Miyuki Shirogane stared at the new tool that had been created in his hands.
Its creation was actually the result of an accident, an unexpected discovery originating from a woman named Yae Sakura.
It was a method by which the native "gods" of the Far East concentrated faith to gain power. This method was detected by Academy City's in-depth research into consciousness.
If Noldrei hadn't intentionally slowed down the research progress, they couldn't say for sure when they would have seen the advent of such a thing.
The "Stigma Eye"—a Honkai Energy crystal condensed from the collective will expressed within the Stigma Space.
It was connected to the Stigma Space, to human dreams, and to the desires of human consciousness.
"Kaguya, do you really think this thing will work for treating the spiritual trauma of humanity under industrial civilization?"
"Somehow I feel like it's... really strange."
Miyuki Shirogane didn't have many thoughts on the matter. He realized that this object was also just an accident. This accident stemmed from the study of Honkai Beasts—how they used dreams instead of thought, how they constructed living bodies with Honkai Energy, their ICHOR factor, and so on.
By that logic, it was naturally possible to construct this kind of Honkai-crystal-like gem with Honkai Energy.
Its creation stemmed from the fact that Theresa's ability to devour dreams was... falling behind. So the researchers came up with a solution: have Theresa only select the parts that needed to be stripped away and devoured.
Then, using the properties of the Stigma Space, they condensed it into a Stigma will, compressed the memories, and transferred them into a real-world "Honkai crystal" for storage.
This "Honkai crystal" was different from a naturally occurring one; it was more like something a Honkai Beast used to store memories. It was a kind of "dream memory storage" device built with Honkai Energy.
It just so happened that this one was man-made.
It was no surprise that Miyuki Shirogane found the thing he had researched strange. Kaguya Shinomiya clearly understood much better than he did what kind of changes this object would bring to people.
She herself had undergone an education in the art of ruling; it was just that Academy City had made such education public.
She reminded him, deliberately or not, "This thing is very dangerous. But if it were offered to you, would you be willing to use it?"
Miyuki Shirogane played with the small object in his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "I would indeed be willing to use it, if it means I can borrow the power brought by the Stigma. It's like several people connecting through the Stigma Space and gaining the same Stigma power, without needing to specifically condense their own Stigma will."
"Its existence greatly simplifies the dangers of humans acquiring Honkai Energy and also makes training methods simpler. It further expands the scope of human practical activities, and at the same time, it allows those who are not skilled in combat to receive help from the Stigma through their own pursuits."
"It's simply a win-win-win situation! No one could refuse the benefits brought by such a good thing."
Kaguya Shinomiya, of course, knew the benefits of this thing. But it was precisely because the benefits were so numerous that the threat behind it seemed even greater.
Unlike a Stigma-powered Battlesuit, which could cultivate its own independent Stigma power, the "Stigma Eye" was, for humans, more akin to borrowing the already forged Stigma power of others. Naturally, it would be subject to the control of others.
Miyuki Shirogane also understood Kaguya's concerns, but he wasn't as worried. This was because Noldrei was not the kind of leader who liked to ride roughshod over human civilization. The leading group he led was not the type to tell lies.
A leader who could write that the most important thing for humanity is the scope of its own practical activities was definitely not the kind of civilization leader who pursued exploitation.
"We might as well use it. Besides, there's no rule saying we can only choose one type of Stigma. For us, we have enough choice. But... some people might not have that privilege."
Miyuki Shirogane certainly wasn't worried about this thing. It was the crystallization of the second Academy City. Its existence was certainly more beneficial than harmful to the development of human civilization. There was no way they would destroy or seal away such a thing.
Miyuki Shirogane was even unaware that he had been publicly announced as a member of the research team.
The birth of the Stigma Eye allowed the power of the Stigma to be used more widely by humanity, providing a more convenient and efficient way to resist the infiltration of Honkai Energy.
This also meant that Noldrei could lift the genetic restrictions on more people in a short period of time, allowing them to join the great army of Stigma users.
Unlike the living Stigma Battlesuits created by Noldrei himself, the Stigma Eye was a tool created by humans themselves. This meant that the current civilization had made a leap forward in its research on the Honkai.
A new civilization, rising like the sun, was about to be born in this world.
"No, not some people, but many people will not have the power to choose their Stigma. For these people, being able to use the power of the Stigma sooner is a good thing."
Kaguya Shinomiya had previously thought that the power of the Stigma would develop as some kind of public system, but now it seemed she had underestimated the process of privatization brought about by the effect of centralized power.
The Stigma Space was gradually giving birth to a new form of private ownership of power through the process of corporatization and organization.
She quickly grasped the key issue that would arise from this thing in the future. Based on the past actions of the Board of Directors, she quickly came to a conclusion that made her feel uneasy.
"Miyuki, I'm afraid we're going to have trouble. We all know that Academy City has taken on the important responsibility of fighting the Honkai from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. And this responsibility means that our primary conflict, in fact, is defeating the Honkai."
These were all written in the textbooks of Academy City; Kaguya didn't even need to recall them specifically.
She was more worried about something else.
"That is to say, in order to fight the Honkai, Academy City is very likely to use Honkai ICHOR to mass-produce this 'Stigma Eye' in a short period of time. In that case, production capacity will be tilted towards the 'Stigma Eye,' which will in turn cause the production of Stigma-powered Battlesuits to decrease."
"I'm afraid we're going to experience a period where the value of Stigma-powered Battlesuits continues to rise."
Miyuki Shirogane was suddenly taken aback and asked, "Kaguya, are you serious?!"
"Of course I am. The right thing to do is to use your points to exchange for a few sets of top-tier Stigma-powered Battlesuits right now, before everyone else reacts."
Kaguya Shinomiya rolled her eyes at him. How could she possibly be spouting nonsense at a time like this? She would only tell Miyuki Shirogane this because she was absolutely certain.
Miyuki Shirogane immediately took Kaguya's advice and placed an order online without hesitation. He had no desire to go through the painful experience of fighting for limited stock again in the future.