Through Hardship, True Feelings Emerge / Prelude to the End

"Don't make such scary jokes!" Elysia waved her hand and sat up.

"Okay, no joke, Mobius's reason for taking leave is illness."

"Her? Not feeling well? That's a really strange reason." Elysia stroked her chin. "My detective radar tells me there's definitely something fishy going on here!"

"...Detective Radar? You just want to see Mobius, don't you?" Mei sighed. "But speaking of which, it is a bit strange that Mobius is unwell."

"Then let's go take a look," Liu Bai chimed in from the side.

"Then why don't you just teleport there and take a look?"

"Let's go together." Liu Bai was afraid that if he left, Mei and Elysia's conversation would revert to the old topic.

Quickly find a new topic to distract Mei.

"Want to go together? Okay, let's go then."

Chapter 450 True Friendship is Revealed in Times of Adversity

"I'm actually starting to feel more and more uneasy about the news that Dr. Mobius is on sick leave."

As the group approached Mobius's dormitory, Elysia suddenly uttered this worried remark.

In response, Mei retorted without hesitation, "That's what they call 'If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear.'"

"Everyone agreed that I did something wrong!" Elysia retorted, trying to sound tough.

"Heh." Mei chuckled coldly twice, offering no comment.

A short while later, Elysia and Mei arrived at Mobius's dormitory.

Knock knock knock!

Elysia reached out and knocked on the door.

"Please come in~"

"..."

Elysia and Mei, who were outside, could hardly believe their ears.

That voice... is it Eden?

Hey! Did Mobius somehow turn himself into Eden?

Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, when you think about Mobius's mad scientist side, it doesn't seem so far-fetched after all.

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Eden is probably here to visit Mobius, just like us." Liu Bai could tell at a glance that the two girls' thoughts had wandered off into a completely different direction.

"Um...yes, it should be Eden who came to see Mobius."

Mei rubbed her temples and realized what was happening.

Only Liu Bai and Elysia were unaware that Mobius had taken leave; everyone else actually knew. Knowing this and coming to visit wasn't a big deal, since most of the people who came probably shared the same idea as them.

With that in mind, Mei decisively pushed open the dormitory door.

Sure enough, as soon as Mei entered the room, she saw Eden sitting in the center of the dormitory, holding a little girl with long green hair wearing a loose black dress.

"Little Mei, call me 'big sister'~"

"Eden—! I'll bite you to death!"

"Oh dear, little sister is so naughty." Eden easily restrained the green-haired loli kicking her legs in his arms, then looked at Elysia with a leisurely air, "Ah, long time no see, Aili, you succeeded over there."

"It worked, but... Eden, who is this little sister..."

"Probably a lost little girl," Eden said casually, rubbing the little girl's cheek in his arms.

"You're the one who's lost! Your whole family is lost!" the green-haired girl said irritably, kicking her legs wildly, but she couldn't escape Eden's embrace.

Mei & Elysia: "..."

It has to be said that Eden can be quite shameless when he gets cunning, and this little girl is definitely Mobius!

But isn't this little girl form the form Mobius was preparing to use during the final battle? Did Mobius mess up while trying to adapt to the form in advance?

Elysia and Mei exchanged a glance, and instantly reached a consensus.

"Oh my, what a cute little girl! Can you tell me your name?"

Elysia crouched down and pinched Mobius's little cheek with a smile.

"Elysia—!" Mobius cried out in utter shame and indignation.

"Oh! So it's Mabi-chan, I know, I know." Elysia consciously didn't expect Mobius to respond, so she simply continued the conversation by herself, almost like a monologue.

—Of course, this made Mobius even more furious.

"On another note, why is Mabi-chan wearing this ill-fitting long dress? How about I take you to change into a pretty and cute little dress?"

Elysia reached out and pulled the struggling Mobius from Eden's arms.

Throughout this process, Mobius never stopped struggling, but neither Eden nor Elysia could easily suppress the full-strength Mobius in terms of power, let alone the young girl Mobius in front of her.

"Absolutely not! Let me go! Let me go now, and I can pretend nothing happened!" Mobius was visibly panicked—otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a thing to Elysia.

After all, Elysia would never listen to such words, or rather, she wouldn't be Elysia if she were frightened.

"Liu Bai! Don't just stand there watching!"

"To be honest, I'd like to see it too."

Liu Bai honestly expressed his thoughts.

In this timeline, with Liu Bai's help, Mobius actually had a relatively happy but short childhood. So, Liu Bai had actually seen Mobius wearing a little skirt... However, according to the timeline, Liu Bai hadn't seen her for a long time.

"I think it's nice to reminisce about our youth, isn't it?"

"What's so good about it!" But Mobius's struggle intensity visibly weakened.

"Alright, Mabi-chan, don't be so happy. This is what I should do—by the way, Eden, did you bring your little dress?"

"I didn't bring it, but I can ask someone to bring it." Eden took out his phone and typed a few words.

