The negotiations with Otto went smoothly.
Just as Chen Ran had said, to Otto, Schicksal was merely a handy tool.
And now, Chen Ran offered Otto another choice: to use the authority of Schicksal in exchange for the opportunity to cooperate with a Herrscher of the Void.
"Perhaps the others do not remember, but Otto should know that a few months ago, the fate of this world changed once again."
Chen Ran candidly spoke about witnessing Sirin and the Imaginary Tree.
He said, "The imaginary has provided a method to resurrect the dead, which is to pull them from the time before their death into another world."
"And this is precisely what you, Bishop Otto, need to do."
He knew the plot and had seen the 'deal' between Sirin and the Imaginary Tree with his own eyes.
He knew Otto would not refuse.
Chen Ran continued, "I believe that once you achieve your wish, the Schicksal of that time should no longer have a person named Otto Apocalypse."
"And Cecilia is a very good leader, isn't she?"
Otto nodded with a smile: "Your thoughts align with mine; I indeed have the intention of handing Schicksal over to Cecilia."
Theresa had never been Otto's preferred successor for Schicksal; Otto was well aware of this.
She was a good granddaughter and could be a powerful warrior.
But she could never inherit the brilliance and filth that Schicksal embodies.
Thus, the strongest Valkyries formed a squad centered around Cecilia, known as Squad Snowwolf.
This meant Cecilia had the support of both the Schariac and Kaslana families.
In fact, even in the original plot, Otto's most favored successor was Durandal.
At that time, the Immortal Blades were the same.
A good example: Alvitr was a member of the technical department of the third squad of the Immortal Blades.
This indicates that the entire Immortal Blades had at least three squads and multiple departments, all centered around Durandal.
Although in the end, the position of Schicksal Bishop was still given to Theresa, Chen Ran felt that for a long time, Otto had been nurturing Durandal as his successor.
But now, none of that mattered.
Chen Ran needed the support of Schicksal; simply put, if he returned to his original world, he could directly communicate with fifty thousand years later.
That's right; he wanted to connect the entire universe as an isolated system.
The entire universe is a four-dimensional space; matter does not appear or disappear out of thin air in this space.
However, by opening dimensions through universal connection, future people can communicate with the past, and past people can communicate with the future. Just like Sirin, they can travel back and forth.
Forcibly opening another dimension of the isolated system might not be enough to defeat Finality.
But this is similar to what Kevin executed in Project Stigma; he could rely on this to hide on the opposite side of the world when Finality descends...
Wait, could it be that I will disappear because of this?
Chen Ran dismissed all thoughts and looked at Otto.
"Since that's the case, you all can continue the discussion."
He said, "I will not interfere with the operation of Schicksal, nor will I forcefully intervene for my personal service from Schicksal."
"I can guarantee this right now, and later, if I have any requests that require Schicksal's support, I will also pay the corresponding price."
Under the gaze of Otto, Cecilia, and the others, Chen Ran left.
Wendy hurriedly caught up.
She looked at Chen Ran and couldn't help but ask, "Is it okay for you not to intervene in the next matters?"
"This is an internal affair of Schicksal; I've already intervened enough."
Chen Ran said.
"You can understand it as a habit I developed while at Fire Moth; in short, Otto and Cecilia are elders, and I am an outsider. An outsider can speak up, but how can I participate in family matters?"
He was not someone who would take advantage and go all the way.
And making such a promise was his way of being cautious, not wanting to damage the trust he had built with Cecilia.
After all, he had everything under control.
Wendy took a deep breath.
She held Chen Ran's hand: "Actually, thank you."
"When I was coming from Taixuan Mountain, I was actually a bit conflicted. If I had to choose between you and Bishop Otto, I would definitely choose you, but I couldn't just act without reservations against Bishop Otto."
"Thank you for not putting me in a difficult position."
Chen Ran couldn't help but squeeze Wendy's hand: "This is also for my own sake."
Wendy expressed her thoughts: "Actually, before, Bishop Otto asked me to tell you not to misuse the power of time travel."
Chen Ran was slightly surprised; he didn't expect Otto to have Wendy act as a mediator before.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
Otto was a person with a strong desire for control, and only Chen Ran could not be controlled.
If Chen Ran continued to travel through time and changed Kallen's fate, then Otto's actions would be meaningless.
This was Otto's reason for directly taking action against Chen Ran.
He sighed: "But understanding does not mean I forgive; I just know that in the future, Otto will not exist, so I am merely riding the wave."
"And, Wendy, there is something I might need to mention to you."
He hesitated and shared a fleeting thought he had before.
Wendy blinked: "Are you saying the real you might exist on the other side of the universal connection?"
"Mm."
He nodded: "The universal connection exists in the dimension of consciousness; perhaps this can explain why I disappeared. However, in the end, I still became a coward."
