"...Looks like that won't be necessary." Mobius revealed a teasing, mocking smile.
Then—
Without the slightest hint of attachment, she turned and left that home.
"You were way too impulsive, you idiot ghost."
As Mobius stepped out of the house, she suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relief and couldn't help joking half-seriously.
"I couldn't exactly watch you get hit." Liu Bai patted Mobius's head. "Besides, I've been putting up with him for months."
"..." Mobius's face reddened slightly at those words. She raised a hand to brush Liu Bai's away, then turned toward where she thought he was.
"So, about that question—Ghostly Gentleman, will you continue walking alongside me in the future?"
"...I'm behind you. You're looking in the wrong direction. There's only an anthill in front of you."
Liu Bai's voice drifted eerily into Mobius's ear.
"Cough, cough!" Mobius cleared her throat awkwardly, then turned around.
"Just kidding. You were facing the right way just now."
The calm male voice by her ear instantly became unbearably punchable.
"But... I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to keep you company for a while longer."
Mobius Compatibility +100%
The girl's ninth birthday was the last birthday she spent at home—and on that day, she gained a new home.
Mobius began supporting herself. Things that would have been hellishly difficult for an ordinary little girl came easily to her, and before long, she had saved enough money to fund her studies and living expenses.
Finally, by the time Mobius was eighteen, she had already become a scientist with considerable achievements in biology. But as you knew, this was far from Mobius's limit.
This day, Mobius's eighteenth birthday, marked eighteen years since she had met you, nine years since she had left home, and the day she became an adult.
"...An adult."
Liu Bai couldn't help murmuring.
He had a feeling that today would be the final day of this scenario.
Liu Bai turned his head to look at Mobius, who was examining data. Eighteen years had passed. The newborn baby, the little girl from twelve years ago, the young girl from nine years ago, had grown into a graceful beauty... perhaps even a little too well-developed.
He could no longer make fun of her figure. If anything, Mobius now teased him in return.
"Record this set of data. Once you're done, everyone can get off work. We'll handle the rest tomorrow."
Mobius gave the order in a casual tone.
"Understood." The others in the laboratory all nodded. Though they were somewhat puzzled by the early dismissal, Mobius had already established her authority through her abilities.
Besides... getting off work early wasn't a bad thing.
It was only one set of data. Tempted by an early dismissal, all the researchers finished recording it within minutes, then promptly left.
"Ghostly Gentleman, what do you want to eat tonight?"
After everyone else had left, Mobius casually asked while changing clothes.
"? I can't eat anything, and what's with that old-married-couple tone?"
"It's fine. You can watch me eat."
Mobius flashed the empty air a somewhat seductive, wicked smile.
Eighteen-year-old Mobius still had an awful personality.
"By the way, do I look good while changing? How am I compared to when I was little?"
Mobius wore a charming smile. She still remembered Liu Bai saying that she had neither breasts nor a butt.
"Want to touch? That's fine too~"
Compared to the flat board she had been at six or nine, the smile and words of fully developed eighteen-year-old Mobius were ten times more lethal.
Liu Bai couldn't take it anymore.
"Well, now that I think about it, having to cook for myself on my birthday would be far too unfair. Let's eat out today."
Having changed clothes, Mobius subtly curled her lips.
—Virgin ghost.
"Whatever you want. Just don't drink too much. I don't want to have to carry you home."
Mobius's behavior when drunk was truly worrying.
"What, are you in a bad mood?" Mobius seemed to notice Liu Bai's dejection, and the smile on her face deepened. "Don't worry. In the future, I'll create an artificial body that ghosts can use—though by then, you'll be mine."
Mobius had two dreams.
One was the evolution of humanity, which she had once told her father about.
The second was giving Liu Bai a body he could use to move around.
If necessary, she could make it the kind that, once entered, could never be left—and would obey every command from its creator.
—No, perhaps she could conquer this guy directly with her own charm.
"...I have a feeling you're thinking about something bad."
"Oh~?" Mobius raised an eyebrow slightly. "So you found out about my plan to slice up the ghost and study him."
—She absolutely would not admit that she wanted to turn Liu Bai into her own possession.
Just a Temporary Farewell
"...Come to think of it, it's been nine years since we left that home."
Sitting in a private room at a restaurant, Mobius opened herself a bottle of red wine. As she watched the wine pour into her glass, a rare nostalgic expression appeared on her face.
"Time really flies. Looking back on that time now... well."
