"My, you've been spending a lot of time in my lab these past two days. What gives?"
Mobius casually handed a stack of work documents to Klein, taking a cup of bubble tea from her in return. She took a small sip.
"With no Herrschers showing up, the Anti-Entropy forces are pretty idle. Sure, Honkai outbreaks are more frequent, but the Rapid Response Teams handle it. No need for us."
Michael, also holding bubble tea, sucked up a large mouthful, yet his words were clear.
"Itching for a fight? Go spar with that monster Kalpas. Don't bother me with my experiments."
Mobius's words were dismissive, but she had already handed all the work to Klein, leaving herself free.
"It's... I mainly want to develop Vishnu's abilities. For me now, fusing with a single Honkai beast ICHOR factor is underwhelming..."
"That was a Judgement-class… no, an Apocalyptic(Vipralopa)-class Honkai beast."
Mobius narrowed her eyes. "Michael, don't be too greedy. 'A single Honkai beast ICHOR factor'... Pfft, how many do you want to fuse with?"
She leaned back, arms crossed. "I'm warning you, your Vishnu ICHOR factor was very rough. Even if you're a Herrscher, the ICHOR factor might not be a perfect fit. It's not just about Honkai energy compatibility."
Her gaze sharpened. "Hey… wait. Is this because you got crushed by the Husk? Are you desperate to get stronger?"
"Uh…"
Caught off guard, Michael stammered. Then, he admitted, "I know all that. But Vishnu's abilities don't boost a Herrscher's physical capabilities that much. As for other abilities, I haven't gotten anything like that 'Collapse' ability."
He hesitated. "And about 'Devour'... whenever I try, my body starts to collapse (cascade in EN). Even I… no, precisely because it's me, I don't dare to risk it. If I lose control, no one can stop me."
"Pfft! Full of yourself!"
Mobius sucked the last of her tea before carefully targeting the "pearls" at the bottom. Like Michael, she didn't like the chewy things, but since Klein bought it… never mind.
Michael, on the other hand, took a more direct approach. He used his spatial powers to teleport all the pearls into his mouth.
Then, his exposed forearm changed. The skin and fat seemed to disappear, revealing dark blue, finely detailed muscle fibers. They pulsed.
Mobius's pupils constricted. This was what Michael called the collapse tendency—or rather, a semi-collapse, a limited-collapse state.
Sure enough, his face turned ashen, his expression dark and menacing. He grunted unintelligibly. Mobius knew that feeling all too well. It was the distance between a human form and the artificially collapsed (cascade) form.
He could still maintain self-awareness, which meant he could feel the collapse's side effects—every cell in his body ached with each breath. If he fully collapsed, if his consciousness slipped into slumber, he wouldn't feel a thing.
But then, as his cheeks and throat moved, he easily swallowed the clump of pearls. Within moments, his skin turned pale again, returning to its original state.
"To maintain absolute self-awareness, this is the extent."
Michael flexed his fingers, feeling the lingering strain. "I don't think it's suitable for combat. Of course, I came here to test this state's physical stats. Let's see how 'small' the so-called improvement is."
"You're a handful…"
Mobius sighed but didn't argue. "Come with me."
She led Michael to a small room adjacent to the lab, filled with old or obsolete equipment.
Michael instinctively walked toward a power gauge. His gaze landed on a faded, yellowed image of Phamas, stuck on the impact point. The rest of the machine was well-maintained—not spotless, but when he wiped a finger over it, only a thin layer of dust came off.
He smirked. "Mobius, you still have a sentimental side? I wouldn't have guessed."
"Huh? This?"
Mobius crossed her arms, looking away. "Klein cleaned this. I had nothing to do with it, nothing at all!"
"…"
Michael held back the urge to call her out. Klein worked 24/7—where would she find the time for this?
But it was best to let Mobius be. Saying "Oh, right, right" just to provoke her wouldn't end well…
"Come on, the usual drill—throw a punch."
Mobius casually tore off Phamas's image, intending to crumple it and toss it away. But after a brief pause, she turned around, folded it neatly, and placed it into a nearby storage cabinet. After all, it was the last photo of an old friend.
Michael wasted no time. He first threw a punch in his normal state, then quickly switched to his limited-collapse state and delivered another.
By the time Mobius turned back, he had already analyzed the results.
"About 8.67%? Higher than I thought, but still not a big improvement…" She crossed her arms. "And considering the physiological and psychological side effects of this state, it seems more like a loss than a gain."
"Stop complaining and get to the speed test!"
— — —
After being put through the wringer, Michael finally received his final report.
"Overall increase of about 5%." He exhaled sharply. "Pretty useless. But considering that impact resistance and endurance can't be measured by instruments, it's not entirely worthless…"
"…I think you're mocking me."
