novelbin Chapter 402 - 63 - Outstandingly Effective
Chapter 402 - 63 - Outstandingly Effective
"I, Otto Apocalypse, hereby resign from the position of Overseer, effective today, and entrust it to Theresa Apocalypse..."
A world-shaking event occurred in the Honkai world today. The supreme leader of the world's largest anti-Honkai organization announced his resignation, handing over his authority to his granddaughter.
And Theresa, who had just arrived at headquarters and hadn't even had a sip of water, stared in a daze of disbelief at the familiar, gentle smile before her. Was... was she dreaming?
"Theresa, from this day forward, you are the Overseer of Schicksal. I believe you will do a better job of leading Schicksal to protect this world..."
Draping the Overseer's robes he had personally sewn for Theresa over her shoulders, Otto's eyes were gentle. He knelt before her, adjusting the garments as he spoke softly.
"No... Grandpa... what... what are you doing? Why are you suddenly making me the Overseer?"
Theresa was flustered. Looking at the man before her and recalling his past actions, she couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of conspiracy. But she had just seen all the people below—from Schicksal, from Anti-Entropy, she even thought she saw that bastard Siegfried! Could it be...
He... was serious?
"Rest assured, Theresa. Grandpa has already taken care of everything for you. I trust that you can lead Schicksal towards a better future. You are exceptional, and your students are exceptional. In time, they will become the pillars that defend this world..."
"No... Grandpa, what are you talking about? This is too sudden, I..."
Otto simply smiled and shook his head. He stood up, patted Theresa's shoulder, and then, amidst the cheers of everyone present, the next Overseer of Schicksal, Theresa Apocalypse, became the Grand Overseer in a state of utter confusion.
And after that... Otto vanished. At the same time, another person also disappeared.
Kevin Kaslana.
---o---
Thump...
Inside the Astral Express, Welt picked up his phone and glanced at the message he had just received. A certain insufferable person was saying insufferable things, calling him "old friend" with every other word... Honestly, Welt was still very reluctant to work with this guy.
But he had no choice. These were special times. A few more helpers were better than none. Besides... a man like him, simply by arriving in this world... would likely attract the gaze of certain "gods," just as he had anticipated.
---o---
"The Thousand-Realmed Monad... is it only good for being a locomotive now?"
Kevin leaned against the train's porthole, gazing at the sea of stars outside as he spoke after a moment of silence.
"Heh, at the very least, it can once again do its part. But what comes next is no longer our concern."
Otto crossed his legs and shook his head slightly.
Ever since the Star Rail world began its siphon effect on the Honkai world, all channels for exploring the Sea of Quanta seemed to have been shrouded by some mysterious veil.
Once, they could use the Thousand-Realmed Monad to observe the outside, even create a brand-new "World Bubble." But now, they could no longer do so.
Otto had specifically researched this and, based on the situation in the Honkai: Star Rail world, came to an extraordinary conclusion.
The wormhole might not be a bridge connecting the Star Rail and Honkai worlds, but rather the branch system of one parallel world's Tree connecting to a leaf on another Tree.
The evidence for this came from the Welt in the Star Rail world. He was also from the Honkai world, but from a timeline far, far in the future of their own.
And under the wormhole's influence, this "leaf" growing on another "Tree" would gradually be "grafted" onto the new Tree.
But it didn't matter. They didn't need to consider such things for now. The current situation in the Honkai world was what everyone wanted to see.
Even if... it meant that a plan fifty thousand years in the making had come to nothing...
But the world was no longer being eroded by the Honkai. That was his ultimate goal, wasn't it?
For now, nothing was developing in a bad direction, which was a good thing in itself. As for the two of them, people left behind by the times... they should just obediently go work for someone else.
This was what Welt had been busy with back in the Honkai world.
He had found two helpers for the current Astral Express... Of course, there was one helper among them he would rather not use!
But there was no other way. For the greater good, it was a necessary sacrifice!
