Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Kiana never expected to see her older self.

Herrscher of Finality Kiana never expected to see her younger self either.

After obtaining the Authority of Finality, HoFi Kiana had used her powers to shield her own world from being scouted by the Sea of Quanta. This was an instinctive choice for nearly all Herrschers of Finality. Only worlds where a Herrscher of Finality had not yet been born could be observed by Su.

In other words, once the Authority of Finality was obtained, the first order of business was to cut off all influence and interference from other parallel worlds.

From this perspective, Project VALUKA was destined to fail.

Any civilization that triumphed over the Honkai would surely have methods to deal with the parallel worlds of the Sea of Quanta, as well as ways to hide their own world.

Therefore, Su could only ever observe the specific progress of worlds that had not defeated the Honkai.

"Durandal-neechan, is this a parallel world version of me?"

One of HoFi Kiana's favorite pastimes was using the power of the Herrscher of the Void to peek at parallel worlds to kill time. It was one of her few recreational activities on the moon.

"Sister? You're also... Kiana?" Durandal never thought Noldrei's fishing skills would be so high, yet his luck in catching fish would be so abysmal.

An existence with such powerful Honkai abilities was exactly the kind of pony Noldrei craved most.

"Ah, that's not wrong, but this is just a clone I created using Herrscher powers," HoFi Kiana explained, pointing to her own body. "I was drawn here by a burst of power, so I came to investigate if something special had happened in the Sea of Quanta. As you can see, I'm a Herrscher now... I really didn't expect to accidentally meet my younger self."

Kiana's eyes sparkled as she looked at HoFi Kiana, asking happily, "Did you also succeed in stealing the entire power of the Honkai and become the emperor of humanity yourself? I was starting to think I'd never inherit the throne."

"What?!"

Countless question marks popped up over HoFi Kiana's head. She felt that this younger version of herself was exceptionally wild.

"What are you talking about? How could anyone want the power of the Honkai just to become an emperor? What would that even look like?!"

HoFi Kiana wanted to reason with this younger version of herself.

But this Kiana clearly had her own ideas. She said matter-of-factly, "Of course I have to be the emperor. Otherwise, wouldn't fighting the Honkai have been for nothing? You put in so much effort, you have the prestige, the power, and the organization. You must have ruthlessly eliminated all internal opposition, right? Otherwise, how could no one have fought you for the Authority of Finality?"

...

Now it was clear. This parallel world version of herself was a bit too badass. She even wanted to rule her own human world.

HoFi Kiana began to wonder if she had chosen the wrong path in her own world. Could a civilization like this really defeat the Honkai?

HoFi Kiana had cleared the game following the orthodox, heroic storyline. As far as she knew, civilizations that reached such an ending were quite rare, even on the Imaginary Tree.

Kiana saw that her older self was very confused and hadn't figured things out yet, so she explained, "It's like this: our world is running out of Herrschers, so we want to go to other parallel worlds and catch a few. It's a pity you're just a clone; otherwise, we could have taken you with us. If we gave your genetic information to Noldrei, we could definitely uncover the secrets of the Authority of Finality."

HoFi Kiana stared blankly at this younger Kiana.

It wasn't that she was angry, but rather that her brain's CPU had been fried.

After a long hesitation, HoFi Kiana cautiously asked, "You're not Otto in disguise, are you?"

Even Durandal couldn't watch anymore. Her sister was acting like a miniature Noldrei.

Durandal quickly explained, "Don't judge my sister by how she acts. She's actually quite pure and a good person."

HoFi Kiana looked at Durandal in shock, wondering if Durandal's head was also messed up.

Even she, a Herrscher of Finality, couldn't say such things. Why could this little Kiana, who looked exactly like her younger self, talk about such topics so calmly?

Could it be that she, Kiana, was born with a hidden evil gene? Was it only because she had many friends in her own world who saved her that her personality was corrected?

"Otto? You mean that emperor's lackey? The one who's always talking trash about me behind my back? If it weren't for Noldrei, I would have already eliminated that guy who used my genetic information for human experiments!"

