It was as if the temperature had dropped by several degrees.
"Miss Rita, you've arrived at just the right time."
Lin Wei smiled faintly, his gaze resting on each of the three for a second. After confirming that Anna and Yuno were unharmed, he decided not to dwell on the minor details.
"Your Excellency, the tacit understanding between you is truly admirable!"
"Lin..."
Anna, already exhausted in body and mind, saw Lin Wei's figure from a distance, and her mind went blank for a moment. Just as she was about to rush to his side, Rita subtly stopped her.
"Miss Anna, have you forgotten what I said before? It's best not to act rashly right now."
"Act rashly?"
Anna immediately shot back an angry look. You're all ganging up on him, and you have the nerve to talk about 'acting rashly'?
But now, apart from her glare, she didn't dare to express her anger in any other way, whether through actions or words. She was afraid that her actions would have a negative impact on Lin Wei, making his already precarious situation even more passive.
I'm already such a burden, I can't cause him any more trouble, Anna silently comforted herself. Perhaps Rita is stopping me out of such goodwill?
"Yuno, you're so strong, please go and help him, okay?"
Anna held onto Yuno, who had been following her closely, and pleaded in a low voice.
Yuno looked in Lin Wei's direction, then at the fragile girl in front of her, and hesitated for a moment. But seeing Anna's pleading face, she finally nodded and walked towards Lin Wei.
Anna was relieved. Seeing this, Rita didn't stop her either.
"Yuno, take care of that poor girl next to you. Don't let her be bullied."
Lin Wei noticed Yuno's movement and raised his voice slightly.
"Overseer Otto and I are having a pleasant conversation, nothing will happen—Your Excellency, am I right?"
As he spoke, Lin Wei even gave Otto a polite smile.
"Hehe, of course."
Otto also "returned the favor" and said to Rita, "Rita, inform the control console, the experiment officially begins. Also, to dispel some of Mr. Lin's doubts, please have our two excellent Valkyries take charge of security during the experiment."
"Yes."
Rita replied, and then with a flash of light, the Argent Knight: Artemis battlesuit was once again equipped. At the same time, another complete set of Valkyrie attire, including armor and weapons, appeared in her hands, and she gently placed it in front of Anna.
"Our Snow Lotus Squad has its own standard equipment. We don't need handouts from your Immortal Blades!"
Anna's tone was cold as she rejected Rita's goodwill.
"Give me back my things!"
"Sigh..."
Rita showed a helpless smile. Then, with another flash of light in her hands, the rather gorgeous equipment disappeared, leaving only a Crystal Edge Katana and two Water Sprite Type II pistols, which looked rather crude in front of the fourth-generation Godsbane armor.
But Anna didn't care. As if facing a great battle, she silently picked them up one by one, checked them, and hung them in their respective places.
Then, after all the weapons were taken away, another item in Rita's hands instantly caught Anna's attention—it was a small ornament shaped like a lotus, like a brooch or a nameplate. It looked ordinary, yet it was full of meaning.
"This is the captain's badge of the Snow Lotus Squad, and also a memento of the previous captain."
Seeing Anna's movements freeze instantly, and fall into a longer silence, Rita spoke.
"It should be returned to you."
"..."
The response was a longer silence. And Rita didn't urge her, just waited quietly.
"Rita..."
After a long, long time, as if a lifetime had passed, Anna finally spoke again, her voice as weak as if she were on her deathbed. Then, she slowly raised her head, her face already covered with desperate tears.
"You... you're so despicable..."
---||---
On the other side, after Otto issued that order, Lin Wei immediately sneered.
"Otto, oh Otto, you're still so despicable."
"Don't misunderstand, I'm just proving to you that Miss Anna is by no means a so-called 'hostage'."
Otto's smile remained.
"You see, I have never deprived her of her status as a Valkyrie, nor her right to hold a weapon, have I?"
His tone was grandiose, his expression composed, as if he were truly open and aboveboard, with a clear conscience. Of course, for Otto, even if he were to destroy the entire world the next second, he would still have a clear conscience...
"Heh... Your Excellency Otto."
Lin Wei had no intention of arguing with him on this issue and just sneered.
