Thanks for the Invite, I'm in Honkai Leveling Up Stats

"Once I resolve some minor issues, you'll understand what this key is for."

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Chapter 66: Amber's Unease

As she spoke these riddle-like words, Amber took out her terminal and sent an address to Gwen.

However, Gwen, who had just discussed "minor issues" with Otto during the day, easily understood the meaning behind Amber's words—

Three days later, go to this location to meet the other members of the Caslana family, mingle with them, and then naturally solidify his identity as a Caslana.

As for whether the collateral relatives would have any objections, or if there would be any exclusion towards him as an outsider, Gwen was temporarily skeptical—

Although the Caslanas who appeared in the story were almost all hot-blooded, idiotic characters, Gwen wouldn't assume that all Caslanas were good people in the universal sense.

As the saying goes, there are all sorts of people in a large forest. Gwen didn't believe that a family with hundreds of years of history wouldn't have even one narrow-minded individual.

Of course, it would be best if there weren't any. If there were, they would be the minor issues Gwen needed to resolve.

As for the key Otto had Amber deliver, Gwen guessed it originally belonged to the Caslana family or was used to unlock something within the Caslana family. It was just that, over the long course of time, for some unknown reason, it had fallen into Otto's hands.

For example, the previous-previous head of the family, in order to plead for his rebellious beloved son, handed over some of the family's foundations to the Grand Bishop of Destiny, who already controlled the Caslana family both openly and secretly...

"Three days later... I will arrive on time."

Taking out his terminal to check, Gwen found that besides a very clear address, there was also a detailed time requirement. He nodded and said slowly, putting the key into his pocket.

"Mhm, message delivered. It's getting late, so I'll be taking my leave now."

Seeing that the key had finally been put into Gwen's pocket, Amber let out a silent sigh of relief. As she spoke, she prepared to get up and leave, but Gwen stopped her—

"Hey, it's still early. Amber, please sit for a while longer..."

Smiling, Gwen refilled Amber's half-empty tea cup. He didn't intend to let Amber leave just yet.

"Right now, I know absolutely nothing about the Caslana family's situation. If you know anything, Amber, could you help me understand?"

Although Gwen estimated from Otto's reaction that resolving those minor issues would be easy, to avoid a situation like Rita's, where a lack of information led to a downfall, Gwen habitually prepared to gather intelligence on his opponents three days later.

And while Amber, as the Bishop's secretary, might be too busy to pay attention to people who didn't catch Otto's eye, she should at least have some impression of them.

And it was precisely those people who gave Amber some impression that Gwen needed to pay the most attention to.

Facing Gwen's intense gaze, Amber uncomfortably swayed her slender legs. Fortunately, her goggles covered her face, so she didn't appear too flustered—

Although she had been in this world for over forty years, Amber, who had basically always worked at headquarters, didn't have much experience being alone with people.

It was fine when discussing work matters, but now that the work was done, continuing to chat made Amber a little helpless.

For a moment, unsure how to continue the conversation with Gwen, Amber, facing Gwen's gaze, simply treated it as work.

However, because Amber had never paid attention to these people, reporting in a work capacity meant that the information in her mind was quickly exhausted, and she became flustered again.

Fortunately, Gwen could tell she was flustered and tried to find topics that could help Amber relax.

However, these topics often ended after only a couple of sentences due to Amber's extreme straightforwardness and innocence, and Gwen could only reluctantly return to the areas Amber was skilled in, such as the current external situation and world development.

When discussing familiar topics, Amber's flusteredness gradually disappeared, and she even seemed to have some interest in chatting...

"The current situation with Anti-Entropy is roughly like this..."

After briefly explaining the current situation of Anti-Entropy, Amber pursed her dry lips. She saw that her teacup was empty.

Before Amber could reach for it herself, Gwen prepared to refill it, only to find the teapot was empty. He quickly added water.

Seeing Gwen get up to add water, Amber suddenly felt a bit dazed. This was the third pot of tea, wasn't it? Had she... talked too much?

She quickly checked the time and found it was only ten o'clock, not too late. Amber then breathed a sigh of relief.

When Gwen returned, before he could even pour tea for Amber, he heard her say:

"It really is getting late now, Gwen. I'll be taking my leave.

I'll organize the information you need and send it to your terminal when I get back."

"It is indeed getting late..."

