Chapter 378
After a silence of twenty or thirty seconds, Tesla sensed a growing irritation, and Freya spoke at that moment.
"To ensure our cooperation goes smoothly without any unexpected changes, I'll explain the plan I'll be implementing in this world. What I'm about to say is undoubtedly the core of my upcoming plan..."
At this point, Freya pointed to the Raven guarding the exit in the conference room and continued.
"She's a witness, let her share her feelings in a bit. Let me start with the first step of my plan. Simply put, the first step of my plan is to unite the power of the whole world... Mr. Welt, your Schicksal -Anti-Entropy organization is fighting against both Honkai and Honkai. With Anti-Entropy's strength, it's impossible for them to fight at the same time, not to mention that Anti-Entropy's strength is far inferior to Schicksal."
At this point, Freya looked at Otto and said.
"And that selfish bastard obviously never seriously fought against Schicksal Honkai. In his eyes, the reason why Honkai fought against the Honkai was only to maintain Schicksal's international status."
Although Freya had only recently taken control of the Schicksal in this world, it didn't take her long to understand the Schicksal's stance.
To be precise, it means understanding Otto's bastard stance.
It turns out that Otto of the world was also such a bastard, but after getting what he wanted, he readily gave up the position of Grand Bishop.
If it weren't for concerns that Otto would add instability to the future alliance and the war of Honkai, Freya wouldn't have tacitly agreed to the assassination three years ago with Kevin.
Even though Otto from the original world relinquished his status, he remains a dangerous figure.
Although Otto's level in this world is somewhat low, he is essentially the same bastard and just as dangerous.
Fortunately, with Freya's strength, she was not afraid of Otto in this world.
If it were Otto from the original world, Freya wouldn't be so calm, since Otto from the original world seemed to be more adept at psychological warfare and scheming.
Freya stared at Otto with disdain for a while, but she realized she had underestimated Otto's shamelessness.
Otto not only calmly accepted the disdainful stares, but even gave Freya a gentle smile without caring at all.
"Furthermore, this bastard has absolutely no intention of fighting the Honkai, and the upper echelons of Schicksal are more focused on their own interests due to the corruption of power..."
"Not to mention that with the strong return of the World Serpent's leader, the World Serpent Organization also fully demonstrated its powerful strength to the world, but then happily joined in this internal strife."
Freya shrugged after she finished speaking.
What she said can be summarized in one sentence: all you do is cause trouble and fight amongst yourselves, you're not united at all, so what's the point of talking about confrontation Honkai?
It turns out that the world has this problem, and this parallel world has the same problem.
In fact, such problems were not uncommon in Previous Civilization periods as well.
Dr. Mei, whom no one has surpassed for tens of thousands of years, was merely a researcher of the Fire Moth. No matter how outstanding her research skills were or how much respect she earned, Dr. Mei was ultimately just a researcher, not the leader of the Fire Moth.
This often resulted in her failing to reach a consensus with her superiors, and even with the soldiers at the bottom. Sometimes, the orders she issued were carried out by the soldiers at the bottom in a very perfunctory manner.
Indeed, as SU said, the Previous Civilization had Dr. Mei, and the current civilization has no one who can surpass her.
But even Dr. Mei's power has its limits.
This is why, even though the Previous Civilization had Dr. Mei, it still Honkai to the Previous Civilization.
Ultimately, Dr. Mei is just a researcher. In this war against the Honkai, what is needed is not only a master of wisdom and knowledge, but more importantly, a leader who can guide the people.
Such a leader did not appear in the Previous Era.
The Previous Civilization had powerful warriors, highly skilled healers, genius researchers who broke through the limits of mortals, and madmen who dared to experiment, but it lacked a leader to unite these people.
"Therefore, both your world and my original world lack a 'leader' who can unite all forces together."
"Oh? So you want to be that kind of 'leader'? In that case, I will support you as the Grand President in the name of the Grand Bishop of Schicksal."
Otto opened his eyes and said in a serious tone.
Even Raven and Jackal, who were not familiar with Otto, could tell that Otto was lying through his teeth, let alone Welt, Tesla, and others who had dealt with Otto quite a bit.
Perhaps it was because Theresa wasn't there, but Otto was clearly letting loose. He might have maintained some of his grandfatherly authority in front of Theresa, but with Theresa currently talking to Kiki and Mei about Fu Hua, Otto naturally didn't need to maintain that dignified demeanor in front of her.
However, their shameless lies still left Welt and the others in awe.
However, even though everyone knew Otto was lying, Otto put on a serious face, as if what he had just said contained not a single lie.
"The President? Heh..."
