This Chat Group's Vibe is a Bit Off

Otto was not at all surprised by this outcome. He spread his arms again, as if everything had returned to his control. "What a pity, my dear friend. It seems your blitz plan has failed."

He had played every card he had, practically gotten beaten out of his pants. If not for the Serenity Gem, he might have died right here on the spot. But so what?

The one who had held out until the trump card arrived was him!

If anyone was to blame, it was them for coming after him before fully mastering Heracles's fusion form.

What he could not understand, however, was that none of them seemed panicked. Instead, they all looked as though they were ready to watch a show.

That was unreasonable. Did they have some trump card he did not know about?

A sense of foreboding rose within him.

Facing Golden Fool, Fu Hua in her Feather of Dust-burning state, and Otto, who was practically equivalent to the Herrscher of Death, Qianyi remained utterly calm. He glanced at the time on his watch and raised a finger at Otto.

"One minute. I'll kill you."

Chapter 59: Otto: I Can't Die in Peace! (5th Update)

Legend had it that, in the distant past, there were no humans, nor was there any distinction between gods and demons. Gods could freely alter their forms, powers, and attributes according to their will, without needing to rely on human faith as they did now.

That changed with the appearance of God. He stripped all gods of their wisdom and demoted them to demons. He then took their wisdom and fashioned it into fruit, storing it in the Garden of Eden. He ordered the first humans, Adam and Eve, to guard it, warning them that it was the forbidden fruit that must never be touched.

Yet under the serpent's temptation, they broke the taboo and consumed the fruit. The wisdom of the exiled gods thus scattered among humanity and took human form. When gods who had lost their wisdom found the humans who possessed it and fused with them, the forgotten forms of ancient times would descend once more.

That form was known as the Unified God—Soubi.

At that moment, Qianyi had already fused with Susanoo-no-Mikoto. He had used Heavenly Wind Usurper to take all the Heracles components on his teammates, except Artoria's.

Armor symbolizing divinity slowly gathered over the surface of his body, like flowing liquid metal. As it formed, his pupils abruptly turned a deep gold, like two suns shining in the darkness, as though they reflected every phenomenon between heaven and earth. His hair rapidly lengthened, strands cascading down his shoulders like a blue waterfall and quickly reaching his waist. Surging divine energy wrapped around his body without end.

"I can only maintain this state for one minute. If you can last one minute, Otto, you win."

Qianyi raised one finger at Otto.

Fu Hua had just been about to move when the figure before her vanished. Behind her, a golden eye gleamed.

Cold sweat broke out all over her body. She had barely turned to counterattack when Qianyi appeared before her in an instant. Before she could react, Qianyi drove a punch into her chest, sending Fu Hua blasting through the atmosphere.

One second.

He strolled forward, closing the distance.

A golden figure blocked his path. It was Durandal.

Durandal thrust her spear. Qianyi neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the Black Abyss Lance, now without Abyss Flower, to stab into his body. It did not hurt in the slightest. With one hand, he reached forward, seized Durandal's slender, fair neck, lifted her up, and tossed her into the air.

"I don't have time to waste on you. I'll send you to the other side of Earth first."

"Supreme Magic Bullet!"

Surging divine energy swirled around his palm like an invisible storm, radiating a power that made hearts tremble. A blaze of white light erupted. It did not merely illuminate—it was a torrent that devoured all things. It swallowed Durandal in midair, shook the surrounding air, and swept over the landscape around them.

Durandal vanished, along with the clouds on Earth's horizon. Everything fell silent and still.

Four seconds.

The gap... was this huge?!

Otto's mouth hung open. Those were Durandal and Fu Hua! One was Heavenly Mandate's strongest S-rank Valkyrie—she only remained S-rank because there was no rank above "Durandal"—while the other was Hua, one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Civilization and one of the strongest fusion Warriors. Burning Feather of Dust had been capable of defeating even six-core Sirin, yet now they had been instantly defeated like helpless chicks?

"Void Archive, Zero..."

Before he could finish, Otto saw Qianyi turn his right hand into a blade. In the blink of an eye, he could no longer feel his body. Looking closer, he discovered that only his head remained, cradled in Qianyi's hand.

Five seconds.

"The world is ours now." Qianyi crushed Otto's head in his grip.

???

My body isn't obeying me...

My thoughts are scattering...

No! I can't die! I haven't revived Kallen yet! I haven't revived Kallen yet—how can I die? I can't die! I absolutely cannot die!!

I have to live! Live on!!

That's right, I have spare bodies prepared in various branches around the world and in several hidden locations. My consciousness still exists. I might lose quite a few memories because of this, but as long as I'm alive, as long as I'm alive, I'll have a chance to revive Kallen!

