Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"My video is still a hot topic?"

While Noldrei was vacationing in Sapphire City with Rita and Sirin, his video still retained some of its popularity. However, the main focus of the attention wasn't on him, but on the guy who had called the police.

"It's really unexpected. I thought they would have suppressed it by now. It seems that's not the case. It looks like public opinion on the Chinese side isn't as easy to manage as one might think."

The footage of Noldrei's live coronation broadcast had long been scrubbed from existence, impossible to find now. Who would have thought that a recording of him singing Pingdiao opera here would be preserved?

"In that case, Director, should we try to divert this attention?"

"No need. A new hot topic will replace it soon enough. If I'm trending every day, how are those celebrities and influencers supposed to make money? Don't worry, they need to occupy that spot for themselves." Noldrei wasn't concerned that he wouldn't fade from the spotlight.

"That's how it is in the age of online traffic. I've also seen many public accounts offering... unexpected interpretations of this incident? Some of them seem to be deliberately stirring up public sentiment."

Rita wasn't worried that Noldrei would get any ideas about causing trouble. After all, he had always been a broad-minded person. This wasn't sarcasm from Rita; Noldrei genuinely wasn't the type to hold a grudge.

Even if someone suddenly offended him, he wouldn't consider it a personal slight.

"Rita, you're being too harsh. Based on my understanding of your history, it was like this even in the newspaper era. It's just that the people controlling the public discourse back then weren't as numerous or as free as they are now, so it was relatively easier to manage, and problems were easier to catch. Now, facing the media of the digital age, the cost of enforcement hasn't decreased; it's skyrocketed."

Noldrei shook his head. "It was the same a hundred years ago. You can't just assume people back then were somehow more virtuous. Just like how I'd never assume someone who awakens a Stigma Will is a good person."

Rita looked at Noldrei with a strange expression, rendered speechless by his words. Why did someone from the future understand the present better than she, a modern person, did?

"You can't control it. This era is a classic age of public information. Trying to manage it with methods from an age of private information is incredibly foolish. The only remaining method is to create a massive amount of new information to cover and drown out the old. It doesn't matter if the new information is true or false; you just need to shift the crowd's focus."

"Just like... those androids in our Academy City."

"Hmm?!" Rita suddenly perked up. "Forgive me for asking, but what's the connection to androids?"

Noldrei had known the true nature of androids the moment he saw them; he just hadn't said it out loud for the sake of his own heir-apparent. This was something people needed to figure out for themselves.

He just wanted Rita's help in keeping an eye on things.

"Do you remember what makes androids different from people?"

Rita thought for a moment. "They can't awaken a Stigma?"

Noldrei gently patted Sirin's head again. "Sirin, do you know what kind of existence an android is?"

Sirin's face showed pure confusion. She hadn't even considered why Noldrei would suddenly ask her this question.

"No, what does this have to do with me?"

"Of course it has to do with you. Theoretically, androids are the same as you. How could it not be related?"

Noldrei's words displeased Sirin. She frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Sirin thought Noldrei was mocking her for being a lab creation with no parents.

But Rita quickly grasped the unusual meaning.

"Are you saying... androids are actually Stigma Wills? Or something like them?"

"Congratulations, you're correct. There's only one existence in this world that is like a person but cannot awaken a Stigma: the 'Stigma Will.' A controllable and creatable life form born within the Stigma. That's why androids can naturally use Honkai energy but won't awaken a Stigma—because they are created through Stigmas. Stigmas construct their genetic information and their conscious framework, which is why they can exchange memories and reset their personalities within the network."

Noldrei's tone shifted. "The 'person' on the internet is actually humanity's 'Stigma Will' within the network. It's just that this 'Stigma Will' shatters and returns to the self the moment the human leaves the network."

Rita's mind was a jumble, but she quickly understood what Noldrei meant.

"Are you saying that all information on the network—language, text, images—defines the boundaries of the user's will from the moment the network is formed? And that individuals, when faced with the massive entity of the information network, instinctively integrate into it without realizing they've lost the power they should have as a creator of information?"

"So, on the network, humans are just like pre-programmed androids? They exhibit fixed patterns, exhibiting the... 'traffic'... of this network system?"

Rita was still a bit confused. She shook her head. "I think I understand what you're saying, but what's the use of us knowing all this?"

Noldrei glanced at the completely bewildered Sirin and basically gave up on having her participate in any future "brain work."

"It's better than not knowing, isn't it? Help me keep an eye on Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical. Since they have such a mature method for creating androids, they must know how to manifest a Stigma Will. The other thing is..."

Noldrei saw that Sirin still hadn't reacted, then thought of the Stigma Will within Raiden Mei and sighed helplessly.

Rita had a feeling he was about to drop another bombshell.

"Because, Stigma Wills can also become Herrschers. And the moment they do, their flaws are corrected, and they gain an independent life and their own Stigma."

Rita struggled to compose herself. Her vision went black, and she felt the urge to just lie down and faint on the spot.

'You didn't tell me something this important sooner? You even came here to vacation with me? And you used Lady Durandal to tempt me, this 'unworthy' maid?'

"Director, you—!"

For a rare moment, Rita's face flushed with flustered anger. "You'll really stop at nothing to bait a Herrscher out!" she fumed.

Noldrei said helplessly, "It's not like I want to. Who's to blame that the Honkai is such a coward?"