Xia Ling: Gah! Otto, you backstabbed me again! / The possibility of matching the Karma Demon?

"There has indeed been an increase in strength, but more importantly, there has been an increase in intelligence... Don't you want to know the answers to questions like the history of the Previous Civilization and the origins of the Stigmata Project?"

"Damn it, it seems your reasoning is quite convincing this time..."

Theresa's face fell.

"Then I'm doomed for the next few days!"

"Don't rush, Theresa, this is to help lighten your workload..."

Xia Ling took out the terminal.

"Look, who's here?"

"Amber? Isn't she in Kolosten handling the aftermath?"

Theresa's eyes lit up with hope.

"Yes, but after I explained the situation to her, she immediately took a transport plane back... Hmm, it seems that in Amber's heart, your affairs are much more important than Kolosten's."

"I've already handed over the relevant matters to Amber..." Xia Ling patted Theresa's hair. "Then, see you in a few days~"

"Maybe I'll manage to bring Mei back from there someday~"

"Real?"

Theresa perked up, and was about to ask for more details when she discovered that Xia Ling had already teleported away.

"... Sigh, why is that guy already gone? He was just keeping me in suspense."

Theresa sighed, then opened her terminal and waited for Amber's report.

As a result, they waited for an hour.

When Amber entered Theresa's office, she met Theresa's puzzled eyes.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Lord Theresa. Before coming, I tidied up a few things. I hope you can take a look."

"Ah, group chat about dad (part 3) OIX bell enterprise leek five peel, do I need to make the judgment myself?"

Theresa was taken aback. Even during her time at the Schicksal Headquarters, she had rarely encountered a situation like this.

"Yes, because... these are the materials I compiled, summarized by Lord Otto."

"Before he left, he told me that a portion of it must be handled personally by Lord Theresa."

"Is it something Grandfather left behind again...?"

Theresa sighed. In the past few days, she had witnessed Otto's methods on several different levels.

Most of these were matters that had already been handled perfectly, requiring only Theresa's signature. The few that required Theresa's personal involvement were more of a teaching exercise than a practical one.

It can be said that Otto did indeed arrange a gradual learning process for Theresa, allowing her to smoothly take over as bishop.

If we follow this line of thought, then what Amber brought must be the final test that Grandfather left for me...

Theresa took the document. It was one of the few documents that had not been transmitted online but was preserved in pure paper and handwriting. Judging from the handwriting, the document was probably written by Otto.

However, upon opening the seal, the title on the document surprised Theresa.

"A detailed investigation into Xia Ling's whereabouts since her appearance in this world?"

Theresa's fingers tightened as she gripped the document, realizing what Otto meant by leaving it to her.

"That's right. Lord Otto mentioned the existence of this document to me before. I'm afraid he personally conducted all the investigations."

Amber nodded and said, "By the way, there are some points that could be considered suspicious in this matter. Lord Otto hopes that you will decide on the handling method yourself... Of course, I don't know what Lord Otto is referring to, since I have no right to review this document."

"Amber, is there a backup of this document?"

"No, this was the bishop's private investigation, and I only found it based on the information he left behind."

Amber said with certainty.

"... Okay, I understand."

Theresa was silent for a moment, then a Honkai Energy appeared in her hand.

This fragile paper document was instantly eroded by Honkai Energy.

"Lord Theresa, don't you... need to read it all before destroying it?"

Amber's voice sounded somewhat surprised.

"No need. Also, from now on, pretend you've never seen this document."

Theresa said in a deep voice, "That's fine then. Did Grandfather tell you anything else?"

"Um... do you need me to tell you where the secret room in the bishop's office is?"

"... I've already tried this, and it's indeed very discreet."

"Okay, then there's nothing else."

Amber bowed slightly, preparing to leave.

As she bowed, Theresa caught a glimpse of a few words from another document in her arms, due to her line of sight.

... Load limit duration? What is that?

Theresa was taken aback.

Chapter 43 Xia Ling: Caw! Otto, you betrayed me again!

"Amber, is the other document you have... also left to me by Grandfather to keep secret and prevent future troubles?"

"Ah, this one..."

Amber paused for a moment. "No, this was left by Lord Otto for Xia Ling. To be specific... it might be some kind of technical exchange?"

Otto, Xia Ling, technical aspects, extreme load... These words combined in Theresa's mind, and then Theresa felt like she had PTSD.

"Amber, can I take a look at that document?"

Theresa asked without hesitation.

"I'm sorry, no, because this document is as confidential as the one I just gave you, and His Lord Bishop instructed that it could only be given to Xia Ling in person."

"I thought Lady Xia Ling would stay a little longer, but I didn't expect her to leave in such a hurry... I can only wait for her to return before handing it over to her."

However, Amber directly refused her request.

After all, even Otto, Amber would feel restless if she didn't confront him for a day. If there were a contest to select the person in Schicksal who was least afraid of the authority of the bishop, Amber would definitely be on the list.

"Hmm..."

Theresa pouted.

"Lord Theresa, it's no use trying to be cute with me. After all, I'm not as soft-hearted as Rita when it comes to children."

"Who's a child?!"

