The Great Detective Miss Elysia Makes Her Entrance!

"This..."

Mobius and Mei looked at each other in silence.

They might still have room for rebuttal in terms of reason, but in terms of momentum, the two of them had completely lost.

"Let me see what you two have prepared... Hmm? Fruit? And yogurt?"

Hua frowned when he saw what was in the two people's bags.

"You want to make yogurt-stewed fruit?"

"... No, senior sister, why would you have such a thought?" Mei twitched the corner of her mouth.

"... Because this is the most likely way for you to make white dishes using methods other than paint?"

Hua thought for a moment and answered very honestly.

Mei: "..."

"That... it's just a simple fruit salad."

Mobius weakly retorted.

"To prevent any accidents, we both chose fruit salad."

Because the two of them had been learning cooking from Hua these past few days, Mobius didn't have the confidence to refute Hua on this point.

"Fruit salad?" Hua was taken aback. "... Is this considered a dish? At most, it's just a dessert, right?"

"... We can't really start cooking, can we?"

Mei responded weakly.

They're not really clueless. If they actually tried to cook, they wouldn't even pass the lab test without cheating, okay?

"... You two are surprisingly self-aware in this regard."

Hua thought for a moment and nodded. That's right, even if this isn't a dish, it's still much better than having those two kitchen killers cook.

Thinking about it this way, Hua's expression improved considerably.

Fortunately, it seems these two people know their limits.

"You scared me to death. I thought you were really in a life-or-death struggle where the winner lives and the loser dies."

Hua breathed a sigh of relief, his expression returning to normal, and the surrounding pressure disappeared as well.

However, more than the so-called pressure, Mei and Mobius noticed something else immediately.

"Um... Senior Sister/Hua, what does 'the winner lives, the loser dies' mean?"

The two asked in perfect unison with puzzled expressions.

Is it really that disregarding human life to decide whether someone lives or dies based on their cooking skills?

Mobius felt he had never been this ruthless.

"... Huh? Isn't that right? Dr. Einstein clearly said that the loser of your cooking competition has to die."

Hua was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand something, and turned around with a puzzled look to look at Einstein was holding the chocolate box and preparing to run away.

"Haha... It was just a harmless little metaphor, after all, there's no denying that it could lead to someone's death, right?"

However, Mei and Mobius simply couldn't be bothered to listen to Einstein's self-justification.

The two of them finally understood why Hua had been so aggressive when he first entered, as if he was ready to resort to violence at the slightest provocation.

After all, if it were truly some kind of murderous dish, using force would be the best way to stop it.

"You messy hair... Don't let me see you in my territory again—I'll save you a bed anytime, anywhere."

Mobius threatened with a smile.

And mei...

"Remember to call me. I happen to have some questions about biology that I can't answer and would like to ask you, Dr. Mobius."

"No problem, no problem."

At this moment, the alliance between offense and defense has rebuilt its glory!

"Those two really know how fast they can turn on each other and make peace."

Einstein quipped, but having said that, Einstein simply made his escape.

Mei is still relatively calm, but Mobius is truly enraged, so it's best not to linger in front of Mobius now.

Meanwhile, Elysia breathed a sigh of relief at the current situation; it seemed she no longer had to add explosives to the pot against her will.

Of course, Klein was even more relieved.

While theoretically the fruit salad shouldn't cause any problems, you have to understand, those are Dr. Mei and Dr. Mobius!

Even if it turned out to be toxic while they were making it, Klein wouldn't be surprised at all.

The only two who might be somewhat disappointed are Danzhu and Cangxuan.

Danzhu felt a little regretful that she wouldn't be able to see the incomparably precious Soul Steel Doll, while Cangxuan wondered if the agreement with Einstein to provide him with funding was still valid.

... Well, the two children had no idea that Einstein had invited them to add two more corpses to the so-called "river of blood."

Even if I said that, the two sisters probably wouldn't believe me, right?

After all, some things are simply impossible to comprehend in their sheer terror without experiencing them firsthand.

"So, coming back to the point, what was the purpose of this competition for you two?"

After learning that the two people weren't really suicidal, Hua's attitude calmed down... Well, speaking of which, when Hua first came to headquarters, what she feared most was that Mobius would find out about her relationship with Liu Bai and then she would be hunted down by Mobius.

That's why Hua Cai was so easily fooled by Einstein; after all, in her subconscious, the possibility of such a life-or-death situation wasn't nonexistent.

