Honkai Energy is an extremely corrosive form of energy that not only erodes the human body but also inorganic matter, accelerating the decay of metal.
Furthermore, machines have a very low utilization rate for Honkai Energy, which is why, before the advent of Soulium, Honkai Energy weapons were notoriously neither durable nor effective.
Soulium, on the other hand, is a cluster of nanorobots that can offset the corrosive damage of Honkai Energy through constant self-dismantling and restructuring, thereby bearing extremely high Honkai Energy output, and it can even house a soul.
In the current civilization, Otto used Soulium to achieve mechanical ascension, allowing him to live for five hundred years, but Soulium has another, even more widely known use.
That is the creation of the renowned Divine Key.
In Elysia’s view, the Divine Key in the original work appeared far too late.
It wasn’t until after the Seventh Honkai that the first Divine Key, [Key of Stasis · Sleep of All Things], was created by Vill-V, and it was later sealed away due to its overwhelming power, causing the entire Divine Key project to be forced into cancellation.
Many herrscher cores sat idle in laboratories for too long; they should have been deployed to the battlefield much earlier.
To say nothing of the others, the two herrscher cores with immense strategic value—one, the Herrscher of Reason, was only forged into the Void Archives when civilization was on the brink of extinction, while the other, the Cosmic Juggernaut, was created early on but was only used to observe world lines, its performance proving quite lackluster.
If they had been forged into strategic weapons at the onset of the Honkai, they undoubtedly could have changed the course of the war and avoided massive casualties.
“A metal composed of a swarm of nanorobots,” after listening to Elysia’s description, Vill-V pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up, “What a truly genius concept!
It’s almost on par with a genius like me!” “Hmph, hmph~” Elysia put her hands on her hips.
“Do you have any more specific ideas?
I’m very interested!” “Soulium needs to be capable of free mimicry while maintaining extremely high structural integrity; it must be versatile and able to maintain functionality in all sorts of environments.” “Free mimicry and structural integrity are not easy to balance.
If you had to choose one, which would you prioritize?” “Structural integrity.” Elysia didn’t hesitate.
“Understood.
Anything else?” “It must be capable of self-repair and restructuring at any time.” “Alrighty, got it.
So, what is the purpose of having me create this material?” At this moment, if she didn’t keep her in suspense, she would be doing herself a disservice.
“Why doesn’t Vill-V take a guess?~” Elysia pressed her palms together and tilted her head.
“Hmph, hmph, you said it yourself~” Vill-V snapped her fingers confidently, “You never mentioned self-replication from start to finish, which means it’s not some kind of infinite-replicating nanobot plague.
Between free mimicry and structural integrity, the latter is clearly prioritized, suggesting that in most cases, it exists as a fixed structure, and Soulium is more of a foundational material with extremely high plasticity.
But if that were all, there are plenty of alternative materials that are even easier to manufacture.” “But you mentioned that it is constantly self-repairing, and that is the source of its irreplaceability!
The structure it builds must be in an extreme environment for a long period, which is why it would need this characteristic.
High versatility means it can exist in mild external conditions, so the extreme aspect isn’t the external environment, but the internal one.” “What kind of internal environment?
Highly destructive, highly corrosive—no one would add such things to a structure for no reason.
The only possibility is that this is an indispensable part of the overall structure; I’ll make a bold guess that this is an energy source!
Mmhmm, judging by your expression, I guessed right, didn’t I?
This is used to carry some kind of highly corrosive energy, right?” “Miniaturized nuclear energy?
No, if it were nuclear energy, aluminum-lead alloys would suffice.
It must be some kind of energy source even more dangerous than nuclear energy.
But why use this instead of nuclear energy?
It implies that its output power is far higher than nuclear energy, to the point where it can outweigh its various drawbacks.
But the process with the highest mass-energy conversion rate currently in use in this world is nuclear fusion.
So, what is it?
Matter-antimatter annihilation?
Or something else?” By the end, Vill-V was visibly excited, looking at Elysia with eyes full of inquiry.
And Elysia was already sweating profusely.
Good grief, I only said a few words and my entire hand has been revealed…
“Ahem~ Maintaining a sense of mystery is the charm of a secret, after all.
Since Vill-V is so curious, why not explore it yourself?” But Vill-V just kept her gaze fixed on Elysia, staring until she felt completely uncomfortable.
“Fine, it’s Honkai Energy.” Elysia instantly gave up resisting.
“Honkai Energy?
Never heard of that energy source.
Boss, you aren’t just hyping up a concept, are you?” “That’s not the case.
This, above all else, is the most serious matter,” Elysia met Vill-V’s gaze, “Regarding the specific information on this part, I trust that you, Vill-V, can find it out yourself.
The only thing I can confirm is that this content will determine the future direction of the entire world.” The Honkai currently only has a budding sign, with only a few sporadic Honkai Beasts and small-scale outbreaks of honkai disease; Great Honkai, capable of causing the deaths of thousands, has yet to descend.
Even if Elysia were to spill everything now, Vill-V would likely only be half-convinced and then go to verify it herself.
It would be better to let her investigate it first, and once she has a basic understanding, then tell her the rest.
“Can I interpret this as a challenge to a genius like me?” Vill-V became interested.
“Of course,” Elysia smiled, “I’ve given you enough hints; you must tell me when you make progress later~” “Then, I bet it on the name of a genius: I won’t lose!” Vill-V confidently raised her head, then changed the subject, “However, developing Soulium will likely cost quite a bit of money; a few tens of millions will only be enough to make a few samples.” “I will find ways to generate revenue during my travels; you just need to handle the management and research—a clear division of labor~” Undoubtedly, Vill-V is the most outstanding genius in mechanical engineering of the current era, but unfortunately, her works have a very strong personal touch.
She herself calls her creations [Genius Little Trash]—things like flying robot vacuums, refrigerators that can stir-fry dishes, or electric fly swatters that can chop vegetables.
They are indeed full of creativity, but don’t count on them for generating revenue.
Of course, if she were asked to cater to the market, she would naturally do it, but that wouldn’t be her style.
Besides, she had dumped an entire organization onto Vill-V, which had indeed caused her quite a bit of trouble, so Elysia should handle the rest herself.
“Boss, how are you going to generate revenue?
You aren’t actually going to go around collecting protection money, are you?” Vill-V expressed her doubt.
“That won’t happen.
It’s just expanding the industry a little, playing a game of coloring, that’s all.” “That’s quite an ambitious plan.
Won’t you be hunted down by them if you do this for too long?” “Mmhmm~ Wouldn’t that be the perfect excuse for self-defense~” Elysia spread her hands.
Vill-V narrowed her eyes: “Then let me offer them a few seconds of silence first.”