Theresa turned her head away. "Hmph, fine, I won't look. I'll ask Xia Ling myself when she gets back."

"Of course you can. Lord Otto did not say that Lady Xia Ling is not allowed to disclose this information on her own."

Amber bowed slightly. "In that case, I will take my leave to handle the work left behind by Lady Xia Ling."

"If Lord Theresa needs anything else, please feel free to call me."

Theresa, left alone in her office deep in thought, Amber left the bishop's office.

Then... she quickly took out a sealed bag, put the document that had been deliberately exposed at one corner back in, and sealed it.

"Phew... With that, the last task left by His Lord Bishop has been successfully completed."

That's right, the information that Theresa just "accidentally" saw was actually deliberately leaked by Amber.

After all, it was a paper document, and even the copy given to Theresa was sealed. How could Amber, who had served as the former bishop's secretary for decades, make such a mistake?

And her reason for doing so... was, of course, Otto's orders.

After analyzing Xia Ling's intentions, Otto understood what she wanted to do.

Forcibly concentrating as many cores as possible on the Key of Blankness could theoretically unleash terrifying power in a short period of time, and... this idea is very much in line with Xia Ling's usual way of doing things.

However, considering that there is no clear record of Vill-V's contributions on the battlefield of the Previous Civilization, the girl would definitely not have installed eight cores if she wanted to exert her strength effectively.

According to Otto's calculations, even eight shots would be a fatal blow to Xia Ling's physical condition.

Otto knew perfectly well that in order to overcome the final Finality, someone would have to step forward and become a "hero"—it could be Kiana, it could be Durandal, it could be Kevin.

But... this person is definitely not Xia Ling, and definitely not in this way.

He left behind the prototype of the "island warfare" plan for Schicksal, which was also in line with his view on the Finality war: preserve strength and wait for a turning point.

Later, it turned out that his idea was not wrong. In the original work, his plan did leave a very important "base" for the world and served as an important basis for the subsequent "reclaiming Earth" plan.

From Otto's perspective, Xia Ling's actions were somewhat akin to a meaningless sacrifice.

Therefore, while trying to improve Xia Ling's survival rate, Otto also tried to persuade Xia Ling to abandon the plan in other ways... such as Theresa.

Unfortunately, what Otto didn't know was that although Theresa could easily overpower Xia Ling physically, she had never successfully persuaded Xia Ling on the ideological level.

But... this is only Otto's perspective.

From Xia Ling's perspective, who is familiar with the entire plot, Xia Ling is very clear about how... happy ending the Finality battle was.

Considering this is reality, and the original story's plot of defeating Kevin heavily utilized the so-called captain's perspective... Xia Ling doesn't believe that the world she's in now has those 100,000 captains' assistance.

In her view, even the existence of Ai, who resembles a time crystal, might be an unknown quantity.

Given all these unknowns, coupled with her current position as the Origin... she must leave ample reserves for the Finality War. The Key of Blankness is one of the many trump cards she has prepared for herself.

However, Xia Ling was unaware that she had been betrayed by Otto. At this moment, she had just arrived at the World Serpent Base.

"Long time no see, Mei."

"However... I didn't expect it would be you who came to greet me."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. These days, I'm considered one of the more relaxed executives in World Serpent." Mei shrugged. "Of course, I haven't been idle for very long."

"To be honest, the reason this problem occurred is partly my fault."

Xia Ling smiled and said, "You might not believe it, but I asked Kevin to temporarily stop your final trial... I hope you won't blame me."

"Of course not. Do you remember that famous saying that circulated back in our school days?" Mei's face showed a nostalgic look. "Teacher Xia Ling must have her reasons for doing this."

"But if I remember correctly, isn't this about me always surprise-testing students? I didn't expect even Mei, a good student, to remember this so well."

"So... as a reward for being a good student, I can give you a little inside information, okay?"

"That sounds like good news?"

"That's right, if my conversation goes well this time..." Xia Ling revealed a mysterious smile, "Mei, you may have to go back and participate in this final trial with Kiana and the others."

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked your opinion yet. Do you... want to go back?"

"Of course." Mei nodded without hesitation. "Back then, we were indeed a little impulsive... There were clearly better solutions to many things."

"However, I already 'reconciled' with Kiana back when we were at the Theater of Domination... Well, it's not really a reconciliation, since our previous conflicts were..."

"Like having a tiff, right?"

Xia Ling said smugly, "That's why I said you guys are too young. Just recently, Theresa and I had a fight over our ideologies, but we made up the same day, didn't we?"

"So... what did the headmaster do?"

"Uh... that's confidential." Xia Ling silently looked away.

You can't exactly say it was because Theresa kissed her until she fainted...

Chapter 44 The Possibility of Rivaling the Karmic Demon?

"We've arrived, this is the place."

Mei walked up to a door and stopped.

"Hey, aren't you coming in with me?"

"Well... since you're here to see Kevin, why don't you two talk alone?"

Under Xia Ling's somewhat puzzled gaze, Mei silently turned and left.

There's a reason for this, after all, when Xia Ling was still in Kolosten, some minor incidents also occurred on the World Serpent's side.