"Is this... Raiden Mei's home? According to the intelligence I saw, Ren Amamiya seems to be staying here currently. Are we waiting for his return here?"
In the courtyard of the Raiden residence, Fu Hua surveyed her surroundings. Her brow furrowed slightly as she questioned Otto, who still maintained his Goro Akechi mimicry beside her.
On the way to Nagazora City, Fu Hua had already reviewed the relevant intelligence on their mission targets. However, it now seemed that, at least regarding Ren Amamiya, the information Otto had shown her was merely the most superficial, surface-level persona.
Although Otto didn't seem intent on hiding Ren's true identity from her, the truly crucial information hadn't been disclosed to anyone through means susceptible to eavesdropping or theft.
By listening to the conversation between Otto and Ren, Fu Hua had already realized Ren was highly likely a survivor of the Previous Era like herself, understanding the need for his identity's secrecy. But for the other targets in this mission, there was no need to conceal or falsify their investigation intelligence.
Fu Hua already knew the Gem of Conquest had once been embedded within Raiden Mei, and that she had even nearly transformed into the Herrscher of Thunder due to the schemes of Anti-Entropy's Executive, Cocolia. If Otto had shown her such top-secret information about Mei, he certainly wouldn't hide or falsify something as easily verifiable as an address.
However, back at Cafe Leblanc, Ren had shown strong aversion and disgust towards Otto, who appeared as Cognitive Akechi. If Otto didn't change his appearance, any further contact with Ren would only provoke intense negative reactions.
As for directly showing up at someone's house... if Ren Amamiya had a slightly worse temper, a fight could very well break out on the spot.
"No, no, no, my old friend," Otto denied Fu Hua's speculation with an exaggerated wave of his hands. "When I said we'd follow Ren Amamiya and the others' footprints to catch up, I wasn't referring to getting to their home first."
"I'm referring to footprints on a deeper level... My guess wasn't wrong. I can clearly feel that the space in this residential area has undergone changes. Two distinctly different spaces once converged and folded here. And this location," Otto gestured, his enthusiasm clearly high today.
Normally, he would drag things out, teasing before revealing anything. But this time, before Fu Hua could even react, Otto eagerly volunteered the answer. "This is the point with the highest rate of spatial fluctuation."
"After learning Ren Amamiya's combat style, I specially configured this Soulium body to be suitable for infiltrating otherworlds and fighting at full strength within them." It wasn't just the appearance mimicked from Akechi; to avoid revealing any flaws in combat, Otto had also replicated this Soulium body's fighting style based on fragments from Ren's dream memories.
In other words, Otto, using this Akechi Soulium body, could easily imitate all the characteristics of a Persona user.
"To open a door to another world alone, relying solely on this Soulium body without the support of Schicksal's equipment and resources, is nearly impossible... But if it's merely pushing open a door that has been opened before, the capabilities of this Soulium body are more than sufficient." Otto clasped one hand behind his back, a confident smile on his face.
Although Schicksal didn't possess a Second Divine Key from the Previous Era for manipulating and observing spatial changes, they had at least recovered the corpse of Herrscher of the Void Sirin and her Herrscher Core for research.
Building upon this, they had effectively developed spatial technology applications like the Time Fracture system and the Gnus system. During Durandal and Rita's wondrous adventure in a Bubble Universe years ago, the Gnus application, an otherworld (Imaginary-Quanta) navigation tool, played a crucial role.
And Otto, before departing from Schicksal, had already integrated the Gnus system into this Soulium body, making it even more functional than the Gnus devices Durandal and Rita possessed.
"With your constitution as a MANTIS, my old friend, you should adapt to the Imaginary space environment quickly. However, I must still remind you to be prepared... After all, this journey to another world might lead to an encounter with another old friend we haven't seen."
Faced with Fu Hua's unspoken, astonished gaze, Otto merely shrugged with feigned helplessness. Then, he decisively activated the Gnus system built into his Soulium body, following the footprints left by those before them, guiding them towards the other world where the spatial fluctuations originated.
The space in the Raiden residence's courtyard rippled like the surface of water. As the spatial ripples intensified, the scenery before Fu Hua and Otto abruptly changed. In an instant, their figures vanished from the courtyard, reappearing in a strange desert covered in crimson gravel.
"So this is the so-called Imaginary space. It indeed has an atmosphere completely different from the real world," Fu Hua murmured thoughtfully after transitioning from the real world to the Kaslana Stigmata Space.
Her MANTIS constitution was so extraordinary that she completely ignored the burden the Stigmata Space placed on her body. If Otto hadn't casually mentioned it earlier, Fu Hua, without deliberately trying to feel it, might have even overlooked the pressure the Imaginary space exerted on her.
"There seems to be a slight discrepancy," Otto mused, his specially tuned Soulium body also adapting rapidly to the pressure of the Kaslana Stigmata Space. He looked around at the monotonous scenery, where nothing but red dust could be seen.
"The scenery of a 'Palace' should be closely related to the individual's inner world. Compared to a desert, the Herrscher of the Void's inner landscape should lean more towards snow-capped mountains and snowy plains... Could it be that this isn't the Herrscher of the Void's Palace?"
