Raiden Mei found it utterly absurd. Had both of their major organizations been brainwashed? Was everyone going to put on a show of self-destructing on the spot?
"What happened? Weren't things with the Valkyries... normal?"
Raiden Mei wasn't so sure anymore. By the time she'd heard the news, the flame war between the Valkyries and the research institutes had already been decisively ended by Shirogane Miyuki.
Shirogane Miyuki had been elevated to the status of a true bro in the hearts of the online populace—the kind of bro other bros wanted to have. A bizarre fan club for his female form had even sprung up. His instinctual choice of long white hair, the same as his sister's, had apparently struck a chord with many people's... preferences, leading to some... questionable feelings among his male fans.
Although Raiden Mei was currently a housewife, it didn't mean she didn't browse trending topics online in her spare time.
Ana explained with a troubled expression, "You know how the Far East has been desperately trying to plant their own people inside Schicksal, right? A lot of them are… as annoying as rats. It's not that their upbringing is bad or their etiquette is poor. It's their motives, their actions. They're just foul and disgusting, and sometimes they don't even realize what they're doing."
"They think what they're doing is right, and they've corrupted a lot of new Valkyries, turning the place into a cesspool. The Overseer's attitude toward this is a mystery. It seems like he might be using this as an opportunity to purge a batch of redundant Valkyries, so he might have just chosen to let it run its course."
"Because the Honkai has been largely contained, many Valkyries have started to waver in their duties. Ahem... I'm one of them. Sometimes I feel lost, unable to find what I want to do. And some people have just started causing trouble along with them..."
"I couldn't stand it myself, so I used my Schariac family background to semi-retire and get away from that group at the headquarters."
Ana sighed, feeling mentally and physically exhausted by the recent events. That's why she had come to visit her friend, to recharge her spiritual energy.
Actually, Ana's explanation was quite clear.
It seemed Otto had given up on the simple, pure little society he had created for the Valkyries. He intended to throw them into a more complex world for a trial by fire, to see what kind of beings they could become.
Ana's current state was a clear sign that she had developed a desire to escape during this process.
'So the Valkyrie side of things doesn't seem very reliable either. Can Theresa really control the people over there? That little girl doesn't seem very dependable herself.'
Mei's shadow-self was starting to think that Mei's plan to become a Valkyrie wasn't going to work out.
Raiden Mei was silent for a long time before asking curiously, "Wait, shouldn't you Valkyries have a dedicated training team? It's impossible that they would let this kind of chaotic ideology spread to this extent. How could the Overseer of Schicksal allow this to happen?"
"That's why I can't figure out what the Overseer is trying to do. I think he's probably trying to find a way to disband the unnecessary Valkyrie units, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't just let things slide. Think about it. After fighting the Honkai for so long, when you finally see the light of victory, you'd definitely want to put everything down and enjoy life, wouldn't you?"
Ana was already trying her best to think the worst of Overseer Otto. This was likely the peak of her imagination when it came to bad guys.
'This girl seems a bit naive. Is this really the worst she can imagine of the Schicksal Overseer?'
Mei's shadow-self knew exactly what Otto had done. The girl born in his lab, Kiana, was still at home playing video games.
Raiden Mei fell into another wordless silence, dumbfounded by her senior's answer.
'It feels like she doesn't know much more than we do.'
Raiden Mei wondered if she had approached the wrong person. The senior who seemed so reliable online couldn't have been faking her persona, could she?
'She doesn't seem to understand the true purpose of the Stigma Battlesuits...'
On the surface, Mei seemed to be choosing between the headquarters and St. Freya, but in her mind, she was thinking about something else entirely.
The Stigma Battlesuit. The foundation of Noldrei's genetic society, just like the nuclear family in an industrial society.
Only when the Stigma Battlesuits had perfectly assessed all of humanity could they usher in a new era for a new human race.
The humans of that era would be like the humans of this industrial age.
The industrial age produced countless people who were obsessed with money, willing to do anything for it—humans eroded by the tools of finance.
The humans of the next era, under the influence of the Stigma Battlesuits, would become obsessed with [genes], constantly breaking their own limits to plunder genetic sequences.
And the [Honkai ICHOR Factor] was the strongest note in the symphony of this era's genetics.
In other words, these new humans would treat Honkai Beasts as a crucial economic source for farming [Honkai ICHOR Factors].
And these poor Honkai Beasts were jokingly called "Honkai Gene Mines" by Dr. Tesla. Dr. Tesla herself was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this resource.
The person who gained a monopoly on the Honkai ICHOR Factor would become the emperor of the Honkai gene era.
And that monopoly was actually in the hands of Kiana's Kaslana Stigma Space.
This was something everyone in Raiden Mei's "family" knew.
In other words, Stigma Battlesuit users would become nothing more than the most powerful miners of the Honkai ICHOR Factor. By then, Noldrei's new human history might as well be renamed The Developmental History of Honkai Mining.
Yet, Ana believed that the Stigma Battlesuits would be the hope for humanity's fight against the Honkai in the next era.
Raiden Mei really didn't know what to say.
She wanted to shatter this naive girl's fantasy, but she also wanted Senior Ana to remain this pure, to believe that humanity's future society would still be wonderful. The good days are still ahead!
'Do you even believe that yourself?'
Mei's shadow-self thought Raiden Mei had become thoroughly rotten, undoubtedly corrupted by Noldrei.
That kid from the future. Teaches nothing good, only bad things.
Many Valkyries still had no idea what kind of new world they were about to face.
The expansion of the gene pool brought by the Honkai ICHOR Factor would perfectly bypass the absurd gene accumulation process after a nuclear war that Noldrei had mentioned.
The male-female gender transformation was just the warm-up act.
"I understand. In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Senior Ana. It would be even better if you could help me get in touch with someone from St. Freya High School. It seems the situation at the Schicksal headquarters doesn't suit my needs, nor is it a good fit for someone with my personality."
Raiden Mei still felt it was better to hide out at St. Freya for now. At least the head honcho there was Kiana's great-aunt.
If worst comes to worst, she could go back and discuss it with Noldrei. She could have him delete Kiana's great-aunt's great-aunt. It would be her good deed for the day.
'You're a real monster. Do you really want what happened to you to happen to that little loli?'
Mei's shadow-self felt she was far too conscientious. When she was split off, Raiden Mei hadn't yet suffered the mental shock of the womb modification. All she could say was, thank goodness the split happened early. Otherwise, who knows how insane her shadow-self would be by now.
Ana immediately understood Raiden Mei's intentions and asked happily, "By the way, Mei, why do you want to become a Valkyrie?"
"To be a better housewife at home. Right now, I'm the most useless one in my family."
Raiden Mei answered truthfully.
Her answer instantly made the two girls' worlds go dark.
Shiina was just a normal person, so she didn't understand but was still shaken. Ana Schariac, however, was truly thunderstruck by the reply.