Time rewound slightly.
Schicksal Headquarters, Floating Island.
"Lord Overseer."
Amber walked hastily into Otto's laboratory, her tone serious as she reported a newly discovered piece of important intelligence. The intelligence department had recently monitored an abnormal communication record from Anti-Entropy, with the contact location confirmed to be in the Egypt region.
"Oh? Egypt?"
Hearing Amber's simple words, Otto, who had been busy recording various experimental parameters, abruptly stopped his actions. After casually pressing the "abort" button, he finally turned around. "I don't recall that the fellows from Anti-Entropy already had the ability to extend their reach to Schicksal's doorstep."
"Should we conduct a focused investigation?" Amber asked.
"Of course, we need to, Amber. At this delicate time, the news of Anti-Entropy appearing in North Africa is already very intriguing..." Otto's expression didn't change at all, but his eyes became interested. "After all, our secret experimental base for placing and utilizing the Second Divine Key happens to be in North Africa, and it has only just been completed. We absolutely cannot let those uninteresting fellows get close and disturb it. It's just—how did they get this information?"
"..."
Amber obviously couldn't answer, but she also knew that Otto didn't need her to give any answers or even opinions.
"Hehe, is it their usual recklessness, or a long-planned probing? We'll know once we check..." Otto muttered to himself with great interest, then his tone rose slightly as he issued a new order to Amber. "Summarize the intelligence for the Egypt region, and even the entire Middle East and North Africa regions. I want to review it personally."
The matter was of great importance. After suffering several losses at Lin Wei's hands, the current Otto no longer dared to be as careless as before.
"Yes, Lord Overseer."
Amber complied. A stream of light flowed rapidly through her monocle as she retrieved the information Otto needed at extreme speed. But just a few seconds later, she abruptly froze. Then, the monocle, which had been flowing with data like a waterfall, fell into a long silence. The change was so sudden, so obvious, that even Otto clearly noticed it.
"Has another accident occurred?" Otto asked, his eyes narrowing. It was the first time he had seen Amber so flustered.
"...Yes, Lord Overseer."
Amber's voice sounded a bit dry and hesitant, as if she were surprised and unconfident about her own discovery. But duty called, and she ultimately had to convey what she saw completely to the Overseer. "We just received definite intelligence that the target Lord Overseer has been focusing on has also appeared in the port of Alexandria in the Egypt region. More specifically, in a commercial street in Alexandria..."
"..."
This twist was too sudden, it even made Otto flinch. He couldn't help but press further, "Are you saying Lin Wei? The person in the Egypt region who had contact with Anti-Entropy, was it him?"
This feeling of just having started to solve a problem only to find the answer blatantly printed below the question was too absurd. Even Otto couldn't help but have such a question—"Did something go wrong somewhere?"
After receiving Amber's definite reply again, Otto finally accepted this somewhat absurd reality and pressed on, "Where was this intelligence obtained?"
He was trying hard to analyze the authenticity of this information.
"It was... from Schicksal's internal network, the Valkyrie section forum..."
The reality was so outrageous that Amber almost wanted to cry. Her usually calm voice also carried a slight tremble. "The Apatite Squad under the Middle East Branch, B-rank Valkyrie Susannah, just posted a new update a short while ago. Besides the text content, it also includes a photo of her with that person..."
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." No matter how outrageous this news was, since it was detected, it had to be reported truthfully to the Lord Overseer.
"...Oh, is that so? That's really... an interesting thing."
Although there were many points to mock, since it was related to Lin Wei, Otto was quite quick to accept it. He said with great interest, "Let me see that post too."
Seeing is believing. He wanted to see it with his own eyes.
"Yes, Lord Overseer."
Amber, as if granted amnesty, sent the relevant content to Otto's terminal. Otto opened it and was immediately overwhelmed by a dense flood of messages.
"Wow, I'm so lucky! I actually ran into the legendary Mr. Lin Wei on the street!!!"
Three exclamation marks, plus a string of excited emojis, showed that this Valkyrie named "Susannah" was probably very excited when she posted it.
Below the text was a picture, a selfie of a smiling golden-haired girl, her other hand making a "V" sign next to her face, leaning closely next to Lin Wei, also including him in the frame. Obviously, this photo was taken very suddenly; the Lin Wei in the photo looked somewhat stunned.
The pinned comment was another piece of text she had posted herself—"Mr. Lin Wei agreed to let me be his temporary guide. I must not betray this heavy trust. I will definitely provide a wonderful and unforgettable travel experience!"
After the text, there was another long string of "effort," "fighting," and similar emojis...
Perhaps Lin Wei was really a celebrity in Schicksal, or perhaps it was simply because the girls' desire for gossip was very strong. In any case, the discussion under this post was very heated.
The first and second-ranked posts were from the captain and vice-captain of the Apatite Squad, with real-name authentication. They had probably added a special follow, so they could respond at the first moment.
"It's over, the reputation of our Apatite Squad is completely ruined now!"
This was Captain Matila's comment, with a string of "cracked" emojis after the text. Her mood at this moment was probably truly cracked.
Vice-captain Sofia's reply was much warmer: "The captain is joking again. Don't be nervous, have fun. Also, remember to return to the squad on time."
The comments further down were even more chaotic. Some expressed envy towards Susannah, while others posted pictures, stating they were the ones who had "welcomed" him at headquarters and made a serious identification, stating that the person Susannah met was indeed Lin Wei himself.
It was hard to imagine that an outsider could have such a high level of discussion in Schicksal. But it couldn't be helped. This Lin Wei fellow was too mysterious. After a fleeting appearance, he quickly disappeared again, only to reappear on the battlefield of the Manila Honkai Eruption, tearing the sky and calming the sea under the watchful eyes of many participating Valkyrie squads, leaving behind a shocking legend...
