Some People Are Alive, Yet Already Dead

"... My Lord God, if possible, I would like to join the army on the expedition."

"..." Liu Bai's gaze turned strange.

You're going to join the military? Don't you have any idea what kind of physique you're in?

"... I will bring Kallen, Nagatsugu, Elinor with me."

Otto noticed Liu Bai's gaze and said somewhat guiltily.

Will your father agree?

"Given Schicksal's style, even if they don't agree now, they will definitely send Kallen, who is currently Schicksal's strongest force, to the front line if they suffer setbacks in the future... Besides, I'm not in a hurry anyway."

Anyway, she was eyeing the kind of people who could survive those brutal battlefields.

Right now... right now it's Schicksal the Ming Empire, which is sweeping away the trash and approaching the Shenzhou, so the so-called battlefield is not even that fierce.

"Two or three years, it doesn't matter to me... No, maybe a buffer is better."

"..."

Liu Bai remained silent. In a sense, Otto's prediction was entirely correct.

So, this girl has uncontrollably started to veer towards political intrigue?

"Otto, have you been neglecting your regular subjects all these years?"

"Uh... what do you mean by this, Your Lord God?" Otto suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"What I mean is, you haven't reviewed subjects like physics for a long time now, have you? Stop getting so caught up in Honkai and those scheming things all the time."

Liu Bai still vividly remembers how everyone in Lab 42 ganged up to swindle Otto's funding in the future.

"...I see."

Otto pondered for a moment and then nodded.

That's true, I've been a bit too blatant in what I've been doing.

After all, it seems that the Lord God have never wanted to get involved in political turmoil... Is it really that they don't want to?

Otto suddenly remembered something from his childhood.

It seems like it was the third or fourth day after I met the Lord God.

It seems the Lord God asked him at that time, "Otto, do you want to become a bishop?"

Back then, I certainly didn't want to, after all, I was just a youngest member of the family struggling to survive.

But now, he could use his merits to get his mother to bestow his surname upon someone he had never met.

It even seems that it wouldn't hurt for me to take another step forward?

In addition, her best friends are an unparalleled master swordsmith and the strongest Valkyrie in the current Schicksal.

Now his newly adopted sister... or rather, his follower, has taken on the name of Schariac.

As for herself... she admitted that she was not good at fighting, but if it came to playing power games... she might not lose to her older brother and sister.

He is second to none in terms of connections and political maneuvering... Why can't the God of Schicksal be the God of the Lord God?

"My Lord God! The gun is here!"

Elinor returned somewhat laboriously carrying two training guns.

"Please guide me!"

"I'm going back to continue my experiments."

"See Elinor back, "Otto said softly.

The laboratory is underground, so there's no need to worry about Liu Bai's distance limitations.

"You've developed your own ideas... I really don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Liu Bai sighed as he watched Otto turn and leave.

He mentored Otto for five years, which is not a long time compared to others. However, unlike others, Otto 'Otto values were established by Liu Bai.

Bronya is actually in a situation somewhat similar to Otto's.

Bronya, who was still a child soldier, was gradually "softened" by Liu Bai.

Even though it hasn't been long, this relationship is much more stable than a normal one. And to be honest, Liu Bai and Bronya have only been together for a little over two years, less than three years, while Otto's five years is already twice as long as Bronya's.

What Otto was thinking was no secret to Liu Bai.

Ambition.

In Otto's contemplation, Liu Bai saw ambition.

However, the problem is that Liu Bai originally intended to raise Otto in a harmless way, after all, Otto in the original timeline... well, it's hard to explain.

However, judging from the current situation, Otto is actually more radical than Otto in the original timeline?

After all, Otto in the original timeline, at this point in time, only had one goal: to shine brightly and prove that he could still keep up with Kallen and that he was a useful person to Kallen.

Otto showed no ambition at all in the original timeline—in fact, even for a period after Kallen's death, Otto himself did not have much ambition.

After all, in the original timeline, Otto himself was disheartened and went into seclusion after Kallen's death. It wasn't until the pressure of Schicksal caused an uprising in the name of Saintess Kallen that Otto returned to the world. In order to prevent Kallen's name from being tainted by failure, Otto returned to the world.

Otto then became a bishop, felt a deep emptiness in a world without Kallen as time went by, which led him to become the distorted version of himself in later generations.

But now it seems... Otto has started to become distorted, what should we do?

Otto's compatibility: 405%

Among all the compatibility scores starting with 2, this one starting with 4 suddenly appeared... Liu Bai remained silent.

He actually thought that if the compatibility exceeded a certain value, it would just look good, but its practical significance was basically zero.

Otto's compatibility is now a slap in the face to Liu Bai.

