"You called us here just to grandstand and explain the Honkai to the whole world? Do you know who we are?!"
Compared to the composed and indifferent Einstein, Tesla seemed nothing like an eighty-year-old. When she heard Takatsuki wanted them to stand in front of the camera and introduce the Honkai to the entire world, her red twin pigtails nearly stood on end.
"Professor Tesla, calm down, calm down. This is a global live broadcast."
Tesla didn't realize she was being filmed. Takatsuki quickly reminded her, though he himself was rather unconcerned. Firstly, he was wearing a mask and had altered his physique, making him hard to recognize. Secondly, there wouldn't be any broadcasting mishaps or similar issues during this live stream.
Because no one could approve shutting down this live stream, and no one could choose to exit and watch someone else's live stream.
There weren't even any bullet comments, so he didn't have to care about other people's opinions at all.
"You, you wear a mask yourself, but you want us to appear on TV with our real faces? How despicable."
Tesla glanced at the Pods floating around them, acting as cameras, and said, somewhat annoyed.
"Anyway, you two haven't appeared in public for decades, so why not…"
Before he could finish, Tesla kicked him in the shin.
"You're over eighty, how are you still acting like a child?"
After saying that, Takatsuki received a few more kicks.
"You're still talking! Don't you know a girl's age is taboo?!"
Watching the two of them bicker in front of the entire world, Einstein sighed, "Alright, Dr. Tesla, he's doing it on purpose."
"What? This brat actually!"
"Why are you still pretending to be young? You're already calling me a brat."
Einstein sighed again, watching the two of them embarrass themselves in front of the world: "Alright, what exactly is your purpose? To inform the entire world of the Honkai's existence in this manner."
Before having the two appear, Takatsuki had already introduced the basics of the Honkai and his current location to the world via the live stream, using the Honkai Eruption in Manila as an opportunity to prove the Honkai's existence to the entire world.
"If you're trying to get the whole world to unite and cooperate to fight the Honkai this way, I advise you to give up. Not even an idealist would dare to dream of such a thing."
Takatsuki chuckled, "I saw you two just came over, and I thought you knew what I wanted to do. Did Old Yang not tell you?"
All along, Anti-Entropy had been very cooperative with Takatsuki's various requests, even agreeing to things like publicly disclosing their core technology to YoRHa, which was like revealing their deepest secrets. When he contacted Anti-Entropy this time, they immediately sent people. He thought they knew what he was going to do.
After all, they knew about the future.
Einstein naturally understood what Takatsuki was referring to.
"That thing isn't a portable hard drive, and would you bring all of someone else's things if you had limited space?"
"If it were my wife, yes."
Facing Einstein's analogy, Takatsuki naturally understood what she was referring to.
As for the things Yang had him bring back from the future, looking at it now, Takatsuki had no idea what was recorded about the future in there. But from the reactions of the two, perhaps not much was recorded.
Of course, could it be acting?
The reason Takatsuki was probing this was because he was puzzled: why had Anti-Entropy made no reaction, even though this matter should have been destined to happen?
It seems Yang didn't record this part in the information. As for the reason…
Perhaps his future self thought his actions this time were very important for changing the world order.
"Then you're truly considerate."
Einstein looked at Takatsuki, somewhat speechless.
"Although I think so too, this isn't the time to talk about such things. I can also understand what you mean."
Yes, simply telling the world about the Honkai, what could it bring besides panic?
If he didn't have a preliminary plan, Takatsuki wouldn't have done such a thing.
"I think everyone should have heard the story of Pandora's Box, right?"
He wasn't just speaking to the two of them, but posing a question to the entire world.
"What does Pandora's Box have to do with our problem?"
Tesla said, shaking her red twin pigtails, while Einstein was much calmer.
"Dr. Tesla, I think… he wouldn't mention this for no reason. Legend says Pandora was created by the gods, and Pandora's Box contained both calamities and hope. Pandora opened the box, releasing the calamities, and then closed the box before hope could escape."
"Although I am a scientist, not a philosopher, this story has two different interpretations. One is that no matter what kind of calamity you face, hope always exists in some corner of the world. The other is… unrealistic hope is a more terrifying punishment for humans than the calamities themselves."
Einstein recounted the myth of Pandora's Box. Although her emotional intelligence was lacking, her extremely high intelligence allowed her to roughly guess Takatsuki's meaning.
"Like now, letting the whole world know about the Honkai's existence when ordinary people are powerless to resist, it's like the calamities inside Pandora's Box. You personally opened this box, so the hope at the very bottom… I suppose you've prepared that too, or rather, that's your purpose?"
Listening to Einstein's words, Takatsuki chuckled. However, because he was wearing a mask, it couldn't be seen, but a hint of amusement could be heard in his voice.
"As expected of the greatest scientist of the current civilization, the embodiment of genius. You're right. Just like Pandora's Box, to retrieve the hope at the bottom of the box, the calamities placed on the upper layer must be released. My purpose, making the whole world aware of the Honkai, is also necessary."
Takatsuki stated his purpose directly without concealing it: "Doctors, you both previously thought that ordinary people don't have the capital to fight against the Honkai, and letting them know would only cause more panic, right?"
"But it is precisely because of this idea that things hidden deep within the world have been forever concealed. And I have discovered that thing, something that can save humanity and defeat the Honkai."
"Ultimately, the Honkai itself is a test from the world to civilization, to humanity. It's not a problem assigned to a single person or organization. So, this test should involve the entire world, shouldn't it? Even if it's meager, ordinary people also have their own ways to overcome the Honkai."
Hearing Takatsuki's words, Einstein sighed.
"What a crazy idea, but since you said it, I'll believe it. So, what is this hope you speak of?"
"I'll keep that a secret for now. Even if I tell everyone now, it won't have much meaning. I will announce this thing at 8 AM on June 1st, calculated by the time in my current location, of course."
In front of everyone, Takatsuki pulled up a webpage screen: "This is a website I prepared in advance. Even those who didn't watch this live broadcast can see the recorded broadcast through the website, and there's also summarized information on it. And the last one…"
He pointed to the last section on the website: "This is the hope I spoke of. Everyone… please look forward to it."