Damn it, Those Were My Lines!

Lin Wei issued a veiled threat in seemingly casual words, looking at Otto with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. His meaning was self-evident.

"You can threaten me, and I can threaten you too. That's fair, right?"

Otto's expression became incredibly complex. Undoubtedly, Lin Wei had checkmated him again.

He had originally thought that after taking control of Anna in advance, he could use her as leverage to pressure Lin Wei, forcing him to submit little by little, using his most skillful and foolproof method.

He certainly didn't expect to be able to make Lin Wei hand over the Key of Erosion, which was practically his lifeline, so easily, but he still did it. Not only that, he even used his handling of Anna as a threat, seemingly forcing Lin Wei into a dilemma.

As the saying goes, "Start high, settle low." Since Lin Wei was caught between two unacceptable conditions, as long as he showed some goodwill and offered slightly more lenient terms, suggesting a "compromise" and "making friends," he wasn't worried that Lin Wei wouldn't agree to his conditions.

Even if he was still dissatisfied, it didn't matter. They could continue to negotiate!

There was always a win-win solution.

Otto didn't care about temporary gains or losses, especially when facing a tricky opponent like Lin Wei. He couldn't be too hasty.

However, as long as Lin Wei agreed to one of his conditions within the rhythm he dictated, he had plenty of ways to slowly turn this "win-win" into "him winning twice"...

Otto had come with "sincerity" and "goodwill," confident of victory. He hadn't expected to face such a "malicious" "surprise." How could he accept this?

"Overseer, it has been confirmed that the location information of Valkyrie Yuno and the aircraft she piloted without authorization is still at the Manila ruins, basically overlapping with Lady Rita's location."

At Schicksal HQ, Amber, who was quietly standing beside Otto, asked in confusion,

"Should we have Lady Durandal provide support to that area, or should she proceed directly to Anti-Entropy HQ?"

Although Amber lacked initiative, she was an extremely competent assistant. Faced with information she couldn't understand, she never hesitated or concealed it, always reporting it to Overseer Otto immediately.

"..."

Otto looked through the holographic projection at the Schicksal-made communicator that Lin Wei was clearly toying with in his hand, and said without hesitation in a deep voice,

"Order Bianca to proceed to North America and bring that willful little miss back!"

He could see that Lin Wei, alone in Manila, was bait to attract his attention and buy time for Yuno, who was acting alone.

Although he couldn't understand why Lin Wei dared to let the disobedient Yuno act alone, he had to stop her no matter what. And the only person who could handle this task was Durandal!

"Yes."

Upon receiving Otto's order, Amber immediately began transmitting the message.

"Heh, it seems Your Excellency is indeed very busy!"

Lin Wei chuckled,

"Then I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave."

After saying that, he glanced at Rita, who was standing quietly to the side, and turned to leave. Why don't you try and see if Rita can stop me?

"Hold on."

Otto suppressed his anger and sighed, still speaking calmly,

"Mr. Lin Wei, using Miss Yuno for your own selfish desires, disregarding her safety, heh, Durandal will probably be disappointed by your actions..."

He had to admit, although Lin Wei's methods were despicable, his judgment was accurate. Durandal couldn't be in two places at once.

And since Lin Wei could unleash such tremendous power during the Manila Honkai eruption, Rita alone probably couldn't stop him. Acting rashly would be pointless.

In that case, he would do it himself!

As long as he stalled Lin Wei's actions and bought Durandal time to defeat them one by one, his goal would be achieved. As for the means, it didn't matter.

And Lin Wei was clearly wary of Durandal. Since that was the case, Otto didn't mind using this to his advantage, giving full play to his sophistry skills to buy some time.

"Selfish desires? Heh... Your Excellency is projecting too much! Yuno, as a survivor of the Third Honkai Eruption, seeking revenge against Anti-Entropy, who she has a blood feud with, isn't that only natural? I'm just helping her fulfill her wish, what's wrong with that?"

Lin Wei naturally saw through Otto's thoughts, sneered, and said,

"After all, love or hate, like two sides of a coin, are part of human nature. For more than a year, Yuno has been fueled by her anger and hatred. On the other hand, Your Excellency, knowing that she's on the wrong path, yet remaining indifferent, is rather disappointing."

After casually mocking him a few times, Lin Wei raised the communicator in his hand and smiled,

"If Your Excellency still wants to chat with me here, please wait a moment. I need to call my neighbors and friends from when I lived near St. Freya and tell them the good news~"

Otto's eyes turned cold. How could he not understand the meaning of Lin Wei's words?

Unlike having to cause a real commotion to truly harm Siegfried and Raiden Ryoma, thereby threatening K-423 and Raiden Mei's unstable mental states, if he wanted to directly target them, he didn't need to go to St. Freya himself. He only needed to send a few messages they absolutely couldn't accept, and let the two Herrschers hear them...

No matter the outcome, it would be something Otto didn't want to see.

Lin Wei looked at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. Even if you trap me here and play your boring debate game, what can you do?

You still can't solve the threat of your Herrscher of the Void experiment failing!

The best way to communicate with Otto was to ignore him, let him talk while you did your own thing, avoiding falling into his trap-laden rhythm. It was best to force him to respond to your moves.

Just like what Lin Wei was doing now.

"...Heh, Mr. Lin Wei, you are truly disappointing!"

Otto sighed, his voice laced with gritted teeth.

"On the contrary, Your Excellency has never disappointed me."

