Zero is... reluctant to part?
Outside the light curtain video, countless viewers couldn't help but freeze for a moment upon seeing this scene.
But thinking about it, it made sense. Zero had spent almost the entire first half of his life in training; opening his eyes every day meant facing Leo's fists.
Planet K76 was also a barren world. Aside from Ultraman King, who frequently came to check on Zero, he only had a Pigmon for company. Although Zero was now free, as Ultraman Zero's first human host, Stelle had undoubtedly left a profound impression on his long life.
Universal Loiterer Zero: "Hey, what's with this video? Don't slander me! No matter how you look at it, I wouldn't be reluctant to part, right? I am Zero, Ultraman Zero, the strongest Ultraman in the Land of Light!!"
Clearly, the current Zero would absolutely never admit to the contents of the light curtain video.
He wasn't the bashful type. It wasn't like this was a permanent farewell anyway. And who made the rule that the first human host had to be super important? It was just a mere human... ah, no, a mere Stellaron spirit. He completely didn't care at all, alright!
Eriri: "Oho? I didn't expect Ultraman Zero to be a tsundere. He clearly can't bear to part with Stelle, yet he pretends not to care. O kawaii koto (How cute)..."
Super Electromagnetic Cannon: "That's right, that's right. This won't do, Zero. Tsunderes are outdated now; you have to go for the direct approach to win!"
Universal Loiterer Zero: "Nonsense, who-who-who... who's a tsundere! I said I'm not, so I'm not! It's just a human host, I can get as many of these as I want! How could I possibly hang myself on a single tree!!!"
Having spent the last few days constantly lurking in the video's barrage section, Zero had come to understand what "tsundere" meant. Would he admit he couldn't bear to leave Stelle? Obviously impossible.
Galaxy Baseballer: "Ah... so I can be casually replaced? That hurts. I was actually really looking forward to seeing Zero again."
Universal Loiterer Zero: "N-no... no, it's not like that. That's not what I meant. An Ultraman doesn't just casually choose a human host. At the very least, right now, aside from you, no one is worthy of being the human host of Ultraman Zero."
Seeing Stelle's message, Zero instantly felt his heart skip a beat and hurried to explain. He had almost forgotten that Stelle herself was also in the barrage section. He had messed up big time.
Galaxy Baseballer: "Is that so? Then it looks like I'm still pretty important, huh? Seeing you act so indifferent, I thought I could be swapped out at any time..."
Aboard the Astral Express, Stelle revealed a triumphant smile. Of course she knew Zero didn't actually not care about her; she just simply wanted to tease him.
But she didn't expect him to actually take it seriously. He was already thousands of years old, yet still so easily fooled. She didn't know if this was because Ultra Warriors had a different concept of age than they did, or if Zero was simply too naive.
Tom Cat: "Sigh... poor Zero is being played in the palm of her hand."
In the world of Tom and Jerry, Tom looked at Zero in the barrage, shaking his head while making clicking "tsk tsk tsk" sounds.
If this was how he acted with just comrade-in-arms camaraderie, what would happen if things went a step further?
Although Stelle was physically less than a year old, her 'level' was clearly much higher than Zero's. Or perhaps Zero was just too much of a noob. If he had even half of Tom Cat's skill, he wouldn't be played like a fiddle!
He wouldn't say anymore; he had to go buy a diamond ring for his goddess...
......
[Light Curtain Video, inside the Astral Express.]
"Ultra Warriors... an admirable race."
After finishing his conversation with the Father of Ultra, Welt couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Dedicating tens of thousands of years to maintaining cosmic peace, unlike the IPC which pursued profit, with no double-dealing or hidden agendas.
This point alone was enough for the Land of Light to earn his respect.
At least in Welt's understanding and throughout his entire life's experiences—whether on his home planet Earth or the places he had traveled to aboard the Astral Express—he had never seen beings like the Ultramen.
The laws of the universe were cruel. It might be going too far to say this, but beings like the Ultramen couldn't possibly appear in their universe.
Unless they possessed the power to make enemies of the entire universe from the moment they were born, otherwise... the other factions in the universe, including the IPC, The Family, and even the Xianzhou, would not allow such beings to uphold justice across the cosmos.
