Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

The establishment date for the new Academy City was announced, with its location set in the famous holy city of Jerusalem.

Brothers from numerous religions were heartbroken, taking to the media to declare that this was wrong, a contemptuous act against all believers, and that they would form a Crusade... wait, what?

What's that? It's being established under the auspices of Schicksal? Oh, never mind then.

The brothers from the Vatican declared that Jerusalem had been Schicksal's rightful land since ancient times. The old religion had finally found its new... vigor.

They then found a bunch of wealthy believers to invest in Academy City, saying they wanted to hold some shares in the new city as well.

Noldrei accepted it all. After all, it wasn't these capitalists who would be ruling Academy City in the future. Their money would merely serve as start-up capital, at best building a new palace for His Majesty the Emperor.

And just like that, a building with no doors or windows rose from the ground in Jerusalem.

Building a city was simpler than one might imagine. This was largely thanks to Schicksal's inherent identity, which had inexplicably given Academy City's upper echelon a religious flavor.

It had to be said, it was quite effective. Religious figures were already cheering on the internet about Academy City reclaiming lost lands.

However, when had Theresa ever managed so many people? Her abilities were, at best, those of a homeroom teacher. With a little training, she might have the potential to become an excellent principal.

But she hadn't had the chance to be trained yet, had she? The Far East Branch had been disbanded on the spot with Noldrei's arrival.

"I, I... what should I say?"

Theresa's small hand nervously gripped Noldrei's large one, looking like a little hikikomori child on her first day of school.

"Didn't we already arrange it for you? You just have to open your mouth without making a sound, and we'll automatically provide the voice-over for you from behind with a voice changer. If the audio and video go out of sync, just say it's network lag."

Noldrei's reassurance, instead of relaxing Theresa, made her start to wonder why she was even here.

Could she, an S-rank Valkyrie, really be defeated by such a scene? Other than attending various events with her grandfather, Theresa realized she had never actively made a public political statement.

In other words, this was little Theresa's first time.

"Isn't this the same as me not even being here?!"

Theresa's voice no longer trembled. She felt like a complete waste of space.

Seeing her so nervous, Noldrei patted the little white-haired fluffball's head comfortingly. "Don't worry, at least you can go out and speak. If you really don't want to go, I can also turn into you and give the speech."

Theresa's eyes widened as she looked at Noldrei. Her palms were sweating so much that even a future man like Noldrei found it a bit much.

Sweaty palms at such a young age, what will she do in the future?

Does her Valkyrie suit smell sour every time she takes off the gloves?

"Don't worry. As long as you're an obedient Herrscher of Reason, I won't think about finding someone to replace you."

Hearing this, Theresa became even more lost. Her eyes glazed over, and she almost lost her sense of purpose in life.

Her big head thought for a long time before she finally realized. "Wait a minute," she asked in surprise. "This is... you don't even have to use me! Why do you insist on using the Herrscher of Reason for this job?"

Noldrei looked at her with equal disbelief. "That's a strange thing to say. If I don't give you a job, what's the difference between that and killing you? Just because I can replace everyone in the world, does that mean I have to do everyone's work? Then what's the point of the humans of this era?"

"What's the difference between humans without practical activities and animals?"

Theresa was confused. She felt that what Noldrei was saying made a lot of sense. But what she didn't know was that in a future where everyone could be replaced, giving people corresponding practical activities would truly become a theoretical 'gift' and 'charity'.

"You're right! I must show my abilities and value!"

After a round of PUA, Theresa showed her ambition!

She clenched her small fists, threw a couple of punches into the air, and shouted, "I will definitely do a good job of lip-syncing the speech!"

Elysia felt sorry for Theresa. How could someone get so excited about such a job?

Noldrei, that bastard, was truly evil.

"Yes, that's the spirit you need to maintain! You are now Theresa Apocalypse, the strongest MANTIS who controls the Core of Reason!"

Noldrei's encouragement made little Theresa's face flush red, as if she had found a pillar of support in her heart.

Watching Theresa stride proudly onto the stage of the Academy City World Press Conference...

...Elysia finally asked Noldrei, "Is this okay? Little Theresa doesn't seem very good at handling these things. Has she ever done anything like this before?"

"Of course she has. She even hosted the St. Freya High School Carnival before! Think about it, all those students were Valkyries, and they didn't break her. How could a small thing like this make her back down? She's Overseer Otto's granddaughter! Overseer Otto may not have the best character, but his educational standards are top-notch. He's never raised a coward."

Noldrei's confidence in Theresa came entirely from Overseer Otto. It was thanks to Otto that Noldrei had placed such a deep foundation of trust in Theresa.

Elysia watched as Theresa walked onto the stage of the press conference.

Just as Noldrei had said, Theresa successfully completed her task as a lip-syncer.

And the series of measures announced by Academy City was also announced to the world through Theresa's work.

Everyone on Earth now knew that someone was going to operate a 'Matrix' in this old land, one that didn't charge money and was even free to use. The purpose was to use Stigma to virtually restore the spiritual world, allowing people's spiritual worlds to unfold within the Stigma.

To artificially manipulate people into their own dream worlds, so they could consciously interact with the forgotten, the impossible, and the things they once regretted.

Academy City sincerely invited people from all over the world to join. Those with money could contribute money, those with people could contribute people, and Academy City would cover the rest.

Theresa spoke eloquently at the press conference, laying out her major future work and the construction plans for a world-class spiritual treatment center.

She had no idea what she had just said. The mere fact that they could feed so many people in their dreams until they died was enough to make all the countries in the world's scalps tingle.

Immediately!

America cut off the live broadcast of the Academy City news, and Theresa Apocalypse was banned from the entire internet.

Goddamn it, what a simple and crude method.