Honkai energy was an extremely corrosive form of energy.
It corroded not only the human body, but inorganic matter as well, accelerating the decay of metals.
Machinery was also remarkably inefficient at utilizing Honkai energy.
Therefore, before Soulium appeared, Honkai-powered weapons had always been both unreliable and difficult to use.
Soulium, meanwhile, was a swarm of nanomachines capable of continuously dismantling and reconstructing itself to counteract the corrosion and destruction caused by Honkai energy.
This allowed it to withstand extraordinarily high Honkai-energy output.
It could even house a soul.
Otto of the Current Era used Soulium to achieve mechanical ascension, allowing him to live for five hundred years.
Soulium also had another, far more famous application.
It was the material used to create the renowned Divine Keys.
In Elysia’s opinion, the Divine Keys had appeared far too late in the original story.
It was not until after the Seventh Honkai Eruption that Vill-V created the first Divine Key, the Suspended Key: The Great Hibernation.
Because its power was too immense, it was later sealed away, and the entire Divine Key project was subsequently shut down.
Many Herrscher Cores had sat unused in laboratories for far too long when they should have been deployed on the battlefield much earlier.
The Cores of Reason and the Void alone possessed tremendous strategic value.
One was not forged into Void Archives until civilization stood on the brink of destruction, while the other was made into Cosmic Juggernaut relatively early, yet was used only to observe different worldlines.
Its performance was decidedly underwhelming.
Had they been transformed into strategic weapons at the beginning of the Honkai, they could undoubtedly have changed the course of the war and prevented countless casualties.
“A metal formed from a swarm of nanomachines…” After listening to Elysia’s description, Vill-V pondered for a moment before her eyes lit up.
“What a stroke of genius!
It’s almost worthy of comparison to a genius like me!” “Hehe~” Elysia planted her hands on her hips.
“Do you have any more specific ideas?
I’m very interested!” “Soulium must be able to freely alter its form while maintaining extremely high structural strength.
It also needs broad applicability and must remain functional under all kinds of environmental conditions.” “Balancing free transformation with structural strength won’t be easy.
If you had to choose one over the other, which would take priority?” “Structural strength.” Elysia did not hesitate.
“Understood.
Anything else?” “It must be capable of constantly repairing and reconstructing itself.” “All right, got it.
So what exactly do you intend to use this material for?” It would have been a waste not to keep her in suspense at a moment like this.
“Why don’t you try to guess, Vill-V?~” Elysia clasped her hands together and tilted her head.
“Hehe, you’re the one who suggested it~” Vill-V snapped her fingers confidently.
“You never mentioned self-replication, so it clearly isn’t some infinitely multiplying nanomachine plague.
“Between free transformation and structural strength, you obviously prioritize the latter, which means it will exist in a fixed structure most of the time.
Soulium is essentially an extremely malleable foundational material.
But if that were all, there would be plenty of substitute materials that would also be easier to manufacture.
“However, you specifically mentioned constant self-repair.
That is what makes it irreplaceable.
Whatever structure it forms must remain under extreme conditions for prolonged periods, otherwise such a property would be unnecessary.
Its broad applicability means it can function under mild external conditions, so the extreme factor must not be the outside environment, but the internal one.
“What sort of internal environment would that be?
Highly destructive and highly corrosive.
No one would place something like that inside a structure without reason.
The only possibility is that it is an indispensable part of the overall system.
My bold guess is that it serves as the energy source!
Mm-hmm, judging by your expression, I was right.
This material is meant to contain some form of extremely corrosive energy, isn’t it?
“Miniaturized nuclear energy?
No, an aluminum-lead alloy would be sufficient for nuclear energy.
It must be some energy source even more dangerous than that.
But why use it instead of nuclear energy?
Its output must be so far beyond nuclear power that it outweighs all its disadvantages.
Yet nuclear fusion currently has the highest mass-energy conversion efficiency in the world.
So what is it?
Matter-antimatter annihilation?
Or something else?” By the end, Vill-V was visibly excited.
She stared at Elysia with eyes full of curiosity.
Elysia, meanwhile, was already drenched in cold sweat.
What the hell?
I only said a few sentences, and she practically stripped every secret out of me…
“Ahem~ Mystery is part of a secret’s charm.
Since you’re so curious, Vill-V, why not investigate it yourself?” Vill-V merely continued staring at Elysia, her gaze clinging to her so intently that Elysia felt uncomfortable all over.
“Fine.
It’s Honkai energy.” Elysia immediately surrendered.
“Honkai energy?
I’ve never heard of it.
Boss, you aren’t just hyping up some imaginary concept, are you?” “Not at all.
This, more than anything else, is deadly serious.” Elysia met Vill-V’s gaze.
“As for the specific information surrounding it, I believe you’ll be able to uncover that yourself.
The only thing I can confirm is that what you discover will determine the future course of the entire world.” At present, the Honkai had only begun to show its earliest signs.
There were merely a few scattered Honkai Beasts and small outbreaks of Honkai Sickness.
The Honkai Eruptions capable of killing millions had yet to descend.
Even if Elysia revealed everything now, Vill-V would probably remain skeptical and investigate it herself.
It would be better to let her conduct her own research first, then explain the rest once she had gained a basic understanding.
“Can I interpret this as a challenge to a genius like me?” Vill-V’s interest was thoroughly aroused.
“Of course.” Elysia smiled.
“I’ve already given you more than enough clues.
Be sure to tell me when you discover something~” “Then, on my name as a genius, I will not lose!” Vill-V raised her head confidently, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Developing Soulium will probably cost a lot of money, though.
A few tens of millions would only be enough to produce some samples.” “I’ll find ways to generate income during my travels.
You only need to handle management and research.
A clear division of labor~” Without question, Vill-V was the greatest mechanical engineering genius of the age.
Unfortunately, her creations bore far too much of her personal style.
Even she called them Genius Little Pieces of Junk.
Flying vacuum cleaners, refrigerators that could cook, electric flyswatters that could chop vegetables, and other such inventions were certainly creative, but expecting them to generate profit was another matter entirely.
Of course, Vill-V could easily cater to market demand if she chose to, but that simply was not her style.
Besides, Elysia had dumped an entire organization into Vill-V’s hands, creating more than enough trouble for her already.
Elysia would shoulder the remaining burden herself.
“Boss, how exactly are you planning to make money?
You’re not seriously going to collect protection fees, are you?” Vill-V asked suspiciously.
“Of course not.
I’ll merely expand our industries a little and play a few rounds of map coloring.” “You have some grand ambitions.
Keep that up for long enough, and they’ll start hunting you down.” “Mm-hmm~ Wouldn’t that give me the perfect excuse to act in self-defense?~” Elysia spread her hands.
Vill-V narrowed her eyes.
“Then allow me to observe a few seconds of silence for them in advance.”