"These are things that Schicksal cannot completely achieve by training Valkyries."
Aside from being able to be mass-produced, they also had strong economic benefits.
This was something that Valkyries could not completely achieve.
"And more importantly," Otto said, "mechas can be directly used in ordinary human wars without any scruples, but Valkyries cannot!"
"What on earth are you trying to say?" Siegfried asked with some impatience.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
Siegfried still knew some of the factors behind why Anti-Entropy was able to rise so quickly. He just didn't have the heart or the intention to pay attention to that issue.
"I need Valkyries," Otto finally got to the point and said, "I need more Valkyries!"
"Schicksal's strategy is to counter quantity with quality."
"Moreover, due to Anti-Entropy's challenge, our resources and finances are also very tight," Otto said with a sigh. "As you can see, it is impossible for us now to screen and train Valkyries on a large scale like before."
"That is why every single Valkyrie is exceptionally precious."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
"Let's get to the point," Siegfried said. "If you keep dragging this out, I have no mind to bicker with you about all these random things."
"The point, do you know about souls?" Otto said like a charlatan. "I know this isn't so easy to explain."
"But where the soul resides, the body may die yet the soul remains undying."
Siegfried badly wanted to look at Otto as if he were an idiot; he truly didn't believe this was real. But Otto had lived for a very long time, a very long time! If measured by the lifespan of a normal person, the current Otto should have long since been senile and unable to walk.
Lying in a box with eyes closed, leaving descendants to handle the funeral arrangements.
Yet he hadn't!
Otto was still alive, and moreover lived like a young man, energetic and full of vitality.
If it couldn't be explained from a normal perspective, then it inevitably had to be explained from other angles. For example, explaining it from some very theological angles.
"Don't look at me with that kind of gaze," Otto said. "I still have quite a bit of research on souls."
"The current Li Pu is less like Cecilia still being alive, and more like her reincarnation."
"Cecilia has already died, and after her soul reincarnated, it became that Li Pu."
"I used some special machinery to awaken her past life."
"If you want Cecilia to be resurrected."
"Then stay by her side and constantly awaken Cecilia's memories, emotions, and skills."
"The current Cecilia only has a portion of her past-life memories and emotions, and not very many skills either."
"But as long as someone accompanies her by her side, tells her stories, or stimulates her through other means."
"She can reach a state of complete awakening, and Cecilia can come back."
"Oh?" Siegfried said with still some lingering doubt. "Since you have a machine like that, why not make it more thorough? Completely awaken Cecilia's memories?"
"Because Cecilia is only one of Li Pu's past lives," Otto said again. "Not all of them."
"Do you know, what might possibly be the earliest generation that can be traced back now?"
"Whose past life is it, and do you know whose past life Cecilia's is?"
"Whose?" This actually made Siegfried feel a bit interested, and he asked, "What kind of person?"
"King Arthur!" Otto said. "Although King Arthur was also an extremely outstanding Valkyrie, her era is too far away from ours."
"The machine possesses randomness; between King Arthur and Cecilia, certain reincarnations might be cached in the middle."
"Just in case one of the intermediate reincarnations happened to be a dog."
"Would you be happy watching Cecilia turn into a dog?"
Chapter 44: Do You Have to Be This Ridiculous
One of Otto's rather brilliant aspects.
Was that his words could neither be disbelieved completely, nor believed entirely.
Disbelieving them would definitely cause you to miss some very important things. But believing them entirely would certainly make you jump right into the trap he had dug for you.
Therefore, aside from seeing how much of Otto's words you could believe, you also had to watch how you acted.
Siegfried pinched his chin; he didn't really want to spend too much time with Otto. Aside from his wife's vengeance, there was also his daughter's vengeance. It was just that Kiana was currently at St. Freya, and Cecilia was too.
At the same time, St. Freya could also be considered Otto's turf.
Getting into a conflict with someone on their own turf was ultimately not a wise choice.
Having gone through so many things over these years.
Siegfried had also grown somewhat patient and resilient, and would not fall out with Otto right now.
Now that he had run into a matter like this, Siegfried naturally felt even more curious and his heart itched. To let Cecilia truly return—he was naturally willing, and very happy to see it happen.
Yet regarding this speech of Otto's, Siegfried always felt that Otto had hidden something and left it unsaid.
And this hidden thing might also be extremely important.
So what on earth was this?
Siegfried walked somewhat absentmindedly, and without walking very far, he saw Cecilia sitting boldly on a bench not far away, her legs spread wide apart, with both hands flung wide and resting on the edge of the bench's backrest.
This...
This wasn't right, was it?
Siegfried frowned slightly; this absolutely could not be something Cecilia would do.
Cecilia was a woman with a lot of upbringing, so how could she sit like a grown man? If it were Cecilia, she should be sitting there very ladylike.
And she certainly wouldn't hog the entire bench all by herself.
She isn't Cecilia! She's just a girl who looks very similar, or rather, looks identical to Cecilia.
Moreover, this girl is utterly lacking in upbringing!
Siegfried quickly arrived at another conclusion.
