Chen Ran met Otto from 2014.
This archbishop, who had lived for five hundred years, used the Divine Key Void Archives to connect his consciousness with Otto's consciousness from the year 2000.
This was not a matter of consciousness covering or replacing; Otto used a different Soulium body. What the Void Archives did was map the current consciousness to a past time node.
In other words, it was equivalent to having two Soulium with Otto's consciousness appearing in the same space-time.
After Otto understood how the Void Archives operated, he couldn't help but marvel at its mystery.
Unfortunately, Otto from five hundred years ago did not have a Soulium.
Chen Ran did not know whether the two Ottos had interacted or reached some kind of agreement.
He only felt a headache.
"System, oh system, I wish this were a real simulation scenario."
"The more you upgrade, the more bugs there are."
He internally complained about this system while having to deal with Otto on the surface.
"I don't think you can offer me anything to cooperate with. Since you've communicated with Wendy, you naturally know that I am not a person from this era."
"What I have always pursued is a way to defeat Finality, but you cannot provide that for me."
"Likewise, you have already seen that a slight deviation in fate can lead to the deviation of the destinies of thirty million people in Siberia. I cannot guarantee that I will be careful to maintain the status quo of fate, so I cannot help you."
In the research room of the Babylon Tower, Chen Ran spoke to Otto in this manner.
He was not someone who left no room for maneuver in his words and actions; for example, with Mobius or MEI, he would always reserve his thoughts and cater to what they were doing.
But with Otto, there was no need for that.
Mobius and MEI were undoubtedly geniuses, but these two geniuses did not understand human hearts.
Having stood at the pinnacle of the world since birth, they did not care about the capriciousness of human hearts, as everyone flattered them, just as the moon revolves around the earth, so naturally.
Thus, Mobius's first research institute's funding would be blocked, and MEI did not have a smooth start in Fire Moth.
But Otto was different.
He was the neglected young master of a family, a combat personnel heading for an expedition, a revolutionary who participated in overthrowing the old Schicksal, and a leader for five hundred years.
He was skilled in understanding human hearts and could easily see what Chen Ran was thinking.
Naturally, Chen Ran did not need to disguise himself, as that would be too laborious and thankless.
He said, "If I can defeat Finality, it would only be a slightly larger deviation for the fate of the world, and even these deviations would be enough to cover everyone's original destinies."
"Bishop Otto, I think you can understand."
Even at this moment, his words might bring trouble to Wendy, but he still had to make it clear.
Otto did not care about this statement.
Since he wanted to cooperate with Chen Ran, he had naturally considered these things.
"I naturally understand this, Chen Ran."
"Defeating Honkai is not a simple matter; not only are people from your era working hard, but as the inheritor of all the wisdom of the pioneers, I also have my own ideas."
"After all, who likes their fate to be manipulated?"
"However, I think I have something you cannot refuse."
Otto slowly spoke, "Kiana Kaslana."
"What do you mean?"
When Otto mentioned this name, Chen Ran couldn't help but frown.
He had thought Otto would mention 'God' or 'Wendy,' but why did he specifically bring up Kiana, whom he was not very familiar with?
"Oh, to be precise, she has another name: Bianka.Durandal.Ataegina."
Chen Ran's eyes suddenly sharpened.
Otto saw Chen Ran's reaction and immediately smiled, "As expected, the time you adjusted should be more than I imagined."
"She is the perfect product of Project Stigma, the only hope for humanity to defeat Finality. Her value is unquestionable."
"I have a way to give her to you, to make her follow your commands. So, with this condition, will you still refuse?"
It was clear that Otto had misunderstood Chen Ran.
He thought that Chen Ran had not only adjusted the time once but had even altered the future.
However, standing at the 2014 node, Otto could not perceive the changes in the future.
Nevertheless, Chen Ran did not intend to explain this.
He couldn't just say that he had played a game and seen the plot, could he?
But Chen Ran had to admit that he was tempted by the conditions Otto offered.
This was not referring to a surge of hormones leading to impulsive actions, but rather because Durandal was special.
"There are two human civilizations in this era that can achieve the perfect product of Project Stigma."
Chen Ran paused and said, "One is Cheng Lingshuang, who lived five hundred years ago, and the other is Kiana, who has just been born not long ago."
Wendy instinctively asked, "Durandal... does Kiana have something special about her?"
Chen Ran explained, "From what I know, she can freely walk in the Sea of Quanta and the imaginary space, truly moving through time without obstacles."
"You should have seen Kevin in the Elysian Realm; her future will be even more terrifying than Kevin's."
Wendy's eyes were filled with astonishment.
She naturally knew who Kevin was.
The Lord of the World Serpent, a friend of Chen Ran, and the most powerful warrior of that era. Even Kalpas, who often boasted about wanting to fight, would instinctively avoid Kevin.