As for Schicksal on Earth, it went without saying. Although that bastard Otto was dead, there were still many enemies hidden in the dark on Earth. With Theresa's abilities, she wasn't yet capable of suppressing them like Otto did. They would absolutely never allow Ultra Warriors to appear on Earth.
Overseer Otto... is dead?
Following Welt's inner monologue, everyone in the Honkai world, especially Schicksal's Valkyries, revealed expressions of profound shock.
Isn't Overseer Otto still perfectly alive and well? How could he die? Moreover... that's Overseer Otto! If he dies, who else could resist the Honkai?
Rely on Anti-Entropy?
That organization that's constantly embroiled in internal strife? They'd be fighting the Honkai with their bare heads!
"Overseer!"
In Otto's office, Durandal entered directly without reporting, a rare occurrence.
Now even the "Dense Goose" could see that this Welt was the current Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Welt Yang, and an Earthling just like them.
Don't underestimate Durandal's intelligence. Although she often seemed a bit dense, most of the time she was actually incredibly sharp. Otherwise, she wouldn't have become Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie.
And leaving aside how Welt managed to reach the Star Rail universe for now, the information Welt just revealed was enough to cause a massive uproar within Schicksal.
"Hehe... it's Bianka. What's wrong? Being this panicked doesn't seem like you at all." Contrary to Durandal's expectations, Otto himself didn't care about his own life or death in the slightest.
He even seemed... quite happy.
Was the Overseer just... smiling?
Durandal muttered, finding it somewhat unbelievable. Although it wasn't Otto's first time smiling, most of his smiles were fake, never from the heart. But this time was different... Durandal could feel that Otto was genuinely happy.
Even during Theresa's last birthday, Otto hadn't been this joyous. In Durandal's entire life, she had never seen an Otto like this.
"Overseer, I'm just worried about you. Furthermore... Overseer, Welt being in the Star Rail universe, does that mean..."
Durandal hesitated, not continuing her sentence. Whatever she could think of, Otto had likely long anticipated.
Sure enough, Otto only paused for a moment before saying calmly, "Rest assured, Durandal, I have long had a plan."
A glimmer of light flashed in Otto's eyes, though it quickly returned to tranquility.
He succeeded. No one understood Otto better than Otto himself. If it truly was as Welt said, and he was dead, there was only one possibility—he had succeeded.
He had successfully created a world where Kallen was still alive, which was why he could die without any regrets. Otherwise... even if the Herrscher of Finality descended, he, Otto, wouldn't die. As long as Otto didn't want to die, no one could harm him.
"Phew~ This truly is an unexpected joy. Welt... I must thank you. Without you, I might still be bumping around blindly like a headless fly."
Thinking of this, Otto couldn't help but inwardly express his gratitude towards Welt. That sincere gaze held not a single trace of falsehood. If Welt were here right now, he would probably break out in goosebumps.
But now wasn't the time for gratitude. Durandal's concerns were correct; those factions that had been suppressed by Schicksal had probably already started looking for ways to step into the Star Rail universe.
This wasn't actually a bad thing. If the connection was truly that close, they would inevitably come into contact with the Star Rail universe sooner or later.
But this search had to be kept within reasonable bounds. Otto knew just how terrifying those entities were.
If they accidentally attracted something bad, like Destruction, or a calamity like Propagation, Earth would be finished. Such a small place couldn't withstand that kind of torment.
"Schicksal will keep everything within a reasonable scope. This is not being stuck in our ways, but for the sake of peace..."
Otto spoke slowly. Unlike Theresa's gentle methods, Schicksal's current status was entirely reliant on Otto's ruthless tactics.
When it came to political maneuvering, all the politicians in the world combined couldn't compare to even half of Otto.
......
[Light Curtain Video]
Welt hadn't expected that his casual remark would cause such a massive uproar.
However, he didn't have the time to care about that; currently, he was getting a headache over another matter.
"The IPC? Welt, do you truly believe the IPC is trustworthy? To be honest, the scent they carry is very unpleasant." Aboard the Astral Express, Himeko frowned as she spoke to Welt.
