Logically speaking, the lounge at that location should have been an observation room and control room for the experimental base, not a room for "holding hostages" or, in other words, "entertaining guests." But this didn't stop Lin Wei from pointing it out and starting to tear down the paper-thin facade.
"Anna Shariac, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, a descendant of the Schariac family..."
Lin Wei recited some well-known facts, then couldn't help but laugh.
"Such a person has actually become a hostage to threaten me. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was the real Overseer of Schicksal!"
It was a merciless taunt.
The paper window was torn, the previous harmony began to dissipate, and the atmosphere between the two began to cool rapidly like a winter night after sunset.
"Hehe, Overseer of Schicksal..."
Otto smiled noncommittally at these words.
"If Mr. Lin is really interested in this position, you might as well consider my previous proposal."
He certainly remembered seeing in Anna's memories Lin Wei's nonsensical ravings. But whether it was Schicksal or the identity of the Overseer of Schicksal, they were just tools for him to achieve his long-cherished wish, and he had no real attachment to them.
"Not interested."
Lin Wei seemed to have forgotten his own nonsensical ramblings from before and sneered.
"Such an important responsibility that can determine the future of humanity... hehe, if Your Excellency really wants to retire, you should hand it over to someone who values the future of humanity more."
"Is that so? Hehe..."
Otto shook his head with regret.
"It seems I've been rejected by you once again."
"If Your Excellency is truly sincere, why don't you return Anna and Yuno to me first?"
Lin Wei smiled.
"Those girlish private talks have gone on long enough. I haven't seen Anna in a long time, and I'd like to talk to her again."
"Hehe, of course, no problem. But there's one thing I've never understood—"
Otto also just smiled.
"Since I'm so despicable in your eyes, what makes you think that I would really return the so-called 'hostages' in my hands to you?"
Otto's mask also began to crack, and the temperature seemed to drop again.
"Oh my, that's true! My apologies, my apologies, I was rude just now."
Lin Wei still wasn't angry and repeatedly said with an apologetic look, "If that's not the case, then please return them to me, right?"
When necessary, Lin Wei's posture could naturally be very flexible.
"Hehe, how interesting..."
Otto gave Lin Wei a deep look.
A guy who had just been so righteous and stern had suddenly put on a rogue's face in an instant. It was truly disgusting to look at.
"I can naturally let them come here to meet you, but..."
Otto's smile completely disappeared from his face as he asked, "Since you have judged me with malice from the very beginning, how dare you come to this 'Hongmen Banquet,' (invitation to a den of wolves/Trap) as the people of Shenzhou say, alone?"
This was also a question he had never understood, especially since Lin Wei had let Yuno go with Rita from the moment he got off the plane, almost submissively and unconditionally cooperating with him.
Perhaps he had some unknown reliance or plan, or perhaps it was just a psychological tactic of bluffing.
"Alone? Isn't there still Yuno?"
Lin Wei smiled.
"If something bad really happens, wouldn't it be fine to just have her grab them?"
"..."
Otto's eyes narrowed.
He couldn't tell if Lin Wei was telling the truth or lying. But even if it was the truth, and he really had a plan to "have Yuno grab them," it certainly wouldn't be as nonchalant as Lin Wei was making it out to be.
Because, deep in the underground base, there was no way to escape. And with Rita watching them nearby and Durandal backing them up from a distance, there was no way for them to escape. Unless...
"Hehe, Your Excellency, just assume I'm judging a gentleman with a villain's heart."
Lin Wei smiled faintly.
"If, as you say, Yuno and I are just here as guests, then naturally nothing will happen. But if something unpleasant really does happen, then..."
Lin Wei swiped his palm, and the dim luster faded. The straight and exquisite cane turned back into the curved, ancient Eastern long sword, and a black box spun around the hilt.
"With the esteemed Overseer of Schicksal as a hostage in my hands, it would be easy to exchange him for a mere A-rank Valkyrie."
"The Key of Corruption..."
Otto looked at the deep black box with some trepidation, but his smile was as relaxed as ever.
"You won't use it. At least, not so easily."
"Hehe, of course."
Lin Wei also smiled. The cursed blade and Pandora's Box merged back into the unassuming cane. Although this didn't change any substantive issue, it at least made a gesture of "withdrawing the threat" on the surface.
"The authority of Corruption is too special. Of course, I won't use it lightly. But that doesn't mean I won't use it."
"Hehe, Your Excellency is cautious and prudent."
Otto's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Cautious? Prudent? I just know that 'power' is something that cannot be abused."
Lin Wei smiled again and shook his head.
"When I don't want to use the Key of Corruption, I have the power to use it at any time. But once I really open Pandora's Box a crack again, then I must pay the corresponding cost and price for my actions."
"Is that so? Then it seems you are 'restraining' yourself."
Otto said.
"Hehe, yes. The gifts of fate always have a price tag in the dark. Everything has a price."
Lin Wei glanced at Otto and smiled.
"Isn't there a living example right in front of me? Your Excellency, your tolerance for 'threats' and your fear of 'failure' have reached a breathtakingly low level. Isn't that enough to serve as a warning for me?"
Siegfried was originally his unquestionable subordinate. But just because he had established a deep friendship with Anti-Entropy during the Second Honkai Eruption, when he released the power of the Kaslana Stigmata, Otto saw him as a hidden danger that must be eliminated.
After the war, Siegfried luckily survived, but Otto dared not act rashly against him again. He could only use all means to appease, restrict, and bind him. He was very, very familiar with these methods.
And Lin Wei, even though he had walked into the trap he had prepared, and even though he had repeatedly spoken to him with disrespect, he still did not dare to act rashly. He had to carefully probe Lin Wei's bottom line and patiently wait for the perfect moment.
