The Light Screen listed Otto's four crimes: each wrapped around that lonely figure like a heavy iron chain

Tai Tan frowned.

"But he has already given everything."

"Not enough."

As Niu Tian's voice faded, the surrounding air seemed to grow colder.

"He sacrificed himself, but he also took away someone else's life."

The scene suddenly shifts.

A burning city came into view.

Flames engulfed the streets, and collapsed buildings crashed to the ground. People fled and cried out, the sounds of sirens and explosions mingling together. The Light Screen did not deliberately obscure the view; the figures lying in the ruins were so clearly visible it was suffocating.

In the center of the image, young Otto stands on a high place.

His face showed neither pity nor hesitation.

Only calmness.

[Criminal Record 1: Promoted numerous dangerous experiments with the aim of resurrecting Kallen.]

[Second Crime: Manipulating Kiana's fate by exploiting her bloodline and identity.]

[Criminal Record Three: Sacrificing Cecilia, creating an irreversible tragedy.]

[Criminal Record 4: To achieve the ultimate goal, he tacitly approved and promoted mass casualties.]

Lines of text appeared.

Each one was like a heavy Iron Chains, binding that lonely figure.

Ning Rongrong's face gradually turned pale.

"Cecilia..."

Dai Hao's fist clenched suddenly.

He certainly knew who Cecilia was, and he knew what that tragedy meant.

"He knew perfectly well what was going to happen," Dai Hao said in a chillingly low voice, "Yet he still led her down that path."

Xue Ye sighed, "For the sake of someone who has already passed away, all the living are being treated as Chess Piece."

"What's even more terrifying is that he succeeded." Zhou Weiqing stared at the Light Screen. "He really did allow Kallen to live in a world without disaster."

"Can success atone for sins?" Ning Tian asked softly.

No one answered.

Because the answer is too obvious.

cannot.

Otto in the picture suddenly looked up.

He seemed to have heard something.

At the end of the star trail, Kallen's world was slowly closing. The ray of light connecting the two worlds grew thinner and thinner, like a door closing.

Otto took a step forward.

Just one step.

His fingers almost touched the light.

In the Light Screen, Kallen is standing at the church entrance.

She looked up at the wooden airplane flying across the sky.

Those are toys that someone in the new world replicated based on old blueprints.

The wooden airplane wobbled as it flew over the flower field and landed at her feet.

Kallen picked it up, her fingertips brushing against the wing.

"This design seems familiar."

She smiled and didn't press the matter further.

The sunlight fell on her face, warm and bright.

Otto witnessed this scene from across the world that was about to disappear.

He instinctively wanted to get closer.

However, a new Rules emerged within the Light Screen.

[warn.]

[If the observer continues to approach, it will cause causal contamination to the target world.]

[Source of contamination: Otto Apocalypse.]

[Solution: Force disconnect.]

Otto stopped in his tracks.

His hand was only half an inch away from the light.

He could see even more clearly if he went further forward.

Seeing Kallen's smile, seeing the wooden airplane in her hand, seeing her living peacefully in a world without herself.

But he couldn't.

Because of his very existence, he has become the only disaster that should never have occurred in that world.

Ye Yinzhu said softly, "He can't get close."

"Even a mere shadow can shatter that World Lines," Tian Hen said in a deep voice.

Hai Long stared at the translucent palm.

"He once went so far as to change the fates of countless people in order to keep Kallen alive. Now, he has finally achieved his goal, but he can only stand outside the world."

A'Dai lowered his eyes.

This is not an ordinary punishment.

"Of course not." Zi gazed at the Light Screen. "Ordinary punishment is to make him suffer. But the punishment here is to make him forever conscious."

Ji Dong's expression was solemn. "I am fully aware that I made a mistake, and I am also fully aware that the person I most wanted to protect has found happiness."

The Lie Yan nodded slightly.

"But I can never say a word, never touch her, and never even let her know that I was ever here."

Rong Nianbing's voice lowered.

"This is true repayment."

Zhou Weiqing frowned. "But he has already admitted everything and is willing to erase himself from the picture. Isn't that enough?"

"For Kallen, that's enough," Tang San finally spoke. "But for those who died because of him, it may not be so."

All eyes turned to him.

Tang San looked at the Light Screen and slowly said, "A person can use sacrifice to repay their own obsession, but they cannot use sacrifice to erase the pain suffered by others. Otto saved Kallen; that was his choice. Those who lost their lives never had a choice."

Tang Wulin was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "So this is both redemption and punishment."

"To be precise, it was the only redemption he could achieve," Gu Yuena continued, "But not a sufficient absolution to wash away everything."

Within the Light Screen, only a sliver of light remained of the World Gate.

Kallen seemed to sense something in the distance.

She turned around and looked into the Void.

For the first time, Otto's eyes showed a dramatic change in expression.

He wanted to call her name.

But sound cannot transcend cause and effect.

He wanted to tell her that the wooden airplane was no accident; he wanted to tell her that he had promised her a long time ago that he would take her to a faraway place; he wanted to tell her that this time, he had finally let her see a sky free of disaster.

But all the words that reached their lips turned into silent dust.

Kallen heard nothing.

She simply gazed at the sky and suddenly said softly:

"Thank you."

Otto was stunned.

She didn't know who she was talking to.

Perhaps she was simply grateful for the wind that happened to blow by, perhaps she was simply grateful for the wooden airplane that landed beside her, perhaps she was simply grateful for the world that had never hurt her.

Yet those three words still pierced through the blocked star trails.

It reached Otto's ears.

His eyelashes trembled slightly.

Five hundred years of obsession, five hundred years of sin, five hundred years of struggle—all seemed to echo vaguely at this moment.

But then, the Light Screen gave the final judgment.

[Kallen failed to recognize Otto.]

Otto is unable to respond to Kallen.

[The entanglement of cause and effect is resolved.]

[Observer permissions are permanently closed.]

The light supply was completely cut off.

That blissful world disappeared at the end of the star trails.

Otto was still standing there.

The arms remain extended.

But all that lay ahead was endless darkness.

The wooden airplane drifted down from the darkness and landed in his palm.

He looked down at it for a long time, then suddenly placed the wooden airplane at his feet.

Then he raised his hand.

Golden light burst forth from all parts of his body.

It wasn't a destructive flame, but light that Decomposition a person's existence inch by inch.

First, the fingertips.

Next, the arms.

Next came the shoulders, chest, and face.

His body began to disappear, along with his Remembrance, name, and traces, turning into stardust.

[Final repayment begins.]