Chapter 228
The only exception was with Theresa.
Theresa defied his orders, and even after defeating her clone, she did not obey his command to kill it.
Strong, gentle, and powerful— Otto saw Kallen's shadow in Theresa.
He even thought that Kallen's soul had been inhabited by Theresa.
However, he himself eventually refuted this theory.
"I ordered you to kill your opponent, and you refused; I ordered you to retreat immediately and abandon your teammates, and you disobeyed the order and even defeated the Emperor-class Honkai Beast; and not long ago, I stopped giving you orders, but you voluntarily stayed."
"... That's because after I left, Grandpa was truly all alone."
Theresa answered calmly.
In fact, she didn't care at all whether Otto's experiment was going smoothly or not, nor did she care at all whether Kallen could be resurrected.
Just as Freya had worried that Otto might lose control of his emotions if the experiment failed.
Theresa shared the same concerns.
Even if Otto's experiment went smoothly without any mishaps, and now that he has gathered all of Kallen's belongings, it can be said that his plan to resurrect Kallen is progressing very well.
But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
When Otto went to such great lengths but failed to revive Kallen, Theresa was worried that Otto would break down. Although everyone hated her grandfather, Theresa didn't truly hate him.
Even though she couldn't agree with the other party's actions and ideas, and knew that the other party was the Clown Alpha who caused the Second Eruption War to enter an extended phase, Theresa had always received affection from the other party since she could remember.
Before she met Cecilia, Otto was her only family.
"..."
Otto fell silent, squinting at the white-haired girl before him.
Unlike the cunning and shrewd girl who steals the spotlight on screen, the girl in front of him is much more innocent. He once fantasized about resurrecting Kallen and then forming a family with this girl.
Although the girl was nominally his granddaughter, Otto did not deny that he regarded her as his and Kallen's daughter and poured a lot of affection into her.
However, it was all just a pipe dream.
As long as Kallen is not resurrected, everything he imagined is just a pipe dream.
When he woke up, he subconsciously distanced himself from Theresa. Although Theresa's treatment remained unchanged, Theresa could still sense his estrangement...
It was from that time that Theresa feared losing her favorite would mean losing everything, and decided to start anew.
It was around that time that Theresa met Cecilia.
Otto interrupted his long recollection... His eyes stared at the screen as if they were out of focus, yet seemed to be gazing at something much more distant.
"You really look a lot like Kallen ... If Kallen and I had a daughter, she would definitely look like you."
"Grandfather?"
Theresa was somewhat puzzled as to why Otto said that.
To be honest, she was also wondering why Otto didn't make her his adopted daughter when he adopted her. Whether it was the head of the Apolcalis Family or the heir to the Grand Bishop of Schicksal, the status of an adopted daughter was much more useful than that of a granddaughter.
"Stupid, stubborn, easily pleased, with a big appetite, and once they find a direction, they have no intention of stopping. Even if they break their head, they will only move in one direction... until they break their head or break through the wall."
Otto sighed.
"At the same time, he also has a strangely keen intuition."
Kaslana's lineage was something that left him helpless.
Although he always thought that the successor he was grooming was not quite the same as Kaslana.
Upon closer reflection, it becomes clear that the other party does indeed possess Kaslana's bloodline.
And the one in front of her was Kaslana through and through.
"I'm not as fragile as you think. I failed... but I'll get up and start over!"
Some things and some people are easily forgotten over time, but for Otto, everything related to Kallen was always in his heart. He never forgot what Kallen liked to eat or what flavors she preferred, and he remembered Kallen's voice, appearance, and smile as if they were yesterday.
He embarked on countless experiments to revive Kallen. Even though he didn't dwell on the failed experiments, he still remembered how many times he failed and how many experiments he conducted.
Otto still vividly remembers how much effort he put into this plan, which brought him closest to success.
Yes, what if even this plan, which came closest to success, fails?
It's no wonder Theresa was so worried.
The little girl, who guessed that his experiment had reached a crucial stage, probably brought the strongest combat force that the Schicksal could mobilize to Nagoya City for training in order to prevent him from going berserk...
Otto suddenly understood why the other side had specifically brought 20,000 Valkyrie.
This is a rehearsal for a large-scale war. Regardless of whether the enemy is him or the ruling class of various countries, Valkyrie who has fought a large-scale war will not appear unprepared when the war breaks out.
However, since the operation was launched in Nagoya City, the enemy was ultimately Honkai Beast, and the Valkyrie still lacked practical experience in fighting humans.
"This is also a preventative measure. My lovely Kiana, no, my lovely Freya is really cautious."
Otto, who already knew his real name from Theresa, laughed.
If I really went mad, having the lovely Freya kill me wouldn't be such a bad ending.
But in the end, it was an obsession that lasted for five hundred years.
He didn't intend to accept that best outcome.
Otto conducted each experiment with the belief that it would succeed, so the disappointment and frustration of each failure felt like a knife cutting into his heart.
He was never used to the disappointment after failure; if he failed, he would simply start over!
Just like now, he firmly believed that he could resurrect Kallen this time, so he didn't care whether the experiment would fail or not, he only wanted to make this experiment the best it could be.
269. I shouldn't have expected anything from you, you stupid child.
"Grandpa..." Theresa was still a little worried.
Of course, Theresa was unaware that the body double she had Otto arranged had already been exposed.
