The Scales

Lin Wei was momentarily stunned.

Otto's decisive refusal was somewhat unexpected, as it wasn't a very wise decision.

"Heh, Mr. Lin Wei..."

Before Lin Wei could speak, Otto had almost instantly adjusted his mentality, chuckling and saying calmly,

"Unlike Miss Yuno, Anna Schariac was born and raised in Schicksal, and has always shaped her life with the standards and identity of a Valkyrie. If you truly care about her, you shouldn't make such a blunt demand. I can't let her leave Schicksal so rashly—after all, that would be no different from completely destroying her entire past life."

At this point, Otto sighed as if with great regret,

"Whether for public or private reasons, I can't agree to your request..."

He appeared calm, but he was actually annoyed—he should have agreed immediately.

If he had readily agreed to hand Anna over to Lin Wei, it would have put Lin Wei in a difficult position:

I've already agreed to "return" Anna to you. If you make any other moves in the face of my sincerity, it would be rather impolite!

However, Anna has already been brought back to Schicksal HQ. Sending her back to Manila now would be a long journey, so please wait patiently for a few hours.

And with this time difference of a few hours, it would be enough for Durandal to smoothly resolve the situation with Yuno and then turn around and head in the other direction. This way, Lin Wei's so-called "two-pronged approach" would naturally fall apart...

Having missed this excellent opportunity to turn the tables, the more Otto thought about it, the angrier he became. Why had he lost his composure for a moment?

Deep within his consciousness, the Void Archive gently added insult to injury:

"Tsk tsk tsk, I suddenly wonder, if five hundred years ago, you could have negotiated with your father so righteously, saying 'Hand Kallen over to me'... oh my, what kind of scene would that have been?"

"..."

Otto fell silent, uncharacteristically not responding to the Void Archive's sarcasm. He just looked at Lin Wei with a complex gaze filled with hostility and envy.

He understood why he had been so emotionally affected just now—the guy across from him was vaguely living the life he dreamed of. This was what he envied about Lin Wei.

And the more he envied, the more hostile he became towards Lin Wei. The very existence of such a person was the greatest mockery of his unbearable past.

In any case, since he had missed the opportunity, he could only continue down this wrong path—although he was still in a passive position.

Thinking about it calmly, this seemingly foolish response might be the best choice after all.

Given Lin Wei's cunning nature, the so-called "best" solution might be another trap he had carefully prepared.

Thinking of this, Otto shuddered. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. He couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Lin Wei is such a treacherous bastard!"

"Tsk... Is Otto this smart?"

Seeing that Otto didn't fall for it, Lin Wei was a little disappointed.

I was planning to hit you with something even harder when you got complacent again!

In Lin Wei's eyes, Otto was almost a transparent opponent. His thoughts and behavior patterns were very easy to understand.

Because of this, Lin Wei could repeatedly predict Otto's next move, set traps for him in advance, and succeed again and again...

And now, Otto hadn't fallen for his trap, which really surprised Lin Wei. He felt like he was the one being outmaneuvered.

Oh no, he's learned to predict my predictions!

But in any case, Otto's actions were no different from handing the initiative over to him, so Lin Wei wasn't annoyed. He just became more vigilant.

"Oh dear, I didn't expect Your Excellency to care so much about your subordinates!"

Lin Wei clapped and exclaimed in admiration, then asked in puzzlement,

"In that case, why would you let two Herrschers stay with a group of Valkyrie trainees? Doesn't Your Excellency know that this is like playing with fire, putting those innocent Valkyrie trainees, who know nothing about this, in an extremely dangerous situation?"

After a pause, Lin Wei suggested sincerely,

"For such a conscientious Overseer, an uncontrollable thing like the 'Herrscher experiment' will tarnish Your Excellency's and Schicksal's reputation! In my opinion, it's better to stop before it's too late and nip the danger in the bud. What do you think, Your Excellency?"

Lin Wei casually threw Otto's sophistry right back at him.

Aside from the omniscient perspective of a transmigrator, in the eyes of most people in this world, there was nothing wrong with Lin Wei's argument.

No one knew Elysia, and no one knew what she had done. So even with the example of the First Herrscher, "Herrscher = highly uncontrollable danger" was still everyone's consensus.

Even Welt, the First Herrscher, agreed with this view. For example, before meeting the Second Herrscher, he took the initiative to put aside past grievances and try to cooperate with Schicksal...

After all, whether from the records of the Previous Era or the Second Honkai Eruption of this generation, Herrschers were undoubtedly an absolute danger. Even with Theresa's generosity, when facing the Third Herrscher, Raiden Mei, who had regained human consciousness, she didn't hide her vigilance and distrust, even while being tolerant and benevolent.

Implanting a bomb in Mei's heart as a means of suppression, ensuring that the danger could be reduced to a controllable range, was the basis for St. Freya accepting her.

As for K-423, her truth was probably told to her when Anti-Entropy invaded St. Freya and formed an "alliance" with Theresa. At that time, they had already known each other for so long and had established a deep bond, so the Herrscher's true nature no longer made Theresa and the others wary. On the contrary, the fact that they were both "clones" brought her closer to Theresa, who had a similar origin...

And besides them, even Rita, the supervisor of the Herrscher project, didn't show any mercy when she first tracked down Kiana after the Great Eruption. She even took it for granted that all the Honkai abnormalities near ARC City were caused by her.

Highly suspicious on one hand, yet accompanying the Overseer in his "nonsense" on the other. Just from Rita's performance, Schicksal's people seemed to be schizophrenic about the Herrscher experiment.

