"Handing over the Second Divine Key to Schicksal without permission—shouldn't you also give us an explanation for this matter, sir?"
Gray Serpent's voice boomed, his tone, as always, unhurried, yet laced with threat and interrogation.
Unlike their previous "all's well that ends well" meeting here, this time, their encounter was fraught with tension from the very beginning—the smell of gunpowder even lingered in the air, not yet fully dispersed.
"The Second Divine Key? Otto has already obtained it?"
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow, then smiled with understanding.
"No wonder. Only something like this would make you call me out of the Elysian Realm."
Even before entering the Elysian Realm, Lin Wei had anticipated this: when Schicksal finally found the Second Divine Key, his "vacation" would be over...
With the Second Divine Key officially in hand, all the conditions for Otto's plan were finally met. And the more critical the moment, the less Otto could allow a huge threat like himself to remain at large, let alone disappear.
Therefore, he would undoubtedly use various means to dig Lin Wei out again; either by using Ana to force his appearance or by turning the entire world upside down in his search.
The former, Lin Wei absolutely could not agree to.
The latter, World Serpent could not bear the losses as its subordinate organizations were unearthed and annihilated one by one by Schicksal in the process.
This "unforeseen disaster," single-handedly created by Lin Wei, was causing World Serpent immense distress!
While Otto focused most of his energy and resources on excavating the Second Divine Key, this constant loss of blood, though painful, was not unacceptable. But after this, Otto's search for Lin Wei would only become more frantic.
In this way, even if World Serpent could successfully sever its connections with the main body each time, even if they could remain deeply hidden in this huge turmoil as they had in the past, not exposing themselves; the losses and costs incurred in this process of constant retreat were also unbearable for World Serpent.
Especially since their "unforeseen disaster" was essentially them taking the blame for Lin Wei, which made it even more infuriatingly unfair...
Therefore, unless World Serpent could no longer tolerate it and decided to openly declare war on Schicksal, handing Lin Wei over at an appropriate time to satisfy Otto's appetite and redirect his attention back to the "plan" itself was Gray Serpent's best option.
As for Lin Wei...
He didn't care whether World Serpent went to war with Schicksal; he even welcomed it.
But he was unwilling to see Otto use Ana in any untoward way—if he disappeared for too long, Ana's situation would become increasingly awkward and dangerous.
So, since Otto's target was himself, what harm was there in going to settle things with him and, incidentally, rescuing that poor, foolish girl?
Therefore, strictly speaking, Lin Wei and Gray Serpent had a very high degree of consensus on the issue of the Second Divine Key and Schicksal. However, this did not mean their meeting would become harmonious and friendly. On the contrary, from the very beginning, there was a tense and subtle atmosphere, like drawn swords...
"Without permission? Mr. Gray Serpent, your words are truly somewhat difficult to understand."
Facing Gray Serpent's interrogation, Lin Wei merely smiled faintly. His posture, instead, relaxed. He shot Yuno a "take it easy" look before speaking in a seemingly surprised tone.
"The legacy left by the Previous Era does not belong to your World Serpent. The reason I know the whereabouts of the Second Divine Key has nothing to do with your World Serpent either; this information itself is my private property. Since that's the case, why should I need your permission to use it for a transaction? Heh, it would be more accurate to say, Mr. Gray Serpent, you..."
Lin Wei sneered, turning the tables.
"Since, according to Mr. Gray Serpent's earlier statement, the Second Divine Key is an important asset of World Serpent... then why didn't you snatch it back from Schicksal all this time, instead watching it fall into Schicksal's hands... Hehe, to use this reason to question me now, isn't this posture somewhat laughable?"
"Hehehe, Mr. Lin Wei's words are as sharp as ever, which is commendable. Unfortunately, even the sharpest words cannot shatter the truth of a matter."
Facing Lin Wei's sarcastic retort, Gray Serpent first clapped lightly, unoffended, then spoke calmly in his booming voice.
"With Mr. Lin Wei's abilities, since you can grasp the intelligence of the Second Divine Key so accurately, you naturally wouldn't be unaware that it has always been an important asset of World Serpent, and even to this day, it faithfully fulfills the mission entrusted to it by the pioneers—knowing this, you still recklessly disrupted the Serpent's arrangements. For such actions, if you do not provide an explanation, it would be unjustifiable no matter what."
"An explanation? Hehe... Even if the facts are as you say, isn't this result also something you, Gray Serpent, brought upon yourself?"
Lin Wei sneered, his tone indifferent as he retorted.
"Just as, even without any evidence, I clearly know that the reason for the terrible Honkai disaster that suddenly occurred in Manila, and even the entire Philippines, is inextricably linked to your World Serpent—if we're talking about explanations, shouldn't you, Gray Serpent, give me an explanation first?"
Anti-Entropy was undoubtedly to blame for the Manila Honkai Eruption, but World Serpent, which orchestrated everything from behind the scenes, was the true culprit. Lin Wei had been holding back this anger for a long time—An explanation? What right do you have to ask me for an explanation?
"Publicly, millions of residents in the entire city, and even hundreds of millions in the entire region, were brutally slaughtered. I can't even bear to speak of such things to the Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm. If we're talking about explanations, your World Serpent, an evil organization that nominally flies the banner of the Previous Era's successors but in reality commits crimes against humanity, has no right to demand an 'explanation' from me, someone who fought desperately and narrowly escaped death after the Manila Honkai Eruption!"
Lin Wei stared coldly at the crimson artificial eye hidden behind Gray Serpent's mask, his tone like a judgment, devoid of any emotion.