Less than five minutes later, Sakura teleported to Mobius's dormitory with a bag of pink dresses.

"Um... is this the style?" Sakura handed the little dress in her hand to Eden with a somewhat subtle expression.

"Yes, I didn't pick the wrong one. As expected of my exclusive model." Eden checked it and nodded with satisfaction. "Come on, Aili, hold Maggie down."

Cherry. "..."

Sakura wasn't stupid. Looking at the green-haired little girl in Elysia's arms, and then at Eden's teasing smile and Elysia's excitement, she immediately understood what had happened.

This... could be considered persecution, right?

But Dr. Mobius in a pink dress... Sakura thought for a moment, then silently took out her phone from her pocket and turned on the camera.

If you miss this incredibly precious scene today, you might never see it again in your lifetime.

"Cherry--!"

As Mobius shouted in grief and anger, Mei silently turned on her phone's camera.

She actually wanted to hug the current Mobius, but... well, she knew very well that she couldn't control Mobius.

Don't let Eden's usual ladylike demeanor fool you; the genes of the giant whale she fused with destined her to be among the strongest Fusion Warrior.

As for Elysia, she was even more formidable; even when slightly weakened, she could easily subdue Mobius.

If she were in that situation, she'd probably be taken hostage by Mobius in two seconds.

"... You two bastards."

Seeing that Mei had turned on the camera, Mobius's voice, filled with grief and indignation, gradually turned into a gritted-teeth tone. However, this did not change Mobius's fate in the slightest. Elysia and Eden worked together to dress Mobius in a pink dress and tidied up Mobius unkempt green hair, styling it into a very cute bun.

"Ninety points." Eden looked at his work with satisfaction.

"That's awesome!" Elysia chimed in from the side.

The two of them were too lazy to hold Mobius anymore, so they simply blocked the door with their bodies and enjoyed admiring Mobius, who was wearing a pink dress.

"She's really adorable, it's been a long time since I've seen her like this." Liu Bai was also very pleased.

"... You bunch of bastards, and Liu Bai, are you a lolicon?!"

My man is definitely not a jerk, but what are you so smug about?! I worked so hard to develop when I was young so that you would look at me like a woman, not like an old man with a father's eyes!

I'm so annoyed; unpleasant memories from my youth suddenly flooded back.

"No, but cute and sexy are two different things. Praising cuteness and liking sexiness are not contradictory," Liu Bai said frankly.

Hearing Liu Bai say that, Mobius's expression improved considerably.

But... what should I do with these clothes?

The group of people stood by and watched, not giving him a chance to take his clothes off.

Knock knock knock!

There was another knock on the door.

"Please come in," Mei said calmly.

"Oh, Dr. Mei is here too?" Pardo asked curiously as she pushed open the door.

Clearly, this straightforward girl wasn't overthinking things like Mobius had before.

"Excuse me." After Pardo entered, Aponia, Hua, Pardo Vil-V followed her in.

Well, that makes the women's side complete.

Upon seeing these people enter, Mobius's face immediately darkened.

Why are there so many people?

"Hmm? Sister Sakura? Sister Eden? And the boss... Where's Dr. Mobius?" Pardo glanced at the remaining people in the room, scratching her head in confusion. "And who is this cute little girl?"

"The genetic clones of her and Liu Bai created by Mobius," Mei began to spout nonsense with a blank expression.

"Wow! Isn't this the doctor and the head of the family's daughter?" Pardo's eyes lit up, and she reached out to pick up the "cute little girl" in front of her. "Shouldn't she call me auntie?"

"Auntie my foot!" Mobius couldn't stand it any longer and reached out to pinch Pardo's face, easily breaking free from Pardo's embrace. He then pulled Pardo to eye level with him while still pinching Pardo face.

She can't break free from Elysia and Eden, so how can she break free from you, you little weakling?

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"

Pardo hadn't yet realized what was happening; the terror on her face made her look like a kitten that had been beaten by a mouse.

"You stupid cat! Can't you use your brain before you speak!"

"Huh?"

Okay, Pardo hasn't realized it yet.

But the others around had already realized what was happening.

"Hahahaha! You, you've finally met your match!" Vil-V laughed particularly wickedly, and also the loudest.

The main theme is loud laughter.

Mobius's expression twitched, and he silently held a grudge.

"... It fits perfectly." Aponia praised after giving Mobius a subtle once-over.

"This isn't what I wanted to wear, you don't need to compliment me." Mobius remained expressionless.

"Well, let's change back into the doctor's clothes." Hua pushed up his non-prescription glasses, which were just for reducing his presence, and said with a hint of helplessness.

These people are really something else...

Mobius almost burst into tears upon hearing this.

Look! Look! That's what true best friends are all about!

You bunch of bastards are just fair-weather friends!

Chapter 451 Prelude to the Finality

Unbeknownst to him, this sudden realization caused Mobius to begin to doubt himself.

Is my life over? Am I destined to just squat with Hua all I can do now...?