Chapter 517: Opening Scene Playback: Otto Charges the Tree

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Flames swept across the sky as the withered World-Tree crackled and burned.

Scorching winds howled, carrying the acrid stench of smoke; the fiery glow dyed the snowfield a fresh, vivid red.

"Black Tower, why are you here too?" Xing asked, puzzled at the delicate, adorable doll girl.

Her proud violet eyes reflected the burning giant tree; hearing Xing's question, she turned and said, "The company invited me. And I wouldn't miss any chance for a nearby field trip like this."

Xing nodded.

Then she heard the other ask again: "How did it go with what I asked you last time?"

Xing paused, then remembered—the thing she'd been asked to find out about Lu Mingfei's technique.

Forgot it.

Xing said offhandedly, "The materialization stance of human mental phenomena."

"Does such a thing exist?" Black Tower crossed her arms. "Fine, since he's here anyway, I'll ask him myself when I get the chance."

Kleine and Lu Mingfei slowly materialized from the air; the Xianzhou star barge streaked across the heavens like a meteor. One after another, many gathered on this initial landing island, the Beginner Isle.

Xing looked around and noticed a pair of siblings, their features similar and attire luxurious, standing among the crowd; what made them stand out was their breathtaking beauty, and the magnificent halos and feathered ear ornaments that framed them in holy radiance.

Come to think of it, the Heavenly Fire Divine Judgment was also something she picked up.

Never mind. Don't think about it anymore.

Just one glance gave a sense of peace; goodwill arose naturally.

Rosetta stared blankly at Jingyuan, wondering if exposing her had some other motive.

Walter's voice held no emotion: "No."

It was hard to imagine Lu Mingfei linked to the word "science."

After a moment of stillness, a hundred voices echoed in unison.

"You should get yourself treated too," Topa groaned.

Sandgold smiled, then turned to the crowd, raising his hand and shouting: "All for the God of Light!"

"Uncle Yang, why do you feel older?"

"We'll talk later," Black Tower said.

"Just a joke—I'm only expressing admiration."

A weary sigh rose.

Even with Qiong here, why was I left out?

Qiong, take me with you.

If I came along, I wouldn't have to face San Yueqi and Kleine, and I could build my own World Serpent and experience being a secret organization leader.

Amid these scattered thoughts, Xing's mind wandered far, gazing at the Robin who noticed his gaze and smiled back; he murmured: "Why do birds fly?"

Walter seemed slightly younger, encouraging: "You can take anyone."

The entire crowd erupted!

Remembering he had to stay here and face fate's arrangement, Xing thought of the three who had enjoyed their time-travel adventure—and felt life was too hard; even their girl group retreat didn't invite him.

"Uh"

Walter hesitated, for even now he couldn't tell whether this youngest member of the train trio was or wasn't Kevin's counterpart.

"The Chaos Physician Treatment Team has been assembled and just arrived in Belobog," Sandgold scanned the faces present, paused for a second on Xing's, then crossed his arms and looked at Rosetta with a peculiar tone:

"Oh my, I never thought I'd see the Living Bishop in person—what an honor! Long live Tianmingzhu Sect!"

Xing turned back and found Walter watching him; beneath his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes revealed unmistakable exhaustion.

"My Lord!" Several employees of the Interstellar Peace Corporation rushed toward Rosetta, their eyes filled with fanaticism.

The scale of this incident is too exaggerated.

Unjust calamity.

Topa was barely holding it together too; this had already been filtered once, yet there were still stragglers.

Black Tower nodded, then added him, amid Lu Mingfei's slightly embarrassed expression.

It's foreseeable that after this incident, regardless of whether I am or am not the historical Tianmingzhu Sect Bishop, my actions elsewhere will surely be affected.

"Why not take Danheng?" Xing asked curiously.

I hope this special event dungeon is fine. No—I hope I'm fine.

Topa arrived with a man smiling broadly, dressed in flamboyant attire: "Thanks to your help, we've uncovered the Tianmingzhu Sect believers hidden among the staff."

Before, it might've been dismissed as a joke—but now even Otto has shown up.

"Sorry, their self-perception is a bit off."

Walter forced a gentle smile: "Philosophical questions and matters of salvation—leave those to our lord."

"When you have free time, go out and have fun with Little San Yue."

"You"

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei widened his eyes, pointing at himself: "Me?"

"What about him?" Xing pointed at Rosetta, who was being escorted by the crowd.

When Rosetta appeared, the entire crowd froze; after a brief silence, gasps and uproar erupted in waves.

But before these people could run even a few steps, other employees instantly knocked them down and efficiently dragged them away.

"Why did the version jump?" Xing scratched his head, puzzled.

"Over there—add your contact," Black Tower said to Lu Mingfei.

This game was originally called "Honkai: Star Rail Without Qiong."

"All for the God of Light!!!"

"Hurry up, take them all away."

