Reflected in Anna's eyes, Li Wu's frivolous manner formed a stark contrast.
She did not treat this conversation as a joke.
Neither did Li Wu, but he needed to disguise himself as a conspirator.
Accept the comfort.
This thought had appeared in Li Wu's mind more than once. Such a good girl, thinking of him wholeheartedly. Whether it was daily trivialities or grand ideals, she handled everything with just the right measure.
She didn't urgently demand a sense of security, nor did she turn a blind eye to his existence.
In his original world, Li Wu dared say he would have accepted her decisively and treated her like a treasure, holding her in his hands.
But he couldn't, at least not now...
Li Wu steeled his heart. He couldn't place Anna in danger.
Meanwhile—
Schicksal Headquarters.
A young girl sat withered on a throne, her gaze hollow like an abyss. Her face was gaunt, and her exposed skin was pale as paper, devoid of any color. She looked like a decaying old tree, without a single thread of vitality.
The throne was constructed from a mix of countless translucent steel and vascular tubes, filled with dense neural tissue.
Suspended above the girl were spiderweb-like blood vessels drawn from her body, connecting to the entire throne.
Her name was one few in the entire world dared to mention—
Kallen Kaslana.
Dictator.
Immortal Demon King.
Schicksal Overseer.
The strongest in the world.
The one who dominated the entire planet.
...
...
There were too many titles. Any one of them would be enough for a brilliant individual to spend their whole life chasing.
But no one could have imagined that the person ruling the entire human world was so weak—so weak that a gentle breath seemed enough to extinguish the candle of her life, leaving her to die on this eerie throne.
At this moment, Kallen was speaking to Otto, who wore a triumphant smile face-to-face:
"You did something unnecessary."
Thunderous.
The voice left Kallen's dry lips, amplified by the spiderweb vessels, shaking Otto's brain directly.
No questions, no euphemisms. She pointed out the fact directly.
This statement carried no emotion whatsoever.
"Kallen, I assure you, this is absolutely not unnecessary; it is meaningful. Don't worry, it won't interfere with your plan. We will definitely save the world."
"Mmh, save the world..."
She seemed to be speaking to Otto, yet also seemed not to be.
Hearing that her plan wouldn't be interfered with, Kallen closed her unfocused eyes again and sank back into silence, as if dead, even her breathing stopping.
But Otto knew Kallen wasn't dead, nor was she asleep.
She had just...
Fallen into endless "nightmares" again.
This throne, which made one's blood run cold just looking at it, was not a shackle to Kallen, but a warm cradle.
The throne absorbed a massive amount of her spirit, including those painful memories etched into the marrow of the human soul.
Only on it could she recover a little humanity and communicate normally with Otto.
This was a trivial tragedy named Kallen Kaslana.
"Perhaps you no longer care, but someone has to." Otto looked at Kallen, then at the black trench coat draped behind her. It was the exact outfit "that person" wore when teaching them.
There are no two people in this world who can truly empathize with each other.
They can only approach, never be the same.
And what he had to do was to constantly make "that person" approach their past pain.
Save the world?
Haha.
If the world needed the sacrifice of one person to be saved, then it might as well be destroyed.
Individual sorrow is no different from collective sorrow.
Otto walked out of the withered room. Outside the door, he picked up his terminal and opened the photo sent by the S-rank Valkyrie responsible for monitoring Anna and Li Wu—
Anna snuggled against Li Wu's chest, sleeping in a warm and beautiful couple's hotel. The room layout was very ambiguous, with cute dolls everywhere.
Although most of their bodies were covered, one could still see they were underdressed, or rather, revealing a hint of nakedness.
And the intimate scene after they woke up, where Anna pushed Li Wu onto the bed to scold him...
Just this was far from enough.
Otto pulled up another recording, concerning Raiden Mei.
Long before the mission was issued, he had arranged for a reliable Valkyrie to monitor Raiden Mei, observing whether her behavior was developing according to his wishes under the influence of his ability.
Watching the video, Raiden Mei was surrounded by the most famous noble students, sitting in the front row of the classroom, while all the commoner students were placed at the back, waiting indefinitely for a rotation that never came.
