Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Rita woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and invigorated.

It was as if she'd had a professional spa treatment at Schicksal, but the effects were even better.

She had slept soundly and woken up early.

Rita's goal was to catch Sirin in a moment of embarrassment.

But the result was not what Rita had imagined—not even close.

The little girl was sleeping soundly in Noldrei's arms.

Noldrei, on the other hand, was long accustomed to this sort of thing. It wasn't like he'd never slept with a "primitive" woman before; this little detail didn't bother him in the slightest.

In fact, Noldrei was a bit perplexed as to why Sirin had suddenly shown up looking for trouble, only to get a taste of his whip.

The outcome was predictable. Sirin, of course, couldn't withstand the assault of Noldrei's tentacle. Her mind was completely overwhelmed by the flood of genetic information, and after a dazed moment of bliss, she had passed out on his bed.

Rita thought for a moment, then snapped a picture of Sirin snuggled up in Noldrei's embrace and posted it on her WeChat Moments.

Although she didn't get to see Sirin's embarrassing sleeping face, Rita did get to see her disheveled state upon waking. The girl had been sleeping completely naked, and Noldrei apparently hadn't bothered to dress her.

So, Rita woke Sirin up, successfully treating herself to the drama of a young girl flying into a flustered rage, only to be promptly suppressed. The expression on Sirin's face—being scolded by Noldrei while utterly powerless against a smug Rita—was a treasure Rita would cherish for the rest of her life.

"What are you doing, Rita? Planning to film us with your phone to spice things up?" Noldrei asked, rapping his knuckles on Sirin's head a couple of times to calm the silly Herrscher down. He'd known since yesterday that Sirin had been tricked, but since the idiot walked right into the trap, he had no choice but to teach her a lesson.

Some people are just asking for it.

To ease the awkward atmosphere among the three of them, Rita suggested they go for a walk and see the sights at the Bund.

The outing was so-so. There were plenty of tourists from all over China, though it was impossible to know if any of them were tempted by Noldrei's ideas.

Noldrei, however, was clever. He didn't speak Chinese with Rita at all, instead using English to discuss his plans.

He had deliberately allowed conservative thought to persist, but he had also laid a trap for its adherents. Whether it was the false narrative of cultivation or the so-called "spiritual energy revival" used to mask the link between the Honkai and civilization, it was all a ruse.

These things were fake from the start, requiring little explanation. Noldrei's primary goal was for people to discover the truth for themselves later on.

"Rita, I've told you before, I have a deep understanding of Chinese civilization. This whole 'fake cultivation' path is a classic diversionary tactic—'openly repairing the gallery roads while secretly marching on Chencang'. It doesn't matter if the cultivation sect is real or not; we're building this entire framework to nurture more New Humans, even if they end up holding onto some old-era ideas."

"But with their abilities, they will quickly see through the limitations of the old era and choose to embrace the new one on their own. This is a historical inevitability, so I'm not worried about conservative thought becoming an obstacle to human progress."

"Fu Hua's job is just to build the scenery along this path to attract more people. Remember, China is different from the Academy City. What attracts people, what changes them—we need to design all of that from scratch."

Noldrei felt no guilt for deceiving Fu Hua; he didn't even consider it deceit.

He was simply leveraging the locals' yearning for their own culture and language. He planned to use this same tactic not just in China, but in Europe and the Americas as well. Everyone would experience the benefits of Gene-ism equally.

Rita didn't criticize Noldrei's actions. Her main concern was simply understanding his bottom line. From her observations, she was still a minor character, not yet important enough to warrant the Director's full attention.

Without the status of one of his "ponies" or a Herrscher Core, she would never enter his inner circle. Rita's biggest fear was that one day, on a whim, Noldrei would turn her into one.

The kind of daily life Raiden Mei enjoyed was not something Miss Rita could accept. How could she run a flower shop after becoming a pony?

"Director," Rita began, "even if you tell me all this, Rita isn't going to foolishly help you research the future of humanity. Do I look like the kind of woman who will naively obey just because someone asks?"

Noldrei thought for a moment. "What if I ask Durandal to help then?"

Rita's gaze tightened. She didn't have a good answer for that.

"See? That's your weak spot!" Noldrei declared. "I told you I've studied Chinese culture in-depth. Why don't you believe me?"

Noldrei's words left Rita speechless. So this is what he meant by 'in-depth study'? Couldn't he have studied something better?

"Then Rita has no choice but to lie down and obey," she sighed dramatically. "My fate is truly cruel. Director, if you've studied anything else about China 'in-depth,' I suggest you give me a heads-up in advance."

Sirin found Rita incredibly annoying. Everything she said grated on her nerves. The last person who'd made her feel this way was that awful woman, Elysia.

"You have a point," Noldrei said. "I've also studied traditional Chinese culture. How about this? I'll perform something for you. I heard about 'The Yellow Millet Dream' from Handan Pingdiao opera. I saw it performed once—it was brilliant, very interesting. I'll perform a piece I learned for you!"

Full of enthusiasm, Noldrei began to scuttle sideways in a crab-walk on the observation deck. He completely ignored the stares of the local Chinese people as he began his performance.

Rita thought his movements were strange, but it got even weirder when he started to sing.

"Endless pomp to show, endless power to wield;

Endless feasts to eat, endless money to spend;

Endless praise to hear, endless gifts to receive;

Endless wealth to enjoy, endless years to live!"

His crab-walk was both imposing and remarkably lifelike. Noldrei even produced a black gauze cap—the kind worn by officials in imperial China—from somewhere and plopped it on his head.

'Wait! This is what you meant by 'in-depth study'?!'

The excerpt from "The Yellow Millet Dream" was short, and Noldrei finished quickly. He walked happily over to Rita and asked, "How was it!? See? I told you Chinese culture is great. It's a sharp satire on the corruption within our Academy City. Some officials in the Far East are even blatantly trading genetic information points under the table. When I get back, I'm going to sort them out!"

Rita stared at Noldrei, dumbfounded. Then she noticed that one or two of the locals had already started calling the police.