Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"The investigation is complete. It's not just a matter of incinerating the bodies; they were even sold off."

Jackal's answer made Kiana lose her composure.

"Yes. In fact, we're not the only ones selling bodies. Thanks to the Director-General's contributions to human medicine, we medical students have fewer and fewer cadavers to work with. Sometimes, we even have to clone unconscious, empty shells to study."

"Empty shells?!"

Kiana had thought selling bodies was already a heinous crime. She never expected there to be an even lower low—cloning unconscious, empty shells specifically for research.

"Even so, we still need conscious subjects for experiments involving fusion with Honkai factors. Whether it's Stigma or Honkai Energy, humanity's adaptability to Honkai Energy is deeply linked to the strength of one's will."

Jackal briefly explained the core of the problem.

Kiana held up a hand to stop her, her face cold. "I know all that. I just want to know how you plan to deal with these people."

Jackal wasn't bothered by these issues. She smiled and said, "They will, of course, be handled according to Academy City's rules. Whatever rights they infringed upon and deprived others of, Academy City will deprive them of those same rights in equal measure."

That's right. That was the logic of power in Academy City.

Kiana wanted to kill those people. A primal murderous intent churned within her.

How could people who did such things be good people?

"Let's go! Don't have a fit in front of others." Noldrei gave the back of Kiana's small head a light smack, which finally extinguished the fire in her heart.

He turned to Jackal. "One more thing. Remember to send one of these dolls over to my place. Also, don't design these ball joints on the fingers and toes. What if someone needs the doll to help them with a handjob or footjob and their skin gets caught? That wouldn't be good, would it?"

Jackal was truly surprised that even as he was leaving, Noldrei was still diligently considering how to meet the needs of the people of Academy City. Of course, she wouldn't refuse and readily agreed to his request.

As for how to handle these matters afterward, that would naturally be handled by Bronya and her people.

---||---

Kiana's mood was heavy. She silently watched the happy people on the streets of Academy City.

Many of them probably didn't know that after they died, their bodies were treated like worthless objects, freely used and traded.

Kiana had never imagined that medical students, due to a lack of cadavers, would commission pharmaceutical companies to clone unconscious, empty shells.

She asked curiously, "Are those empty shells really useful?"

Noldrei told his foolish girl the truth. "They might be somewhat useful for routine medical procedures, but not much. The brain activity of an unconscious person is completely different from that of a conscious one. So, while the general organs might have some educational value, the parts involving the brain are completely useless."

Kiana's mood soured even further. She didn't know how to change this suffocating situation.

"You don't have to worry about this. To eliminate this outdated method of medical learning, we can use the Stigma Space to conduct simulated teaching. There's no longer any need to use human cadavers. The issue of bodies being bought and sold after donation will naturally disappear. Even for hands-on experiments, there will be more suitable models in the Stigma Space."

It seemed Noldrei had long anticipated the course of human civilization's development and had already prepared to clean up these messes.

"How do you seem to know everything? Haven't those people considered these problems?"

"They have. For example, Schicksal's database can be used for teaching through consciousness-diving. But because Schicksal is worried someone might see something they shouldn't, they've never considered using it. Some departments are even unwilling to let others see certain things inside... like the history related to Kallen."

Noldrei couldn't help but laugh at this point. "That guy Otto even completely recreated the scene of Kallen's execution, and it's constantly on a loop. I really can't figure out what he was thinking when he designed that part of the history."

Kiana's mood lightened considerably. She retorted, "Why is the Schicksal Overseer always such a clown when it comes to Kallen? Didn't he also invest in a game about Saint Kallen?"

"Him? He has the shadow of a saint in his heart that he can't get rid of."

Noldrei marveled at the purity of Otto's convictions in certain aspects.

"That saint caused quite a bit of harm. It's a real shame."

Kiana didn't know what to say. Kallen's history was written in books. She had been a bit too insistent on her own ideals, completely embodying them and dying for them without any surprise.

Noldrei shook his head. "If she had managed to live, she could have saved many more people. It's good to stick to one's ideals, but what's truly important for people is not just holding onto ideals, but bringing the ideal world into reality."

What he was saying wasn't some overly advanced concept, but a simple theory of practice that had emerged after the two World Wars.

In the bustling city, countless people had been saved by the Valkyrie warriors who had once fought against the Honkai.

People would be grateful for the heroes who had sacrificed themselves in the past, but they were unwilling to tie their own future paths and meanings to those heroes.

Some Valkyries had even started to bind their identities to ideas of race and nationality.

It was fine when there was the Honkai to fight, but once the Honkai disappeared, these internal divisions over interests would be exposed.

"What will humanity become in the future?"

Kiana couldn't say. She felt less and less confident that she could manage these things in the future. Even if she knew about these people's problems and the little tricks they played behind the scenes, she might not have the ability to make them act according to her will.

"I don't know."

"Huh? You don't know?!" Kiana was stunned by Noldrei's answer. She had expected him to give her all the answers, like he always did.

"Of course I don't know. The path we're on now is one that has never happened in the future. I want something that has never happened, but I don't know how to create a future that has never occurred."

Noldrei continued, "I don't think you should be asking me this. I really don't know. The only reason I've gotten this far is because you people in the present are doing such a terrible job."

He looked at the loli-fied Kiana and said seriously, "From now on, the future of humanity is in your hands."

"Eh..." Kiana pointed at her own nose in disbelief. "For real? You're putting me in charge of humanity's future?"

How is he more confident in me than I am?