'What kind of lives are you guys living?'
Kiana felt that the food in her mouth wasn't as tasty anymore, and she wondered if she had come to the wrong place.
Could you really encounter this kind of person just by randomly coming out of the sewer?
When Noldrei came out of the sewer that time, he had gotten some gold coins from a lonely old man. Was she going to get some gold coins from a young girl today?
Kiana had always thought that her life hadn't been very good. How great could the life of a homeless girl be? If it wasn't for the fact that she had high combat power, she would probably have lived a miserable and unlucky life.
Having combat power had its advantages. When she couldn't stand the hunger anymore, she could just randomly take food from other people. And because she had high combat power, even if she did bad things, the other party could only swallow their anger and speak to her nicely.
'Just like how I randomly took a plate of food just now. If I were a homeless person with no power, and if I were a bit uglier, then they would have probably called the police.'
For some reason, Kiana came up with an odd conclusion.
It wasn't that you had power after claiming to have power, but that you had power because you could do certain things.
A subtle sense of power appeared in Kiana's mind.
Of course, Mahiro Shiina didn't know what Kiana was thinking about. She didn't know how much this white-haired girl had been warped by future humans.
Her life was like a drop of water in a vast world. It wouldn't cause many ripples. Although there were many problems in Academy City, you couldn't be killed or harmed in Academy City, and there was a place where you could vent your anger (referring to the Kengan Association Arena).
Mahiro Shiina felt that her current life was quite good.
"Do you really think this is good enough?"
Kiana suddenly felt a little guilty. She had never thought that she had properly managed this city. Sometimes she even wanted to throw her work at others and just focus on being a Mother of the Stigmata and maintain the operations of living Stigmata.
"Look at this crappy place. You even need to apply to go outside. Even though the higher-ups of Academy City specifically researched high-yield functional plants to satisfy the city's food needs, aren't there still people who come and go for travel and work?"
"And that's fine, but the management of Academy City is to train new Stigmata fighters. They might send you guys to the battlefield at some point. And it's hard to say how strong these fighters are."
"And there are all kinds of exchanges and fights between research institutes. People in their lives will constantly give you all kinds of troubles. Don't you think it's very strange?"
Kiana's words made Mahiro Shiina realize something.
This white-haired girl probably had some connections with the higher-ups. Her running away from home was probably not real.
The two of them went to a nearby fast food restaurant, and Kiana's stomach was like a bottomless pit, which shocked Mahiro Shiina.
"It's okay, it doesn't really matter as long as it doesn't affect us. We're just changing schools, right?" Mahiro Shiina didn't know what to say.
"The teachers are very responsible, it's just that the distrust between the students and teachers continues. It would be great if there was a way for the teachers and students to establish new trust. But if that happened, we probably wouldn't be able to get enough educational resources."
Mahiro Shiina thought. The educational resources in Japan were already very unbalanced.
"You Japanese are truly…" Kiana was very helpless. She hadn't expected that Japan was so bad that even the management of Academy City was considered a good thing.
What was going on? What kind of lives had you guys been living?
Kiana even began to wonder if Noldrei should hurry up and rule the Earth. If humans kept going like this, then they would probably destroy themselves, right? They definitely would!
"I'm actually okay. My family isn't short of money, so I haven't encountered many problems in life. But for many of those who run away from home at my age, their problems can't really be solved. Even if they go to court, it's no use. Most families end up breaking down and become single-parent families. And once they become single-parent families, providing for their children will become a heavy burden. Many parents even blame their children for choosing them…"
Mahiro Shiina's voice became lower and lower as she spoke.
Kiana raised her eyebrow and asked, "How come you know about this so clearly?"
"It can't be helped, to solve my own family problems, I've found too many similar cases, and basically none of them ended up well. So being able to run away from home and live by yourself is already not the worst option. And there's the Academy City looking after me. That's something I never would have dreamed of."
