"For the Overseer himself to stoop to contacting a mere A-rank Valkyrie like me... I'm truly flattered."
Fu Hua's expression and tone were as calm as usual, speaking words that seemed like flattery, but with undisguised sarcasm.
"What's wrong? Have so many A-rank Valkyries died in your inhumane experiments that you've finally run out of pawns?"
After all these years doing his dirty work, she knew exactly how filthy the man on the other end of the communicator was, yet he could still plaster that sickeningly cheerful smile on his face.
Because of this, Fu Hua utterly loathed his hypocrisy.
But personal feelings never swayed Fu Hua's judgment. She always executed the tasks assigned by him flawlessly.
Otto knew this well, and therefore he didn't care.
What's more, he already had her weakness firmly in his grasp; Fu Hua knew what she should do.
"Isn't Schicksal's current standing thanks to the voluntary sacrifices of these respectable Valkyries? You shouldn't hold animosity towards me; you should hold respect for them."
Otto chuckled, stating his justification. But his emphasis on "voluntary" and "respect" seemed to imply the exact opposite.
He didn't care at all.
Fu Hua was unmoved; she was waiting for Otto to explain his purpose.
She didn't believe for a second he'd call without reason.
"Don't be tense, my old friend. K423 has just been recovered, and the experiments are still in the preparation phase. It's not time for you to be on guard yet, even if she brought along an unexpected little surprise."
Otto's voice was unhurried, as if what he was saying wasn't important at all. He just offered a leisurely blessing, "Enjoy your rare vacation, the vigorous enthusiasm of young children is a great balm for a weary soul. The wonderful school life is always something to yearn for and reminisce about, isn't it?"
Fu Hua frowned slightly. When would he stop beating around the bush?
She didn't believe Otto would actually have good intentions.
"Alright, alright, let's change the subject then." Otto sounded resigned, then immediately cut to the chase. "Rita recently sent me some very interesting intel. I want you to look into it for me."
"Before the Third Honkai Eruption, some rumors suddenly appeared on the internet about Nagazora City. The intention could have been a whimsical attempt to drive people away, or perhaps to simply cause chaos, but that's not important. As you know, the Honkai in Nagazora was caused by Anti-Entropy. Their purpose is unknown."
"This doesn't match their usual MO. Combining this with the near-simultaneous appearance of the internet rumors, Rita believes it may be related to Anti-Entropy's recent factional infighting, while, upon reading the information, I see a different possibility."
As Otto spoke, he sent a compiled intelligence report to Fu Hua's personal terminal.
It contained Lin Wei's resume, ID photo, casual photos, birth date, parents' dates of birth and death, educational background, work experience, the places he had lived, along with his transportation records, spending records, and communication records.
Everything looked so ordinary, just like any other face in the crowd.
Fu Hua frowned as she read the highlighted points while listening to Otto's explanation. She could also see that Lin Wei's actions were highly abnormal.
The intel showed that this person had suddenly called all his friends and relatives within the month leading up to the Honkai Eruption, resigned from his job, and liquidated all his assets, as if he'd suddenly received some information and was hastily fleeing.
Yet his background was completely ordinary; someone with his history couldn't possibly know about the existence of Honkai.
And his last recorded travel destination was precisely St. Freya, where she was currently located. Afterward, he deleted all his communication accounts, essentially going dark.
This person happened to escape the eye of the storm before the Honkai erupted, and he also happened to arrive at St. Freya Academy before K423 and the Third Herrscher. Everything was so perfectly timed, putting him at a safe point in time where he wouldn't be suspected.
After all, it was difficult to suspect an ordinary person who had been living there before everything happened, right?
But with such a perfect start, this person had absurdly and blatantly exposed himself, even attracting the attention of Otto himself.
This was too strange. It was hard to understand his motives.
Could it be that he simply saw the impending Honkai disaster, couldn't bear it conscience-wise, and chose this subtle way to issue a veiled warning?
Impossible!
