Rvy's projection said, "That is the Great Will's impression of her. To prevent her from being some kind of memetic virus, please stay away from us."
Theresa: "..."
Welt Yang asked, "Is 'Great Will' what you call the Will of Ruler?"
Rvy's projection replied, "That is none of your concern."
Tesla asked bluntly, "Do you have a way to solve the Honkai?"
Rvy's projection said, "Why should I tell you?"
That cannot be asked.
That is none of your concern.
Why should I tell you?
Listening to this, Tesla felt an overwhelming urge to hit someone. She knew the other party truly had no obligation to answer her, but it was still infuriating.
What exactly are you here for?
Are you just playing with us?!
"Calm down." Einstein placed a hand on Tesla's shoulder. "Lady Rvy, planets can be traded between you, correct?"
Rvy's projection nodded. "Mm. In this universe's Milky Way, I have not yet found an opponent. This barred spiral galaxy, one hundred sixty thousand light-years in diameter and containing three hundred twenty billion stars, is all my territory."
Everyone fell silent.
A single Herrscher occupying the entire Milky Way?
Rvy's projection looked at Einstein. "You want to trade with me?"
Einstein nodded. "Yes. I want to sell our planet."
Tesla exclaimed, "Chicken-head, are you out of your mind?!"
Einstein asked calmly, "Do you want it or not?"
Rvy's projection was silent for a moment. "What do you want?"
Einstein replied, "How much is our planet worth in your eyes?"
Rvy's projection answered, "Possibly nothing. To me, a planet is merely a mass of material resources, and I possess a great many such resources. Unless it is a special universe, a special world."
Einstein asked, "What counts as a special world?"
Rvy's projection said, "A world with special rules. An anomalous universe different from a normal one."
"I have investigated the Honkai world. It contains special universal laws that gave birth to entities known as Aeons—beings similar to concepts, embodiments of principles."
An image of the Aeons appeared before Rvy.
"I am quite curious about the Aeons of your universe. But products of such anomalous universes are extraordinarily powerful within their own domains."
Information about the Aeons was no secret to them.
Otto frowned as he looked at the images displayed by Rvy. Scenes related to the Aeons continuously surfaced in his mind.
"I know that other universes have similar existences," Rvy continued. "For example, the Four Gods of this universe."
With a wave of her hand, images of the Four Chaos Gods of the Warp appeared.
As everyone gazed upon them, just as when they observed the Aeons, they saw the entirety of countless races—including the Imperium of Man—within an extremely cruel universe.
"I have seen many worlds plagued by disasters. Your world is relatively kind to humanity."
"Death is merely death. In some worlds, when you die, your soul is seized by demons and subjected to eternal torment and suffering."
By comparison, they suddenly realized that living in the Honkai world might not be so tragic after all.
Einstein asked, "Why are you telling us this?"
Rvy's projection withdrew the images. "All tragedies are caused by the insufficiency of those involved."
"You wish to save the humanity of your world, but you cannot accomplish it. So you have set your sights on us!"
She looked at Einstein. "We greatly dislike being morally coerced or schemed against by humans. Be mindful of that, Dr. Einstein."
Hearing the warning, Einstein nodded. "I did indeed have such thoughts."
Rvy's projection flickered slightly before adding coldly, "Of course, if you did… I would make your life worse than death."
"Let me give you a suggestion," Rvy continued. "Try to please the Great Will. As for what It likes, you should be able to see for yourselves."
Fu Hua said, "...You mean seduction?"
Previously, the Will of Ruler had extended an invitation to her, but she had refused at the time.
Rvy's projection replied, "You may interpret it that way. If you are unwilling to pay even that price, there is nothing I can do."
"..."
After understanding the forces under the Will of Ruler, Otto realized that Its interests truly were that simple.
Had he known earlier, he would have arranged everything properly.
But was it still of any use now?
The Will of Ruler had not spoken in their Honkai world for a long time. Most likely, It had gone to other parallel worlds and found substitutes.
Perhaps substitutes was not even the right word. To the Will of Ruler, they were probably all the same.