On an island somewhere in the Pacific, a blond man had barely opened his eyes when Kiana's goofy face appeared right in front of him.

"Hi, Otto. Hello—and goodbye."

That body was instantly destroyed.

No! I still have more, more bodies I can use!

Before he could open his eyes, a familiar voice rang out beside his ear.

"Old man, I'll give this chance to you. Remember to strike a cool pose."

Otto opened his eyes to see Siegfried's damnable face. The only difference was that he was grinning broadly now.

"Otto, surprise, motherfucker!"

Divine Fire Judgment blew his head apart with a single shot.

Next, Otto switched bodies one after another—old men, children, women, even discarded failed experimental products. He was willing to humble himself and use any of them, yet no matter which one he chose, the moment his consciousness logged in, he was immediately dealt with.

"Why?! Give me a reason, why?!" Otto demanded hysterically.

"Because it's fun."

In an instant, Otto understood.

These people had long possessed the ability to kill him. They were just... just playing with him!

And that was precisely what drove Otto to despair.

From beginning to end, these people had never taken killing him seriously. What they wanted was to merrily sing and dance as they sent him off. The power, interests, and organization of Heavenly Mandate—they had not considered any of it. Compared to all that, they would rather take photos beside his corpse, discussing whether it would be better to use his head as a soccer ball or turn it into a urinal. Once they reached a decision, they would all sing and dance like a bunch of idiots, while his head would hang on the wall as decoration for their party.

For such a reason... for such a boring reason, they had stormed Heavenly Mandate without a care, turned it upside down, killed him, reduced his five-hundred-year plan to ashes, and made the hope he had already glimpsed—the hope of reviving Kallen—vanish along with it.

I cannot die in peace! I cannot die in peace!!!

"Wow, Qianyi, look, look! This guy died such a miserable death."

Kiana lifted Otto's head and held it before everyone. "How about we use this guy's head as a soccer ball? This one's the most intact, and it's nice and round."

"Get lost, get lost. Take it farther away. If you want to play with it, play with it yourself." Qianyi waved his hand with a look of disgust. He had washed his hands who knew how many times before finally getting rid of that smell, and now Kiana was bringing another one over. Wasn't she just trying to disgust him?

"Then forget it." Kiana casually tossed it into a trash can.

Otto Apocalypse, confirmed dead.

Kiana: Fuck you, Otto! Where's my money?!

Heavenly Mandate Headquarters, Cathedral Building.

Kiana sat on the bishop's throne that represented the highest authority in Heavenly Mandate. She cleared her throat, raised a hand pretentiously, and struck a pose that she thought looked imposing but was actually utterly ridiculous. Then she threw back her head and declared:

"Everyone, cheer for me! Applaud me! Standing before you now is the new Bishop of Heavenly Mandate, the ender of the five-hundred-year sage, the master of the Herrscher of the Void, the super invincible, fucking adorable Kiana Kaslana!!"

"Kid, there isn't enough room here for that many people," Qianyi said.

"Tch, you really have no sense of humor." Kiana immediately lost interest.

"I don't think so." Qianyi smiled.

"Want to come sit?" Kiana shifted to the side, making room for Qianyi on half the throne.

Qianyi could not hold it together.

So that's why the weather's either windy or thunderous lately, but never rains. Turns out you've rendered me speechless.

Kid, you're asking me to sit on the bishop's throne, but you're not getting up yourself?

"Rather than that, shouldn't we split up Otto's assets? As the Bishop of Heavenly Mandate, he must have left behind plenty of inheritance, right?" Seele rubbed her hands together, already unable to resist getting started.

"I believe the contributors to this battle should choose first," Toyokawa Shoko suggested.

"I only want this." Qianyi tossed Void Archive in his hand.

"Is that really enough?" Kiana felt that Heavenly Mandate had quite a few worthwhile things. "Things like the Serenity Gem—you can take them all and use them."

"If there's something that can truly help me, I won't stand on ceremony with you." Qianyi was not a Herrscher. The Serenity Gem and such things were useless to him, so it was better to leave them for Kiana to fuse into her multi-core Herrscher of the Void form.

For a while, everyone gathered together in lively discussion, talking about how to divide up Otto's inheritance.

"Lady Kiana, this is the Heavenly Mandate income and expenditure report I just compiled. Please review it." Amber, the former Bishop of Heavenly Mandate's assistant, stepped forward and handed Kiana a financial report detailing Heavenly Mandate's current situation.

"Why are you still here?" Kiana asked instinctively.

"Assisting the bishop is my duty. Beyond that, I cannot think of anything else I can do." Amber felt a faint sorrow in her heart as well. When she saw Otto encountering trouble, she had immediately gone to activate another of his trump cards, intending to release Heavenly Mandate's final S-rank Valkyrie, Li Sushang. But then... then...