Freya couldn't help but laugh.
"Even without your support, in another month, I will be the president of hundreds of countries across the seven continents of this world."
"A month?"
Welt and Otto pondered the word, and soon realized what this time meant.
According to publicly available data, the number of people infected with the Mind Plague has risen to over 100 million, but the actual number of unaccounted-for infections is as high as 400 million, or even 500 million.
And this is only if Freya intentionally controls the speed of infection. In the following month, Freya will do her best to spread the Mind Plague. Perhaps in less than a month, Freya will be able to spread the Mind Plague to the whole world.
After everyone present realized what was happening, their expressions towards Freya were all very complicated.
Yes, although Freya always says she came to save the world, judging from her actions, she is more like a messenger of Honkai than a typical Herrscher.
"Freya, is there no way to discuss this matter? Controlling everyone in this way, even if we eventually succeed in fighting the Honkai, doesn't mean we can save the world."
Welt hesitated for a moment, then spoke words of dissuasion to Freya.
He doesn't approve of this approach, even if it's intended to benefit the world, because no one will accept it afterward.
"Mr. Welt, I never intended to consult with anyone. In fact, even those of you here... uh, why are you still standing? There are chairs in the conference room, please sit down. Anyway... I have no intention of consulting with you. I called you to this conference room just to inform you."
Upon hearing Freya's villainous remarks, Otto and Welt fell silent. Tesla wanted to say something, but Einstein covered his mouth, so he could only make muffled noises.
Noticing that Einstein was covering Tesla's mouth while staring intently at the Raven, Otto and Welt's gazes also fell on the Raven.
"Freya, you said Raven was an experiencer, which means... no, I should say what she actually went through?"
Welt's eyes lit up; he felt that the key to Freya's upcoming plan lay in this former World Serpent executive.
Raven, while accepting Welt's gaze, spoke after receiving a signal from Freya.
"Lord Freya's first step in her plan is to manipulate everyone in this world. In exchange for manipulating their bodies, she will transfer the consciousness of all those she manipulates to the 'Dream World,' a world that has not Honkai."
"A world without Honkai?"
"Dream World?"
"Really?! Is it possible to transfer everyone's consciousness to that world?"
"..."
Otto, Welt, Tesla, and Einstein were all shocked by what the Raven said.
Freya merely glanced at Otto, and to strengthen her persuasiveness, she directly triggered the Mind Plague attached to Tesla and Einstein.
Two thuds.
Tesla and Einstein suddenly collapsed, falling straight to the ground.
Welt was stunned for a moment and just watched as the two of them fell to the ground.
Freya, sitting comfortably in the Grand Bishop's seat, suddenly felt embarrassed for Tesla and Einstein.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just giving you evidence. Well, the one who's awake now is a fake personality that I'm manipulating."
Tesla, who had just woken up, was still complaining that Freya hadn't given her any advance notice, which had caught her off guard. She felt like her nose was about to break, and then she looked at Welt with a resentful gaze, clearly blaming Welt for not catching her earlier.
Einstein, who also awoke, remained expressionless, making it difficult to guess what she was thinking and leaving people wondering if she had any emotions at all.
"You just said that the person who is awake now is a fake personality that you are controlling?"
Although it was known from the beginning that Freya's methods of deceiving the world were very sophisticated, the actual number of people infected and manipulated was even greater than the number publicly disclosed. Of course, because the 'Dream World' could not accommodate 500 million people for the time being, Freya did not manipulate all the infected individuals.
Even so, many of those who were manipulated continued to live normal lives as usual.
Yes, Freya almost burst out laughing when she heard that the way various countries dealt with the Mind Plague was by locking down cities and blocking roads.
Countries that actually do this are happily keeping the source of infection in the cities. However, this source of infection, which has no symptoms and makes it impossible to distinguish between infected and non-infected individuals, will gradually spread the Mind Plague throughout the city.
Because Freya disrupted the communication network, once the Mind Plague broke out in a city, it would remain undetected by other cities until the city fell.
After all, the parties involved had created such favorable conditions, so how could Freya bear to see their efforts go to waste?
She originally only intended to control half of the world's population, but the gift from various countries was too valuable for her to refuse.
Upon hearing Welt's remarks, Tesla frowned, showing no sign of being under control.
But Tesla's consciousness and Einstein's consciousness were enjoying a rare holiday in the Dream World created by Freya.
432. Give me the Void Archive, Otto.
Infinite Tsukuyomi... Anyway, Freya, with the strange knowledge etched into her DNA and combined with the power of the Herrscher of Consciousness, created a Dream World that could accommodate the consciousness of everyone in this world.