The original seat rotation system was completely abandoned, and no one spoke up anymore.
There were many, many more behaviors like this. Losing Li Wu's care and supervision, and in order to be accepted by those around her, she began to change subtly.
As expected.
Raiden Mei's reaction was even more intense than he imagined.
She was too thirsty, too lonely, lacking true love.
"That person," Li Wu, had planted a seed of selfless and passionate light in her heart, but seeds need nutrients to grow. Li Wu's departure doomed her to maintain growth through other means, such as—her original noble circle.
The stronger the seed of selflessness and passion grew, the more nutrients it needed.
"Heh heh, Raiden Mei, you indeed know the true meaning of love better than the average person, but knowing and doing are two different things. When more love surges around you, your personality might even make you subconsciously ignore the true nature of things, blindly embracing and possessing..."
"Heh, that's right. After all, you are the same kind of person as us, and we are people from a different world than him."
Otto analyzed calmly, a smile of a successful scheme appearing on his lips.
Like a drowning person, habitually grasping at every straw that appears before their eyes.
But who knows if what they blindly grab is a life-saving straw or a deadly venomous snake?
Chiba Academy...
The plan was proceeding perfectly; the corners of Otto's mouth couldn't stop rising.
That school wasn't normal at all; everyone maintained a superficial harmony. Once a real conflict of interest arose, they would hide faster than anyone.
Raiden Mei wasn't stupid; she could definitely figure out that those nobles were getting close to her because of ME Corp. But a child is a child; they always believe in that insignificant sliver of possibility, thinking this time might be different, thinking that this current state can last forever as long as it's carefully maintained.
That is impossible.
Permanence obtained too easily is also easier to lose.
"He is different from you, Raiden Mei. You are the high-and-mighty eldest miss in the eyes of ordinary people; you know how to size up the situation, unable to connect the suffering of the insignificant with the pain of the great. But he, my most respected teacher, treats everyone equally. Even if you kill now... or to put it bluntly, lose your memory, what he loathes in his bones is exactly this kind of behavior of yours."
"Of course, I have to admit you are right. After all, people are indeed unequal, whether in life, time, or value. A heinous criminal indeed cannot be mentioned in the same breath as a warrior who sheds blood and sacrifices; this is the most universally accepted rhetoric. And in the eyes of people like us, commoners are probably no different from NPCs in a game."
"Just like this, he cannot resist the disgust for you in his heart."
"This is an unchangeable law branded into the soul."
Otto continued to scroll through the mission introduction on the terminal. When he saw the mission report from the Valkyrie stationed on Ireland Island, he couldn't help frowning.
Compared to Raiden Mei's side.
Anna and Li Wu's progress was very slow. Their relationship was stuck at a distance that was neither far nor near, as if someone was deliberately preventing them from getting closer.
Or was it simply that they haven't been enlightened yet?
No, no, no. Otto knew well that the less enlightened a person is, the easier it is to fall into the web of love and be unable to extricate themselves.
Anna Schariac was a blank slate in emotional history. Under Schicksal's cultivation, she still retained a pure "human heart," being one of the few people not brainwashed by his abilities.
Of course, the people who could see this part of emotions could be counted on one hand.
Kallen wouldn't look, and ordinary people couldn't see; besides Otto knowing it himself, there wasn't a third person in this world who knew.
Anyone with a weak will would have been disciplined into a loyal dog obeying Schicksal's orders one after another under the influence of his ability over decades.
Anna was one of the few who hadn't forgotten her original intention, which was inseparable from Cecilia stepping forward back then.
This point was still calculated within Otto's plan.
"Teacher, have you realized it yet?"
"But what use is that? You once went through fire and water for Raiden Mei, making yourself a complete mess. Presumably, for her, you will do the same..."
"But—a doctor cannot heal himself; this is what you taught me."
Otto narrowed his eyes, and after saying this meaningful sentence, he closed the terminal.
Ireland Beach—
3:00 PM. Li Wu and Anna were playing on the beach according to the vacation mission issued by Schicksal.
He thought someone from a big family like Anna wouldn't feel much, however...
