The Overseer of Schicksal boarded the battleship dispatched by Headquarters.
Himeko did not follow him. She had to stay behind to handle the aftermath at St. Freya Academy first. Given that they were just ambushed yesterday, if she simply up and left today, it would be far too dishonorable and callous.
Otto wasn't worried about Himeko breaking her promise.
Because he was the Overseer of Schicksal, and Himeko was a smart woman. She knew exactly what would happen if she broke an agreement with him.
From this moment forward, St. Freya Academy was no longer an obstacle in his path.
However, as Otto looked around the standard-issue battleship sent to pick him up, a thought occurred to him. Even Himeko had her own exclusive flagship, the Hyperion. As the Overseer, he really needed a proper vessel of his own to keep up appearances.
I'll build an exclusive flagship the moment I get back.
He already had the perfect name in mind, one that perfectly matched the grand status of the Schicksal Overseer.
He would call it... the Brilliant Covenant.
Yae Sakura stood on the deck. She forced herself not to look at the clouds drifting by in the sky, instead keeping her head down to look at the blue-haired woman she was carrying in her arms.
Her gaze locked onto the letters carved into the woman's face.
It was Otto's name.
But why would Otto carve his own name into this woman's face?
Could it be...
Is this what they call a slave?!
"What is it?" Otto noticed Sakura staring intently at Einstein's face. He smiled teasingly. "Sakura, do you want a carving too?"
"I could carve my name onto your beautiful face."
In truth, he didn't actually have any twisted hobbies like that.
This was entirely Cocolia's doing, but that didn't stop him from using it to tease Yae Sakura.
Hearing Otto's words, Yae Sakura frantically shook her head.
If Otto's name is carved onto my face, wouldn't that be proudly announcing to everyone else that I am his property?!
That's far too embarrassing!
"Then, should I leave my name somewhere else... where others can't see it?"
Otto joked as he arrived in front of a cabin and pushed the door open.
Meanwhile, an image flashed through Sakura's mind—her entire body, every hidden inch, completely covered in Otto's name. It was absolutely terrifying.
She shook her head violently, her long fox ears twitching and swaying with the movement.
"Put her down in here. You'll stay in this room and keep an eye on her."
Otto assigned Yae Sakura to guard Einstein. The scientist was no longer wearing her original clothes; she was now dressed in a plain white, short-sleeved garment that looked remarkably like a prison uniform.
Though, considering she was his captive, it was fitting.
Einstein actually wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. Cocolia had very nearly choked her to death. The prolonged lack of oxygen had caused damage to her brain, and her heart had even briefly stopped beating.
But better safe than sorry. Einstein was still useful to him.
So Otto chose to play it safe, assigning his second-most trusted subordinate, Yae Sakura, to be her warden.
After settling Yae Sakura and Einstein, Otto went to Kiana's room to take a peek. He found the silly girl still fast asleep, her sleeping posture an absolute disaster. As expected of a girl who could somehow manage to shove her own foot into her mouth while dreaming.
After properly tucking Kiana in, Otto left the room. He didn't get into bed to sleep beside her; the girl truly needed proper rest.
However, everything that had happened between him and Kiana had undoubtedly been witnessed by Firefly.
A wicked smirk crept onto Otto's lips.
This perhaps satisfied a certain base, voyeuristic thrill buried deep within a man's heart.
Returning to the outer deck, Otto let the wind blow against his face as he leaned against the railing. He shifted his gaze to the system interface that had fallen out of favor for quite some time.
*[Current Crystals: 840, Friendship Points: 2220]*
His crystal count was still tragically pathetic, but he had enough Friendship Points for a ten-pull.
However, Otto had no intention of pulling right now. He was going to wait until he had thoroughly leeched more of the Paramecium's supreme, EX-rank luck, while also making sure he was as far away from Fu Hua's cursed, bad-luck aura as possible before making his preparations to pull.
Besides, Kiana currently had Firefly inside of her. That meant double the luck value!
Today's Daily Quests had already been completed effortlessly on Kiana. As a veteran driver, Otto hardly cared about the Daily Quests anymore.
What he truly cared about were the Main Quests.
The quest to kill Cocolia was optional, but the quest to seize the 2nd Divine Key, Cosmic Juggernaut, was extremely urgent.
And then... there was the new one.
