Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Fu Hua's agreement was entirely within Noldrei's expectations from the start.

He quickly found a way for Fu Hua to display her "immortal" powers to the public.

"First, let's not be in a rush to make people believe this. We need to make them believe it's a very important matter, a very troublesome matter that's being covered up, an official matter with power backing it."

Getting back on topic, Noldrei quickly got into the zone. "We say we're establishing a sect, but it absolutely cannot become the kind of thing written in those novels. If that happens, China will be truly finished. Whether the Honkai summons a Herrscher to destroy this place is another story, but the Chinese people will definitely destroy themselves."

Fu Hua could understand these problems. She had witnessed the rise and fall of many dynasties, most of which destroyed themselves. There was nothing more to say. Even with the sect's hierarchical system that Noldrei had designed for her, it couldn't run forever, not as long as Honkai Energy was needed to maintain the SELENE engine.

Humanity had never truly escaped its energy anxiety. This anxiety wasn't about how much of an existing resource you could produce, but knowing that the resource was finite.

To this day, Tesla hadn't fully determined if the hypothesis that the SELENE engine would one day consume all Honkai Energy was true.

If Honkai Energy wasn't infinite, it would be a very dangerous thing for the entire ideology of genetic supremacy.

Even the research institutes had come up with strange theories about conserving Honkai Energy.

Similarly, if the Stigma Battlesuits were introduced to China, and the SELENE engine was brought over, the quantitative change would lead to astonishing transformations.

This was what worried Fu Hua now. A single misstep could cause the entire society to bloat to an unimaginable degree. She knew very well what Academy City, with its mere few million people, was like. If that was scaled up to China's population of over a billion...

Fu Hua shivered just imagining it.

"Then how should we mitigate this conflict?"

Noldrei thought for a moment, then turned to Sirin. "Suppose no one is controlling you right now. I mean, just imagine I dropped dead this instant. What would you do afterward?"

"I would definitely turn all humans into my dogs! Into my slaves... mmmph..."

Before Sirin could finish, Noldrei pinched her lips shut. He shook his head regretfully. "As you can see, if the conflict isn't resolved, many people with abilities like Sirin's will emerge."

Fu Hua was speechless. She didn't think China was some paradise free of suffering.

For the sake of political efficiency and clean governance, China was even stricter when it came to dealing with its ruling class. Many crimes that weren't even on the books for public officials in other countries were explicitly written down on paper in China.

No crime appears without reason. It must have caused severe consequences for such strict prohibitions to be put in place.

"Then how should we mitigate it? No, wait... how do we transform it into a different conflict?" Fu Hua gave up on the idea of mitigating the conflict. She knew she wasn't cut out for that.

Rita rested her chin on one hand, her fingers gently tapping her cheek, extremely curious about what answer Noldrei would give.

"Hmm... let me think..."

The new organizational form Noldrei had designed in Academy City was the Stigma organization. It certainly wouldn't be easy to directly transplant it here. But without a sufficiently powerful organizational system, there would be no way to stabilize these Stigma bearers.

"The key to genetic supremacy lies in the replicability of the subject's abilities. It also shatters the lies of many racial hierarchies and is the key to breaking down the barriers between nation-states and races."

"We can't really start a nuclear war in China right now, and I've pushed Academy City forward by at least several hundred years." The centuries Noldrei mentioned were based on using Honkai Energy to develop civilization.

"Getting modern-day China up to speed is relatively simple. But as you know, a Stigma is the result of the materialization of human mental will. If... and I mean if..."

Noldrei looked at them and asked, "Let's assume the Honkai chooses a Stigma bearer and turns them into a Herrscher of Nationalism. What would you do?"

"Huh?" Fu Hua had never considered such a problem. She had a bewildered expression, like a lost kitten.

"If I were the Honkai, and humanity hadn't suffered enough, I would simultaneously select a religious fanatic, a famous Showa-era warmonger, and a master of barbecuing with soap to be Honkai-compatible individuals, strengthening their will and Stigmata. Then I would let these Herrschers of insanity slaughter each other across the land. They would quickly ruin the entire planet."

"A Herrscher is, in fact, an enhanced version of a Stigma bearer with an extreme ideology, just one that's been directly strengthened to the point of being able to cleanse the planet's surface."

"Generally, anyone who can pass the Stigma Battlesuit's test doesn't need to worry about the Honkai's will eroding their minds. But the one thing I'm worried about is whether a Herrscher could be specially created to target the mental will of you primitive humans."

"Since there's a Herrscher of Sentience, there might be future Herrschers specializing in mental and conscious attacks, right?"

Fu Hua had never considered this question. The Honkai Beasts and Herrschers she had faced so far hadn't included any that specifically targeted consciousness.

He looked at Fu Hua. "I'm not worried about this problem, but you guys are different. China is so big, it would be strange if there were no internal conflicts. Once someone is exploited by one of these consciousness-controlling Herrschers, it would be truly dangerous."

Rita asked with a hint of nervousness, "Do you have a specific solution?"

He actually did have a solution. However, it wasn't exactly... simple?

But then again, it didn't seem that difficult either.

"Fu Hua, have you ever thought about installing a Bubble Universe inside yourself?"

"What? What did you say?" Fu Hua suspected she had misheard.

Noldrei pointed to Fu Hua's lower abdomen. "I'm saying, the two of us go out, bring back a Bubble Universe, and then stuff it inside your body. Just like Durandal did. You MANTISes have naturally strong Honkai Energy resistance. We just need to stuff some Bubble Universes that have been corroded by the Honkai into your body. That way, you'll have a 'small world' inside you that can hold a lot of people."

Fu Hua's head was buzzing. She looked at Noldrei, unsure of what to say.

Rita was also stunned. Could such a special condition be replicated?

He smiled. "With a Bubble Universe plundered from the outside world, China's internal conflicts will have a chance to be resolved."

Noldrei's words were a sudden enlightenment for Fu Hua and Rita.

Fu Hua asked with a slight tremor in her voice, "You mean, by using China's population to cultivate enough new human warriors who can devour Bubble Universes?"

Sirin suspected she had misheard. She had never imagined that the Honkai could be dealt with in this way.

To prevent the Honkai from creating a Herrscher that could erode the minds of those around you, you prepare a 'microcosm' inside them in advance? What did the Will of the Honkai ever do to you? Did you really have to target it like this?