Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

Shu had been quite shocked, but seeing Otto's expression, which resembled someone praising a child for correctly answering one plus one, he simply rolled his eyes.

I have reason to suspect this is Otto's petty revenge for me demanding answers without thinking.

Guys, be warned, Otto's not someone you want to get close to. He's too petty.

Otto, having finished his little performance, withdrew his hand and continued his analysis based on the conclusions he'd drawn from these fragmented thoughts.

"Precisely because the enemy doesn't understand the [soul] and remains deeply secretive about consciousness, he dares to enhance any part of his body except his brain…

"His evolution is bidirectional. He can't guarantee that all evolutions are 'positive' evolutions, which is why he's so obsessed with those grotesque, deformed creatures and every evolutionary path they exhibit.

"He's also trial-and-erroring, trying to find the optimal evolutionary path…"

"Unfortunately, he hasn't found the evolutionary direction related to intelligence and the brain." Otto chuckled softly. "None of the deformed creatures he created possess high intelligence. He has no reference samples."

"Therefore, he doesn't dare to tamper with his own brain. He's afraid, afraid that his 'evolved' self will no longer be himself, afraid that a 'more intelligent self' will replace him.

"Just like he's afraid that the thoughts contained within the newly regrown brain aren't his own. After all, none of the brain cells are original; therefore, Theseus is no longer Theseus." [Reference to the Ship of Theseus paradox]

Shu understood. He understood completely now.

The enemy was more afraid of death than he'd imagined! So afraid of death that he wouldn't even allow himself to become "stronger"!

[Vakh] wasn't perfect. He was just a Herrscher who, terrified of "death," desperately piled on layers of armor for himself. He was an ordinary person who built an impenetrable fortress for himself, then lay down inside and waited to die.

And the Divine Key, Fenghuang Down, was the tool that could drag this useless ordinary person out of that fortress and force a "Hollywood-style one-on-one duel" with Shu!

That was why Otto believed that even Shu in his current state could easily defeat [Vakh] within Fenghuang Down!

How could Shu, who was still bouncing around after experiencing so much, be weaker than this cowardly, death-fearing Herrscher?

Of course, the previous "dies-in-the-light" Shu didn't count... Even Hawking, with his wheelchair, would be killed by an ordinary person in a fight.

Shu listened intently. After Otto's analysis, he suddenly felt his confidence surge.

The [Hope] within him hadn't recovered much, only less than half of what it was before, barely enough for one targeted use of Fenghuang Down…

"However."

Just as Shu began to contemplate what kind of attack he should use to crush [Vakh 2.0]'s consciousness, Otto suddenly spoke.

These two words told Shu that Otto was about to start pouring cold water on his newfound enthusiasm.

Indeed, he really needed to calm down now…

"All of this is based on the premise that [the Herrscher cannot, or dares not, evolve his consciousness]." Otto's smile vanished.

"If, during the battle in Fenghuang Down, the enemy, with no way out, adopts a 'fight to the death' mentality, the possibility of a positive evolution in a desperate struggle is quite high."

Shu: "…"

I asked you to help me calm down, not to freeze me solid!

You just analyzed all that, and now you're telling me it's a pseudo-proposition with a hidden precondition?!

Is it that I'm actually going to die, and you volunteered to cheer me up and send me off on my final journey?

Well, you succeeded in making me laugh.

While his mind raced with a torrent of complaints, Shu remained quiet in reality, crossing his arms over his chest and lying back down as if he were in a coffin. This was his silent protest.

If this were before, he would have yelled and screamed and broken down, but now he just wanted to protest silently.

After all, this kind of protest wouldn't waste too much energy, and a raging outburst would only tire him out.

"Such a situation isn't unavoidable." Looking at the "peacefully deceased" Shu, Otto smiled wryly. "The Herrscher's weakness is their core. Severing the connection between their consciousness and their core isn't impossible."

"Couldn't the Taixu Sword God do that?" Otto suggested with a smile.

Shu glanced sideways at the smiling Otto and curled his lip. "Do you think I can use the Taixu Sword God again? I was only able to use it last time because of so many coincidences. Can you prepare those conditions for me?"

Otto shook his head. He really couldn't help Shu gather so many conditions in a short time.

After all, it took several years just to cultivate a generation of the Seven Swords of Taixu.

"Then, what about a reduced-output Taixu Sword God?" Otto asked again. He genuinely didn't know if Shu could do it.

Shu thought for a moment. "A significantly reduced-output Taixu Sword God could do it, but with reduced output…"

"That's enough. As long as it has that effect." Otto received a satisfactory answer. "We don't need to sever the connection permanently, we just need a small pair of scissors to remove the Herrscher's last piece of clothing.

"Even if they have the ability to put the clothes back on, we just need to do it at the right moment to cause them a social death, achieving the desired effect." Otto deliberately used an abstract metaphor to lighten the mood.

Your metaphors… are certainly vivid.

Shu shivered, looking at Otto's gentle face.

This guy must be a devil… no, this guy is a devil!

"So how do we make him only wear one piece of clothing?" Shu continued with the metaphor. "He wants to wear two sets of body armor, and he actually has that many clothes…"

Otto smiled and reached out, taking a pen and paper from the side. Watching Otto's movements, Shu propped himself up and sat up in bed.

"If I remember correctly, the Herrscher described to you the consumption he experienced when he made you [evolve], right?"

Shu recalled and nodded, "Yeah, he said it took quite a lot to change my body…"

"Wait, you're not suggesting I use [Hope] to directly offset his energy, are you?!" Shu suddenly realized, looking at Otto's subtle expression.

"Are you crazy, or am I crazy?!" Shu finally lost his composure. "That's a Herrscher! The kind with a core! Who knows how much Honkai energy he can mobilize? Is the little bit of [Hope] I have now even enough to fill the gaps in his teeth?

"Not to mention I also need to prepare for the Might of An-Utu and Fenghuang Down!"

"Perhaps we have a better way?" Otto smiled and held out the paper in his hand.

A line of large characters had been written on it.

It was in Chinese.

Shu closed his mouth and looked at it carefully.

"I don't understand. Explain."

Shu looked at the sentence over and over, finally discerning three words from between the lines—Riddle Man.

...

Otto, as if expecting this, began to explain to Shu.

"Try this…"

A full half-hour later, Shu wore an expression of sudden realization mixed with shock, giving Otto a thumbs-up while maintaining that expression.

"If you ever get infected with Honkai energy, remember to kill yourself... I'm afraid of you becoming a Herrscher..."

Otto: "..."