"You... you're not the real Goro Akechi at all, are you?!" Upon hearing Ren Amamiya's questioning of his identity, Otto's previously composed expression instantly stiffened.
"...Why would you think that?" Otto slowly schooled his features, his voice exceptionally calm as he addressed Ren across the coffee table.
Although he had anticipated that his "Goro Akechi" disguise would eventually be seen through by Ren, Otto had hoped to maintain the facade for longer, to extract more secret information about the Previous-Previous Era from him. However, after only a few sentences, Ren had already questioned the authenticity of his "Goro Akechi" persona.
This was undoubtedly detrimental to Otto's plans to obtain information and even to plant Fu Hua as an undercover agent within the Phantom Thieves.
Even if the memory fragments Otto glimpsed from Ren's dreams were incomplete, the fact that "Goro Akechi" had once fought alongside Ren as a fellow Phantom Thief should have been correct. Since Akechi was a member of the Phantom Thieves, Otto saying his goal was to save the world and defeat the gods of Honkai shouldn't normally have aroused Ren's suspicion about his true identity.
...Unless, Goro Akechi wasn't actually a member of the Phantom Thieves?
"Wanting to save the world is understandable. After all, if the world is destroyed, no one can escape. Everyone faces the same end. Even the real Goro Akechi would be no exception." Ren steepled his fingers on the tabletop, his obsidian-like eyes, steady and calm, fixed on "Goro Akechi" opposite him.
Bronya was somewhat unable to comprehend the current situation... The brown-haired youth who initially seemed to be an acquaintance of Ren might actually be an imposter with a suspicious identity? Though she couldn't understand, Bronya had silently raised her alertness to the maximum. Her small, slender body tensed, ready to launch an attack on "Goro Akechi" beside her at any moment.
Project Bunny 19C, in its quantum state, was also poised in the void, its indestructible mechanical claws aimed at the seemingly oblivious Fu Hua. If Fu Hua made any unusual moves, Bronya was confident she could instantly operate Project Bunny to apprehend her.
The Goro Akechi currently sitting in Cafe Leblanc was not the real one, but an impersonation by Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse... No one knew this better than Fu Hua, who had personally witnessed Otto using his Soulium body to mimic Akechi.
Therefore, after Ren questioned Otto's true identity, although Fu Hua appeared outwardly calm, her heart had secretly tensed up, prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Both Bronya and Fu Hua were incredibly tense. However, Ren and Otto, the true orchestrators of this event, remained as calm and composed as they were at the beginning.
"But the real Goro Akechi," Ren continued slowly, addressing "Goro Akechi" diagonally opposite him, revealing the fatal flaw in his disguise, "even if he would save the world for what he believed to be 'justice,' would absolutely never make grand declarations about defeating gods... Not because he wouldn't do it, but because he simply wouldn't know that the true enemies are the high-and-mighty gods."
The real Goro Akechi had died long ago in Shido Masayoshi's cruise ship Palace. Akechi hadn't even participated in the battle to defeat Shido's Shadow, let alone know about the false god Yaldabaoth hidden behind Shido. That was the situation in the original story.
And if Ren had truly transmigrated into the first cycle's timeline, he would have dealt with the Pancake Man much earlier than the cruise ship Palace.
Given Ren's personality, knowing Akechi's true nature and intentions beforehand, he would never have given Akechi the chance to backstab him. Regardless of the circumstances, Akechi couldn't possibly have survived until Yaldabaoth's appearance.
Yet, this "Goro Akechi" before him claimed he wanted to save the world and defeat "those" high-and-mighty gods... These out-of-character statements, exceeding what the real "Goro Akechi" should know, undoubtedly exposed him as an imposter.
"Excellent deduction. You're even more perceptive than I anticipated..." Otto's lips curved slightly. He clapped his hands for Ren, frankly admitting his counterfeit identity. "Indeed, I am not the real Goro Akechi from your memories, merely a forgery pieced together from the cognitive fragments in your mind."
Since Ren had seen through him, there was no need to continue the charade.
"...A forgery pieced together from the cognitive fragments in my memory? Are you a cognitive Goro Akechi created by that false god using my cognition?" Upon hearing Otto's frank admission, Ren's brow suddenly furrowed tightly, an expression of disgust crossing his face, as if he had unexpectedly stepped in dog droppings.
"Creating a cognitive Pancake Man and sending him to me... It doesn't really want you and me to team up again, does it? Enough is enough, there should be a limit to how disgusting one can be."
No wonder, in this world where everyone related to the Phantom Thieves [PHANTOM] had been erased, only Goro Akechi could still exist so nonchalantly.
No wonder this "Goro Akechi" knew information about the gods that the real Pancake Man was unaware of. So, he was a cognitive Pancake Man created from Ren's own mind...
Maruki Takuto pulling this stunt, unilaterally resurrecting a Pancake Man, was one thing. But now even Yaldabaoth, the true wielder of pseudo-god authority, was playing this game, insisting on resurrecting a Pancake Man just to mess with Ren's mind?
The thought of Yaldabaoth resurrecting a cognitive Akechi made Ren's brow twitch uncontrollably.
Unlike Maruki, who forcibly imposed his own definition of happiness on others, Yaldabaoth, in the accomplice ending, might very well have resurrected cognitive Akechi purely to mess with Ren and watch his reaction.
Moreover, Akechi was already Yaldabaoth's chosen rival for the Trickster, another wielder of the Wild Card power, equivalent to several ordinary Phantom Thieves members. It would both bolster the Phantom Thieves' strength and mess with Ren's mind... Ren couldn't even think of a reason why Yaldabaoth wouldn't do this.
"...Yes, that's right. That's exactly it." Otto blinked. He only admitted the falsity of the "Goro Akechi" identity, without revealing his true identity as Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse.
He was already using deceptive rhetoric to mislead Ren. Now that his misleading tactics were proving exceptionally successful, there was even less need for Otto to expose his true self.
A thoughtful glint appeared in Otto's eyes. From Ren's words, he had undoubtedly gathered more important clues.
The so-called "false god" undoubtedly referred to the Will of Honkai. And the cognitive existences created by this "false god," based on original blueprints... could they be referring to something like the Herrscher consciousness that forms after a human becomes a Herrscher?
Otto couldn't yet determine the true nature of cognitive existences. However, one thing he was now very certain of: from Ren's disgusted and complaining tone, Otto could sense that Ren and the "false god" he spoke of—that profound and mysterious Will of Honkai—clearly had a relationship akin to cooperation!!
The Will of Honkai being capable of cooperation was something Otto had already somewhat prepared himself for mentally. After all, he had fully recalled his meeting with the Will of Honkai during the Second Honkai Eruption.
Since the Will of Honkai was willing to answer his questions—no matter how enigmatic or deliberately obscure those answers were—it at least showed a willingness to communicate. If it was willing to answer his questions, then there was a possibility for further cooperation.
Even if Ren hadn't revealed his cooperative relationship with the Will of Honkai, Otto was already planning to contact it again, seeking cooperation and to obtain power and authority from it. Ren's words undoubtedly validated the feasibility of Otto's yet-to-be-implemented plan, making Otto feel much more at ease.
"Since you've already deduced my true identity, then there's no need to refuse my offer of an alliance, right?" Otto spread his hands towards Ren, speaking glibly under Fu Hua's intensely subtle gaze.
"After all, I'm not the real Goro Akechi. Whatever complicated and convoluted experiences you had with the real Goro Akechi have nothing to do with a clone-like being such as myself."
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next upload i only upload 1 chapter(2 chapter a day), why? because i paid it.