Kiana kicked me out.
I don't know how to face her after everything. None of us expected things to get… dicey. I would rather fight Golden Core monsters than face this kind of trouble.
Fortunately, my sense of control is strong enough. At least, doing that needs the consent of both parties. Kiana doesn't seem to be ready for it, either.
I began to distract myself away from this matter. I stepped out of the orphanage and began to daze off.
In actuality, my mind focused on the events of the past month.
Nothing eventful happened. The World Serpent laid low, and so did Schicksal. It gave Anti-Entropy the breathing time they needed when Welt Yang re-centralized most of the authority to himself. Now, his status as the Sovereign is the highest.
The moment he revealed his identity and showed his overwhelming strength, dozens of secret laboratories and illegal sub-organizations were taken out. It is all thanks to the stronger Salt Lake troops. The first grade spirit vein did wonders to improve their physical performance—their reaction times, to be more specific. That was the most important component in piloting a Titan.
With both the intelligence (from Kiana's scouting) and power, Anti-Entropy went from a loose sand castle to a somewhat acceptable stone fortress. It is far incomparable to Schicksal in influence, with only the North American continent siding with them. Still, it is better than nothing.
Then came the findings with Einstein's study in "Honkai's Proportionality Law". The study is done in ten separate batches, with a month or so of interval. Each time, the number of troops affected by the first grade spirit vein increased.
For more than two thousand troops, the Honkai Differential Index (i.e., rate of honkai's increase) became as high as 5%. Simply put, all honkai eruptions and honkai energy emissions became 5% stronger than the previous one.
Such a scary increase immediately caused Einstein to halt the experiments.
The H.D.I. for one thousand, eight hundred, five hundred, and one hundred troops are at 2%, 1.3%, 1%, and 0.1%, respectively.
In the end, the entire project was limited to one hundred elite troops. A 0.1% increase on a monthly basis is deemed acceptable.
That was until I asked Einstein to take into account the ninety or so orphans I taught immortal cultivation. The results are shocking: a 2% monthly increase. This amounts to a 20% increase in ten months. It is the price to pay after getting the Dao of Enlightenment.
The original schedule of 2017 might be brought forward up to 2016, or worse, 2015.
The saving grace is the kids' progress being slow enough, lest that increase would have become more exaggerated. That 2% might reach 3% within the next year, nonetheless.
Given the current resources, the ones with middle grade spirit roots can finish the Qi Refining Realm in two years. They can easily break through the Foundation Establishment Realm with little preparations. The decades' worth of cultivation got cut down to two years thanks to the honkai hacks.
These are seventeen individuals with the potential of contending against a Herrscher—S Rank Valkyries, per se. Coupled with the possible improvements of us high grade spirit roots during those two years, the future looks promising.
Of course, I won't let them fight without any preparations. I will ask them whether or not they are willing, too. From now, however, choosing whom to awaken as an immortal cultivator becomes stricter. I need to choose a few with middle or high grade spirit roots, so as to avoid the Honkai Proportionality Law.
One hundred people seems to be a milestone, or so Einstein says. The most optimal set-up is to have one hundred and fifty cultivators at most—with middle grade spirit roots as the minimum standard. We are still looking to push this plan. It remains to be seen whether it will continue with the future changes.
This brings down the last change: cultivation resources.
Ever since my [Two Phase Art] broke through the [Small Accomplishment] mastery, I can now convert all "non-living objects" into their immortal cultivation equivalent. That refers to everything except organic and sentient lifeforms—humans and animals.
Plants containing honkai energy can become spiritual plants. Similarly, minerals, ores, and weapons mixed with honkai energy can become spiritual materials and artifacts.
Due to the Honkai Proportionality Law, the plan changed to dumping most resources to those with high talents. Only that could ensure the greatest effect with the least amount of drawback.
Currently, spiritual plants up to the second grade are found. Not a single one could be converted into third grade. The other spiritual materials—ores and metals in particular—are in sharp contrast to that situation.
There are a lot of third grade spiritual ores and metals converted over the past month. Welt Yang did not sleep much and kept on creating artifacts one after another. A lot of unused and rather obsolete honkai weapons are turned into spiritual artifacts.
The [Two Phase Art] led to a sharp increase of equipment within the cultivators. Talismans and pills of second grade became the standard setup, both made by me and Welt Yang.
Third grade spiritual artifacts are readily available to each high grade spirit root—clothes, ornaments, and main weapons.
All in all, a huge spike in our power occurred during the past month. Though the improvement decreases as we adapt to this surge of cultivation resources, it remains as a large increase.
Foundation Establishment materials are not a problem within the short-term. There are a lot of plants on Earth exposed to honkai energy for a long time. Sustainability comes after we defeat the Honkai.
The sudden surge of wealth feels good to see personally…
Hm..?
"Seele."
"Ah?"
Before I knew it, Seele was standing not far from me in a daze. It took her three seconds to rush to my side. Her eyes looked a bit dazed.
The best I saw from her current emotions is confusion... and a tinge of disappointment.
"I heard it from Doctor Tesla."
"Ah?!"
She seemed to have thought of something and jolted.
"I can't hide it from you…"
"I won't scold you, no worries."
Her departure this time was a hidden one. She did not inform us until she was already in the midst of it.
"..!"
She looked at me in surprise. Seele kept avoiding my gaze up until now.
"Practical combat training is good. We will have a huge fight in two years at the latest."
"A huge fight..?"
I nodded.
"It's a fight that will determine humanity's fate."
"..?"
She looked at me confusedly.
"We will need more helping hands at that time. It will definitely be a hectic day… or week."
"Um. Um. I will help."
Seele looked satisfied after giving her some head pats. We talked for a while before she left. Her mind is preoccupied with something.
If it's about that, I can only face it head-on. Whatever happens next is up to fate.
Just then, I sensed something from afar.
I left a mental imprint on Chi You's corpse. I did not touch it and allowed the World Serpent to steal its corpse. All of that was to have a chance to confirm the location of the World Serpent HQ—or to be more exact, the Elysian Realm.
A lot of important things have to be settled there. The Authority of Origin manifesting as Elysia is the most important one. It takes Bronya's Truth and Mei's Origin for Kiana to become the Herrscher of Finality, thereby defeating Kevin and accepting the Cocoon's embrace.
Without the two, things become more risky. I will have to fill in the gaps.
Anyways, the mental imprint was broken. I did not catch so much of a glimpse before it was forcibly erased.
I wonder…
Who was it?