Gwen glanced at the time and didn't insist on her staying. However, he didn't agree to Amber's offer either.

"There's no need to go looking for information specifically for this.

I only asked you because I wanted to know if there were any troublesome individuals inside. Since you have no impression of them, I assume there aren't, so there's no need to specially look up information."

"This... alright..."

Amber blinked at his words, hesitated for a moment, and didn't insist further.

Soon, after Gwen watched Amber leave, he returned to the sofa, poured himself a cup of tea, and slowly drank it, organizing the information he had obtained from the flustered Amber—

Although Amber's sense of secrecy prevented her from revealing any classified information, even the information Amber deemed acceptable to tell Gwen, combined with Gwen's understanding of this world from his past life through the game, gave Gwen more insight into this world.

The most important of these was undoubtedly the news about Anti-Entropy.

Just as Gwen had originally guessed, the leader of Anti-Entropy, Welt, had disappeared. Those factions that joined Anti-Entropy not for ideals but for profit began to harbor ambitions—

After the Second Honkai Outbreak, although information about the Honkai was still being suppressed, the commotion caused by the Second Honkai Outbreak allowed many "important figures" in the secular world to become aware of the Honkai's existence.

Compared to Destiny, which was completely controlled by Otto, the "tyrant," the loosely structured Anti-Entropy was clearly more appealing to these "important figures."

With Welt's prolonged disappearance, those with impure intentions naturally began to stir—

The emerging division into "radical" and "conservative" factions was proof of their increasing infection by Anti-Entropy.

Because of this, North America, originally treated as Anti-Entropy's backyard, was no longer as compliant.

Summarizing his thoughts, Gwen put the matter aside without dwelling on it—

It was still too early to research Anti-Entropy and plan his defection from Destiny.

Besides, if Gwen were to leave, he'd seek out the two more morally grounded scientists of the conservative faction, not the "vermin" of the so-called radical faction.

Chapter 67: Cocolia, But She's the Supreme Guardian

However, for Gwen now, the situation at hand was more worthy of his consideration than Anti-Entropy, which was across the Atlantic.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm likely a pawn in Otto's plan concerning Siegfried or Heavenly Fire Judgment..."

Gwen mused while idly sipping his tea and playing with the key Amber had given him.

"If my predictions are correct, in three days, the news of my return to the family as a lost bloodline, even becoming the de facto head of the household, will reach Siegfried and pique his interest.

Given his personality, which is quite clear about love and hate... Uncle, he shouldn't harbor too much ill will towards me. He'll likely see it as Otto's scheme, approaching me with caution mixed with sympathy. After all, Otto has firmly established himself as an enemy.

Hmm... if we ever have private contact in the future, I'll try to interact with him as a potential ally.

However, I need to remain vigilant until a friendly relationship is confirmed. It wouldn't be good to be mistaken for Otto's lackey and get roasted."

Thinking of Siegfried, who would soon be his nominal enemy, Gwen finished his cup of tea and poured himself another—

"And... my identity...

It's unlikely I'm the son of Cecilia and Siegfried, like in other transmigration novels..."

Gwen shook his head slightly, thinking of his own reflection he saw every morning and evening.

Over the past year, Gwen's body had grown rapidly, his height soaring, and his features gradually maturing. From the pseudo-shota of a year ago, he now looked like a fully grown young man.

Yet, as time passed, Gwen felt an increasingly uncanny sense of familiarity when looking at his own face. It wasn't the familiarity that comes from seeing oneself daily, but rather from a resemblance to another face he deeply valued.

It wasn't until one evening, after a check-up, when he greeted Otto that Gwen suddenly realized Otto's face, with its gentle smile, seemed all too familiar, as if he saw it every day.

If he mentally swapped the hair and eye color, and changed the hairstyle, Gwen was stunned to realize he... might... possibly... resemble Otto somewhat?

After a few more careful observations, Gwen finally confirmed he wasn't mistaken and immediately dismissed the possibility of being the non-existent child of Cecilia and Siegfried.

At the same time, this discovery increased the likelihood of Gwen's hypothesis that he was a test subject in one of Otto's experiments—

Otto's records of human and cloning experiments dated back decades. It wasn't impossible for him to have used Gwen as experimental material.

