Lin Wei had many things to do.
For example, solving Yae Sakura's Stigmata problem, finding a solution to Yuno's hidden danger, and preparing for the next, even more intense clashes with Otto...
To put it bluntly, projecting his own thoughts, since he couldn't trust Otto, Otto must be sharpening his knives in secret, so he couldn't let his guard down.
He would project his own thoughts onto Otto, and Otto would project his thoughts onto Lin Wei. This was a chain of suspicion that, once started, would never end, inevitably escalating the conflict to an unimaginable level in a short time, until it was broken by an irreversible clash.
Although both sides had temporarily "shaken hands and made peace," the next conflict wouldn't be far off.
And the next conflict would probably be difficult to end peacefully...
Lin Wei estimated that after the final ownership of the Second Divine Key was decided, the soft thud of it landing in Otto's pocket would undoubtedly be the starting gun for the next round of the "race."
This wouldn't take long, maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks, a blink of an eye.
Moreover, after several rounds of confrontation, he was now almost an open book to Otto, except for Yae Sakura's existence, which hadn't been exposed yet.
Although Otto was also an open book to him, Otto was currently the dealer, naturally having the upper hand. Moreover, after suffering losses, Otto would inevitably make targeted arrangements and countermeasures in advance against his exposed cards, and the cards that hadn't been exposed but could be predicted.
Lin Wei had to prepare for such a future in advance. Otherwise, being complacent and resting on his laurels would be no different from waiting for death.
Whoever could make better preparations in advance would be more likely to win the next victory, or even the final victory.
This was a very unfair race. Compared to Otto, who held the entire Schicksal and had all the advantages, Lin Wei was just a lone ranger. Although it wasn't exactly a case of an egg hitting a rock, his options were very limited.
Therefore, to close the gap in such a short time and accumulate a hand that could rival Otto's, he had to seek external help.
And to contend with Otto, who held Schicksal, he could only seek help from another force.
Obviously, Anti-Entropy wasn't enough. Therefore, the real answer was obvious...
And to deal with World Serpent, with whom he had constant friction, instead of going back and forth with Grey Serpent and having to constantly guard against Huodou or someone else's backstabbing, directly dealing with Kevin was obviously the fastest and most direct method.
And this was Lin Wei's core purpose in coming to Anti-Entropy immediately after leaving Schicksal HQ and briefly stopping in Manila.
Of course, just the will of the Kaslana Stigmata wasn't enough. This kind of matter required the approval of Kevin himself.
Just like a year ago, everything felt familiar, like yesterday once more…
Because of this, before "Kevin's" figure faded away, Lin Wei said to him solemnly,
"I want to see the real Kevin, I have something to discuss with him."
Establishing contact with Kevin through the Kaslana Stigmata was almost a whimsical idea, but in fact, it was very feasible—as long as you had the ability to activate that special Stigmata...
After all, the will of every member of the Kaslana family was closely connected to this Stigmata. As the source of the Kaslana Stigmata, how could Kevin himself be an exception?
Not to mention that in the final chapter of the story, when Theresa talked to the will of the Kaslana Stigmata, Kevin appeared personally and took over the conversation, objectively demonstrating his complete understanding of everything.
Just the fact that Kevin, with his immense strength and terrifying senses, could keenly capture a cautious gaze from thousands of meters away on a chaotic battlefield, and now that he had practically jumped onto the face of his Stigmata's manager, how could Kevin, as the owner of the Stigmata, be unaware of this?
Lin Wei was quite confident about this.
...
The Quantum Sea.
This was a dimension beyond the material world. It was vast and all-encompassing, containing all possibilities—orderly, disorderly, complete, fragmented, tangible, intangible, nascent, destructive...
Everything was mixed together, indistinguishable, forming tides of energy, ebbing and flowing. One membrane after another formed in this process, matter was born within, life sprouted within.
And one world after another was annihilated in these tides. Life, matter, everything dissipated like a fleeting dream, becoming part of the energy tide, continuing the endless ebb and flow, birth and annihilation...
In this unimaginable dimension, a small world bubble stood firm like a reef in the waves, steadily standing in a corner of the Quantum Sea.
A lush cherry blossom tree that seemed to never wither took root on it. On a stone platform under the tree, a man as steady as a rock and as deep as an iceberg sat quietly.
Kevin closed his eyes, his breathing steady, as if asleep, but that wasn't the case. In his millennia of sitting, he had never slept for a moment.
He was just resting his eyes, quietly waiting for time to flow invisibly in this tiny yet boundless prison.
In fact, he couldn't sleep, because he felt that it had been a bit too lively recently...
Of course, his "recently" was also calculated in "years."
For Kevin, who had a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, his timescale had become incredibly broad. Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, none of them felt particularly significant to him.
Because of this, compared to the millennia of silent sitting and waiting, the accidents and changes that had occurred in the past three to five years were indeed a bit too frequent.
First, a few years ago, a little girl fell into the Quantum Sea from the original world and was casually picked up and placed aside by him.
Then someone from the original world contacted him, telling him about events from 50,000 years ago.
In addition, not long ago, the Eye of the Deep opened without warning, almost completely connecting the original world and the Quantum Sea. Although Kevin intervened and sealed it, temporarily delaying the process, he also knew that the time for him to return to the original world and implement Project Stigma was not far off.
And just shortly after he had dealt with the Eye of the Deep, just now, his Kaslana Stigmata was clearly activated, and someone was calling his name.