Otto frowned in slight annoyance. "However, Ren Amamiya has undoubtedly been here before and specifically targeted K-423, attempting to steal the Herrscher of the Void's Core. Even if this isn't K-423's Palace, there must be a portal in this space leading to it."
Otto was certain he hadn't taken a wrong turn. According to the Gnosis system, this was the only path from the Raiden residence to the otherworld, meaning Ren Amamiya used this space as his starting point every time he went to Mementos.
Since this was Ren's entry point to other Palaces, there had to be a portal somewhere in this boundless crimson desert leading to the Herrscher of the Void's Palace!!
Though it would be time-consuming, Otto now had no choice but to search this space by trial and error.
"Enemies approaching." Just as Otto was debugging the Gnus system within his body, trying to more accurately trace Ren's group's path, Fu Hua, who had been silently observing Otto's performance, suddenly spoke a word of warning, her gaze behind the monocle turning slightly sharp.
As Fu Hua's warning fell, eerie black-gold figures erupted from beneath the crimson gravel, densely surrounding Otto and Fu Hua.
"Imaginary constructs from this space... No, they should be called Shadows," Otto remarked, showing no nervousness despite being surrounded by numerous Imaginary Nymphs. He maintained an intrigued expression. Golden light flashed across his body, then shifted into an ethereal blue cold flame.
With the burning of the azure flame, Otto's grayish-beige coat instantly transformed into his Phantom Thief attire. A white royal suit, like that of a prince in an opera house, replaced his clothes, and a red, long-beaked crow mask appeared on his face.
"Let me test this power—Persona!!" A fanatical smile spread across Otto's face. Like an elegant performer in an opera house, he opened his arms in an embracing gesture towards the unintelligent Shadow audience. The red crow mask on his face dissolved into blue ethereal flames.
In its place, summoned by Otto's call, Persona Robin Hood materialized from the void behind him.
"Destroy them, Robin Hood!!!" Clad in iron-gray tights with a golden "RH" emblazoned on his chest and a split blue cape, the superhumanly strong Robin Hood, also simulated by Soulium, faithfully executed Otto's command. It silently drew its golden bird-wing bow and fired powerful golden arrows at the attacking Imaginary Nymphs.
The Soulium body Otto brought this time was extremely powerful. Opponents of the Imaginary Nymphs' level posed no threat to him whatsoever. In a flash, all the Nymphs fell under Robin Hood's golden arrow assault, slowly disintegrating into Honkai energy motes and returning to the world.
Fu Hua barely had time to move; she had only just dispatched seven or eight approaching Nymphs with her fists and feet when Otto, as if given a new toy, excitedly annihilated the rest.
"So this is how Persona users fight? I think I can understand the joy in this combat style... Old friend, next we should search for the Herrscher of the Void... Hmm?"
After annihilating all the attacking Nymphs and getting his fill of mimicking a Persona user, Otto let out a satisfied breath. He reverted Robin Hood back into Soulium and reabsorbed it into his body, then turned to Fu Hua. However, the moment he turned, Otto sensed a strong anomaly.
The Gnus system integrated into his Soulium body instantly reported wildly fluctuating spatial parameters around him. Just like the spatial transfer from the Raiden residence to this crimson desert, Otto found himself caught in another spatial transfer.
But unlike the previous time, where he actively used Gnosis for Imaginary Space navigation, this time Otto was completely caught off guard, forcibly subjected to a spatial teleportation by some entity, about to be sent to a completely unfamiliar, unknown area.
Otto didn't even have time to leave a message. With a final glimpse of a white-haired youth who had silently appeared behind Fu Hua at some unknown point, Otto's figure was completely erased from the crimson desert environment.
"—Otto?!" Fu Hua exclaimed instinctively, seeing Otto, who always seemed to be in control, vanish before her with a surprised expression. In the next moment, however, she suspected Otto might be deliberately playing disappearing acts again, trying to fool her with more lies.
After all, Otto's hobby of messing with people's minds was not a recent development.
"Don't worry. I merely sent him to the place he always wanted to go—the Herrscher of the Void's Palace of the Mind." Just as Fu Hua was frowning, contemplating her next move, a cold voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Fu Hua's pupils dilated to their absolute limit. As a martial artist, she hadn't sensed the approach of the person behind her at all until they spoke!! A heavy feeling settled in Fu Hua's heart. She spun around with maximum speed to face the newcomer, instinctively adopting a ready-to-counter stance.
However, when Fu Hua fully turned and saw the white-haired, blue-eyed youth standing solitarily in the crimson desert, clad in a black, white, and cyan windbreaker-style combat suit, arms crossed as he silently regarded her, her emerald eyes widened even more dramatically than before.
"You're... Kevin?! What are you doing here?!" Only after turning did Fu Hua recognize the familiarity of the voice. Seeing Kevin, who should have been exiled to the Sea of Quanta by Su, Fu Hua's mind went blank from the sheer shock of this fact.
And why are you also spouting incomprehensible terms like "Palace"?! What in the world is a "Palace" referring to?!! Otto too, and now Kevin too. Fu Hua felt as if she had fallen behind some version update, or perhaps had been forced to lose some very important memories during past battles.