Sha Jin instructed the fully armed corporate armed squad: "Before every player logs off, use this slogan as a check."

Jing Yuan smiled helplessly; fortunately, the Xianzhou side maintained strict discipline, and no similar incidents had occurred.

"Make way, let us in—we're from Xianzhou!"

Gui Naifen, with the gentlemanly help of the Round Table Knights, successfully squeezed through with Li Sushang: "Thanks, everyone!"

Weigong Shilang asked Xing: "Xing, what's up with those Spirits that look so different?"

"The Aether Spirit in Su Lin's Aether Coins," Xing said. "After his deck got banned, he gave it to me. I summoned them out to help search for the Divine Key."

"." Weigong Shilang opened his mouth but fell silent.

The Spirit bodies are made of Aether; calling them Aether Spirits isn't wrong.

"General, hello, I'm his friend," Li Sushang greeted, then gasped: "Rasha, you're really Otto?! You've really lived five thousand years?!"

"Miss Li Sushang, there's some misunderstanding here," Rasha replied calmly.

Li Sushang retorted:

"What's there to be shy about admitting? It's amazing! By the way, does your Church of Destiny still need part-timers? From what I've heard online, your Church of Destiny even has a position called Valkyrie."

Jing Yuan: "."

Rasha: "."

Walter: "."

The information in this Memory Domain updates by the second; the news about the Church of Destiny having Valkyries was just seen by Li Sushang in a post from another explorer.

"Alright, everyone, save the small talk for later."

Topaz spoke: "Before we begin, I must apologize on behalf of the company. This matter should have been handled by Diamond, but he's on his way, so he's entrusted us, the 'Stoneheart Ten,' to act on his behalf."

Jing Yuan said: "Say what you need to. I'm sure everyone is curious—why issue this invitation now?"

"Enough wasting time—I'll explain."

Heta looked at the group and pointed to the flame tree radiating intense heat: "They found a device on top, but it's missing a key item. Perhaps you can help gather it."

Device? Key item?

Xing was puzzled, but the other didn't intend to tease—she waved and boarded a ship first.

"This way, move quickly."

Without hesitation, starting with the company, others who received the invitation gradually boarded the ship.

Walter paused, thought for a moment, and invited Li Sushang: "Miss Li Sushang, would you like to come along?"

"Really?!" Li Sushang hadn't expected to be invited.

"Not necessary," Heta said. "Everyone will know what's happening up there soon enough."

Li Sushang scratched her head awkwardly: "Heh, then never mind—I'll just stay down here and watch the show."

Walter gave a slight nod.

Soon, the ship launched, soaring toward the clouds.

"Didn't expect you'd find this place?"

"A masked Fool who wanted to experience being consumed by fire discovered it. You know him—Mr. Giovanni."

This withered giant tree, burning endlessly as if it could never be fully consumed, had a temperature measured at the state of a main-sequence star at its death.

But strangely, the temperature inside the tree differed from that outside, and it was precisely because of this tree's burning that the planet received sufficient heat.

What most people hadn't anticipated was that, at the tree's peak, beneath the flames, lay a vast open area enclosed by a unique radiant protective barrier.

"This isn't a tree. Strictly speaking, it's part of some living being."

Heta spoke words that stirred curiosity yet were hard to grasp: "Xing, look over there."

The puppet's distinctly jointed fingers pointed between a high-backed Wang Zuo and a plastic folding chair.

A machine.

Xing: "."

How to put it?

That thing looked familiar.

"Doesn't it look familiar?" Heta asked. "I dropped a few Heta commemorative coins in—no reaction."

A coin-operated surprise machine, a simulation universe-exclusive immersive lottery device—but perhaps now, a Light Commemorative Coin should be used.

Xing stepped forward, pulled out a Light Commemorative Coin redeemable for Revival Coins and resources from Su Lin, and dropped it in.

Gulu gulu

It slid in—no reaction.

Dong—!

Xing pulled out a bat and smashed it directly onto the machine, prompting San Yueqi to rush forward in alarm: "Stop! This thing clearly looks like a key item?!"

Heta spoke calmly: "Later, I analyzed it and found it requires this."

She pulled out a golden Memory Bubble, walked to the lottery machine, and dropped it in—instantly, the machine radiated holy light.

The surroundings shifted, as if entering another space.

"Holographic projection?"

The scene showed an assassin driving a weapon into Bishop Otto. Otto didn't dodge—he seemed utterly unaware.

In a flash, the pink-haired woman threw herself in front of Otto.

"Why?"

"Cough! Fool, how could I bear to see you hurt... You and Kallen must be happy. Forget me."

The golden Memory Bubble's holographic projection was brief and ended quickly, freezing on its final moment.

Hei Ta introduced: "This device can project the images inside the memory bubbles, and play them in sync with the tree's flames—I suspect it was made by the Star God Aha."