Otto took a sip of his red tea and turned his attention away from the large screen on the wall.
He could foresee the other side's next plan, which was nothing more than to use the footage taken during this operation for propaganda purposes, both to intimidate the ruling classes of various countries and to open up sales channels for older generation weapons.
However, Honkai Energy weapons can easily cause death in the hands of people without Honkai Antibody.
Otto thought the other party would definitely expand its enrollment scope, or build a training school specifically for international students from various countries.
Having thought this through, Otto lost interest in further analysis.
"Alright, there's nothing else worth seeing now. Let's go see Kallen."
Otto said this as if he were performing a routine task, but his tone became very gentle.
Theresa paused for a moment, then sighed softly.
It was only at this moment that she felt sorry for Otto.
"Grandpa, I'll go too."
"Okay, remember to keep quiet," Otto replied in a very gentle tone.
The two then ventured deeper into the underground laboratory.
In the room where the screen was still playing footage of the end of the Nagoya City battle, two white-haired little girls who looked exactly like Theresa suddenly appeared. They expressionlessly tidied up the black tea on the wooden table, turned off the screen, and then left as quietly as they had appeared.
Meanwhile, deep inside the laboratory.
Beautiful Starmap are projected onto the ceiling, and the twinkling starlight is one of the few light sources in the room, while another light source comes from an instrument filled with pale blue liquid.
Otto and Theresa stopped in front of the equipment that took up half a football field.
Their gazes were unconsciously drawn to the instrument filled with pale blue liquid, landing on the young woman floating in the liquid.
A young, white-haired woman in a thin white dress, immersed in a pale blue liquid in a device, has her eyes closed as if she is asleep, but her steady breathing proves that she is alive.
She attracted attention not because of her beauty, but because of her name, Kallen Kaslana.
Or perhaps, she is Kallen who has not yet awakened.
Among the several devices connected to the instrument, there was a black blindfold mask, the Eleventh Divine Key, the Judas' Oath, and many other miscellaneous relics.
Theresa, who had followed Otto deep into the laboratory, calmly observed everything.
The Judas' Oath was brought by her, and the black blindfold was Kallen's most important keepsake. Among the keepsakes were an old Nun's habit and an equally old Valkyrie uniform...
"Kallen..."
Otto, standing close to the instrument, placed his hands on the highly transparent glass dome, gazing at the sleeping figure.
Theresa stood aside, remaining silent.
She knew that at this moment, her grandfather had a lot to say to the other person.
During her time with Otto, she witnessed a side of him that was previously unknown to Otto.
I witnessed his madness.
It also testifies to his deep affection.
As Otto talked about the Schicksal, he also talked about how outstanding his successor was, which made Theresa frown as she listened.
I feel like I've been offended.
So, even though they dislike her so much, she doesn't mind being the second in line to the throne.
Theresa would much rather be the headmistress of the St. Freya Academy than manage such a large business as the Schicksal. Theresa can relax and read comics there, and she doesn't have to do much. Most importantly, she can guide the young children.
One hour, two hours...
Otto spoke to the sleeping young woman through the glass enclosure.
"Kallen, why haven't you woken up yet..."
"..."
Theresa frowned slightly upon hearing this.
In fact, this was the main reason why she was worried about Otto.
The experiment was successful a month ago.
Just as Freya had guessed, Otto's experiment went very smoothly.
Theresa delivered the Judas' Oath just as Otto needed to extract the soul information from Judas' Oath.
The body created using Kallen's DNA quickly acquired life characteristics. Memories and soul information were injected into Kallen's body through the APK422-1WZ conduction fluid. Even if the experiment failed... the resurrected Karen was not the real Kallen, but this Kallen should still open her eyes and wake up.
But this Kallen has been asleep since a month ago.
So, Otto went mad.
That's what Theresa thinks, anyway.
Of course, Otto didn't want to talk to his 'stupid daughter'.
Explaining to her about a missing soul, or the inability to be fixed in its original shape, is futile; this silly granddaughter simply won't understand.
For Otto, this was the closest he had ever come to success.
It's like when a computer is transferring files and the process gets stuck at 99.9%, which is why Kallen can't wake up.
Of course, in reality, it may be much more different. The absence of a soul is like a corrupted file. A corrupted file cannot be read, so the physical body, which is like a hard drive, cannot read the corrupted soul file and therefore cannot fully awaken.
Otto also tried to awaken Kallen with his deep affection.
He believed that love could bring about miracles, but it seemed he overestimated himself.
If we were to use a character from a novel as an analogy, he would definitely be the kind of treacherous and cunning villainous big boss. Playing such a role would naturally be inconsistent with the protagonist's story of using emotions to awaken miracles.
"Grandpa... are you alright?"
Seeing Otto suddenly fall silent, Theresa said with concern.
How could she not be worried about the current situation?
What was a successful experiment in Otto's eyes was still a failure in the eyes of Theresa and others.
Otto is currently living in a beautiful fantasy, unwilling to admit the failure of the experiment... His narration to Kallen is like that of a mental patient immersed in his own world.
"I'm fine, but I'm still missing something... relics, the Divine Key, what else might retain Kallen's soul information... what else, what... the Divine Box!! That's right! Back then, Kallen engaged in a battle of consciousness with the consciousness within the Divine Box! That Divine Box must have preserved Kallen's soul information!"