From their world, It had taken K-423, Bronya, and more recently, Misteln.
Misteln had been taken away by Bronya. Whether the Will of Ruler was interested in her was unknown.
K-423 and Bronya had no attachment to their world.
Their world might have long since been handed over to Bronya by the Will of Ruler, yet she showed no intention of intervening.
She merely treated the entire world—including them—as a game and as toys.
With so many worlds at Its disposal, the Will of Ruler could not possibly fix Its gaze solely on theirs.
If that were the case, then the one they truly needed to deal with was not the Will of Ruler, but Bronya—the one they had encountered on their first visit.
Otto asked, "Lady Rvy, may I ask if you know Miss Bronya?"
Rvy's projection replied, "So she was the one who sent you here to me."
Upon learning it was Bronya, she lost interest in continuing the conversation.
Otto said, "Yes. Do you know what she likes?"
Rvy's projection replied, "She likes machinery, she likes technology, and she likes games. As for your current technological level, she certainly would not find it impressive."
Hearing this, Einstein, Tesla, Su, and Prometheus all understood Otto's implication.
Their world was now under Bronya's jurisdiction.
Rvy's projection continued, "As for the remaining matter of games, I believe she is already playing one."
"The humans of your world—including all of you—are within her data backups."
Su asked, "What are data backups?"
Rvy's projection replied, "You should be able to guess."
Prometheus said, "When we die, are we revived through data restoration? If so, are we—after such revival—still ourselves?"
Rvy's projection answered, "That depends on how you perceive it. Her data backups can record every fundamental particle and manipulate them accordingly."
Einstein murmured, "Laplace's Demon?"
Tesla exclaimed, "That's insane. Isn't she practically like an omniscient and omnipotent god?"
Recording every fundamental particle and controlling them—at that technological level, she was still playing games with humanity, which had not even stepped beyond the solar system.
She really had far too much time on her hands.
Rvy's projection let out a faint chuckle. "In single universes, multiverses, megaverses, and omniverses, there are countless beings who believe themselves omniscient and omnipotent. Yet true omniscience and omnipotence have never existed. There are only powers that appear omniscient and omnipotent within a certain scope."
Rvy's projection continued, "Telling you all this is useless anyway. You could live more easily. Even if your civilization is destroyed, it will most likely be reset."
"That is, provided you have not done something she dislikes."
With that, Rvy's projection vanished before them.
Kallen felt a heaviness settle in her heart. She was beginning to understand what her other self had once said.
Power was everything.
Before absolute power, the honor of the Kaslanas seemed almost laughable.
The group fell silent, uncertain how to respond.
Otto was the first to break it. "It seems we must redesign our strategy."
Su looked at him. "You want to go back and conquer the Honkai?"
He saw through Otto's thoughts at a glance.
Otto nodded. "The Honkai can be conquered. I am ninety percent certain."
Welt Yang frowned. "Ninety percent? Are you joking?"
What scheme is this old fox plotting now?
"Assume our world is a game world. Who do you think is the protagonist of that game?"
Otto did not keep them guessing. "Undoubtedly Sirin. K-423. She would inherit the name Kiana Kaslana, become the Herrscher of Finality, save human civilization, and lead humanity toward a brighter future."
Prometheus said, "But you already sold K-423. For the sake of your Kallen, you traded away humanity's future savior for another Kallen."
Kallen: "..."
She felt she had done nothing wrong, yet somehow the blame always landed on her.
Otto took a deep breath. "That was indeed my shortsightedness. The importance of K-423 exceeded my expectations."
"But we are not without opportunity. Though we lack the protagonist, we still have Kiana Kaslana."
Siegfried rushed forward and grabbed Otto by the collar. "What are you planning to do to my daughter now?"
Otto looked at him calmly. "I only intend to guide her onto the correct path. She may not be a protagonist favored by fate like K-423, but having her assume the protagonist's role and save a human civilization should still be possible."
"Think of the achievements of Kiana Kaslana in other worlds. One founded the Finality Empire and became the Divine Emperor. Another became the Will of Ruler, the Great Will. Would you not wish for your daughter to become such a supreme existence?"
