Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Noldrei wasn't particularly moved by any of it.

The information stream managed by Anti-Entropy had already propelled Welt's manuscript to a certain prominence, making it a hot topic of social debate.

His focus was now on other matters.

For example, the outsiders who had come into Academy City now that it was open.

Noldrei was currently touring Academy City to observe the social situation. Of course, he was well aware of everything, but a little "incognito inspection tour" was necessary before anything else.

"How does it feel?"

"It's okay. It just doesn't taste as good as it used to."

"Try another lick. Maybe it's because the flavor isn't strong enough?"

"That can't be it, right? You can't just add more sugar, can you?"

"The sugar content should be about the same. Didn't you say you barely felt anything when you drank alcohol? That means you've already started to consciously block your own senses."

Kiana's little face scrunched up. It wasn't conscious at all; it was completely unconscious.

She craved that sensory stimulation, that physical sensation, but her body just wasn't experiencing it.

"But I don't want to feel nothing when I eat ice cream! I want that thrill of alternating hot and cold that makes your body shiver!"

Kiana felt that the bodies of future humans were too powerful. Sensations of this level were like a mere tickle. But she didn't want to use her own body to create this feeling. This future human body could even simulate sensory signals, allowing one to have the feeling of eating ice cream without actually eating it.

Kiana herself was starting to find it difficult to adapt to this body.

"Then just find a way to return your body to its original state. Don't you have the genetic information of the original Kiana's body memorized? It's not a big deal to change back."

Noldrei was patiently instructing his heir apparent.

He hadn't had to educate Kiana in a long time. It wasn't that the girl was slow, but rather that her current state didn't quite match her current hardware.

"So, do you feel anything when you eat ice cream?" Kiana looked at Noldrei curiously. He was eating the same ice cream he had bought for her.

"Of course. I'm not a dummy like you. I've long since been able to freely control a body like this. You, on the other hand, the more you try to control it, the worse you get at using it. It's like using a computer and downloading a ton of junk software."

Noldrei knew how Kiana used her body. Most of the time, aside from tentacles, she would just simulate the limbs and organs of other life forms. Otherwise, she would completely revert to her jelly-like state, which allowed her to maintain perfect balance.

But Kiana didn't think that was good enough. She had to be a cute, white-haired girl.

So, she had to refresh her body every time.

This lifestyle led to a less-than-ideal experience. Often, after adjusting her sensory perception, she would become overly sensitive in some aspects and overly insensitive in others.

Although she could change back quickly, Kiana still loved the surprise of the first bite of food.

Given that his heir apparent's intelligence wasn't the highest, Noldrei had to personally show her how to use her own body.

Kiana thought for a moment, then shrank herself down to the size of a little loli.

She looked just like Theresa.

"Why'd you suddenly shrink?" Noldrei couldn't follow her train of thought. Just a moment ago, she was insisting she was a beautiful young girl.

"I feel like... this has more feeling?" Kiana thought for a moment and said, "I just want to experience what it's like to go shopping with my father. Or maybe, I could turn into Dr. Tesla? That would work too!"

Noldrei looked at him seriously and shook his head. "You might as well turn into Otto. At least his face makes you look a little smarter. Tesla's doesn't have that effect."

"No way! I'm not a freak!" little Kiana immediately shook her head. She would never turn into Otto.

Then, a brilliant idea struck her. "If I have to change, I'll become Kallen, and then you have to become Otto!"

Noldrei, on the other hand, felt that his heir was truly wicked for coming up with such a psychologically devastating idea.

"Forget it. Overseer Otto is already in a sorry enough state. Let's not torment him further."

Noldrei actually thought Otto was a decent fellow. At the very least, he met the basic requirements for Noldrei's "new human race." The only problem was that he wished the man had fewer "old moral values" rattling around in his head.

Noldrei saw Otto as the type of person who knew what he was doing was wrong but did it anyway out of sheer persistence, becoming numb after crossing the line time and time again.

But in Noldrei's view, the new human race shouldn't have such restraints.

They should believe that what they are doing is right, and that everyone else should learn from their example.

Otto hadn't reached that level yet. He often mocked himself as being 'foolish' (愚), but in Noldrei's eyes, the man was closer to being 'obsessed' (痴).

---||---

Kiana completed her transformation right there on the street, her clothes adapting to her new form instantly. In Academy City, where all sorts of strange abilities were on display, her power was unusual but not enough to cause a major stir among the residents.

The newcomers, however, couldn't help but stop and stare. They didn't dare get too close, and certainly didn't dare approach to listen to what the two were saying.

But the sight of a young woman suddenly transforming into a little girl was truly shocking to many of them.

"Brother, over there... did someone just get smaller?"

Kei Shirogane pointed towards Noldrei's direction. The simple gesture made her brother, Miyuki Shirogane, jump.

By now, most people in Academy City knew Noldrei's general appearance. However, no one was certain if this image belonged to a single, fixed individual.

What this meant was that due to the unique influence of the Kaslana bloodline, many people shared a similar appearance. Everyone knew that a Kaslana was the shadowy boss of Academy City, but they couldn't be sure if any of the white-haired, blue-eyed youths they saw on the street was the real boss.

Whether it was really him or not, everyone operated under the unspoken agreement to treat him as if he could be, while outwardly acting as if he wasn't.

"Yes... It's probably not someone from our research institute," Miyuki said, analyzing the situation. "And it's not like we haven't researched drugs that can do that. The strongest effect we've achieved can shrink a person to the size of a first-grader, about seven or eight years old."

Miyuki pulled his sister back, whispering cautiously, "Don't just go over and stare. That's one of the Kaslanas. Whether it's him or not, they're not people we should be approaching. We could be accused of trying to spy on the Kaslana genetic information."

Kei was astonished. She hadn't imagined people would try to spy on something like that.

"Is that stuff really valuable?"

"Very valuable," Miyuki explained. "It's like imperial authority among genes—a very special Honkai Energy adaptation factor that has emerged within humanity. Now, that's enough. It has nothing to do with us."

Kei didn't quite understand. To her, the two of them just looked like a normal brother and sister.

"But they don't look any different from normal people, and they seem to get along really well."

As if she had heard the Shirogane siblings' conversation, Kiana turned and gave Kei a slight nod and a smile.

Kei nervously grabbed her brother's arm. She couldn't believe the person had heard their private conversation from all the way across the crowd and had even responded.