Xia Ling: If spending lifespan is what it takes, so be it. I can always revive. / Xia Ling: I picked up this golden cube, y'know!

She still vividly remembered the plot of the memory Serpent backstabbing the original Serpent. If this Otto in front of her was really Otto's memory... she didn't dare to think about what would happen next.

"Don't rush, Miss Xia Ling. Although I have most of Mr. Otto's memories of Schicksal and a small part of his emotions, in terms of self-awareness, I cannot equate myself with him."

Xia Ling found Otto's self-justification somewhat believable, since, judging solely from his manner of speaking, this "Otto" didn't seem as... infuriating as the real Otto.

"However, you said your memories and emotions are incomplete... What part of your memory are you missing?"

As soon as she spoke, Xia Ling felt a pang of pity in the eyes of the "Otto" in front of her, specifically, the same way she looked at Theresa when she did something foolish.

It was only then that Xia Ling belatedly realized that her question was as absurd as asking someone with amnesia what they had forgotten.

"Uh... sorry, I'm still a little out of it."

Xia Ling thought carefully for a moment and asked, "May I ask which emotions you've retained?"

"Without affecting the handling of affairs, I preserved Mr. Otto's understanding of most people, as well as his feelings for Theresa."

"Otto" replied calmly.

"Emotions..." Xia Ling's eyes narrowed as she suddenly realized something.

"Do you... know Kallen?"

"Of course I know her. Kallen was a Saintess of Schicksal from over five hundred years ago, born in..."

Before Otto could finish his introduction, Xia Ling had already realized why Otto felt that she could accept that this "Otto" had undergone the SO-1129 surgery.

"I see... You're an Otto who doesn't know Kallen..."

"No, that means you can't be called Otto at all... Did Otto tell you your name?"

"Certainly."

"Otto" said unhurriedly.

"My name is... Apocalypse."

"I am not Mr. Otto, but my clients are the entire Apocalypse Family."

Chapter Thirty-Four: Xia Ling: So what if I have to risk my life? I can always be resurrected.

"Interesting... There's Kaslana in the Stigmata Space, Saniyat outside, and now there's Apocalypse..."

"You three great families of Schicksal really have a tacit understanding."

"You flatter me. However, I haven't held back any great strength. All I remember now is my martial arts skills."

Apocalypse said modestly.

"Just because you're a descendant of Otto, I can't possibly underestimate you..." Xia Ling sighed, "Because the fright you gave me was so severe that I almost forgot about the important matter..."

"You just said these coordinates aren't for my current use, so when are they? And why would Otto send me these coordinates now?"

"Judging from the time of transmission, Mr. Otto must have sent the message before entering the Imaginary Space. Considering his plan, this should be his last chance to transmit the message back to the Intrinsic World."

"However, what Mr. Otto is giving you is not some important news, but a gift."

"A gift?"

"Well, as for the specific reasons, I have no idea. After all, my memories need to be specially synchronized, so I don't know what Mr. Otto has experienced in the outside world."

"As for this gift, he hadn't decided whether to give it to you before. Now it seems you've gained Otto's approval."

"Do I need his approval first?"

Xia Ling tilted her head subconsciously, but the size of the armed doll obviously couldn't support her making such a human-like cute gesture.

"Based on Mr. Otto's speculation, you must have a backup plan to activate the Key of Blankness, right?"

Apocalypse calmly uttered words that startled Xia Ling.

"Don't be surprised, Miss Xia Ling. Although you asked for the research results of the first to fourth generations of Valkyrie armor as a cover, at this critical juncture, there is simply no time to develop Key of Blankness that can completely shield people from the core side effects."

"As the developer of the God-Slaying Armor, Mr. Otto is naturally aware of this. And since you need the Key of Blankness, but not to increase the combat power of your other companions, the user of this weapon is self-evident."

"Tsk..."

"However, given Miss Xia Ling's understanding of the Previous Civilization, I may venture to ask: you should know what price the two users of the Key of Blankness in the Previous Civilization, and the user in the current civilization, paid, right?"

"Apocalypse, you've overlooked a question."

Xia Ling's face remained expressionless.

"Whether it's Himeko, Mei, or even Vill-V, they are not Herrscher, so naturally they cannot withstand the damage that the Herrscher Core inflicts on the human body."

"But I am different. With the core of the Herrscher of Domination, I am precisely the best candidate for the Key of Blankness."

"Ah... I suddenly understand the pain of explaining the research process to a complete novice in scientific research."

Apocalypse showed a hint of human-like headache.

"Miss Xia Ling, it's clear that you have a certain understanding of history and know that the Key of Blankness requires multiple consciousnesses to operate simultaneously in order to control multiple cores at the same time."

"But are you aware that the 'threshold' that the Key of Blankness was designed to withstand was a Herrscher Core?"

"We don't know whether Miss Vill-V, that genius from the Previous Civilization, ultimately used the improved Key of Blankness, but judging from the severely damaged state of the Key of Blankness when Mr. Otto 'dug it up,' she probably did."

"Then why don't you guess, based on Mr. Otto's deductions after the reconstruction, how strong was the backlash this genius young lady suffered?"

"Even though you've become Herrscher, I still can't imagine what trump card you have that makes you think your physical abilities can surpass those of the Fusion Warrior back then, or... do you simply not care whether your body will collapse under the influence of corruption?"

"I'm saying, aren't you curious about a lot of things?"

After a moment of silence, Xia Ling finally spoke. Instead of answering Apocalypse's question directly, she asked a question in return.

"Doesn't this seem to be a bit beyond the scope of your responsibilities as agreed upon at the time?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Xia Ling. I only had the above question out of concern for Theresa. Also, the gift that Mr. Otto left for you is related to this."

