Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

The history of Academy City's creation wasn't long, but Otto could already see the frenzied undercurrents hidden beneath its peaceful surface.

"Teacher, the production of new Stigma Battle Suit types has begun to decline recently. It seems the changes brought by the last wave of Honkai Beasts have stagnated. The new genetic information from the Honkai factors has mostly been cataloged."

Ever since Otto's return, Manabu Horikita's respect for him had deepened. His teacher's knowledge and combat prowess completely exceeded the limits of his imagination.

It's like he's a Herrscher who has lived for many, many years.

By now, the entire world knew that Herrschers could live for ages. Cracking their genetic code was equivalent to breaking through the barrier of humanity's short lifespan.

Principal Theresa Apocalypse was a living example.

This knowledge was an irresistible lure to the greedy people of the world, and the Board of Directors was even deliberately guiding this greed in a direction that served their needs.

"You're right, Manabu. The entire social structure of Academy City is built on the advancement of genetic information. If they can no longer reap the benefits of Honkai factors, where do you think they will turn to reap the benefits of genetic information?"

Otto asked a question he had never posed before, but he already knew the answer as the words left his lips.

They would feed on humanity itself.

According to Noldrei, this type of society—with the gene as its smallest organizational unit—was built in an era after a nuclear war, when a person's own life and genes no longer belonged to them.

This meant that the immense cumulative cost that should have been paid by humanity itself had been replaced by Honkai factors, allowing for the rapid construction of a new society.

Noldrei likely desired the birth of a new Herrscher even more than Otto did.

Only then would new Honkai factors appear, new Honkai events occur, and new Honkai Beasts emerge.

All of it was just ore, waiting for Academy City's pickaxes.

What would miners without ore, workers without profit, do? History had already made the answer self-evident.

Manabu Horikita understood this as well. He remained silent for a long time before speaking. "But we haven't encountered a Honkai event in a long time. If this continues, our profits from the Honkai will drop to their lowest point, and we won't be able to satisfy the ever-growing appetite of the Kengan Association."

The Kengan Association was the radical Stigma Battle Suit organization cultivated by Noldrei. They were wild, reckless, and filled with the untamed spirit of pioneers exploring a new world.

It was impossible to contain such people within a small arena forever.

"Which is why I took a trip overseas with Professor Yang from the Anti-Entropy research institute. Take a look at this. It's a report from Anti-Entropy."

Otto casually tossed the report on the Eye of the Deep to his student.

"Parallel worlds... the Sea of Quanta... Is this all real?"

Manabu found it incredible. This level of technology was completely beyond Earth's normal developmental trajectory. And the Previous Era, despite being so advanced, was still annihilated by the Honkai.

"It's truly lamentable. Such powerful technology, and they still couldn't defeat the Honkai. Is the Board of Directors truly confident they can succeed?"

Manabu was worried about the upper limits of Academy City's capabilities. After all, it was almost impossible for his teacher to be lying about something like this. What was the point of joking about it?

"Hahahaha... the Director-General..." Otto couldn't help but laugh. He had always found Noldrei to be an interesting man.

"He probably wishes the entire Previous Era was wiped out. In his eyes, the people of the Previous Era were as pure as infants wielding sledgehammers."

Calling them "pure" was clearly mockery. Manabu could hear the teasing in his tone.

"The Previous Era certainly had some ability, but it was obviously constrained by certain circumstances, preventing them from using it to its full potential. Heh..."

Otto chuckled again. If the Previous Era had someone like Noldrei, who could manipulate the human psyche and even bind them through their genetic information, they certainly wouldn't have lost to the Honkai.

There was only one explanation for that outcome: the technology they developed wasn't used to first fix their own societal structures and resolve their own internal conflicts.

"The crisis we face now is that if there isn't enough new genetic information for modification, the people of Academy City will inevitably cross that ethical line for their own self-interest. If that happens, the new human race of the future will be stained with an original sin, and that is something the Director-General will absolutely not allow."

"Since the Director-General won't allow that to happen, we need a new source of genetic material."

"And that is why I reported the existence of the Eye of the Deep. The Director-General needs a large-scale transport device capable of traversing parallel worlds."

Schicksal did have similar technology, but compared to the Eye of the Deep, it was not only smaller in scale and more restrictive but also plagued by issues like 'anchoring points.'

The only good thing the Previous Era did was leave this device intact for their successors. Believing in Dr. Tesla's abilities, it wouldn't be long before the entire planet was dotted with Eyes of the Deep.

Manabu's mind was slow to process this. It took him a long moment to realize what his teacher was saying. Was he proposing that the Director-General take his people to go and ravage parallel worlds?

'As long as people are unaware of their sins, it's as if they have no sin at all, is that it?'

Manabu had no intention of objecting. His words were powerless to stop such a powerful tide. At least this was better than turning on their fellow humans on Earth, like the Americans did with the Native Americans, right?

Whether North Americans would suffer was another question, but the people of the Far East would surely be the first to have bad luck if this plan went south.

Manabu was still concerned for the people of his homeland.

He asked uneasily, "Teacher, what should we do next? Once the Board makes its decision, Academy City will follow suit quickly. Will the United Student Council be required to send people over as well?"

Otto pondered for a moment. "Unnecessary. You are all still saplings; they wouldn't send you directly into combat. But I don't think the Valkyries will be spared. They will surely be required to hand over their genetic information, and soon."

"Even the Valkyries who are unwilling probably won't be able to escape."

Manabu was speechless. He realized his teacher was intent on squeezing every last drop out of the Valkyries.

The Valkyries had truly become a resource to be harvested over and over again.

"There's no need to worry. I, too, wish to see just how powerful the Mother of Stigmas will become after collecting the genetic information of all humanity."

Of course, Otto wanted to see how far Kiana could go. He was even more expectant of this Kiana than he had been of the Herrscher Kiana.

Manabu didn't think that was a good idea. His own repeated attempts to break through to the fifth stage of the Stigma Battle Suit had all ended in failure before that evil, giant eye.

That thing was the legendary Mother of Stigmas, the original progenitor of all Stigma Battle Suits.