Mei's Position and Dark History (Continued)

"... Seriously?"

Even if you're being irresponsible, all you can do is stare blankly, right?

"... Are you fucking provoking the patient?"

"You call yourself a patient?"

Getting two injections of Honkai Energy Suppressant every day is hardly a patient's problem. That stuff has no side effects other than making the Valkyrie temporarily weak, okay?

"... Tell me who they are?"

I'm going to start writing things down in a little notebook!

"Rita."

These two have finally gotten mixed up... too bad they can't beat each other.

Bianka.

Okay, we really can't beat this one.

"Fu Hua".

If you can't beat them, pass.

"The Herrscher of Sentience has taken over Fu Hua's body."

... Wait, what the hell is this?

"Mei."

This... even though he's her student, he can't beat her.

Is abandoning martial arts for academic pursuits really a good choice now?

Ah, it seems I can't win even if I don't give up martial arts.

"And then there's Mei—my student, Previous Era, whose analogous status is probably Otto."

Damn, what kind of big shot is this? I can't afford to mess with him.

Tesla.

This one... although weak, is an elder, so he's not easy to bully.

"Finally, there's Kiana."

"This is good."

Himeko perked up at the mention of Kiana's name.

This seems like something I could write down in a small notebook.

"By the way, how's that girl doing now? Does she remember you?"

Himeko asked with concern as she took notes in her notebook.

"Mei was too busy to save her at the time. If Benares hadn't rushed out again, I probably would have regretted it for the rest of my life."

Himeko thought Benares was incredibly resilient.

How many times did Mei beat him up back then? Yet he still managed to rush out and take Kiana away.

"I don't think so?"

Liu Bai glanced at the system.

Kiana's compatibility is shown as 140%.

Hmm... it's hard to say.

"Tsk, I see."

Himeko was considering whether to cross Kiana's name off her mental notebook.

After all, ignorance is no excuse.

"By the way, do you know where Benares is now?"

Speaking of Benares, Liu Bai still pays some attention to him.

After all, it is a Judgment-Class Honkai Beast, currently the strongest below the Herrscher.

"I don't know, don't ask patients these kinds of questions."

Himeko shrugged, indicating that she knew nothing.

"... Alright, you should just focus on getting better."

"Hey! What kind of attitude is that?!"

Himeko expressed strong dissatisfaction.

"But then again, since Rita and Bianka are both in Sky Dome City, why not send Captain Ragna there too?"

Come on, let's have a free-for-all!

Unlike me, my captain will be 31 after his birthday this year!

"She... although her reasons are valid, I still have a feeling that you have ulterior motives." Liu Bai's intuition is relatively sharp.

"Isn't having multiple personal maids a good thing?"

Himeko gave a fake smile.

"Or are you saying you think the captain is too old?"

"... Not at all."

The Valkyrie are all well-maintained. Ragna only looks a bit old when he wears his military uniform; when he wears his maid outfit, he looks about twenty-three or twenty-four.

"If all else fails, I'll just use him as a secretary."

"..."

To be honest, Raven is perfectly capable of being a secretary.

Although it doesn't fit her image, Raven might be a better secretary than Rita.

Well, maybe it's because Rita doesn't quite seem like a proper secretary.

However, Liu Bai never complained about having too many capable people around him.

"In that case, we can just issue a transfer order when the time comes."

Liu Bai then chatted with Himeko about everyday things, and seeing that it was getting late, he returned to Sky Dome City.

"Doctor, Herrscher of a Thousand may have already appeared."

"Just got back," Mei said to Liu Bai as she sat in front of the computer.

"...?"

This guy is the Tenth Herrscher, okay? Is it really okay for him to come out so early?

Hmm... just a moment.

Speaking of this, Liu Bai actually remembered that some dolls seemed to have been created when Kiana was in Sky Dome City.

From this perspective, the Herrscher of a Thousand should be considered the Fifth Herrscher of this era in the strict sense.

However, there's no point in discussing this.

"Where did you get this intelligence?"

Liu Bai asked very seriously—he wouldn't mind nipping the Herrscher of a Thousand herald in the bud.

"Prometheus —albeit an avatar."

Mei pointed to the hard drive plugged into the computer.

"It even has clones?"

