The Power of Love

"... Honestly, I really suggest giving him to Mobius to play with."

After Kalpas left, Vil-V's voice rang out again in Sakura's communicator.

"I don't think Dr. Mobius could possibly control this guy." Sakura looked at the mess in the hall. "I think this place will be ruins in an hour or two... Want to make a bet, Vil-V?"

"... I bet he'll turn this place into ruins in about an hour and twenty minutes—if Liu Bai doesn't stop him."

After a moment of silence, Vil-V, drawing on her understanding of architecture, calculated with relative precision how long it would take for this place to become ruins.

"This is truly the most brutal 'infiltration' I've ever participated in; it has absolutely no aesthetic appeal."

"I think it's really wrong to pursue aesthetics in something like infiltration," Sakura sighed. "But it's true, we shouldn't let Kalpas participate in such 'meticulous' activities in the future. Maybe it's more suitable for Kalpas to fight Honkai Beast hand-to-hand on the battlefield."

"It feels like every punch lands hard... Tsk, I think I should research an 'Anti- Kalpas Armor'. That thing looks like it could go out of control at any moment. I need to make some preparations in case something like that happens."

"I actually think Kalpas's rage was quite restrained."

Liu Bai tried to interject.

"For example, he just says 'It's so noisy' instead of 'Shut up,' which is very polite, isn't it?"

"... What kind of restraint is that? Don't spoil that guy too much."

Even through the communicator, Sakura could hear the speechlessness in Vil-V's tone.

"I sincerely hope you will pay more attention to his manners education."

"Some things are useless no matter how much you care," Liu Bai said with a nonchalant smile.

Liu Bai could ask Kalpas was to teach him some polite phrases. In the heat of the moment, all he asked of Kalpas was to distinguish friend from foe.

"Alright, let's try our best to adapt to Kalpas's problem. Sakura, let's recruit the remaining soldiers. Although they were terrified by Kalpas, they are still a true elite force in terms of warriors."

These days, being terrified by Kalpas tribulations isn't anything shameful.

Sakura nodded to indicate that she understood, then picked up her longsword and walked toward the group of limp soldiers.

"Liu Bai has finished his work. That's really efficient."

Mobius glanced at the message sent by Liu Bai.

"They say they completely razed the Poison Cocoon base... tsk, could it be that Vil-V brought out some heavy firepower and carried out a saturation bombardment of the Poison Cocoon base?"

Mobius knew that Liu Bai usually wouldn't use any potentially ambiguous adjectives in battle reports, so "flattened" was most likely an adjective... But that's precisely why Mobius found it hard to believe.

She didn't know the details of the Poison Cocoon's base, but it was at least a rudimentary military base...

"Vil-V's personality... it's not impossible."

Mei pushed up her glasses.

While Vil-V is a master of fine work, that doesn't mean she can't do something rough and clumsy—there's no doubt that for Vil-V, fine work is her job, while rough and clumsy work is her hobby.

"But it's also a good thing. If we blow it all up, I doubt anyone will be able to find any useful clues, and it will also cause some chaos at the higher-ups, right?"

"So that it will make it easier for you to rise to power?"

Mobius wasn't blind; as a fellow scientist, it was no secret to Mobius that Mei was interfering in power.

Moreover, without realizing it, Mei has already amassed a group of allies centered around Liu Bai, who possess both military strength and financial resources.

Even power... I want it myself.

This is a vast net that is gradually binding the Moth Chasers to Fire...

Once this period of chaos passes, Mei should become a powerful figure in the Moth Chasers to Fire —which wouldn't be a bad thing for Mobius.

Anyway, talking to Mei is definitely better than talking to the group of people above me now. Those people are too indecisive. Although I can understand that they have their own difficulties, there is no time to be timid now.

Mei glanced at Mobius, who had spoken very bluntly. "Of course, even without any scandals or evidence, this kind of loss should be enough to make some people uneasy, not to mention... if they want to find something, they can always find it."

