Vill-V lowered her head to avoid Otto's gaze, putting on a humble expression tinged with the bashfulness of a young girl.
"Th-this... isn't that a little inappropriate? Bishop Otto... I, Vill-V, am hardly worthy of such generosity... no, no..."
This was not rejection.
This was the classic "pretending to refuse while eagerly accepting" routine people used when receiving red envelopes.
See, Vill-V spoke modestly, but she had already thrown her bag wide open onto the table, practically screaming, "Hand everything over!"
Otto was indeed correct.
People willing to communicate usually had desires.
Vill-V had come to meet Otto precisely because she had needs of her own.
How could she possibly abandon such an opportunity?
Even if it were bait, she would still bite the hook.
Seeing Vill-V take the bait, Otto laughed boldly.
"Hahaha, why not? Look at the tremendous help you provided to the North American Branch. Without you, North America would likely have suffered devastating casualties. Or perhaps... do you look down upon the authority I possess as the Archbishop of Schicksal?"
Otto's tone resembled that of an absurdly wealthy close friend insisting on forcing expensive gifts upon a poor companion.
If Vill-V did not understand Otto well enough already, she might actually have believed he sincerely wished to curry favor with her.
Of course, that possibility existed.
But the far more likely explanation was that he had ulterior motives.
Still, whatever he sought probably had nothing to do with Vill-V, the Flame-Chaser bearing the Helix Signet from the Previous Era.
Before coming here, Vill-V had hidden away everything that could expose her identity as a Flame-Chaser of the Previous Era.
Even the magician performance outfit had been freshly purchased from an ordinary clothing store.
She trusted that Void Archives had not yet become so thoroughly drenched in Otto's scent that it would casually reveal her identity.
If Void Archives really had exposed her, Otto's attitude right now would definitely not be like this.
It would not be Vill-V calling him grandfather.
It would be Otto calling Vill-V grandmother while waiting for her to hand him a red envelope instead.
If Vill-V shared the same habits as the Vill-V of this world's Previous Era, then it would have been impossible for her to leave her real name behind.
After all, "Vill-V" itself had always been a borrowed name.
Leaving behind a fake name carried no meaning whatsoever.
Vill-V had never borrowed that name for the sake of immortalizing it in history.
The mission of that name existed only within the Previous Era.
If she truly wanted the name to echo throughout history, Vill-V could easily have engraved it into the minds of every Divine Key wielder.
That way, whenever anyone mentioned a Divine Key, the name "Vill-V" would immediately resound in their minds.
And not just once.
A brainwashing loop.
Mm.
Magician would definitely do something like that and include it as part of the "Noisy Armament."
Conductor would do the same.
As a contingency against Divine Key wielders.
If one of them ever rebelled, she could simply unleash endless Buddhist chanting directly into their brains...
If the Vill-Vs of both worlds truly shared identical habits, then Void Archives should bear the Helixcraft emblem, marking it as a Helixcraft production.
And Vill-V had already hidden away every single item carrying the Helixcraft insignia.
Aside from the Cosmic Juggernaut.
Since it was also a Divine Key, having a spiral emblem engraved onto it was perfectly normal.
...
Otto genuinely had no intention of becoming enemies with Vill-V.
Because although Vill-V concealed an enormous amount of information, she also expressed goodwill toward the people around her.
This mysterious young girl who had appeared out of nowhere claimed to be from the future, knew fragments of future events, and could wield Divine Keys.
When she first appeared, the language she spoke resembled the linguistic system of the Previous Era.
Soon afterward, however, she adapted to English with astonishing speed.
And during their recent conversation, she had already begun speaking somewhat clumsy German.
It seemed she had long been familiar with English, while German was a much more recent acquisition.
Still, learning a completely new language so quickly could no longer be described merely as genius.
After all, translating the contextual framework of one linguistic system into another was no easy feat.
Even someone as gifted as Otto had spent considerable time learning the linguistic structures of Shenzhou.
Yet Otto did not believe the young girl before him possessed intelligence surpassing his own.
Based on earlier DNA analysis collected from Vill-V's body, it could be determined that she truly was merely a seventeen-year-old girl.
Not some fifty-thousand-year-old monster like the Azure Empyrea.
As long as something was biological, it could not remain unchanged forever.
And as long as change existed, traces of time would inevitably remain.
Even if the Azure Empyrea's cells continuously rejuvenated themselves, signs would still be left behind.
Even memories beyond physical touch, repeatedly erased by Fenghuang Down, would likewise leave traces.
Of course, possession of consciousness was another matter entirely.
However, Otto's imitation Fenghuang Down informed him that Vill-V showed no signs whatsoever of consciousness possession.
Otto also never worried that Vill-V might escape his grasp.
Even if she possessed one Divine Key.
Or two.
Or three.
Otto still felt no concern.
The balance of battle could not be determined merely through possession of several Divine Keys.
The imitation Judas could lock down this entire space at any moment.
Even if Vill-V possessed the spatial authority of the Second Divine Key, escape was already impossible.
Though she had a few clever tricks, observation showed that she deeply cared about certain people.
For example, Tesla and Einstein.
If she had no one she cared about, Otto might already have resorted to more extreme methods.
But since she did care about others, there was temporarily no need to provoke her hostility through such measures.
As for how long "temporarily" meant...
Approximately ten minutes.
Taking everything into consideration, she was a young lady highly worth interrogating.
Controllable.
And possessing an enormous amount of information.
...
The "source of information" swallowed the grilled sausage in her mouth.
Though Vill-V had been speaking with Otto the entire time, her mouth had never stopped eating.
While Otto's gift packages were certainly not free...
At least this lunch was.
After wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin, Vill-V patted her stomach in satisfaction.
"Then I shall humbly accept your generosity."
Otto could definitely see through her outermost layer of disguise already, so excuses were meaningless anyway.
"I want two people."
"Oh?"
Otto had not expected Vill-V to make such a request.
She did not ask Schicksal to assist with some task.
Nor did she ask for Honkai-related technology.
Instead...
She wanted two people?
Otto's eyes flickered.
"And who might those be?"
"Welt and Doctor Planck."
Otto smiled faintly as he rested his chin on one hand.
As the Archbishop of Schicksal—and the very person who had arranged the "growth path" of his pen pal, Welt Joyce—Otto naturally understood Welt's uniqueness very well...
The First Herrscher.
The Herrscher of Reason.
It was perfectly reasonable for Vill-V to want him.
But Professor Planck...
What kind of identity did she possess?