Lin Wei mocked expressionlessly,

"Using your own Valkyrie as a bargaining chip to entice, or even threaten others, Your Excellency's actions are indeed very much in line with my stereotype of you."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Otto said expressionlessly,

"I clearly have good intentions, yet Mr. Lin Wei slanders me so. This is truly regrettable."

"Slander? Your Excellency, a guilty conscience needs no accuser."

Lin Wei sneered and said directly,

"If you want to say that what you just said about Anna wasn't an implicit threat—heh, Your Excellency, why are you so agitated about Yuno's justified revenge against Anti-Entropy?"

Otto stared at Lin Wei, then chuckled and clapped,

"You repeatedly provoke me, ignoring my goodwill, yet you can still act so righteous. This is truly humorous!"

"I wouldn't say righteous. It's just that with Your Excellency, this is the only way to have a conversation."

Lin Wei sneered,

"Does Your Excellency think that I can only pose a threat to you at Schicksal HQ? Now that I've left Schicksal HQ, can Your Excellency do whatever you want with me?"

"..."

Otto remained silent. He really did think so—You couldn't do anything to me at Schicksal HQ. Now that you've left the floating island, what's the point of your little tricks?

In a sense, their positions were reversed:

Although Schicksal HQ was theoretically Otto's lair, it was Lin Wei's home turf, as he held the Key of Erosion.

And the vast world outside of Schicksal, although theoretically Lin Wei's vast world, Otto could use the massive resources he controlled to crush the lone Lin Wei...

Originally, Lin Wei wanted to achieve a close-range terror balance game at Schicksal HQ. But with the discovery of Yae Sakura's Stigmata problem and the exposure of his secret with Anna, these two events made his already hasty plan meaningless from the start.

Not to mention the Stigmata problem, unless he was willing to be a guinea pig for Schicksal's researchers, he couldn't get a suitable solution here. Just Anna's issue alone had broken the balance game. Since that was the case, there was no point in him staying at Schicksal HQ any longer.

And now, after realizing that Anna had been controlled by Otto in advance, Lin Wei immediately began to build another "balance" based on mutual destruction—a mutual threat targeting each other's weaknesses:

You can threaten me with Anna, and I can threaten you with the Herrscher of the Void.

Anna is indeed in your hands, but your coveted "Herrscher experiment" is also in my hands. It would be easy for me to sabotage it.

The reason Lin Wei and Yuno split up was to convey a clear message to Otto:

I can do whatever I want, and even Durandal can't stop me. I mean it!

Come on, let's hurt each other!

Let's see who breaks first!

"...Tell me, what do you want?"

Otto narrowed his eyes and said coldly.

As it turned out, he was the one who broke first...

Not to mention that the Herrscher of the Void resurrection experiment itself was related to his long-cherished wish of resurrecting Kallen and couldn't be allowed to fail.

Just the fact that he had just "transferred" Anna to HQ and hadn't had time to do anything to her, and Yuno was already almost at Anti-Entropy's doorstep!

That Lin Wei was too cunning, launching a sneak attack without even a warning.

This move, like the Honkai Fission Bomb back then, put him in an awkward position where he had to respond.

Otto had a deep impression of Yuno. She usually seemed quiet, but once she started fighting, she was like a madwoman, and she also had a strange toxin.

That already frail Siegfried might not be her match!

If something happened to him, K-423 would truly become uncontrollable, and he didn't have time to cultivate another Herrscher of the Void host.

Therefore, Otto had to compromise first...

Lin Wei wasn't surprised by this.

That's how Otto was. Whether you spoke to him nicely or harshly, it didn't matter to him. Instead, he would seize any loopholes in your words, either pushing his luck or turning the tables on you.

But as long as you showed him enough of a threat, he would calm down...

The most obvious example: how arrogant he was in New York, and how obedient he became after Welt truly displayed the Herrscher's power. He didn't even dare to test whether the Welt who appeared publicly was the real one, allowing the North American Branch to become independent, later becoming Anti-Entropy.

It was precisely because of this that the then-young Welt Yang was able to bluff his way through, helping Anti-Entropy survive its initial difficult period by occasionally showing his face.

Besides that, there was also Siegfried, an even more ridiculous example.

During the Second Honkai Eruption, he even launched a Honkai Fission Bomb, intending to kill him directly. But after Cecilia sacrificed herself and Siegfried safely returned to Schicksal, he turned a blind eye, pretending nothing happened. If Siegfried hadn't defected, they probably could have continued their "friendly coexistence" until the real Kiana grew up...

A bully and a coward; it was a perfect description of Otto!

Character determined fate. What a person was like five hundred years ago, they would still be the same five hundred years later.

Like a rat in the gutter, only playing dirty tricks in the dark, never truly showing his face...

With disdain and contempt for Otto, Lin Wei calmly stated his condition,

"It's simple, hand Anna over to me."

Of course, this was a condition Otto would never agree to.

Even Rita, who had been keeping quiet and desperately trying to lower her presence, couldn't help but frown.

"Impossible!"

Otto refused outright, saying righteously,

"How can a Valkyrie of Schicksal be given away like an object?"

You must be joking! If I give her to you, what leverage will I have over you?

Damn it, the boomerang has come back!

Otto thought resentfully.

Although slightly different, this was indeed the development he had initially envisioned—it was just that their roles were reversed...

He could even guess what Lin Wei would say next, nothing more than "Let's compromise."

Damn it, those were my lines!