Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

This time, Noldrei wasn't sitting with the people from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

This time, the ones with him were from World Serpent.

Those who came out of the Elysian Realm were all memory constructs. These constructs not only had their own loves and hates but could also think for themselves. This life form was exceptionally...

...like the Great Race of Yith.

That's right, it was very similar to the race from the book about eldritch gods that Noldrei had read.

He had summoned Kevin, Gray Serpent, and Hachiman Hikigaya, who was currently on official business in the area.

With the participation of the two Mobiuses, the content of this meeting became somewhat strange.

'What a bizarre scene. Are they really twins?'

Hachiman Hikigaya had suspected the higher-ups of Academy City more than once, just as he had when those potions first came out. The storm of influence they kicked up was so great that even a brief glance from a commoner like him would affect his life.

Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, meanwhile, was doing his best to look at nothing in particular, trying to make himself invisible behind Hachiman. He even suspected that his leader was trying to drag him into something shady, because he had seen not one, but two pairs of people who looked exactly alike.

Noldrei and Kevin, Elysian Realm Mobius and Senti-Mobius, plus another robotic bionoid, Gray Serpent, and even a strange woman with elf ears.

No matter how you looked at it, this group of people did not seem normal.

Even...

Kiyotaka Ayanokōji glanced at his own leader's back.

This leader was no longer a member of the traditional Homo sapiens species either.

"The establishment of Academy City is based on biotechnology founded on modern genetics, which in turn drives a bottom-up transformation of the entire society. As it stands, the promotion of Stigma Battlesuits plays a crucial role in Academy City."

"However, in this region... Academy City's method of governance is completely inadequate. This is a place with a strong religious atmosphere. We cannot simply delegate the authority of the Stigma Battlesuits. The people here cannot comprehend the power struggles of modern life."

"Therefore, I proposed a suggestion to Lord Serpent: to further strengthen the religious trend in this area."

Gray Serpent handed out the documents he had prepared. Unlike the paper documents used in Academy City for the sake of ceremony, these were just plain paper documents.

Hachiman Hikigaya was a little nervous. He looked back and forth between Kevin and Noldrei, unable to tell which one was the "little sun."

His instincts told him that the white-haired young man with the wild, unrestrained smile was the sun he had seen fall to the earth that day, but the cold-faced, outstanding white-haired youth seemed more like a charismatic leader.

'Are they father and son? Or maybe brothers? Or clones? Do the higher-ups of Academy City have their own body doubles?'

The two Snakeys glanced at Gray Serpent. They didn't really care about him, as he was just a by-product of an experiment.

What was interesting about Gray Serpent, however, was that after he built World Serpent, he had transferred all his adoration from Mobius to Kevin.

This bionic being had a strong religious, messianic complex. He seemed to yearn for a corresponding paternal figure to worship and fill the role of a father.

Gray Serpent, of course, had no idea that Mobius was psychoanalyzing him. After handing in his work report, he obediently sat to the side, playing the part of a 'civil servant.'

Noldrei glanced at Gray Serpent's proposal. He frowned at the boring, religious, ideological tricks. While they were indeed suitable for ruling this land, they did not meet his requirements for a new human society.

'Too conservative.'

The smell of primitive foolishness seeping from the paper almost made Noldrei faint.

"A pile of crap!"

Mobius mercilessly criticized the document in her hand, leaving Gray Serpent with no face at all.

"What a foolish thing. It seems your consciousness network has been completely locked down by a centralized organizational structure under the control of your quantum computer." Mobius sneered at Gray Serpent. "This kind of thing has no reason to exist. It's just a rebranding of the original religious structure. It turns Stigma into a physical manifestation of heaven and hell. Such a rigid social system has no value for development whatsoever."

Senti-Mobius agreed with Elysian Realm Mobius's view. Although she was a Herrscher meant to destroy human civilization, she was also a Herrscher with ideals. She had no desire to see humanity destroy itself in such a stupid way.

Hachiman Hikigaya's hands were trembling. He wiped away a non-existent cold sweat and said nothing.

The plan in the document was excellent. From top to bottom, it laid out a pyramid structure for how the Caliph would rule this land using the Stigma Space. Even Hachiman couldn't figure out how he would be able to turn the tables if he were a subject under this social system.

"A centralized social operating structure is indeed beneficial for a ruler to achieve their goals, but it is not conducive to allowing society to develop its own vitality. Kevin, do you want to be the eternal leader here, in opposition to Academy City?"

What Noldrei wanted was a new social structure that could replace Academy City, one with organic vitality and the ability to reproduce itself. This conservative social form had already been abandoned by him.

Kevin thought for a moment and decided he should focus on fighting the Honkai. Ruling the world wasn't for him.

He shook his head and said, "I have no interest in that. My original intention was for you to be the center of this."

Noldrei couldn't help but laugh. "I've already thrown the social center of Academy City to Kiana. What makes you think I'd bother with a place like this?"

"Ely, what do you think?"

Elysia looked at the document in her hand. She paused for a moment before she understood the situation.

"You're asking me..." She crossed her hands, supporting her chin, and smiled. "I'm fine with anything. As long as there's a way to quickly improve the lives of the local people."

'That's the same as saying nothing, isn't it?'

Hachiman Hikigaya thought this woman was truly devious. Did she do anything besides charm people?

Noldrei thought for a moment and asked, "Isn't there blockchain? Mobius, are you interested in building a decentralized, immutable, transparent, secure, and programmable... Stigma Space?"

Noldrei's question was like a bolt of lightning, cutting through all the confusion.

In the Stigma Space, the most overlooked feature was that there was no limit to its storage capacity.

Mobius could never have imagined that the Stigma Space could be used in such a way.

"The... the Void Archives...? A Void Archives that connects all Stigma!!!"

She numbly uttered the name of the important object that MEI had once created to record the knowledge of their civilization.

And what Noldrei was proposing was to link all Stigma to a Stigma Space similar to the Void Archives, allowing everyone to quickly extract the knowledge they needed from the Stigma Space and have it downloaded into their minds.

By improving the learning progress of the entire human race, he would thoroughly pull the people under his rule into a modern human society.

Gray Serpent was stunned. "You mean... to make the editing rights of the Stigma Space public?" he asked in astonishment.

It was an absolutely insane proposal. Noldrei wanted to make everyone a god in the Stigma Space!

Noldrei nodded. "I think your Stigma Project is very good. It's just that you're too reluctant to let go of power, a bit too conservative."

Mobius hadn't felt this way in many, many years. It was the same feeling she had when she heard MEI explain her plans—a tingling sensation in her scalp, as if her whole world was about to be turned upside down.