The leadership meeting chaired by the Honkai Emperor, Kevin, ultimately ended with everyone deciding to just slack off.
No one wanted to stop humanity's currently flourishing way of life, and no one wanted to change the hopeful future they now had.
As for all that talk about struggle, anti-proliferationalism, and the Director's highest ideals?
All that messy stuff was tossed to the back of their minds.
Kiana thought to herself that since she was the Emperor, if she were to oppose the very path of proliferationalism she relied on, wouldn't that make her a complete idiot?
The meeting ended with everyone dispersing in helpless resignation.
Although he had expected this outcome, Kevin couldn't help but sigh.
Right now, the people of this era would only feel immense envy when they thought of how 'agonizingly' the humans in the proliferationalist society lived.
Kiana, in a stroke of world-shattering genius, figured that as long as she proactively handed over power before the contradictions of human civilization reached that point in the future, she wouldn't have to worry about it, right?
Kiana didn't understand others very well, but she knew herself perfectly.
She knew she wasn't someone who could sit still. Before long, she'd probably get tired of being the Honkai Emperor anyway.
The only reason Kiana worked so hard was to live up to the expectations Noldrei had for her as one of his own kind.
The situation Kevin had revealed didn't cause them too much doubt.
Even though they knew the truth about the Creditorship of Life, compared to future suffering, they were far more unwilling to return to the old era.
After everyone had left, Tesla purposefully stayed behind.
She asked Kevin, "Where's Noldrei? He hasn't come back since he finished talking to you?"
Kevin pointed up at the sky.
At this very moment, Noldrei was still up there on Finality's celestial body, with no intention of coming back to face everyone.
"He's staying there? After its authority was taken, the Cocoon of Finality is just a simple, dead object. What's he doing there?"
Tesla frowned, pondering the reasons behind Noldrei's actions.
She was actually worried about another problem.
Based on her time with Kiana, Tesla had discovered that Noldrei's body clearly possessed excellent emotional regulation abilities. If there truly was some emotional need, Tesla felt that Noldrei's body could definitely simulate it.
She just wasn't sure if the emotions Noldrei showed when they were all together were real or fake.
Even though Noldrei didn't mind others exploring his memories, even though he dared to entrust himself to her and Mobius for research...
It was precisely because she understood more about Noldrei that Tesla became increasingly unsure about the composition of his consciousness.
He lacked a consciousness in the traditional sense of life, no soul with a sense of psychic isolation. Instead, his consciousness was a construct born purely from material motion.
Tesla was very clear: Noldrei was a completely different form of life from them.
No matter how similar Kiana was to him, no matter how much they were of the same kind, there was still an extreme difference between her and Noldrei's zero-dream, seven-commandment, eight-dance, nine-horse, ten-curiosity, five-horse existence.
Tesla decided to go check on Noldrei herself.
After confirming with Kevin that Noldrei was fine, Tesla left immediately.
Kevin sat alone in the conference room, somewhat dazed. He felt overwhelmed by the sudden burden of this inexplicable responsibility.
Now, he had yet another reason to hand over the power of Finality.
The Will of the Honkai probably never imagined, even in death, that by exposing the true nature of this position, it had turned the authority of Finality into a hot potato.
Just as Kevin was deep in thought, another person stealthily returned.
Kiana had made an excuse to slip away from the group and came back to find Kevin.
Kevin was a little surprised to see her return. Just a moment ago, this descendant of his had been looking at him with clear disapproval.
Kiana stepped forward with a serious expression and asked, "Where's Noldrei? Why isn't he back yet?"
'Did someone just ask that exact same question?'
Kevin found the current situation somewhat absurd, so he just subconsciously pointed at the sky.
"Hmm?"
Kiana naturally knew about the celestial body of the Cocoon of Finality in the sky. She immediately understood where Noldrei was.
A joyful expression appeared on the white-haired dango's face.
"Thanks."
After a word of thanks, Kiana left. She took the unconventional route, turning into a puddle of liquid and escaping through the room's ventilation duct.
Kevin watched Kiana leave, then leaned back in his chair to consider how to complete the handover of Finality's authority.
As he was thinking, another small figure unexpectedly pushed open the conference room door.
Bronya's head peeked left and right. Only after confirming that Kevin was alone did she dare to tiptoe in.
She was clearly hiding from someone.
"Ahem... Um, he..."
This time, Kevin didn't reply. Without hesitation, he simply pointed his finger at the giant celestial body in the sky.
'You don't have to say it. I know what you want to ask.'
His expression was so kind and amiable.
Although Bronya couldn't read any expression on his face, at this moment, she had already come to see Kevin as a kindly old grandpa.
"Thank you!"
Bronya opened the window, transformed into a winged horse, and instantly shot off into the sky.
Kevin felt the wind whipping in from the open window.
As it hit his face, it made him wonder what the real purpose of him coming back for this meeting even was.
Just as Kevin was contemplating in the wind whether he should leave immediately, another figure suddenly leaped in through the window.
The figure was clad in a Stigma Battlesuit. After entering, the suit dissolved into a quantum state and was put away.
Kevin watched all this with a blank expression.
Seeing Kevin's attitude, Rita wasn't flustered. Instead, she elegantly straightened the wrinkles on her clothes.
"Lord Kevin..."
"No need to say anything!" Kevin cut Rita off, saying with a cold face, "He's on the Cocoon of Finality."
"Um, Lord Kevin..." Rita was slightly taken aback, trying to explain herself.
"He's fine. He's doing well right now, contemplating the future of human civilization."
Kevin seemed to have never spoken so quickly before. It was as if he were trying to rush Rita out the door. He had to say, "If you want to find him, you'll have to get through Dr. Tesla, Kiana, and Bronya first."
"No, I..." Rita felt that Kevin might have misunderstood something.
She hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Lord Kevin, it was Mr. Su who asked me to inform you to head to the Elysian Realm after the meeting."
Kevin was struck silent by these words.
Even with his deadpan face, he couldn't hide his embarrassment.
Rita thought for a moment and decided to help Kevin out of his awkward situation.
She explained, "Actually, it would have been fine even if you didn't tell me. I know the Director will definitely come home; I wouldn't go out of my way to ask you where he is. However, it's not without its benefits that you told me. At least I can tell Sirin, who has been pestering me, ahead of time."
A grateful smile appeared on Rita's face. She bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for everything you have done for human civilization."
With that, she closed the window and gracefully exited through the main door of the conference room.
Looking at the once again empty room, Kevin was silent for a long time.
Finally, he decided—he was leaving!
He couldn't stay in this place any longer.