Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"This is the Emperor's loyal subordinate! The Herrscher of Reason, Lady Theresa Apocalypse!"

Mobius looked at Theresa, who had a hint of 'wisdom' on her face, and couldn't help but sneer, "You picked a not-so-bright Herrscher of Reason."

"Trust me, Lady Theresa is not unintelligent. She represents the average intelligence level of humanity in this era!" Noldrei sternly criticized the disrespectful Mobius. "You're tens of thousands of years old, and you're still bullying a little girl like this. Have you no morals!"

To his surprise, Mobius said calmly, "I still had morals in the Elysian Realm, but after meeting you and Elysia, my last shred of morality vanished."

Elysia was astonished. "I'm involved in this too?"

Noldrei, on the other hand, nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Elysia is a bit of a tease, not a very moral being. Her 'love everyone' thing, in the context of modern social morality, would make her a promiscuous woman!"

"Don't associate love with physical things! I don't have such dirty thoughts!"

Elysia was furious, believing Noldrei was completely slandering her.

To her surprise, Noldrei tossed her a few photos of Kiana and her friends playing around. "I'll introduce them to you later!" he said.

"Ah? Such beautiful and cute girls... Thank you! When we meet, I'm sure we'll become great friends."

Elysia quickly put the photos away, deciding to 'interact' more with these cute girls in the future.

Noldrei wore an expression of disgust, deciding to just accept Elysia for who she was.

"Back to the topic at hand, we need to redesign the Stigma Project. We need to quickly pull everyone into the Stigma Space in a short amount of time, allowing everyone to further experience it. After that, you will be leading the work."

Noldrei patted Hachiman Hikigaya on the shoulder. "I've already arranged for people from Academy City to be dispatched, to get enough manpower in place as soon as possible. With enough help, you'll have time to deal with these people."

"This is where Theresa comes in. At the beginning, she will set up a default, modernized Stigma Space for everyone. This will allow them to find their place within it and quickly adapt to modern city life."

"The most outstanding aspect of the Herrscher of Reason is not how strong its creative ability is, but that it skips the editing process between principle and reproduction. In other words, you only need to know why water is water, and you can use the power of the Herrscher of Reason to complete this simulation."

"Therefore, the one who synergizes best with the Stigma Space is the Core of Reason."

Theresa puffed out her chest proudly, indicating that she was ready to bear the future of humanity.

Senti-Mobius paid no mind to Theresa's pride. In her current state, she was just a controlled, useless Herrscher, with no freedom to speak of.

She was more worried about something else: what kind of ability the next Herrscher, who was about to be served up on a silver platter, would have.

Senti only hoped the next Herrscher wouldn't just hand themselves over.

"You mean, we just throw these people into a pre-simulated social environment, let them modify it themselves, and see how long it takes for them to break it?"

Elysia understood this game. It was like how many city dwellers, if suddenly thrown into the countryside and forced to be self-sufficient, would probably not last very long.

And a person who has always lived in the countryside would have a hard time adapting quickly to a big city. Many of the city's rules are indeed very difficult to adapt to for those who have never been there.

And this 'difficulty in adapting' would require the people entering the Stigma Space to resolve this conflict themselves.

"At this point, everyone will have already been caught in the Tsukuyomi. Kevin will be responsible for completing this part of the work. When night falls and people fall into their dreams, that's when we will connect everyone's dreams."

Noldrei then patted Theresa's little head again. "Theresa has the ability to devour dreams and turn them into her own power. This ability is enough for her to accurately locate every 'food source.' There's no need to worry about that. When night falls, Theresa will become the channel connecting reality and the dreamscape of the Stigma."

"To control this channel is to control everyone's information, to control the power that represents everyone. This is the power of the 'intermediary,' the power that humanity entrusts to others in its attempt to escape its own limitations."

"There are many modern power structures. Some try to control the means of production, using self-learning and reflection to achieve a monopoly on development, representing the absolute centralized politics of the producer. As for things like congresses and elections, they are merely ways to establish a relationship that makes the producers feel they are participating in politics to the greatest extent possible."

"In this kind of political relationship, the most important intermediary is the one that transfers power. The most important thing for them is 'trust' in material relationships. This includes trust in the 'military force' of the other party."

"There are also those who control the authority of the organizing party, only responsible for establishing the organizational relationships of a political party. This is characterized by a high degree of ideology and is also prone to internal corruption."

"But since there have been no past examples in your history of the Stigma Space replicating the spiritual world, people have no way to better understand themselves as individuals from within the Stigma, to understand the spiritual world they inhabit. Therefore, Theresa will theoretically become the ultimate centralized authority of power that no one is aware of."

"In the future, she will be the new Crown Princess of this land."

'Wait?! Why Crown Princess?'

Hachiman Hikigaya was shocked. He had thought Theresa would directly ascend the throne and become the Empress.

The meaning of Emperor and Crown Princess was different. Anyone who had come into contact with Noldrei knew that the purpose of the Emperor was to complete the centralization of power, while the purpose of the Crown Princess was to inherit it.

The former was the owner of the power that completed the organization's construction, while the latter was the owner of the power that continued and repaired the organization.

Unlike the past divisions between so-called imperial and republican systems, in Noldrei's eyes, this planet was full of 'emperors' with different names.

Mobius couldn't help but ask, "What if the Crown Princess from Academy City and this Crown Princess start fighting?"

Noldrei said nonchalantly, "Let them fight. They are two completely different directions of Stigma development. It would be strange if they didn't fight."

Mobius understood. This guy had no intention of peacefully resolving these internal human conflicts.

'Well, well, well! I'm starting to feel that the moral standards of the Herrschers have improved quite a bit.'