Using human dreams to fight against the impending Eruption seemed utterly ridiculous to Otto when he first heard of Bronie's plan. If the human dream realm possessed such power, wouldn't it be easy to solve the problem of Honkai?
Rewriting the world would be even simpler!
After all, the power of Honkai was a real and difficult-to-combat form of energy. If the human dream realm could counteract it, wouldn't that negate the existence of Honkai and possibly even negate the reality of the world?
Therefore, Otto decided he had to see for himself what Bronie's plan was all about.
When the fog enveloped the city, the satellites at Schicksal headquarters could no longer observe it, and all external scanning instruments failed to detect the city. It was as if it had disappeared into thin air!
Confused, shocked, and curious, Otto felt that Bronie always managed to surprise him. Nagazora had vanished from the Earth, and as for the Honkai?
The Honkai Beasts were indeed emerging, but they were being guided by drones set up by Bronie into an area designated for their destruction. Once a new Honkai Beast was born, it was immediately crushed, and the escaping Honkai energy was collected and fed to the drones. It was like a new Honkai energy engine.
Otto had come to Nagazora quietly. Although Schicksal had declared a great Honkai in Nagazora and St. Freya Academy had sent troops to fight the Honkai Beasts, the beasts they fought were merely those that had escaped from the periphery of Nagazora.
The actual Nagazora was shrouded in fog. As Otto entered the fog-covered city with his soulium body, he couldn't see anything. Apart from some stray Honkai Beasts, even the city's skyscrapers seemed to have vanished, leaving a flat, empty land.
It was as if the creator of Earth had cut out the entire Nagazora.
No, how did Bronie manage to create such a grand spectacle without a word? Such an outrageous feat—did Bronie really achieve this by manipulating the dream world?
Or was the game setting of Persona actually true?
Otto was utterly confused, his soulium body standing in the empty city of Nagazora, surrounded by nothing but fog. If the dream realm could indeed combat the Honkai, wouldn't Fenghuang Down have the power to single-handedly avert the end of the world with a single Divine Key?
After thinking deeply amidst the fog, Otto came to a realization. Bronie was probably telling the truth, but there was still something half-hidden, just like with Kyuubey. The dream might be real, but there was definitely something else, and after confirming that, Otto was upset.
What could be done about it? He tried to contact Bronie but couldn't reach her, and K423 was also nowhere to be found. The only one left in the golden courtyard was Aponia, a spiritual type MANTIS, and Fenghuang Down dust might not be useful against her.
What should he do? Otto could only endure the cold wind of Nagazora City and watch drones running back and forth in the fog, eliminating the Honkai Beasts. Then, Otto noticed a drone different from the fighter drones. It was inconspicuous in the fog, and if not for his soulium body's scanning capabilities, Otto wouldn't have found it.
Upon closer inspection, the drone resembled a small home base from an RTS game. It had complete functions, capable of collecting Honkai energy and minerals to produce drones. It was a marvel of super black technology. Most importantly, this drone seemed to offer a real hope of contacting Bronie.
After wandering for a long time, Otto seized the opportunity. Initially intending to investigate Bronie's actions secretly, he hadn't expected such a grand setup from Bronie. Now, it was necessary to participate, even if just to glean some of Bronie's core plans.
Approaching the construction drone named Working Bunny, Otto sent out a communication request.
...
"Dream capture complete. This is the temporary dream core. It grants some degree of control over the dream world for rewriting based on personal cognition. Now, Bronie, it's up to you. With your mastery of the Genesis System, you can rewrite the dream world on a large scale."
Initially, Misteln doubted Bronie's ability to manipulate the dream world, as it required strong willpower and knowledge. Without sufficient knowledge, the dream world would become absurd, failing to meet Bronie's needs. But after witnessing Bronie effortlessly manage the Genesis System and create the game, Misteln was impressed by Bronie's powerful mind.
There was no avoiding it; understanding the difficulty of dream manipulation intimidated Misteln. Managing the collective dreams of millions was an extraordinary task.
"First, merge the dreams of most ordinary people in Nagazora City and transform it into a normal world, pretending nothing has happened."
If the entire dreamland was treated as a server, what Bronie was doing now was splitting the server into different zones. The first zone for ordinary people had no Honkai; life went on as usual. In the Stigmata Awakened zone, those with the ability to awaken their stigmata would experience a free immersion in DayZ, offering a chance to encounter people like Kiana and Mei.
In the early days of the Honkai, before the Honkai Beasts fully emerged, the situation had a biohazard feel. Later, as the Honkai Beasts and Shicksal Valkyries appeared, Nagazora City turned into a dead city, covered in Honkai energy. Anyone close would turn into a zombie. But this wasn't a normal Honkai Eruption.
