Honkai: Strijder (Patreon)

Chapter 70: The Essence of Soulium

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me with such a strange look in your eyes?"

Sigurd raised his eyes and saw Otto's expression, so he asked.

Otto shook his head.

"Nothing much, I just feel... we have so many similarities."

"...Don't overthink it. I won't become someone like you."

"I hope so too…."

Otto sighed deeply.

What kind of person was he? A madman, a rogue, an executioner, a warlord, an extremely sinful man, not worth sparing….

He is the type of person that Kelln would hate the most.

Since the day Kallen left, everything had changed. Or maybe nothing had changed at all.

He was now just a demon who had once willingly been bound by the light, showing his true nature after losing that radiance.

Otto hadn't looked back at his actions or even thought about right and wrong or justice for a very long time. He knew that he was standing in the quagmire of darkness, and he couldn't be cleansed anymore. Perhaps, when Kallen opened his eyes again, it would be the moment he completely sank into darkness.

But none of this mattered. All Otto sought in this life was to see that beam of light again. Compared to Kallen, everything, including notions of justice and protecting the world, and even life itself, was insignificant.

Otto's lips curled up, suppressing the overwhelming longing that threatened to drive him insane, and instead, he adopted a casual and lazy tone.

"So, what do you think of Soulium?"

"It's a material composed of nanobots, capable of self-repair and intelligent adaptation to various environments. All in all, the technology is highly advanced, almost miraculous, making one question whether it could only exist in the age of interstellar travel. But..."

"But what?"

"But, when it comes to nanobots, I have my own ideas. You, Dr. Einstein, Dr. Tesla, at least one of you should be able to research it. If it's just the factor of nanobots, it wouldn't have such powerful capabilities, and it wouldn't still be obtained only through archaeology without mass production."

Sigurd furrowed his brow slightly.

His intellectual superiority allowed him to easily see the starting point and endpoint of all knowledge, as well as the paths in between. So, even the groundbreaking theory of information sources, when proposed, was something he understood instantly, a matter of time and efficiency.

However, with Soulium, the deeper aspects couldn't be discerned directly. He had to rely on speculation and fit one possibility after another, which was not an easy task.

Otto had initially wanted to share some of the results he had obtained through archaeology and research. However, seeing Sigurd deep in thought without asking any questions, Otto immediately suppressed his desire to explain and just smiled, waiting for Sigurd's analysis.

"Soulium, with its perfect adaptability to Honkai energy, and even the ability to integrate with a Herrscher's core to create a God Keys... Explaining its perfect adaptability to Honkai energy with the property of nanobots' self-repair seems far-fetched."

Sigurd pondered, and as time passed, he muttered to himself thoughtfully.

Otto watched this scene with a smile, waving to signal Amber to prepare some tea and provide Sigurd, still in a human body, with the water and sugar needed for his contemplation.

Sigurd remained unfazed, continuing his analysis and contemplation.

After getting stuck in a series of speculations, his expression changed for a moment.

Perhaps it was time to try a different approach?

"I've always believed that a simple nanobot structure could achieve self-repair under a small amount of Honkai energy erosion. But carrying a Herrscher's core and withstanding Herrscher-level Honkai energy would undoubtedly require even more incredible technology..."

"From the scan just now, while Soulium's nanomechanical technology is advanced, it doesn't seem to be at that level of incredibility. So... could it be a problem with the material..."

"If we consider that there might exist a material in this world capable of withstanding Herrscher-level Honkai energy, it could be the body of a Herrscher!"

Sigurd took a deep breath, feeling like everything was falling into place.

Because it incorporated components from Herrschers' bodies, Soulium itself possessed extremely high adaptability to Honkai energy.

In other words, it could completely ignore Honkai energy of a certain scale. For Herrscher-level Honkai energy, the material itself could withstand most of it, with only a tiny portion needing repair by the nanobots.

In other words, each God Keys was essentially a complete Herrscher, with Herrscher elements wrapping around a Herrscher's core.

No wonder the God Keys could unleash power equal to that of Herrschers, because their structure was equivalent to real Herrschers! If you added the user's abilities on top of that, theoretically, surpassing a Herrscher was possible.

It was also no wonder that Soulium could only be obtained through archaeology.

In this era, the First Herrscher, Walter Joyce, had used Honkai energy excessively due to Otto's influence, causing his body to decompose after death.

