Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"How is it, Theresa? Have you managed to clear out the lingering influence in the dreams of the people in Academy City?"

Of course, the only thing that could accomplish such a feat was the ICHOR within Theresa's body.

She was currently wearing the latest Valkyrie Battlesuit, her objective being to purge the cognitive contamination Noldrei had left on the people of Earth.

However, her own power was insufficient. She could only barely manage to soothe the populace of Academy City and redirect their internal conflicts. By shifting their focus to everyday problems, she could make them temporarily forget the major move His Majesty the Emperor had pulled.

But even so, Theresa was stretched to her limits and utterly exhausted.

Overseer Otto had prepared a delicious meal for his granddaughter, full of things Theresa had never been able to taste before her senses were restored. She felt like she was definitely going to gain weight, but she couldn't bring herself to turn down the amazing food her grandpa made.

"It's... it's too hard," she said. "I feel like... my head has been stuffed with countless terrifying things. Things I understand and things I don't are all washing over my memories. It's like encountering some kind of 'Greatness' and subconsciously choosing to merge with it."

Theresa was still shaken. After seeing Noldrei in that state, she was completely overwhelmed by his perspective, one that viewed others as mere ants. Her willpower stood no chance of hiding from such immense power.

As she was being drawn in, she could even feel countless human wills roaming within Noldrei's being.

"Grandpa, I had this one feeling... At that moment, I was human, and humanity was him. Therefore, it was only natural that I was also him."

Theresa was still terrified. She had never encountered such a difficult cognitive crisis.

"Oh? I see," Otto mused. "So what the man from the future said was true. He really does preserve the genetic information of countless humans from his time. He can even manifest that information within his own body. You must understand... we're talking about the number of humans who have wandered the sea of stars. That's simply not comparable to the billions who are still stuck on a single planet, unable to reach the heavens."

Otto's words were somewhat frightening. Theresa couldn't even begin to imagine how much genetic information from so many lives had been integrated together. It was as unimaginable as all seven billion people on Earth awakening their Stigmata and then unifying that power into a single force.

"Grandpa, that's an outrageous conclusion," Theresa said. "If he's really that strong, then isn't anything we try to do to him completely useless?"

Theresa felt it was best not to say such demoralizing things. Just look at the mess this man from the future had made of humanity on Earth. Everyone was driven into a state of utter turmoil—they craved the benefits he offered, yet they feared the crisis he brought with him.

Otto looked at his granddaughter in shock. "Theresa, you can't possibly be thinking of doing something to him, are you? Even without him showing more of his power, we're already completely helpless against him."

"Well..." Theresa was speechless. What had she just said? That she wanted to go head-to-head with the Emperor of Academy City?

No, absolutely not. That was something she couldn't even allow herself to consider.

"He's too terrifying," Otto continued. "I feel like the slightest misstep could lead to a huge disaster."

Otto couldn't imagine facing someone who was essentially unkillable. And what's more, this person didn't even use Honkai Energy. How were they supposed to fight an existence like that? To be so powerful without using Honkai Energy... what methods could he possibly use to restrain such a being?

"Damn it! Is this what they mean by 'power without law, and law without power'?" Theresa gritted her teeth in frustration, completely unable to figure out how to change the current situation.

A large number of her students had already been drawn into the Kengan Association, each one reveling in combat and reaching new heights of power. It was true that their combat abilities were improving rapidly, but at the same time, their minds and spirits were becoming more radical and frenzied.

"Theresa, who taught you all this?"

Otto was surprised by his granddaughter's unexpected growth.

"Huh? Taught me what?" Theresa looked at her grandfather, confused.

"That phrase, 'power without law, and law without power'—who told you that?" Otto was puzzled by his granddaughter's strange development. Had Theresa really matured this much?

"Who else could it be? It was obviously..." Theresa froze. She carefully recalled her past studies, but it seemed no one had ever taught her such things.

Which meant...

"I learned it in a dream? But that's not right, how could I learn something in a dream...?!"

She paused, realizing what had happened. Theresa now understood that she had seen many things she shouldn't have in her dreams, and that knowledge had seeped into her consciousness.

"See? You've found the root of the problem," Otto said calmly. "Many people can see in him what they want to see, just like you, in your choices regarding the management of St. Freya High School and your attempts to change things within Schicksal."

Otto spoke frankly about his own issues. "It's like my human experiments. Do you think the Valkyries don't know about them? Of course they do. But no one has ever tried to replace me. This is because of my irreplaceable authority, and also because of their selfish hope that they won't be the next sacrifice. Many Valkyries simply turned a blind eye to these experiments."

"I admit the artificial Stigmata experiments have caused the Valkyries a great deal of suffering, but that suffering is something they etched upon themselves to fulfill their own needs."

"Theresa, what you said about 'power without law, and law without power' is actually correct. The reason a social principle like 'bad money drives out good' emerges is that people dream of having others bear their losses for them. This is a very dangerous dream, and those who dream it must admit that they are weak."

"If such a person becomes a leader, they become a great menace to the world."

"Similarly, this phenomenon of bad driving out good also occurs within power dynamics. This is because people are unwilling to choose a smart and capable leader who might threaten their own power and interests. However..."

Otto trailed off and let out a cold chuckle.

"However, choosing an incompetent leader to take charge is precisely what weakens the collective's overall benefits. The very idea of trying to increase one's personal gain by diminishing the group's effectiveness—that is the root of 'bad money drives out good' within power structures."

"Theresa, my dear granddaughter, if you want to change the power dynamics within Academy City, you must confront how this way of thinking is corroding the city as a whole."

"And here's a key point: ninety-nine percent of people will never become the top leader. Therefore, for them, whether the top leader is capable and intelligent is highly likely to affect the power they currently hold, but it's highly unlikely to have anything to do with their own personal progress."

Theresa fell into deep thought. She seemed to be realizing what kind of problems were festering within Academy City.

But if she had to solve these problems herself?

Little Theresa immediately felt her confidence waver. How was she supposed to combat people's insatiable desire for personal power?