Impact resistance—obviously a jab at his "glorious" feat of being one-shotted by the Imaginary Husk two days ago.
Endurance—likely referring to that time he was out of sync with the core and nearly exhausted himself using the Second Divine Key for a phase transition.
Well… those were Michael's first thoughts.
"Huh? Did I?"
Mobius raised an eyebrow. "You're too sensitive, aren't you?"
"We don't rule out that possibility," Michael replied dryly. "But Doctor Mobius, could you at least flatten your lips before saying that?"
"Tch!"
Mobius pouted, clearly wanting him gone. Michael had achieved what he came for, so he didn't insist on staying. Before he knew it, he was half-pushed out of the room.
"Alright! Anything else? If not, get out!" She huffed. "Humph, if you don't leave, someone will cry if they don't see you!"
"…"
Michael rubbed his chin. She was overreacting today.
"Right, I did have something to ask you," he said, shifting topics. "I heard the Vishnu ICHOR factor experiment will allow volunteers to sign up directly. Did you propose this?"
"I told you, don't blame all the bad things on me!" Mobius scoffed, shaking her head. "But I have to admire Mei. She insisted on pushing this method forward, even though she knew you'd disagree. She was probably a little timid, so she didn't tell you in person…"
Previously, regarding Meta-Morph surgery, Michael had been firm—small-scale verification first, no immediate widespread implementation. Under this policy, volunteers' genetic data was recorded in advance, matched with Honkai beast genes, and used to calculate genetic compatibility and surgical success rates.
But even after the matching results were obtained, the surgeries weren't performed immediately. Instead, they were reserved for emergencies—such as when Michael was seriously injured. Only then would the procedure be carried out based on compatibility, success rate, and the classification of the Honkai beast.
Like Vill-V, Ato, and Dystopia before.
The mortality rate was still high, but at least it was relatively humane.
Regarding Vishnu's experiment, Michael had learned something troubling—thanks to Kevin's "inadvertent" slip.
Mei seemed to want to skip the verification calculation step and proceed directly to experimentation.
"Why?"
Michael needed a reason. But he couldn't question Mei directly. If the lower-level personnel caught wind of the two leaders arguing, it wouldn't look good. That was the subtext behind Mei having Kevin relay the message instead.
"What else could it be?" Mobius replied. "It's a matter of cost. Genetic testing costs money. Local tissue Meta-Morph experiments cost money. And calculations… even though we have fixed models to use, do you know how many people signed up on the first day after hearing the ICHOR factor was an Apocalyptic(Vipralopa-class Honkai beast?"
She smirked. "Over a thousand people from the headquarters base alone. If you count the newly built branch bases on the continents, the number of applicants definitely exceeds ten thousand. With that much data to process, even Prometheus can't handle the workload."
She paused before adding, "And, let me mention something you haven't really paid attention to—how do you think those so-called models are built?"
Michael's pupils contracted.
That's right. How could he have ignored this?
To build a corresponding model for each Honkai beast, thousands of samples were needed to provide data support…
"So, blood has always been flowing. You just didn't know."
Mobius's voice was calm—too calm.
"No, you did know. Deep down, you always knew." She tilted her head. "When you handed over those surviving poisonous pupas to me for disposal, didn't you already make peace with this? Or do you prefer pretending ignorance—standing in the sunlight, looking down on me and Mei? Judging us. Sentencing us. And then, in the end, firing the fatal shot yourself?"
Michael exhaled.
"Oh, I understand," he said.
No anger. No outrage. No tears.
Perhaps, as Mobius suggested, he had already made this decision long ago. The rest—humph—were just self-righteous moral scruples.
He turned and left, just as Mobius had requested.
Yet, as she watched him go, a lingering sense of loss settled in her chest.
"Okay, Klein," Mobius said after a moment, shaking off the thought. "Leave the playing to Fuxi and Nuwa. We've got real work to do."
"Yes, Dr. Mobius."
Klein followed respectfully behind her, trailing into the room filled with old equipment. They walked deeper in, stopping at the wall of the innermost closet.
Mobius tapped the surface.
With a soft mechanical click, the closet slid open, revealing the dark laboratory hidden behind it.
Before they could step inside, a cold wind rushed out—thick with an unbearable stench. From the depths, unintelligible roars echoed.
Klein reached for the switch.
The lights flickered on.
Hundreds of experimental subjects stared back.
Their shapes were different. Instead of humans, they were more like Mutated Deadman.
The only common point might be that on different parts of each person's body, a different-shaped pattern would light up.
"Even though I said all that, you still don't want to show this side to Captain Michael, do you, Doctor?"
"Klein, you're becoming as verbose as Nuwa!"