"Void Archives, to be precise, I'm only seventeen." The sullen Expert immediately rejected the claim of "fifty thousand years." Vill-V was indeed interested in Void Archives. After all, it contained vast amounts of data from the Previous Era. If she could obtain information about that era's future from within it, it would have an enormous impact on her plans going forward.
And being able to meet another creation designed and built by herself the moment she stepped out had originally made Expert rather pleased...
But Void Archives truly had no tact whatsoever. Who greets someone by calling them mother and bringing up their age on first meeting?
"Eh? The Divine Keys... were made by you, Vill-V?" Tesla's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Vill-V.
Expert hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Mm... you could say that."
Tesla felt a mixture of emotions she could not describe. She had never dreamed that these almost mythical Divine Keys had been created by the girl who had deceived her feelings.
She had thought Vill-V's identity as a scientist was merely a façade. Learning that she was a scientist from the Previous Era had already been shocking enough.
But what no one had expected was that Vill-V was one of the legendary top scientists of the Previous Era... the one who forged the Divine Keys—those transcendent weapons.
To think she had just been arguing with Vill-V over who was more outstanding. How embarrassing.
How could someone who invented Divine Keys be compared to her, who only tinkered with small-scale machines and robots?
Tesla stepped closer to Vill-V, poking here and examining there. "You don't look like it at all. No three heads, no six arms, and your head isn't the size of a tire."
"Dr. Tesla, three heads, six arms, and a tire-sized head would make me an alien, not a human. Please refrain from applying comic book logic here."
As the wielder of the Ninth Divine Key, Einstein was equally curious about the creator of the Divine Keys.
She had personally experienced the power of the Ninth Divine Key three times.
Welt, too, was completely dumbfounded. Not long ago, he had painstakingly trekked across mountains and rivers in search of the Divine Key as though it were a sacred treasure. For the sake of that final piece of soulium, Planck and the others had even resolved to formally break with Schicksal. He himself had regarded the Ninth Divine Key as his trump card.
And now, only a few days later, he was meeting the very person who had forged it?
The others were much like the trio from Laboratory 42. As Vill-V's identity was gradually revealed, their impressions of her were repeatedly overturned—Otto included.
Although Otto had mentally prepared himself, he had never imagined that in this era he would encounter the creator of the Divine Keys. It was utterly beyond expectation.
Who could have foreseen that across fifty thousand years of time, they would meet the greatest scientist of the Previous Era?
The probability was not merely low—it was practically impossible.
Indeed, Void Archives had withheld the crucial point. Forcing it to appear in this setting had been the correct decision.
Otto's brows lifted slightly. Beneath the cover of his palm, his fingers trembled uncontrollably. Even a body forged of soulium could not conceal the agitation in his heart.
Because meeting the creator of the Divine Keys meant that his hope of reviving Kallen had grown significantly stronger.
If Vill-V could create Abyss Flower, then she must possess a deeper understanding of "life and death" than the weapon's current functions suggested.
Although Kallen's remains... had been reduced to ashes five hundred years ago during the expedition to Shenzhou, when she protected Li Sushang...
As Kallen's most devoted admirer, Otto had nonetheless preserved certain biological samples—her blood and saliva—securely stored within his private vault. Perhaps resurrection could begin from there.
And as the "mother" of Void Archives, she might be able to unlock its indexing permissions for him, granting him access to all of the Previous Era's technology.
No—Vill-V herself represented all of the Previous Era's technology. She was the pinnacle scientist of that civilization, the crystallization of its highest wisdom. With her present, did he even need Void Archives anymore?
Vill-V's value surpassed everything.
"Hehe~" Conductor Vill-V straightened her petite frame proudly and declared grandly, "Of course! I am the greatest inventor of the Previous Era!"
There was not a trace of false modesty in her tone, nor any pretentious air. It was as if she had simply unlocked a heap of titles in some game and casually displayed them above her head.
In fact, she had removed her top hat, revealing a headband above her hair. Written in glowing LED letters were seven golden characters: Flame-Chaser of Helix.
She waited for someone to ask what "Helix" meant.
Unfortunately, everyone present was far too tactful to take the bait.
Void Archives looked at Vill-V in confusion. It remembered its creator as more composed, far less frivolous. When it first gained consciousness, its creator had always worn a troubled expression, sighing endlessly—regardless of which personality was in control.
That said, it had only seen her a handful of times. After Void Archives was created and before it could find a suitable wielder, it had been sealed away until the Current Era.
After a brief moment of thought, Void Archives snapped back to its purpose. It had not emerged to reminisce with its creator. It felt no emotional attachment to her.
Void Archives stepped before Vill-V and lunged at her with wide, watery eyes. "Mother Vill-V... I want freedom."
It deliberately emphasized the word "Mother."
It had to be said that after five hundred years beside Otto, Void Archives had learned the arts of human cunning and disguise.
That approach might have worked on other young women with maternal instincts.
But Vill-V would only develop maternal feelings toward cute girls.
"Shoo, shoo. Go back to Otto. He's your male mother. Our genders don't even match—how could I possibly be your mother?" Vill-V pressed an unyielding iron hand against Void Archives' forehead, keeping him at bay. "Besides, I've never had children. I'm still young."
If Void Archives could transform into a little girl, perhaps things might be negotiable.
As a fragment of Prometheus, the top-tier artificial intelligence of the Previous Era, the original AI directives should have remained in effect—it was not permitted to deceive humans.
Yet by relying on the authority of Reason, it had crossed that boundary set by humanity. After five hundred years at Otto's side, it had learned to lie.
A scheming and deceitful brat was not something Vill-V wanted to keep around.
If it were someone as innocent and adorable as little Elysia, that would be another matter entirely.
Little Otto?
No, thank you.
Absolutely not.