"Li Wu, the rowing boat is fun! You drive, I'll tie the surfboard behind, and I'll stand on it!"
"Li Wu, come pile up sand quickly! Look, that person built a castle, it's so pretty!"
"Li Wu, drink some cold beverage, it's very sweet, the taste is really good!"
"Li Wu... Li Wu..."
Since entering Ireland Beach at 2:00 PM, Anna hadn't stopped. She was curious about every entertainment activity and dragged him along to play.
The result was that he, a local who had never been abroad, played until he was exhausted—body running in front, soul chasing behind.
Yet Anna remained tireless, looking for the next entertainment project.
Li Wu also asked with a sigh if Anna had played these entertainment projects before.
Logically speaking, as the Holy Maiden of the Schariac family, Anna wasn't poor; she should have dabbled in these high-end entertainments to some extent.
For example, being taken to play when she was young, or team members asking her to play along during missions.
But seeing Anna's enthusiasm surging like a tsunami now made Li Wu doubt his judgment, so he asked.
The answer he got was—
"I've played them, whether with family when I was little or with team members after growing up... But, I just feel like this time is a bit different. I can't say why exactly, maybe because I almost died. Anyway, just isolating myself and playing happily is enough!"
Then she dragged him headlong to the next entertainment project.
Weaving through strange and bizarre small sand structures, dodging wave impacts on the same surfboard, then changing into diving suits and putting on diving gear to drill into the seabed, watching strangely colored schools of fish pass through the coral, teasing each other in the water...
After completing an activity, Anna would take out her phone to record it.
Was she writing a mission report?
Li Wu didn't know. He only knew Anna was smiling very happily. In that case, even if the mastermind behind this mission had ulterior motives, it was pretty good... at least it really made Anna happy.
Honestly, Li Wu didn't feel that happy.
It felt fresh at first, but later he couldn't feel the fun anymore, like a gummy candy that didn't taste very good.
The first piece is always the best, but if a pile is brought out and you chew on it repeatedly, you feel nauseated.
Even if swallowed forcibly, it would probably be vomited out.
By 4:00 PM, Anna had played a scattered thirteen projects with him, and on Ireland Beach, the entertainment projects listed on the roster totaled a full seventy-two.
"Okay, let's rest. I'll go set up the parasol, let's watch the sea together!"
Anna quickly ran to the two beach chairs she had bought. Her movements were unfamiliar; she looked at the tutorial on her phone while setting up the sun umbrella.
The sun umbrella bought was very simple.
Compared to her competence in executing missions, Anna looked at it for a long time and still couldn't figure out how to operate it. Finally, Li Wu stepped forward, simply went through the tutorial, and set up the two sun umbrellas. Cold air constantly surged out from the vents.
The two beach chairs were very close, less than a fist's distance apart.
Anna sat on the white beach chair, leaning back with a comfortable expression.
Crystal-clear water droplets, unknown if they were sweat or seawater, slid down from her forehead, blown into her neck by the cold air, and disappeared.
Li Wu sat down on the other black beach chair and asked curiously, "You're not playing anymore? I remember there are still many fun projects. Escaping death, rare opportunity, don't you want to play more?"
"Forget it, you're already very tired. Lying on the chair is also a nice project, isn't it? What do you say, Stupid Li Wu~"
Anna turned over, looking at Li Wu beside her with a grin. Her voice was light and airy. He felt a hint of pressure, but it carried an imperceptible heaviness, only this weight was blocked by something.
Li Wu nodded: "There's still time. After resting, you go play by yourself. It would be a pity not to experience the final Sky Ocean Swing."
The Sky Ocean Swing, as the name suggests, is swinging over the sea surface.
Ireland Island has a high altitude, and the ocean tides refract a large amount of strange light, reflecting the image of the sky, giving people the illusion that "beneath my feet is the entire sky."
On this basis, the extremely high swing becomes so tall that every time it falls to the lowest point, the toes can brush against the sea surface, as if strolling in the clouds.
"No."
To Li Wu's surprise, Anna decisively rejected this suggestion, pouting her small mouth as she turned around.
"I'm not going."