Otto Doesn't Want to Talk, So He Throws a Kallen at You

"Do you need my help?"

"No, it has nothing to do with that. There's someone outside who wants to see you."

"You've probably heard of him; he's Kallen's fiancé, Otto Apocalypse."

"Otto? I have heard Kallen mention him; he seems to be a very outstanding person."

When Kallen was mentioned, Yae Sakura immediately perked up. "But he's from 500 years ago... how is he still alive now?"

"He replaced his body with soul steel... If he doesn't want to die, he's probably harder to kill than anyone else. So, do you want to see him?"

"Of course." Yae Sakura nodded without hesitation. "I also want to know more about Kallen."

"Okay, then remember two things," Xia Ling instructed, still somewhat worried.

"First, never reveal anything about Kishinuma. Don't let him know that you Kishinuma now. If he tests you, just deny it."

"Secondly, he is very cunning, but when it comes to Kallen, he probably won't lie; at most, he'll just not tell the whole story."

"However... I still believe he just wanted to catch up. In matters related to Kallen, he is actually trustworthy."

In short, be careful in everything you do.

"Yes, I understand." Yae Sakura nodded. "I will keep your suggestion in mind."

Xia Ling withdrew her consciousness from the Stigmata Space and looked at Otto.

"No problem, Your Lord Bishop, Yae Sakura has agreed to come out and talk."

Otto extended his hand and made a "please" gesture.

Then, the crimson Stigmata Space imprint began to glow, Yae Sakura's figure slowly condensed beside Xia Ling.

Xia Ling patted Yae Sakura, nodded slightly, and then got up to take her leave.

"In that case, we won't disturb Your Lord Bishop's reunion any longer."

Under Otto's somewhat amused gaze, Xia Ling naturally took Theresa's hand and walked out of the room.

Otto pulled his thoughts away from Theresa and looked at the familiar pink-haired figure.

"This... must be Yae Sakura."

Otto's gaze was complex, as if he were reminiscing about that era, or perhaps thinking of Kallen back then.

During Otto's youth, the two knew each other, but they never met due to the times. However, Otto was certain that Yae Sakura was a very important person to Kallen, and Yae Sakura also knew that Otto was the person Kallen trusted the most.

"Hello, Mr. Otto ... I should say, it's an honor to meet you." Yae Sakura extended her hand. "Is this the kind of etiquette we have in the world now? I'm sorry, I've only recently awakened myself, so I'm not entirely sure."

"It's alright, I'm not one to care about such details. However, to actually see you in my lifetime really makes me feel... complicated."

Otto also extended his hand, indicating that Otto also deeply moved by this meeting.

"However, I would like to express my gratitude first."

Yae Sakura bowed slightly.

"I am deeply grateful for both Mr. Otto's care for Kallen and me, and for the kindness of bringing us the Judas' Vow."

Yae Sakura believed that there was nothing wrong with what she said, after all, she was not good at lying, and these words came from the bottom of her heart.

Little did she know that her words would stab Otto in the back twice.

Fortunately, Xia Ling wasn't in the room at the moment, otherwise she might have ended up on Otto's assassination list because she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Otto did take good care of Kallen; he even showed her Kallen Honkai Beast eating children at the execution ground.

He also took good care of Yae Sakura is now world-renowned (referring to the final boss of Kallen Fantasy).

"Cough cough..." Suppressing the twitching at the corner of his mouth, Otto tried to convince himself that the witch's actions were unintentional.

"There's no need for such care... If I truly deserved your gratitude, Kallen wouldn't have passed away." Otto shook his head, not intending to accept Yae Sakura's thanks.

"The reason I want to talk to you alone is not to pry into anything. I know that the Corrosion Key is probably in your or Theresa's hands, and I also know that Xia Ling is not as simple as she seems on the surface, but it doesn't matter, I don't care about these things."

"I just want to... ask you a few questions and hear your thoughts."

Yae Sakura's expression turned serious.

"Please feel free to ask questions, and I will answer them based on my true feelings."

"Since Miss Yae Sakura is being so cooperative, I won't waste any more words."

Otto's fingers tapped the table unconsciously.

"First of all, Miss Yae Sakura, why... do you stay by Theresa's side?"

Yae Sakura paused slightly. "I thought you were going to ask me about Kallen."

"Both are important, but this is the issue I'm most concerned about right now. One must be realistic. Compared to those issues that satisfy my personal doubts, the safety of little Theresa is more important."

Chapter 54 Otto didn't want to talk, and threw a Kallen at you.

"I stayed with Miss Theresa simply because I saw the same qualities in her as Kallen did, and that feeling made me feel as if Kallen hadn't left."

Yae Sakura smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly, "Besides, she does indeed have Kallen's bloodline in her. For both reason and duty, I should protect her."

"Is that so..." Otto pondered for a moment, then smiled with satisfaction.

It's no wonder they're all Kallen fans; they even have the same reasons for acknowledging Theresa.

"I think this answer, at least in my opinion, would be acceptable."

"No matter what the answer is later, rest assured, based on this answer, I will not stop you from staying by Theresa's side."

"So... the second question."

"If you were... never mind, forget I asked this question."

Halfway through his sentence, Otto suddenly shook his head slightly.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Mr. Otto?"

"It's alright, this is a very subjective question, and I don't want my regrets to affect your thinking."

"The third question: If you were given a chance to give up everything here and go to Kallen in another world to start over, would you... be willing?"

