In the eyes of Seele and Bronya, who were in the same car, Aaron simply patted the Vice-Branch Head on the shoulder very affectionately, and the man's attitude inexplicably improved a great deal.
Seele couldn't understand why this happened, and while Bronya knew Aaron had ways to control others, Aaron hadn't taken out that terrifying katana at this moment.
*I see, is Master threatening him with his eyes?*
*It seems Schicksal really is planning to trip us up.*
*Even after arriving at the Oceania Branch, we cannot let our guard down.*
*We should see if we can hack into the database first.*
*If we can hack into the Oceania Branch's database, we can investigate various intelligence related to the branch during this period.*
*Personnel changes, direct orders from Schicksal HQ to the Oceania Branch, and various other information should all exist within the database.*
*As for deleting the information in the database in advance...*
*That would indirectly prove Otto has a guilty conscience.*
*Hm, let's wait until we reach the Oceania Branch and settle down before taking action.*
On the other side, having hypnotized the Vice-Branch Head before him, Aaron couldn't be bothered to extract information from the man's mouth right now.
Although he understood basic Magecraft, he could only say he knew *how* to use it, not that he was particularly skilled at it.
Compared to Hypnosis Magecraft, which could potentially be broken at any time, Aaron obviously trusted the other 'cards' in his hand more.
Therefore, immediately upon arriving at the Oceania Branch, Aaron used the power of Magnetic Field Rotation to complete internal communication with Mei, having her release Honkai Energy generated by the Authority of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Then, after Mei released the Herrscher of Thunder's Honkai Energy to interfere with the Oceania Branch's electronic devices, Aaron decisively did one thing.
He first sent his other companions to tour the Oceania Branch, and then gathered all the mobile members of the Oceania Branch at the training grounds.
On the training grounds, he decisively took out Jizo Mitama and gave every Schicksal member in front of him who wasn't controlled by him a single stab.
"...Someone like you!"
Fu Hua, whose consciousness had long been dominated by Aaron, was one of the few lucky ones not stabbed on the spot by Jizo Mitama. Seeing the scene before her, she felt this man was simply too terrifying.
"Although they are Schicksal members following Otto's instructions, they are also heroes fighting against the Honkai. You... how could you just kill them like this?"
"You're right. I think they, like you, are heroes fighting against the Honkai. That's why..."
While using Healing Magecraft to treat this group of people one by one, Aaron responded to Fu Hua grumpily.
"Do you think I'm like Otto, a demon who drops bombs without blinking? Who said I was killing people?"
"I joined Schicksal to find people to help me with my work. Am I so bored that I'd come here and kill all my subordinates first? Do I look like someone with that kind of illness?"
"...Is this a question of looking like it or not?"
After saying this, Fu Hua finally began to carefully observe the Schicksal members lying in pools of blood.
Okay, the scene of Aaron stabbing people earlier was just too horrifying.
After Aaron explained, Fu Hua, as a martial arts grandmaster, realized that when Aaron attacked these people, he had precisely avoided their vitals.
Precisely because he avoided their vitals, he could use those strange means to easily heal their injuries—after all, these were just flesh wounds, nothing major.
But next, looking at the state of these people, Fu Hua suddenly felt the scene before her was a bit familiar.
Having burned a large amount of her memories, Fu Hua couldn't recall when exactly this scene had occurred.
But she could be certain that the sight of [a group of people in a base suddenly having their bodies controlled] was definitely not a pleasant memory for her.
If not for the fact that this part of her memory was already burned away, she felt she might have gotten PTSD directly from this scene.
Although she couldn't say she didn't understand Aaron's guarded actions against Otto's team, feeling uncomfortable was still feeling uncomfortable.
For this reason, even though her soul was dominated by Aaron, she still felt... actually, there wasn't really a problem with this...
