"No wonder so many people like going to war. Just by demonstrating enough military might, you can gain so many benefits."
Shirogane Miyuki had witnessed firsthand the change in attitude toward the Second Academy City.
If, at first, other nations were wary and vigilant of the Academy City's individual power, then after the battle between Herrschers took over Siberia and Dr. Tesla established the so-called "Honkai Border," the world suddenly became peaceful again.
It was because the Academy City was actually handing out free salaries and food to the common people, and even building all sorts of public facilities for them at no cost.
It was a literal giveaway, and their military power became the foundation of trust that made this giveaway possible.
Following Sirin's victory—or rather, her display of force—Siberia had completely broken away from Russian control. The local police and militia organizations had been reduced to a mere symbolic presence; they were even waiting for their new masters to take over the land.
Shirogane Miyuki found it thrilling just thinking about it. To witness such a political upheaval in his lifetime was incredible.
I went from being a broke guy in a rental apartment to a bona fide member of the world's ruling class?
Shirogane Miyuki reflected on his family situation. His life had changed so dramatically that he had no regrets.
As for things like the Honkai, he hadn't even given them a second thought.
Shirogane Miyuki had never managed finances or economics, nor had he held any power over energy or technology. Even his career in public service couldn't compare to the meteoric rise of his good friend.
Hikigaya Hachiman was now preparing to run for Prime Minister of the Far East. He had even publicly declared on television that he would build a monument to the Chairman of the Academy City, rewarding him for his outstanding contributions to the Far East over the years.
The former members of the Stigma Mother Church had transformed overnight into members of the Far East's New People's Party.
Waving the technology and cash brought by the research institute, they dominated all sorts of democratic competitions. Even Hikigaya Hachiman had become the honorary chairman of the Far East's leading political party.
Whether the old guard agreed to this voluntarily was no longer the concern of the Far East's people. After all, when the five-star shogun MacArthur ruled, did he care about the opinions of the local lords?
So what was wrong with the Chairman installing a five-star Prime Minister now?
Shirogane Miyuki was very satisfied with his current job. He didn't find the place dull or boring, nor did he think the work had no future.
The only issue was that his leader, Theresa, had been in low spirits recently. But after being comforted by a white-haired woman, she had quickly pulled herself together and returned to her duties.
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Theresa temporarily emerged from her gloom. From the very beginning, when she chose a different path from Otto, she had thought...
No, actually, she hadn't thought about it at all. It would be more accurate to say she never imagined their divergence in paths could lead to a conflict this terrifying.
The internal power struggle within the Academy City that Otto had spoken of had come to pass, happening to Otto himself.
Theresa had never considered this possibility from the start, and even now, she couldn't accept the outcome. She didn't even know how to face her former friends in the main Academy City.
"Shirogane, have there been any instructions from the main Academy City?"
Snapping back to reality, Theresa finally remembered to ask Shirogane Miyuki about their observation of the situation here.
"No, the Academy City has only maintained the status quo so far. On the contrary, many surrounding countries are seeing a constant flood of people trying to come here. There have even been... even cases within this country of the army suppressing citizens to prevent them from leaving."
Shirogane Miyuki briefly described the situation facing the Second Academy City. Unlike the Far East, the Second Academy City here was, in effect, no different from the real Jerusalem.
Anyone who managed to get here could truly change their life overnight.
Theresa's heart skipped a beat. She quickly asked, "Has that had any impact on us here?"
"No. Thanks to the further expansion of the Stigma organization, a large number of people have come to accept the Stigma. It seems some sort of collective organizational effect has occurred. The Will of the Stigma has always represented the spiritual expression of humanity. After forming social communities, these people quickly accepted the Stigma and fanatically became Stigma worshipers."
"It's different from the Stigma Mother Church in the Far East. This is more like worshiping the special phenomenon of the 'birth of the Stigma' itself. Many people believe the Stigma is a gift from 'Allah' or 'God' and have completely integrated it into the local religions. A large group of archaeologists has also appeared, and... um... they've confirmed that many famous figures in history have shown similar Stigma phenomena."
Shirogane Miyuki wasn't just making things up. Those historical figures really had shown signs of Stigmas, which further fed back into the local social fabric.
Theresa was silent. She suddenly felt that something incredible was happening here.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes. This is an image of God that these people manifested and then carved themselves." Shirogane Miyuki hesitated for a long time before finally revealing it.
He pulled up a photo. On it was... Noldrei? No, it was the image of Kevin Kaslana.
Kevin was draped in a white robe, one hand raised high with the palm facing up, as if about to receive something.
Theresa was dumbfounded by the statue of Kevin in the photo. The statue was enormous; she had no idea when these people had erected it.
She asked in amazement, "Didn't anyone stop them? Did they just let them... Wait! Aren't you absolutely forbidden from making an idol of God?!"
"Yes, but that's because no one had ever seen God before, right? Now that they have... they even believe this is real," Shirogane Miyuki said helplessly.
"Has the Far East received this news?"
Theresa felt that the territory under her governance was developing in a warped way, yet at the same time, perhaps it wasn't. This seemed to be the way the locals had always operated, perfectly aligning with their collective will.
It wasn't like she had never seen people with faith manifest a Stigma; for example, Theresa herself was a nun who didn't quite fit the requirements.
"The Far East has known for a while. They just said to let things be. These are all minor issues. The local people will soon grow to the point where they'll tear down these statues themselves. Erecting a statue to commemorate Kevin's achievement in unifying this place is a small matter."
Theresa was completely silent now. She truly hadn't expected world affairs to change to such a degree. If this continued, she had no idea what kind of monster the Middle East would breed.
Social attributes would form a Stigma Will that carried the characteristics of the local culture.
Didn't that mean if Imaginary power were to expand across the entire universe, a "special Stigma" with the "socio-cultural attributes of the universe" could also be manifested from the Imaginary into the real?
Could it be that Grandpa, Noldrei, and the others knew the true nature of Imaginary power all along?