Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Theresa excitedly told her grandfather about Noldrei's grand undertaking, further expressing her decision to join in and contribute to the movement for the psychological healing of all mankind.

Otto slapped his thigh and lamented, "Theresa! Grandpa has failed you!"

Of course, it would have been better if his face showed a bit more grief.

Amber couldn't hold it together anymore. After all, it was Otto who had sent Theresa over there. How could he not know what was going on?

Naturally, he knew everything.

"Lord Overseer, is Principal Theresa... going to be alright?"

Amber was still very worried about Theresa. After all, they were both children without parents, and as descendants of the same genes, they should look out for each other.

Otto didn't say much, just downed two glasses of red wine.

"Amber, do you think what Theresa said is all true?"

"It should... all be true, right? Although Mr. Noldrei is a very unreliable person, he is ultimately someone who values his credibility very much. It's impossible for him to lie to Theresa."

Amber didn't think Theresa was lying either. After all, Theresa didn't have the ability to lie like that.

Otto nodded. "That's right. Mr. Future Man is indeed a man of his word. He's much more honest than I am."

He sighed again. "I thought there would be a divergence in our paths, but I never would have imagined... that Theresa could be used in this way."

Amber was silent, the Cambridge of the night.

She never expected the scummy Overseer to be lamenting such things.

"I admit that what Theresa said is indeed a good thing, but there is no doubt that a Stigma path completely different from that of Academy City has also emerged. One could even say they are complete opposites. It's astonishing, unexpected, and yet perfectly logical."

Otto truly acknowledged the two paths Noldrei had created. He had never thought that from the construction of the individual and the world, two completely opposite paths would emerge.

"Centralization of power is for creating more divisions of power, and decentralization is for grasping more intermediary concentration. He truly is a born political performer. Just as I expected, when dealing with someone like him, you must never walk the path he lays out for you."

As Overseer Otto said this, his expression grew three parts heavier. "I hope Theresa will be alright. This time, Grandpa has truly failed her."

Amber was speechless. This wasn't the first or second time he had failed Theresa. Back when he had made his move against Cecilia, he hadn't felt the slightest bit of guilt.

"But, is it really as good as he says?" Amber was a little skeptical. Thanks to the establishment of Academy City, she was ninety percent wary of the future Noldrei spoke of, with the remaining ten percent being a conservative desire not to go to such a future.

Otto didn't answer Amber's question directly. He asked, "Amber, do you think a chef can create a flavor they have never tasted before?"

"They... probably can, if they have enough ingredients," Amber said after some thought, affirming the chef's ability.

Otto nodded and continued, "Alright, then can a chef create the flavor of a food they have never tasted before?"

"That's impossible. If you've never tasted it, how can you know if the food you create has the same flavor?" Amber shook her head, confirming that this was not possible.

Otto nodded in admiration and continued to push the logic forward. "Now, the chef has come to a world entirely of his own creation. He only has the experience of the flavors of ingredients he has tasted before. Now he creates an ingredient he doesn't recognize. Can he create the flavor of this ingredient? And know the new flavor that results from mixing it with other ingredients?"

This time, Amber said with great certainty, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! A person cannot create an experience they have never had before!"

"Exactly! This is the most important reason why Noldrei dares to open up the editing permissions for the Stigma Space! A person cannot create a world based on knowledge they do not possess. Just as a person who doesn't understand calculus cannot create a world with solutions to calculus problems!"

Otto gave the final answer to the Stigma Space puzzle: "The upper limit of the Stigma Space is determined by the upper limit of the world that the person editing the space can understand. A person without this ability will only construct a world full of contradictions and self-conflict."

"The Stigma Space will directly reflect where a person's abilities are limited. Its stimulus for growth becomes insignificant once detached from reality."

Otto clearly explained Noldrei's method of controlling the permission holders of the Stigma Space. One only needed to know the editor's activities to gain a deep understanding of their mind.

By completely decentralizing power within the Stigma Space, Noldrei achieved absolute information dominance over the users who entered it in reality.

Instead, by having people enter and kicking out the intermediary of the Stigma Space, Noldrei decentralized the power of Stigma use, completing the integration of information and centralized power in reality, including political vetting, academic qualifications, moral character, and many other tests.

This was a terrifyingly real outcome.

After Overseer Otto explained the reasons, Amber realized what kind of power Noldrei was truly touching.

Using humanity's ultimate needs to squeeze out their ultimate freedom of information.

By the same token, to avoid being defeated by this virtual reality, one would have no choice but to enter the social system of Stigma Battlesuits. From another aspect of reality, the centralization of power in Stigma Battlesuits once again completed the control coupling in reality.

From the inside out, and from the outside in, he completely borrowed the power of Stigma to map the mental constructs of humanity itself and the world.

"He only made a slight modification to the Stigma, and he achieved this much. He's like a guy born to rule humanity."

If Noldrei knew Otto's thoughts, he would probably feel wronged. He was simply following the progress of history, using Stigma to recreate the process of struggle and chaos in his own history.

But in Otto's mouth, he sounded more like a politician trying to rule humanity.

Amber also thought of the future Otto spoke of. She thought about it carefully and realized it was a cruel future where escaping would lead to being controlled, and working hard would lead to being exploited.

But it was precisely this foreseeable future that humanity, for the sake of its own needs, unhesitatingly followed in Noldrei's footsteps.

Noldrei didn't even use much military force. Most of his military force was used against the Honkai, the entity that was destroying human civilization.

"Then, Overseer... what should we do?"

"I don't know. Just as I couldn't limit technology for five hundred years, and humanity still developed to this modern height. This time is the same. I still can't limit the future that Mr. Future Man expects for humanity, because... this is not a new world that he alone wants."

Overseer Otto seemed to have a sense of resignation, but he had to continue down this path.

He had to hold on until the moment Noldrei's system generated internal contradictions. He knew very well that this was also the most important part of the new world that Noldrei was looking forward to.