Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"They started fighting? Why? Weren't they all supposed to be super hostile towards Academy City?"

Hikigaya Hachiman really couldn't understand this world anymore. He never would have thought that while Academy City was nervously preparing for a global attack, the attackers themselves... would start fighting each other first.

Just a couple of days after those Middle Eastern countries sent out their "invitations of great deeds" to Academy City, news broke that they were already fighting on the border.

Hikigaya Hachiman was caught completely off guard. He was already preparing to lead the boys of Judgement to the battlefield, even getting ready for an internal power consolidation.

And then you tell him that the clowns outside Academy City started fighting amongst themselves first.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka couldn't really understand it either. He hadn't even processed what was happening yet.

Kiyotaka checked the news on his phone. "That's right. Israel and Palestine have started fighting on the border. I hear they've killed quite a few of each other's people. There's no further news at the moment, just that tensions are high. Shenzhou is already calling for peace and is even preparing to condemn them at the United Nations. It seems like the fighting is pretty intense."

Hikigaya Hachiman was stunned for a moment. He wondered if he had encountered a legendary lucky star.

Otherwise, how could the dangers that came his way always be diverted in such a strange manner? If this danger was particularly severe, didn't that mean...

"Ayanokouji, do you think I might get a promotion and a raise again?"

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka took a deep breath. Even he, the secretary, was starting to rise with the tide. What was going on? Could it be that the legendary Child of Destiny really existed in this world?

"I don't really understand, but it seems like your work as Chief is going very well. At the very least, you've stabilized the internal situation of Judgement through centralization. Although there's some dissent, there shouldn't be any problem getting through this period of turmoil."

Brother Ayanokouji's feelings were complicated. He never would have thought that Hikigaya Hachiman, who was simply trying to consolidate power to deal with internal opposition, would get so lucky.

So you can get good things out of eliminating your opponents?

"Ayanokouji, you're right. It's all thanks to my foresight... Hiss... that's not right, though. How did they start fighting? Why? There weren't any warning signs!"

Hikigaya Hachiman thought that for such a big event, the countries in the Middle East should have issued a notice or declaration to the other countries in advance.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka asked with a blank expression, "Chief, would you pay attention to news like Cuba firing a few shots at Mexico?"

Hikigaya Hachiman said matter-of-factly, "How is that possible? It's not like I have nothing better to do. Why would I pay attention to that stuff?"

"Right. So no one pays attention to how many small skirmishes the Middle Eastern countries have had, or how much resentment and hatred has accumulated. How could you possibly notice the signs that they were about to start fighting?" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka easily pinpointed the key issue.

His words silenced Hikigaya Hachiman.

It was like the class president in a classroom who didn't really care if one student was bullying another. The class president was most concerned with the overall discipline of the class in the school.

"Then why do you think they dared to start fighting like this?"

Hikigaya Hachiman thought that with such powerful organizations as Schicksal and Anti-Entropy concentrated in the Far East's Academy City, the city would surely take action to maintain the current order regarding the appearance of Honkai Herrschers.

But... was that really the case?

"If they started fighting because of the Honkai, that would indeed be unreasonable. We all know that we've made it more difficult for Honkai Energy to corrupt humans. The premise of corruption is to be able to coexist with humans, but with our modifications, people outside who haven't been exposed to Stigmata can't coexist with the Honkai."

"This leads to the result that no matter how many people the Honkai corrupts, it's a useless effort," Ayanokouji Kiyotaka explained the basic way Academy City had blocked the path of Honkai Energy's corruption of humans.

"But at the same time, the pressure of the Honkai on the outside world has been completely lifted. When humanity no longer faces that terrifying existential crisis, their internal conflicts will be more exposed."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's guess was that with the decline of the Honkai crisis, these countries had started to boldly try to resolve their accumulated conflicts.

And how else could they resolve them?

By going to war, of course!

'It seems outrageous, but it's actually very reasonable.'

Hikigaya Hachiman had some faith in Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's guess. The history of Academy City did indeed mention the contributions Schicksal had made in fighting the Honkai.

To some extent, after entering the new era, the Schicksal Valkyrie forces did indeed carry out actions similar to "peacekeeping."

These actions weren't about interfering in the political conflicts of other countries, but rather using the authority to deal with Honkai incidents to create a vacuum in some areas, preventing the situation from becoming more confrontational.

The deterioration of the internal situation of humanity would have a considerable impact on Otto's work of dealing with Honkai Herrschers. Otto needed a sufficiently stable industrial environment to build a powerful armed force for his Schicksal.

You never heard of a country at war, with its entire focus on the battlefield, having the spare manpower and resources to build something like a floating battleship.

If they had such a thing, it would have long been used by various countries to eliminate surrounding threats first.

In fact, even now, Otto had just learned the news of the sudden outbreak of war in the Middle East.

"Interesting, very interesting. After the Honkai receded, these people just couldn't help but pop their heads out."

Otto looked at the situation map on the screen. He hadn't even had a chance to make a move against these small countries, and they had voluntarily placed themselves on the chopping block.

What could be more interesting than getting a pillow when you're sleepy?

"Amber, help me investigate if North America is involved in this."

Amber didn't even need to investigate. She replied immediately, "Lord Overseer, rest assured, North America received the news at roughly the same time as you."

Otto rubbed his brow. He began to "worry" about Old Yang's health.

If Sovereign Yang found out about something like this happening in his own backyard, wouldn't he be furious?

"Urgent. Have these things printed out as paper documents and delivered to Sovereign Yang. Make sure they are delivered to him personally. When you come back, remember to tell me what his expression was like."

Otto urged Amber to hurry up. He couldn't let Old Yang have enough time to calm down.

'What a twisted sense of humor...'

Amber sighed inwardly, but still obediently went to see Old Yang's expression.