When the movie ended, the crowd dispersed. Otto parted ways with Kiana at the theater, deciding not to interfere too much in her affairs. As long as a second Mei situation didn't arise, it was fine.
Inside the dark theater, though separated by only a single seat, the Cook and the Paramecium had remained completely unaware of each other's presence.
Their fates, twisted by Otto, now ran like two parallel lines that would never intersect.
The Cook would not be choked by the Herrscher of the Void, and the Paramecium would not be beaten to a pulp by the Herrscher of Thunder.
Well... probably.
Of course, Otto wouldn't keep them from meeting forever. After all, they were both going to serve under him; they couldn't remain strangers indefinitely.
It was just that by the time they did meet, both the Herrscher of the Void and the Herrscher of Thunder would be firmly under Otto's thumb.
Leaning against a wall, Otto crossed his arms and stared at the seams between the floor tiles. The young girls passing by couldn't help but shoot him curious glances.
It couldn't be helped, as Otto was standing right outside the entrance to the women's restroom.
It was a good thing Otto was a first-class, handsome foreigner. If he were some sleazy-looking man, security would have been called immediately.
While security guards couldn't protect much, they could call the police.
Otto's reason for standing here was simple. The air conditioning in the theater had been a bit chilly, and Mei had drunk some soda, so she had gone to the restroom after the movie.
Damn it, aren't beautiful girls supposed to be exempt from using the restroom?!
Worried for Mei's safety, Otto hadn't strayed far and was waiting for her here. However, the restroom was crowded, things were always more troublesome for girls, and there were no urinals to speed things up. Mei still hadn't come out.
Just then, a slender figure emerged from the women's restroom and came to a stop in front of Otto.
It was a beautiful woman with gray hair and green eyes, a pair of red-rimmed glasses perched on her pretty face. Her flat figure was clad in a pure white suit, showing no hint of a curve.
Her expression was somewhat serious, her brow slightly furrowed. Her face was exquisitely beautiful even without a trace of makeup, exuding a refreshingly cool and clear aura.
She was Fu Hua: a MANTIS of the Previous Era, the Immortal Celestial of Shenzhou in this era, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, and Otto's personal henchwoman.
At over fifty thousand years old, she single-handedly raised the average age of Schicksal's Valkyries.
Her calm, azure eyes looked at Otto.
Otto wasn't surprised by her appearance. It was he who had summoned Fu Hua to Nagazora City, and she had already reported her arrival that morning.
The gentle temperament Otto usually displayed vanished. In front of Mei, he was a potential gentle boyfriend; in front of Fu Hua, he had to don the mask of Schicksal's Overseer.
He was getting used to it, though.
"Yo, my old friend," Otto said, mimicking the original Otto's tone. Then, his eyes glanced toward the women's restroom she had just exited, and his mouth moved faster than his brain.
"Why are you using the women's restroom?"
The moment the words left his lips, Otto's heart sank.
He'd been talking a lot of trash lately, and his tongue had slipped.
It's over. My Soul Steel face is about to get beaten to a pulp...
"The restroom is a convenient place to hide."
However, Fu Hua didn't catch the underlying jab at her small chest. Otto breathed a sigh of relief. Fu Hua had been hiding in the restroom the entire time he was watching the movie, only emerging after it ended.
Seeing no reaction from her, Otto relaxed internally.
Still, the Immortal Celestial really is remarkably flat.
"However, Otto, are you playing house with a child?" Fu Hua then asked bluntly. Otto had called her to Nagazora City overnight. She had assumed it was for something important, but after following him all morning, she had witnessed him holding hands with a strange girl.
Fu Hua was a bit baffled. What was this guy up to?
A five-hundred-year-old piece of cured meat seducing a young girl?
Then again, Fu Hua wasn't particularly surprised. While it was outrageous, for it to happen to Otto made it seem somewhat normal.
Besides, the Valkyries in Schicksal ate this sort of thing up.
Although she had never liked Otto, he certainly had a large number of Valkyrie fangirls within
Schicksal.
However, Otto's next words immediately changed Fu Hua's expression.
"She is the Third Herrscher," Otto murmured, leaning down to whisper directly into Fu Hua's ear.
The girls emerging from the restroom stared at Otto and Fu Hua, who were dressed in what looked like a matching couple's outfit (a white suit and black trousers). The eyes of some lit up; in their view, this was a handsome, blond man and a handsome, gray-haired man sharing an intimate moment.
Someone even snapped a picture.
Fu Hua didn't push Otto away. Instead, she frowned and scanned their surroundings. How could Otto say something so monumentally important in such a public place? What if someone overheard?
She was just an emotionless worker, here to do a job.
Still, Fu Hua understood Otto's meaning. She nodded.
"Understood. I'll go kill her now."
Like hell you understand!
Seeing Fu Hua turn to re-enter the restroom to eliminate Mei, Otto hastily grabbed her arm. Fu Hua glanced down at his hand, and Otto nonchalantly pulled it away.
He was genuinely afraid she might hit him.
Truly the Immortal Celestial: ruthless and a woman of few words.
"She's not a Herrscher yet. She's just been implanted with the Gem of Conquest," Otto continued, taking a few steps away from the restroom door and motioning for Fu Hua to follow.
He was terrified that Fu Hua would suddenly charge into the restroom and smash Mei's head in with a single punch. Otto did not want to see the magnificent Cook die on a toilet.
"But what if she awakens suddenly? This is Nagazora City. The populace has not been evacuated," Fu Hua asked, her brow furrowed. When she learned the girl was the Third Herrscher, she had assumed Otto was simply detaining her until she arrived to smash the Herrscher's dog head in.
She was brutally direct. Throughout all of Schicksal, only Fu Hua dared to speak to Otto with such a tone.
"This is the Far East, not Shenzhou."
"I have my own arrangements for the Third Herrscher here," Otto said softly.
Fu Hua's frown deepened. He was right. Her agreement with Otto was that she would work for him, and in return, Schicksal would protect Shenzhou.
Hmph. Using Shenzhou as leverage to pressure me... As expected of Otto.
"Then why did you summon me here?"
"My old friend, I wanted to ask you..." Otto looked into Fu Hua's azure eyes. "Are you currently able to use the Edge of Taixuan?"
During the Second Honkai Eruption, Fu Hua had burned away her memories to unleash a strike that knocked the Will of the Honkai itself offline.
"It depends on the opponent's strength. But against a Herrscher-level entity like the Third Herrscher, my current body and memories cannot support its use."
Fu Hua was stubborn, but she was not stupid.
She knew Otto must be cooking up some scheme involving the Third Herrscher. If anything went wrong, she would be the one to intervene.
It wouldn't be the first time she had to clean up Otto's messes.
"Then... what if I could restore your body to its peak condition?"
"Return you to that state from five hundred years ago... when you were invincible under the heavens."
Otto said this quietly. A fully-powered Immortal Celestial was a formidable combatant, absolutely capable of going head-to-head with Kevin.
Having that kind of power by his side would be the ultimate security blanket.
And Otto did indeed have the means to do it; Schicksal's medical technology was, after all, the best in the world.
However, restoring the Immortal to her full power would mean the pact between Otto and Fu Hua would be broken.
A peak-condition Fu Hua wouldn't need Schicksal to protect Shenzhou.
Otto was in danger.jpg