Mobius sighed; she simply couldn't be bothered with such matters.

"Alright, go ahead and have fun, just don't capsize... Oh, right, Liu Bai is coming over later with someone, could you help him get a temporary pass?"

"Hmm... Oh, that person related to the Fifth Herrscher, it's nothing."

Mei nodded, then continued analyzing the data.

"Oh, by the way, have you considered how to neutralize the rejection reaction when Honkai Beast genes combine?"

"The suggestion here is to use willpower to get through it." Mobius glanced at Mei. "Anyway, this is technology for elite troops. You don't expect it to be used on those greenhorns, do you?"

"I think you'd better consider its accessibility..."

"I can't even consider it. It's less about rejection and more about compatibility. Some people are naturally more compatible with Honkai Energy, while others are naturally allergic to Honkai Energy. What can I do?" Mobius shrugged. "Besides, I've already used the word 'willpower,' don't you understand the problem?"

In other words, this thing requires a certain amount of luck... Mei probably understands Mobius's way of speaking now.

However, Mei noticed something else.

"Hmm... So you mean we can conduct 'sensitivity testing'? To test the compatibility of the surgical subject's genes with various Honkai Beast through limited contact."

Mei thought for a moment, "Is it feasible?"

"Of course there is, but the effect is uncertain—can you believe that my genetic compatibility with Shesha is actually quite high?"

"... You really are secretly tinkering with dangerous things." Mei's lips twitched. Both of them were good at causing trouble, no wonder they were in the same boat. "So you're planning to do something to yourself?"

All the allergy tests have been done, which, in Mei's view, means they're already planning to have surgery—this is happening even faster than Mei expected.

"Hmm... I can give it a try. It's not bad to experience some of the pain of surgery firsthand. Anyway, with Liu Bai here, I won't die. I believe you can save me even if I'm half-dead."

"Don't have that kind of expectation of me." Mei couldn't understand Mobius's crazy behavior of trying to forcefully push for completion. "Although I have some confidence in biology, I'm not as good as you in this area."

"Don't worry, the practical aspects of the surgery are theoretically sound. The only issue is the extent of the rejection reaction. Some of the data Liu Bai provided is rather strange; I need to try it myself."

Mobius waved his hand.

"In my opinion, the success rate is 50/50. If I succeed this time, I can make it through this path. If I fail, the data I collect will be enough to make it through next time. In addition, I also have anti- Honkai serum. If I really can't take it anymore, just give me a shot of that."

While it's possible that no other place has the resources to produce a single vial of Honkai serum containing one thousand corpses, Mobius, who has been researching Honkai disease for nearly ten years, could definitely produce several vials.

Although the cost made Mobius want to curse, in reality, it was indeed necessary to have a small reserve.

"Alright, I'll go crazy with you—but you have to convince the teacher." Mei nodded, seemingly persuaded by Mobius. "If the teacher doesn't agree..."

"He will agree—because I will tell him that I will do the experiment even if he doesn't participate."

"...You're being shameless." Mei couldn't help but sigh.

"Please call this coquettishness—if you want to keep a man's heart, you definitely have to learn to be coquettish; if you're always cold and aloof, you won't get anything."

"But doesn't it feel disgusting for a 34-year-old woman to act coquettishly?"

Mei uttered those hurtful words without any expression on her face.

"If it were me, well, I might find a bathroom and throw up."

"... Do you believe I'll throw you up there as a guinea pig?"

"Nonsense, you can't beat me, and at most you carry some tranquilizer darts, while I always carry Stun Gun." Mei was completely unmoved by Mobius's threat.

"..."

Bastard...

Mobius angrily looked away, but he felt a little relieved, as the pressure on him lessened considerably after the argument.

"Don't try to fool me, what's the real success rate?" Mei suddenly asked.

"...73%, a 70% chance of success."

After a moment of silence, Mobius gave an answer that defied all common sense.

