer in her eyes—
a man driven mad by obsession.
But from another angle…
A man who never considered himself.
A man who lost his self entirely…
Wasn't that pitiful in its own way?
Eden recalled the way Otto always carried that air of indifference toward everything.
Yes…
Otto didn't need anyone's pity.
Nor did he ever seek forgiveness.
He understood fully how vile—how evil—his deeds were.
And still, he did them.
And he would never stop.
If you ignored the facts…
Hmm? Ignore the facts?
Forget it.
Otto, take the sword!!
...
While Eden pondered, Changguang and the others wrapped up their discussion about "time."
Theresa then assigned the next course of action.
The game switched to free-exploration mode.
During exploration, Durandal received a call from Amber.
Amber reported that Otto and Rita had already located the fragment of the Herrscher of Domination's core inside St. 537 Church.
She added that once Theresa's group arrived, Otto would assist the Hyperion in retrieving the core.
Worried that Otto might have ulterior motives regarding Kiana, Theresa chose not to bring Kiana along.
In the end, she and Durandal brought the "Otto from 500 years ago" to the church.
Outside the church, the two Ottos—
Schicksal's Bishop Otto and the Otto from 500 years ago—
met for the first time.
Same face.
But the way they spoke could not have been more different.
"Ah, Theresa. You've worked hard. I know there are many things you wish to say to me, but…"
"Let me finish the important matter first~"
Short-haired Otto's tone was as carefree as ever, as though nothing mattered to him.
"I have already taken 99.9% of the Herrscher core. And the remaining 0.1%… is about to fall into place~"
"Now, everyone—come inside this church and witness this historic moment together~"
He gave them no chance to question him.
With that, Otto entered the church first.
Theresa, though suspicious, followed with Durandal and the 500-year-old Otto.
And the moment they stepped inside—
Otto's voice echoed again.
"The time has come—Rita, recover our test subject~"
Before Theresa could react—
A silver flash.
Rita's scythe swept through the air.
And the Otto from 500 years ago collapsed to the ground, dead.
At that instant—
Countless players, and Eden herself—
Their pupils trembled violently in shock.
Otto…
killed his own past self?!
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