I only went to pull a lever, and all my teammates were dead!

Who could have imagined that Otto, the invincible Bishop, would be kicked to death like a stray dog—and die so cleanly at that?

She had been utterly dumbfounded at the time, crashing on the spot. After thinking for ages and still failing to figure out what she should do, she finally remembered that the bishop had said that if his plan succeeded, Qianyi and the others would take the seat of Bishop of Heavenly Mandate, and she would continue assisting them in ruling the world.

Although Otto's plan might not have gone very smoothly, this group really had taken the position of Bishop of Heavenly Mandate. After thinking it over, Amber shoved the newly thawed Li Sushang back in and promptly surrendered with courtesy.

"Give it to me. Let me see."

Kiana took the report Amber handed her, glanced at it, and her expression changed dramatically. "Qianyi, something feels wrong. Take a look."

Qianyi went over and took one look. His expression changed as well. "Ata, I think transforming into Soubi left me with side effects. My eyes may have deteriorated to the point where I can't tell whether the money is positive or negative. Take a look."

Talulah went over, took one look, and her face darkened.

"Let me see what's going on." Toyokawa Shoko hurriedly leaned in. This was her chance to pay off all her debts in one go, and she could not allow anything to go wrong. But after looking, her expression changed too. "Oh no. My eyesight might have developed a problem as well."

"What is it, what is it?" Seele went over for a look. She did not understand it, only thinking the bright red numbers looked rather nice.

On Heavenly Mandate's financial report, the total was clearly displayed: negative 102.3 billion dollars.

"Amber, can you explain why we owe so much money?"

"Certainly. First are the medical expenses and compensation for injured Valkyries, followed by the maintenance and production of Divine Mechs. Of course, the most significant expense is the former bishop Otto's Soul Steel bodies. Each one costs nearly one hundred billion, while storage, repairs, transportation, and so on are also enormous expenses. Beyond that, the Key of Blankness has been severely damaged, and repairing it is expected to require..."

"Stop! Wait a second!" Toyokawa Shoko immediately cut her off. "How much did you say one of Otto's bodies costs?"

"Soul Steel is the culmination of Previous Civilization technology. Taking materials, manpower, and resources into account, the preliminary estimate is around one hundred billion. In reality, it may be even higher. After all, as you know, Soul Steel is extraordinarily difficult to produce with current technology. We can only rely on excavation, and every piece we dig up is one less piece remaining." Amber did not think there was anything wrong with that. Spending around one hundred billion to create the combat power of an S-rank Valkyrie was a bargain.

Shoko immediately rushed toward the trash can where Kiana had thrown the garbage earlier.

Kiana collapsed onto the Heavenly Mandate Archbishop's throne, threw back her head, and blacked out. In her daze, she seemed to see her mother, Cecilia, waving to her from the other side of the world.

"Kiana's dying! Pinch her philtrum!"

It took a whole group taking turns pinching her for over ten minutes before they managed to revive Kiana.

After waking up, Kiana shakily rose to her feet. Then, suddenly full of vigor, she widened her eyes. Like a king waking from a dream, her face twisted with furious rage as a dragon's roar accompanied her voice: "Fuck your mother! Otto! Where's my money?!"

The moment she thought of how Otto had blown up nearly two hundred Soul Steel bodies just to deal with Qianyi's Ksitigarbha, Kiana beat her chest and stamped her feet, wishing desperately that she had been the one blown up instead.

What the fuck are you, some kind of thunderfire? How are you so good at blowing things up?!

Why didn't you blow me up too?!

Qianyi thought about it. He had originally planned to mention the Band Dissolution Tax to Kiana, but seeing how miserably she wailed—and how she had somehow ended up saddled with so much debt—he decided to let it go.

With Void Archive, he could just return to Japan, become prime minister, and enact the Band Dissolution Tax anyway. Besides, that world would be his own.

"Pant... pant..." Shoko came running all the way over, carrying Otto's head. Gasping for breath, yet filled with endless hope, she asked, "Can this be worth 16.8 billion? It doesn't have to be dollars. Yen is fine."

"Sorry, it's completely damaged and worthless. Besides, that isn't Soul Steel." Amber shook her head.

Toyokawa Shoko died.

She died on the floor with a sense of relief, like a pathetic doll that had lost everything.

Everyone else fell silent as well. No one chose to disturb the doll's eternal rest, and the entire Cathedral Building became terrifyingly quiet.

Just then, an alarm sounded. Amber hurriedly checked it and discovered that an unregistered, armed Anti-Entropy warship was approaching Heavenly Mandate headquarters.

"Are they Raiden Ryoma's reinforcements?"