She originally thought that Mobius had said it was 50/50, but the actual success rate was only 20/30. But now you're telling me the actual success rate is even higher than you said before?

"... What the hell is this?"

"You know, right? Liu Bai has an ability to improve his physical abilities based on the level of favorability he receives, right?"

"Ah... yes."

"As you know, theoretically, the recipient's physical attributes begin to improve during the Honkai Beast gene implantation process..."

"So, we'll have the teacher improve physical fitness along the way?"

Pure cheating—that's how Mei internally judged it.

"Then why did you only say it was 50/50 before?"

"Because... um... the power of love and stuff... it's embarrassing to say it directly, isn't it?"

Mobius turned his head to the side, revealing an unusually embarrassed expression.

"At my age, how can I possibly tell a junior and rival a decade younger than me 'believe in the power of love'?"

I can't stand the shame at all!

"... Then why are you telling the truth now?" Mei pushed up her glasses, her expression growing increasingly cold.

"Because you seem to be under a lot of pressure too... well..."

Although they were rivals in love, in the vast Moth Chasers to Fire, before the younger generation arrived, Mobius only had three or five people he could talk to. Mei was one of them, and Mobius treated her quite well—moreover, Mei was a junior he had promoted.

It's perfectly accurate to say that these two have a love-hate relationship.

"Well, although you're thinking of me, I... well, I feel like throwing up. Would you like Magical Girl transformation wand for Dr. Mobius's 35th birthday next year? I can make you a dazzling transformation wand with its own background music."

"... Mei, do you know how much I care about you that I had to swallow my shame and say such things?"

"I know—but gratitude and nausea are not mutually exclusive."

Mei crossed her arms—the power of love and stuff, she felt like she was being fed dog food by that bastard Mobius.

Compared to Mobius's simple shamelessness, Mei is actually a little worried about what will happen if, after she receives the bonus, the bonus multiplier is not as high as Mobius's.

Although I genuinely like him too... well, even though we're rivals, I have to admit that Mobius has such sincere feelings for Liu Bai.

... But let's set aside these girlish worries for now when it comes to serious matters.

Mei let out a long sigh.

"In that case, leave it to me. You've gone to such lengths to prepare; if I can't guarantee success, I might as well quit the Moth Chasers to Fire."

"If you try to use this as an excuse to switch to ELM, I'll strangle you."

"...That's not what I meant." Mei's lips twitched—though the idea was quite tempting. "Besides, I'd rather not face that eternally twenty-year-old Eden than you—that guy's actually thirty now!"

"... That guy, and Elysia, those two are pure animals."

Mobius, unusually, swore.

"Eden is one thing, but Elysia is another. She still writes seventeen years old on her personal information."

"Just to correct you, Elysia changed her age to eighteen this year—by the way, how old is Aili anyway?" Mei adjusted her glasses.

"I don't know, even I'm not sure—it's like if you figured out Aili's age, she'd suddenly become a thirty-year-old auntie."

Mobius was just venting; it's not a big deal these days for people to have a quirk.

To be honest, everyone in our group has their flaws.

Whether Elysia wants to pretend to be seventeen or eighteen, as long as she doesn't make mistakes in serious matters, no one will care.

"... I was just a little curious, a 34-year-old female PhD."

Mei nodded after a moment's thought, which was considered as agreement with Mobius's statement.

"But that makes sense. When it comes to quirks, Aili's little problem is nothing—if she's willing to visit my lab a few less times each month, I wouldn't care even if she changed her age to twelve."

The topic of Elysia and Eden was dropped.

Neither Mei nor Mobius were particularly willing to mention those two beasts.

"I'll go prepare the experimental equipment. You go pick up your teacher." Mobius was the first to end their increasingly rambling conversation—especially since it touched on his age.

"Okay," Mei nodded in agreement.

"It's up to you now... Oh, right, don't tell Liu Bai what we were talking about!"