Not on the Same Wavelength

"The commander-in-chief of this operation wants to see me?"

The scholar frowned, then looked at Liu Bai was floating in the air, with a questioning gaze.

Good grief, the scholar went offline so quickly?

Liu Bai nodded, indicating that there was no problem with the matter.

"I understand, I will go see the Commander-in-Chief."

"Actually, you don't have the right to refuse."

Liu Bai casually added insult to injury.

Vil-V glared at Liu Bai with displeasure, then got off the plane and headed towards the place the captain had told her about. Sure enough, she found a heavily guarded tent.

"Report!"

"Come in."

Vil-V stepped into the tent and was immediately surprised.

In contrast to the heavy security outside, there was only one person inside the tent.

A green-haired woman exuding a powerful aura.

"Mobius, why did you come here in person? This is a region that just experienced Great Honkai." Liu Bai looked helplessly at Mobius, who was sitting lazily in a chair.

"If I hadn't just experienced the Great Honkai, I wouldn't have come." Mobius stretched. "You're really slow. I've already sent people to retrieve the core that Herrscher dropped."

As he spoke, Mobius pointed to the small box beside him.

"However, this thing is surprisingly stable. Although there are some fluctuations, it's basically fine if you don't actively disturb it."

The core of the Herrscher of Reason... Liu Bai always had the illusion that Welt was inside this box.

Liu Bai glanced at it and then looked away. He thought to himself, "This thing will probably become my 'rebellious daughter,' Imaginary Archive, in the future..."

"Let me introduce you. This is Mobius, one of the veterans of the Moth Chasers to Fire and the head of the biological department; Mobius, and this is Vil-V, a very promising young woman."

"Very promising? Oh."

Compared to his previous meeting with Eden, Mobius was much calmer this time. This girl seemed so-so, completely incomparable to Eden. No panic, not at all.

Eden felt threatened by Mobius felt even more threatened by Eden. The fact that Eden's circumstances could evoke such a feeling of pity in her was simply unbelievable.

While Vil-V's conditions are not bad, compared to Eden... come on, is that all?

So now Mobius is not flustered at all, and his mind is gradually calming down.

That's what I mean. These days, where are there so many guys on the same level as me and Eden?

"..."

Vil-V's lips twitched slightly.

She sensed a kind of contempt in the other person's gaze, a condescending contempt.

Does this mean I'm being looked down upon?

Who do you think you are! If you're so capable, let's fight...

Wait, Mobius...

Dr. Mobius was in the science newspaper every day?

Chapter 336 Not on the Same Channel

"You recognized me?"

Mobius was quite pleased to see the surprised look on Vil-V's face.

Although Vil-V is an unknown girl, the fact that Liu Bai took a liking to her means that she must have some ability, and she might even be close to him.

In ten or eight years, we might all be considered peers. Enjoying the admiring gaze now will allow us to enjoy it for longer in the future.

"Whispering sound."

Vil-V had heard a lot about Mobius, but her impression of him today was quite bad.

An arrogant woman.

Vil-V labeled the person in front of her, Mobius —though Mobius was only belittling Vil-V as a woman.

Hmm... but if Vil-V knew about this, it might cause an even bigger uproar?

"Hmm? Quite an energetic young man." Mobius was intrigued by the look on Vil-V's face, which practically screamed "I'm not convinced."

She's got a lot of drive, but unfortunately, with these conditions, not to mention her, even Eden couldn't beat her... Although, considering the overall conditions alone, Mobius wasn't confident he could beat Eden either.

Putting aside subjective preferences, Eden is truly a well-rounded character. To put it simply, if we only look at appearance and physique, most of the others are SSRs, while Eden is a UR character. Although he may not be able to compare with SSRs in some aspects, overall, the UR is definitely stronger.

While Vil-V's conditions are not bad in a true sense, it depends on who you compare her to. Vil-V is probably... In addition, the heavy protective suit that Vil-V is currently wearing is a real drawback.

"You're not that much older than me. If I remember correctly, you said in your interview that you're only twenty-six this year, right?"

Vil-V was quite displeased with Mobius's condescending tone.

Even though she's young, only twenty this year, what gives you the right to act like you're older than me? It's like you're a generation older than me.

If we really had a head-to-head competition, it's hard to say who would win!

She wasn't her original personality, so inferiority wasn't the main factor. In fact, one could say that the so-called inferiority complex manifested in Vil-V as a conductor was more akin to "humility"—but that doesn't mean she lacked the arrogance of a genius!

Especially when facing someone like Mobius who doesn't give you a friendly look the moment you meet, there's absolutely no need to be polite. At most, you'll refrain from saying anything too harsh out of respect for Liu Bai.

"They really are full of fighting spirit..."

Although Vil-V was a bit angry, Mobius didn't take it to heart.

"Has this girl always been like this?"

Mobius tilted his head to look at the air beside him.

"I think your problem seems bigger..."

Liu Bai had a feeling that the two of them were chatting across servers, but he had no proof.

"What problem could I possibly have?" Mobius glanced at Vil-V indifferently.

It seems like this girl's problem is more about her excessive self-confidence, right?

"So, what's so good about this girl?"

Upon hearing this, Vil-V's face immediately darkened.

Isn't this blatant insult?

"Mechanical aspects," Liu Bai said, glancing at the disgruntled Vil-V before quickly explaining.

"Ah, are you talking about work?" Mobius looked at Vil-V again, as if waking from a dream.

"What do you think we've been talking about from the very beginning?!"

Vil-V's face darkened further. Shouldn't this scene be for discussing serious matters?

"Um... it's nothing."

Mobius was somewhat embarrassed at the time.