The Second Herrscher, Sirin, had disappeared along with Cecilia into the power of Honkai fission bombs and the Black Abyss White Flower.

Einstein and Tesla obviously didn't have ample opportunities to research Soulium. The only one who might have realized this was Otto, but he couldn't obtain a Herrscher's body.

So, there was a perfect explanation for why Soulium couldn't be mass-produced.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! It took me decades to unravel this puzzle, and you did it in just an hour! Sigurd, you are the greatest genius, no doubt!"

Otto laughed heartily, offering sincere praise without any malice for Sigurd's intellectual performance that had already surpassed his own.

For the current Otto, the more of a prodigy Sigurd was, the happier he felt. Whether Sigurd would kill him in the future didn't matter; resurrecting Kallen was the most important thing!

But Sigurd shook his head, pressed his temple, and used a pastry to replenish the mental energy consumed by his brainstorming, saying, "Don't overthink it. It's just that I had enough information in advance to quickly anchor the right approach. And it's just a direction; I'll need to hear your opinions as well. If I were to start researching from scratch like you, it would also take me a considerable amount of time."

Sigurd explained this without denying the title of "greatest genius." Cheating aside, his superior intellect was indeed remarkable. In terms of understanding and practical abilities, if one insisted on comparisons, no one could match him.

Otto didn't mind and maintained his smile, pushing the pastry a little closer to Sigurd, making it easier for him to replenish his sugar levels. Then he said, "My opinion is that your approach deserves full recognition."

Otto's words were filled with admiration. He sighed and continued, "I am the user of the First God Key, the Void Archives. It contains the essence of technology left by the ancient civilizations. However, it's not very cooperative, and it took a long time to subdue it. I didn't know much about it in the early days. When I first came across the concept of Soulium, I knew nothing about it. It took me decades to research its production and usage."

"You've had experiences like that too?"

Sigurd blinked, seemingly surprised.

Otto spread his hands, chuckled casually, and said, "What did you expect? Is there such a thing as instant wisdom and power in this world? Even a genius like you had to go through years of chaos before awakening overnight and then spend some time accumulating to achieve such accomplishments. I'm no different. I've come this far not because of natural talent or luck, but because I've worked hard, right?"

Sigurd nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Otto had worked hard behind the scenes, even though he appeared successful on the surface.

"So, my friend, are you satisfied with your curiosity about Soulium?"

"I've solved one problem. But I still want to dig deeper... Why is it called 'Soulium'?"

Sigurd suddenly brought up this strange question.

Otto paused for a moment, rubbed his chin, and recollected as he replied, "I initially came across this term from some records of the ancient civilization. After deciphering it and translating it into modern language, it became known as Soulium, and I've been using that term. Is there a problem with that?"

"Does the term 'soul' in the ancient civilization also mean ‘soul’?"

"I already checked it, the meaning is pretty close... Wait, are you trying to say what I think you are?"

Otto's pupils contracted, and he suddenly widened his eyes.

Sigurd held a small piece of Soulium and weighed it in his hand, thinking aloud, "I can propose the Information-Origin Theory. In such an advanced ancient civilization, there might have been other theories related to the soul. Is the name 'Soulium' really just for the sake of sounding good?"

"But there are no relevant records in the Void Archives. And there hasn't been any information in the excavations of ancient civilization ruins in this regard."

"No library, no matter how extensive, can record every detail of an entire civilization. Perhaps their theories weren't clear enough to be documented; maybe it involved some danger or privacy concerns, so they decided not to pass it down; perhaps the theories were still being developed and weren't recorded at the time, and the final perfected theories emerged later; or maybe it was simply the preference of the researchers... There are many possibilities, just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Sigurd, what else have you discovered?"

Otto asked, full of anticipation and excitement he couldn't contain.

Sigurd put the Soulium crystal back into the metal box, looked at it as it regained its pitch-black color, and then nodded, saying, "That's what I mean. If the name 'Soulium' actually means that its material contains components of Herrschers' souls?"

"...I will make adjustments and try to allocate more Soulium for you."

"Good, just send it to the orphanage. I’m sure you already know the address."

"Alright, this research can only be done by you. I'm counting on you for everything."

Otto extended a hand toward Sigurd.

Sigurd shook that hand.

The two of them stared at each other and smiled in unison.