Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Noldrei didn't head directly to Sapphire City. Instead, he went straight to the political center of China.

Fu Hua's work there had made some progress, but not much.

"How is it? Any results? Do you have a rough plan laid out?" Noldrei wasn't worried about Fu Hua's work. After all, the old ancestor Fu Hua was like a jack-of-all-trades, capable of anything.

"It's going okay. Following the highways isn't too much of a problem. It's just that many people are concerned about the water diversion. Most want to transform the Tianjin port and cut a path straight through to Xinjiang."

"From Yan Jing to Kaifeng, Chang'an, Lanzhou, Liangzhou, and through Urumqi to Horgos—if this route is done well, it could significantly improve the northern waterway transportation. The rest can be improved through other river canals."

Noldrei could roughly see the reason. The people of China wanted to take this opportunity to dredge the entire Yellow River. They also wanted to clean out the original canals, aiming to solve their water conservancy issues for the next thousand years in one fell swoop.

Why are they thinking so far ahead? They'll probably be able to leave Earth in about five or six hundred years. There's really no need to keep toiling away on this tiny, broken planet.

Noldrei felt there was no need for such long-term planning, but since it was Sirin doing the work anyway, and it would be a waste not to use her, he decided to just accept all their requests at once.

"So, are there any other obstacles here? If so, speak up now so we can resolve them all at once."

Fu Hua hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are still obstacles. Unlike other countries, the population here is too dense, and there isn't enough money to solve the relocation and housing problems. Coupled with the growing number of unemployed, I feel the national economy is like oil on a raging fire. Naturally, there will be uncooperative opposition."

"That's normal. Even with the Honkai around, don't Schicksal and Anti-Entropy still fight all the time?" Noldrei naturally understood that the larger the population, the greater the opposition. In this era, the larger a country's territory and population, the more it relied on grand narrative propaganda.

"Can we have the Herrscher of Sentience help out? She should be able to solve these troubles very easily."

He had no intention of patiently waiting things out. The first thing that came to his mind was to use the Herrscher of Sentience's power to brainwash people.

Fu Hua fell silent for a moment. "If it's just that, then I can do it too. Fenghuang Down can achieve something similar to what the Herrscher of Sentience can do. I can use it to burn away people's memories, selectively deleting certain memories from their minds. That should be enough to change their attitudes."

"Manipulating consciousness and memory? How is that different from Theresa's ability to devour dreams?" Noldrei was genuinely curious. He was a bit different from the people of this 'era.' As the Herrscher of Sentience, she couldn't find his consciousness or spirit at all. Matter was what determined all his thought processes.

"I don't know. I can't distinguish between illusions and dreams, let alone understand how Honkai Beasts think through dreams." Fu Hua was powerless in this regard. She wasn't skilled in researching these things. If she were, she could have taken Otto's path a thousand years ago.

"The situation in China is different from the outside world. From what I saw in the Far East, I didn't see the same phenomenon as in China, where people are particularly eager to show off their material possessions to foreigners and await their comments. No, wait, maybe the people of the Far East have a similar reaction to Americans, but there aren't many of those people left now."

Noldrei pondered for a moment. "I've read through China's history, and I know the people here carry a heavy historical burden. Imagine an organization centered in the Far East comes over, promising to bring you wealth and benefits, wants to start major construction projects in your land, and demands significant authority here."

He shook his head. "If it were me, I definitely wouldn't believe it so easily."

Fu Hua frowned. "But as far as I know, Schicksal still has a strong presence in Sapphire City. Why were they able to accept Schicksal?"

He explained, "Because Schicksal isn't an overt organization, at least not before I arrived. Neither Schicksal nor Anti-Entropy were openly on par with national organizations. For a clandestine organization that can't be brought into the light, an international organization like that doesn't need to consider public trust too much."

"But Academy City is different. We need land, organizational authority, population, and to break and destroy all that is old. What's more, we're not trying to develop stealthily like we did in the Far East at the beginning. We don't need too many outsiders interfering with our organizational authority."

"I'm thinking of a more convenient way to get our hands in here."

After a moment of thought, Noldrei asked, "How are the internal conflicts and oppositions here in China? If I were to unlock the Honkai factor lock in China, do you think it would cause the Honkai to target this place and summon a Herrscher?"

"This..." Fu Hua thought for a moment and still advised against it. "It's better not to. After all, people have just barely escaped the danger of the Honkai. If we go back to how things were, wouldn't that mean Academy City's method of sealing the Honkai was flawed? That would do great harm to Academy City's international reputation."

"You have a point, but being stuck in this stalemate isn't a solution either. China does have a conservative, almost puritanical way of education. The sexual repression here might not be much better than in the Far East."

He thought for a moment, then looked at Fu Hua with a troubled expression. "Fu Hua, are you interested... I mean, in opening a cultivation sect?"

What the hell? How can you not know whether I'm a real immortal or not?

Fu Hua thought to herself, How is that even possible?

Rita also looked at Noldrei in shock. She realized he truly did have a deep understanding of China, even knowing about things like cultivation sects.

"Fu Hua... I've thought of a pretty good method. You reveal your 'immortal' identity in Shanghai, and then inadvertently show off! Casually reveal your important role throughout history. Then, play the part of a cultivation master in the city."

"I'll arrange for Tesla to cooperate with your performance. We'll have her play the role of an outside superhuman who wants to infiltrate China, and you two will engage in a spectacular battle. A public display of power like that will surely move a lot of the uninformed masses."

"That way, you'll be able to influence public opinion in China."

Fu Hua looked at Noldrei, completely stunned. She couldn't fathom how he had come up with such a plan.