Wendy suddenly spoke: "You are not a coward; rather..."
"Chen Ran, I remember you said that a world cannot have two identical individuals. This is a very basic rule, right?"
She looked at Chen Ran, seriously saying: "Then is there a possibility that the true you disappearing is actually a necessary condition for the current you to travel through time?"
Wendy's words seemed to open another space for Chen Ran.
He momentarily dazed, suddenly embracing Wendy and kissing her.
"Mua! I understand now."
"You are right; I think I have an idea of what my future self is doing."
"I need to go back for a while."
The young man took a deep breath: "And you can rest assured to tell Otto that I will not disrupt his plans; his plans are also very useful to me."
Before Wendy could react, Chen Ran immediately communicated with the brain system.
"System, I need to forcibly exit."
[Ding, the simulation rewards will be correspondingly reduced after the host exits. Do you still want to continue exiting?]
"Continue."
To Chen Ran, the current simulation rewards were like a useless trinket.
He couldn't wait to find a way to defeat Finality, so why not ask 'future him'?
Soon, Chen Ran returned to the original world.
[Host exited the simulation scene, congratulations to the host for receiving a reward.]
[This time, the reward for the host's voluntary exit has downgraded the Soulium materials to Honkai Crystals.]
[According to the system's calculation of your consciousness carrying capacity, the best simulation time next is 12 hours later.]
When Chen Ran heard that the prize was Soulium turned into Honkai Crystals, his face turned green.
If he had known the prize was Soulium, then why did he need to exit?
After all, the value of Soulium is immense.
However, now is not the time for regrets. The first thing he needed to do was find Sirin.
Memories from number 666 merged into his brain. Since the time spent in this simulation was not long, there was actually nothing worth recording that happened.
"Thank you for your hard work, number 666."
He silently murmured to the system.
Then, in the courtyard where Eden was, Chen Ran saw Sirin training with Bianka.
Next to Sirin, Bia was braiding Bella's hair.
When Chen Ran appeared, Bianka and Sirin appropriately stopped their training.
"Is there something you need?"
Bianka asked with a frown.
Chen Ran's eyes glinted mischievously: "Have you thought about contacting Lady Cecilia?"
"Cecilia, the mother?"
Bianka's eyes flashed with a hint of astonishment and an indescribable expression.
...
...
The prerequisite for successfully constructing a global connection is Stigmata.
Although it is different from the global link constructed by Fimilis, the scene before them can indeed be called a miracle that transcends Finality.
When Durandal sensed Cecilia's information through the linked space, she was momentarily taken aback.
"What on earth is going on?"
She did not ask Cecilia but directly inquired Chen Ran.
Her brain was actually starting to receive information from Cecilia. Although there was some distance from face-to-face communication, the speed of information transmission was incredibly fast.
To put it this way, if the completeness of face-to-face information exchange is 10, then the completeness of information exchange through the global connection is like transferring a computer file to a USB drive, which is 100.
The global connection is a regional network on the dimension of consciousness, but this network directly ignores time.
"This is thanks to Sirin."
Chen Ran did not hide it, saying: "Of course, it also relates to Kiana."
Kiana is the last link in the global connection; only when she enters the global connection and returns to the future can the global connection link to the future.
With Kiana, Sirin, as the administrator of the global connection, can connect to people fifty thousand years later.
Chen Ran smiled wryly: "Although I did create this thing, to be honest, I find it hard to explain the specific principles."
Stigmata is a special Honkai constructed from consciousness. To be precise, he did not invent Stigmata; he discovered it.
So, this is actually another application of Honkai, very similar to the Project Stigma conducted with Kevin.
Through the information, Durandal also learned that Cecilia had negotiated with Otto regarding the final ownership of Schicksal.
Chen Ran paused and said: "When I return, I can consider setting up some information encryption work, but this might be a bit difficult since it's not like a computer."
"Simply put, relying on the power of Stigmata to connect everyone can at least ensure that individuals are not harmed. If everyone's powers are connected together, then their spirits may overlap, perhaps creating a miracle that transcends Finality."
He stopped his words here.
Wait, isn't this line Gray Serpent's?
Could it be that I really am Gray Serpent's father?
No way.
Durandal, however, did not suspect anything.
Because her expression had already been replaced by astonishment.
In the global connection, she sensed some familiar faces.
Sirin, Wendy... even Elysia.
Of course, the core among them was Kiana and Chen Ran.
Chen Ran was not at either end of the global connection; it seemed he was being protected. She could not receive any messages from Chen Ran.
Kiana was like a sales representative, busy running around for business.
At this rate, later Theresa, Yae Sakura, and even Rita, who only had artificial Stigmata, could also join the global connection.
Thinking of this, Durandal's gaze towards Chen Ran changed.
