The "Otto" Left Behind by Otto

Upon seeing Xia Ling wake up, Kiana immediately stood up happily, but then she suddenly realized that the atmosphere between Theresa and Xia Ling seemed a little off.

So she timidly sat back down.

After all, they were so familiar with Xia Ling that Kiana subconsciously overlooked the fact that Xia Ling's camp was, strictly speaking, on Otto's side.

"Hey, you've already beaten me up like that, and you still don't want to let me go!"

Xia Ling instinctively covered her chest with her hands; she didn't want to be kissed unconscious by Theresa again, especially in front of so many people.

Several condemning gazes were simultaneously cast upon Theresa.

"?"

Theresa was speechless. "No, who hit you? I just pulled you back when you tried to run away, and then..."

Theresa suddenly found herself unable to speak.

"In short— Xia Ling is still considered to be on the opposing side!"

"Alright, alright, I'm still on Otto's side." Xia Ling obediently gave Gaul. "Actually, I just wanted to give you a heads-up... If you're worried, why don't you have Judah tie me up?"

"Hmph, do you even need to tell me?"

Theresa snapped her fingers, Judah immediately and skillfully extended two golden chains, binding Xia Ling tightly.

However, Theresa thoughtfully refrained from imposing Power of Restraint, since Xia Ling had just awakened from her defeat and her body was likely not fully recovered. Using Power of Restraint could potentially harm her.

"So, what I'm trying to say is, you're not planning to concentrate all of everyone's Honkai Energy into Bronya, are you?"

"Huh? Is there another way?"

All eyes turned to Xia Ling.

"Idiot, use my Domination Core! I still have the Domination Core at the Salt Lake Base, right? You can transfer Honkai Energy from the Salt Lake Base, contact the Theater of Domination through the Domination Core, and then you can directly transport the energy over, right?"

Xia Ling wanted to rub her head in frustration, but she found that she couldn't move her hands, so she just shook her head.

"It seems... it's not entirely impossible?"

MewMew pretended to have just realized something, then exclaimed with sudden understanding, "After all, I can also contact the Theater of Domination, and I can even transmit data without Xia Ling's side..."

"Then let's get started quickly."

Bronya was already eager to try.

While everyone was busy making preparations, Theresa quietly slipped up to Xia Ling's side.

"What, what are you going to do?"

Xia Ling looked at Theresa with a wary expression.

After all, this girl isn't as harmless as she looks. Even in her loli form, Theresa already displayed considerable aggression, and now Theresa's gained a size boost...

Xia Ling felt that for some time to come, her feet would probably not be able to touch the ground.

"What's going on in your head?!"

Theresa pinched Xia Ling's cheek, both amused and exasperated.

"Hey, is it really appropriate for the person who made me faint to say that?"

"I didn't expect you to be like that..."

Considering there were still many people around, Theresa silently swallowed the word "sensitive".

"Anyway, what I wanted to ask you was..."

Do you know what Grandfather's real plan is?

"I know."

To Theresa's surprise, Xia Ling nodded without hesitation and admitted it directly.

"If you don't know, then I'll... huh?"

"Why are you so surprised? It's not like it's something that can't be said. He's Otto, after all. Do you think he would only prepare one plan and be so arrogant as to invite you to stop him, given his five-hundred-year-old obsession?"

"Yes, yes..."

Theresa recalled the pile of Kallen in Otto's office and instantly realized that Xia Ling's line of thinking was correct.

"However, knowing this doesn't mean I'm going to tell you."

Xia Ling put on a smug, amused smile and said, "All you need to know is that Otto's plan to go back five hundred years is feasible, and if you can't stop him, he will not hesitate to carry it out."

"As for his second plan... I'll tell you after this is over."

"Will you need to sue me after this is all over?"

"That's hard to say... mmm!"

After playing the riddle-solver for half a day, Xia Ling was finally given a small punishment by Theresa, who couldn't stand it anymore.

"Rosalia, look over there at the headmistress's..."

"Wow!" Rosalia exclaimed in surprise at Lilia's reminder.

"The headmaster beat Sister Xia Ling until she knelt down..."

"You two idiots, if you have nothing better to do, come and help MewMew maintain the Honkai Energy transfer channel!"

Before Theresa, who was tasting Xia Ling's lips, could discover it, Bronya quietly took the two rascals away.

With everyone tacitly ignoring her, Xia Ling, whose eyes had lost their luster, was naturally thrown onto the transport plane brought by Tesla by Theresa a moment later.

Soon after, not far from the barrier, the bombardment experiment of the mimic Moon Throne main gun array on the constraint barrier began as scheduled.

"Ah... I've finally managed to get out of their sight."

Xia Ling, who had just looked like she'd been thoroughly amused, had now regained her spirits.

"The price we paid was a whole billion more..."

Feeling the dampness around her lips, Xia Ling sighed silently. Theresa's aggressive desire after her collapse was too strong. If this continued, it seemed that she would be completely devoured sooner or later.

Oh, so you've already taken everything. Oh well, this is a sure thing.

"There's no way around it. If one part of the plan goes wrong, we have to pay a higher price to make up for it... But fortunately, Bronya will collapse from exhaustion soon, and no one should remember me for a while."

"So..."

Xia Ling silently communicated with the Domination Core in her body. At this moment, the channel that Otto had created for her to obtain the Power of Restraint had been closed. However, to Xia Ling's surprise, Otto left something for her at the same time as closing the channel.

