The past few days were fruitful to Aleph. Not only was he able to conduct four successful MANTIS surgeries in a row, he was also able to gain significant achievements. These were the achievements that gave out far better rewards than the usual.
From Mobius' surgery up until now, he has a lot of unclaimed rewards.
[Heromaker: Successfully finish the MANTIS surgery on someone else for the first time.]
[Evolver: Complete a working evolution system for the first time.]
[Past Mirage: Complete the first step into becoming a civilization's spearhead.]
[Storymaker: Accomplish the MANTIS surgery on three Flame Chasers.]
These four achievements gave out equally huge rewards.
Coupled with Elysia's achievement now…
[Diary of a Magus: One-time use item. Grants the insight of the Hero Maker, Merlin, for thirty minutes.]
[Sanctuary Key: One-time use item. Grants the set of knowledge required by the user into the form of books. Limited to Level B Clearance and below (See More).]
[Dark Energy Reactor (Remnant, Prototype): A palm-sized dark energy reactor abandoned for several hundred years. Its external damages and lack of proper maintenance caused it to stop working.]
[Ability Evolution (Seven Swords): Upon usage, the ability (Seven Swords) will have the ability to connect into one's mind.]
[Major Energy Box]
'These first time rewards… As expected, they're all good.'
Although Aleph's gain during the past five months wasn't that bad, it couldn't compare to this.
Things related to knowledge are extremely valuable, more so in their current situation.
Since the original Flamechasers couldn't save the world despite their smarts, bringing in external variables is one gold way out.
These thoughts flew past his mind swiftly.
"Ahem. I didn't expect that."
Sensing the atmosphere turning strange, Elysia let out a similar awkward smile.
"There's no need to think much about that. I may have been too tough during their practice."
Aleph looked at Sakura who didn't react to her injuries. The latter was thinking something seriously as of now, to the point even Elysia couldn't properly tease her. She knew better not to tease an injured girl, hence allowing Sakura to focus on what's on her mind.
"That's right!" Elysia nodded to his side comments. "But I understand. It's better to be hurt now than in a real battle, no?"
"You're right."
Slowly, Aleph saw more about the enigmatic Miss Pink Fairy.
******
"They left. We can finally deal with that room."
"Eh, there's no helping it. You also wanted data on people who were implanted with emperor-class genome." Aleph replied to Mobius' musings.
A few days had passed since then. Everyone went back to their usual work, though Aleph was still left behind in Mobius' fifth institute to deal with some effects of the aftermath, namely: the destruction of their impromptu training room.
It was already filled with small dents on the first day. Aleph sparred on a daily basis with Kevin and Sakura.
It was fortunate Elysia chose not to join them, else the expenses incurred will be more astronomical.
"You don't have to pay for it. Our funds will take care of it."
"I insist. I don't want to see you and Klein eating instant ramen on a daily basis again."
"You're exaggerating."
"Maybe."
The usual banter between him and Mobius happened once again. It has always been so during his two weeks of stay inside the fifth institute.
"You don't need to see me off, you know? If there are still people capable of coming for me, you'd know what will happen next."
"I won't disagree with that."
Surprisingly, Mobius conceded for this time. She came up with a demand, however.
"You better come here again."
"Yeah, sure. Just remember not to rashly experiment with the emperor-class genomes. I don't want to see you go crazy."
Time and time, Aleph reminded her that their huge success this time was due to the individuals' extremely high compatibility to honkai. Honkai resistance was a factor to look at Project Soldier, though there are still other factors present.
If it wasn't for that alone, Mobius wouldn't have suffered consecutive failures in the original story. There was external pressure due to the seventh herrscher's destruction of Australia in one week. She was defeated, yes, but the pressure remained.
That was the reason why Aleph focused on giving them suggestions as well as strengthening their mental forte—by being a reliable ally, that is.
"Who do you think I am?"
"Yes, yes. You're doctor Mobius, one of the most brilliant prodigies humanity has ever produced."
That way, his departure ended in a joking manner.
*****
"You finally decided to come back. I thought you would have forgotten to do so by now."
"I have no excuses."
Aleph conceded at Einstein's first strike. He was at fault for being one week late on their accepted schedule.
"So, how was it?"
"Everything went surprisingly well. Aside from me and Mobius, there are four others who were successfully implanted with emperor-class genomes."
"Emperor-class…"
For a moment, Einstein went into a daze. Her sigh showed hints of reminiscence.
"Humanity is at this stage… it's more the reason we shouldn't mess things up."
"Don't worry much. Mei's there to deal with things. If needed, I can also help."
She looked at Aleph with a complicated gaze.
"Back then, I thought you were a talent similar to doctor Mobius." She said. "It should be apt to say you went beyond my expectations."
As one of the older generation within the institutes, Einstein saw the numerous changes within Fire MOTH.
As if marking all the drastic changes, Aleph's appearance subverted Fire MOTH. Mei's transition, for example, wouldn't have been smooth if not for the intimidation he did using three councilors' lives.
"Maybe, in the future…"
In the end, Einstein didn't complete her words. She didn't want to place any more burden on him.
Nevertheless, Aleph's senses were sharp enough to hear her low murmurs.
"There wasn't much work while you were gone. You only need to catch up with that project for now.
"How's its progress?"
"The nuclear reactor worked wonders. Only the program is left to be worked on."
Einstein's thesis that spanned for half a decade was a project that employed autonomous 'robots' to fight for the honkai. They were to be deployed in places deemed too dangerous for most humans.
With the energy side solved, all that was left was to create a working program for its sentience—an evolving artificial intelligence, so as to speak.
'We need to accomplish Prometheus before that. I can use it to open up some issues with the honkai…'
For a while, the two talked about some important matters.