"Your Excellency's five hundred years of arbitrary actions have overdrawn too many things. You seem to hold all the power, but in reality, you are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. There are too many people in the world who want to see you fall from grace, who want to kill you."
Lin Wei smiled.
"Your only talisman now is to use your identity as the Overseer of Schicksal to hold the fate of all humanity hostage, forcing everyone to not act rashly. Although this is effective, it is also like drinking poison to quench thirst. You have already cut off all your own escape routes."
"So what? I am still the Overseer of Schicksal. Even you, who are so eloquent, even with a peerless weapon like the Key of Corruption, are still helpless against me, aren't you?"
Otto smiled nonchalantly.
"As for the 'hostage' theory, since you are so afraid of harming the innocent, it is naturally nonsense."
The more Lin Wei belittled him, the more composed he became.
At this point, the atmosphere had almost reached freezing point. All the warm and tender masks had almost completely shattered.
"Is that so? You're not wrong. I am indeed afraid of harming the innocent."
Lin Wei also smiled.
"After all, if I were in Your Excellency's position, even if I were not facing a mere me, but a moral gentleman like Welt in charge of the Key of Corruption, even so, I would never let myself appear in front of the other party without any defense."
Lin Wei spread his hands and said with a seemingly helpless look, "You see, I'm just that easy to think the worst of people. And it's because I'm worried that if I rashly use the Key of Corruption, I will fall into some dangerous trap, that I'm more and more unwilling to use it rashly. After all, once a card is played, even if it's an undeniable ace, it will inevitably be guarded against and targeted, making it no longer as invincible as one imagined."
Even a force as overwhelmingly powerful as Kevin's was still easily countered by Otto when he found a weakness. How could Lin Wei really think that he wouldn't make targeted arrangements against him?
"Hehe, Your Excellency is right. And don't laugh, but when I face the Key of Corruption, I can't even stand steadily. Even though I know Your Excellency won't really make things difficult for me, I can't help but make some small arrangements to bolster my courage."
Otto crossed his arms and smiled.
"Underneath this base, there are a full twenty Hyperion-class Honkai energy engines. Oh, allow me to explain the terminology a bit..."
He was about to explain to Lin Wei, an outsider, what a Hyperion-class engine was and what kind of quantity twenty of them represented, but Lin Wei calmly interjected, "If I'm not mistaken, it's the kind of terrifying nuclear furnace that can destroy an entire city with just one explosion, right?"
The engine on the Immortal Blades' exclusive transport ship, the EOS. In the original timeline, the "big firework" Kiana set off in ARC City was most likely this kind of thing.
As for why it was called "Hyperion-class"?
Probably because the first ship equipped with this class of engine was the Far East Branch's Hyperion. Tsk tsk, the old man is still a doting grandfather, stuffing all the good things into her arms.
Lin Wei looked at this...
"Hehe, although that's a bit of an exaggeration, it's not far off."
Otto didn't care what Lin Wei was thinking and just slowly revealed a corner of his arrangement.
"If these twenty Honkai energy engines were to explode at the same time, the leaked Honkai energy would affect the entire North Africa, and even a small part of Europe, causing a terrible disaster far exceeding the Third Honkai Eruption in this densely populated and vast area."
At this point, he paused for two seconds, as if to let Lin Wei digest this news, then pointed at himself and said with shame, "The switch to detonate them is hidden in this fragile Soulium body. If it is unfortunately damaged, it may cause the system to misjudge, and then trigger a catastrophe that neither you nor I want to see..."
"I'm afraid there's more to it than that, right?"
Lin Wei smiled and pointed to the ground.
"If it really explodes, and really causes the terrifying Honkai you mentioned, then as the 'culprit' who single-handedly created this disaster, Your Excellency will immediately order Durandal, or rather, mobilize all of Schicksal's forces to completely eliminate me, right?"
After saying that, he spread his hands helplessly and sighed.
"You see, a mere me, who is all alone, even with a Divine Key, is still so insignificant in front of the Schicksal Overseer!"
He looked truly dejected.
"You're being too modest, Your Excellency."
Otto naturally wouldn't believe that Lin Wei would really admit defeat as he said and just smiled lightly.
"I'm just bolstering my courage a little. Since Your Excellency is so open and aboveboard, it is naturally me judging a gentleman with a villain's heart."
The threat had been made, so naturally, he had to put on a show of face.
"It's okay, it's okay. Such a terrifying thing, you must keep it locked up tight and not let any accidents happen!"
Lin Wei looked scared, then suddenly seemed to remember something. He pointed to the tall launch gantry and the giant locomotive on it and asked curiously, "By the way, this Second Divine Key, it's not a fake, is it?"
"..."
Otto's eyes narrowed slightly. He felt he was being threatened. He only heard Lin Wei say, "If it's the real deal, then Your Excellency had better control your twenty bombs even more carefully. There must not be any risks."
Lin Wei smiled.
"My little life being blown to smithereens is a small matter. But if this Second Divine Key, which concerns the future of humanity and, more importantly, Your Excellency's five-hundred-year-long wish, is damaged..."
At this point, Lin Wei paused, then gave Otto a deep look and smiled.
"Then it would truly be too late for regrets, wouldn't it?"
Threats? Heh!
Who's afraid of whom!
"..."
Otto gave Lin Wei a deep look. The icy killing intent in his eyes quickly dissipated, and his face once again wore a warm, spring-like smile.
"You're right to remind me. It's best that there are no accidents with the engines used to maintain the base's operation."
"That would be for the best."
Lin Wei smiled and then asked curiously, "Then Anna..."
"Overseer, Mr. Lin, sorry to keep you waiting."
As they spoke, Rita led Anna and Yuno over from another passage and reported respectfully, "All preparations are complete. We can officially begin."