"In the future, she could even revive Cecilia and all those who perished to the Honkai."
Siegfried released Otto's collar. Though still dissatisfied, he was persuaded.
"Then what do you plan to do?" Siegfried asked.
Otto straightened his clothes. "The Will of Ruler leaving Kiana Kaslana behind may itself be giving us an opportunity. With Its power, if It wished to take someone away, who could stop It?"
"Our visit to other worlds has yielded little of value besides some technology and information. If we send Kiana Kaslana here instead, there may be unexpected gains. At the very least, she will grow from the experience."
Su and Einstein lowered their heads in thought. Though Otto's reasoning sounded outrageous, everything about their situation was already outrageous.
There was a significant chance it could succeed.
Without K-423, the protagonist, they would attempt to use a similarly important supporting character to save the world.
It was a gamble.
As long as the protagonist was Kiana Kaslana, perhaps it did not matter whether she was the original or the K-423 version.
Most importantly, they now had room for error.
Even if they failed, Bronya would still serve as a safety net.
After a moment, Einstein nodded. "I think it's feasible."
Su nodded as well. "It is worth trying."
Tesla could not hold back. "You're all insane."
With the leaders of Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent all in agreement, the others found it difficult to voice further objections.
They began discussing the specifics of the plan.
Finally, Otto addressed them. "Since the plan is set, I, Otto Apocalypse, Overseer of Schicksal, shall take the first step in this grand god-creation plan."
Void Archives transformed in his hand into a pseudo Shamash.
Otto raised the gun, aimed it at his own head, and gave Kallen a faint smile. "See you soon."
A gunshot rang out.
Otto's body slowly collapsed.
"Otto!"
Kallen stared at his fallen form in alarm. A strange light flickered, and Otto's corpse dissolved into countless particles before disappearing.
Seeing this, the others let out a breath of relief. Their deduction was correct. They could indeed be revived.
That was enough.
If Otto had died and his body remained here to rot, they would have had to question whether Bronya's revival technology was merely cloning.
Tesla suddenly said, "Wait. What about this floating warship of ours? Are we just abandoning it?"
"My Hyperion wasn't returned to me either. Bronya repaired Judah and gave it back, but she kept the Hyperion."
Theresa felt distressed over her Hyperion. Bronya probably had no interest in it, yet she had still impounded it.
Einstein replied calmly, "Dr. Tesla, consider it the cost of traveling between worlds."
Such a massive floating warship was simply too large. Bronya had the ability to send it back, but there was no necessity.
It was like when nations in this world went to war abroad. When retreating, they either destroyed or sold off their equipment.
Transporting old equipment back home cost more than it was worth.
Anti-Entropy's warship might be advanced in their world, but in the eyes of the Will of Ruler, it was likely not even a toy.
Tesla protested, "Do you have any idea how expensive a floating warship is?"
Jackal said, "With our three organizations cooperating, we can control the world's resources. Stop being so stingy."
Tesla snapped back, "It's not World Serpent's money, so of course you don't care!"
"Enough." Kallen stepped forward to mediate. "If you have disputes, settle them after we return."
Raven asked, "Is there a way to die without pain? I'm not good with pain."
The others looked at her with faint disdain.
You fight on the front lines and you're afraid of pain?
Su walked over and patted Raven on the shoulder. "Don't worry. It won't hurt much."
Raven felt somewhat reassured.
As a combatant of World Serpent, being afraid of pain was not ideal. But if she could die without suffering, that would be best.
Fu Hua said, "Su, let's fight with everything we have."
Su nodded.
...
Honkai World.
They revived and returned.
Su sought out Kevin and persuaded him to terminate Project STIGMA.
Though the god-creation plan sounded absurd, Kevin knew that if things continued as they were, humanity would have no future.
After careful consideration, he agreed.
To eliminate the lingering influence of the Will of Ruler, Kevin, Su, and Fu Hua worked together to alter the memories of ordinary people across the world, blurring their recollections related to the Will of Ruler.