"Alright, but you said it, you must prepare a truly excellent afternoon tea."
"Hehe, please rest assured, Miss Herta. Rita never breaks her word."
------------------------------------
"Miss Herta and this Miss Messenger seem to be very interested in Honkai?"
After Rita withdrew to prepare tea, Otto took the lead in starting the conversation.
Hearing Otto's words, Herta slightly nodded, her eyes filled with undisguised curiosity.
"Honkai, the mechanism that tests civilizations. Honestly, I've seen quite a lot of similar things, but your world's version seems to be... a little different."
The development of civilization is inevitably accompanied by various trials.
Natural disasters, human conflicts, scarcity of resources... all must be overcome. If not, what awaits a civilization is only death, or the faint chance of being discovered and aided by an outside civilization. And once a civilization overcomes these trials, it may not be free to soar boundlessly, but at least it has earned a ticket to the next stage of order.
As for what awaits them, whether it's the benevolent Xianzhou Alliance, the Interastral Peace Corporation, the Swarm Disaster or Antimatter Legion, or the Denizens of Abundance, no one can say for sure.
Yet when Herta previously flipped through the Schicksal database, she found quite a number of records regarding Honkai.
Combining the intelligence currently known, plus a bit of her own speculation... The shadow of a mastermind emerged.
"Regarding Honkai, we do have many topics to discuss. But before that, may I ask, do your worlds not have Honkai?"
In the past, Otto would not have asked so directly. But after seeing Herta's interest in Honkai, he was certain these two really had no concept of it.
"Perhaps they do, but I've never encountered it."
Herta shook her head. Otto then turned his gaze toward Miss Messenger waiting obediently like she was expecting to be fed.
"Eh? Me? Let me think... I've been to many worlds. They did indeed encounter many problems in their development, but they overcame them. None of them faced monsters like that in the beginning stages."
Thinking of Chiyou, whose size rivaled a continent, Miss Messenger shook her head.
She had seen ones even larger than Chiyou.
"I see. Then let me introduce to you the disaster known as Honkai."
With a faint smile, Otto began his performance.
"Honkai, a disaster that strengthens alongside the development of civilization..."
...
After briefly and clearly explaining the concept of Honkai, Otto leaned back with poise.
After hearing Otto's explanation, Herta pondered, then glanced at him.
"No wonder you have such technology yet don't reveal it. I thought you were secretly planning to be the king of the world."
Otto's body could not hide from Herta.
This was technological suppression, pure and simple.
As the universe-renowned genius and Emanator of the Erudition Path's blessing, Herta stood at the very front of research and intellect.
Forget Otto, even if all the world's geniuses gathered together, they could not contend with Herta.
After all, Herta's space station gathered only the brightest minds from every planet.
And the main role of these minds on the station was to research their own topics, waiting for that elusive chance, waiting for a summons from Madam Herta herself.
Another scholarly organization, the Intelligentsia Guild, could hardly raise its head in front of any one of the station's geniuses.
Of course, that didn't apply in certain... physical fields.
After all, geniuses also had areas they weren't good at, such as if Chadwick and Professor Ratio were to have an intense real-life brawl.
Even Chadwick, in his prime, wouldn't dare.
"What can I say? Someone has to bear the world's burden. Why not me?" Otto smiled faintly.
Herta made no effort to hide her disgust.
"Spare me. I've seen plenty of people like you. So, tell me your goal." She didn't believe a single word Otto said.
From him, she sensed an aura she had encountered far too often. It was an aura she detested.
Hearing Herta's words, Otto slowly raised a finger, chuckling lightly.
"Madam, I've already answered one of your questions. Now, it's my turn."
"Fine, go ahead." Satisfied with her answer, Otto smiled and then asked:
"Miss Herta, you asked earlier. We also have the theory of Imaginary Tree and Sea of Quanta, the Imaginary Tree... Regarding this, what's your perspective?"
"Nothing much. It's just that this theory is quite popular in our world as well. They say a certain Aeon once climbed to the top of the Imaginary Tree, but whether that's true or not, I couldn't say."
"Aeon? Climbed to the top?"
"Don't ask me. I'm not close to that Aeon. If you get the chance, you can ask Godzilla. He seems to know that one fairly well."
Herta thought for a moment. Since Aha had given Godzilla such immense Path power, and judging by their earlier conversation, they seemed to have met before, saying they were familiar with each other shouldn't be a problem.
