Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

You couldn't say Academy City's public image was great, but it wasn't exactly terrible either.

Especially for some of the more... liberal nations, Academy City felt more like a kind of... Holy City.

Chaotic people breed chaotic ideas, and by now, no other nation had the power to stop Academy City's actions, even if they wanted to.

It wasn't for lack of trying. They'd conducted their own secret experiments on using Honkai Energy, but their biotechnology was completely out of its league. Without a living microscope and surgical tool like Dr. Tesla, they had no way to casually recombine genetic information.

They certainly couldn't get past the biological protection layer Noldrei had put in place.

Any test subjects they exposed to Honkai Energy died instantly; not a single one made it off the operating table alive.

The researchers who remained in their home countries were completely burned out. They had utterly given up.

After a full year of zero progress, these researchers realized that their access to Honkai Energy had been completely sealed off by Academy City.

To the outside world, Academy City was as detestable as a nation that had monopolized all the world's oil.

Monitoring these shifts in public opinion was the job of Raiden Ryoma and Siegfried Kaslana.

They never would have imagined that in just one short year, the world's gratitude for the disappearance of the Honkai would curdle into resentment over the monopoly on its energy. The two feelings were separated by a razor-thin line.

And now, they understood why Noldrei had chosen to become an emperor.

Noldrei had no intention of sharing the fruits of his labor with the rulers of the "primitive" world. In Noldrei's eyes, their territories only remained theirs because he hadn't bothered to take them yet.

The current Noldrei had no fear of nuclear war; in fact, he'd probably welcome it.

Raiden Ryoma asked himself if he, were he to travel back in time with advanced technology and governing techniques, would ever hand them over to feudal rulers.

Do these clowns even realize who their public outcry is actually aimed at?

Just as Noldrei had predicted, the course of world history would always bend in the direction he pointed.

"Siegfried, I feel like an idiot, trying to stop a bunch of morons from pissing off a bunch of lunatics."

Siegfried had no idea what the people outside were plotting.

Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had indeed pulled back, but surely no one thought they had done so voluntarily?

Did people in this world really believe that rulers willingly gave up their thrones? Even Gorbachev only stepped down after he knew the whole system had collapsed.

"If I knew, I'd be running a country, not taking orders here. Just tell me if there are any other factions pulling strings from behind the scenes, like some hidden, shady organizations. I've got a bad feeling about some of the people out there..."

Siegfried's head was about to explode. He'd never felt like this before.

After Noldrei monopolized Honkai Energy, the world seemed to go quiet for a while.

At first, he thought it was relief that the Honkai was under control.

But the reality was far from what he'd imagined. The resentment seemed to be growing. They just didn't dare act openly due to the long-standing terror inspired by the Herrschers.

But once the world learned that Herrschers were also human, with human thoughts and emotions, they could no longer suppress their burgeoning ambitions.

Sure, some clear-headed leaders remained rational, but plenty were willing to gamble.

Even people like Siegfried, with his natural Honkai resistance, had become dangerous symbols. When he went out, he was even targeted by strange organizations who were after his body.

"This is the age of genetics. It's the path our leader from the future has laid out for us. Those who can modify their bodies to gain supreme power are the new elite, and those who can't are the underclass. This ideology is quietly seeping into the outside world."

Raiden Ryoma's face held a trace of mockery as he spoke coldly, "Do you think those high-and-mighty lords, who see themselves as the born nobility, will ever give up on their ambitions? They'd sell their own children, their money, their power, before they'd abandon those ideas."

"And don't forget, these are the people who claim they'll 'serve the taxpayers until they die.' But of course, living forever is the best option of all."

Siegfried couldn't believe that with the threat of the Honkai diminished, such disgusting ideas could fester in people's minds.

Otto's 500-year dictatorship was a public record—who wouldn't want to be the next Otto? Theresa's eternally youthful body after forty years—who wouldn't want the long life of a MANTIS? Dr. Tesla's godlike power after becoming a Herrscher—who wouldn't want to run rampant with the power of a Herrscher?

Sure, many ordinary people knew nothing about the Honkai, but the wealthy and powerful nations that had collaborated with Schicksal and Anti-Entropy? Of course they knew.

If they lost, they died. But if they succeeded, their fortunes would be made overnight.

The potential rewards were so great that it was inevitable some would harbor... special ambitions.

"So what do we do? We can't just kill them all, can we?"

Siegfried's first thought was a military solution—just gun down all the lunatics. It was a straightforward, no-nonsense approach he shared with Kiana.

Ryoma rolled his eyes at his idiotic friend. "What are you thinking? Even if we wanted to, could we be as precise as a surgeon's scalpel? These people know how to disguise themselves, how to package their intentions. You think they'd just hand you a pretext to take them down?"

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Our only option is to take a page from Otto Apocalypse's book. He's been the Overseer for centuries; he definitely knows how to handle people trying to usurp his throne."

Siegfried broke into a cold sweat. "I can't believe Otto's bizarre experience is actually useful in a situation like this. Is this what they mean by 'what goes around, comes around'?"

Ryoma nodded in agreement. "I know what you're thinking, but to put it in modern terms: there are individuals who betray their class, but there is no class that betrays itself. You don't want your two daughters to be targeted by those people out there, do you?"

Siegfried fell silent. Of course, he didn't want Durandal and Kiana to be targeted by some creeps.

But the problem was, it wasn't up to him.

Besides, who would be unlucky enough to target his two daughters?

I think you're just worried about your own daughter, Siegfried thought. Ryoma was clearly just trying to build another layer of protection for Mei.