"Don't mind Fu Hua's presence. Besides being an excellent detective, she's also an exceptionally skilled Persona user. She's qualified to participate in our conversation."
After taking their seats at the coffee table and noticing Ren's continued silence, his gaze occasionally darting towards Fu Hua beside him, Otto nonchalantly added this, bestowing upon Fu Hua the persona of a veteran Persona user.
Fu Hua blinked, her eyes showing a hint of bewilderment. She had no idea what a "Persona user" was. However, Fu Hua didn't reveal her ignorance. She sat composedly, her silent demeanor seeming to confirm Otto's statement. In the eyes of those unfamiliar with her, her image instantly gained an aura of profound mystery.
"—Are you really Goro Akechi? Goro Akechi with his original memories?" Since this Fu Hua was also a Persona user, Ren saw no need to be coy. He frowned slightly, questioning "Goro Akechi" diagonally across from him.
All members of the Phantom Thieves should have been completely erased from public consciousness by the false god Yaldabaoth; they shouldn't still exist. ...Of course, whether Goro Akechi counted as a member of the Phantom Thieves was indeed debatable. Even if considered an associate, he was a treacherous one.
Yaldabaoth was also a treacherous associate with ill intent towards Ren.
If Yaldabaoth, recognizing Akechi's treacherous nature, and considering Akechi also wielded the power of the Wild Card and was chosen by Yaldabaoth himself as the Trickster's rival... then, with all other Phantom Thieves erased, the supposedly dead Pancake Man winning the resurrection lottery and returning from the past wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
"The one and only. Are you disappointed that the only person in this world who can truly empathize with you is me?" A relaxed smile played on Otto's lips. He had fully immersed himself in the role of "Goro Akechi," responding to Ren with familiar ease.
"As for my original memories... it's a bit embarrassing to say, but my memories of the past world have become very vague. It's already a struggle to maintain the lingering impressions; I only remember fragments." Otto continued his fabrication smoothly, preemptively covering for any potential slip-ups.
"Speaking of which, should I call you Ren Amamiya now, or continue to call you Akira Kurusu?" Otto deliberately mentioned the name he had glimpsed in Ren's dreams, the one belonging to Ren in the Previous-Previous Era. As expected, he caught a fleeting expression of astonishment on Ren's face.
"...Just call me by my codename, Joker." Ren's eye twitched. Being formally addressed by his name by the Pancake Man felt unsettlingly creepy. He'd rather be called by his Phantom Thief codename.
And... in Akechi's memory, his name in the previous cycle was Akira Kurusu...?
So, the world reset, and the false god even changed my name? Could it be that Yaldabaoth didn't specifically intend to leave a place for Ren Amamiya in the new world, but Ren was just too hard to kill, too stubborn to be erased from the cognitive level, and only his name's cognition was distorted?
After realizing he was in a New Game Plus timeline, Ren even began to suspect he hadn't directly transmigrated into a New Game Plus.
Perhaps he had transmigrated into the first cycle long ago, but lost his memories of the past during the world reset, retaining only his awareness and recollections as a transmigrator.
However, if he had truly controlled the first cycle himself, he shouldn't have ended up in an accomplice ending with the false god—unless another evil god had invaded!! This world was a deeply complex merged reality; Yaldabaoth was ultimately just a pseudo-god.
If its divine authority in Mementos was coveted by other gods, it might not escape unscathed.
If the first-cycle version of himself had successfully developed, to prevent the destruction of humanity's collective unconscious Treasure in Mementos and thus losing his special powers as a Phantom Thief, he might have genuinely chosen to ally with Yaldabaoth against an invading evil god...
"Even in this current world, Joker, you truly are shining brightly," "Goro Akechi" said, clapping with a smile, seemingly congratulating Ren.
But Ren sensed a chill in Akechi's demeanor, as if he were plotting something sinister.
And indeed, Otto was dissatisfied with Ren's actions. Although he already understood the principles and effects of changing hearts, this was Otto Apocalypse's first real-world encounter with someone whose heart had been changed.
Especially since that person was Durandal, Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, currently at HQ—this was far beyond Otto's expectations. What surprised Otto even more was that Durandal remembered her experience of having her heart changed by Ren and even mistook her battle with him in Mementos as a feature of the latest virtual training room he had developed.
If it were just that, Otto would only be slightly surprised, not displeased. However, after Ren changed Durandal's heart, the first thing she did upon finding Otto was to ask him with a bewildered expression whether she was Kiana Kaslana or not.
It was too early to reveal the answer to that question. Otto was almost scared to death by Durandal's astounding query... though his heart and lungs were simulated by Soulium, so even if they stopped, it wouldn't be a major issue.
Fortunately, Durandal was naive enough and easily fooled.
Otto quickly managed her, and she dropped the subject. If Rita hadn't been on her way back from Nagazora City, and if Durandal had chosen to confide in Rita, her close adjutant, Otto felt Rita might have inadvertently and nonchalantly revealed the truth to Durandal.
