When Elysia finished the Honkai energy decontamination process and walked out of the testing ground, she was greeted by the sight of a group of people in protective suits, carrying a stretcher, locked in a standoff with Mobius.
Mobius swept her openly icy gaze across the crowd before finally meeting Elysia’s eyes.
“Well, well.
The little lab rat finally came out.” Her expression shifted into an inscrutable smile.
“Why don’t you come to my laboratory?
I promise I’ll take very good care of you.” “Dr.
Mobius, Miss Elysia requires a comprehensive examination.
Surely you know the consequences of direct contact with Honkai crystals,” the head of the medical department said, doing his best to speak despite his trembling legs.
“Wouldn’t examining her in my laboratory be the same?
Or are you confident that your medical expertise surpasses mine?” Mobius crossed her arms and snorted.
“Would Miss Elysia even come back out after entering your laboratory?” “Don’t make me sound like some kind of demon.
I wouldn’t do anything excessive to a unique specimen.” Mobius raised an eyebrow.
“Besides, shouldn’t we ask for her opinion?
What do you think, little lab rat?” Everyone from the medical department cast pleading looks at Elysia.
“Thank you all for your concern.” Elysia bowed slightly.
“However, I would still like to visit Dr.
Mobius’ laboratory.
I believe she’s a good person.” “Hah.
You heard her.” Mobius glanced at the others, then led Elysia away beneath their horrified gazes.
On the way, Mobius asked teasingly, “Are you afraid?
They weren’t wrong.
No one who has entered my laboratory has ever come back out.” “Mm-hmm~ Then I’ll simply become the first person who does~” Elysia tilted her head, her smile unchanged.
“Tsk.
You don’t seem to understand your current situation.” Mobius turned around and looked at Elysia as though she were an idiot.
“Don’t regret it later, little lab rat.” Elysia chuckled softly.
Seeing her remain perfectly calm only made Mobius somewhat displeased.
After entering the laboratory, Elysia looked around several times.
Although Mobius was widely known as a “demon,” her laboratory was not actually some blood-soaked scene that sent one’s sanity plummeting.
On the contrary, it was quite tidy…
perhaps?
Elysia fell silent when she saw the pile of instant noodle containers stacked in the corner.
“What are you looking at?
If those old men in MOTH hadn’t restricted my funding, I wouldn’t have to eat instant noodles every day.” Mobius waved for her to come over.
“They can stay there.
They’re not getting in the way.” When Elysia approached, she saw the Herrscher’s remains lying on the operating table.
Although badly damaged, the body still retained a roughly humanoid form.
It took my full-power attack and still wasn’t reduced to ash?
Elysia was somewhat surprised.
“Don’t touch it carelessly.
You couldn’t afford to compensate me if you damaged it.” Mobius gestured for her to lie down on another empty operating table.
“Get on.
Don’t move, or I can’t guarantee the machine won’t slice off a few pieces of flesh.” Elysia obediently lay down.
Mobius walked to the control console and operated the instruments.
A mechanical arm moved along a ceiling-mounted rail until it reached Elysia, then unfolded and extended.
A long needle emerged from its tip and traced several circles around her body, gleaming sharply beneath the surgical light.
No wonder people who had entered Mobius’ laboratory would rather die than come back.
This examination process was more than enough to leave psychological trauma.
“Shouldn’t we begin with a full examination?” Elysia asked.
“Anyone with eyes can see that you haven’t been eroded at all.” Mobius glanced sideways at her.
“Those idiots were even discussing whether they should amputate your limbs first.
How amateurish.
Honkai Sickness always manifests from the outside inward, but your skin doesn’t show so much as a single erosion mark.” “You can directly touch condensed Honkai energy without being eroded.
Let me see what secrets you’re hiding.” Mobius licked the corner of her lips.
“It won’t hurt much.
Just one prick.” The long needle pierced Elysia’s skin without resistance, and the blood collection tube hanging from its end quickly filled.
The needle was then withdrawn.
Mobius carefully removed the tube and placed it inside a testing device.
After pressing several buttons on the console, several new machines arrived along the rail and began performing other examinations on Elysia.
“There’s nothing unusual about your physical structure.” Mobius looked at the scan results with some disappointment.
“That shouldn’t be possible.” “Was Dr.
Mobius hoping I would have two hearts and three lungs, or that the scan would show nothing but chaos?” Elysia turned onto her side on the operating table and spoke with a faint smile.
“After all, I’m only an ordinary human~” “The blood test results aren’t out yet.
Don’t be impatient.” Mobius sat on a stool and crossed her legs as she studied Elysia.
“And ordinary?
What kind of joke is that?
“Setting aside your absurd resistance to Honkai energy, I’ve heard a little about your exploits before.
The ‘Angel of Pink Dawn,’ capable of wiping out an entire criminal stronghold single-handedly.
That isn’t something an ordinary person can do.” Although it was clearly a complimentary title, spoken by Mobius, it sounded entirely sarcastic.
“Ah, the results are out.
Let me see.” She turned around and scanned through the data.
Her expression remained calm until she reached the end, whereupon she instantly froze.
“Ninety-nine percent Honkai energy resistance and ninety-nine percent Honkai energy adaptability?” Mobius’ eyes widened as though she had discovered an entirely new continent.
Overwhelming ecstasy immediately followed.
“Just as I thought.
Just as I thought!
I already knew you were extraordinary, but little lab rat, you managed to bring me an even greater surprise.” The testing method is flawed.
Elysia sighed inwardly.
Otherwise, both values would definitely be one hundred percent.
The internal environment of a Herrscher’s body was formed by an interplay between passively diffused Authority and physiological reactions.
