“So, you came to me in the middle of the night just to discuss the self-discipline defense system?”

“It’s called the Hive System.”

“No, why are you so insistent on that name?”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t understand. Advanced technology should have a sophisticated name, like the God Key with names such as Void Archives, Phoenix Down, Black Abyss White Flower, and Judgement of Shamash. My fourth-generation Valkyrie armor is part of the Moonlit Knight series. To simply name your highly advanced defense system as ‘Hive’, don’t you think that sounds too dry? It lacks soul!”

On the screen, Otto spoke confidently, looking very professional.

Sigurd, on the other hand, facepalmed in silence and then addressed the silver-haired beauty standing behind Otto on the screen.

“Miss Amber, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Not at all. It’s all part of my duty.”

Otto glanced at his trusted assistant and then looked at the image of Sigurd on the screen, wearing a puzzled expression.

“Are you guys talking bad about me?”

“No, we’re not.”

“You’re overthinking, Your Excellency.”

Sigurd synchronized with Amber and denied it.

Then Sigurd sighed and said, “Let’s forget about the hive system for now. That’s it, I’m going to sleep. Unlike someone like you who has transcended humanity, I’m still an ordinary person. Lack of sleep affects development.”

“Hey! Don’t go, I still have a lot to talk about! Don’t worry about development-related matters. Whether it’s height or length, if you ever need it, I can arrange adjustments for you anytime. The human body modification technology here is world-class!”

Sigurd’s mouth twitched.

You, an old man who’s lived for over five hundred years, suddenly driving and racing against me, a young guy. Is that okay? It’s not!

Otto casually replied, “What are you thinking? As someone who has lived for over five hundred years, I no longer have worldly desires. I’m just talking about scientific matters with you seriously.”

Sigurd rolled his eyes.

I don’t believe you!

“So, what do you actually want to say? Hurry up and finish, I want to sleep!”

“Young man, don’t be so irritable! If you have a temper, you can use K-423 as you wish, as long as you don’t cause any fatalities. I don’t mind.”

“…That’s not funny.”

Sigurd composed himself, straightened up, and said

Then Otto stroked his chin and smiled, saying, “It seems like you’ve developed an attitude.”

“Mm.”

Sigurd nodded calmly, without a hint of pretense.

If you don’t even dare to express your stance, don’t think about competing with Otto. Moreover, this is not something that can be concealed from Otto.

Otto nodded with a smile, showing understanding. He was neither angry nor regretful for not taking action earlier, and he didn’t have any intention of eradicating the aftermath. He simply found it interesting. After five hundred years, there weren’t many things that could make him feel interested and look forward to.

Perhaps that was the reason why he often played tricks in the original history.

Otto: “So, shall we continue discussing the hive?”

Sigurd: “Please go ahead.”

Otto: “Let me think, where should I start… You’ve talked to me about the power limit control of laser weapons, the composition and substitution of advanced materials, and the programming logic for automated production lines. I originally thought you wanted to establish an efficient production base once you stabilized your position. But now it seems that you’ve turned every worker bee into a producer!”

Sigurd: “Worker bees? Do you mean individual units?”

Sigurd paused for a moment and pointed to the palm-sized spherical body appearing in his palm, asking.

Otto’s eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, “You finally understand, that’s exactly what I mean! Just imagine, thousands upon thousands of worker bees, covering the sky and the earth, fearlessly sacrificing themselves, working together to sting the enemies, all for the sake of protecting you, the only king! Hive system, worker bee subunits, what practical names they are! You should thank me for coming up with those names, you talentless fellow!”

“…Then, thank you.”

Although Sigurd was speechless about Otto’s image collapse, the name was acceptable. Let’s just go with it.

Then Otto continued his analysis and said, “Ahem! Let’s get back on track. When the output power of a laser is controlled, it can be used as a laser cannon, a laser cutting machine, or even a photolithography machine. If we add an operational arm to the worker bee and have excellent programming… as long as there is sufficient raw material, each worker bee can independently produce new units, completing self-cloning and reproduction, right?”

Sigurd remained silent. Instead, several slender silver-white tentacles extended from the body of the unit in his hand, gracefully waving in the air for a moment before retracting slowly.

This was a clear confirmation.

“A clever idea. By turning each worker bee into a producer, the risk of supply from a fixed production base is minimized. Well done!” Otto applauded him in front of Sigurd.

Then he continued, “I checked and found that in some distant cities you have never visited, there have been cases of armories and steel factories being inexplicably emptied recently. I didn’t notice because the distance was too far. Now that I think about it, you released invisible worker bees under my sight, quietly expanding the population in those areas with abundant raw materials. What I see now is probably only a part of the entire worker bee population. There are more worker bees lurking beyond my sight, right?”

