Kiana understood just how cruel Noldrei's words were.
"Only rulers are entitled to devour one place and then move on to the next."
Noldrei had, in fact, said more than once that the very existence of a ruler was dirty and corrupt. It was just that whenever a new order emerged, a new ruling class would rise to lead it.
Even a civilization as powerful as one based on Proliferationism would inevitably produce a ruling class that latched onto the very concept of "proliferation."
"Sigh... Hearing you put it like that, this job sounds way too hard..."
Kiana lamented, even entertaining the thought of finding someone to replace her.
Little Duckie was certainly a good choice, but Little Duckie liked to hang out with Vita. That woman Vita seemed nice, but she was the scheming type. And unlike Rita, whose scheming was more playful, Vita was a genuine two-faced schemer, her nature closer to someone like Sha, who excelled at hiding her true intentions.
"What are you thinking? You think your job is hard? I think mine is hard."
Whenever Noldrei thought about how he had racked his brain for the great cause of anti-Proliferationism, he felt that this world was simply too difficult.
"Tell me something else... like..." Kiana thought for a moment, then said, "Why do you always say rulers aren't good people? I know you're talking about a political classification of people, but sometimes I still can't quite grasp the distinction."
Noldrei considered this, then explained, "According to Proliferationist ideology, people who simply organize production activities don't count as rulers; they're just people working to fulfill the demands of the populace. In the school curriculum, I placed special emphasis on the relationship between rights and responsibilities, and I taught about the historical connection between shifts in those dynamics and social progress."
"You can feel it too, can't you? Like the relationship between Valkyries and Schicksal, or between Anti-Entropy and its agents. No matter what ideals or beliefs they profess, the material resources that keep everything running still come from the production and lives of ordinary people, don't they?"
Kiana nodded. She had learned all of this before; it was just being reviewed for her now.
"Then think carefully, what is all this curriculum for?"
"What for?"
Kiana frowned, pondering the question.
Why was Noldrei educating people so meticulously? It couldn't be that he truly loved everyone, right?
If he really felt that way, he wouldn't have engaged in that bet with Kevin over the Cocoon of Finality, a gamble that could have led to civilization's self-destruction.
"Could it be... to make people aware of Proliferationist ideology?"
Kiana's question made Noldrei burst out laughing.
"You have to use dialectics to push Proliferationism to its logical extreme. You still haven't grasped the most crucial part of Proliferationist thought. Even old Welt Yang hasn't noticed where the problem lies."
Kiana thought Noldrei's laugh was incredibly sly. That guy had completely adapted to his human body.
"Let me tell you, the reason people are taught all this is to make them realize they can also use the ideas of Proliferationism to create new organizers for themselves. By doing so, they become new, Proliferationist humans capable of self-propagation and replication."
As Noldrei spoke, a hint of inexpressible sorrow seemed to be hidden in his words.
"The most tragic thing about our future is the belief that we can use the methods of Proliferationism to fight against Proliferationism. But if we abandon it, we'll helplessly fall back into a more miserable, more primitive past—a state even worse than sticking with a Proliferationist civilization."
"I can't even think of a way to fight it."
This time, Kiana finally understood why Noldrei always said rulers were the dirtiest.
She quickly figured out the heart of the problem.
The white-haired fluffball pointed at her own nose and asked in shock, "So the method you can't figure out... you're trying to get me to figure it out? You think I can do it?"
"What if?" Noldrei said seriously. "Kiana, I won't allow you to look down on yourself like that. Who knows, maybe one day you'll have a flash of inspiration and give birth to a world-saving wisdom that will save the future of humanity."
Kiana's face fell. She had no other choice.
She supposed she could only place her faith in the wisdom of "third-gen royalty" Little Duckie.
Kiana couldn't help but ask again, "But what if I can't think of a way?"
Noldrei said approvingly, "Then you're thinking correctly! That's exactly the thought you should be having! Why are 'equivalent rights and responsibilities' so tightly bound to Proliferationism? You are at the center of the contradiction. If you don't resolve this contradiction, the contradiction will naturally come to resolve you."
Elysia thought Noldrei had outmaneuvered Kevin.
That wasn't actually the case. Noldrei simply knew that the Authority of Finality was the center of a contradiction.
Kevin was the one who was truly pushed to that point by the Previous Era. Even without Noldrei, Kevin would have been forced to take that step, though perhaps his methods would have differed.
And now, naturally, someone from the Current Era needed to occupy the center of this contradiction.
'Hearing this, I feel like a toilet.'
Kiana almost started to doubt Noldrei's love for her as a "godfather."
She asked tentatively, "What if... I quit?"
Kiana was genuinely a little scared. If things went on like this, wouldn't she have to endure this endless contradiction for a long, long time?
"The reason I call myself an emperor is because I've mastered the power of 'organizer reproduction'. Whoever masters this power is the true emperor. This has nothing to do with whether you want to do it or not, Kiana."
Noldrei never had any intention of forcing Kiana. She was free to do whatever she wanted right now.
Kiana had walked this path entirely of her own accord.
At first, when she didn't understand, she simply thought the position was awesome, just like how she used to do whatever she wanted.
Later on, Kiana felt she should try to live up to Noldrei's expectations.
And after that, everyone was so good to her, so how could she push such a troublesome matter onto someone else? Since she had the ability, she felt she needed to protect this new life.
To protect this new life that had given her a hundred times more happiness than she'd ever known.
Needless to say what happened next. Sometimes she worried she wouldn't do a good job; other times she worried no one else was suitable for the role.
After thinking it over and over, Kiana helplessly discovered that she had already become the new center of the contradiction.
Only she possessed all the necessary conditions. A body identical to Noldrei's and the identity as the Mother of Earth's Stigmata—all of it forced Kiana to take the throne of the Emperor of Finality.
"So... what happens after I take that seat?"
Kiana felt she had no choice but to borrow the wisdom of someone from the future. She hoped Noldrei could give her some pointers.
Noldrei was silent for a long time. He then sighed and said, "That... I don't know..."