Honkai, Transmigrating into Otto, Path to Godhood

It was a decent golden finger, Otto mused with admiration—able to carve such a massive loophole in the Imaginary Tree.

He just didn't know where its limits lay.

Could he go and snatch a Heroine back?

Preferably one who could take down Kevin.

A Herrscher might be worth a try too.

Honestly, if he could leverage time more deeply... he might even be able to twist the timeline, or even stand against the Sea of Trees.

Of course, he couldn't pin his hopes on the golden finger having no upper limit.

What if, the moment he clashed with the Sea of Trees, he discovered it was some Cat Brand golden finger? That would be the end of him.

As everyone knew, most transmigrators to the world of Honkai Impact 3rd carried Cat Brand golden fingers. A Donkey Brand appearance was a blessing from Amitabha, and a Donkey Brand was a once-in-a-millennium rarity.

Otto's mind churned, plan after plan surfacing and taking shape rapidly.

"But now isn't the time to implement them. What I need to do now is gather all controllable forces into my hands."

Otto walked out as he thought, and a white-haired girl wearing orange crystalline goggles stood behind the door, quietly awaiting his orders.

Before stirring the timeline, Otto had been reluctant to interact with Amber—after all, she knew too much.

But now, Otto had a fair bit more confidence.

He had, after all, been the Lord Bishop for twenty days.

Except for being a bit too lenient with Cecilia, he had tried his best to play the part of Otto in all other matters.

Though Amber knew him deeply, she was ultimately only a half-successful clone.

As long as he got everything done before this girl reacted to his unusual behavior, she'd have no choice but to accept it in confusion.

No panic, no big deal.

"Amber," Otto said, reaching out to lift and then lower her goggles, a nostalgic gleam in his eyes. "Tsk tsk, just like her."

"No matter how much Lord Otto praises me for resembling Lady Kallen, it doesn't change the fact that you spent the whole morning playing Kallen Fantasy without reviewing any documents."

Amber's tone was flat, but the accusation in her words made Otto's expression stiffen. "Haha... well, isn't that what I have you, my secretary, for?"

The girl nodded calmly, as if she had no objection to Otto's words, and simply opened the documents in her hand. "I've already reviewed most matters. Only one requires the Lord Bishop's decision."

"What is it?"

"A funding request from the Far East Branch. Lady Theresa was dissatisfied with last month's budget and has proposed an increase of one hundred billion dollars."

"How much?"

Otto's initial surprise slipped out, but remembering his identity, he quickly adjusted his tone to one of intrigued interest.

"Lord Bishop, it's one hundred billion dollars. Combined with the base funding and your occasional subsidies, that totals two hundred billion dollars."

"Tsk tsk tsk... my little four-legged money-devouring beast is quite something."

Otto found it amusing.

"Given the Honkai development in the Far East Branch, how much should I actually pay, Amber?"

Amber hesitated, then replied, "Mm... ten billion, Lord Bishop."

"Ten billion..."

He walked over to a window, recalling the plot surrounding that principal of St. Freya Academy.

Dumb Theresa, the rebellious granddaughter of the Schicksal Lord Bishop. Genetically speaking, her "mother" was Kallen, and her "father" was the Honkai Beast Vishnu.

Mm, from the start, she was a symbol of Otto cuckolding himself.

So... why was he running into this rebellious granddaughter so soon?

The original had doted on this big little girl immensely, because she was as full of justice as Kallen, and a single Feather of Dust could easily fool the little girl into a daze.

And under the original's almost unrestrained indulgence, this forty-something big little girl used public funds to buy manga, docked employee salaries, and sent A-rank Valkyrie students off for experiments...

After the original built St. Freya for her, the little brat even complained it was too extravagant, calling it a five-hundred-year-old aristocratic school...

Of course, he had no room to judge.

He, Otto, wasn't exactly a good person either.

But... that guy was willing to spoil her—what did that have to do with him?

The current Otto didn't really dislike Theresa—after all, scientifically speaking, hormones affect the brain, and Theresa's childlike body meant her brain wasn't up to par—ignoring certain supernatural beings, like that ivory jade chopstick (Astrologer) who had once been on his ship, the Hyperion.

Just a mere Theresa—couldn't he, the mighty Schicksal, afford to raise one little human brat?

Of course, the current Otto wasn't fond enough to spoil her either.

He did, however, want to use her to accomplish some of his own ideas...

"Amber," Otto suddenly spoke.

"Lord Bishop, I'm here."

Amber, hearing Otto's call, quickly responded.

"Can we still determine Siegfried Kaslana's location now?"

"We can roughly identify which of Anti-Entropy's strongholds he's in, and each of those strongholds has Schicksal infiltrators stationed."

She thought it over, then couldn't help asking: "Your Eminence... are you going to capture him?"

"Haha, no, why would I capture him?"

Otto smiled, but his eyes were nothing but cold detachment.

A betrayer earns no trust.

Even if he wanted to consolidate his base, he wouldn't bother scheming against simple-minded white-haired fools like Siegfried and Theresa.

Because when they lost their minds—even if they were endangering the entire world—they'd still believe they were right, that they were fighting for something, and that if that beautiful something didn't exist in the world, then people wouldn't deserve to be called human.