"So, what did Otto leave me?"

"A legacy and a direction, of course, the latter is used when you are not satisfied with the former."

Apocalypse pulled a golden core from his own body.

"This is..." Xia Ling's eyes narrowed. The "core" in front of her gave off a strange sense of familiarity.

"Mr. Welt was able to construct the Star of Eden through mimicry, Void Archive can naturally do the same thing."

"Under the authority of False God, it is not difficult to solidify such a fabrication."

"This is the 1002nd unofficial Domination Core that Mr. Otto left you, and the power within... you have just experienced it."

"Constraint?"

"That's right, but these Power of Restraint are not meant for you to fight, but rather to act as a safety valve to protect you."

"Mr. Otto proposed a concept: if you insist on fusing multiple cores into the Key of Blankness, this core, which contains some Authority of Binding, might serve as a safety device when switching cores. It would block other powers when you use one power, ensuring that you can only be corrupted by one core."

I appreciate your kind offer, but... it might not be very helpful.

Xia Ling shrugged.

After all, what she wanted was far more than this level of enhancement. If she simply wanted to use the power of a core, she could easily steal a weakened version using the Domination Core...

Why would I risk physical injury by using the Key of Blankness?

"Well, that was expected. If Miss Xia Ling doesn't need this safety valve, she can use it as Power of Restraint as usual."

Apocalypse sighed, seemingly very unwilling to see this situation from his perspective.

"The latter, on the other hand, was just sent back by Mr. Otto not long ago. It seems to be a draft plan he formulated from the perspective of False God."

"This plan is designed to save your life to the greatest extent possible if Miss Xia Ling insists on activating the Key of Blankness."

"And you've probably heard of the prototype of this plan, Miss Xia Ling."

"That is the Moonlight Throne Project proposed by Anti-Entropy."

"The relevant information is currently in my mind. Considering that there is still some time before the Finality comes, and you may not be able to spare the time right now, I think it's not too late for me to give you the draft plan after the incident has completely subsided."

"After all, your current body doesn't seem to be very convenient."

"Of course, Otto's gift was a pleasant surprise to me."

Xia Ling nodded, took the core from Apocalypse, and threw it into the Theater of Domination.

Then, she placed the doll on the table.

"Since you have nothing else to do, then let's use this doll as a means of communication... There should still be time."

"Since Otto gave me a gift... it's not my habit to owe him a favor."

Chapter Thirty-Five Xia Ling: I picked up this golden cube!

"Sure enough, everyone seems to be too busy to care about the group chat deletion (nine) zero-entry investigation and no dad's attention..."

As her consciousness returned to her body, Xia Ling opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the golden light screen that had disappeared.

Meanwhile, MewMew's message sharing told her that the plot seemed to be nearing its end.

After Bronya blasted through the barrier, she fell into a state of exhaustion. Then, just like in the original work, Seele used the Black Abyss White Flower Otto left outside the church to save Bronya.

The handling of the Binding Barrier constructed by Otto was much easier than in the original work. After all, Theresa's strength at this time far exceeded that of her in the original work, and maintaining the Divine Prayer Barrier for a longer period of time was not a difficult task for Theresa.

MewMew didn't know much about what happened after that, since Kiana and Durandal chased them directly into the Imaginary Space... However, this time, Theresa also joined the squad that beat up Otto.

"So, all that's left outside are people who can't fight?"

"If you exclude me, that's true."

"Then I can run away more recklessly."

Xia Ling took a deep breath and immediately used the Authority of Binding Otto had just given her to dissolve the chains.

Only after Xia Ling successfully escaped did MewMew belatedly remind the others.

However, when the group returned to the transport plane...

"There's only a doll and a few broken chains left in the driver's seat... What is Sister Xia Ling planning to do now?"

Seele said, somewhat troubled.

"I don't know... but with our current manpower, the only one who can freely enter and exit the Imaginary Space is completely suppressed by Xia Ling in terms of power."

After thinking for a moment, Ain decided to speak frankly, "Don't worry, based on what I know of Xia Ling, she shouldn't do anything to harm Theresa..."

"Moreover, the key to stopping Otto is actually Kiana. If Xia Ling wants to cause trouble, she will have to get past Theresa first."

It seems that everyone in Anti-Entropy has a very clear understanding of Xia Ling's personality.

Meanwhile, in the Imaginary Space.

"Hmm... I've gotten in, but the problem is I don't really know where the plot is at right now."

As she carefully recalled the various points in the plot, Xia Ling suddenly clapped her hands.

"Hey, I've got it!"

"In the original story, Mei was involved in this part of the plot. By tracing Mei's power in reverse in that blank space, we should be able to pinpoint their location."

So, after a period of smooth and familiar operation,

The Honkai Will silently watched the second visitor of the day.

"Uh... good evening?"

After politely greeting the Honkai Will, and finding that it was still ignoring her, Xia Ling took off the Seven Thunders of Retribution from her hand.

"My dear Seven Thunders of Retribution, please help me find the energy flow of this generation's Third Herrscher ~"

The Seven Thunders of Retribution emitted a puzzled buzzing sound.

Xia Ling didn't quite understand the specifics, but she could tell that the other person meant something like...

You're treating me like a dog!

"Please, please, I have no other choice!"

Honkai Will:...

Seven Thunders of Retribution:...

A moment later, the Seven Thunders of Retribution jumped back into Xia Ling's hand in a huff, and at the same time, a path map marked with the symbol "Chen Yi Er O! Shan Er Ling Qi Shi Ba" was also transmitted into Xia Ling's mind.