If it seems to have no practical significance, it means your values aren't exceeded enough...

Otto's ambitions were almost 20 years ahead of the original timeline!

Otto entered Shenzhou under the alias Rakshasa at least in 1496... well, more than twenty years earlier!

My attempts to harmlessly cultivate her have backfired... Is it because I lack the talent in this area, or Otto some kind of toxic girl?

"What are you saying, Your Lord God?"

Elinor spoke to the air, somewhat confused.

"What's wrong, Lord Otto?"

"...It's nothing." Liu Bai sighed. "Also, from now on, when you're out, you should call Otto 'sister' or 'older sister,' not 'adult.'"

"...I see."

Although she didn't quite understand the meaning behind it, Elinor was very obedient, or rather, blindly loyal, so she didn't ask as many questions as Kallen did.

"Alright, now pick up the spear, and I'll start by teaching you the most basic stance."

Liu Bai temporarily put his worries about Otto aside.

It's rare to meet someone you like, so you should teach them well.

After all, blind loyalty is a bad habit when it comes to the enemy, but it can be considered a virtue when it comes to one's own people.

(You really dare to think... you actually want to change the god of your church.)

(Why can't it be changed? Anyway, the deity of Schicksal is the so-called Lord God, not Lord God... This couldn't be the work of Previous Era, could it?)

(... No, how could those scientists be interested in religion? As for Flame-Chasers... although there are indeed nuns in Flame-Chasers, they are just like you, they are all that old man's sycophants, and compared to you, a pseudo-believer, they are true believers.)

The Imaginary Archive knows that Otto had absolutely no faith in any so-called gods or Lord God.

(Ha... What are you saying? Does Lord God it can't be considered faith?)

(... That's why I called you a simp.)

Imaginary Archive cursed.

That's why she hated communicating with Otto.

You really can't have a conversation with a simp.

Simps don't get houses!

Otto didn't care at all. Although the term "simp" is a bit harsh, if you really want to talk about it, every believer is a little bit like that, okay?

(But you still have impure thoughts! That is, blasphemous thoughts! No, it's not even blasphemous! You're just a little bit patriarchal!)

(Wan Zang, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want.)

Otto's tone in communicating with the Imaginary Archive in his mind finally turned dangerous.

(I simply have a fatherly reverence for the Lord God.)

(You're clearly lacking fatherly love! And maybe even motherly love!)

Chapter 251 Some people are alive, but they are already dead.

(So just how desperate for love are you...?)

(Well, I won't deny that, after all, that's the kind of family I was born into.)

Otto sat in his chair, fiddling with the reagents, and answered indifferently to himself.

(You really didn't react at all to the slander against your family...)

Imaginary Archive was speechless as it looked at Otto, whose expression had suddenly calmed down again. However, Imaginary Archive then seemed to realize something and its tone became sarcastic.

(In that case, the word 'fatherly love' can hardly be considered a compliment when applied to you.)

Having been partners with Otto for so long, Imaginary Archive was no less familiar with Otto than Liu Bai was, and knew Otto's status in the family.

Otto's real father, Nicholas, never gave him anything called "fatherly love."

(Isn't it a positive term?)

Otto paused in his fiddling with the reagents, but resumed his work the next second.

(The normal perspective is that people crave fatherly love because they lack it. But your perspective, Wanzang, which defines fatherly love first and then applies it to others... is really interesting.)

A dangerous glint flashed in Otto's eyes.

(But it's okay, I'll make it a positive term... After all, as a daughter, I still have to fulfill my filial duties, right?)

Otto spoke in a declarative tone, using a rhetorical question.

This caused the Imaginary Archive to fall silent.

Good heavens, she just wanted to point out that Otto's so-called fatherly love was not fatherly love at all, but rather a distorted form of romantic love.

Who knew that Otto's opening remarks would cause her such a huge problem.

Judging from this... she's going to personally send her father away?

(Hey... you're not going to commit patricide, are you?)

Even though the Imaginary Archive have no human morality, they still feel somewhat uneasy at this moment.

To be honest, isn't she the kind of character who is "the unleashed demon"?

Why is Otto even more like the so-called demon than I am?

(That's true. As a woman, you have to get past your father if you want to rise to a higher position. After all, there hasn't been a female bishop in Schicksal yet...)

The more Imaginary Archive thought about it, the more it seemed that Otto had everything he needed in terms of reason and motivation.

Damn it! What's the point of this being used to bewitch people?

That bastard is even worse than me, okay?

Originally, Imaginary Archive thought that if it weren't for Liu Bai's suppression, it would probably still be able to bewitch Otto.

But now it seems that even without Liu Bai, he might not be able to beat Otto.

(What are you thinking, Manzo?)

Otto smiled gently.