If he were still that Honkai Impact 3rd player, he'd sigh and say the writing was idealistic, but now that he'd become this world's Otto...

All he could say was that from start to finish, weren't they just like him, trying to protect the people they cared about?

What Otto wanted was a Valkyrie who knew he was irredeemably evil yet still stood by him to guard the light—someone who, despite seeing his darkness, could find hope in him to fight the Honkai and thus chose to stand at his side.

The Kaslanas... Otto could fool them for a time, but he really couldn't be bothered to guard against them forever.

When those white-haired balls of fluff needed to be useful, he had his ways to make them fall into his play, believing it was their own choice, cheerfully "fighting for the beauty of the world."

Like now.

"Amber, notify Fu Hua and Rita to lead a Valkyrie squad to St. Freya under the pretext that Schicksal needs the Eleventh Divine Key. If the Oath of Judah isn't handed over, then the Far East Branch's funding won't increase."

"After obtaining the Oath of Judah, retrieve part of what's stored beneath St. Freya, have Rita lead the transport to Schicksal Headquarters—Fu Hua stays put."

"Just part of it. The key is to let Theresa find out inadvertently. Siegfried too."

Otto gazed into the endless night sky. When Amber received the order and looked up in shock, she saw the brimming amusement in his eyes.

She understood the meaning of this move.

She also knew its consequences.

But...

"Yes."

Amber lowered her head. She didn't want Otto to see the flicker of emotion in her eyes.

Lord Otto...

PS: Begging for collections and votes! 2

Chapter 7: Amber, What Are You Imagining?

December 23rd, 3:21 AM.

Otto stepped into a restricted no-go zone.

It was a small chapel, and at its center stood a statue.

The original host didn't revere gods. But he had a god in his heart.

The statue was Kallen leaning against the Oath of Judah.

A sculpture, of course.

"Wow~ To the eternal~ Otto's beloved~ Kallen Kaslana."

Clearly, the current Otto had no shred of piety. He gave an exaggerated bow to Kallen's statue, then pressed his right hand against the statue's chest and triggered a mechanism with his left, opening a hidden passage behind her.

Narrow at first, just enough for one person. After several twists and turns for dozens of steps, he saw a glimmer of light.

He had reached the core of the secret chamber. At the center, a glowing ice-blue coffin held the original host's long-cherished goddess, Kallen.

She lay quietly in the specially made coffin, looking like a princess asleep, waiting for a prince's kiss.

"Pity. The persistent one is a knight, and still the villain of the story."

Otto shook his head and looked around.

The security and defensive measures here exceeded those at Schicksal Headquarters.

If something went wrong here, Schicksal would be as good as gone.

—Of course, destroying a Schicksal wasn't that hard either.

He didn't approach Kallen's body. Instead, he bypassed it and walked left.

Just as he occasionally indulged Theresa, letting this sleeping beauty rest here in peace was one of the few respects he paid to that five-hundred-year lovestruck fool.

Otto continued through the darkness. The silence around him was eerie, as if something was watching him.

But he was unhurried, strolling leisurely down the corridor like he was taking a walk in his own backyard after a full meal.

Just walls full of lasers. From detection to killing an intruder, it wouldn't take long—no one would even feel pain.

And besides, Schicksal Headquarters was, for Otto Apocalypse, indeed a safe backyard—at least until some brat smashed his Soul Steel face.

Otto walked slowly, but not deliberately to stall for time.

When he reached the end of the corridor, a trace of seriousness finally crept into his otherwise casual gaze.

At the corridor's end stood a great door, painted with a medieval clock.

Now, he would turn the hands of time.

"The last Saintess of Schicksal, Cecilia Schariac, makes her entrance here."

His voice echoed through the hallway, carrying solemnity and calm.

Otto raised his hand and lightly knocked on the door at the end.

The door rose, slowly opening like a theater curtain. Otto clasped his hands behind his back and paced unhurriedly into the chamber.

The chamber was dark, its only light source a cylindrical pod, within which translucent nutrient fluid shimmered with faint fluorescence.

The nutrient fluid flowed slowly, outlining a holy and beautiful form.

By the dim light, Otto gazed at the former Saintess of Schicksal, his heartbeat quickening without his notice.

The woman's face was exquisite—that went without saying. Compared to the youthful allure that had once captivated both men and women, now in her twenties she bore an added tenderness and grace of motherhood.

Her figure was the pinnacle of human form: a slender pink neck, rounded shoulders, full hips, and beneath delicate collarbones, a pair of snow-white breasts stood proudly, such that her wasp-thin waist had barely extended a few inches before expanding dramatically both above and below, tracing breathtaking curves.

Yet this did not make her seem seductive. On the contrary, combined with the holy and pure aura radiating from her entire being and the faint glow of the pod, Cecilia at this moment truly seemed like a Saintess descended from heaven, inspiring no impure thoughts—only praise in the heart.

Even Otto, after a brief shock, quickly regained his composure and reason, yet his eyes could not bear to stray a single inch from that exquisite form.

So what must be done... must be done.

"Amber."