"If you could have used this despicableness and shamelessness five hundred years ago, Miss Kallen probably wouldn't have had to die."
Hearing Lin Wei mention Kallen time and time again, using Kallen to attack him, the smile on Otto's face finally couldn't be maintained. He said faintly, "If Your Excellency only knows how to use your sharp tongue, I'm afraid you will only disappoint and bore people."
Verbal attacks were certainly effective. But if one only knew how to attack with words, it would only seem ridiculous.
"No, no, no, you misunderstand. I'm praising you and admitting my inferiority."
Lin Wei completely ignored Otto's coldness and just said to himself, "This is truly interesting. Humans love to use logic to whitewash absurd reality, but such reality is often more absurd than logic. Congratulations, Your Excellency, for personally putting on such an absurd play for me."
As he spoke, he even applauded lightly.
"An absurd play?"
Otto said with a puzzled smile.
"From beginning to end, I have treated you with courtesy. On the contrary, it is you who have repeatedly made things difficult for me with my past absurdities. If we're talking about 'absurd,' I'm afraid it's not me, right?"
"Treated with courtesy? Of course."
Lin Wei smiled and nodded.
"Of course I know Your Excellency will treat me with courtesy. Just as I know that Anna will be your bargaining chip to threaten me, but not a hostage to coerce me. Both realistic and absurd."
"Hehe, Mr. Lin's words are truly hard to understand."
Otto's smile remained, with neither the anger of being humiliated nor the confusion of hearing difficult words on his face.
"Because you can't afford the risk of openly breaking with me, but you also can't tolerate the existence of someone like me. During the time I disappeared, Anna was your only bargaining chip to grasp me. Her value to you does not depend on you, nor on herself, but on me."
Lin Wei said, "I knew from the beginning that you wouldn't dare to harm her easily, because that would only thoroughly enrage me. Therefore, an object that you dare not harm cannot be called a 'hostage'—just like the hypocrisy you just displayed."
"Heh."
Otto smiled lightly, noncommittally.
"If I were to always ignore Anna, then this poor girl would naturally become your prey, to test my bottom line bit by bit. And if I, as I am now, show extreme concern for her, then she will instead become the 'apple of your eye' in your hands, protected and cared for in every possible way."
Lin Wei laughed heartily.
"Don't you think this is interesting? If I were to rely on the confidence that 'you dare not provoke me, so you dare not harm Anna' and remain silent, then it would instead give you the confidence to harm her and coerce me. And if I were to stand up like this now, you really wouldn't dare to harm her, wouldn't dare to provoke me!"
Such an absurd play naturally had to have an absurd ending.
"You guessed right, Otto. I don't want to see Anna get hurt, so I came. But from the moment I stood on this land, that goal has already been achieved—after all, I just want to protect her safety, that's all."
Lin Wei's absurd smile faded, replaced by a mocking sneer.
"So, it's time to say goodbye!"
There's still plenty of time There are some things Lin Wei is not in a hurry about. Just as he said to Anna when they parted on Coral Island, as long as the path ahead is right, they will eventually cross paths again...
As he spoke, Lin Wei began to feel a slight tremor under his feet.
"All units ready, Honkai energy engines preheating. The first activation test of the Second Divine Key will begin in five minutes."
A broadcast sounded, explaining the situation to everyone, as if pressing some kind of pause button, or perhaps invisibly pressing some kind of starting pistol...
Then, a blue meteor slowly fell from the sky. Durandal, at some point, was standing on top of the highest launch tower, taking in the entire "farce" below.
Clap, clap, clap...
"What a good absurd comedy..."
Otto also slowly applauded, looking deeply at Lin Wei, and then sighed deeply.
"If I had had Your Excellency's cunning and courage five hundred years ago, Kallen would surely have had a completely different outcome, right?"
If I hadn't been wagging my tail like a humble dog, only to be deceived, played with, and humiliated in return;
But instead, like the man in front of me, so arrogant as if he were about to stamp his shoe on the face of the Schicksal Overseer; freely displaying his threat to Schicksal, using undeniable pressure to force them not to act rashly against Kallen—in that case, Kallen would surely not have died so easily, right?
After all...