It wasn't that she was idle and neglecting her duties; it was mainly because being with Liu Bai made it difficult for Mobius to immediately get into work mode. After all, they were like family, and after not seeing each other for a while, they would definitely have to chat about everyday things first.

So if Liu Bai were still by my side, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened.

Mobius patted her long skirt, inwardly grumbling about Liu Bai while trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Speaking of which, this girl's expertise is in mechanics... What area does she need to fill in?"

"All that's missing is a platform."

Liu Bai's answer surprised Vil-V somewhat.

She felt that she still had many shortcomings, but she didn't expect Liu Bai to praise her so highly that "she only lacks a platform."

Mobius then took a closer look at the girl with the unusual hair color in front of him.

"Well, actually I think there's still quite a lot I don't know..."

Vil-V's previous dark expression had completely vanished, replaced by a somewhat embarrassed and humble tone.

"Is this girl really that strong?" Mobius was still somewhat incredulous.

"You can think of her as someone who is good at machines."

"Oh... that's not so surprising."

Mobius thought about what he would look like at twenty and then suppressed his surprise.

She might have been even more outrageous when she was twenty. Back then, Liu Bai had only been gone for two years, and she was in a state of frenzy. Without Liu Bai, her life felt like it was missing half... no, two-thirds. So she could only go all out towards the goal of "evolving humanity." It was only in recent years, due to various reasons, that she gradually calmed down and realized how big a pit her dream back then was.

To put it bluntly, there isn't much difference in her talent between when she was twenty and now at twenty-six.

Although I encountered many new things during this period, my encounter with these new things was not about "conquering" them, but about "exploring" them. Simply put, the reason why I couldn't do something back then was not because I really couldn't, but because the thing didn't exist. If you had given it to me earlier, I would have solved it long ago.

The only thing Mobius can't really handle right now is the Honkai disease, or rather, the Death Soldier transformation, but this was part of Mobius's own original goal, the so-called "big pit." Everything else is just a natural progression.

Therefore, when Mobius heard Liu Bai use himself as an example, he understood Vil-V's situation.

This person is probably around level 100, but is still wandering around maps at level 20 or 30. So the equipment they can get and the skills they can learn are only at the level of level 20 or 30. If you put this person in a level 100 map, they can become a fully equipped level 100 in less than two days. If you give them some resources, they might even become a god-tier level 100.

"You want her to work for me?"

Mobius asked, his gaze towards Vil-V becoming much more affectionate.

"Vil-V, what are your thoughts?" Liu Bai wasn't saying that he necessarily wanted Vil-V to go to the Moth Chasers to Fire —although that would allow him to more directly demonstrate Vil-V's abilities.

"I'm not going."

Vil-V refused outright.

If you asked me to join when we were just starting to talk, I might have joined without hesitation. After all, I'm an acquaintance of Liu Bai's acquaintances, and a big name in the scientific community. I'd definitely make money working for you.

But now... screw you.

Although the previous misunderstanding has been cleared up, Vil-V now thinks that Mobius might have something wrong with his brain. In addition, since Liu Bai has such a high opinion of me, how can I not prove myself?

What? You call that a platform, but Liu Bai isn't?

Well, young people like Vil-V are hot-tempered, and she refused without any hesitation.

"Liu Bai, can you teach me in this area too?"

"... I lack resources, but teaching you won't be a problem."

Although Liu Bai hesitated somewhat in the first half of his statement, he became resolute in the second half.

Vil-V is a true mechanical genius, okay? People like her don't even need to be taught. Their level is already fully up to standard. All they're missing is a skill book, which is basically a blueprint. Once the blueprint is given, like a nuclear bomb or something, do you really think that would be difficult for Vil-V?

The only limitations for Vil-V at present are her status and perspective. Ordinary people certainly wouldn't have access to nuclear bomb blueprints or high-end combat suits.

Mei, a high school student in the future, can point her finger at all scientists since Einstein and call them trash, but if you ask her how to make a nuclear bomb, that is indeed a blind spot—the principle and the design are not the same thing. Of course, this does not prevent you from giving her any blueprints and she can give you a more perfect design a few days later.

Once Mei enters the Moth Chasers to Fire, many of the top technologies and resources of previous Previous Era will be made available to her. That's when Mei will truly take off, and the Divine Key Project was proposed at this time. Without entering the Moth Chasers to Fire, Mei probably wouldn't even know what the Herrscher Core is.

Vil-V followed a similar path. During the second Honkai in normal history, Vil-V was discovered and recommended by Elysia, and then took off, eventually becoming the Minister of Engineering of the Moth Chasers to Fire... Well, the current engineering department is basically just doing construction and cleaning up ash. Before being in charge of the Divine Key Project, Vil-V was the kind of important but not very noticeable minister, mainly busy with various post-disaster reconstructions, which meant cleaning up ash all over the world. Liu Bai had been with the Moth Chasers to Fire for a while before, but he had never even seen Vil-V.

Of course, whether it's Vil-V or Mei, if they really wanted to push forward any nuclear bomb blueprints, they could definitely do it, but that would just be a waste of time.

Therefore, for people of this caliber, Liu Bai only needs to be responsible for teaching the theory.

"If the church isn't a problem, then it's fine."

Vil-V nodded. If the brain can do it, the hands can too. Isn't that a basic skill for geniuses?

"Dr. Mobius, is there anything else?"

"...fine."

Mobius sighed. He didn't feel sorry for himself, but he was still quite annoyed.

Her appreciation for talent is genuine.

But it seems my image has already crumbled in the other person's eyes...

"Actually, I think I should also learn some mechanical knowledge," Mobius said, somewhat frustrated.

"Go find Einstein." Liu Bai knew exactly what Mobius was thinking, and gave Mobius a curt glare—although Mobius couldn't see, the long-standing familiarity still made Mobius sigh.