Moreover, the memories in his mind, which hadn't gradually cleared with his practice of the Spirit Awakening Scripture but remained vague and even seemed to grow more illusory, further inclined Gwen to believe they were fabricated memories woven by Otto for this experimental subject, rather than memories of his previous life.

As for whether he could obtain a "get out of jail free" card with this identity, Gwen didn't hold out much hope.

Didn't Otto unhesitatingly brainwash Theresa, his most beloved granddaughter, whom he once considered to have inherited Kallen's soul?

As a mere mass-producible experimental subject, he shouldn't expect too much.

Furthermore, since he had the ability to actively choose his desired future, Gwen would never hand over control to others, letting them decide his fate...

Pushing his analysis of his identity further, Gwen, having finished a pot of tea, didn't refill it and prepared to go to bed—

After all, the energy cultivation through the Light Shadow Stone required the cover of a blanket.

But just as Gwen was about to get up, an inexplicable feeling made him pause.

Gwen found it difficult to describe the sensation, but following it, he instantly summoned his system.

Closing the attribute panel he had been viewing, and guided by that feeling, Gwen bypassed the chat group, which had disappointed him countless times over the past year, and looked at the left sidebar.

There, a very conspicuous red message notification caught Gwen's eye.

"What is this..."

With a mix of surprise and joy, Gwen clicked on the interface where the red dot was located and saw a message from a user with a blank avatar—

"Hello, may I ask who you are?"

By the time Gwen reacted, he had already clicked on the chat window.

Looking at the chat window, which was remarkably similar to the social software he used in his previous life, Gwen felt as if he were having a private chat with an online friend.

However, although his brain momentarily froze due to the overwhelming surprise, Gwen wasn't completely overwhelmed.

Without immediately answering the stranger's question, Gwen clicked back to the chat group page. Seeing that he was still the only one there, a storm of emotions surged within him—

"Could it be... like how some functions of the upgrade system were broken, the chat group is also partially broken, and it just happens to be the group chat part...?"

The thought of this possibility made Gwen's heart clench.

And as Gwen's mind raced, in another corner of the universe, within the snow-bound, isolated city of Belobog, someone else was also filled with unease—

Near the magnificent Clipper Fortress, in the private residence used by successive Supreme Guardians, the current Supreme Guardian, Cocolia Rand, frowned as she looked at the laptop before her.

After becoming the Supreme Guardian, Cocolia, like her predecessors, was subjected to the incessant whispers and temptations of the Honkai Star.

Even though Cocolia considered herself steadfast, facing harsh realities made it difficult not to be influenced by the Honkai Star's whispers.

That afternoon, Cocolia had received a battle report from the front lines. Under the onslaught of Rift monsters, the front lines had suffered heavy losses, and the battle line had been forced to retreat again, even withdrawing into the Belobog city proper.

As Cocolia stood in the city, she could already picture the feigned sincerity of the old men in town. Coupled with the incessant whispers in her ear, it made her incredibly irritable.

However, with the war situation worsening, Cocolia couldn't possibly abandon her political duties. She could only work with a weary mind, returning home late into the night.

Fortunately, her adopted daughter was growing up and becoming more sensible, which brought Cocolia considerable comfort.

Still, the lingering irritation made it difficult for Cocolia to fall asleep. She decided to look for some ancient books, left behind at some unknown time, in her study to "help her sleep."

However, before she could find any of the dry, sleep-inducing books, Cocolia unexpectedly discovered an invitation letter tucked away in the pages of a book.

Chapter 68: Mutual Probing

Cocolia, who occasionally had to attend banquets to deal with the city's dignitaries, initially thought this invitation letter had been placed there by herself or a previous Great Guardian at some point.

To her surprise, when she casually opened the invitation letter, which for some reason was still brand new, it suddenly burst into light and transformed into... a mobile phone?

Cocolia, who had been indifferent moments before, immediately felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy—

Even the books and documents describing Belobog before its cataclysm did not contain any mention of such a peculiar transformation.

However, no matter how Cocolia probed, she could only conclude that it was just an ordinary mobile phone.

But Cocolia, who had just witnessed a thin sheet of an invitation letter turn into a stack of mobile phones identical to those currently produced in Belobog, clearly wouldn't treat it as a common phone.

Receiving no response, Cocolia hesitated for a moment before picking up the unremarkable phone, which seemed to be just a regular mobile phone.