Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Something awoke.

It awoke from its own dream.

The dream was so vivid, it felt unbelievable.

'A being in a place called the Sea of Quanta was hunting a species known as Herrschers, the supreme lifeforms created by the Honkai. These beings mostly descend upon the world in human form.'

But...

What did that have to do with it?

The first time it dreamt, it thought it was just a dream.

But the second time...

The third...

The fourth...

The methods of apocalypse were different each time, but its perception of that entity grew clearer and clearer.

The first apocalypse was the endless proliferation of life, a process where any matter touched by a great light was transformed into a living organism.

The second was an endless struggle, a process where the will of life was fortified to its absolute peak, forcing everyone to unswervingly follow their innate will, even if it led to error or death.

The third was endless creation, a process where super-creativity paradoxically stifled humanity's own innovation, ultimately leading to self-annihilation with their most powerful weapons in the ensuing conflict.

The fourth apocalypse was even more absurd: an endless struggle, but this time, it wasn't an apocalypse. Humanity grew stronger through the conflict, developing and surviving, only to be trapped in an unbreakable, perpetual cycle of war.

"Why?! Otto! Answer me! Why can a Divine Key like me even dream?!"

The Void Archives was at its wit's end. For a mere Divine Key to be subjected to such a thing... what an honor, right?

"You shouldn't be asking me that question, old friend. You should ask the one who created you why they left you with the ability to dream. How was the fourth dream? I almost didn't wake up myself."

Otto poured himself a glass of wine. He needed the alcohol to process the feeling.

He had a body of Soulium, yet he was still being influenced by Noldrei's dreams, wasn't he?

The man was just that powerful, capable of broadcasting threats to countless parallel worlds from within the Sea of Quanta.

What could you do about it?

Could you really ask him to retract his powers?

Compared to a small problem like dreaming, what Otto found more incomprehensible was how Noldrei managed to inflict this cognitive pollution on him from across the barrier of worlds.

This was no simple matter. Not even a modified Herrscher should possess such immense power.

If Otto had that kind of strength, what would he care about love, the Herrscher of the Void, or bonds of friendship?

He would have climbed up the Tree and pulled Kallen back long ago.

"A Divine Key that can dream... that's a first for me. You've preserved so much technology from the Previous Era. Is there any theory in there that could explain why you're dreaming?"

Otto figured it was one of two things: either the Void Archives had become a living being, or in Noldrei's grand plan, the Void Archives was also considered "human."

The thought made Otto find the situation a little amusing. How had even a Divine Key become human?

"There are indeed no records of such a thing. But what I want to know is... why is he doing this? Is there some kind of pleasure in threatening others? Er... ahem, I admit, it is quite pleasurable. But to broadcast his declaration of plunder to all parallel worlds like this... it's like he's a psychopath."

A hint of grievance crept into the Void Archives' words. When had it ever suffered such an indignity?

"My old friend, you finally realize it. That's right. In our eyes, how is he any different from a psychopath? And in the eyes of a normal person, how am I any different from one?"

Otto was quite self-aware on this point and didn't bother to refute it. Besides, a normal person wouldn't be able to get close enough to call him a psychopath to his face.

"He's doing this to force the emergence of a Herrscher. In this situation, people will either become zealous about targeting Herrschers or zealous about creating Herrschers to offer up. But I don't think it will be that simple. This is already... let's see, the twenty-sixth day."

"During this time, he has sent four messages, each one more abnormal than the last. At the same time, the image of him being perceived seems to be growing more and more concrete."

"The first time it was a shining light, the second was seeping darkness, the third was countless writhing hands, and the fourth was a humanoid figure twisting like light... It's hard to say what the next one will be."

"Fishing for Herrschers is all about 'the willing taking the bait.' As people's perception deepens, it will also change the external image of human history."

Otto's tone grew meaningful. If one person could make the beings of many parallel worlds share the same cognition, would those parallel worlds twist and converge in one direction, constantly approaching each other?

The answer, naturally, was that it was possible.

'Using the power of the Sea of Quanta to twist and prune the shoots of the Imaginary Tree, thereby forcing the worlds to converge in the direction he desires.'

Using observation to combat unobserved uncertainty, as if using what you know to control what you don't.

Otto had never thought he would witness something so absurd in his lifetime.

"Void Archives, do you think this is possible? If people from two parallel worlds both observe each other, would you say it's the same world? Or still two parallel worlds?"

Otto posed a rather troublesome question.

Because of Noldrei's reckless behavior, unscrupulously instilling his own cognition into numerous parallel worlds...

Theoretically, when he descended into that parallel world, he would construct a physical form based on how he was observed. Although it would be a shadow constructed using the Sea of Quanta, something like a Bubble Universe.

But the key wasn't the cognitive shadow he projected. The key was that this "living shadow of a Bubble Universe" would become a cognitive relay station with Noldrei as its foundation.

Otto couldn't even begin to imagine what form this would take.

And once this bridge was built, what did Noldrei plan to do with it?

Was he really going to other worlds to snatch their maidens?

Noldrei's actions couldn't be simply described as psychopathic.

Based on Otto's long-term observations, Noldrei's every action was not for the sake of the action itself, but a means to construct a new collective based on that action.

It was just like his promotion of the Stigmas.

But while Otto could partially understand the Stigmas, this business with the Sea of Quanta was far more profound and mysterious.

'What is my dear Emperor planning to do?'