Hugging It Out...

"But... I'm sorry, but I'm now forcing you to make a choice—do you want me to do this?"

If Liu Bai finds it difficult, she will concede defeat; if Liu Bai agrees, she will go and prove her strength.

She listened to Liu Bai.

"... I'm just setting a red line in your interpersonal relationships."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Liu Bai spoke.

"I believe you can resolve your issues yourselves. All I'm doing is preventing you from acting impulsively."

"That's just what you think, darling." Eden stopped calling himself the head of the household. "If it weren't for you, how could we still be sitting together now? Believe me, you're more important to us than we think—do you know how much the Moth Chasers to Fire was devastated during the week you and Elysia were having your tryst? If you had really been missing for a month, the Moth Chasers to Fire would have fallen apart."

"I know."

Liu Bai looked at Eden with a slightly surprised expression.

"Although you only reported good news to me and not bad news, I could still see the progress of various internal tasks. In fact, the progress you fell behind at that time was made up by me working overtime later."

As someone who did the work of a hundred people back then, it was impossible for Liu Bai to hide the internal work progress from him. With a little calculation, Liu Bai could clearly see where the problem was.

"But I think..."

"We can find a suitable way to get along even without you?" Eden tilted his head and said what Liu Bai wanted to say, "You've always been like this, never wrong in your judgment of others, but never right in your judgment of yourself... Do you really think that all of us are here to save the world?"

"... No, at least Kalpas and Ying definitely aren't." Liu Bai opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't lie.

"It would be better if we had never met you, but... once you've seen the light, it's impossible to accept the darkness."

Eden pointed to Cherry.

"If you weren't here, Sakura would have committed suicide after what happened to Rin."

Sakura gave a wry smile, but did not refute.

Eden then pointed to himself. "If civilization ceases to exist, and you are no longer here, I will also choose to end with the Previous Era."

"Mobius, do you really think Mobius wouldn't dare to sacrifice himself at the last moment?"

"And then there's Kalpas, Kalpas n't even protect his own home..."

"Alright, stop talking. I'll reflect on my actions." Liu Bai really couldn't find any words to refute him. "But I do have some self-awareness."

"A little? A little one-sided?"

"For example, I really know that Sakura needs me as a pillar or something... Okay, okay, let's get back to the previous question."

Thinking about it carefully, anyone could realize that Sakura was in a similar situation.

Liu Bai felt somewhat ashamed. Although Eden was torturing him, he was implying his importance in his words. In the public canteen, Liu Bai felt like he was being publicly executed.

"Go for it, Eden. The only requirement is to stay within the bounds. There's no need to hide your brilliance."

"If it were for your sake, I would be happy to be a supporting character—but since you've put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony."

Eden chuckled softly.

"Ugh... these two are so cheesy..."

"What is this, a public confession?"

"Lady Eden is so cool. I want to see Lady Eden ride on the Lord God and drain the Lord God."

"Hey, drag this pervert out."

"Can't these two just go and get their marriage certificate already...?"

"Hey, no matter what, our vice-captain's man is still our Lord God! Don't side with outsiders!"

"Never mind, I'm full..."

"I definitely didn't come to the cafeteria to see this..."

"It's been recorded; we'll send it to the bishop in a bit."

Eden was just about to get up, heard the Valkyrie around him whispering without any attempt to hide their feelings and sat down again, his face flushed.

Wait, wait, wait, where was there anything cheesy about the conversation just now?

Everything seems perfectly normal!

Does modern civilization's definition of romance and sentimentality differ from that of Previous Era?

"... Sister, does this mean we'll only be able to serve as foot-washing maids from now on?"

As an observer, Rin could honestly tell that the conversation between the two was a subtle, but not entirely hidden, display of affection.

The woman kept telling the man, in different ways, "You are very important to me."

"It's alright, Rin." Yae Sakura patted Rin's head reassuringly. "Look on the bright side, Sakura-nee will be a foot-washing maid with us too."

Chapter 563: Enduring the Hug...

Three hours later

"Alright, get out of bed. The surgery was a success."

Mobius took off his gloves and mask and looked toward Bianka.

"Um... it's over?"

Bianka weakly opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

"... I was just joking, you actually managed to sit up."

Mobius's eye twitched twice.

"Liu Bai, this girl is way too unscientific."

"Reality is just this kind of trash game, you ask me, who am I supposed to ask?"

Liu Bai, in his ghost form, shrugged and then looked at Bianka.

How are you feeling now?

"Hmm... it's a little hard to keep my balance, and my control over my body has decreased a bit." Bianka looked troubled.

"That's normal, your physical abilities have suddenly increased... but since you have a better foundation than other Fusion Warrior, this feeling won't last long."

Mobius explained dutifully, while a hint of surprise crossed his face.

"As I said before, this month we'll consolidate our strengths, and next month we'll have another experiment."

"Uh... there's more?" Bianka was taken aback.