*[Main Quest (Please complete within 180 days of activation, otherwise it will be considered a failure)]*
*[Kill Cocolia. Quest Reward: The method to open the gates to the Sea of Quanta. Failure Penalty: Schicksal randomly loses one Herrscher Gem.]*
*[Seize the 2nd Divine Key, Cosmic Juggernaut. Quest Reward: A gift from the previous civilization era. Failure Penalty: All data of Project VALUKA will vanish completely.]*
*[Create a Honkai-side Herrscher. Quest Reward: A gift from the Sea of Quanta. Failure Penalty: The birth of a vessel capable of perfectly containing the descent of the Will of the Honkai.]*
The moment the main quest to capture Anti-Entropy or World Serpent executives was completed, a new quest had immediately refreshed, and it was giving Otto a massive headache.
"System, what exactly do you mean by a 'Honkai-side Herrscher'?"
*[Host, a Honkai-side Herrscher is a Herrscher that is still under the complete control of the Will of the Honkai.]*
*[Namely: The Herrscher of the Void, Herrscher of Death, Herrscher of Stars, Herrscher of Sentience, Herrscher of Domination, Herrscher of Corruption, the 13th Herrscher, and the Herrscher of Finality.]*
"Hmm..."
Otto pondered for a moment.
"Then, if I create this Honkai-side Herrscher, will they listen to my orders?"
*[Why would a Honkai-side Herrscher listen to your orders, Host?]*
Then why the hell should I create an enemy Herrscher for myself?!
Otto aggressively facepalmed.
But if he didn't sponsor the enemy, the Will of the Honkai would successfully obtain a perfect vessel for Its descent when the timer ran out.
Given the choice between fighting the Will of the Honkai directly or fighting a single Herrscher, the answer was obvious.
"System, let's negotiate. I don't really want to do this Main Quest, and frankly, I don't really need you that much anymore either. Why don't you go find another Host in a different world to play with?"
Otto was ready to burn the bridge after crossing the river.
The agonizing early-game laning phase was over; the fully-farmed ADC was ready to ditch the Support and go solo.
*[This System cannot leave the Host.]*
The system replied, using an utterly emotionless voice to deliver an utterly emotionless fact.
Hearing that distinctly Bronya-esque, robotic tone, Otto felt so profoundly annoyed that he wanted to run all the way back to Schicksal HQ right now just to pick Bronya up and spank her.
"Still, System, why are the rewards for these last two quests acting like the Riddler?"
Otto continued to voice his complaints.
Setting aside whatever that 'gift from the previous era' was... what the hell was a 'gift from the Sea of Quanta'?
Was the Sea of Quanta going to wrap Seele up as a souvenir and ship her to him?
He really didn't want to hype himself up for something grand, only to receive the equivalent of two Sweet Madames and 10,000 Mora.
*[Once the Host completes the Main Quest, the rewards may be viewed.]*
"Tch."
Otto clicked his tongue. This supposedly conscientious system, which used to hand out beginner gift packs, wouldn't even give him a basic compensation prize now.
As for creating a Herrscher... although it seemed incredibly easy on paper—he just had to turn Kiana into the Herrscher of the Void and he'd be done.
But in reality, it wasn't that simple.
If Otto tried to forcefully awaken Kiana into the Herrscher of the Void, Firefly absolutely wouldn't just sit back and watch. She would assume Otto was up to his old evil tricks and intervene to stop him.
If that happened, their fragile truce would be torn to shreds instantly.
Did he have to turn Chen Tianwu into the Herrscher of Stars instead? Or maybe use the Gem of Serenity currently held at Schicksal to artificially create the Herrscher of Death?
Otto let out a heavy sigh.
But suddenly, Otto realized something. This quest seemed to perfectly align with a certain plan he had already been cooking up.
Heh.
His mood instantly improved. Otto knew exactly how he was going to complete this quest.
He stopped dwelling on the issue. Instead, using his usurped authority, he reached out to contact a certain Herrscher located far, far away.
It was about time to persecute...
Ahem, it was about time to contact Welt Yang.
After all, with so much chaos having erupted last night, Anti-Entropy had to be in a state of absolute, unmitigated panic.
And so, Otto projected a message directly into Welt Yang's mind, sounding exactly like a twisted, eldritch whisper echoing from the depths of the abyss.
[Welt Yang, have you eaten?]
---o---