Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"...Cases of genetic information theft have become increasingly common recently..."

"...We urge all citizens of the Academy City to be more vigilant in protecting themselves..."

"A load of nonsense!"

Welt was getting a real headache these days, not just because of the increased workload for the security team, but also because the misuse of hoverboards was on the rise.

It had to be said, Honkai energy was indeed useful, but the sight of hoverboards zipping all over the sky was still unsettling.

It was one thing for everyone to be running around, since they were already faster than cars, but the fact that there were no immediate production restrictions on hoverboards had caused a lot of trouble for many people.

Right now, Welt saw the management of the Academy City as being in a state of "treating the head for a headache and the foot for a footache." But at least they knew that treatment was the right direction. Outside the Academy City, in the Far East, they would probably have resorted to "cutting off the head for a headache" by now.

It was unmanageable, completely unmanageable. Even someone like Otto had adopted a "please find someone more capable" attitude toward this state of society.

Welt had no choice but to personally lead a team to manage these unruly brothers, thus maintaining a semblance of peace in the Academy City.

He finally had some rare time off, and then he saw news about Noldrei on his WeChat Moments.

Actually, it wasn't news about Noldrei, but rather some posts from Rita and Sirin.

They... were having a lot of fun outside.

"Sigh..."

Welt sighed, looking up at the sky, gaining a deeper understanding of this tragic life.

The only thing Welt felt lucky about was that he was no longer a Herrscher.

As they say, retirement brings a sense of lightness. His favorite thing to do now was to study Anti-Entropy's Stigma Battlesuit and then, through certain technical means, convert it into a quantum state for storage. He could even perfectly replicate a belt-style assembly.

"This is... Kamen Rider!"

Welt liked giant robots, but Kamen Rider was pretty cool too!

Welt found an unprecedented joy in this simple work. So this was the joy of escaping responsibility? Bearing responsibility was indeed difficult, but constantly escaping it was constantly blissful.

'No, it's not escaping. I'm here to join the new era of humanity!'

Welt then remembered that he had specifically come to join the new era of humanity, to become a member of the Stigma Battlesuit corps.

He wasn't someone who ran away from the conflicts of the old era. Welt chose to join the Stigma Battlesuit army to better face the conflicts of the new era.

Although it was a heavy responsibility, the thrill was real.

There was nothing strange about walking the streets of the Academy City in Kamen Rider gear. In fact, many people had come to appreciate Welt's aesthetic, and it had even started to spread.

This group of people also had their own little circle, a group of researchers who specialized in studying this kind of Kamen Rider Stigma Battlesuit. One day, a Sento Kiryu might even be born from among them.

Welt walked contentedly down the street, nodding to himself. "I, Welt Yang, have my dignity now!"

"Brother, this suit of yours doesn't look like the standard issue from Anti-Entropy. The patterns on it are so cool!"

Soon, a fellow enthusiast found Welt to discuss these things.

"I think so too! I'm a researcher who specializes in this kind of work, so I thought I'd make a suit that's unique to my own aesthetic," Welt said, his face under the mask filled with pride. "This is something you can't find on the market. It's completely made by me alone. This is a one-of-a-kind product in the world."

The other Kamen Rider enthusiast immediately expressed his envy. "That's amazing. I can only design the color of the outer armor myself. I can't adjust the other parts at all. Genetic information science is too difficult. Even with data simulation, the results are often random. To have a controllable genetic information development tree... that's a treasure only the research institutes have."

The "genetic information development tree" was a metaphor. The development and changes in genetic information were like a tree. Each useful segment of genetic information was like a fruit. And after cultivation, the fruit would grow into a new tree.

What the man envied was the large number of members in the research institutes. Anyone who was lacking something in their work could get genetic information supplements from other members.

For an ordinary person, the process of cultivating this was much simpler. But leaving aside the equipment and environmental issues, the consumption of nutrients and energy alone was not something an ordinary person could afford.

Most could only exchange the points from the Kengan Association for the genetic information segments they needed.

"Have you joined the Kamen Rider enthusiast group? If you join, some researchers will provide open-source use of some simple genetic information trees. These are all abilities that aren't dangerous and are very useful in daily life."

Welt didn't mind sharing this information, but some of it wasn't suitable for public release.

The man shook his head. "No, that's too much trouble. The Academy City doesn't have any requirements for this kind of open source yet. A while ago, some open-source researchers were arrested, and there's still no word on the outcome. I don't know what happened to them. But their mistake was in an undefined area, so they probably just don't know how to handle it."

Welt never thought he'd run into trouble in the Academy City just by going for a walk.

What's wrong with a group of enthusiasts open-sourcing some genetic information? I just want to play with Kamen Rider armor!

Welt was furious. When Noldrei got back, he was going to make him work overtime to deal with these problems and then delegate the authority to him.

This kind of life made Welt feel as if he had returned to his teenage school days, wanting to see and study everything new and interesting.

His former composure was gradually fading, as if the vitality he had once lost was slowly returning in a way he didn't understand.

Human growth wasn't about the accumulation of experience, but the gradual loss of the body's ability to forget pain.

Now, Welt was gradually feeling the return of this ability.

He didn't know if he would one day revert to the mentality of a teenager, but he knew for sure that Noldrei had the ability to maintain a youthful heart forever.

Welt and this friend, whom he had never seen in person and didn't even know his name, chatted very congenially. It was like the joy of sharing game cards with an unknown friend.

In that moment, Welt suddenly felt that this new era truly had something worth talking about. It seemed to have a powerful magic that could bring people back to the lost, incredible life of their youth.

The pure and beautiful things of the past were melting into his body like snow in the spring breeze.