Once removed from the body and deprived of the Authority’s nourishment, the cells would rapidly deteriorate.
At the same time, some of their inherent properties would steadily weaken.
The correct experimental method would be to inject Honkai energy directly into the body and then observe the resulting changes in physiological function.
That would produce a result of one hundred percent.
However, only the most deranged madman would ever do such a thing.
Wouldn’t you agree, Bishop Otto?
Besides, it was better that the result had not reached one hundred percent.
Otherwise, she might have been stripped of her status as a human on the spot.
The Honkai existed to target life itself, so it was impossible for a human to completely avoid Honkai energy erosion.
If either index reached one hundred percent, the only possible explanation was that the individual had been born from the Honkai itself.
A beast-shaped one would be called a Honkai Beast.
A humanoid one would be called a Herrscher.
As for the two indicators, Honkai energy resistance represented one’s ability to withstand erosion, while Honkai energy adaptability represented one’s ability to use Honkai energy.
If the former was high and the latter low, one would merely be an ordinary person immune to every poison.
If the latter was high and the former low, one only needed to look at Welt Yang from the Current Era.
He possessed tremendous power, but after fighting for a while, his body would become too badly eroded to continue.
“MOTH has truly unearthed a treasure.” Mobius rose excitedly and paced around the laboratory.
“Those people are not completely useless after all.
They actually found the person I’ve always wanted.” Her eyes narrowed slightly as she devoured Elysia with a fervent gaze.
When Elysia met her eyes, it was as though she were looking at a serpent poised to strike.
“Mm-hmm~” An ordinary person would have been frightened out of their wits by such a look from Mobius, but Elysia remained perfectly composed.
“Keep lying there.
Let me study you a little longer.” Mobius had clearly become carried away.
“From your body, I might truly be able to discover the direction of human evolution!” “Just give me a little more time.
A little more time…” she murmured.
If Elysia agreed, she could forget about leaving the laboratory for the next several days.
Mobius’ madness was both part of her charm and an enormous source of trouble.
Yet Elysia felt no disgust toward her.
Instead, she only felt deep helplessness.
Given the twisted childhood Mobius had endured, it was perfectly understandable that her personality had developed flaws.
Mobius of Infinity, one of MOTH’s founding members.
She was the undisputed leading authority in the field of biology, as well as the driving force behind the MANTIS1 project and the developer of stigma technology.
Yet beneath the radiance of Infinity lay an utterly broken past.
Her mother had died giving birth to her, while the genius she possessed from birth had not brought her admiration and adoration.
Instead, those around her had rejected her as a monster.
At first, her father had still treated her gently.
However, after contracting Honkai Sickness and suffering years of torment, he became volatile and subjected Mobius to prolonged domestic abuse.
On her ninth birthday, during yet another beating, Mobius made a vow.
She would bring evolution to humanity and never allow humans to degenerate into monsters like her father.
Afterward, she left home, taught herself throughout her travels, and eventually joined MOTH.
In Elysia’s view, Mobius’ obsessive pursuit of evolution and immortality ultimately stemmed from fear.
Fear of death.
Fear of degeneration.
As long as she continued down the path of evolution, those things would never catch up to her.
After the final battle against the Herrscher of Finality ended in defeat, Mobius finally understood her own heart and gave up entering a cryogenic pod to travel into the next era.
In the end, beneath the Herrscher of Finality, the Infinite Ouroboros walked into oblivion alongside the Previous Era.
Still, understanding was one thing.
Agreement was another.
“Please forgive me for refusing, Dr.
Mobius.” Elysia smiled, but her words left no room for negotiation.
“Your current state seems somewhat unstable.
Once you’ve calmed down, I’ll return and cooperate with your research.
How does that sound~?” “You don’t understand.
This…” Her words abruptly stopped.
Mobius dug her nails sharply into her palm and forced herself to calm down.
“Tsk.
Fine.
Remember to come by often.” “Sorry for disappointing you, Doctor~” Elysia climbed down from the operating table and apologized sincerely.
“Go on, leave.” Mobius waved her away with an impatient expression.
“I still have the Herrscher’s remains to study.
Losing you for now hardly matters.” The moment Elysia opened the door, she was met by Ato’s worried expression.
He looked her up and down, and once he confirmed that she had not lost any body parts, he immediately patted his chest and released a long breath of relief.
“Elysia, you nearly scared me to death.” Ato spoke with lingering fear.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was when I learned you’d entered Mobius’ laboratory?” “Sorry, Uncle Ato~” Elysia smiled.
“But Dr.
Mobius isn’t actually bad at heart.
See?
I came back out just fine.” “That’s good.
That’s good.” Ato’s expression turned into a smile.
“I have some good news.
The higher-ups have officially recognized your achievement.
It should be announced before long.” “What about the testing ground?” Elysia recalled the devastated scene she had left behind.
“I can’t afford to pay for that.” “You don’t need to.
The value of that arrow was more than enough.” “And Vill-V?” “She’s performing magic tricks for everyone in the engineering department.
Every person there, including the former department head, has become one of her admirers.
Absolutely pathetic.” Ato shook his head and sighed.
“As for the complete performance testing of Soulium, that will still take some time.
“However, the preliminary test results were described as exceptionally impressive, even beyond expectations.
Don’t worry.
Vill-V’s position as head of the engineering department should be secure.” Elysia breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you for your help, Uncle Ato~ Without you making the introductions, things would never have gone so smoothly.” Ato waved dismissively.
“It’s nothing.
As long as it helps humanity fight the Honkai, it’s no trouble at all.” Massively Augmented Neo-Tech Integrated Soldiers