After learning that the two had settled everything in the Honkai world, Welt notified Wende and had him send two contracts over.
Wende: "????? Huh?"
Seriously! Uncle Yang! Who did you bring back?! These... aren't these two living gods I have to serve?!
Of course, shock was one thing, but they were indeed short-staffed. So, Wende instantly teleported back to the Honkai world and had the two of them sign miHoYo Inc. contracts.
Then, he teleported them, along with their locomotive, back to miHoYo Planet.
The moment Otto and Kevin appeared in the Honkai: Star Rail world, two gazes immediately bestowed their blessings upon them.
One was the gaze of [Erudition]. Otto accepted the blessing from the venerable Nous with a clear conscience. The other was the gaze of [Preservation]. The great Qlipoth stared at Kevin for a long time before returning to building his wall.
And in the shadows, an unobtrusive figure quietly watched Otto, as if it already knew his purpose.
Otto naturally sensed that special gaze as well, and a satisfied smile couldn't help but spread across his lips.
"...What are you smiling about?"
Kevin looked at the smiling Otto beside him, a rare occasion where he personally initiated a question.
"I was just thinking of something amusing..."
Otto shook his head, looking completely unconcerned.
"..."
It had to be said, with Otto's addition, the entire work efficiency of miHoYo Planet increased twofold. Our pitiful Miss Qingque and Miss Qingmu no longer had to work while spitting up bitter bile. They gained a significant amount of breathing room. Meanwhile, the star systems around miHoYo Planet became more secure than ever before.
This was because a new [Emanator of Preservation] had appeared in the world, and he had even signed a contract with miHoYo, becoming an armed bodyguard for miHoYo Interstellar Inc.
When the company's upper management learned of this, the entire company was in a state of shock.
That was a new [Emanator of Preservation]! Personally appointed by the most noble, lifelong chairman! This... are there any departments in our company that don't have a director now?!
Kevin had no interest in this. Taciturn as he was, he simply settled down alone in the wilds of miHoYo Planet. Unless there was trouble on miHoYo Planet or Wende sought him out, he would not make an appearance.
It was said that during this period, many people had seen him fishing by the pond near the miHoYo Building, but he himself never responded to the matter.
As for the Thousand-Realmed Monad, Wende used the power of [Trailblaze] to directly convert it into "Astral Express Line Three," and the members responsible for Line Three were Kiana and her team.
That's right, Kiana and her team...
Wende had originally been getting a headache over some stubborn, uncooperative worlds. But after remembering the explosive popularity of "Honkai Impact 3rd," a very novel idea was born in his mind.
And so, he had the three little ones sign miHoYo Inc. contracts, and they officially became members of the company. In addition to their classes and combat training at St. Freya, they had new identities in the Honkai: Star Rail world.
That would be...
"Honkai Impact 3rd's Number One Idol Group!"
"Hello, excuse me, I'd like to introduce you to our 'Dominating Lunar-Sea Fishy-Cat'. She's super cute!"
With the help of the "Line Three" crewed by the three little ones, the Astral Express's trailblazing journey became exceptionally smooth. Within a month, thirty percent of the star rails in the known star systems had been fully restored to normal operation. This was an incredible achievement, yet the Astral Express had managed it with just three trains.
Of course, this was also thanks to the help of various factions.
And within this month, quite a few things happened in the frontier star systems.
First, the Antimatter Legion and the Swarm had several skirmishes. They were not on good terms with each other, even displaying a sort of fight-to-the-death attitude. Second, the true form of "Emperor" Rupert III was completely exposed to the Alliance's view. It was a true mechanical planet, and wherever it went, the Anti-Organic Equation would infect all intelligent devices in the nearby star systems. Currently, several geniuses from the Genius Society were trying to crack this Anti-Organic Equation, and the monarch of Planet Screwllum seemed to have already found a way to make inorganic life completely immune to the Equation's control.