It was just unclear how Godzilla and Aha had gotten involved with one another.
Otto gave a slight nod and asked: "Regarding the Aeons, may I trouble you to enlighten me, Miss Herta?"
Herta wasn't surprised. Even though she didn't know which Aeon ruled this star region, everyone in this sector surely knew of their existence.
For example, the Ten Stonehearts in the IPC's worshipped the Aeon of preservation.
Every civilization had its gods, Earth included. So it wasn't surprising for someone not to know what Aeons were.
"It's simple to understand. An Aeon is the embodiment of a certain concept, walking at the forefront of a Path. You can think of it as the apex of a certain power."
Otto gave a slight nod.
Aeons... something he had never heard of. And judging by Herta's demeanor, she didn't intend to elaborate. Either she truly didn't know what Aeons were, or they were so unique and special that they couldn't be spoken of lightly.
Otto's mind raced.
But in truth, the reason Herta didn't elaborate was very simple...
This world hadn't even solved its Honkai problem yet. Even though they had come from their own timeline into this world's past, there was no point in going into detail.
With this world's current state, it was impossible for them to set foot in the stars.
Only under the guidance of an Emanator could they walk toward the cosmos, perhaps.
To say more would be useless, and a waste of time.
On the other hand, setting aside the questions in his mind, Otto gestured for the conversation to continue.
"Herrscher, that's what it's called, right? What exactly is a Herrscher?"
Earlier, when Otto explained the concept of Honkai, he had mentioned Herrschers but didn't go into detail, so Herta remained interested in the topic.
Especially since she knew Herrschers were apostles of the Honkai, which made the subject even more intriguing.
As a side note, she had also seen the term "Herrscher" in the Schicksal database before, but before she could dig deeper, Otto had stopped her, and soon after, the database was relocated.
She lost interest after that. After all, asking Otto, the one in charge, was far quicker than rummaging through records.
And when it came to Herrschers, Otto was certainly very knowledgeable...
"Connected to the Imaginary Space? Directly drawing power from it?"
After hearing Otto's explanation, Herta raised a brow but didn't immediately comment.
"So doesn't that mean a Herrscher's power is infinite?!"
How could anyone possibly defeat such an enemy?
"It's a matter of output." Herta glanced at the astonished Miss Messenger and spoke.
"Not bad, just as Miss Herta said, although Herrschers are naturally powerful, when it comes to the problem of output, unless they can obtain a higher level of authority, even a Herrscher cannot unleash stronger power."
As expected, if Herrschers didn't have valve restrictions, that wouldn't make sense at all.
After all, according to Otto, what Herrschers hold are conceptual abilities, and Herta knows very well just how powerful this ability is.
However, since that's the case, even if a Herrscher with such an ability couldn't turn Schicksal upside down, they shouldn't be suppressed so badly either.
Herta felt a little puzzled.
"Go ahead and ask." Herta gestured.
"About Godzilla, does Herta happen to know, " Otto smiled.
"Of course I know, I'm his neighbor. That guy sleeps in all the time, saying he's playing around. If I hadn't caught him, I wouldn't have even known he had this kind of ability."
Herta said calmly.
Hmm, and that really was the truth. If she hadn't detected that fluctuation, along with Garden of Recollection's actions, she wouldn't have discovered that Godzilla was wandering through dreams every day!
Seeing Herta's calm demeanor, even Otto was a bit stunned.
What kind of situation is this?
At this moment, Otto looked up, and Rita stood at the doorway holding an exquisite tray of refreshments.
A look of shock on her face.
...
After placing the refreshments down, Rita slightly bowed.
"Wow! So exquisite, they look really delicious!" Miss Messenger's eyes sparkled, as if the little cakes before her were her faith.
"As long as Miss Messenger likes them." Rita smiled.
But she was clearly absent-minded.
While speaking, her gaze kept drifting toward Herta.
"Godzilla, in our place, is also very mysterious. He suddenly appeared one day, at first helping one world resolve a huge disaster, and later being worshiped as a god by that world. But most of the time, he's just lazing around sleeping."
Hearing Herta's narration, Rita's eye twitched uncontrollably.
The Godzilla from Herta's mouth was completely incomparable to the one who violently smashed Chiyou.
'Are we talking about the same one?'