According to Vill-V, at that time, Kevin had linked to the Nexus system of the Moonlight Throne, possessing power comparable to Finality.
And Durandal was actually more terrifying than Kevin?
"That's right."
Otto smiled and said, "I have not seen the Lord of the World Serpent, but Durandal's talent is limitless."
"I heard from the Void Archives that part of her genes come from you."
"Don't speak so ambiguously; I have nothing to do with Cecilia." Chen Ran paused and said, "I don't know how Schariac's genes came about, but I should have had some involvement with the Kaslana genes."
"In that era, the first batch of Stigmata genes was developed by MEI and me, and then it was improved by Dr. Mobius."
Chen Ran was not foolish; from Otto's conversation, he had basically guessed that he had already had a huge impact on this civilization.
The Void Archives knew about him, and the people of the Elysian Realm also knew about him.
From Wendy, he had also heard the term 'global connection.'
Before the destruction of Finality, most regions of human civilization were well-preserved, rather than the tragic state after the arrival of the Herrscher of Corruption.
This was undoubtedly brought about by him, a deviation of fate.
However, when Finality arrived, fate was re-consolidated; no matter how that era was, it ultimately returned to zero.
The changes he brought were not enough to pry open fate; whether in the past or the future, it remained a fog to him, impossible to clear.
Thus, it was not incomprehensible that Durandal's body contained genes he participated in.
He took a deep breath and said, "I don't know what Durandal will think; personally, I tend to agree."
"If we are to defeat Finality, we indeed need Durandal's power."
He had thought about merging the Kaslana and Schariac genes into himself, but his genes were too mixed, likely unable to unleash the power of these two genes.
Only Durandal could excavate extraordinary talents from these two powers; he could not.
"So, what do you want me to do for you?"
"Kallen Kaslana."
Otto paused and said, "You have already brought Wendy's genes to that era; I need you to bring Kallen's genes back as well."
It was clear that Chen Ran was to use something similar to the Stigmata terminal to project life anchors, and Otto knew this too.
His expression was somewhat strange: "Are you sure? This is not an easy task."
"Because projecting life into the future has a very low success rate; even if I use advanced biological computers to calculate, the probability won't exceed 0.1%."
Otto smiled slightly: "But under the inertia of fate, any low probability will be elevated to 100%, won't it?"
"Otherwise, why would Wendy be here now?"
Chen Ran's pupils slightly constricted.
He felt he had overlooked something.
He could naturally understand what Otto was saying because he had just told Wendy.
Due to the inertia of fate, if he projected a life anchor related to Wendy in the future, that minuscule probability would be amplified to 100%; the same went for Kallen, and even Raiden Mei, Sirin, and Cecilia would be the same.
The genes he projected essentially came from the future.
In other words, he obtained genes from the future and then projected them into the past.
To avoid creating a paradox, fate would inevitably ensure that they appeared in the future.
However, the power he obtained also came from the future.
Thus, the same paradox applied; the power he obtained from the future would also reappear in the future. He would certainly reappear in the future.
And there was only one possibility for him to reappear in the future: Finality was not defeated, and he did not die.
The past and future intertwined into an ever-non-intersecting Möbius loop, and he was within this loop, moving from the past to the future and from the future to the past.
Yet he could never escape.
This meant that even if he found the power to defeat Finality, the era would still be unable to avoid the fate of Destruction due to various unforeseen circumstances.
Perhaps it would be a continuous rainstorm lasting hundreds of years, perhaps terrifying high temperatures, or perhaps a planet-level Honkai Beast coming from afar.
This was the consolidation after the deviation of fate.
He had jumped into the Möbius loop and could never escape.
From this perspective, what he said to Honkai Armed No. 666 about defeating Honkai was not just about defeating Finality.
It referred to all disasters brought about by Honkai; the Herrscher was merely one of them.
No, the current situation might not just be him jumping into the Möbius loop.
Even Sirin, Otto, Raiden Mei, Kiana, and Wendy.
They were all caught up in it.
"Bishop Otto, you just reminded me of something, and I feel I have an obligation to inform you of this."
"The inertia and consolidation of fate are incomprehensible; we are all caught in a massive torrent."
"Right now, for us, for everyone, the enemies from civilization are definitely not just Finality."
"I know." Otto smiled slightly: "That is also the reason I am here to talk to you."
"Using the bond between you and me as a link, conducting cooperation between two civilizations across fifty thousand years is the way out for all of us."
"And because of this, we can involve more people."
Only in the timeless Möbius loop could he have the opportunity to intersect with Kallen.
And only by defeating Honkai could they break free from the shackles of fate.
Thus, unlike Chen Ran, who was passively swept along by fate, Otto willingly jumped into the Möbius loop of destiny from linear time.
——
In the Fire Moth laboratory, Chen Ran (No. 666) was conducting a special attempt.
Fuxi and Nuwa watched the boy adjusting the instruments, curious and leaning in to observe the data.