“Who knows? Perhaps, even in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, there are thousands upon thousands of worker bees tirelessly laboring day and night.”

The headquarters of the Schicksal was suspended above the Mediterranean region.

Sigurd’s reply undoubtedly carried a sense of gunpowder.

Sigurd laughed, and Otto laughed too.

Amber, who was standing behind Otto, for some reason felt that the person on the other side of the screen should be a clone of Otto.

Otto: “After implementing this system so openly and explicitly before me, is it meant to be a deterrent?”

Sigurd: “No, it’s just a little surprise between friends.”

Otto: “You consider me a friend?”

Sigurd: “Why not?”

Otto stroked his chin and nodded.

“I must admit, this is quite refreshing… No, it’s not entirely true. I have had old friends who rejected and even antagonized me.”

“Admiring you doesn’t prevent me from being wary of you, and being friends doesn’t mean we can’t fight tooth and nail in the future, does it?”

“Of course not. You are most welcome, my new friend!”

Otto opened his arms, his face filled with a joyful smile.

Then, he enthusiastically said, “So, as a newly made friend, what gift would you like, Sigurd?”

“Can I have a little more access next time I explore the Schicksal system?”

“Of course you can. I’ve always thought you were too restrained. Why do you only look for basic information every time? Except for a few privacy concerns, my dear friend, all the data here is open for your visitation.”

“Well, in that case, I won’t hold back. By the way, why don’t you take another guess at what the next step of the Hive system’s plan is?”

Otto raised an eyebrow, paced in place for a few seconds, and turned back, saying, “Is this a little game between friends?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reward?”

“If you say it well… how about a worker bee subunit?”

“That’s too little.”

“Then, how about the cellular tissues of me and Sin Mal?” Sigurd said seriously. One-sided interactions were not a normal way of communication, and Sigurd didn’t want Otto to lose interest. So, he was willing to offer some feedback that Otto would find intriguing, despite the inherent risks involved.

“Deal!” Otto rubbed his hands together with a beaming smile and continued, “Next step, since they can produce autonomously, it’s only natural to enable them to perform self-modifications as well. As your knowledge structure continues to optimize and upgrade, the design of the bodies will surely undergo changes. However, upgrading and modifying thousands of worker bees individually would be too cumbersome. So, the next functionality you should aim for is batch division, where some bees are assigned to daily guarding duty, some enter a dormant state, and another batch focuses on modifying the dormant units. This way, the upgrades and replacements of all bodies can be accomplished in a rotating fashion…”

As Otto spoke, he suddenly noticed Sigurd’s playful smile.

He paused, stroked his chin, pondered for a second, and shook his head, saying, “No, I lack imagination. Rotating upgrades would result in a prolonged weakening of the defensive forces, increased data processing load on the mainframe, and potential coordination issues between new and old bodies… It should be self-upgrades! The worker bee subunits modifying themselves, synchronously transitioning from old to new units in a brief period of time. That’s the next functionality you should aim for.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

This time, it was Sigurd applauding for Otto.

“You know me well, Mr. Otto.”

“Furthermore, there’s the integration of  Honkai energy. Conventional physical abilities are greatly weakened in the face of  Honkai energy, and the only way to avoid this is by utilizing Honkai energy itself. You’ve been doing this, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible to easily penetrate the Titan armor.”

“Hmm, please continue.”

“Additionally, the current limitations on the number and efficiency of worker bees are due to the computational power of the mainframe and the efficiency of signal transmission. So, you sought out Cocolia and even conducted research on Quantumization? To address signal transmission issues and improve stealth capabilities?”

Finally, surprise appeared on Sigurd’s face. No, Cocolia hadn’t even started experiments related to quantumization. How did Otto know about it?

“It seems I guessed correctly.”

“Just a guess?”

“Are you questioning my intelligence?”

“I wouldn’t dare. You got everything right, impressive.”

Sigurd said with a slightly embarrassed tone, then tried to please Otto by saying, “Well then, brilliant Mr. Otto. If I encounter any problems during the process, may I seek your advice?”

“You are always welcome, my friend.”

Otto responded with a smiling squint.

Even though they both knew that their future could potentially involve a life-and-death struggle, Sigurd was still eager to seek advice and expose a portion of his technology to Otto.

Otto, on the other hand, was willing to impart his knowledge and help Sigurd grow faster.

In the end, these were two equally confident individuals.