Fu Hua scoffed at her own ridiculous thought. Digesting the information silently, her conclusion wasn't much different from Rita's.
"Since he's not one of Schicksal's people, he must be with Anti-Entropy. Anti-Entropy's internal strife has been intense these past few years; it's not impossible someone would want to throw a wrench in the works for a rival faction."
Fu Hua pushed up her glasses. She knew her conclusion was wrong; Otto's call was proof of that. He must possess information she was not aware of.
Otto wasn't disappointed with this result; this woman he was talking to had long forgotten everything.
Perhaps something interesting might happen. A slight smirk touched Otto's lips, clearly pleased with his own malicious thoughts.
"Much of the intel Rita gathered while tracking the Second Divine Key is invaluable. It vaguely points towards a mysterious organization."
"Just as Shenzhou has its own myths, legends, and hero stories, many places around the world have their own mythologies and heroic epics," Otto said, looking at the slightly stunned Fu Hua, his tone serious and matter-of-fact.
"A lot of intel suggests that behind these myths, there's a hidden organization, one even older than Schicksal, also possessing relics from the Previous Era. It's hidden so deeply, almost integrated into human history itself. Only now, because of the Second Divine Key, have we accidentally caught a glimpse of its talons."
"This person's actions exist outside both Anti-Entropy and Schicksal. After all, explaining his behavior as mere factional struggle is rather laughable. If one faction of Anti-Entropy was desperate enough to attack another using online rumors, their internal conflict would be nearly over. But the intel shows otherwise; the two sides are currently fighting tooth and nail."
Otto clicked his tongue in amazement. "How interesting. Did Welt get taken out by his own people? To let his subordinates engage in such infighting..."
"Therefore, I don't believe this person belongs to Anti-Entropy, which means we must consider other possibilities."
"Is this them showing me their strength, indicating that they have everything under control, or are they also interested in my Second Herrscher?"
"The experiments on the Second Herrscher are about to begin. K423 is crucial to Schicksal's future; failure is not an option. And the Second Divine Key... I, Otto Apocalypse, will obtain it. Failure there is also not an option." Otto's tone grew increasingly fierce.
Then, his tone shifted back to mildness, as if his previous ferocity was an illusion. "This person is clearly just a pawn, deliberately exposed, likely possessing little further value. Nevertheless, I want you to investigate him. See if you can dig up anything more worthwhile."
---Back to the present---
Fu Hua sat on the living room sofa, looking at the clearly flustered Lin Wei. She glanced at the tea he'd poured for her... Hm, in a disposable paper cup.
Thinking back on the earlier encounter, she suddenly felt that Overseer Otto might be overthinking things, making such a fuss over this guy.
The guy's really nothing special.jpg
Although she was still shocked that Lin Wei had keenly perceived the truth of being in an illusion, even naming Fenghuang Down and the Void Archives—all indicating this man was far from ordinary—it had initially made her extremely wary, feeling she'd walked into a dangerous trap.
But Lin Wei himself quickly obliterated that wariness.
He posed no threat whatsoever.
"This is so embarrassing..."
Lin Wei covered his face with both hands, letting out a silent cry. He didn't care what kind of image he had in Fu Hua's eyes, he was already pretty much socially dead anyway.
What kind of mess is this...?
Originally, everything was going so smoothly.
Lin Wei knew his actions would attract attention, especially from Cocolia and Otto.
But the arrogant Cocolia only had eyes for Raiden Mei; she wouldn't care about a self-important ant like him, let alone risk coming to Schicksal territory to silence him.
He wasn't worth the trouble.
But Otto was different; this man with a twisted desire for control wouldn't allow anything to happen beyond his grasp, not even the slightest bit.
Facing the terror of life and death, Lin Wei, desperately seeking survival and casting aside all distractions, had found his "cheat": his familiarity with the plot, or rather, with the setting and characters.
Relying on the plot wasn't reliable. After all, the main story hadn't started yet. There was no guarantee that a foreknown future would actually happen. He couldn't pin his hopes on that.