"Privately, I had no interest in these matters of yours from the very beginning. However, ever since our last meeting here, you, Jackal, and your World Serpent have never stopped pressuring me. Nagazora City, Singapore, Manila, every incident has been like this. In the end, you even used an exceptionally horrific Great Honkai Eruption to send me directly to Otto. Heh, why did I use the intelligence of the Second Divine Key to exchange for a chance to escape Schicksal? Shouldn't you, Gray Serpent, be the one to give me an explanation for this?"
If Lin Wei hadn't personally experienced all this in the past, World Serpent, Schicksal, and Anti-Entropy would have just been symbols representing different factions and characters in a story to him. Even if he had had varying degrees of contact with some individuals among them before, it would have been the same.
After all, before this, he had only met a very small number of people, and not necessarily with deep connections. More importantly, he had never experienced anything with the diverse characters in these stories. Since that was the case, that subtle sense of familiar yet unfamiliar distance had always lingered in Lin Wei's heart, preventing him from truly integrating into this world.
The Honkai Eruption in Manila not only completely shattered Lin Wei's dream of "being an ordinary person" but also completely shattered the lingering barrier in his heart—from that day onward, standing on the ruins of the city that had turned into hell overnight, Lin Wei began to feel anger towards World Serpent.
This was unprecedented.
When he returned to the ruins of Nagazora City, Lin Wei did not feel anger towards Anti-Entropy, which had caused all this, only mourning for the loss of countless lives.
In the depths of Coral Island, Lin Wei personally witnessed the atrocities committed by World Serpent, but he did not feel anger towards them, only slight dissatisfaction, and more so, just minor complaints about matters that didn't concern him.
In Manila, before the Honkai Eruption, even though Lin Wei had already discovered Jackal was plotting against him and knew World Serpent had ill intentions towards him, he did not feel anger—on one hand, there was Otto, a major nuisance to deal with; on the other hand, Lin Wei never felt Jackal could cause him much trouble, even viewing it as an interesting and challenging game.
Before that Honkai Eruption, although Lin Wei had always been very cautious, his mentality was somewhat that of "playing in the human world," a kind of amusement—since it was a game, then apart from the people and things he cared about most, it was naturally difficult for distant "NPCs" and "background stories" to affect his good mood, unless they happened right before his eyes, in which case Lin Wei wouldn't mind lending a hand.
Although in this process, Lin Wei himself was constantly interfering with this world and being influenced by this world, something was still missing; until that anticipated Honkai Eruption occurred, completely pushing Lin Wei over the final threshold.
"How dare they?"
Standing on his own rooftop, gazing at the terrifying black clouds in the distance; standing on the ruins of Manila, looking around at the weak and desperate survivors before him, and the endless tide of monsters in the distance, trampling over corpses and severed limbs, surging towards his position like a tidal wave, Lin Wei finally couldn't help but let out an angry question.
He knew that World Serpent would unhesitatingly sacrifice the residents of an entire city to achieve a certain goal. He had also personally seen how utilitarian, cold, and inhumane World Serpent's view of "life" was. But all this objective information could not prevent the uncontrollable anger that erupted in Lin Wei's heart when he personally stood at the scene of the Great Honkai Eruption...
Telling Otto the whereabouts of the Second Divine Key, apart from it being a "give and take" between him and Otto, wasn't it also Lin Wei's small revenge against World Serpent?
He truly wanted to see World Serpent flustered and disgraced because of this.
"Gray Serpent, I said it before, merely letting you have a life for a life, and not using the Key of Corruption to inflict severe damage on you, that is already my greatest mercy. Otherwise, based solely on what you did in Manila, even if I completely destroyed your World Serpent, even Kevin wouldn't have the right to criticize me."
Lin Wei sneered indifferently.
"This way, when I go to settle some scores with Otto, at least I don't have to worry about someone playing tricks behind my back, right?"
He truly detested these guys who only knew how to play schemes and intrigues—although he himself played these things quite a bit.
Even when conducting Stigmata experiments in ARC City, they didn't forget to blame Schicksal. This was too unpresentable!
Thinking again that Schicksal's Overseer was also an expert in playing schemes, Lin Wei suddenly had an absurd feeling that "this world is beyond saving"...
Thinking this way, those foolish fellows in Anti-Entropy were actually quite cute—no wonder they could get along with Elysia and the others. Birds of a feather truly flock together.
Just as Lin Wei couldn't help but grumble inwardly, Gray Serpent's distinctive voice rang out again.
"Hehehe, it's only been a short time, but Mr. Lin Wei has truly changed astonishingly!"
Even when faced with Lin Wei's accusation, which was practically a direct indictment, Gray Serpent's tone remained as unhurried as ever. He pointed to where Lin Wei was sitting.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would be truly hard to imagine that the you now, and the disoriented wanderer who sat here back then, are actually the same person—Allow me to take the liberty of asking, how does it feel to be a savior?"
Lin Wei hadn't spoken yet, but Yuno, with a hint of pride, leaned closer to Lin Wei.
"...Doing something that ordinary people can't do, saving many lives, of course, that feeling is happy."
Lin Wei waved his hand and said.
"But 'savior'? I can't bear such a title. I don't have the ability, nor the interest."
"Hehehe, is that so? Unfortunately, mere courage and impulsiveness cannot fundamentally solve anything."
As Gray Serpent spoke, he pointed at Yuno.
"Just like this girl beside you. You brought her out of the dead Nagazora City, giving her a new life, but then you threw her to Schicksal. If not for a fortunate coincidence, her future would likely have been to waste this hard-won vitality in Schicksal, ending up with a result not much different from before."
"..."
Yuno felt a wave of displeasure hearing this. She glanced down at Lin Wei, endure and not lashing out.
"...So, should I thank you instead?"
Lin Wei's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone inexplicably cold as he sneered.
"Or are you trying to tell me that the reason that girl earlier appeared here today is ultimately because of my 'inaction'?"