"This..."

Mei and Mobius exchanged a glance.

The fact that they were fighting so fiercely over Liu Bai's Soul Steel Doll... Although I felt it was necessary before, it was still a bit difficult to say in front of Hua, the creator.

However, since we're all just looking for a good time, we should be able to understand each other.

So Mobius and Mei explained the whole story to each other.

"..."

As expected, Hua fell silent.

"... In short, I will absolutely not let go of that puppet—even if you participate," Mobius added very seriously.

"I won't give up so easily either," Mei retorted, equally defiant.

However, Hua's expression gradually became strange.

"Um... is it really necessary to go through all that trouble?"

Chapter 133 Detective Elysia Arrives!

"Huh? Hua, what do you mean by that?"

Mobius and Mei looked at Hua with some surprise.

Well... the other party's performance was a little different from what the two of them had expected.

Shouldn't you seem more concerned? Why do you look completely indifferent?

"That is..."

Hua rubbed his forehead in distress.

"Did neither of you really think of this? Or is this just a common oversight, a flaw unique to wise men?"

Hua couldn't help but look at him with disdain.

"Stop talking nonsense, can't you be more direct?" Mobius said impatiently.

"... To put it bluntly, um, couldn't you make another Soul Steel Doll?"

Seeing that the two people in front of him showed no sign of realizing what was happening, Hua finally had no choice but to reveal the obvious method.

—Aren't you two wise men? Why didn't you think of such an obvious method, and instead came here to hold a competition?

With your mediocre cooking skills, it's not that Hua looks down on you, but that's really the best you'll ever be able to cook.

Isn't organizing a cooking competition just a waste of time and energy?

With your cooking skills, even Honkai Beast would die if it tasted them, okay?

"..."

Upon hearing Hua's proposal, both Mobius and Mei fell silent.

"Um... it seems... that's really how it is."

Mobius twitched the corner of his mouth.

Compared to Mei, as someone who participated in the doll-making process, the whole process wasn't really a secret to her. As long as she could get Soul Steel, she could basically make it—and even if something went wrong, Einstein could help solve it.

This plan is absolutely perfect, isn't it?

Mei may not know the difficulty involved and may have considered it something that cannot be replicated, which is a plausible reason.

Mobius, on the other hand, got stuck in a delicate rut.

After leaving China, Mobius felt that the dolls were too petty and wanted to make another life-size one. However, considering that it would be meaningless to make a life-size one without Liu Bai, he gave up the idea of making another doll.

Then Mei came... well, the series of friction between the two goes without saying. Mobius was completely absorbed in his cooking, so he had even less chance to recall this idea.

So...

"So... this doll isn't actually that difficult to make?" Mei's face showed a strange and subtle expression.

So what exactly has she been doing this month?

Mei thought about the "God-Slaying Project" that Liu Bai had come up with out of boredom, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"... It's not difficult, at least that's how I feel. But if we're going to settle for second best, Einstein was very good at this."

After all, the principle behind this thing is not much different from that of Armed Dolls; it's basically Armed Dolls with simplified weapons and intelligence.

So what exactly were those two doing for almost a month?

Mobius couldn't help but facepalm.

No wonder Hua's expression was so strange just now; he's not just stupid, he's an idiot.

No, the only fool is herself; after all, Mei is innocent of any kind, even if she is ignorant.

"Oh, right, I remember now, I've thought about this before."

Liu Bai suddenly remembered something.

"When you were being asked to leave by Mobius, I was about to talk to Mobius about it, but you left too quickly and triggered a forced transfer, so I didn't get to say anything."

... Then why didn't you tell me?

Are you happy to see us like this?

Seemingly sensing Mei's thoughts, Liu Bai added a dry laugh to his voice.

"After that... well, I just thought Mei's god-slaying dishes were quite interesting, so I forgot about it."

"..."

Mei felt a bit hopeless about the world.

"Um... can I bother you for a moment?"

Some cheerful sounds came from the depths of Hua.

"May I ask who exactly this 'Teacher Liu' that Miss Hua just mentioned?"

Elysia's big eyes blinked with intense curiosity.

"Um... excuse me, who are you...?"

Hua was startled by Elysia.

"Eh~ Sorry, sorry, I was so curious that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Elysia ~? Like you, I'm a warrior. So we should be considered colleagues."