They've likely already noticed the simulated universe created by you geniuses.

Lu Mingfei: "Shit."

Miss Kelaien: "Damn."

Walter: "Indeed."

He took a deep breath, picked up his phone, took a photo, and sent it to Void Ten Thousand Treasures.

Unfortunately, there was no signal—the transmission failed.

"As you've seen, these memory bubbles originate from special individuals; they don't shatter easily, and only this machine can play them. But I have no interest in archaeology—I'm only interested in the Divine Keys."

Hei Ta said succinctly: "I have another special memory bubble here."

She continued playback.

New shoots sprout, withered leaves fall; countless births and endings unfold in the boundless universe. Now, imagine a tree—the Numeral Tree. It comes from the Quantum Sea. It is a Dusk Primordial Beast.

That was Otto standing on a floating island, recording his analysis of the planet's myths and the "Black God."

It mentioned the Numeral Tree, the Quantum Sea, the Dusk Primordial Beast—the planet's original god, Rod—and several other critical pieces of information.

"The hypothesis of the Numeral Tree was proposed by Zandar, and this theory has certain flaws in today's academic circles."

Hei Ta analyzed: "But from Otto's tone and these contents, something very interesting seems to have happened on this planet."

Dan Heng asked: "Is it really safe to share this information with us?"

"Are you about to assign us some troublesome mission?" Xing glanced at Topa, suspiciously: "My fees aren't low."

San Yueqi sighed: "Don't get stuck in money."

Topa shook his head, exchanged a glance with Sand Gold, then explained to everyone.

In fact, the deeper they dug into the history of this memory domain planet, the more shocked the company's senior leadership became.

Originally, their goal was value discovery and research into the Joy Star God's intentions—but later, they discovered that on this planet, a fertile race called Viless had mastered technology to control reproduction, and fused it with the Blessing of Fertility.

When they found the Dark Shadow of the Fertility Envoy in a temple deep within a mountain abyss, the nature of the situation underwent a fundamental, transformative change.

Since the fall of Fertility, not a single race or faction in all of the Amber Eras has turned reproduction into a controllable weapon.

The product of Fertility fused with Fertility.

What does that mean?

A threat capable of triggering a second Cosmic Locust Disaster at any moment.

"The corporate spirit of Interstellar Peace Corporation has never changed since its inception."

Topa placed his right hand over his left chest, solemnly: "Devote everything to the 'Amber King.'"

"I understand. So, to jointly supervise this matter, any faction or individual who acquires the relevant technology must surrender it?" Jing Yuan smiled.

As a precaution, they must inspect every player's findings.

Interstellar Peace Corporation initiated the event and was the first to claim the title of developer—so they bear the blame, but not all these factions are willing to be controlled.

In short, they need allies.

But from a broader perspective, the other side is right—if such technology truly exists, it must be destroyed or sealed, not allowed to leak.

Sand Gold spoke to Miss Kelaien: "These two Envoys, would you and your other friends be willing to join this cosmic protection effort?"

Of all current forces, the one with the greatest influence and hardest to coordinate is neither Xianzhou nor the likes of the Annihilation Gang.

It is this group of Envoys—whose origins, nature, and goals are unknown.

"No problem—they've agreed too."

Kleine, live-streaming, pulled out a golden memory bubble and walked toward the machine: "Let's try this one first."

Finding Su Lin is the greatest protection for this universe.

Amen, do something useful.

Kleine made the sign of the cross over his chest, hoping this memory bubble—possibly sent directly to them—would yield useful information.

"The Holy Maiden gave everything for the people, yet received only shackles and a noose."

The scene showed a man in a suit and leather boots walking across a crimson desert: "Once a person is reduced to ashes, they cannot be brought back to life."

"Dude, you're really going for it?" Lu Mingfei muttered.

Xing sighed enviously: "I want to go too."

Just after Void Ten Thousand Treasures completed a jump aboard his spaceship, people who saw his face suddenly knelt and cried out, "My Lord Bishop!"

Damn it—what did Otto Apocallis do in this universe?

He had no choice but to pause what he was doing and head toward the distant Piconi or Yalilo.

According to current intelligence, only the Kong Dongs in these two locations offer relatively safe access to that special memory domain.

Along the way, he briefly scanned the constantly updated player information online.

"Otto and Baizhong?"

What are these things?

Vast amounts of information mixed together—though for him, processing it all wasn't difficult.

He skimmed through it at lightning speed until he saw a streamer named 【Xiao Guizi guinevere】, with a title: "Shocking! Otto Is Alive Again!"

Void Ten Thousand Treasures fell silent for a moment, then finally clicked into that clickbait livestream.

He saw a blood-red desert and a golden-haired man in a white Sui Xifu, sword in hand, charging toward a tree of intertwined black-and-white light. In his hand was a golden hexahedron, transforming into various weapons.

(End of Chapter)

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