Kiana had disliked Otto for a long time, but Otto was one of the people who worked for Noldrei, and Noldrei seemed to appreciate his abilities.

She added, "These people who play politics, their hearts are all filthy. When I ascend the throne, I'll give them a good cleaning."

HoFi Kiana rubbed her forehead. She felt something was very wrong. It seemed like the existence of this Noldrei had caused a deviation. Even Otto wasn't taken seriously by "herself," as if she could kill him at any moment.

HoFi Kiana pondered for a moment and explained, "I'm not an emperor. I'm just watching over the Honkai Energy for now. This authority was entrusted to me for everyone's happiness, not for ruling over humanity."

Kiana looked at her older self in shock, then her expression turned to one of profound grief.

"Why? You're the older me, yet you're still lying to me about this? I get it. Is the Herrscher of Finality in your world a president-for-life system? The goal is to represent humanity and control the Authority of Finality for life, right?"

'You little punk?!' HoFi Kiana's face turned green with anger. It was the first time she had ever heard such a ridiculous theory.

She immediately looked at Durandal angrily and asked loudly, "Who taught her all this stuff?! What's her identity?! Why are we both Kiana, but she turned out like this?!"

Kiana also felt that HoFi Kiana was being completely unreasonable. She retorted immediately, "If I don't rule humanity, how can I maintain the new human order and lead them to fight against the Honkai? I must become the emperor of humanity to command the Honkai. You're the one with the problem!"

'I'm trying to reason with you, and you're playing politics with me?!'

Durandal had to step in again to explain for her sister. "She had it too good growing up. After Noldrei took her in, he immediately gave her immense power and a better education. Now, he's just short of giving her the genetic information of the entire human race."

"Don't worry about her. She can finish an entire high school curriculum in two months. Even if you specialize in the arts, you'd be no match for her. She's being raised as a future leader of humanity, educated by His Majesty the Emperor as the Crown Princess."

This completely stunned the Finality Tuna. She asked blankly, "Then... what about the Herrschers? The Honkai? Aren't you worried about the world's safety by doing this?"

Durandal sighed. "There's nothing we can do. The Will of the Honkai in our world is hiding and doesn't dare to come out. It's been a year since a new Herrscher has even appeared. The people on our side are just waiting for Herrschers to deliver new genetic information. My sister and I were sent out to see if there are any Herrschers in parallel worlds."

This time, HoFi Kiana finally understood.

Both Kianas, but completely different fates, huh?

HoFi Kiana had thought she was the legendary lucky star, but she hadn't expected there to be an even bigger powerhouse in the Sea of Quanta!

Looking at the younger Kiana, her little face held high with pride in her status, the Finality bug felt a deep sense of wistfulness at the unpredictable changes of life.

HoFi Kiana hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What about Wendy, and Himeko-sensei? What about them?"

"They're doing great, eating and drinking well every day. Especially Himeko. Her body was healed, and now she's mooching off my family's payroll to work for that Valkyrie Theresa! I really don't get it. These people have no sense of gratitude at all!" Kiana's words almost broke the Finality bug's defenses.

'Good, good. It seems their parallel world versions are living better lives.'

HoFi Kiana gave up on trying to educate this parallel version of herself. This little one's life was much better than hers.

And so, in the eyes of Durandal and Kiana, this coolly dressed Herrscher Kiana-oneechan dissipated into the Sea of Quanta with a look of tragic sorrow on her face.

It was as if she had never been there.

Durandal and Kiana looked at each other.

Kiana asked doubtfully, "Do you think this older me, who looks so much like me, was actually my 'ideal self' that I observed from the Sea of Quanta? Didn't they say the Sea of Quanta can reflect the shadows of the true world? It's possible I observed a future me, right?"

Durandal thought that was unlikely. She believed this Herrscher of Finality was very likely real.

But Kiana quickly forgot the unpleasant argument she just had. She said happily, "Then let's become the emperor of the new human race, just like my 'ideal self'!"