Otto, however, looked thoughtful.
It seems Godzilla holds a special status over there as well.
After some thought, Otto finally asked his last question.
"You two, where are you from?"
Upon hearing this question, even Miss Messenger, who was happily enjoying her cake, paused for a moment.
Herta casually replied.
"If I had to say, we're from the future."
"Hmm?!"
...
"Through Godzilla's ability to traverse space and time..." Otto pondered.
After Godzilla appeared, he had gone through all the movies and data related to Godzilla.
As for a time-traveling Godzilla, he knew quite a lot.
When he couldn't find even the slightest trace of Godzilla before, he had suspected this, only he never had the chance to prove it.
Now there was no need to prove anything, someone had directly admitted it.
"Since you two came from the future, I wonder if you could tell me something about it, so that I can be better prepared?" Otto's eyes glimmered with expectation.
Herta shook her head and, before Otto could speak, said:
"I don't even know where your world is. This time, it was Godzilla who directly brought me over. As for why I'm sure it's the past, that's because people from your world have had contact with the future one."
"Yes, that's right. But that was through special means to communicate with people in your world. As for the historical or future development of your world, I can't say I know nothing, but I really don't know much either."
Unexpectedly, Otto wasn't surprised, just a little disappointed.
But at the very least, this proved one thing: Godzilla can traverse time!
That alone was enough to ignite Otto's heart with excitement!
...
Although there were many questions, it was clearly not the right time to continue the discussion now, so the two didn't stay with Otto for long.
Especially Herta, she had already obtained enough information.
Any more and it would seem impolite... Although Herta never cared much about politeness, with matters this confidential, who knows what the other party might say or not say. So she didn't mind leaving early.
After the two left, Otto quietly pondered, with Rita standing gracefully by his side, silent.
"... Rita, do you think they truly came from the future?" Suddenly, Otto asked.
"I do not know. The future is too uncertain. On this matter, I dare not speak recklessly. I shall follow the bishop's arrangements." Rita bowed slightly, respectfully.
Although she didn't know whether Herta and Miss Messenger truly came from the future, she was certain the conversation in this room today would be treated with the utmost importance and kept under strict secrecy.
Yes, kept in the minds of just two people.
At that thought, Rita felt a wave of dread.
Even though she was an S-rank Valkyrie, even though she rarely made mistakes... it was still better to know less about such dangerous matters!
Right now, she just wanted to go home, take a bath, cuddle Durandal-sama's doll, and get a good night's sleep.
She had no desire to be around these endlessly scheming people!
"I'll take my leave now." Using her ability to read the atmosphere, Rita decisively spoke at what she judged to be the best moment to slip away.
After Otto gave his reply, she swiftly gathered up the dishes, exited, turned left, all in one smooth motion.
Otto was still deep in thought.
Alone in his room, lost in thought.
Then... The communicator rang.
Otto raised an eyebrow. On the screen appeared none other than a certain Celestial Immortal.
He answered, and the next second,
"Otto!" Fu Hua's stern face appeared, staring directly at him.
"Old friend, so you've come too. This place is truly lively."
Seeing Fu Hua, Otto smiled.
"I'm not here to talk about that, Otto. When Godzilla first appeared, you promised me you'd do everything you could to find him, and to confirm whether he stood on the side of Honkai. But now Godzilla has appeared again."
Fu Hua's gaze locked firmly onto Otto.
Toward this partner, she always held vigilance in her heart. And Godzilla's matter was undoubtedly one of those concerns.
Such tremendous power, she might not know what Otto truly intended, but with tens of thousands of years of existence, thousands of years of experience, she knew one thing for certain: Otto would never act with good intentions.
Especially since, despite Schicksal's capabilities, they hadn't found a single trace of Godzilla for so long. Now, with Godzilla reappearing, and showcasing power which could easily defeat a strengthened Chiyou, no less,
All these factors together compelled her to come question him as soon as she had the time.
"Rest assured, old friend, I truly have searched for Godzilla. But it's as if he doesn't exist. Even with Schicksal's full effort, not a trace could be found. However, today I received some interesting news, news that explains why Godzilla is so hard to find."
Otto smiled.
The Celestial Immortal, though she had yet to return to her peak, it could not be denied that at any moment she might reclaim her full strength.
Therefore, keeping her calm was of utmost importance...