Clues to the Balance Chapter!

Chaos Empire.

This whole ordeal has been quite eventful; trying to hunt a Phoenix has unexpectedly led to so much trouble.

Phoenix had a trick up its sleeve; it hid the crown inside its body, and when it turned into an egg, the crown was sealed inside as well.

009 and the others carried the Phoenix egg back and tried many methods to hatch it.

For example, if Arthur is asked to cut it, the same situation that happened in the other world occurs, just like when Arthur cuts 009.

No matter what Arthur did, he couldn't hit 009.

Just like in that case, Arthur's sword couldn't hit the Phoenix egg no matter what he did.

"The strongest spear and the strongest shield, this problem still has no solution."

"There's nothing we can do about it. We can only wait until the Phoenix hatches before we can take back the crown."

"In some ways, this makes things much simpler. Each rebirth of the Phoenix is stronger than the last, but he had already reached the critical point of the fourth tier."

"If he is reborn, he will surely advance to the fifth rank. But since it hasn't been nine hundred years yet, his advancement to the fifth rank will inevitably lead to his death."

Once he reaches the fifth tier, the crown will fall directly off his body. 009 and the others can kill the Phoenix by picking up the crown.

And...

"He was shot by me before, and his head can't grow back." 009 was very certain of this.

So far, his God-Slaying Spear has never missed.

Once wounded by the God-Slaying Spear, the wound cannot heal. Even Loki was not spared, so how could the Phoenix be an exception?

Then it was Otto's turn.

Otto temporarily set up a closed space within the Chaos Empire and connected the core of Elon to a simple computer without a network.

"Come on, let's have a good talk now."

As Otto spoke, a pixelated smiley face and a pixelated middle finger appeared on the monitor of the simple computer.

Upon seeing this, 009 immediately drew his God-Slaying Spear, exclaiming, "He's mocking me?!"

Seeing this, Otto quickly grabbed 009, "Calm down, calm down, it's always been this annoying, try to understand!"

009 put away the God-Slaying Spear and sat down to the side.

Seeing this, Otto reached out and tapped the core beside him. "You saw it yourself, my friend is a bit irritable. If he goes crazy, no one can stop him."

"So for your safety, I hope you can cooperate a little."

009 sneered, "If it doesn't contain any useful information within three sentences, I'll just smash it!"

Otto replied, "You heard that too."

Otto and 009 were playing good cop and bad cop, respectively. After a moment of silence, a line of text appeared on the monitor.

What do you want to know?

Otto: "What is your civilization called, and how were you born?"

The text reappeared on the monitor.

We were once called the void.

We once possessed physical bodies, and like most Carbon-based Life in the universe, we too suffered from birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Our home planet is a resource-scarce and barren place.

We once had nothing.

Later, one of our wise men discovered the Blood Red Spring Eye.

We used to believe that it must be a creation given to us by the gods.

Otto: "That fountain of blood is a chapter, right?"

That's right, it is the embodiment of balance, one of the six supreme laws of the universe.

The Blood Pool's power is based on equivalent exchange.

[All matter has been priced by the Blood Pool; the Blood Pool's ability is to transform one substance into another.]

The Balance Chapter brings us everything.

It can convert even extremely rare Cosmic Metal and Ether Metal at will.

The Balance Chapter led us from poverty to prosperity, but when we reached the pinnacle of material wealth, we began to face choices.

[The capabilities of Carbon-based Life are ultimately limited, so the leader initiated the great decree known as Mechanical Ascension.]

We have discarded our physical bodies and stored our consciousness within individual information units, forming Consciousness Collective.

And I am the last remaining Consciousness Collective.

We once dominated the universe, making the stars tremble; our empire had no borders, spanning the entire galaxy.

We are the rulers of the world.

Otto: "But you were destroyed."

That's because of a traitor.

A consciousness broke free from the collective consciousness and separated itself; it stole the Balance Chapter; it betrayed us.

It triggered a long-planned uprising, countless consciousnesses broke away from the collective, and a civil war broke out among us.

We lost. Having lost our Balance Chapter, we became incredibly vulnerable and were quickly swallowed up by the river of time.

However, that traitor is still alive.

I am the last of the collective consciousness, sealed within this core created from the pool of blood, possessing eternal energy.

My mission is to find the traitor and restore Balance Chapter.

Otto: "Don't you think you're being a bit delusional?"

This is the final command of the Great Will.

I must obey.

Otto: "What is Great Will?"

[A collective consciousness that was once composed of the consciousness of a supreme leader]

The Balance Chapter —that's truly remarkable information.

Otto: "So, how do you plan to reclaim the Balance Chapter?"

I don't know, but I have to.

Seeing this, Otto's mechanical fingers stroked the energy core. "How about we make a deal? I want you to release your information database, and we'll help you reclaim the Balance Chapter."

I can't trust anyone.

Upon seeing this, 009 immediately drew his God-Slaying Spear, saying, "You think I'm negotiating with you? You think you have a choice?"

"I'll count to three. Death or obedience, the choice is yours!"

"Three!"

I agree.

The Supreme Directive has ordered me to reclaim the Balance Chapter, so I cannot die; therefore, compromise does not violate the Supreme Will.

009 sneered, "So what if you're afraid of death? You're putting on quite a show."

Otto conveyed a message to 009, and after 009 confirmed it, he left the isolation room with Otto.

"You see, this concerns the chapter," Otto said.

009 didn't feel much about it. "It's just something ethereal and intangible. The path to divinity is right beneath my feet. Anyone can see which is more important, right?"

Otto: "If there were chapters..."

009 interrupted him directly, "Stop talking, it's pointless, at least not right now."

"If I make it to the end, then I will naturally have the ability to find that so-called Balance Chapter, but right now, I only have one goal."

Otto nodded. "Understood."

At that moment, Arthur suddenly walked over, already wearing Elon's armor. "Boss, how's it going?"

009 scanned him up and down, then looked at Otto, "Is this all?"

Otto expressed his helplessness, "I came in a hurry and didn't have time to bring anything else. If only I could return to Earth..."

"Fine, one set it is fine," 009 said, looking at Arthur again.

"Arthur, you finally got some new gear, wanna chop something up?"

Author's Note:

Thank you 'Wakaba Mutsu' for the amazing massage!