Ren Amamiya had already started meddling in the issue between "Durandal" and "Kiana Kaslana." Combined with his past feat of silently stealing the Gem of Conquest from Raiden Mei, preventing her Herrscher transformation, Otto believed his worst fears were materializing: his Plan A was attacking his Plan B.
Ren had clearly begun targeting K-423, attempting to steal the Herrscher of the Void core as well. To prevent Ren from actually succeeding and turning K-423 into a completely ordinary person, Otto finally chose to appear personally, bringing Fu Hua with him to confront Ren.
It wasn't just Durandal. Through his informants at St. Freya Academy, Otto also knew his dear granddaughter Theresa had her heart stolen by Ren too. His adorable granddaughter, who used to enjoy delaying her subordinates' salaries, had now become an emotionless salary-dispensing machine.
Although, because she no longer docked pay, Theresa had been contacting him frequently lately, acting spoiled and getting a large amount of pocket money from him to cover St. Freya's funding gaps.
But the thought of his little Theresa being forcibly reformed still irked Otto.
"This coffee doesn't seem to be anyone's. Then I won't stand on ceremony~~~" Between Ren and Theresa, Ren was naturally more important to Otto. But in terms of affection, Theresa undoubtedly won in Otto's heart. While he couldn't retaliate against Ren too drastically, a little mischief, like snatching the food in front of him, was something Otto was quite happy to do.
Noticing the untouched cup of hot coffee before Ren, Otto's eyes lit up. He quickly reached out, grabbed the handle, and brought the cup of Ren's purely inspiration-brewed coffee to his lips.
With Ren's reaction speed, he could have easily stopped "Akechi." However, Ren merely watched coldly as "Akechi" drank his homemade coffee, his expression instantly contorting as if he'd put on a mask of agony.
Thanks to the seating arrangement, "Akechi" had touched the side of the cup Ren hadn't. Not grossed out by an indirect kiss with the Pancake Man, Ren certainly didn't mind grossing out the Pancake Man with his incredibly bitter homemade coffee.
"Th-this coffee..." Otto's face scrunched up, his hand holding the coffee cup trembling violently. The horrific taste exploding on his taste buds was like a bomb, delivering a powerful shock to Otto's mind. Even after promptly cutting off his Soulium body's taste simulation, the unforgettable, dreadful aftertaste lingered stubbornly in his psyche, making his expression utterly foul.
Seeing Otto's clearly distressed expression, Ren and Fu Hua, sitting opposite him, showed faint smiles. The smile didn't disappear; it merely transferred to someone else... and it was a double transfer!
Noticing that Fu Hua, the detective girl beside him, also showed a hint of amusement at Akechi's discomfiture, Ren raised an eyebrow slightly, musing that the Pancake Man seemed to be unpopular wherever he went. It was a pity Bronya had lost the ability to express emotions due to the side effects of human experimentation; otherwise, the joy could have spread threefold.
"You never learn, do you? Have you already forgotten the taste of the super-spicy takoyaki from the school festival?" Seeing "Akechi's" expression, as if time had frozen for him, Ren's mood lightened considerably.
He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, drawing Akechi's attention while mocking his food-snatching behavior.
"I must clarify, the coffee you drank was made by him using the shop's equipment. Real Leblanc coffee isn't made by wasting ingredients like that..." Seeing Otto fall victim to Ren's homemade coffee, Sogoro Asakura, the owner, couldn't sit still.
He quickly came over to clarify and then asked the two new customers, Otto and Fu Hua, for their orders. "What can I get for you two new guests?"
"The same coffee as them will be fine, thank you." Otto seemed unwilling to speak for the moment, so Fu Hua naturally took over. She politely ordered the same coffee as Ren and the others, then watched Sogoro return to the back kitchen to continue his work.
"Now that we're here, you should state your purpose. What do you want, coming to find me at this time?" The Phantom Thieves Channel had received a response far exceeding Bronya and Ren's expectations, spreading like wildfire across the globe as if divinely assisted.
The overwhelmingly popular trend even made Ren suspect that "divinely assisted" wasn't an exaggeration but an accurate description of reality—a pseudo-god was genuinely helping him promote the website worldwide.
After all, Yaldabaoth was the god governing cognition in Mementos. Manipulating public perception, making them intensely curious and interested in the Phantom Thieves Channel, was well within Yaldabaoth's expertise.
Moreover, promoting the channel and guiding Ren to reform others in Mementos directly benefited Yaldabaoth. Knowing about the website and the rumors of Joker, it was natural for Akechi, if he retained his memories from the previous cycle, to seek him out.
"My purpose in finding you? Isn't it perfectly clear and obvious?... Of course, it's to save the world and defeat those high-and-mighty gods." Mentioning his purpose, Otto finally regained his composure. He gave a cryptic, enigmatic smile and whispered to Ren.
"To save the world, you say?" Otto thought his answer was flawless. After all, every civilization in every era strived to overcome the Honkai; such an answer couldn't be wrong.
However, Ren's abruptly furrowed brow and the scrutinizing gaze he instantly directed at him made Otto's relaxed expression freeze on his face.
"You... you're not the real Goro Akechi at all, are you?!"