Only after Kiana truly achieved something with her Herrscher powers, and Raiden Mei immediately followed suit, proving Otto's "foresight" with sufficient evidence, did they finally change their views.

But even so, they still showed no mercy towards newly born Herrschers, continuing to fight them to the death. Was the Herrscher of Ice really beyond redemption?

Hard to say, but these people didn't give her a chance!

Mei, also a Herrscher, was soft-hearted and hesitant. But Durandal, her former colleague, didn't hesitate at all, even urging Mei to take action...

The deeply rooted perception that "Herrscher = danger" persisted throughout, almost never wavering.

Therefore, when Otto, in his naturally correct position as Overseer of Schicksal, refuted Lin Wei's request, Lin Wei countered by questioning the feasibility of the "Herrscher Project," also standing on another naturally correct moral high ground, demonstrating his control over the things he cared about.

It was a magical duel!

"..."

Otto looked deeply at the enigmatic Lin Wei, then he also laughed and said,

"You are so righteous, it truly makes me admire you!"

How could he not understand what Lin Wei meant?

For some reason, as their "communication" deepened, he began to feel that Lin Wei's words were particularly easy to understand.

In the end, he intended to use Anna to threaten him, and the other party countered by threatening him with Kallen. That was all.

The current situation was clear: if they continued like this, the result would be a lose-lose situation.

Lin Wei clearly didn't want to face such an outcome, so he threw this difficult problem to him, making him face the same predicament.

Otto found it amusing—it was a very simple matter, wasn't it?

After so many years, he had never met such an interesting opponent. This was truly...

"Hehehe..."

Otto put a hand to his forehead and chuckled, his whole body trembling with laughter, but the smile on his face was devoid of warmth.

Such a guy was too much of an eyesore, he couldn't be tolerated!

The Void Archive marveled, exclaiming that it had seen a ghost.

Rita stood obediently to the side, seemingly unconcerned about all this.

Only Yae Sakura was truly indifferent to all this, only feeling that this blond, blue-eyed guy was truly disgusting...

"Hmph..."

Lin Wei crossed his arms, also sneering silently.

It was too easy to guess what Otto was thinking. Because of this, he didn't really care what Otto was thinking.

Since they were destined to be enemies, what was there to care about?

It was just a matter of using whatever means necessary!

Lin Wei knew very well that he and Otto were like two sides of a scale—either they both fell apart, or they wrestled against each other around the same fulcrum.

Right now, he was undoubtedly at a disadvantage overall. But the biggest weight that decided the outcome of this scale was undoubtedly on his side, and would gradually bring them closer to balance.

And once a certain point was crossed, his side would undoubtedly outweigh Otto's, securing the final victory.

So, what was the rush? Take it slow!

Did Otto realize this?

Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn't. After all, Lin Wei himself had thought about it for a long time before gradually understanding, and finally confirming it after directly contacting Otto.

It would also take Otto a long time to realize this. He just needed to nudge him a little, help him understand the existence of this scale...

And now, both sides had almost revealed their cards. Continuing to beat around the bush would only make them a laughingstock.

"Heh... Mr. Lin Wei, the Herrscher experiment is of great importance. With your intelligence, you naturally wouldn't actively cross this line."

Otto chuckled and said calmly.

He also knew that Lin Wei had a backup plan to intervene with Anti-Entropy. All of this was just a bargaining chip for negotiations with him...

In that case, it was better to get straight to the point!

"Oh dear, I did live near St. Freya for a while. If possible, I wouldn't want to see any unnecessary trouble arise in such a beautiful place."

Lin Wei sighed and replied gently.

But if it's not possible, then I don't mind adding some fuel to your plan!

So, make your offer!

"I can let bygones be bygones regarding Yuno. Schicksal won't consider her a deserter."

Otto said in a flat tone,

"However, I can't hand Anna Schariac over to you so easily."

Again, Anna was an important bargaining chip he used to control Lin Wei. He couldn't give her up so easily.

"Oh?"

Lin Wei raised his head slightly, noncommittal.

"However, I can give you a chance."

Otto once again looked deeply at Lin Wei, smiled gently, and said,

"If you really want her, come and get her yourself!"

Lin Wei stared at Otto's green eyes, then suddenly chuckled after a moment,

"Heh, alright!"

He hadn't expected Otto to hand Anna over to him easily. Being able to raise Anna's "value" and make Otto more hesitant, buying himself more room to maneuver, was enough for this trip.

It seemed that Otto understood his meaning very well and had also indirectly issued him another challenge.

But it didn't matter, he would just accept the challenge!

"Heh, Mr. Lin Wei is indeed a straightforward person."

Otto chuckled, unsurprised, then waited silently for Lin Wei to respond.

I've given my conditions, now it's your turn.

"Oh dear, it's been over a year. Just leave those things there. What should be lost is already lost, and what shouldn't be lost can't be lost."

Lin Wei stretched and said casually,

"As for Yuno... I'm afraid I can't stop her alone. Please ask Miss Durandal to make a trip and accompany me."

Two paths merging into one, and with your strongest Valkyrie accompanying him—this sincerity, was it enough?

"..."

Otto stared at Lin Wei's black eyes, trying to read whether there was a hidden "third path," another sneak attack he wasn't aware of.

Lin Wei met his gaze with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. Guess?

"Heh."

Otto looked away, glanced at Lin Wei one last time, and cut off the communication,

"In that case, deal!"