Just as Kevin was about to investigate, the manager of the Stigmata had already taken action, so Kevin gave up, not intending to interfere too much, just wanting to be a quiet observer as usual.
Until a while later, Kevin heard a new request. The person actually asked him to show up in person…
…
Just as Lin Wei's voice fell, after only a second or two, he saw the "Kevin" in front of him seem to change instantly. The originally winter-cold aura instantly transformed into a perpetually frozen Antarctic snow mountain, and a pair of cold eyes stared at him intently.
"!"
Yuno's hair stood on end, as if facing a great enemy.
She didn't know what had happened, why the man in front of her had changed so much in an instant, as if he had suddenly become a different person.
She didn't understand what had happened, but instinctively felt that this guy had suddenly become very dangerous, so she rushed in front of Lin Wei without thinking, staring vigilantly at the white-haired man, as if ready to attack him at any moment.
Unlike the suddenly tense Yuno, Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter how confident he had been before, it was just speculation. Before it became a reality, Lin Wei still had some apprehension and was constantly weighing his backup plan in case of failure.
Therefore, Lin Wei wasn't nervous, but smiled and signaled the excited Yuno to calm down, then said to the invincible Kevin,
"It seems the 'Kaslana' network speed is quite fast. It can connect instantly from such a distance, with such low latency. How much does it cost? I want to get a connection too."
In this world, he hadn't shown weakness to anyone, except for Elysia...
"..."
Hearing Lin Wei's nonsensical greeting, Kevin was speechless.
If it were him in his youth, he would have asked disdainfully if Lin Wei had something wrong with his brain, then shamelessly asked him to teach him a few tricks, to see if this slick way of talking could make the girl he liked happy.
But now…
"What do you want?"
Kevin simply ignored Lin Wei's words and asked directly.
Although he was very idle, extremely idle, he still didn't want to waste any time or words.
"Never visiting without a reason, of course, it's like last time, I need your help. Only this time, it's my own trouble."
Lin Wei wasn't surprised by Kevin's coldness and didn't beat around the bush, saying concisely,
"I want to go to the Elysian Realm again, and I want to borrow something from you. I also hope you can lend a hand at a critical moment."
It sounded a bit presumptuous, begging so shamelessly, but this was the best way to communicate with Kevin—don't beat around the bush with a cold and enigmatic person, just speak directly.
Kevin didn't agree directly, nor did he refuse on the spot. He just looked at Lin Wei noncommittally, silent but self-evident:
Why should I help you?
"Your World Serpent went to great lengths to open the Eye of the Deep to welcome back your esteemed leader, but it triggered a large-scale Honkai eruption no less than a Herrscher descent. I calmed things down, preventing the worst-case scenario."
Lin Wei shook his head and chuckled,
"Heh, although it sounds like I'm taking credit, what I want to say is: the trouble I'm in is precisely because of this incident. I can't solve it alone, so I have to come to you, the person involved, for help."
This is what all of you at World Serpent owe me. I'm here to ask for help, and also to collect my debt—although Lin Wei didn't say it directly, this was the meaning he wanted to convey.
"Also, the Stigmata I obtained a year ago has some hidden dangers. I want to find a solution in the Elysian Realm."
Lin Wei pointed at himself, then at the girl beside him,
"And her, she was eroded by a Honkai beast during the Third Honkai Eruption, and now she coexists with the Honkai beast, inseparable. As you can see, her condition isn't very stable, but this situation is extremely rare. I don't even know if she can be considered a 'MANTIS.' But the abilities brought by this experience would be a waste not to utilize."
Lin Wei paused, smiled helplessly, and said,
"Whether her situation is really the same as yours or not, compared to the current era, you guys from the Previous Era are more specialized..."
Lin Wei's request to Kevin was divided into two parts.
Returning to the Elysian Realm wouldn't be of much help to the troubles he faced in the real world, but there might be solutions to Yae Sakura and Yuno's problems. Even just a hint of a direction would allow Lin Wei to have a target, instead of running around like a headless chicken.
After all, everyone in the Elysian Realm was talented, Lin Wei had great confidence in those guys!
And the remaining two requests were the solutions he had chosen for his current predicament.
"..."
Kevin glanced at Yuno in the direction Lin Wei pointed. Yuno was momentarily stunned by this imposing gaze, then glared back defiantly. Kevin ignored her, just glanced briefly, then returned his gaze to Lin Wei, and said indifferently,
"Not enough."
You're only talking about your own affairs. Appealing to sympathy is useless.
The world won't sympathize with you, the Honkai won't, and neither will I.
Being able to go to such great lengths to meet with me is indeed commendable, so I can give you a chance—show me your worth, impress me, and earn what you want.
Of course, with Kevin's icy face, it was impossible to read any information from his expression or eyes. All his thoughts were compressed into the emotionless words "Not enough." As for whether the other party could understand, he didn't care.
Now that's what I call a master riddler!
Lin Wei complained inwardly, but he couldn't really roll his eyes.
But when it came to guessing riddles, Lin Wei was quite the professional...
He lowered his head and pondered for a long time. Kevin didn't interrupt, just waited quietly.
After a moment, Lin Wei raised his head and said,
"Kevin, the humans of this world, individuals and civilization itself, are desperately trying to escape their predetermined fate. To do this, they must think what others cannot think, and do what others cannot do."
Kevin remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"My wings are still young, I can't yet fly the high-flying swan you want to see, so I can only show you something else..."
Lin Wei smiled slightly, then his expression turned serious,
"Kevin, I think I know what the Thirteenth Divine Key is."