"After all, at that time, the one rotting in front of me was not the current Otto Apocalypse, but his foolish and arrogant father and sister..."
Otto sighed softly.
"Oh?"
Lin Wei looked up at Durandal, who was standing high above, and sneered.
"Your Excellency seems to have something more to say..."
"Your Excellency is wise and insightful, so I naturally can't hide it from you. But I can also guess a thing or two about Your Excellency's plans."
Otto said slowly, a warm, spring-like smile on his face, as if revealing a mystery.
"The news of the Second Divine Key came from you, so it's not surprising that you have a way to control it. The reason Mr. Lin has been so cooperative in coming here with me is probably because you have this idea in mind—and for this very reason, I have specially arranged for Durandal to guard this important position, to prevent any possible accidents..."
Durandal stood quietly at the top of the launch tower. Although her hands were empty, she was clearly confident enough to stop anyone who dared to approach.
"Hehe, it seems Your Excellency is determined to get me..."
Lin Wei slowly retracted his gaze and smiled.
"What, are you planning to kill me right here?"
"The first activation test of the Second Divine Key will begin in two minutes. All departments, please prepare for impact."
As the broadcast sounded again, the tremors under their feet gradually intensified.
"No, no, no, how could I? This is just another way of negotiating."
Otto smiled and shook his head, saying with a sincere face, "My previous promise is still valid—as long as Mr. Lin is willing to hand over the Key of Corruption and submit to Schicksal, I am willing to reward you with the position of Vice-Overseer of Schicksal, and I can even appoint you as the successor to the next Overseer."
At this point, Otto chuckled again.
"Of course, I know you don't care about these things. Then... I can promise to let Anna Shariac be your personal assistant, to accompany you from now on. How about it?"
"Hehe, the next Overseer? How generous of you, Your Excellency. It's just a pity that I have no intention of changing my surname."
Lin Wei smiled.
"Hand over the Key of Corruption? Ha, Your Excellency, do you want it that much?"
As he spoke, he even conjured Pandora's Box, spinning it between his fingers.
"That is her memento, so it should naturally return to Schicksal."
Otto said without changing his expression.
"With this contribution, you can naturally rise to a high position in Schicksal."
"How grandiose. Your Excellency's reputation is so great, I'm afraid I can't accept these promises!"
Lin Wei sneered.
"If Your Excellency could really tolerate me, you wouldn't be the Otto Apocalypse you are today!"
Facing the final "olive branch," Lin Wei mockingly broke it. And this also meant that the final negotiation between the two sides had completely broken down.
"Is that so? Then it's too much of a pity..."
Otto was not surprised by this result at all. He sighed for the umpteenth time, it was unclear how much was sincere and how much was feigned.
"The first activation test of the Second Divine Key will begin in one minute. Countdown begins, 59, 58..."
The broadcast sounded for the third time, the girl's voice as pleasant as ever. But Lin Wei's heart tightened, and he gripped Pandora's Box tightly, ready to strike first.
Boom!
The next second, with the launch gantry as the center, a magnificent pillar of energy erupted, rushing straight into the sky, dispelling the thin clouds, tearing apart the blue sky, and gradually revealing a more magnificent and profound world.
Swish!
The next second, a lance shot through the air, separating Lin Wei and Otto. Then, Durandal's tall and straight figure appeared in front of Lin Wei. She gave him a complex look, then grabbed his collar and, as if with all her might, threw him high into the air.
Lin Wei had no time to react. He was like a cannonball shot from a cannon, rapidly crashing into the torrent of energy that pierced through the world. The overwhelming wind pressure even made him feel suffocated.
The countdown had just begun, why?
"That so-called broadcast voice was just a small tool to confuse from the very beginning. The more inconspicuous, the easier it is to ignore, but often the more effective. Just like, at this moment..."
Otto looked up at the sky, at Lin Wei's rapidly shrinking figure. He made a grasping motion with one hand and sighed slowly.
"After all, 'striking first to gain the advantage' is not a principle that only you understand!"
Another sigh, then a smile.
"But, you were right—this absurd play should indeed come to an end..."
"No!"
Farther away, Anna, who had witnessed everything but was too late to do anything, screamed her heart out in anguish.