Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Elysia rubbed her head.

This wasn't the first time she had witnessed such a scene in the research institute. After a while, she became somewhat numb to it. Not used to it, but numb.

This made Elysia worry about whether she should release Mobius or not.

This place was a chaotic carnival of demons. For Mobius, it would probably feel like coming home.

"This is really putting Ely in a difficult position, isn't it?"

Elysia wasn't troubled by the idea of releasing the memory data of the Flame-Chasers, but by what they would do after being released.

What if some of the more conservative Flame-Chasers saw what Noldrei had done and immediately turned against him?

For example, Sakura.

But it probably wouldn't be a problem. Just like Hua met Fu Hua, Sakura would meet Yae Sakura. They were all Sakuras, so they would surely get along well, right?

Leaving the headache-inducing research institute, she walked onto Academy City's shopping street. Occasionally, she would see one or two organ shops opened by the institute on the roadside. She could even see some people boasting to customers about what genes had been added to the organs and what benefits they would have after installation.

To be honest, this kind of thing was unimaginable even at the height of the Previous Era's civilization. She never thought the Current Era would dare to trade such things openly. What more could be said? Ely, of course, had no choice but to accept this reality.

This world seemed to be increasingly to Lady Mobius's liking, but it made it difficult for a fairy like Ely, who was rather fond of humanity, to accept such humans.

As she walked along the road, she noticed an announcement on the large screen of a nearby building.

The content was simple: it advised researchers not to privately perform genetic adjustments for parents to create new "Coordinators." If parents received similar flyers, they should not believe them, because this level of adjustment had no cost, and they shouldn't let their genetic information be harvested for free.

Elysia sighed. Based on her understanding of the Current Era's management, if a warning was issued, it meant someone had already fallen for it.

This was too absurd. Why would these people believe that "Coordinators" actually existed?

They might as well believe that MANTISs had been popularized.

Speaking of MANTISs...

Elysia's eyes darted around, and she found a children's clothing store that was doing quite well and walked in. Soon, she came out with a large pile of children's clothes, content. When she got back, she could find Theresa to try on clothes and take pictures again.

Just as she was leaving the children's clothing store, a passing couple seemed to be complaining about something.

"Are crocodile leather bags getting cheaper and cheaper? Why do I feel like I can find real crocodile leather bags everywhere?"

"I heard Academy City has researched a crocodile that can shed its skin and has already started selling them in bulk. It seems the younger the crocodile, the better and softer the quality of the shed skin."

"Academy City is so wicked, making all these good things worthless."

"What do you mean, worthless? If Academy City hadn't come up with these things, how would we make money by being the middlemen?"

"But we're still earning less and less."

"It's just like farmed pearls and caviar. Nothing to be surprised about."

Elysia looked back at what the two were discussing. She had never thought that the biotechnology created by Academy City would also affect these things.

She had thought it was only about advancements in combat and medicine. Who would have thought it would also affect the luxury goods market?

Elysia could even imagine those luxury handbag factories boasting about "pure original crocodile leather" to raise their prices, similar to synthetic diamonds.

When there were no synthetic diamonds, they boasted that the brilliance of natural diamonds was the best in the world. When there were synthetic diamonds, they boasted that the brilliance of natural diamonds was naturally the best. In short, they were always number one, always winning.

At the same time, the traffic rules on the road were also changing.

People who used to drive had given up driving due to the overcrowding in Academy City and other issues. Besides switching to the subway, there was another special return.

That was "running."

After breaking through the Stigma Battlesuit stage, a group of people who believed running was more convenient than driving suddenly appeared on the road. These people no longer carried bags to work, nor did they bring work documents home, because they could do their work online.

The only reason they went to work was to meet up with their colleagues and see them in person.

The overly developed network system, coupled with the absolutely confidential and unique personal ID, allowed people to work in a cloud-based office system. They could even work from home and clock in, and there was no need to go to the company unless it was absolutely necessary.

But the bosses couldn't stand this and still forced everyone to come to the company to work. Otherwise, wouldn't their office buildings be bought or rented for nothing?

And so, the current situation arose. After getting up early and eating, they would dash to the company on the main road at the speed of a horse girl. After a quick shower in the public bath prepared at the company, they would start working.

Therefore, the demand for more durable and comfortable running shoes in Academy City had also increased.

This was the situation that appeared before Elysia. A large group of people was running on the road. What was surprising was that when these people were in a hurry, they would even run on the roofs of other people's cars. It was like they were filming an action movie. If they were not careful, an angry car owner would pop out and chase after them.

This led to a very strange and bizarre traffic situation in Academy City.

On the contrary, people like Elysia, who were leisurely strolling around and buying children's clothes for Theresa, seemed so relaxed and carefree. It was clear that they were the ones who worked a nine-to-five job in the research institute.

"My bike is broken again. I guess Academy City should improve the quality of these tools now, right? If this continues, I won't have enough money to change my bike every day. A long-term tool has become a short-term consumable."

"What's there to complain about? I hit someone who ran a red light the other day and was worried I had killed them. I got out of the car trembling to check, but the person was fine. I even had to pay them compensation. And my car was damaged too. It doesn't make sense! Just walk properly!"

"People's physical fitness is getting better and better. I saw a lot of crushed mice and keyboards when I went to an internet cafe to play games the other day."

"Yeah, yeah, the updates for these accessories in Academy City are too slow. They can't keep up with our needs. The sports equipment in our school club can't keep up either. The punching bags and rackets are all worn out. Even several basketballs have been broken."

Elysia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad for the people of this era.