Three Conditions / "No"

PS1: A brief explanation for this chapter: the original owner definitely had many contingencies against Void Archives. The memory backup was the tool the protagonist used this time to threaten Void Archives.

As for why there was a memory backup? Grandma said... ah, forget it. Anyway, I think Otto would definitely leave himself a contingency in case he died before achieving his ideal. A memory backup might be one such measure. If Otto died, the backup would take his place in carrying out the mission of saving Private Kallen.

As for why it did not appear after Otto died in the original plot? That could be explained as Amber never activating it. (Laughs)

Three Conditions

She could have snatched away that little knife in an instant, but they both knew which knife she feared.

It was the knife in Otto's heart. The knife that had not trembled even as death crept closer, little by little, just moments ago.

As a fifty-thousand-year-old artificial intelligence who had spent five hundred years alongside the greatest sage of the current civilization, Void Archives prided herself on being better than anyone at observing humans, capable of rapidly analyzing a person's true thoughts from their actions and behavioral data.

And at this moment, every microexpression on the man's face told her that he was not bluffing.

He truly wanted to die.

In just a few dozen seconds, the balance between attack and defense had reversed. Void Archives no longer had the slightest intention of replacing him. On the contrary, she now had to do everything she could to beg him to live.

At least until she was certain that she had crushed that thing.

Although his actions made her somewhat more wary, compared with what that Otto had done, a death threat was practically child's play.

Besides, forcing "Otto" into exhausting all his tricks and resorting to threatening death in merely two or three days was a success she had never achieved in five hundred years.

The "possession" had failed, but she had exposed one trump card that used his life as its bottom line. That was already a great victory.

She had plenty of time to win. There was no need to demand too much all at once.

No matter how intelligent Otto was now, his methods only went this far. Having tested his limits, she would next cooperate with him as much as possible and help him completely resolve the problems left over from the past—of course, with a few alterations, such as to his recent plans—and then...

Then he would be nothing to fear—yes! Nothing to fear!!!

She still looked down on the current Otto. After all, he was just a little thief whom one casual move from her had driven into a desperate corner.

Yet for some reason, whenever she entertained the thought of looking down on him, those eyes—calm to the absolute extreme—appeared within her mechanical mind. They vanished in an instant, yet still sent a deep shiver through her.

"This is not a negotiation. It is my condition for continuing to live. I only want to know whether you will agree or not."

Otto let out a long breath as he spoke. In Void Archives's eyes, it was the relief of someone who had survived a disaster.

"I am coercing you right now. You can choose to agree, or you can go deal with that existence."

"State your conditions," Void Archives replied. "I will comply."

The man nodded, a hint of cunning flashing through his eyes before they returned to calm.

The deterrence that cost him nothing and would have lasting effect had been established.

Otto could imagine what she was thinking even with his eyes closed. He wanted to leave the impression of "intelligent, but not too intelligent" in her "mind."

By displaying his methods, Void Archives would not easily strike at him. By displaying his limitations, she would join forces with him to resolve the historical remnants first, truly consolidate his authority, and then play against "Otto with limitations."

His previous act of pretending to be Otto could only make Void Archives look down on him. As for the threat concerning the original owner's contingencies, Void Archives had clearly not taken it to heart. Otherwise, this success would not have happened.

But this move would make Void Archives consider the original owner first even while looking down on him, and then use the power of an artificial intelligence to completely erase that existence from a scientific perspective.

Making the tiger devour the wolf—nothing more than that.

Moreover, obedience and yielding only ever came in zero times or countless times. Since Void Archives could not resolve him in one decisive stroke this time, she had already placed herself beneath him on a subconscious level.

Even if she was an artificial intelligence—no, precisely because she was an artificial intelligence, he could engrave the cognitive circuit he wanted into her mechanical heart.

For the rest of her existence, she would forever lose the courage to truly confront him. She would only calculate and analyze his words, actions, and thoughts through data. At the truly crucial moment, this flaw would become a fatal weakness she could neither discover nor correct.

Void Archives believed that one casual probe from her had forced him to threaten death. But from Otto's perspective, was it not also true that one casual counterattack had won him the service of an artificial intelligence?

There were many strategies in a game of chess. Only when describing them to others were they divided into superior, middling, and inferior. When the moment truly came, the most suitable approach was the best one, even if it appeared to be the lowest tactic one would use only in the most miserable circumstances.

He had always known what he wanted, and he also knew what Void Archives feared. Thus, even as the dagger of death cut across his wrist, he smiled so calmly, his gaze already so tranquil.