"A series of coordinates... What on earth is this guy up to?"

Xia Ling looked at the coordinates with some distress. Strictly speaking, she could already exit the Fool's play like Fu Hua. Otto would arrange everything next.

However, out of a little bit of... pity and admiration for Otto?, she wanted to help Otto one last time.

Since Otto would never be able to return to their world again anyway, Xia Ling wanted to give him a chance, considering that he had done one last good deed.

However, Otto's coordinates have disrupted her plans. She doesn't know what these coordinates represent, so she can't be sure if she will still have a chance to complete her original plan once she gets there.

"Never mind... I only planned to help Otto one last time anyway. If he misses the opportunity I prepared because of his own reasons, then it's not my responsibility."

After a moment's thought, Xia Ling began to take control of her core.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The "Otto" Left Behind by Otto

"There seems to be some Herrscher Core fluctuations inside the transport ship?"

As if sensing something, Kiana, who was relatively relaxed, turned around to look.

After all, Bronya needs to concentrate on building the Moon Throne, while Theresa needs to be constantly vigilant about any unusual activity in the barrier... so she's the only one with a relatively relaxed situation.

"Hmm... Since Sister Xia Ling did this, she must have her reasons."

After a moment's thought, Kiana decisively chose to turn a blind eye.

Only then did she understand what Durandal meant when they were talking earlier... When the person who guides you in life may have taken a completely different path from yours, even if you have noticed it, you may not necessarily believe it.

Sister Xia Ling... it shouldn't be like this, right?

So, what is Xia Ling doing over there at this moment?

The answer is, she is creating a human.

To be precise, she was sculpting a doll.

"Hmm... How could I forget that Otto has used up all of his Soul Steel body? Fortunately, the power of the Herrscher of Domination can create puppets on its own, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to create a living body."

Xia Ling sighed. Due to the time constraints, she didn't have time to sculpt any more detailed dolls.

She casually sculpted a chibi version of Xia Ling, resembling an armed doll. She quickly inserted a core into the doll's body, and then the doll opened its eyes.

"The fluctuation of the Herrscher's energy was leaked for a moment... but no one should have noticed."

"Next..."

Xia Ling opened a portal in front of her and then controlled the puppet to hop and skip into it.

Don't ask why I'm jumping around; it's because my legs are too short to walk properly.

After using the "door" ability to transport herself to the coordinates provided by Otto, Xia Ling was surprised to realize where she was.

"Isn't this... the secret warehouse that Otto used to store Soul Steel bodies?"

Because the coordinates Otto left for her were the coordinates they normally used, not the spatial coordinates Xia Ling used when teleporting, she didn't immediately realize the location these coordinates represented.

She had visited this place a few times before when she was helping Otto integrate into the core. Actually, Otto didn't mind exposing the location where he stored his body... but due to the physical discomfort of the Swarm of men, women, and children as Otto, Xia Ling didn't stay here for long afterward.

I never imagined that after all the twists and turns, I would end up back here.

"The incubation chambers at the front are all empty... Let's go check the innermost part."

Passing by the densely packed culture chambers on both sides, Xia Ling walked deeper into this underground base.

The cultivation chambers containing hundreds of bodies were neither too many nor too few. After a short while, Xia Ling arrived at the deepest part of the base.

"This is... the Void Archive? No, it should be the body he used later..."

Before her was a body of Otto that looked unusually familiar. From Xia Ling's perspective at this moment, the body appeared particularly tall. However, what confirmed Xia Ling's future "identity" was his rather unique decoration.

"And this one over there..."

Xia Ling turned her gaze to the incubation chamber on the other side.

This body is quite ordinary, looking almost exactly the same as the Otto outside, belonging to the classic version.

"This body that wasn't disposed of... should be the AI version of Otto that I agreed with Otto to handle Theresa's work."

However, just as Xia Ling was examining this future "colleague," Otto suddenly opened his eyes.

"Holy crap, did it... it came back to life?"

"Strictly speaking, I have never lived, so how can I be considered a zombie? Miss Xia Ling."

Otto tapped the incubation chamber a few times, and the hatch opened automatically, releasing him.

"Oh, but Miss Xia Ling's appearance right now is quite interesting... I guess it's because Theresa is keeping an eye on her true form?"

"Yes, it's all thanks to you."

Xia Ling jumped onto the table next to her with a thud, so that her view wouldn't be so uncomfortable.

"Speak up, what do you want to do with these coordinates?"

"Hmm... According to the information Mr. Otto sent back, the coordinates he transmitted were not actually for your current use."

"What?"

Xia Ling was taken aback for a moment, but quickly discovered another blind spot.

"Wait, according to Otto... you mean, you're not Otto?"

"The real Mr. Otto has now gone to the space between the Tree of Imaginary and the Intrinsic World, which can also be considered a part of the Imaginary Space in a broad sense. Therefore, his signal cannot be smoothly transmitted back to the Intrinsic World at this time, let alone communicate with you like this."

Otto smiled, having anticipated Xia Ling's question.

"I am an independent personality specially created by Mr. Otto to fulfill his promise to you. My mode of existence is not entirely that of a data life form. To some extent, it is based on the SO-1129 surgery of the Previous Civilization recorded in the Void Archive."

"SO-1129? The one used to expand memory space and create memory modules?"

Xia Ling gasped.