*Like hell there isn't! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻*
*It's one thing for my soul to be dominated, but why do I feel like my moral compass is also malfunctioning?*
*What kind of trick did this guy use on my soul?*
*Terrifying, simply too terrifying...*
*I see. No wonder he dared to actively come into a Schicksal branch.*
*Otto thought that even if Aaron was on guard, he couldn't completely guard against his pervasive espionage tactics.*
*But this man, from the very beginning, never intended to trust a single person in the Oceania Branch.*
*Now, except for that relatively special child, the entire Oceania Branch has practically been taken into his palm.*
*If not for the fact that Otto is still somewhat cautious and dares not meet Aaron directly, could the current Otto... avoid Aaron's dual domination of both soul and body?*
*Moreover, there is one more thing.*
*Everyone has seen the blueprints for the 12th Divine Key that wasn't completed back then.*
*Is that katana Aaron is using to stab and then control people the completed Key of Corruption?*
*No wonder.*
*The Key of Corruption erodes matter; mysterious powers dominate the soul.*
*Regardless of whether Otto stores his consciousness in electronic terminals or still possesses a soul like a normal human, he would be firmly countered in front of this man.*
*His means of 'immortality' are useless before this man.*
*And combat power... he can't even beat me, yet he wants to win against this man who didn't even use his full strength when he beat me last time?*
*It's a good thing that old schemer still has some IQ and actively hid himself, otherwise...*
The thought of Otto made Fu Hua feel the anger in her heart start to burn wildly.
Subsequently, a strange thought was born in her mind.
*Compared to a guy like Otto who likes to be a great deceiver and would choose to directly kill millions for his own goals, Aaron's action of stabbing someone and immediately helping stop the bleeding... seems to have a bottom line by comparison?*
Then, Fu Hua felt incredibly sorrowful.
She realized she was racing to the bottom.
And even more sorrowfully, not only could she not stop the atrocities of these two, but she was also being treated as a pawn by both of them simultaneously.
*Ah, if my old friends from the past knew my current miserable state, they would probably feel sorrowful too.*
*It would be fine if Otto didn't realize something was wrong right now, but if that guy realizes things aren't right, he will definitely continue to bury other backup plans.*
*That bastard's backup plans are basically the same old three tricks.*
*Those he sees as recruitable, he recruits at all costs.*
*Those he sees as uncontrollable, he destroys at all costs.*
*If he can't destroy them—then he thinks of ways to threaten them.*
*People who are qualified to, and will, come into conflict with Otto usually meet two conditions simultaneously.*
*They must have certain strength to be qualified to clash with Otto.*
*If they are good people, the probability of clashing with Otto increases drastically once they see his true face.*
*And for those good people, Otto's methods are actually very simple.*
*Since his old rivals basically know that Otto can't be killed anyway.*
*In this situation, Otto just has to release the statement [If you plan to cross me, I'll drag the world down with me]. Generally speaking, let alone good people, even people with a normal mindset would be scared stiff on the spot.*
*After all, Otto, that madman, would really do such a thing. No one dares to gamble on whether Otto is joking when he says that.*
"Alright, everyone. For the coming period, do whatever you want."
Under the fearful gazes of the staff, Aaron spoke very calmly.
"Overseer Otto has definitely asked some of you to assist him in investigating intelligence on the Key of the Void—that's nothing, I personally understand very well."
"Within today, I will dock the Key of the Void inside the Oceania Branch. If you want to secretly collect intelligence and report it to Overseer Otto in the future, no problem—just remember to submit the intelligence you collect to me first for aggregation."
"You can only hand over the intelligence I allow you to hand over. As for Overseer Otto... well, think about it. If he knew you were controlled by me, would he come to save you, or would he think of a way to silence you all to save you from exposing information that shouldn't be exposed?"
Some of Otto's die-hard loyalists wanted to angrily rebuke Aaron directly, but most Schicksal members, who still retained some rationality amidst their fear, sorrowfully discovered one thing.
Even if they bypassed Aaron's control over them and found a way to leak the fact that 'Aaron has dominated the Oceania Branch', the probability of Overseer Otto coming to save them didn't seem high.
