Return

After three months, Edison had finally finished fully consolidating all the resources of the former North American Branch. The new organization—Anti-Entropy—had officially been established, and it was far superior to the Anti-Entropy that had hastily inherited its legacy in the original history.

"Mr. Liu Bai, would you care for a drink?"

At the banquet, Edison, dressed in formal attire, offered Liu Bai a wineglass filled with red wine.

"If possible, would you be willing to dance with me?"

"Uh... I can't dance, so I'll pass."

"Honestly, Miss Reanna lent you her body, Alliance Leader, not so you could sit here eating in silence."

That's right, Alliance Leader.

After some discussion, Liu Bai, as a ghost, had been pushed into the position of Anti-Entropy's Alliance Leader on the spot.

Even though Liu Bai had repeatedly emphasized that he did not know when he might leave again, it still did nothing to change everyone's minds.

There was no helping it. Basically everyone had close ties with Liu Bai, and he was also the only person who had ever defeated Otto in a "game."

So whether it was the upper ranks of Anti-Entropy or the grassroots staff from the former North American Branch, Liu Bai becoming Alliance Leader was the unanimous choice.

As for not having a body, he could simply borrow Reanna's. After all, the properties of soulium allowed Liu Bai's appearance to manifest.

The only issue was Liu Bai's claim that he would disappear... but that was not a major problem.

Come on, pick whoever you like. She'll be the future Alliance Leader.

Everyone knew each other. Frankly, if not for Liu Bai, it would make no difference who became Alliance Leader.

In the end, Liu Bai chose Edison as the next Alliance Leader.

Edison and Welt were both people with warmth in their hearts. But as a leader, Edison was clearly more experienced and more respected. Without considering things like political scheming and suppression, Edison was obviously the best choice, so there was no need to force Welt into the role.

"Liu Bai, want to eat together?"

Einstein squeezed over with a plate of desserts.

"I can't dance either. Want to keep each other company? I think these desserts taste pretty good."

As Einstein spoke, she used her fork to place desserts from her plate onto Liu Bai's.

Two gazes turned toward them.

Anyone else would have panicked by now, but Einstein acted as though she felt nothing and calmly commented on the desserts on her plate.

The gazes came from Planck and Schrödinger, the two masters and disciples.

The original plan had been for Edison to go first, with everyone taking turns dancing with Liu Bai.

But what was Einstein doing now?

Trying to whisk Liu Bai away?

"Liesel darling has become unlovable."

The green-haired girl who had been seventeen seventeen years ago covered her face and pretended to cry.

Beside her, Schrödinger expressionlessly picked up her plate and walked toward Liu Bai.

"Schrödinger? Where are you going?"

"There's still room at that table."

Schrödinger answered without turning back.

"Although Liesel darling has become unlovable, Schrödinger, you're still such a killjoy." Planck sighed and picked up a plate from the side.

"Rita! Open another bottle for me!" The red-haired woman with twin tails drunkenly shouted at the burgundy-haired waitress.

Margarita Aiete, the former owner of the resort and Planck's ace agent, The Marquise.

Her nickname happened to be "Rita." In the original story, she was the ruthless woman who had put a bullet through Otto's head, just short of saying, "Lord Otto, I did not lie"... though that shot had been insignificant to Otto.

Seriously, did everyone with Rita in their name like being spies or assassins?

"Dr. Tesla, you've already had three bottles... If you keep drinking..."

But now, this ace female agent could only patiently try to persuade Tesla as a waitress.

"I'm not drunk!"

"..." Margarita truly had no idea what expression to make as she looked at Tesla stubbornly refusing to admit defeat.

"Bring me another bottle! Once I finish it, I'll go find Liu Bai!"

"Um... what do you want with the Alliance Leader?"

Normally, Margarita should not have asked questions beyond her duties, but seeing Dr. Tesla so drunk before her...

Her direct superior, Planck, and Edison, the superior of her former superior, were both over there.

Not to mention Liu Bai, the superior of her current superior...

"I-I just want to ask whether he, he, Liu Bai, dares to 'beep—' me—"

"Honestly, see? You're drunk."

As if nothing had happened, Margarita withdrew the hand she had used in a chopping strike and thoughtfully carried Tesla onto her back.

...Good thing she had asked.

"I'll take you back to rest right away."

"It seems Otto is not currently planning to take any measures against us."

After failing to secure a dance and seeing others shamelessly crowd around Liu Bai, Edison simply flipped the table and began delivering a work report on the spot.

"Or rather, even if Otto wants to do something, he lacks the ability. According to what Reanna said before, Schicksal now has only that S-Rank Valkyrie known as the Shenzhou Immortal. In other words, we are evenly matched in terms of top-level combat power."

"And Reanna's defection has shaken Schicksal's mid-ranking Valkyries... Unfortunately, our attempt to expose Otto's crimes failed."

Edison appeared somewhat disappointed.

"That's enough. You already lured away Schicksal's strongest fighter along with Abyss White Flower. So what if it failed?"

Liu Bai comforted her.