Finally, and most importantly, although the Swarm and the Antimatter Legion were currently fighting each other relentlessly, both sides were still slowly advancing towards the central star systems. And that mechanical planet of Rupert III was also slowly making its way toward the central systems.
But within this month, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Astral Express, the Alliance's logistics had reached a near-peak state. The Alliance could now take the initiative and intercept the enemy outside the central star systems!
They could not delay any longer. The Swarm would only multiply, the Antimatter Legion's soldiers would never cease as long as war and death existed, and even Rupert III's mechanical army was growing larger. If these three were allowed to develop unchecked, the central star systems would sooner or later be in grave danger.
Thus, after a series of meetings and discussions, the Alliance decided to pick the softest persimmon first. Of the three current threats, the easiest to defeat was Emperor Rupert III.
He had likely learned from the lessons of his previous two deaths, which was why he made his body enormous, so he could not be assassinated (Rupert I was "assassinated" by Polka Kakamond). He also used a fully mechanical body instead of an organic one to prevent being accidentally harmed by the Anti-Organic Equation (a lesson from his second incarnation).
However, by the looks of it, he should probably start preparing for the lessons of his third incarnation...
After all, his main body was currently the easiest one to take out. The origin of the Swarm was still unknown, and as for Destruction...
They'd deal with that when one of their Aeons finally got fed up...
The mission to eliminate Rupert III would be a joint operation involving all members of the Alliance. This was the first large-scale military operation since the Alliance's inception, so it had to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
To ensure there were no mistakes in how to directly destroy Rupert III, Wende went and dragged a certain old man who was fishing downstairs from the company building to help out. Although as a newly minted [Emanator of Preservation], Kevin had not yet shown his combat prowess to the world, everyone who knew his true strength had no doubt... that he could chop the planet-sized Rupert III into space junk!
---o---
"We have now arrived at the frontline. Rupert III is less than a light-year away from the planet we are docked at."
Aboard Astral Express Line One, Welt displayed Rupert III's specific location on the large screen.
"Surrounding Rupert III are tens of billions of mechanical guards. To carry out a direct 'beheading' operation, we first need to open up a path."
"The Xianzhou and the Galaxy Rangers will clear the main path. The Family, the IPC, and other factions will draw the attention of the surrounding mechanical guards. During this time, the Astral Express will use warp travel to reach the nearest star rail to Rupert III. As long as we take out Rupert III during that window of opportunity, one-third of our mission will be complete."
"Once we successfully kill Rupert III, Mr. Screwllum of the Genius Society will overwrite the Anti-Organic Equation, deactivating all controlled intelligent machinery."
Welt's briefing ended there. The members of Line One participating in this operation now understood their mission, but Stelle still had one question.
"By the way... what are Wende and the others doing now? Aren't they participating in this crusade?"
Stelle looked at Welt and Himeko, confused.
"Wende... his mission is even more important than ours..." Welt closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.
---o---
"Did I or did I not tell you that you cannot show your face? At the very least, not in front of them?"
The Dragon's tone was interrogative. He stared at Wende in bewilderment. Do you have to be this rebellious?!
"Did I show my face? Isn't this an alt account?"
Wende retorted decisively. He hadn't revealed a single shred of information about his [Order]!
"You still can't do this! Akivili would be crying!!!"
At this moment, inside the Simulated Universe's Aeon Chatroom.
Akivili (Wende's Alt): "Nanook you piece of ******* (flowery language)"
Nanook: "? Akivili! You're courting death!"
Akivili (Wende's Alt): "You ************ (Cybertronian language)"
Aha: "Fun."
Yaoshi: "Oh my, my..."
Lan: "Yaoshi! I'll f****** (rapid-fire clapper talk)"
Xipe: "Perhaps we could all think of a solution together?"
That's right, Wende was doing something extremely important. To prevent a certain brain-dead [Aeon] from intervening, Wende chose another method to keep Nanook occupied. And from the looks of it, the effect was outstanding!