If Vill-V had any intention of turning hostile toward Otto right now, she probably would have thrown back even more Shakespeare quotations.
For example: "The eye is greedy." — Macbeth.
A subtle hint that Otto had ulterior motives.
Or perhaps: "The eyes may deceive a man, but the heart never can." — Macbeth.
A suggestion that Otto should stop pretending.
Or even: "A man may wear the face of an angel while hiding himself deep within his heart."
The kind of familiar line that would make Otto draw all sorts of associations.
At present, however, Vill-V had no need to betray anyone, nor any reason to further increase Otto's interest in her.
Mm... if his affection level got too high, Otto might suddenly appear in her bath at any moment and invite her in to "warm herself up"...
Too spicy. How could anyone flirt like that? Next time, I should try inviting another cute girl that way too. Hehe.
Otto's lips curled upward.
"Hahaha, beautiful lady, it seems we will have many things to discuss."
In terms of becoming a shameless flirt, you mean.
Otto took a sip of aged Armagnac brandy, then gazed into the clear amber liquid as he continued,
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more."
"In that case, why not let the audience watch a little longer? A performer's life may continue through the noise and applause."
Anyone seeing Otto like this could tell the man carried countless stories within him.
Otto... your life only became so unbearably long because the audience watched you for far too long...
For the sake of Kallen Kaslana's gaze, you abandoned ethics.
For Kallen's expectations of the "great inventor."
For the gaze of the people, you overthrew the old Schicksal.
For the gaze of the Valkyries, you established the new Schicksal.
Otto's stage appeared magnificent and grand.
But in truth... the only audience he ever cared about was Kallen.
And once Kallen was gone, only the actor remained upon the stage...
Dancing meaninglessly alone.
Otto's stage looked glorious beyond compare. He seemed like the darling of the spotlight.
But inside, Otto was hollow.
Like a clown.
...
So stop trying to drag me down there with you. I refuse to become some kind of clown!
Vill-V could tell Otto was once again using the same approach he had used while bathing with Welt.
He wanted to pass Schicksal on to someone else.
Otto was choosing the next clown to take his place upon the stage.
Which is exactly why I refuse to become a clown!
Otto, just manage Schicksal properly, beat some sense into your two daughters, then smile peacefully while watching Kallen and Yae Sakura live happily ever after!
"You are correct."
Dressed as the Magician, Vill-V removed her top hat, covered it with a napkin, then declared,
"In that case, I sincerely recommend the Magician's 'Noisy Armament.'"
Vill-V pulled a loudspeaker from inside the hat. After fiddling with several switches, Otto's image was projected from the speaker horn, accompanied by absurd electronic music and the exaggerated narration style of a clickbait media channel:
"Look carefully. This man is named Otto Apocalypse... and he has decided to die..."
Mm.
It truly captured that chaotic, attention-grabbing clickbait energy.
Even the nearby Valkyrie Reanna found herself wanting to hear what exactly had happened to Otto Apocalypse to make him decide to die.
"No, no, no. That is not the kind of noise and attention I meant."
Otto showed no emotional reaction whatsoever to the loudspeaker announcing his death. Shaking his head, he lifted his wrist slightly, revealing the golden cross wrapped around it.
The deafening electronic beat filling the restaurant instantly vanished.
That dazzling golden cross was the imitation Judas.
Before meeting Vill-V, Otto had already chosen to wear it on his wrist.
Which also meant that from the moment Vill-V met Otto, she no longer had any opportunity to reconsider and leave.
Without drawing attention to it, Otto let the imitation Judas slip once more beneath his loose sleeve.
His relaxed expression made it seem as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.
Seeing no visible reaction from Vill-V, he continued:
"Even a performer must follow the script of the fool. Only stories born from genuine emotion can move the hearts of the audience."
Vill-V tilted her head like an innocent young girl, pretending not to understand Otto's meaning.
"No matter how long a person lives, it's difficult to truly understand what their heart desires, isn't it?"
"Hehe. Wealth, power, strength, beauty... humanity creates desires endlessly. Even the immortal sages of Shenzhou possess desires of their own."
"This is humanity's logic of action. One cannot escape it, nor is there any need to."
Otto folded his gloved hands together before him and gazed directly into Vill-V's beautiful eyes as he asked gently,
"So then, Miss Vill-V... could you explain what it is you desire right now?"
"If possible, I would like to present you with a most sincere gift... as a token of our first meeting."
Can I present you with the most sincere slap across the face imaginable instead?
The image of Kallen giving Otto three vicious slaps made Vill-V's palms itch.
Mm. The thinking of stubborn old men could only be corrected through heavy slapping.
Kevin was like that.
Otto was like that.
Siegfried was like that too.
A long-standing MiHoYo tradition.
Every man gets slapped eventually.
Still... Otto's current body was made of soulium.
If I punched him, my hand would definitely hurt more. Better forget it.
Though Otto's words sounded generous, this was actually an extremely direct form of probing.
Otto's gifts were never easy to accept.
Vill-V was not Theresa.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Especially not the kind of "any wish granted" gift package promised by Uncle Otto...
Those red envelopes were stuffed full of Honkai Fission Missiles.
Besides, taking things out of this world probably would not be easy either.
According to the Expert's research, this place was not a bubble world in the ordinary sense.
It possessed far too many characteristics of a true world.
Or perhaps more accurately...
This world lacked nearly all the traits normally associated with bubble worlds in the Sea of Quanta.
Vill-V still had no idea what this world truly was, nor had she figured out how to return.
Under those circumstances, how could she even think about carrying things back with her?
She had to consider not only herself, but this world as well.
What if taking something away from this bizarre place caused the entire world to collapse?
Repeating Cheng Xin behavior was absolutely unacceptable.
...
In any case...
First, prepare a bag big enough to hold Uncle Otto's red envelopes.
The bigger, the better.
Time to collect those red envelopes!