Mahiro Shiina's face was full of gratitude as she spoke, even though she knew that the board members of Academy City weren't all good people.
'Yabai, why do I feel so guilty the more I listen?!' Kiana's body was covered in goosebumps.
She couldn't understand at all why Noldrei, who didn't care about anyone, created such a place and was able to make the people here feel grateful toward him. It was inconceivable!
'I'm now someone with a home and family, I've traveled around half of the Earth while wandering around. How come there are so many strange things happening when I get here? Or is it that I only cared about myself when I was wandering and forgot the problems that I had seen along the way?'
Kiana suspected that she had been wandering for nothing.
'Maybe my dad had also taken care of me when I was on the road, but I didn't know at the time.'
She felt that with the amount of knowledge that she had at the time, it wasn't impossible for her to be tricked by others. It would be strange if she had been able to live until now without any help.
"Don't say that. Maybe the higher-ups in Academy City are all useless, and it was all through your own hard work. Do you remember that you contributed your genetic information when they were registering you for Identity IDs? And many people were also chosen for Stigmata battlesuit compatibility testing. Look, those were all contributions made by you students."
What Kiana said made sense, but Mahiro Shiina felt that she was being too harsh.
"Yeah, but most people didn't pass the Stigmata battlesuit compatibility testing. I remember that this thing needs you to have strong enough willpower, as well as enough knowledge and combat skills. As far as I know, there are less than a thousand people in all of Academy City who passed. Out of hundreds of thousands of people, I didn't contribute anything at all."
Kiana was stumped by those words, and she thought for a moment, and decided to pay for her own meal.
'Noldrei only encountered scumbags when he was wandering around incognito. How come I'm encountering good people? Is there some kind of hidden luck stat?'
The white-haired dumpling was starting to become suspicious of her own situation.
In her memory, Academy City had always been short-staffed and short on funds during the past six months. It also had internal conflicts, and it felt like it would collapse at any moment.
'What's going on? Why are there students supporting this?'
Chapter 176: Kiana: There's Always Someone Stronger
Kiana took down the girl's contact information.
She then went to another place. This time, she was planning to visit some research institutes.
Miyuki Shirogane's work was very tiring, especially since many of the documents from Dr. Tesla's side needed to be handled by those who did miscellaneous tasks like him.
But when it came to what he gained from it, he had gained too much.
Basically, all students who entered were taken care of, and there was a certain girl who had received special care from Dr. Tesla.
It's just that Dr. Tesla was on vacation today. It seemed like she had been transferred to another position, which finally allowed Miyuki Shirogane to relax.
He was finally able to leave the research institute before 10 pm.
The people from Anti-Entropy were all good people. Compared to the scumbags that Miyuki Shirogane had encountered before, these people felt like they were truly scientifically devoted.
Maybe it was because Tesla had similar qualities. The people she had brought often had this spirit of scientific contribution.
"Huh? Futaba, are you not playing with clones today?"
As Miyuki Shirogane was leaving, he saw another student in a white coat.
This classmate seemed to be obsessed with the white coat. She wore it every day. It made people think that her wardrobe at home was full of similar clothes.
His words made Rio Futaba break out into a cold sweat.
What did he mean by "not playing with clones today"? Did he think that making clones was something good? That was the result of the Honkai energy effect. If something went wrong, Rio Futaba didn't think she could withstand the erosion from the Honkai energy.
Miyuki Shirogane said enviously, "Sometimes, I'm really jealous of you. If I had the power to clone myself, I would definitely have two jobs, go to two schools, and hold two positions."
"Uh, that..." Today's Futaba wasn't very good with words, and she was full of confusion about Miyuki's reaction.
"You're such a strange person,"
In the end, she came up with that conclusion.
"Haha, really? By the way, do you know how Dr. Tesla is doing lately? I heard that she was forced to stop working?"
Miyuki Shirogane was still a little worried about Tesla's situation. The rice bowls of 99% of the research institute were in Tesla's hands. Anyone could get into trouble, but Tesla was the only one who couldn't.