Although the future was uncertain, the past was set. Finding a path to survival from the already happened past was feasible.
Moreover, the world settings and character settings that supported the future development of the plot were predictable, and together, those two were Lin Wei's reliance for breaking out of the situation.
Lin Wei believed Otto wouldn't just let an unexpected variable like him hang around St. Freya. He would definitely investigate. And to ensure success, Otto would either act personally or send a capable subordinate.
Even though Lin Wei suspected that there was a good chance that one of Otto's Soulium clones was present at St. Freya Academy at the moment, after all he had to make breakfast for his granddaughter. But he didn't think that he was important enough to make Otto come out personally.
He wasn't important enough.
It was precisely his insignificance that gave him a chance to breathe in the cracks.
Durandal seemed carefree but was actually meticulous, though her schedule was likely packed.
Rita should be busy chasing the Second Divine Key around the world, equally unavailable.
Theresa would be doing well just not to cause more trouble.
Therefore, the only likely candidate was Fu Hua. She was currently at St. Freya with nothing much to do, and her public identity was just a student, making her deployment less conspicuous than the other S-rank Valkyries.
Since he was going to be investigated, they would meet sooner or later. Thus, Lin Wei had prepared early on to welcome Fu Hua's visit.
It sounded nice, but in reality, none of this was under his control. It all depended on Otto's mood. Maybe he had come personally? Maybe he had already shapeshifted into one of the neighbors?
What else could he do? Just wing it and hope for the best, I guess.
There was no chance of survival if he fell into Otto's hands, so there was no need to consider that. Lin Wei only needed to bet on the other possibilities and prepare for them.
First, he needed to be able to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Therefore, he started keeping a diary.
From the beginning, Lin Wei hadn't considered the spinning top method [reference to the movie Inception].
He had to find his own path to survival.
Each diary entry was nothing special, but when put together, the entries of a single day formed a code only he knew, and every day for two days, three days, four days, five days, a different code would be formed.
The formation process was completely random, decided only after writing.
Therefore, Lin Wei needed to review it frequently to ensure he wouldn't forget.
He knew Divine Keys could weave illusions and read memories, but he was betting the Eighth Divine Key couldn't read his thoughts and ideas from every single second within those memories.
Memories often came with the emotions and feelings of that moment, but thoughts were instantaneous.
> If they were only instantaneous, they couldn't be stored.
> If they couldn't be stored, they couldn't be read.
Lin Wei wasn't sure if his ideas were reliable, nor did he know if the environment woven by the Divine Key could be so detailed that even every stroke of every character in the diary was perfect. But this was the only strategy he could think of.
Might as well try it. Failure wouldn't make things worse, but success would be a huge win.
Lin Wei decided to take a gamble.
If he could successfully seize the initiative with this first step, then the rest of his plan would become feasible.
He even had backup plans ready. If Rita showed up, or Theresa, or even a busy Durandal who somehow found the time, he had contingencies.
Lin Wei knew each of them extremely well, even better than they knew themselves.
But they knew nothing about him.
This information asymmetry was his advantage!
Lin Wei was confident in his victory!
But why did it end up like this?
Lin Wei wanted to cry but had no tears left.
He had calculated everything, but he hadn't calculated that he would screw up himself!!!
o(╥﹏╥)o
Originally everything went perfectly according to plan. At the moment when the illusion was dispelled, Fu Hua was clearly shocked.
She had never imagined that the Eighth Divine Key could be so easily broken by an ordinary person who was so deeply eroded by Honkai.
This person was not simple!
Then, he could position himself in an advantageous negotiating position, just like Otto... leverage his understanding of her to control the subsequent interactions...
And finally reach a win-win consensus.
Lin Wei would win twice.
That's how it was supposed to go...
But...
...
"Alright, alright, stop crying!"
QAQ
This is too embarrassing...
Might as well die, this malicious world really isn't nice at all!