Chapter 383
Otto is difficult to deal with precisely because he can transmit his consciousness.
When faced with a fatal attack, the consciousness residing in the Soul Steel body will immediately return. Even if it does not return, for Otto's true self, the loss is merely the memories that were not uploaded.
In a sense, Otto transformed himself into an immortal being, like a lich often found in fantasy novels. As long as the casket containing his soul remained intact—that is, as long as Otto's original self was unharmed—his consciousness could re-enter another body.
It was precisely because the consciousness residing in the Soul Steel body was damaged that Otto only lost memories that had no backup, which made Otto seem so troublesome.
Although Kiana's awakened abilities, whether it's the Revenge Flame or the Loving Freeze, are powers that target the soul and will, she still cannot guarantee that her attacks will harm Otto.
Even though this clone went to a parallel world, the original body in that world couldn't get the information. Freya was very Otto as to why Otto sent a clone.
Having finalized the list of those who would accompany Freya to the parallel world, and having also prepared the Zero Ark for traversing the Sea of Quantum, Freya, being the action-oriented type, naturally invited these people to board the Zero Ark—
The name Zero Ark comes from Freya's view of her original world as the origin, or the starting point.
Returning to one's original world, or returning to the origin, can be represented by a circle or zero. Freya therefore named the Ark the Zero Ark.
Of course, Freya may have also used "Zero" to represent her original world's thoughts.
Zero is both the beginning and the starting point, and it is from zero that one comes into being.
After the first one, the second, third, and fourth followed...
After Freya's invited people boarded the Zero Ark, the spatial rift she had previously torn open stabilized, and the slowly rising Zero Ark rushed towards the spatial rift.
Once you enter the Sea of Quantum, you will lose the original concepts of time and space. In this Sea of Quantum, where everything exists and everything also disappears, there is a possibility that you spent months crossing the barrier between two worlds, but in reality you only left for a second. There is also a possibility that you crossed the barrier between two worlds in a mere second, only to find yourself back in the future, hundreds or thousands of years in the future.
Freya has been away from her original world for more than two months, and she worries that when she returns, the actual time she has been away will be far longer than the time she has lived in the parallel world.
Of course, if it's only for a year or two, it's still within Freya's psychological tolerance. But if it's more than ten or twenty years, Freya will definitely kill that bastard named SU first.
The process of crossing the world barrier went smoothly. In fact, Freya and the others stayed in the Zero Ark for a full twelve hours, but this voyage was indeed faster than when Freya first arrived in their world.
Perhaps because Freya had been through it before, the feeling of traversing the Sea of Quantum did not seem unfamiliar.
Putting aside the fact that the old horse knows the way, with Freya's guidance, the Zero Ark's artificial intelligence continuously corrected the routes that could only be used in the Sea of Quantum, and soon completely passed through the barrier of Freya's original world.
"Okay, we're home!"
Even Freya, who could easily end the lives of three billion people, still wore a childlike, sincere smile when she returned to her homeland.
At the same time, Zero Ark received a message from the outside world.
[Calling, this is Alliance Air Force. Unknown airship ahead, please respond. Repeating, this is Alliance Air Force...]
The Alliance and Anti-Entropy already possessed a large number of airships. After their merger, they have been gradually integrating their technologies to create more powerful airships.
Anti-Entropy has always possessed top-tier technology, while Schicksal has always possessed a wealth of cutting-edge technologies.
The brainstorming session sparked by the combination of the two was enough to extract the essence and discard the dross from the original two companies' Floating Battleship.
The warships that intercepted the Zero Ark naturally combined the characteristics of both sides. Not only did this new type of airship not become ineffective, but it also combined the advantages of both sides, improving the utilization rate of Honkai Energy and enhancing the output capability of the weapons on the Zero Ark...
After all, no one can be sure what they will encounter in the Sea of Quantum, an ocean where anything can appear and infinite possibilities exist.
Fortunately, Freya was lucky; after a twelve-hour voyage, she broke through the barrier between the two worlds.
That being said, being stopped by her own warship left Freya both amused and exasperated.
Freya used the coded message stored in her memory palace to send the Alliance's internal code to the airship that was intercepting her. Upon receiving the code, the airship immediately changed course, switching from interception to escort.
[Calling Unknown Airship. Please respond upon hearing this call. Next, please proceed to the Alliance-designated docking port under the guidance of this ship. Repeating once: Unknown Airship, upon hearing this call...]
Freya dealt with the situation patiently, but at this moment, Tesla and Einstein beside her were losing their composure.
The airships that intercepted them had a familiar design, but also a more powerful output, which undoubtedly meant that the world before them was different from their original world.
