At first, Einstein was taken aback by Tesla's choice, but after Tesla's explanation, she understood why.
Noldrei himself didn't care about the establishment of Academy City; it was merely an incubator for the new human race. What he wanted was the advent of an entirely new world.
But for the people inside Academy City, the city itself was enough to shoulder the hope of defeating the Honkai. There was no need to let the ethics of the outside world continue to crumble.
Therefore, Tesla didn't mind letting these few million people undergo a "flesh-and-blood ascension" with Noldrei. It was just that she still couldn't easily accept the entire world heading in the direction Noldrei described.
It was a future that sounded cruel just from hearing about it.
Einstein rubbed her temples. She looked up towards the second floor and asked, puzzled, "Tesla, aren't you worried he'll hear you talking so directly? He doesn't seem like the type to listen to you."
A helpless, bitter smile appeared on Tesla's face. "I've fought him. I used every trick I had and found I couldn't harm his body in the slightest. In his eyes, we're like children with hammers, no threat at all. Even if I say something, so what? Everyone in this little house has their own ideas about the future. We just tacitly maintain the normal operation of Academy City while carrying them out."
"It's like Schicksal. Do you think those Valkyries never tacitly approved of some experiments on other Valkyries? Otherwise, the First Herrscher, the Second Herrscher, and artificial Stigmata wouldn't exist, would they? It's just like how we used to turn a blind eye to some of Cocolia's actions. If we truly cared about those things, wouldn't we have desperately tried to stop them from happening?"
"In the end, it's because we believed something was more important than those children's lives, wasn't it?"
Tesla's questioning was pointed, forcing Einstein into silence.
"In the past, I had to make either/or choices. But this time, I don't have to make that kind of choice anymore. So why would I go back to that situation?"
Hearing this, Einstein closed her eyes. She truly felt it.
That strange transformation, the change brought upon Tesla by the power in her hands. When a certain truth was held in her hand, a visible change occurred, and she would surely not give up what she already possessed.
The Dr. Tesla of the past was gone forever.
'If I had the power to change my own genetic information, control the Honkai ICHOR Factor, and transform into various superpowered beings...'
Einstein thought about it carefully and concluded that she probably wouldn't easily give up such power either.
Aside from the danger this power posed to the world, it was more about the peace of mind that came with keeping it in her own hands.
"Einstein, you should understand my thinking. But..." Tesla pointed upstairs, her expression flat. "He doesn't care. To him, this stuff is like chicken ribs—tasteless but a waste to throw away. If he wanted to, he could fly off into the universe with all of humanity's genetic information, then come back with a meteor and wipe out the Earth. What could the Honkai do then?"
"As long as you destroy Earth's civilization first, what can you, the Honkai, do? You can't destroy something that's already been destroyed, can you? I alone am a living collective. I can replicate humanity on other planets at any time. So why would I need to fight you, the Honkai, seriously?"
It was precisely because she knew this difference in strength that Tesla had never expected Noldrei to genuinely deal with the Honkai. In that case, she might as well stick by his side and try to learn more about his biotechnology.
In the end, it all came down to whether the current civilization was capable enough on its own.
"Einstein, following him and following the Sovereign are completely different feelings. When he says he wants to be emperor, no one dares to take his words as a joke. Even if he's kidding, I have to seriously consider whether he's just messing around, because someone will take his joke as a real plan of action."
"Do you think I'd be this cautious with our Sovereign? If our Sovereign said something like that, I'd just think he was suddenly having a chuunibyou moment and was trying out some role-playing."
"You're not a Herrscher, so you can't feel the inflation I felt when I suddenly gained Herrscher powers, only to be kicked off the mountain peak. It's too hard. Every day is so hard, and I still get criticized for my slow progress... What did I do to deserve this?"
"I was screwed over by that bad woman Theresa! And I thought she was a good ally of Anti-Entropy. Is this how you treat an ally?"
Tesla lamented. The feeling was indescribable. The ups and downs of life were just too overwhelming.
After she finished, she looked at Einstein again and nodded. "Good. You're much cleaner, Einstein. It seems my efforts these past few days while you were gone weren't in vain."
Einstein knew her friend well. "You're even more punchable now than you were before. I can't even imagine. You already had a potty mouth, and now you're completely out of control. If you're really as careful as you say, then why are you still so relaxed and unchanged?"
Tesla said angrily, "That bastard! If I could kill him, I would have killed this menace long ago. You don't know how miserable my days are at the research institute. Now, as a scientist, I'm even being enshrined by the Far East people. Anyone who didn't know better would think I was already dead and they were burning incense for me."
Einstein frowned, wondering if she had misheard something.
Is this how she talks about the 'incredibly powerful being' she just mentioned? Do you hear yourself? Is this your 'caution'?
Of course, she didn't know that Noldrei was long used to such "greetings."
Plenty of people in the world wanted to kill him. Noldrei had ruined countless plans. What could anyone do to him? Weren't they all still obediently following his social plan?
"Ein, do you know what the Sovereign found out by accident?"
Tesla suddenly used Einstein's nickname, which made Einstein feel a little uncomfortable.
"What is it?"
"You haven't gone to chat with the Sovereign yet, have you?" Tesla said with a subtle expression. "According to Noldrei, he determines the time and place he arrives not by the changes in the era or the development of civilization, but by the Earth's position in the galactic coordinates. He uses whether the Earth is still there or not to determine the historical point he's traveled to."
"It's like if we traveled through time one day, we'd need to check if the World Trade Center was still standing to determine our time period."
Einstein rubbed her chin, finally understanding what was going on.
The Previous Era civilization was so powerful, yet they didn't manage to destroy the Earth. How did this era's civilization suddenly burst forth with such incredible energy?
Einstein began to wonder if that guy had really traveled from this civilization's future history.
Could he be an alien who landed on Earth? With this kind of maneuver, the Sovereign wouldn't dare to leave Academy City casually.
Just as Einstein was thinking about how to find someone to continue dealing with Anti-Entropy's internal problems, a pink, gelatinous ball rolled down from the second floor.
The pink jelly ball saw Einstein and asked in surprise, "Is this really necessary? Even if you want two kids, Dr. Tesla, you don't need to ask your best friend to come over and keep you company. You don't have to use your body to incubate newborns, you know."
Einstein's eyebrow shot up. She seemed to have heard something incredible.
So the real 'traitor to humanity' is here!
Is this the spirit of sacrificing oneself to serve the demon? Tesla, you really play rough.