"I've contacted her. She said that she was forced to stay home by a 'bastard, asshole, psychopath, snotty, slug, mud, tentacle monster pervert'. In the end, she used 'motherfucker' as a conclusion, and then notified me that I could take a break from work recently."
Futaba's answer was so detailed that Miyuki Shirogane didn't know if he should believe her or not.
'Forget it, I'll just believe her.'
Miyuki Shirogane didn't overthink things. He didn't want to invade Dr. Tesla's privacy.
"Futaba, please let me know in advance if Dr. Tesla comes back."
Futaba was silent for a moment, then asked, "Are you planning to tell your friend?"
She knew that Miyuki Shirogane had a friend named Hachiman Hikigaya. That person was a security guard trainee and was usually very busy.
The two had met during the entrance ceremony and had even worked together, so they were relatively close friends.
"He's encountered some trouble lately, so I was wondering if I could find an opportunity to ask Dr. Tesla to see if she knows anything."
Miyuki Shirogane was truly worried. He couldn't help but feel uneasy after hearing what Hachiman Hikigaya had said.
If someone heard that there were evil followers hiding in Academy City, anyone would feel suspicious.
That was the advantage of staying in the research institute. He could interact with the higher-level research personnel of Academy City at any time. If he could ask about some valuable information, then he could avoid a lot of unnecessary dangers.
Just as the two were discussing, a white-haired dumpling came to the entrance of the research institute.
Kiana looked up at the dark research institute, wondering what Tesla usually did inside.
Maybe it was because her black leather jacket and pants were too eye-catching, but the two students who were doing miscellaneous tasks immediately noticed her presence.
The white-haired dumpling was indeed someone with a high presence, whether it was due to her personality or appearance.
'Huh? Why do I feel like I've seen her somewhere before?'
Miyuki Shirogane had some doubts in his heart. Various scenes flashed through his mind, but in the end, he couldn't remember when he had seen Kiana.
He had indeed seen her. It was when she was in her little white-haired dumpling form.
"This classmate, the research institute is closed. If you have anything, please come again tomorrow."
Miyuki Shirogane kindly reminded her.
Kiana noticed the two of them and asked in surprise, "Aren't you guys students? Why are you leaving so late? Does the research institute also hire child laborers?"
Miyuki resisted the urge to complain, calmed himself down, and explained, "No, we're just students helping out. Just like how the teachers always have the students do chores at school."
"So you don't count as child laborers if you don't pay wages? That's a really advanced way of governing."
Kiana's comment made Miyuki's face darken.
'What kind of strange woman is this?'
"Do you have any business here? I see that you've been staring inside."
Miyuki quickly brought the topic back.
Kiana shook her head and said, "No, I was just curious about what was inside. I've never been inside before, so I'm always a little worried when I see it just left like that."
Miyuki Shirogane thought that what this girl had said was a bit funny. The people of the research institute weren't worried, so why was she, an outsider, worried?
"Don't worry, there are the newest research results, as well as top research personnel here. Not to mention, there is military-grade protection here, so what could possibly happen?"
Miyuki Shirogane's words didn't put Kiana at ease, instead, they only made her expression look even stranger.
"Don't you feel like you sound like those extras in disaster movies? Usually, after saying that, something is definitely going to happen."
As Kiana was talking, she pointed inside the research institute and directly pulled out the flag that Miyuki Shirogane had set up.
'Can we communicate or not! How could there be such a strange person?!'
"Well, it's okay. I'm relieved to see that you're not as troubled as I imagined. It's also difficult to constantly listen to people complaining. Sometimes, when you can't help them, you can only cover your ears."
Kiana had indeed seen many people's thoughts within the Kaslana Stigmata space, but these thoughts were mostly emotional and negative. She needed to filter through them herself.
It seemed that the situation was a little different now. People's performance in reality far exceeded their negative thoughts when they were alone.
It created a split between reality and dreams.