Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Bronya's choice no longer mattered. She had to join the Sea of Quanta expedition team with the rather useless identity of the Herrscher of Death.

At the same time, Dr. Tesla had finally cracked the method to open the Eye of the Deep.

She hadn't expected it to be so surprisingly simple: just keep pumping Honkai Energy into it, and that was it.

In fact, it was just as Tesla had thought, but she had to wait for the others to arrive.

"Honestly, just giving me all this work... did they not even consider letting someone else take over?"

Tesla grumbled. While she was genuinely eager to research the Sea of Quanta travel plan, always being the one to do the work made her feel like a mere laborer. It was diminishing her love for research; no one enjoys turning their hobby into a job.

"Dr. Tesla, what are you saying? This fully demonstrates the man from the future's trust in you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left you in charge of such an important position."

Otto felt somewhat out of place here, especially surrounded by Welt, Einstein, and Tesla.

Even Theresa, who had tagged along, was lumped in with the Schicksal faction by this wave of hostility.

'Theresa is innocent! Don't look at your dear ally like that!'

Theresa's face was grim. She wondered if she had just come along to make up the numbers.

Her grandfather was the man who killed Welt's foster father and Dr. Einstein's husband.

Theresa's unreliable, disloyal nature made her an outcast in this situation.

This wasn't an era where the Honkai conflict was the top priority. Noldrei appreciated those who sought revenge for their grudges.

The feud between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy was, of course, included in that.

Noldrei soon arrived with his entourage. Before coming, he had even arranged for a stand-in for the Crown Princess, unified Bronya's thinking, and... well, Durandal didn't need any prep.

She seemed to be a very rational person who didn't overthink things. My sister is going on a long trip? She asked me to help? Sure!

And so, Durandal had come along as well.

Noldrei had always felt that this world was somewhat biased towards women, but ever since he invented gender transformation, even the will behind the Honkai seemed to have been rendered speechless.

After this expedition, he would need to see if the Honkai had the ability to influence parallel worlds.

"Overseer Otto, I'm entrusting you with the house while I'm away. When you have time, help me create a few more Herrschers. If they cause trouble, just kill them and keep their cores."

Hearing Noldrei's heartfelt entrustment to Otto, Welt's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, terrified that Otto would create some massive disaster.

"With pleasure, my dear Emperor! You just watch!" Otto was full of enthusiasm, indicating that he had deeply grasped the Emperor's guiding spirit.

Just creating Herrschers? That was the Overseer's specialty!

"Good. Sovereign Yang, don't cause any trouble for me on the Anti-Entropy side. Look at what you've done to the City Guard. Every time they transform their equipment, they get sneak-attacked and hit a few extra times by the enemy. Find a way to change it. Make putting on the armor simpler and faster."

Noldrei's words made Welt a little embarrassed. The transformation's wind-up animation wasn't something he had designed casually; it was simply a kind of operational password input to prevent "accidental activation" during daily wear.

Now, it seemed it was a bit too cumbersome for use on duty.

Welt pushed up his glasses. "I will find a way to improve it."

He would absolutely not improve it. Speeding up the transformation effect would make it look like something out of The Guyver.

When it came to mechanical aesthetics, Welt would never compromise easily.

"And you, Tesla! Stop developing those game projection devices in your free time! Who's going to fight with monster cards on the street? Don't you know these people have already taken over the senior citizens' parks and streets? The streets in the Far East are already narrow, are you trying to occupy them all?"

Noldrei then reprimanded Tesla, deeply concerned that this woman would develop something that would get constant complaints when she had nothing better to do.

"I already wrote 'Caution' on the game box. What can I do if they don't listen? You know I don't have access to that Kaslana Stigma Space, so I can only use my own private Stigma server."

Tesla had no intention of listening to Noldrei's advice. She had already built a new gaming arena, so they wouldn't have to worry about not having a place to play anymore.

"You bunch of rebels! Oh, and Dr. Einstein, stop showing Tesla those American hero comics. She's always dreaming of being a beautiful spy. People might think her research institute doesn't actually have spies. I bet those old geezers are also thinking about turning into beautiful young girls to get close to Tesla."

Noldrei said helplessly, "A hobby is something you should keep to yourself. There's no need to make sure everyone in the institute knows about it, okay? Did you know that some researchers, to prove they're just focused on science and have no special interest in Tesla, have specifically transformed from women into old men?"

Einstein's eyes widened in surprise. "I thought she just had a special preference! I never thought it was just to avoid office gossip. That's too ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and you have Tesla to thank for her constant cursing and unfiltered mouth. Two-thirds of her curses are directed at me. You think I wouldn't know?"

Noldrei wasn't worried about the Overseer causing trouble; he was more worried about these people "causing trouble." After all, the Overseer's troublemaking was for personal gain, while these people were all about their "hobbies."

"Alright! Alright! Stop lecturing us here, as if you've never done anything bad yourself. Just hurry up and find a way to get in!" Tesla urged Noldrei to enter the Eye of the Deep quickly, before her pristine image was completely ruined.

Noldrei then secretly instructed the yellow-robed Kiana Stigma Will. He told her: for internal affairs, ask Welt; for external affairs, ask Otto. Only then did he feel completely at ease.

Anyway, as a temporary regent, the Stigma Will didn't have the ability to control these people, so Noldrei simply delegated power to them directly.

As for what would become of Academy City?

Noldrei wasn't worried in the slightest. At worst, it would just turn into another Babylon Labs.

Durandal found these people very interesting. Although she didn't understand everything, she could still vaguely sense the clear-cut attitudes.

Thinking of this, she walked up to Principal Theresa.

"Principal Theresa, don't worry too much. Academy City will be fine!"

She said comfortingly, patting the principal on the head.

'You saying that makes me even less relieved!'

Theresa didn't feel comforted at all.

But events did not unfold according to Theresa's will.

The City of the Deep activated, just as planned.