"I think this problem should be left to me in another world to worry about," Yae Sakura said with a faint smile.

If you were someone who had just broken free from the seal, this option would be very tempting.

Having experienced everything in the Stigmata Space, witnessed the entire life of her counterpart, and had a conversation with her, Yae Sakura has become much more accepting of things.

"Perhaps I have made many mistakes and had many regrets in this life, but everything I have experienced is still the result of my and Kallen's efforts."

"It may not be perfect, it may be full of regrets, but I will not deny them. I just want to make the future better."

"In this way, perhaps when I meet Kallen on the other side of the world at the end of my life, I will be able to proudly tell her about my past and meet her again."

This answer left Otto completely silent.

He doesn't believe in reincarnation, but he won't deny Yae Sakura's thoughts either.

He knew that even in hell, he might not be worthy of meeting Kallen again, after all, he had embarked on a path completely opposite to Kallen's.

But it's really nice...

He suddenly felt a pang of envy for Yae Sakura's mindset; perhaps, her choice was what Kallen truly hoped for.

But he couldn't do it; he could never let go of that day. Therefore, he was bound to walk down this path and never look back.

"Perhaps... you are right, but it doesn't matter. I don't regret the path I've chosen."

Under Yae Sakura's puzzled gaze, Otto suddenly uttered a seemingly random remark.

"Haha, don't mind me, I was just saying what I felt."

Otto smiled and stood up.

"It is a wonderful feeling to have a friend of the same age as you hundreds of years later, and talk about the regrets and hobbies of your youth."

"In any case, thank you, Ms. Yae Sakura, for being willing to talk to a sinner like me for so long."

"So please accept this as a token of my gratitude."

Otto tossed a data storage disk to Yae Sakura.

"This is..."

"You may not recognize it, but Xia Ling definitely does. Or you can go find Bronya at the St. Freya Academy; they should all have a strong impression of this thing."

"This is a mistake I made, an error that occurred during my self-reflection. Out of guilt, I didn't have the courage to deal with this mistake."

"Therefore, I humbly request that Ms. Yae Sakura do me this favor and take good care of the data here."

"The Corrosion Key should be in your hands, right? With that, you can easily import the data here into your Stigmata Space."

"Afterwards, please take good care of her for me, and please convey my apologies."

Without giving Yae Sakura any room to refuse, Otto stood up, bowed slightly, and left the room.

"Hmm? Yae Sakura, you've finished talking?"

Xia Ling's Theresa seemed to have seen Otto leave the room and peeked her head in through the door.

"Yes, Mr. Otto is a very good person."

Yae Sakura nodded and handed the data disk to Xia Ling: "However, it seems he entrusted me with something."

"Huh, what is this thing...?"

Xia Ling's expression turned somewhat strange when she saw the data disk.

After inserting it into the terminal and browsing through it, Xia Ling sighed.

"As expected of Otto... his plans are truly flawless."

"You might not believe it, Yae Sakura... this thing... should be a Kallen."

"Ah?"

That's right, what Otto gave to Yae Sakura was the same record that Kiana and Bronya had visited during their adventure in the data space.

Kallen, the data entity that developed self-awareness through countless reincarnations.

"Otto, you clearly know that Yae Sakura is definitely related to the Corrosion Key, so why don't you try to get it!"

As Otto left the room, in his mind, the incompetent yet playful Void Archive began to offer its opinions.

"You should know that thing can kill your soul steel body with ease."

"Alright, shut up. The Corrosion Key is a meaningless thing. Otherwise, why do you think I've never gone to the Far East to look for it in the last five hundred years?"

Otto was already in a bad mood, and since Void Archive had conveniently come to him, he decided to take his anger out on this scapegoat and start lecturing him.

"Right now, the people who might possess the Corrosion Key, whether it's Theresa, Xia Ling, or Yae Sakura, at least they wouldn't use it against Schicksal, or rather, against Schicksal Headquarters control network."

"They are not bad people. They know how much damage it would cause if this thing were used against the Schicksal Headquarters. They would not harm innocent people."

"As for dealing with me personally, ha, the Corrosion Power is ineffective against you, who are also Herrscher Core. As for my Soul Steel body, it may be able to take over one of them instantly, but so what?"

"All I need to do is sever the connection to that body and kick it out of the network, and the problem will be solved naturally."

"My method of transferring consciousness comes from the mimicry of Feather Dust, and the erosion cannot break through your defenses at all."

"And when the backup of my consciousness in other parts of my body awakens, even if I lose that part of my memory, I can quickly analyze the situation from the current state."

"As long as I take precautions, the Corrosion Key cannot cause me much damage."

"If that's the case, why should I risk a premature falling out with Theresa and force myself to grab something useless?"

"The Void Archive, a perfect plan, is not the kind of plan that calculates every step and resolves all risks in advance."

"That's not perfection, that's arrogance. No one, except in novels, can perfectly calculate every step of the future."

"A truly perfect plan should take all risks into account and create a tolerance that can accommodate all risks occurring simultaneously."

"For risks like the Corrosion Key, which are inherently within the margin of error, forcibly resolving them is far less effective than simply maintaining the status quo. Your actions are actually creating risks and undermining your own plans."

"Sigh... I hope you won't make the same mistake again in the future."

With a soft sigh, ignoring the silent Void Archive, Otto slowly walked towards the center of the temporary branch.

Time was running out, and before leaving, he had one last thing to do: to wrap up the matter concerning Wendy and Highmore.