At the same time, Chen Ran was also pondering another matter: Will I pull more people into the global connection? Like MEI and Kevin?
The answer was obvious.
He would.
Thus, the Project Stigma based on the global connection was almost a natural progression.
Chen Ran felt Durandal's gaze and couldn't help but smile: "So, how about it? Is this a pleasant surprise?"
Durandal directly said: "Will this become the power to defeat Finality?"
"Theoretically, yes."
He said: "Just as Honkai Energy is marked with hw as a unit to indicate concentration, high concentrations of Honkai Energy can be seen as the overlap of countless Honkai, and consciousness can certainly achieve this, even its unit can be hw."
"Therefore, as long as we determine the level of Honkai Energy that Finality can control and calculate the corresponding energy level of consciousness, we can defeat Finality. This has been verified on the first generation Herrscher of Reason in the current civilization era."
Herrscher of Reason Welt Joyce relied on the power of consciousness to directly shield the Will of Honkai's control over the Herrscher.
Later, Bronya inherited the power of Herrscher of Reason from Welt Yang to construct the Moonlight Throne's six Arrays, also relying on the consciousness within her brain.
"Durandal, have I ever told you that you are the perfect product of Project Stigma?" Chen Ran said: "If anyone in this world is most likely to become the Finality in human hands, it would be you."
The reason Chen Ran was so eager to end the simulation was also because of this.
Unknowingly, he seemed to have found a way to defeat Finality.
Although this method is only theoretically feasible and has not been practiced.
But this theory is already enough to be a miracle that transcends Finality.
He said: "We can now conduct an experiment to see how much your strength can be enhanced by accommodating my or Sirin's consciousness."
...
...
Meanwhile, fifty thousand years later.
Wendy was alone at Schicksal Airport.
Chen Ran had left, but he still left his mark.
The consciousness connector named global connection began to connect everyone, and within her body, the Herrscher persona suddenly complained.
[Why are there so many messages? Can't they all be blocked?]
The Herrscher persona shared consciousness with Wendy, and because of this, the two could share numerous pieces of information from the previous civilization era.
This made her feel a bit irritable.
Originally, she could monopolize Wendy, but now she had to share with others. It was only natural to feel annoyed.
Wendy, however, did not pay attention to what the Herrscher persona said.
The benefits of the global connection that Durandal could perceive, she also realized.
A miracle achieved by overlapping powers of consciousness.
This was enough to surpass any Herrscher.
Moreover, if she could endure this overlap of consciousness, then defeating Finality would not be impossible.
If the Herrscher mastered the power of physical rules, then the power provided by the global connection was comparable to Honkai.
Just as she was lost in thought, Cecilia walked out.
"Wendy, where's Chen Ran?"
"He has already left."
Wendy looked at Cecilia and recounted her conversation with Chen Ran.
Cecilia couldn't help but frown.
At that moment, she sensed Durandal joining the global connection and couldn't help but feel delighted.
However, the current global connection did not support chat functions, so even if she wanted to express her concern, there was no way to do so.
Cecilia reined in her emotions and said: "I have already negotiated with Bishop Otto."
Wendy did not ask further, only saying: "Is everything going smoothly?"
"There are no issues. We need what he has, and he needs what we have."
Cecilia paused and said: "Next, we just need to wait for the right moment, which is when Sirin and Kiana have grown."
Wendy nodded: "I see."
Her expression showed a hint of disappointment: "I'm sorry, I couldn't be of much help."
"Don't say that. Just being here is already the best help." Cecilia couldn't help but smile.
She said: "For now, we need to handle Bishop Otto's matters first, and then deal with the World Serpent. Your authority over the World Serpent will not be disregarded, so I will need your help in many areas in the future."
Just as she finished speaking, an alarm sounded from Schicksal Headquarters.
"Lady Cecilia."
Shigure Kira's communication rang out, saying: "A severe Honkai disaster has occurred in the Coral Island area where the Equatorial Star River Ladder is located."
Cecilia's pupils constricted slightly.
She saw Shigure Kira continue: "Lord Bishop said that this disaster is intended for you to resolve, but we only need to maintain order this time, leaving the main task to our allies."
The allies of Schicksal, of course, are the World Serpent.
Wendy seemed to think of something and said: "I'll go along too. I want to try my new powers."
If the spirit of the global connection can theoretically overlap to surpass Finality, then she should be able to become stronger than before.
Cecilia thought for a moment and said: "I understand, but I have something to entrust to Sirin."
Now that she and Otto had torn their face, she wanted Sirin to go to Saint Freya first, rather than stay at Schicksal Headquarters.
At that moment, Wendy's expression became strange.
Cecilia instinctively asked: "What..."
Just as she was about to ask, she noticed Durandal transmitting new messages through the global connection.
The Seventh Herrscher from the previous civilization era had appeared.
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