"After all, a single computer can't fully utilize its computing power." Mei smiled. "The applications in this area are actually quite extensive—for example, the Imaginary Archive uses Prometheus's 'avatars'—but for this reason, the concept of a mainframe is somewhat vague."

"Um... you're pretty good at having fun."

"Do you know how to play?... Speaking of which, Dr. Mobius also took a copy of Prometheus back then for the Stigmata Project."

"What did you do?"

"Hmm... it seems like a crazy idea, but I can't quite remember it."

Mei rubbed her temples.

"However, the Stigmata Project is not necessarily necessary."

"... It's quite unbelievable to hear this from you. I thought you would be a staunch executor of the Stigmata Project."

"If I hadn't lived to see this day, things might have turned out the way you described, Doctor."

Mei smiled.

"Regardless of the nature of Honkai itself, it is like an exam for human civilization. All Herrscher, and even the Finality, can be seen as questions on the exam paper, while Honkai itself is the one who sets the questions."

Upon hearing this, Mei immediately facepalmed.

"Okay, I think I remember what Mobius did—we bribed the question setter."

That's the downside of being too smart; even if some memories are blurred, you can still deduce the main point from the smallest details.

"Getting back to the point, the exams in the Honkai system are somewhat similar to... honesty exams. There are no proctors, and it all depends on the students' self-discipline, while in our Previous Era, we were the ones who failed."

Mei drank a glass of water.

"Fortunately, we've figured out a... barely effective way to cheat."

At this point, Mei gave a wry smile.

"Actually, it shouldn't be like this. After all, even I can't know 50,000 years into the future. If I hadn't survived, the Stigmata Project might have become an obstacle to this civilization—after all, Kevin doesn't have the ability to modify the plan to adapt to the times."

However, Mei shook her head again.

"But no matter what, this can be considered a reasonably effective plan—but, the analogy of returning to the exam hall."

Mei paused for a moment.

"Although there are no proctors for the exam, no one can guarantee that there are no proctors, and no one can guarantee that there is no monitoring room watching everyone's actions—the history of civilization is too short, so short that we can only glimpse the leopard through a tube—hopefully it is just 'glimpsing the leopard'."

"I understand a little now. It's like the saying, 'The ephemeral mushroom doesn't know the difference between dawn and dusk, and the cicada doesn't know the difference between spring and autumn'—is that what it means?"

"Your analogy... is really easy to understand—that's right, we can't be sure if there are unobservable higher-level existences above the Honkai —like the so-called Cthulhu Mythos."

Liu Bai's metaphor made Mei unable to help but reveal a wry smile.

"Although scientists shouldn't be thinking about such fantastical things, the world is full of illogical facts..."

Mei pursed her lips.

"Stigmata Project... If nothing unexpected happens, Kevin will eventually take over the Finality, and then talented humans will collectively infiltrate the Dream—undoubtedly, in terms of an exam, this is cheating."

Liu Bai was slightly surprised by the role played by Kevin —after all, when he transmigrated, the plot had not yet revealed the full picture of the Stigmata Project.

"If the Honkai is truly a test, and there are observers in higher dimensions, Kevin might face a 'dimensional reduction attack,' not to mention the Stigmata Project itself..."

She could only say these words to Liu Bai, her closest confidant; saying them to others would be seen as undermining morale.

Furthermore, given that she is still alive and Liu Bai is also present, the Stigmata Project carries a somewhat dark historical connotation for Mei.

After all, she knew very well that the ideas behind Stigmata Project were contrary to Liu Bai's values.

She could argue with others that she was doing it for civilization, not for humanity, but she didn't have that confidence when facing Liu Bai.

After all, the most basic definition of civilization is: the sum of humanistic spirit, inventions and creations accumulated throughout human history that are conducive to understanding and adapting to the objective world, conform to human spiritual pursuits, and can be recognized and accepted by the vast majority of people.

The Stigmata Project has, in a sense, trampled on the definition of "civilization".

When others use this to refute her, she can say that she has her own definition and that she can't connect with them.

But how could she dare say that in front of Liu Bai...

Moreover, she had to admit that part of the Stigmata Project stemmed from her personal desires—namely, her pursuit of truth.

Perhaps it's more accurate to say she's on the opposite side of Honkai than on the side of civilization.

However, even though the Stigmata Project is neither human nor civilized, it is indeed a way to "survive".

Hey...