The newcomer Klein also came over and weakly asked Chen Ran, "Senior, may I ask what this is?"
"Stigmata terminal, a tool that can map fate in the flow of time."
"Then the question arises." Nuwa raised her hand: "What is Stigmata?"
Fuxi followed up with a question: "What is a terminal?"
Klein blinked: "Is it useful?"
"This thing is naturally useless to you." No. 666 paused and said, "Stigmata is a gene database formed by a person's memory genes against Honkai; strictly speaking, it can carry a person's consciousness."
"The brain is not the carrier of consciousness; consciousness itself is a special Honkai. So you can understand that this is essentially a Herrscher Core belonging to humanity."
"And the Stigmata terminal is a record of all Stigmata gene data, but currently, this terminal only records the Stigmata genes of two people: one is me, and the other is someone you don't know."
"Nuwa can actually try it; after that experiment, your body can already construct Stigmata."
No. 666 paused and said, "In theory, the Stigmata that enters the Stigmata terminal can be mapped into the future life through the program set by the computer. Shenzhou has a saying about reincarnation; this is artificial reincarnation."
Klein was still somewhat confused, but Nuwa and Fuxi understood.
The two exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
"Doesn't this mean that if time is long enough and reincarnations are numerous enough, a person could have endless lives?"
"Theoretically, yes." No. 666 paused and said, "But this theory's premise is whether a person is determined by consciousness or genes."
"After all, the Stigmata terminal can only anchor the future consciousness but cannot control the genes of future humans."
"If consciousness determines humanity, then the terminal can allow humans to never die. But if genes determine humanity, this is just a slightly larger toy."
"That's still quite terrifying." Nuwa couldn't help but say, "After all, a person's actions are led by consciousness."
Regarding consciousness and genes, there is no clear conclusion in either biology or philosophy.
Where does consciousness come from? Is it the brain waves released by neurons? This is a topic people are keen to discuss.
And the most terrifying aspect of Stigmata is that it can carry another person's consciousness within a person's body.
As geniuses, Nuwa and Fuxi could naturally understand its terror.
Not to mention, if one could carry a person's consciousness onto another person, then the inheritance of power and wealth would undergo a tremendous change.
This is even more terrifying than No. 666 injecting knowledge genes into himself.
After all, knowledge still requires one to understand and comprehend, while this is equivalent to allowing another person to grasp known knowledge and experience.
If Chen Ran were here, he would surely exclaim: what a soul hall medicine old man mass production machine.
However, compared to Nuwa and Fuxi's shock, Klein directly asked, "Then what is the significance of doing this?"
"None."
No. 666 did not want to explain too much because the more one explains such things, the more likely it is to cause panic.
Just like in the Honkai Academy, Dr. MEI would become the murderer who wipes out all humanity. The Stigmata terminal is essentially a curse of reincarnation obtained at the cost of erasing an entire era of humanity.
Once the Stigmata terminal is established, all the Stigmata recorded within it are essentially a curse on future humans.
No one wants their body to contain another consciousness.
Therefore, the person who created this thing is not a hero but rather the source of disaster.
However, No. 666 had no such awareness.
He was an AI, without fear. As long as it was something that could defeat Honkai, No. 666 would try to use it.
This is the advantage of machines.
"Next, what I need to do is try to connect the terminal with the corresponding computer."
No. 666 had considered directly connecting to Durandal.
However, the problem was that Durandal had her own opinions, which was the most taboo thing for the Stigmata terminal.
Having opinions means having emotions; having emotions means not being Binding.
Not being Binding means that precise calculations cannot be made, and there are too many uncertainties.
Uncertainty is the greatest taboo of the Stigmata terminal.
What he wanted was an instrument that could calculate precisely to future time nodes, not something with emotions. From this perspective, No. 666 could indeed understand why MEI, with Durandal, still took the initiative to work on Prometheus.
But with Chen Ran's current resources, it was somewhat unlikely for him to make another 'Prometheus.'
"Alright, you all go ahead with your business. I'll head back to rest for now."
Number 666's expression relaxed slightly before he returned to rest.
Even AI needs a normal routine.
Otherwise, this body wouldn't be able to handle it.
Fuxi and Nuwa watched him leave, and then Klein asked the two sisters, "I want to know, what was that experiment from the past?"
After exchanging glances, Fuxi replied, "That experiment is something Nuwa is not very willing to talk about."
"I think it's better for Klein not to be too curious, because Nuwa has already paid enough of a price that day."
She looked at Nuwa, her eyes flashing with a hint of worry.
The presence of Stigmata within Nuwa could not be hidden from everyone forever.
Of course, Fuxi was not worried about that.
During this time, Nuwa's attention towards Chen Ran had noticeably increased.
She was falling deeper and deeper.
Fuxi didn't know what to do; she hadn't been taught how to handle such relationships.
She could only take it one step at a time.
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