For Otto, their failure to silence him merely meant one more unstable factor. In truth, there would be plenty of time in the future to play with them. But Reanna fleeing with Abyss White Flower was what truly made Otto bleed inside.

Reanna might not have been Abyss White Flower's strongest user, but she was definitely the most durable. The soulium body Otto had spent over a century crafting for Reanna allowed her to use Abyss White Flower's powers without any burden.

In the original story, Reanna died because the high temperatures after the Honkai Fission Bomb exploded instantly vaporized her body.

Before that, she had used all three rated outputs of Abyss White Flower—zero, one, and two—in a single day without even breaking a sweat...

Output zero had saved a critically wounded cowgirl on the brink of death; output one had impaled a Honkai Beast; output two had returned the Honkai-corrupted Schrödinger to her original form.

More than forty years later, Cecilia had exhausted a great deal of stamina merely to use White Flower to heal Siegfried...

So losing Reanna and Abyss White Flower was what hurt Otto the most.

"There's also..."

Edison seemed determined not to let anyone sneak off to eat today.

"Alliance Leader big brother looks so tired..."

Joachim—no, he should now be called Welt Yang—watched Liu Bai with deep concern on his little face.

The Finn felt too ashamed to face his son after what he had done, so he simply had his son acknowledge Welt as his godfather, while he himself buried himself in research on the ruins.

History seemed to have come full circle again.

"Don't go over there. You'll become a third wheel."

Holding a huge piece of bone-in meat, Welt glanced in Liu Bai's direction before earnestly lecturing Yang.

"Oh..."

Return

Simulation complete. Anti-Entropy: Birth has been cleared. Einstein and Tesla compatibility +50%

Final simulation rating: S (Anti-Entropy's first Alliance Leader, a mysterious legend who surpassed Otto—"Liu")

Final compatibility: Einstein/Tesla: 210%/241%

You have obtained 3 skill points

You may choose one of the following skills

1. Mecha Manufacturing (Anti-Entropy) lv.4 (You are familiar with the construction of Anti-Entropy mechas—though they may be somewhat outdated by current standards)

2. Quantum Cognition lv.8 (Physics? No, no, this is quantum physics.)

3. Armed Doll Cognition lv.1 (A shocking idea seems to have appeared in your mind—did you know that the inventor of Previous Era Armed Doll technology was named EINSTEIN?)

4. Physics lv.10

5. Mechanics lv.10

6. Materials Science...

7. ...

This was the longest skill list Liu Bai had seen so far. There were so many entries that the System Panel had even gained a "page turn" option.

It had to be said, these two doctors had really studied a wide range of subjects...

But what was more worth complaining about was that although there were many skills, not one of them was related to combat. And many of the scientific skills overlapped with ones he already had. Even if their levels were two or three higher... it did not mean much.

After all, these two were his hosts, and unlike the first two Flame-Chasers, who had been unable to act, these two were quite active in the main story.

If he had any related questions, he could just ask them directly...

Besides, Liu Bai did not want to waste such a precious opportunity to choose a skill on duplicate abilities.

In the end, Liu Bai's gaze settled on the first three options.

Mecha Manufacturing, Quantum Cognition, and Armed Doll Cognition...

Armed Doll Cognition, which looked the most tempting, was the first to be ruled out—if Cognition had been replaced with Manufacturing, he would have chosen it.

But Cognition... whoever wanted to jump into that pit could do so. He was not the Previous Era's Einstein, and he did not think he had what it took to take this thing from 0.1 to 1.

That left Mecha Manufacturing and Quantum Cognition...

After a brief hesitation, Liu Bai chose Quantum Cognition lv.8.

As for Mecha Manufacturing, he could always have Einstein and Tesla teach him. But even if they were willing to teach Quantum Cognition, he might not necessarily be able to learn it...

As for the remaining skill points, Liu Bai allocated them as one point to Haunt and two points to Guardian Spirit.

S-Rank evaluation detected. Final result confirmed

Spirit: Liu Bai

Skills: Haunt lv.6, Persuasion lv.2, Guardian Spirit lv.5, Human Modification (Soulium) lv.3, Quantum Cognition lv.8, Scientific skills omitted

Current hosts: Rita Rossweisse (Compatibility: 11%, current host), Aponia (Compatibility: 120%, abnormal status, unavailable), Mobius (Compatibility: 262%, abnormal status, unavailable), Einstein (Compatibility: 210%, normal status), Tesla (Compatibility: 241%, normal status)

Remaining simulations today: 0

Note: When you meet a simulated character again in reality, you will automatically receive the character compatibility reward

Character compatibility reward...

Liu Bai glanced at the maid before him.

"What is it?"

Unlike his other hosts, who lacked the strength even to truss a chicken, Rita, as a top-tier Valkyrie, could fully sense Liu Bai's presence through her perception.

In that case, he could not simply leave whenever he wanted.

After all, his compatibility with Rita was currently... 11%.

That probably only counted as having established the slightest bit of trust.

Although he really wanted to reunite with Einstein and the others, for now... it would be better not to shake the fragile trust between them with suspicious behavior.

Incidentally, he had now met the skill requirements to possess the Luna Kindred Armor.