The situation of being silenced that Aaron mentioned might be a bit extreme.
But given Otto's usual attitude in handling affairs, the greatest possibility for this group wasn't being silenced, but being directly discarded by Otto.
In other words, this group of people who were forced onto the pirate ship probably couldn't run away.
"I did these unfriendly things today mainly to establish a foundation for friendly cooperation in the future. After all, I don't trust you, and you prepare to backstab me—how can we fight the Honkai in this situation?"
"Now that everyone has taken a stab, everyone will be good friends in the future. With this foundation, you can't betray me, and I will naturally treat you with the attitude I treat my companions."
*Theoretically, there's nothing wrong with this, but why does it sound so wrong to me?*
As the first victim among this group, Fu Hua finally figured out one thing.
*This man might really not be a bad person.*
*But his actions are simply too domineering.*
*Sigh, I hope that when he and Otto fight their magical battles, it won't affect Schicksal and other innocent masses.*
*After all—these unlucky bastards are the most innocent ones.*
After giving instructions to the staff members whose bodies had been eroded by the Key of Corruption, although Aaron's expression didn't change, he indeed breathed a sigh of relief.
According to his plan, with the base's internal electronic equipment temporarily jammed by Mei releasing the Herrscher of Thunder's Honkai Energy, Otto couldn't see the situation here for the time being.
And if Otto wanted intelligence on the Key of the Void... then just give it to him.
Anyway, he had the final say on what intelligence was sent. Giving some scraps to let Otto think this place was still under his control was a relatively cost-effective deal.
Exchanging some intelligence he didn't need for sufficient manpower and resources to assist his actions; this deal looked like a huge profit no matter how you looked at it.
Just as he was preparing for his next move, he suddenly heard a voice.
A voice he was once incredibly familiar with, but hadn't heard for a while.
[Match successful. The teammate matched for Tester 233 this time is—]
[Bronya Zaychik]
*Ah, I've waited months for this.*
*If you hadn't sent this message, I would have suspected your functions were malfunctioning.*
*Hm, so it's Bronya this time... What's better than before is that this brat has been stabbed by me, and the 'bomb' in her body is basically impossible to detonate in another world.*
*Ah, suddenly I feel like it saved a lot of trouble.*
*Supplies were already replenished earlier. Next, I'll take a good rest and wait for the evening...*
[Teammate confirmed. Dungeon teleportation will begin in three minutes. Please find a good place to enter the dungeon, Tester 233—the System does not wish to repeat the reason.]
*Wait, what the hell is three minutes???*
[Hm, calm down. You've prepared your supplies anyway. Is there any difference between going in three minutes later and going in at 23:59 tonight?]
*There's a big difference, okay!*
[Calm down, Tester 233. You've rested for three or four months this time—by the way, who was it that wanted to enter the dungeon earlier to get stronger three or four months ago?]
*It was me, and I still think so now.*
*The problem is the rules suddenly changed. Who knows if there's something wrong with the dungeon you picked this time.*
[Although the dungeon cannot be revealed in advance this time either, the opponent you have to face this time... in a normal dungeon run, you should be able to slaughter them in a one-on-one.]
[To put it simply—don't panic, act normally. At the very least, keeping your life is definitely simple.]
*You even actively explained... 'Slaughter in a one-on-one', there's a subtext there...*
*That means there's more than one enemy.*
[Duh, when has there ever been only one enemy?]
*Something's fishy, definitely fishy.*
[Anyway, there are still two minutes and forty-five seconds. Just find a good spot yourself.]
[Sigh, as a veteran, you're not even as trouble-free as the rookie this time. That little girl, after receiving the message, suddenly said her stomach hurt and has already gone to the ladies' room.]
*She has facial paralysis. Since no one can see her expression, it's naturally not easy to spot flaws, okay?*
*Forget it, can't be bothered to argue. Panicking now is useless.*
*Intelligence on hand is too scarce. Wait until entering the dungeon...*
*Then think about how to act.*
....................