Ye Chang'an waved in response, then asked again why Mobius had called him over, hoping to wrap things up quickly and go back to sleep.
He was pretty tired too.
"Then come with me."
Mobius wasted no more time. She led Ye Chang'an into the laboratory and had her own boss inject volunteers with Destruction energy and play the Chang'an Melody.
She needed to closely observe the process of the human body being eroded and then healed.
This research could not be done without Ye Chang'an. Only he could manipulate Destruction energy.
"Alright, I don't need you for the moment. Find somewhere to rest."
Mobius went off to conduct her analysis. She did not let Ye Chang'an leave, since she would need his help later.
"Looks like I won't be getting away tonight."
Ye Chang'an sighed, found a bed in the laboratory, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
Mobius turned back and her brow twitched.
—That was my bed.
Naturally, the bed in the laboratory was hers. Whenever she got tired, she would lie down and rest for a while.
Now Ye Chang'an was sleeping in it... and there did not seem to be anything she could do about it.
She could not exactly make Ye Chang'an sleep on the floor. That would be a little too heartless.
Shaking her head and setting the matter aside, Mobius continued analyzing the experiment. She watched while taking notes, her brows furrowed as she clearly failed to find what she wanted.
Research was often like this. Much of the time, it was nothing but wasted effort.
In the end, she still failed to analyze anything useful. Rubbing her brow, she prepared to lie down for a while—and then lay right on top of Ye Chang'an.
"(⊙o⊙)..."
"(⊙o⊙)..."
Both of them were dumbfounded. Mobius had been so focused that she forgot Ye Chang'an had taken over her bed, while Ye Chang'an simply had no idea what was going on.
"Mobius, what are you doing?"
"You need to understand, this is my bed."
Mobius accused him first. After growing more familiar with Ye Chang'an, she had gradually started acting tough.
Ye Chang'an was speechless. He moved the mature-looking Mobius aside and sat up.
"If you want to sleep, go ahead. I'll head back first. Doesn't look like there's anything you need me to do."
This tiny single bed was uncomfortable anyway. Going home to sleep in a big bed with Eden in his arms would be much nicer.
"Who said there was nothing for you to do? I still have questions for you."
Mobius gave up on resting, called out to Ye Chang'an, and began questioning him.
"How exactly do you control Destruction energy? Why can't I do it?"
Research that depended on Ye Chang'an was seriously slowing down her progress. It would be much more convenient if Mobius could manipulate Destruction energy herself.
But this was not easy to explain. Ye Chang'an did not know how to put it into words either.
"How should I put it? When I want to control it, I control it. It's like breathing when you want to breathe.
As long as I can sense Destruction energy around me, I can control it."
For someone who had cultivated a Sword Heart, this was perfectly normal. Ye Chang'an found it as simple as an arithmetic problem like one plus one equals two.
But the simplest things were often the hardest to explain, and Mobius could not understand.
After studying the Chang'an Melody for so long, her compatibility with Destruction energy had improved considerably. By all rights, she should have gained the ability to control Destruction energy as well.
Yet she could not control it.
Since she did not know the specific technique, and Ye Chang'an could not explain it clearly...
If she wanted to find someone else who could control Destruction energy to explain it... as far as she knew, there seemed to be only the Herrschers Ye Chang'an had mentioned.
"You can control Destruction energy, and Herrschers can control Destruction energy."
"Come to think of it, could you be a Herrscher yourself?"
PS: I rewrote these two chapters. I felt it would be more interesting to save that plot for Mobius's exclusive simulation route; putting it here now would steal Eden's spotlight.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 24. If Time Could Be Turned Back...
"Your suspicion is meaningless. Focus on your research instead. I'm waiting for you to produce some results."
Ye Chang'an had no interest in arguing about whether he was a Herrscher. All he wanted were practical results that would free him from this burden.
He was on the verge of returning to that state where he both loved and hated music.
This was fucking exhausting.
Saving the world really was not a job for him. If Eden were not still here, he would have quit long ago.
"..." Mobius fell silent. She knew just how exhausted Ye Chang'an had been from work lately.
Rising and giving up her bed, she said,
"Then let me report a recent discovery to you."
"Hm? You got results? About what?"
Ye Chang'an perked up and immediately pressed for details.
"The Sword Heart Art."
"Oh? Let's hear it." Ye Chang'an was not particularly interested.
He had basically abandoned the Sword Heart Art because the Chang'an Melody was a superior replacement.
No discovery could have piqued his interest.
Mobius clearly noticed this. But after adding, "It is also somewhat related to the Chang'an Melody," she successfully stirred Ye Chang'an's interest.
—This guy was really easy to read.
Glancing sideways at Ye Chang'an's expectant expression, Mobius silently mocked him before organizing her thoughts and speaking.