The Zero Ark's ability to traverse the Sea of Quantum ultimately stems from Freya's support.
More accurately, the Zero Ark is merely an iron box that can remain unassimilated in the Sea of Quantum; its essence is an amplifier that amplifies Freya's abilities.
"We've really arrived in a parallel world? So fast?!"
"Only twelve hours? No, time and space are chaotic in the Sea of Quantum. We may feel that we have only been gone for twelve hours, but in reality, we have been sailing in the Sea of Quantum for hundreds of years..."
Tesla and Einstein immediately analyzed the situation, a common flaw among researchers.
The two could see the scenery of this world through the images projected on the large screen on the bridge.
Coincidentally, the return point of the Zero Ark was right above the experimental field where Freya had previously activated the Second Divine Key: Thousand Worlds of Chariots.
There is no doubt that she did return along the path she had taken.
Strangely, if it returns along the path it originally took to leave, what should the Zero Ark encounter during this process?
Although Freya really wanted to pilot the Ark and smash that small World Bubble to pieces, she ultimately decided to forgive SU for the two months of trouble he had caused her.
However, SU was not in the same place at this moment, and even the World Bubble that should have existed seemed to have already collapsed.
This answer made Freya feel uneasy, fearing that her journey home might encounter some trouble.
After the Zero Ark docked at the airport arranged by the Alliance as instructed, Freya led the 'passengers' off the Ark one by one.
She never expected that her cutest little sister would be waiting for her outside the ark.
"Aurora?"
"Sister, welcome back."
The girl in the white lab coat was about the same age as Freya before she left this world.
If I disregard the fact that my younger sister is using some kind of anti-aging drug, then my time away from this world shouldn't be too long.
"Aurora, how long have I been gone?"
"A little over two months ago, right after my sister left, something happened..."
Aurora answered seriously, and also mentioned a significant event that had recently occurred that needed to be remembered.
"The World Serpent has attacked?"
"No, the World Serpent has surrendered completely... It seems that the current members and leader of the World Serpent have been persuaded by a new member who joined not long ago. The new member's name is rather strange, it seems to be..."
"It's called SU, right?"
Freya pursed her lips. Someone even claimed to be her best friend from her past life, but in reality, she only had a bit of the personality of that person's friend from her past life. She and that person's true best friend from her past life were never the same person. When SU had to make a choice, SU would naturally prioritize helping her best friend.
Even though Aurora didn't finish her sentence, Freya could probably guess what SU had done.
"She made Kevin surrender with the World Serpent, so there must have been a civil war within the World Serpent before..."
"Oh? How did you know, sister?"
Aurora stared wide-eyed at her second sister with some surprise.
Of course, her performance was unsuccessful and Freya immediately saw through it, and Freya reached out and poked her forehead in an annoyed manner.
"Don't put on a terrible show in front of me, you're not suited for it... As for how I know, there's no point in guessing, it's just that my old problems have been accumulating and finally exploded."
Freya raised her clenched right fist and suddenly released it.
Aurora nodded thoughtfully. She knew some things, but she was ultimately not as shrewd as her two older sisters.
No, the eldest sister gave up calculations and focused all her efforts on improving her strength, while the second sister gave up improving her strength and devoted a lot of energy to calculations.
"Sister, who are they...?"
Seeing her second sister's knowing expression, Aurora gave up on reporting other things and just wanted to run into her sister's arms.
The reason Aurora restrained herself from doing so was because of the others who had gradually disembarked from the Zero Ark.
When Aurora saw what looked like an adult version of herself, she was completely stunned. At first, she thought that the young woman in front of her, who looked very similar to herself but was probably around twenty years old, was Kiana from a parallel world that her second sister had brought back.
However, the Sirin personality within Aurora reminded her that the other person possessed the Herrscher of the Void Core, which meant that the other person was either the real Kiana with the Herrscher Core implanted within her, or herself with the Herrscher Core implanted within her.
Judging from the atmosphere and the intense gaze of the other person, Aurora felt that the young woman in front of her was most likely herself from a parallel world.
Before she could even marvel at it, Tesla and Einstein from parallel universes descended one after another, Aurora's little head suddenly felt overwhelmed with pressure.
"This, this is..."
"SU surrendered with a key figure from the World Serpent Organization, so of course I'll bring some local specialties with me."
Freya raised an eyebrow and said with a mischievous smile.
Although the World Serpent Organization's leader and key members defected to the Alliance, greatly strengthening the Alliance's power, it also means that there are still many unresolved problems in this world.