She had seen many IPC personnel. While there were indeed quite a few good people among them, the vast majority were merely simple merchants and profit-seekers, willing to trample laws and rules for the sake of profit.
For certain gamblers, even the Amber King could be betrayed. As long as they were the ones profiting in the end, that was enough.
Welt pushed up his glasses and said, "I know what you mean, Miss Himeko, but we have to admit one thing: after Akivili's fall, the number of Nameless has dwindled massively. It's far from the grand prosperity of the past."
"As much as I don't want to admit it, the IPC is the only faction with the capability and capital to establish a foothold in another universe. Moreover... within the IPC, there are a large number of Nameless. Even though they've joined the IPC, they are still friends of the Astral Express."
Ultraman Noa had opened a channel for communication between the two universes. Although this channel was currently difficult to traverse and required the immense power of an Aeon to barely manage it.
But according to the Father of Ultra, Ultraman King and Noa were stabilizing the communication channel between the two universes. One day, the two universes would achieve true symbiosis.
When that time came, Ultra Warriors could appear in the Star Rail universe, and the Astral Express could also proceed to Trailblaze in even more vast, unknown universes.
This sounded wonderful, but it involved far too many aspects. One wrong move could cause a disaster even more terrifying than Darkness and Propagation. When that happened, perhaps even the Ultramen would be powerless.
To ensure stability, the Lawful factions of both universes should formulate corresponding strategies, ideally forming an alliance, to minimize the impact caused by this grand Trailblaze.
The Lawful side of the Ultra Universe went without saying; there was no faction or planet more suitable than the Ultra Warriors and the Land of Light.
But their counterpart in the Star Rail universe wasn't so easy to decide.
Anti-human organizations like the Antimatter Legion and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus went without saying; they had absolutely nothing to do with the concept of 'Lawful'.
Although the Xianzhou Alliance and The Family were top-tier factions in the universe, their influence and foundation were slightly weaker than the IPC's.
The Nameless once spread across the cosmos and had an incredibly glorious period, but they had now declined greatly, with many integrating into other factions, making it difficult for them to form a unified group.
After thinking it over, the IPC was the only suitable candidate.
However, although the Interastral Peace Corporation nominally consisted of believers of the Amber King who fought for cosmic peace, they often did inhumane things in secret. The planets indirectly destroyed because of them were not a small number.
Even though the IPC's image appeared quite good, even perfect, to most ordinary people, that was merely the result of marketing. Compared to the Ultramen, who were the same on the inside as they were on the outside, the difference was monumental.
"Welt, by having IPC personnel interact with Ultra Warriors, are you sure it won't ruin the Ultramen's impression of our entire universe..."
Himeko remained silent for a moment before speaking to Welt. She understood the temperament of the IPC's merchants all too well—one face in public, another in private.
They would definitely cozy up to the Ultramen first, and then, without explicitly breaking the rules, repeatedly push the Ultramen's boundaries to secure profits for themselves.
Although the Ultramen were kind, kindness did not equal naivety, much less stupidity. Rather, their level of intelligence was far higher than that of ordinary civilizations. The IPC's petty tricks wouldn't be able to fool their eyes at all.
"..." Hearing Himeko's words, Welt also fell silent. Sometimes, there really was no harm without comparison. They both supposedly stood for "peace", yet how could the disparity be so vast?
He sighed and said helplessly, "This is a last resort. The IPC won't let this opportunity slip away. Sometimes, they are even more desperate to Trailblaze than the Path of Trailblaze itself."
"However, the Astral Express has already formed an alliance with the Ultramen before the IPC. This might become a factor that can keep the IPC in check."
Welt stood up. Even if the Nameless had declined, their influence was unprecedented, even if they weren't the strongest.
No faction would be foolish enough to provoke the Nameless, not even the mighty IPC, and not even the unrestrained Masked Fools.
"Sigh, it's still too early to talk about all this. I don't understand how strong Ultraman King and Noa are, but even for Aeons, it's impossible to connect two universes in a short amount of time. Before that day arrives, we still have plenty of time to consider..."
---o---