At this moment, Tesla and Einstein, having reopened their eyes, looked around.
They are now working at an animation production company, an environment that is the complete opposite of the laboratory they had imagined.
Upon opening their eyes, Tesla and Einstein received a consciousness message from Freya and became aware of their identities in this world.
In reality, they were top-notch researchers, but in this Dream World, they were just employees of an animation production company.
Amidst the lively discussions around them, Tesla and Einstein's gazes quickly fell upon Welt, the owner of the animation production company.
Even though the two knew that the Welt in this world was just a fake person created using the power of the Herrscher of Consciousness, and that there was no Welt consciousness residing in it, Tesla and Einstein could not find anything out of place in terms of tone, expression, and actions.
If that were all, it would be fine.
It's just a change of identity in my life.
During the period when they were besieged by the Schicksal, Tesla and Einstein often disguised themselves as ordinary people.
However, after living in this world for a period of time, both Tesla and Einstein nearly succumbed to its allure.
The company's first major production in decades, the remake and sequel to "Armored Machine God Alahato," has also energized the team at the animation studio.
It must be said that Tesla and Einstein, influenced by the workplace atmosphere, stayed up for three or four consecutive nights in pursuit of perfection, and also for the sake of the audience's experience... In this Dream World that did not Honkai and was very peaceful, they experienced the lives of another group of dream chasers.
When the completed animation became a huge hit, Tesla was even called out by Welt for a private meeting.
Einstein and his colleagues secretly found a secluded spot and waited for Welt to confess his love to Tesla...
Although Tesla and Einstein's dream ended there, a hint of lingering satisfaction remained on their faces when they woke up.
"Tesla, Einstein, are you alright...?"
Although Tesla and Einstein lived in the Dream World for several months, the moment they woke up, their life in the Dream World seemed to have become a dream, and they could not remember many details. They also quickly recalled the situation before they entered the Dream World.
When Welt asked the question, Tesla and Einstein exchanged a glance, and then both looked at Freya with great surprise.
Tesla?
"N-nothing... Of course nothing, it's just that in that world before the Honkai, those of us who experienced the Honkai are indeed easily drawn into it..."
Tesla shared his feelings, but Freya gently shook her head.
"People who enter the Dream World will be strongly influenced by suggestion. In addition to not being able to recall experiences related to reality, they will also have additional memories of living in the Dream World in their brains. For them, perhaps the real world here is just an absurd dream they have."
Hearing Freya say this, Tesla, whose doubts were cleared up, nodded and stopped asking questions.
She really didn't have much to ask. If she really had to say, compared to this shitty world right now, Freya's Dream World for everyone might still have some conflicts, or perhaps there would still be ambitious people starting wars... But in that world that hadn't Honkai, most people could live a good life.
Those who have never experienced Honkai will not understand that when Honkai breaks out, it is like a terrifying plague, killing most of the city's residents in a short period of time. Then, the Honkai Beast attracted by Honkai Energy will assimilate the residents into Deadman soldiers, search for survivors, and kill them.
Despair, fear, anxiety, and other emotions continued to erode the survivors' hearts even after they were rescued.
If people in this world are allowed to make choices in a conscious state, they might be more eager for a world that hasn't Honkai.
Einstein roughly explained his experience in the Dream World to Welt and Otto. Of course, Freya had Tesla and Einstein enter an experiential version of the Dream World. The real Dream World is a huge open world, and the consciousness of the hundreds of millions of people that Freya pulled in is now in that huge world.
Simply put, Tesla and Einstein were only experiencing a single-player version of Dream World.
But the single-player version of Dream World also has all the experiences you'd expect in Dream World.
Freya didn't want to say much, after all, having Tesla and Einstein as her counterparts certainly increased her persuasiveness.
As for Raven, she was clearly not good at communicating. Although Freya asked her to give a general account of her experiences in the Dream World, the result was far inferior to the accounts given by Tesla and Einstein, who had actually experienced the Dream World.
"So that's your solution? To confine everyone's consciousness within that Dream World; then you manipulate everyone's bodies to make them work for you, thereby uniting all forces—"
Welt shared his conjecture.
Although Freya's actions did indeed resemble those of a villain in most stories, this made Welt frown.
Otto, however, nodded in approval. As a pragmatist, he highly praised Freya's plan, believing it to be the most efficient method.
Even Otto believed that Freya didn't need to prepare a world without Honkai for the people she was controlling. The effort she put into creating the Dream World alone forced Freya to spend a month on the southern island, which delayed the plan, which could have been launched as soon as possible, for quite some time.
Perhaps noticing Otto's meaningful gaze, Freya secretly curled her lip.