Compared to a parallel world, where one could simply unleash a Mind Plague, then a Meme Attack, then create a mental network, and finally weave Dream World to accommodate everyone, it would be almost a perfect start...
At least in that parallel world, Freya didn't need to worry too much; everyone within her sight would unconditionally obey Freya.
SU's return from the Sea of Quantum was not unexpected for Freya. In her view, SU's behavior likely proved that observing parallel worlds was a dead end.
Although the Thousand Worlds Samsara created by the Previous Civilization using the core of the Second Herrscher could be used to observe all the worlds on the Imaginary Tree, thereby finding a way to fight the Honkai and save the world.
But so far, all of SU's observations have failed.
The Honkai in different worlds varies in strength, but among so many worlds, SU has never seen any world successfully usher in a future after defeating the Finality.
It was as if, after all the worlds ushered in the final apostle of Honkai, the Herrscher of Finality, the civilizations observed by SU were destroyed.
In some parallel worlds, SU observes his parallel self, and sees what satisfying answers he sees before he dies, ultimately dying with a slight smile.
This also proves that one may never see the end unless one chooses a dead end and keeps observing that dead end from within it.
Freya could roughly sense SU's thoughts.
Because he would never find his answer in the World Bubble of the Sea of Quantum, or rather, he might only get the answer he wanted at the moment of his death, SU gave up the idea of staying in the World Bubble and chose to return to reality.
Finally, with the help of Bianca's power, SU broke free from the World Bubble where he had lived for so long.
He originally locked himself in the World Bubble to atone for his sins against Kevin, since he had fought Kevin to stop Kevin from activating the Stigmata Activation Plan.
Although SU had two Divine Key with him, he still couldn't defeat Kevin. In fact, he only managed to escape the possibility of falling into the Sea of Quantum with Kevin's help.
However, after listening to Aurora's description of SU's personality and habits, Freya felt that she needed to learn more about SU.
Perhaps SU did not choose to support either her or Kevin.
Regardless, amidst gasps of amazement, silence, and astonishment, the 'specialty tour group' from a parallel world began making contact with the users of this land...
438. Okay, I'll go first in a bit.
Aurora wasn't the only one there to welcome Freya home, but they couldn't help but gasp in surprise when they saw the 'specialty tour group' that had come down from the Zero Ark.
"Who did you bring back..."
Tesla from the real world was both amused and exasperated, after all, she saw herself in that specialty product tour group.
Judging from her somewhat childlike appearance in the parallel world, it seems that she did not develop a further relationship with Welt in that world.
Of course, making such a judgment relied to some extent on her intuition as a woman.
Einstein, standing quietly beside Tesla, was also assessing this group of women from a parallel universe.
"I have to say, Freya is truly worthy of the name. She only went to a parallel world once, and she brought us back from that parallel world."
Even Einstein, who rarely showed his emotions on his face, couldn't hide his surprise at this moment.
"I thought the changes in the world situation on our side were astonishing, but I never expected... the changes she brought to the parallel world would be even more astonishing."
If Freya hadn't brought about such a huge change to the parallel world, my parallel self might not have acted alongside Freya.
Einstein, who had made this guess, also got the answer she wanted from the expressions on the faces of the so-called specialty tour group members.
"... However, what is truly surprising is the Grand Bishop of that world and the leader of the World Serpent Organization."
If you were to ask who the two most eye-catching figures in this specialty product tour group were, everyone present would unanimously choose Otto and Kevin.
Although neither Einstein nor Tesla could guess what kind of person Otto was in the parallel world, the relationship between Freya and Otto in this world was quite complicated—the debt of gratitude for raising her prevented Freya from personally harming him, but that didn't mean she forgave Otto, or even forgave Otto on behalf of others.
Just like the assassination attempt three years ago, Freya did not personally kill Otto, but in order to eliminate Otto as an unstable factor, she caused Otto a lot of trouble during Kiana's assassination attempt.
Her relationship with Otto was so complicated, but her relationship with Kevin was even more complicated.
Of course, Freya had no intention of pursuing the matter of Himeko in her past life.
However, Freya formed a new, tragic bond with Kevin because of Kevin's past manipulation of Kiana to master the Revenge Flame... From then on, Freya had to restrain her inner impulses whenever the two met.
Regardless, considering Freya's relationship with Otto and Kevin from the original world, Einstein and Tesla were both surprised that Otto and Kevin from the parallel world would return to this world with Freya.
To their even greater surprise, Freya didn't abandon the two people halfway back.
"However, this is also a good thing. I was worried that if Freya came back and met the leader of the World Serpent Organization, she might start a fight with him..."