It looked like Otto hadn't lied about this matter at least; this girl was not Cecilia. But she possessed an appearance identical to Cecilia's, along with almost identical power and aura.
Then at the very least, another matter could be concluded: this girl was perhaps Cecilia's reincarnation.
Otto hadn't lied about this matter either.
So what was the thing Otto had hidden?
Siegfried always felt that this matter was about to leap out, and that was what Otto had casually described as 'coming back'. What did this return mean? If Cecilia came back, where would this girl herself be left? What kind of relationship would the past life and the present life ultimately be?
Siegfried suddenly felt as though Otto had shoved a problem onto him that possessed both ethical and moral weight while also being quite tricky.
And he, Otto, could sit back and reap the rewards.
If Cecilia came back, he could harvest an S-rank Valkyrie; if Cecilia didn't come back, then cultivating this girl would also yield an S-rank Valkyrie.
So no matter how you looked at it, he was the one taking the blame.
This Otto, as expected, is still good at scheming.
Siegfried sneered inwardly; he, Siegfried, was by no means a rash man who would blindly jump into a trap dug by Otto!
He planned to go...
Eh? What is that?! Siegfried suddenly saw little starlight emerge from Cecilia's body, and soon Cecilia's entire body was covered by a strange fluorescent light.
Just a few short seconds later...
Good grief... Siegfried changed his mind almost instantly.
I think Otto was right.
We have to let Cecilia come back!
Li Pu had changed back!
Right, it was just like this, Li Pu had changed back!
To tell the truth, this wasn't as complicated as Li Pu had thought; one had to find a certain catalyst and use certain methods in order to change back. The process of him changing from the persona of Cecilia back into himself was actually quite simple.
It was lowering his synchronization rate with Cecilia.
Synchronization rate—this was the key factor for Li Pu when transforming into the Cecilia persona.
Although the system kept emphasizing understanding, this 'understanding' did not mean that one could transform into that character; it represented how much combat power one could unleash after transforming into that character.
The more he 'understood', the more 'theoretical' combat power he could unleash.
That was theoretical combat power.
Through this simulated battle, Li Pu very directly discovered that even if you understood a great deal, if your true heart and the character's settings were too far apart, you still couldn't unleash combat power, and negative effects might even appear.
Cecilia was the most powerful S-rank Valkyrie: powerful, brave, steadfast, martial, and benevolent.
As for him, Li Pu, whether he was brave in the first place was open to question.
Because during the mock battle, the obvious cowardice and retreat he displayed led to him being completely unable to unleash Cecilia's combat abilities, and it even played a counterproductive role, causing him to be taken down in a single move.
Although quite humiliating, Li Pu also discovered a problem.
If he wanted to change back, he just had to do the exact opposite of Cecilia, right?
Or rather, just lower this synchronization rate?
Sitting here, Li Pu neither intended to think about problems the way Cecilia did, nor did he intend to imitate Cecilia's behavioral patterns, and he even deliberately suppressed the emotional fluctuations coming from Cecilia, performing some actions that looked very unladylike.
Sure enough, after tossing and turning like this, he soon felt a strange change on his body.
It was the exact same feeling as when he had first equipped it.
Just a few short seconds later.
Li Pu quickly reached down and grabbed...
"Welcome back, my brother!" Li Pu finally set his mind at ease and let out a long breath. It seemed all right, and none of the sequelae that he feared the most had appeared.
Things like not being able to change back were weak by comparison; if only his little brother had come back...
That would have been truly awkward!
Li Pu stood up, patted his trousers, and raised his head to glance left and right. Although he had just constantly felt as though someone was watching him from somewhere.
Yet why couldn't he see anyone now?
Was he overthinking it? Once caught by someone, he was always afraid of being caught again.
"Forget it~" Li Pu said, hugging the back of his head with both hands. "Let's go home first. I'll take a day off today to go back and rest."
He still needed to study how to equip King Arthur.
As long as he figured it out, he could have two characters to switch back and forth between. Moreover, the transformation dance for equipment that the system mentioned could also be tried out.
Let's see if that thing was actually useful or not.
"Mother actually turned back into the appearance of that pretty boy again." Behind a certain trash can, Kiana suddenly spoke up, saying, "Really, what is Mother trying to do by turning into this appearance?"
"Eh? Kiana?" Siegfried was startled. He glanced back and only then noticed that Kiana had somehow ended up standing behind him.
"Y-you... what are you talking about? Have you seen it?"
"Of course," Kiana said, looking somewhat unsatisfied. "The headmistress said some things, and Mei said that Mother used some special equipment to disguise herself as that pretty boy's appearance, and it seemed like she had some special thoughts and was unwilling to show herself."
"The headmistress said that an old mission in the past made Mother very sad or something, so she decided to fake her death and live in seclusion."
"The headmistress didn't go into detail about the specifics, but living in seclusion..."
"She isn't living in seclusion anymore, and yet she still turns into that appearance."
"Seriously, no, I have to go over and take a look."
"Where are you going?" Siegfried grabbed Kiana and asked, "It wouldn't be good for you to go over looking like this. Cecilia must have her own hidden difficulties, too."
Before you continue