"If one Honkai Beast is enough, then what's the Chimera Project?" A glint of fanaticism flashed in Mobius's eyes. "Back then, due to time constraints, there were actually many areas for improvement in Kevin's surgery. Now, I can make the entire surgery even more perfect!"

"Ahem." Liu Bai coughed lightly twice, signaling Mobius to calm down.

"..." Mobius glanced at Liu Bai with some frustration. Well, there was no point in sharing this with Bianka. "But speaking of which, Bella is actually quite 'Chimera'. I've seen multi-powered Honkai Beast before, but this is the first time I've seen one with such clearly defined power branches. By the way, how do you feel about the power within you right now?"

Bianka pondered for a moment after hearing this, then rubbed her fingers together, and a wisp of flame appeared at her fingertips. She rubbed them together a few more times, and lightning and snowflakes appeared in succession.

"What about darkness?"

"Bella's dark abilities are related to transformation and desperate measures; Bianka shouldn't be able to use them in her normal state," Liu Bai said.

"... Yes, that should be the case."

"Very good, let's rest here for a while and regain our strength before we go." Mobius said casually as he tidied up the laboratory.

"Then I'll take Bianka back."

"No." Mobius looked at Liu Bai with cold, serpentine eyes. "I don't trust you with things like this right now. You're really something, playing around with your sister!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bai looked at Bianka.

You really tell everyone everything?

Well, what's done is done, and Liu Bai isn't the kind of person who would do something but not take responsibility, but bringing this up at this point in time is quite subtle.

Bianka blushed and dared not look at Liu Bai.

"Do you think I'm just missing a younger sister or older sister?" Mobius continued to press.

Now that the surgery is over, she can finally let out all the things she's been holding back.

"Uh, how did you come up with that idea?" Liu Bai asked, looking embarrassed.

"You've been playing with two or three, even a dozen or so lately, and you still have the nerve to ask me?" Mobius said with a dark face. "Come on, materialize your body before you speak!"

"Um... my experience tells me that once it's materialized, things gradually become uncontrollable."

"I wouldn't use my current body to do it with you!"

When things start to get out of control, who remembers what they originally thought?

Am I really that bad?

"..." Upon hearing this, Liu Bai revealed his physical form with a helpless expression, "You can actually say such things... I really can't do anything with you."

"Your tone..." Upon seeing Liu Bai in his physical form, Mobius's expression softened slightly, but upon hearing Liu Bai's words, it darkened again.

"Don't move! Wait for me for two minutes!"

Mobius went straight into the lounge.

Bella, a powerful Honkai Beast and Herrscher of Judgment-Class Honkai Beast, is cooking instant noodles.

"... Why haven't you left yet?" Mobius asked, looking puzzled.

"Lady Kiana asked me to go back with Lady Bianka," Bella replied softly.

"Whatever you want."

Mobius, too lazy to pay any more attention to Bella, took a bottle of red wine from the cabinet in the lounge.

But Mobius hesitated when he placed his hand on the lid.

Do we really need to use this thing?

Really... do I have to go through my first time in a daze?

Indeed, just as Liu Bai predicted, when things get out of control, what you thought at the beginning is no longer important.

The time has come, what else is Liu Bai waiting for if he doesn't push it now!

"Damn it! Escaping reality is not my style, Mobius."

Mobius couldn't help but swear, then put the wine back in the cabinet, turned around and ran back aggressively.

"...?" Bella tilted her head.

From a dragon's perspective, this woman is in heat...

But what does it have to do with her?

But then again, should we inform Lady Sirin and Lady Kiana about this?

Hmm... and there's still Lady Bianka in the room?

"Bianka, I can already sense something's wrong," Liu Bai sighed. "The first thing Mobius will probably do when he gets back is take off his clothes."

"...ah?"

"Believe me, this is your intuition honed from years of fighting... and isn't this your strategy?" Liu Bai's expression was subtle. "Can't we just talk things out properly? Why do we have to take our clothes off first... Okay, I admit that this way I can't escape now."

"Hmm... Is this what Kiana usually means by 'saying no but doing no'?" Bianka glanced at the lab where Mobius hadn't returned yet, and now Liu Bai could easily slip away.

"That's not how you put it. I'm not dating you guys with the intention of being a jerk." Liu Bai immediately saw through Bianka's thoughts. "Because if you think about it carefully, unless it's a life-or-death choice like Eden, I don't really have any reason to run away."

Liu Bai had considered how he would interact with the girls, and his final conclusion was that since he was going to get married anyway, and he wasn't being irresponsible, why run away? He should take proper precautions.

Of course, Qin Suyi's suggestion of a series of attacks was out of the question.

"There's absolutely no need to risk your shame for the sake of having sex. You can just talk about it properly... Okay, I know that talking about it properly is also quite a test of your shame."

"R-really? Is it really okay?" Bianka seemed to have thought of something, her face instantly turning red to her ears. She said hesitantly, "Then... tomorrow night, Liu Bai, can you come to my—"

Snap!

"What are you two saying in someone else's lab!"

Mobius stormed in through the door.