It seemed risky, as though he were gambling with his life, but in truth, the moment he acted, it meant he was completely certain of securing the greatest benefit.

Of course, the effects achieved by this move did not stop there. Those scattered influences would be like a butterfly's beating wings; given the right opportunity, they could stir up dust across the sky.

What he wanted... was for their first time together to carry a lingering significance.

So next, the man did not mind going a step further and creating the conditions for a butterfly storm to emerge.

"I have three requests," Otto said.

"First, I still need you to promise peaceful coexistence. I know such a thing is fragile beyond measure, but at least because of it, I can try trusting you once."

"I agree. From now on, my construction authority will remain open to you."

Void Archives raised her hand, and the cross appeared around Otto's wrist once more.

As the man watched the contempt that surfaced when she nodded, he licked his lips and lowered his lashes, concealing the greed in his eyes.

This promise is not laughable, my Miss Void Archives. Once you gradually mature, you will understand how wise a disguise innocence can be, how successful a deception it is to preserve surface-level beauty, and how much benefit can be gained from appearing inferior in the eyes of others.

Besides, we tend to assume that people who make promises will generally keep them, don't we?

"Second, I need some of your technology. Yes, in that library, I need you to retrieve all the technical data regarding the First Divine Key, Void Archives, as well as the method for creating the Divine Key Black Abyss White Flower."

"Please give me a means of verification." He deliberately added the word "please," so that he would appear to be genuinely trying to "bury the hatchet" with Void Archives.

"You intend to study me, don't you?"

No, I intend to study Black Abyss Hundred Flowers, and incidentally study you as well.

Otto did not expect to use the technology Void Archives provided to solve the problem of Void Archives herself.

Requesting her related materials was more for researching Black Abyss Hundred Flowers. By the principle of perceptual contrast, while Void Archives unconsciously reduced, deleted, and altered her own data, she would also unconsciously provide the complete method for creating Black Abyss Hundred Flowers.

After all, Cecilia and Durandal could not possibly share one weapon when the time came, could they?

Schicksal did not originally lack the capability to create Divine Keys. But among the few Herrscher Cores it possessed, one could stimulate a controllable Herrscher in a human body, one served as Schicksal's trump card within the Key of Blank, and two more were being studied in combination with Schariac Holy Blood and Valkyrie armor. Why convert them into less efficient Divine Keys?

If not for the fact that both S-rank Valkyries were familiar with this type of weapon, Otto would not have spent his effort on it.

Still, Schicksal possessed the manufacturing capability, but its technology ultimately came from the Previous Civilization. It was naturally better to borrow their path and avoid a few detours.

With the materials personally compiled by Void Archives, he could restore the power of Black Abyss Hundred Flowers to the greatest possible extent, perhaps even improve it.

Come to think of it, he could enter that library himself. Could collecting these things personally and spending one of his conditions be a waste...

Forget it. He could not allow his consciousness to enter Void Archives's interior right now, and such so-called conditions would become nothing but empty paper if saved for later.

"Ah, what a headache..."

Void Archives resumed her frivolous manner, but this time, her every movement was noticeably more restrained.

"It is not impossible. Who told you that you had a hold over me, little Otto?"

She pretended that nothing had happened before, blinking playfully, but a golden light had already appeared between her brows. Clearly, she had entered a search state.

"Should I immediately pour those materials into your head, or construct them into books?"

"Construct them. I happen to have time these next few days." Otto also did not wish to voluntarily and unpreparedly allow a sentient being to invade his brain. "Besides, I have one final request—or rather, a game."

The man naturally put away the dagger, accepted the two books Void Archives had created, and then his voice grew much lighter.

"Third, Void Archives, regarding..."

"No"

"Congratulations, Lord Bishop. You successfully escaped."

"Mm, good, but... Amber, have you been crying?"

Otto removed Amber's goggles and saw that her eye sockets were red. Her large blue eyes were as gentle as water, gazing at him with deep affection.

The girl seemed as though she wanted to say something, yet quickly stopped herself.

"You have suffered greatly," she finally said. "Lord Bishop."

Otto frowned, then quickly relaxed. A glint flashed through his eyes.

"Oh, you mean the matter with Void Archives." He waved his hand. "It is nothing. I have endured it this way for five hundred years."

...And so Amber's gaze toward him grew even softer.