An incomparably powerful, incomparably mysterious hero who had also saved a world-ending disaster, naturally had a very high degree of discussion. Plus, he happened to be a man, which made him even more conspicuous in the extremely female-dominated Schicksal organization...
Of course, there were also some people whose news was not so up-to-date. They also curiously asked in the comments why the original poster was so happy. Then, a Valkyrie who had personally experienced the Manila Honkai Eruption replied, explaining the cause and effect as someone who had been there.
From then on, the style of the comment section shifted to another heated discussion about Lin Wei's true identity and origin.
Some said he was the new generation's successor of the Kaslana family, which was why he was so powerful. This was quickly refuted, stating that he clearly had black hair, completely different from the Kaslana family's iconic white hair.
Others said he was likely a powerhouse secretly cultivated by Schicksal, specially responsible for dealing with such cataclysmic-level Honkai. The reason was that many people present had seen him personally escorted from the battlefield by Lady Durandal, which was proof that Lin Wei definitely had a very high status in Schicksal!
Then some other people came out to refute, stating that if Lin Wei was really one of Schicksal's own, why would Lord Overseer ask them, the intelligence department Valkyries, to do their best to search for Lin Wei's whereabouts?
This bombshell news brought the discussion to a temporary halt. After a moment, another Valkyrie cautiously asked: "Could he be the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, that legendary Second Herrscher?"
Then the discussion became heated again, but mainly to furiously flame this comment, all saying: "Anti-Entropy? Herrscher? You've got to be kidding! Look at the good things they did in Nagazora City!"
And so, that poor Valkyrie tearfully deleted the comment that had caused public outrage.
"Hehehe... It's truly incredible that Mr. Lin Wei has such high popularity within Schicksal." Otto browsed with great interest, clicking his tongue in amazement. "What a pity. How many people know that that fellow not only saved a dead city but also nearly sent another still-prosperous city to hell with his own hands?"
Every time he thought of Lin Wei's dangerous operation that had nearly pushed Schicksal to the forefront of the storm, Otto clicked his tongue in amazement.
Although that missile back then was dealt with in time and didn't cause any real damage, an intercontinental missile that flew halfway across the globe and nearly crashed into a city of tens of millions still had a certain negative impact on Schicksal's public opinion. Many governments and organizations expressed concern and worry about this matter, which for a time caused considerable trouble for Schicksal's image and specific mission operations around the world.
Even just a change from full cooperation with a green light to requiring permission from relevant superior departments for every action was enough to turn a "perfectly smooth" mission into a bumpy and difficult one...
"Lord Overseer, is it necessary to prohibit related discussions?" Amber asked.
"...No need."
Otto pondered and weighed for a moment, then made a completely opposite decision, smiling magnanimously. "Let them discuss. After all, a radiant hero is much easier to deal with than an unscrupulous villain, isn't it?"
As the world's top "villain," he knew better than anyone how fragile a "hero's" Achilles' heel was...
"Yes, Lord Overseer."
Amber replied. She never questioned Overseer Otto's instructions.
But Otto's words were not yet finished. He gently tapped his fingers on the armrest and muttered to himself with great interest, "And the moment a 'hero' falls to become a 'villain,' these supporters who now flock around the hero will naturally despise him a hundred times more in an instant."
A heroic Lin Wei was not much of a threat. And a villainous Lin Wei would personally push everyone to his opposite side—either way, there was no need for him to intervene in advance.
"Alright, let's talk business. Can we still detect Miss Susannah's location?"
After receiving a definite answer, Otto nodded without surprise, slowly stood up from his position, and said, "Alright, I understand. Let Rita set off—since the esteemed Mr. Lin Wei has issued an invitation to me, how could Otto Apocalypse not respond?"
Thinking about it now, whether it was the abnormal communication from Anti-Entropy or Lin Wei's public appearance in front of the Valkyries, each of these was a subtle yet blatant provocation towards him.
In the eyes of others, this meaning was subtle and difficult to perceive. Only in Otto's own view, Lin Wei's seemingly stunned expression in the photo was actually filled with blatant mockery—With your Key of Corruption, can't you even block a mere photo, a blog post? How is that possible!
"Yes."
Amber complied, saluted, and took her leave.
Otto slowly sat back down, once again opened the photo Susannah had posted on the forum, looked at her small face full of foolishness, and smiled faintly. "Susannah? Heh, can she be considered a lucky general?"
In any case, this name had entered his sights.
Then, he casually closed that forum, preparing to wait for news from Rita's side.
And thanks to Otto's laissez-faire attitude, the discussion about Lin Wei under Susannah's post continued to be heated.
After a while, a user with the real-name authentication "St. Freya Academy Student · Valkyrie-in-training" and the forum ID "The Strongest Valkyrie" suddenly popped up, leaving a confused comment: "Lin Wei? Who's that? Never heard of him, is he strong?"
A standard three-part question, but because of her extremely arrogant ID, it triggered a new round of denunciation.
After all, the Valkyries present might not be fans of Lin Wei, but they were definitely fans of Durandal—to call oneself "The Strongest Valkyrie" in front of this group of fans, was that not asking for a beating?
"Far East Branch? According to the time difference, it should be class time at St. Freya Academy now."
The forum administrator also popped up. After all, the administrator of the Valkyrie forum was, of course, also a Valkyrie. "Screenshot taken and sent to the relevant person in charge of the Far East Branch. Please ask St. Freya Academy to strengthen student management."
The next second, the user with the ID "The Strongest Valkyrie" had just let out a protest when she was swiftly deleted and muted.
A few minutes later, a lurker with the username "Murata Himeko" popped up, just leaving a "smile" emoji, then also disappeared without a trace.