"Both the Sword Heart Art and the Chang'an Melody can hypnotize humans and make them change in a direction that allows them to adapt to Destruction, but the mechanisms through which they take effect are different.
The former works by relying on the potential for growth and development inherent in the human body.
It ties the result of adapting to Destruction to growth and development. Once the body stops developing, the change of adapting to Destruction also stagnates."
"The Chang'an Melody, on the other hand, works by stimulating humanity's pursuit of beauty.
Humans have always pursued beautiful things. Material satisfaction and spiritual joy are both forms of beauty to humans.
The Chang'an Melody performed by you and Eden is perfect enough to meet the activation requirements, causing the body itself to develop that pursuit.
This pursuit has nothing to do with growth and development. It is an innate human tendency to seek beauty.
That way, even if the physical body itself stops growing and developing, it will still change because of its pursuit of beauty."
"So in terms of results, the Chang'an Melody works on every human who can hear sound, while the Sword Heart Art only works on those who can cultivate a Sword Heart."
Ye Chang'an had guessed this back when he encountered the small-scale Destruction outbreak. Now that it had been confirmed, he had no particular reaction.
What reaction could he have? Nothing had changed at all.
Only the Chang'an Melody performed by him and Eden could still take effect. He would still be worked to the bone afterward.
He sighed directly, and Mobius glared at him before continuing with an unhappy expression.
"If someone could perform the Chang'an Melody as perfectly as you two, they might also activate the body's pursuit of beauty and achieve the evolutionary result of adapting to Destruction.
Of course, the two of you monsters are absurdly skilled, so there's basically no hope of that.
As for recording your audio... the possibility isn't very high either.
Recorded sound has difficulty perfectly conveying its original meaning. There will always be some loss during the decoding process, so listening to your Chang'an Melody over the network cannot produce an effect.
With better recording equipment, it might work."
It sounded a little like nonsense, but Ye Chang'an showed a thoughtful expression.
The recording equipment he and Eden used was undoubtedly top-notch, but the quality of the playback device would also affect the sound.
Listeners chose their own playback devices, and he could not force them to use anything specific.
But what if he placed restrictions on it? For example, recording it onto records that could only be played on a phonograph?
Eden seemed to like using phonographs quite a bit.
Ye Chang'an decided to give it a try. Slightly inspired, he thanked Mobius.
"Thank you, Mobius. When I have time, I'll try a new recording method."
"...You're welcome. As long as it's useful to you." Mobius shook her head, feeling slightly unaccustomed to Ye Chang'an's sudden thanks.
"Keep listening to my report."
She adjusted her emotions slightly and continued explaining the subsequent findings.
"As for the Sword Heart Art, I suggest you throw it away and stop letting others cultivate it and leading them astray.
In terms of general applicability, the Sword Heart Art can exclude you and Eden and directly allow practitioners to achieve adaptation to Destruction on their own, but it has an extremely obvious flaw.
As a form of hypnotherapy, it contains something hypnotherapy should not contain—an order.
Originally, achieving adaptation to Destruction would have been enough, but it added an order to that result, which led to the appearance of the Sword Heart."
"To adapt to Destruction, you must first possess a Sword Heart. Only after obtaining one can you gradually adapt to Destruction, and you must follow the Sword Heart's requirements.
Once you fail to meet those requirements, the Sword Heart will shatter, causing you to lose the ability to adapt to Destruction.
The resistance your body has already gained will not decrease, but your ability to control Destruction will disappear."
Ye Chang'an had experienced the result of a shattered Sword Heart himself, so he nodded deeply in agreement.
He did not ask what the order or requirements were. With the Chang'an Melody, he had no use for the Sword Heart Art anyway.
"Any other results?"
"...No."
"Oh, then is there anything else you need me to do for the experiment?"
"...No. Go on, leave."
Mobius waved him away, and Ye Chang'an nodded before leaving.
Watching his departing back, Mobius sighed, sat back down on the bed, and lay down to rest.
Ye Chang'an's scent still lingered on the sheets. She was a little unaccustomed to it, but she did not move.
After all, it was neither unpleasant nor disgusting.
Instead...
"It makes me feel so safe."
Well, Mobius had muttered it aloud herself.
But what made her feel safe was not the scent itself. It was that the scent reminded her of Ye Chang'an.
To her, Ye Chang'an truly was someone who made her feel safe.
It had been nearly a year since she changed jobs. Her contact with Ye Chang'an was neither especially frequent nor especially rare, and she often heard Blanca, that fangirl, chattering beside her about another charity concert Ye Chang'an had gone to hold.
She knew Ye Chang'an held charity concerts to treat those suffering from Destruction Sickness.
For people hoping their family members would recover, Ye Chang'an's appearance would surely make them feel safe.
Because their loved ones recovered.
The current Mobius did not have any family members who needed to regain their health, but the Mobius of the past did.
When she was nine years old.
Before you continue