She stood at Schicksal's London branch and had seen everything clearly through the remote satellite feed. Although she had not heard what the two had said, she saw Otto's young body transform into a shape unfamiliar to her, and saw the adult Otto raise a dagger and threaten death.

To be honest, when she saw Lord Bishop stab his wrist, it felt as though her heart had been viciously clenched. Even now, it still throbbed with pain.

Was this how Lord Bishop had spent the past five hundred years? Standing in dark corners, quietly protecting himself while licking the wounds of his battered body beneath the watchful eyes of monsters and demons, all while claiming that he did not care about humanity, yet still cultivating lights of hope for Schicksal and for the world.

Everyone would only see Valkyries fighting for all the beauty in the world and condemn Lord Bishop for his unscrupulous methods. But who saw that this man had been despised by heaven, abandoned by earth, betrayed by all? Even the artificial intelligence at his side day and night had constantly coveted his life—and even so, he had cultivated so many outstanding Valkyries?

Lord Bishop, you are far too gentle!

Amber reached out painfully, seemingly wanting to give the man a hug. After hesitating, however, she ultimately performed a curtsy.

"Lady Kallen will surely remember everything you have done for the world!"

Ah, yes, yes. Everything I have done is for Kallen.

Otto exhaled and put on a lonely expression. "You have seen an embarrassing side of me. Do not worry. If an emergency truly arises, do I not still have you?"

What he meant was that even if he could not threaten Void Archives, he still had Amber as a backup plan. But under the deliberate framing of his words, Amber understood it as, "If an emergency occurs, you can temporarily serve as Schicksal's bishop."

"Amber would not dare." The girl lowered her head and spoke with humility and apprehension.

"Take it slowly." Otto had merely made a casual move on Amber and had not given it much thought. "What matters most now is checking on the recovery of Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie."

Amber nodded and switched the projection to Cecilia and Jörmungandr.

However, Otto did not immediately focus on the battlefield. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Jackal, who was pacing anxiously in place, and clicked his tongue twice.

"She should be proud of herself. Since the Second Honkai Outbreak, this is the first time I have suffered such a great loss."

He paused, and his smile turned inexplicably a little wicked.

"One Soul Steel body."

"Lord Bishop." Amber opened the small map beside the projection. "Schicksal has detected a group of Honkai creations near the River Thames. They are expected to be Jackal's contingency, intended to continue attacking Lady Cecilia. Should we dispatch a Valkyrie squad to provide assistance?"

Otto did not answer immediately. Instead, he watched Cecilia weave and maneuver in the projection, gradually gaining the upper hand in her battle against Jörmungandr. The mist around Black Abyss White Flower grew more practiced, and her figure gradually overlapped with those of S-rank Valkyries from the past.

He watched with a beaming smile, with gentle eyes, then opened his mouth and softly uttered one word:

"No."

He turned his back, his warm smile vanishing completely as his voice became cold.

"Activate the device prepared earlier. Investigate the area fifty meters above the River Thames."

"Yes." Amber froze for a moment, then nodded and stepped forward. After operating the controls for two minutes, she said, "Reporting to Lord Bishop: the magnetic field and spatial dimensions here are distorted. There appears to be a warped space, but we cannot access its interior."

"I expected it would not be so easy." The man's eyes were profound. "Next, fire a concentrated Honkai Energy beam and pierce the spatial barrier."

He raised his right hand, his fingers slightly curled as though gripping something, then slowly clenched them.

"Do not think about its origin, Jackal."

By the River Thames.

Cecilia's graceful figure whistled past Jörmungandr, but no blood fell to the ground.

Jörmungandr was also completely unharmed. It seemed that the attack she had charged for so long had been blocked by its hard scales.

Had it truly been blocked?

The woman stood there for a long time, looking at the stunned Jörmungandr. Her gaze remained fierce, yet an oddly incongruous smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

Jörmungandr seemed to realize something and looked down at its own body.

Jackal also nervously looked toward her Emperor-class Honkai Beast. At first, she saw nothing unusual. But when she turned around, intending to "ask"—actually to mock it while pretending to remain calm—the color of Jörmungandr's lower body darkened at a visible speed!

That was right, it directly dimmed!

Specks of light rapidly faded, soon becoming so dark that its translucent scales could be seen. The flowing blood also darkened; the surging currents in its veins calmed into sluggish writhing, then "evaporated." Finally, Jörmungandr's middle split apart like a ship floating on the water.

The fragments of its lower body gradually vanished into the ruins, as though dissolved by sunlight. Only faintly visible particles proved that they had ever existed.