Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Dr. Tesla's life wasn't actually as easy as one might imagine.

Even now, sitting in a car sent by the President of the United States, she couldn't help but notice they didn't use convertibles anymore, perhaps for security reasons.

But even so, Tesla had already survived an unexpected attack on her way here.

She had never felt her own power reach such heights before; even the US President and the Secretary of State had to be completely respectful in her presence.

The fact that Noldrei could face such temptation and still resist the urge to forcibly rule the world... if not for the strange mental state of a man from the future, Tesla would have suspected he was a saint.

Her work in North America wasn't actually that troublesome. Her main job for the past year had been searching for ruins.

For a normal person, finding ruins would be a hassle, but for Tesla, she could just scan the area with her ability to control electrons to pinpoint their exact location.

She had lost count of how many ruins she'd unearthed, but none of it was particularly useful for her own body's modifications.

The most useful things the Previous Era had ever created were already in the hands of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Namely—the Stigmas.

The rest was just scraps. While they included many high-tech products, none were advanced enough to warrant a second glance from the current Tesla.

At this moment, Tesla was frowning at the small bullet in her hand.

'A Honkai radiation bullet. I wonder who's trying to use this against me? Who came up with the idea of attacking a Herrscher with Honkai radiation? It seems their Honkai-related research isn't very deep. They're probably not the same group that's been causing trouble in Academy City.'

'How ridiculous. To think there are still people out there who want me dead.'

Tesla didn't know who they were, and she couldn't be bothered to find out. It was just like how Kiana never cared where her attackers came from, because an attack of this level was like a feather landing on her skin—completely ineffective.

It was hard to even get angry; you could only find the attempt somewhat comical.

Tesla had long since become aware of this shift in her own perception. Just as she now found it difficult to get interested in creations from the world outside Academy City, her emotional threshold was rising without limit, and her desires for pleasure were shifting in directions she couldn't comprehend.

"Einstein, how are things on your end? Does the Eye of the Deep really require Honkai Energy to activate?"

She was contacting Einstein for an update on the Eye of the Deep. Right now, it was the only thing left that was closely tied to the Previous Era.

"The Eye of the Deep is fine for now, but what about your situation... I mean, finding a way to investigate the high-concentration Honkai Energy reaction on the moon."

The Previous Era left behind many things. One was the Moonlight Throne (SELENE), and the one sitting on that throne now was Tesla herself.

She could recreate the SELENE's engine, which she had created, anytime and anywhere, allowing her to consume and convert Honkai Energy on demand.

Another was the power of the Stigmas, which could pass down fixed genetic information through heredity.

The last was the Eye of the Deep, a power strong enough to breach parallel worlds.

If the Previous Era had truly been prescient, they surely would have found a way to hide some of their "seeds" in the Sea of Quanta, allowing them to be scattered throughout the Imaginary Tree.

But that raised a question...

'The Previous Era was so powerful, so why were they still wiped out? Logically, combining all these scientific achievements should have allowed them to control or even eliminate the Honkai. Could it be that some other power was involved?'

Tesla's mind was filled with doubt. She couldn't figure out why things had turned out this way.

"Miss Misteln, do you know anything about the ruins? Why did they fail in their fight against the Honkai, despite such powerful scientific achievements? Or is it... that the Honkai has trump cards we don't know about? Could it even manipulate time and space to reverse the world?"

Misteln, of course, couldn't answer that. She didn't even fully understand the purpose of the Previous Era's Project Stigma.

But as an observer from the Current Era, she could offer her own answer.

Misteln thought for a moment and said, "Is it possible that the Previous Era lacked a figure like Mr. Noldrei? Someone who could force Schicksal and Anti-Entropy to obey his orders, and direct them to build a new city to shape humanity's future. Perhaps the internal conflicts among the Previous Era's humans were so intense that all these achievements were never properly utilized?"

Tesla found Misteln's point very plausible. Noldrei had indeed suppressed most of the conflicts with an iron fist, directing them to develop according to his will. Under normal circumstances, that would be nearly impossible to achieve.

If it weren't for Noldrei's overwhelming military power and the fact that he actually provided a blueprint for a new society, it's unlikely everyone would have fallen in line so obediently.

Putting other things aside, even Schicksal struggled to make Anti-Entropy bow its head, and Anti-Entropy itself had trouble keeping its own executives in line.

"Still, whether the Previous Era left behind ruins, or perhaps a trump card, in the Sea of Quanta... that will depend on what we do now. Hopefully, we can get more information about the Honkai."

Tesla sighed. "A year. It's been a whole year, and not a peep from the Honkai. I have no idea what that entity wants, or why a Will of the Honkai even exists in the first place."

Misteln didn't know either. She was, in reality, a person of the Current Era.

The one who should truly know would be the will within the Kaslana Stigma Space, but it showed no intention of revealing anything.

It seemed willing to be completely devoured by Kiana rather than change its mind.

"Then our only choice is to look for answers in the Sea of Quanta..."

Deep down, Tesla was still a little angry. She'd been happily conducting her own experiments, only to be ordered by Noldrei to handle all this.

Even though she knew he was doing it to fight the Honkai?

Tesla wasn't entirely sure. After all, Noldrei hadn't fully revealed his methods for fighting the Honkai.

On the contrary, ordinary Herrschers were no match for him; they couldn't even manage to land a hit.

'He's most likely trying to use the Honkai to further the evolution of human society, isn't he?'

That was the only use for the Honkai that Tesla could imagine for someone like Noldrei.

'I wonder how that Herrscher of Corruption from the Previous Era is doing now. Hopefully, she hasn't been... broken from being played with too much in the Stigma Space.'