After setting up the server, Bronie muttered, "Good thing I made a zombie-themed game like Dying Light before, or I wouldn't have been able to create the Honkai Eruption plot in Nagazora. Hopefully, Kiana and Mei don't notice any inconsistencies."
"So, you made a new game for the people of Nagazora during this period?"
"Yeah, regular residents became part of the Tycoon Simulator, and the Stigma Awakeners entered the Dying Light Hands-On Edition. Moving my family here in advance gave me time to get the details of Nagazora right."
Bronie was unsure of the exact external manifestation, but if Project Stigmasucceeded, the entire human civilization on the planet might resemble the dream world's new reality.
At this moment, Bronie's phone rang. "Hm? Is something wrong with the kids at the Golden Courtyard?"
Bronie had left contact information with the Golden Courtyard people for emergencies. Opening the message, Bronie saw it was from the Worker drone in Nagazora.
"Ms. Bronie, finding you is quite a task. I thought you just wanted to transfer civilians, but the Schicksal Valkyries are also cooperating to care for critically ill patients worldwide. And now you're playing this?"
"Otto came to Nagazora? Didn't find anything? Seems a small misstep triggered some unexpected phenomena."
Of course, Bronie knew where the Worker Bunny was. It was evident that Otto, curious about Bronie's activities, wanted to see what was happening in Nagazora. However, the Stigma space party directly excluded Otto. As a soulium body, there was no need for the main body to come over, which led to Otto being rejected by the Stigmata space.
This was also why Nagazora City's sudden disappearance surprised Bronie. The flat terrain was convenient for battles; after all, who wouldn't want fire coverage in an ultra-flat area?
"Don't you even know what kind of phenomenon this will trigger?" Otto looked at the Bronie on the screen, clearly noting something out of control but still laughing.
"The people of Nagazora are definitely fine, and the building is before my eyes. Originally, I thought what I had before me was a relatively false city, but now it seems there is still much difference."
"Where are you?"
"It's hard to describe; now I'm probably inside the Sea of Quanta, cutting down some branches of the tree for remodeling and subsequent grafting. It's theoretically feasible."
Hearing this, Otto's entire body instantly went numb. "Are you an Aeon? Did the Elation send you here just to tell me jokes?"
"Hey! Who says I'm an Elation ambassador! Although this sounds exaggerated, there are theories to support it. The legacy left by the former civilization is more than you think. Schicksal and Anti-Entropy both developed through archaeological research. Why deny the possibility of the former civilization's technology achieving these feats?"
"Everything is under control?"
"Everything is under control. Although the situation in Nagazora City exceeded my expectations, you still shouldn't stay close to that fog for too long. I can't guarantee what will happen, and if you want to come to my side, you need to come in your present body."
Otto realized why he saw nothing in the fog and couldn't reach Bronie's Nagazora. The area was likely separate from Nagazora, and staying too long would bring bad consequences. Even the Honkai Beasts tried to move out.
For Otto to come over, he needed a compelling reason. To resurrect Kallen, Otto valued his life highly.
"You'd better tell me exactly what you're doing. After all, it takes a certain risk for me to come over. Besides, wouldn't my clever mind ensure your plan goes smoothly?"
Bronie sighed. Otto's intelligence meant he could easily analyze Project Stigma if involved. Moreover, Otto wouldn't let the Project proceed until he successfully resurrected Kallen. In theory, Bronie and Otto's interests aligned.
So why exclude Otto initially? Bronie worried Otto might alter the plan, potentially turning the dream-catching plan into a weapon against the Imaginary Tree. Otto would prioritize Kallen over millions of people.
"Your layout is complete, and I can't change your plans. I'm just interested in the world's truths. Why hide it from me now? Do you still not consider me a friend?"
Of course, they didn't consider him a friend! Otto's friends often got backstabbed. Although Bronie wanted to retort, she nodded, recalling the agreement to help Kiana grow and educate the human side of the Herrscher.
"Alright, this is a Herrscher re-education program based on Project Stigma aiming to avoid the Honkai disaster and lessen the Third Herrscher's hostility towards humans. If you want to be a Herrscher mentor, come over and help if you can."
"Huh? That's it?" Otto was confused. Bronie made such a big deal just to educate the newborn Third Herrscher?
"Hey, have some respect for the Herrscher's power! The Herrscher of Thunder can manipulate electromagnetic power. If it turns against humanity, our civilization might need to start over!"
"Could you tell me what's happening in Nagazora? I'm not getting involved in your plan; I just want to see it."
Still unwilling to take risks? But it made sense. Although Otto had asked for help, his trust level wasn't high. Without a clear path to resurrect Kallen, Otto valued his life.
To reassure Otto and understand Kiana and Mei better, Bronie nodded. "In the future, Kiana will enter St. Freya's Academy. As a teacher, you mustn't show your face as Otto. Completely cut off from Otto."
"Why?"
"Because Sirin in Kiana's body will explode at the sight of your face."