Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"This job is so damn hard..."

Hachiman Hikigaya never thought the remaining tasks would become such a headache.

It was all thanks to Academy City's advancements in Stigma technology, but at the same time, this technological progress had created a host of new problems.

"Academy City's original Stigma is too powerful, to the point where ordinary people's bodies can't adapt. Why is this happening?"

Hachiman stared silently at the investigation results Kiyotaka Ayanokōji handed him. Too many people had failed to meet the mental requirements for the first stage of Stigma Space synchronization.

"This shouldn't be happening, Ayanokōji. Why does it seem like children have a lower rate of mental instability than adults? And even among the adults, the failure rate for the first stage of synchronization is higher here than it was in Academy City."

"Is there some underlying issue?"

Hachiman felt that promoting Stigma under these conditions would be fraught with difficulties, as the rate of problems they were encountering was completely different from what they had seen in Academy City.

"Could it be a religious issue? Perhaps people with strong religious beliefs can't accept this?" Kiyotaka Ayanokōji was in no mood to tease Hachiman. In a situation like this, the most important thing was to ensure the job was done without any mistakes.

"It's possible. Could a person's level of education be related to their mental fortitude?" Hachiman asked a rather odd question. The file in front of them only contained physical data, with no statistics on education levels, so they couldn't compare the situations yet.

"That makes sense!" Kiyotaka Ayanokōji agreed with Hachiman's idea. "A Stigma is a physical manifestation of a person's will, a condensation of their entire life. It reflects their spirit and personal ideology. A key factor in all of this could be their level of education."

"That would also explain why everyone experiences the will of their Stigma differently."

"A Stigma can influence a person, so it stands to reason that a person can also influence their Stigma."

"It's in this process of mutual influence that mental synchronization occurs. So, theoretically, a shared educational environment would indeed make it easier to popularize a single type of Stigma."

Ayanokōji's answer made the pros and cons of the situation even clearer to Hachiman. For now, they could select people with compatible ideologies to receive the Stigma, but that didn't mean they could force everyone to use the same one. It had taken a full year of preparation to popularize a single Stigma in Academy City.

"Doesn't that mean it'll be difficult for us to complete the 'Stigmatization' of these two countries in a short period? If this continues, more problems will definitely arise. We need to send specialists to study the situation here."

Hachiman started to get anxious. He didn't want this bomb to go off in his hands. This wasn't just about shirking responsibility; it was more about knowing he lacked the ability to handle these problems properly.

If people died because he was too proud to admit his own incompetence, he would be wracked with guilt for the rest of his life.

"Don't panic yet. Let me think. We should find someone to try and figure out how to handle these issues. I remember Academy City has Valkyries with backgrounds in similar religions, right? And according to Schicksal's records, there are plenty of Stigma wielders from various religious backgrounds. I think we can ask them to come and give it a try."

"Let's make a new batch of Battlesuits using their Stigma and see what happens. If it works, we can test them again on the people who couldn't use the original Stigma."

Kiyotaka Ayanokōji felt they needed to rule out the possibility of education level being the problem as soon as possible. If there was truly such a large conflict between a person's ideology and the will of a Stigma, they would have to consider whether the higher-ups in Academy City would even allow such a situation to develop.

Ayanokōji knew that every political organization has clear boundaries when it comes to ideology. Once the possibility of losing control emerges, it often leads to violent suppression and other brutal struggles.

If such a situation arose, would Academy City allow the emergence of another Stigma Battlesuit organization whose numbers surpassed the users of the original suits?

Think about it: these were two countries with a combined population of twenty million. If the population was split evenly between religions, there would be at least ten million people choosing the same type of Stigma Battlesuit.

That would give them a numerical advantage over the users of the Kaslana Stigma Battlesuits.

After Ayanokōji briefly explained his thoughts to Hachiman, Hachiman immediately contacted his superior.

Bronya answered Hachiman's call. Upon learning of the dangerous situation in the two countries, she immediately canceled her plans to hang out with Seele.

"I understand. Don't make any rash moves for now. It's best to maintain stability in the region for the time being. What you've described is indeed a very dangerous problem. I will report it to the council."

After reassuring Hachiman, Bronya immediately contacted Otto, Theresa, Cocolia, and the others to call a meeting.

Bronya truthfully reported the issue Hachiman had brought to her attention.

After contacting Hachiman again to confirm the report was accurate, Cocolia began to fret over how to handle such a perilous problem.

"Dr. Tesla, what do you think?" Cocolia asked.

Tesla, who had been engrossed in figuring out how to manage communication between the different Stigma Battlesuits, was a bit dazed when suddenly addressed.

"What else can we do? It's not like we can suddenly make them convert their beliefs. For now, we can only gather those with different faiths and worldviews. Besides, a problem this big... we have to ask him, don't we? Cocolia, didn't you just contact him not long ago? Where is he?"

Tesla suddenly looked at Cocolia.

Cocolia froze for a moment before remembering that Noldrei was "touring the south" with Elysia.

"He's on a date with Elysia. He's already delegated authority to me," Otto said, smiling with narrowed eyes. "Don't worry, it's not a big deal. Who wants to contact him?"

Welt Yang shot him a look. Maybe it was because he'd lost his love of several centuries, but Otto seemed to take an unusual amount of pleasure in watching Noldrei's family life explode.

Tesla's face darkened. She didn't know what to say. Elysia's situation was different; she was completely borrowing Noldrei's body, making it impossible to separate the two.

Just the thought of them sleeping under the same blanket made Tesla's blood boil.

Welt sighed. "Let's not overthink this. I suggest we send a team to conduct some experiments first. If there's a real problem, we still have time to correct it. As for the issues in the meantime, I'll figure out a way to explain it to Noldrei. Alright, I'll take full responsibility for any problems that arise."

He was no longer the Herrscher of Reason. His entire demeanor had changed from his usual suppressed and steady self to one with a bold, go-getter spirit.

Based on his long-standing observations of Noldrei, he believed Noldrei was actually far more decisive than he had initially thought.