Mobius raised her wineglass and observed Liu Bai's direction through the crimson liquid.
"There's nothing there... Every year, I wonder whether you're really just something I imagined."
"When you were lying in bed and reaching out for food, was it a dog that brought it to you?" Liu Bai said irritably.
"If you don't mind, it can be." Mobius downed the red wine in her glass in one gulp, and a trace of dazedness appeared on her teasing face.
"But... I think I'm just afraid that you'll suddenly disappear?"
The sudden straightforward confession caught Liu Bai off guard.
"Ghostly Gentleman... I've experienced 'loss' three times so far."
Mobius filled her glass again.
"The first time was when I lost sight of you, that blurry stick figure, when I was six... My mind really went blank then." Mobius rested her cheek on one hand and swirled the wine in her glass.
"Back then? Oh, I remember some sharp-tongued brat who looked like she was about to cry, yet still refused to stop running her mouth."
"That's a truly awful description." Mobius pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. "Isn't it perfectly normal for an innocent little girl not to want to show weakness in front of the person she likes?"
Straightforward confession x2.
"As for the second time... Forget it, I'll talk about it together with the third. My parents—I may have left decisively back then, but it took me a long time to make that decision."
"I know."
"...Of course. You're the person in this world who understands me best—perhaps also the one who understands me least."
Mobius drained her second glass, then poured herself a third.
"After all, it's only natural for a lovestruck girl not to want to expose her flaws in front of the person she likes, right?"
The third straightforward confession.
Liu Bai finally realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Mobius downed her third glass as if taking revenge.
A flush gradually spread across Mobius's face.
"Ghostly Gentleman, your mood has been very strange today—I've known you all this time, but when work ended today, it was the first time I sensed 'dejection' from you."
The fourth glass.
"For you to feel down... Can I guess that today is the last day?"
From Liu Bai's emotions alone, Mobius had inferred the truth.
"...Yes."
"That's wonderful." Mobius forced out a smile. "It's wonderful that Ghostly Gentleman would feel down over this."
The fifth glass.
"...Is it a final farewell, or a temporary one?"
"A temporary farewell."
Liu Bai answered without hesitation.
He believed that he would definitely meet Mobius again.
"...That's wonderful." This time, Mobius showed a heartfelt smile. "That's truly wonderful."
Mobius could accept a tomorrow without Liu Bai, but she could not accept a tomorrow in which Liu Bai had disappeared.
"At first, I wanted to pretend I knew nothing and happily finish this birthday, but that feeling... I think I really would have gone crazy if I couldn't get an answer."
A trace of tears glimmered in the eyes of the future "Serpent."
"I'll keep going forward in an even stronger form." Mobius casually wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, then stretched lazily, fully displaying her proud curves.
Then Mobius revealed the teasing smile Liu Bai knew so well. "But since it's the last day, I'll have to trouble Ghostly Gentleman to take care of me one more time. By the way, you can do anything you want to me~"
"?"
Looking at that reassuring smile, Liu Bai suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Waiter! Bring us all the strongest liquor you have!"
Liu Bai looked at Mobius, reeking of alcohol and sprawled spread-eagled across the bed, occasionally muttering in her sleep. A helpless expression appeared on his face.
The clock on the wall gradually approached twelve.
Simulation complete. Mobius: Childhood cleared. Mobius Compatibility +100%
The sleeping face of the green-haired beauty gradually blurred before Liu Bai's eyes.
Simulation Rating: S (Highest Rating—The girl's heart would always reserve a place for one person) Final Compatibility: 262%
The compatibility was a full two times higher than last time, though it had correspondingly required eighteen years of companionship.
As for the number 262%... Liu Bai's actions had caused him to lose 3% compatibility at birth. Otherwise, it would have been a more pleasing 265%.
You obtained 3 Skill Points You may choose one of the following skills 1. Researcher Lv10 (You have embarked on the path of truth) 2. Biology Lv8 (You are a titan in the field of biology) 3. Medicine Lv7 (You possess top-tier medical knowledge) 4. Honkai Studies Lv4 (You have glimpsed a corner of Honkai)
Although Mobius had not yet joined MOTH and become one of the Flame-Chasers, and thus offered one fewer option than Aponia, her options formed a pure scientist template.
However, these skills were somewhat underwhelming for Liu Bai.
More importantly, as a ghost, he had virtually no opportunity to conduct experiments. So although they all looked like practical abilities at first glance, they were not particularly valuable to Liu Bai.
After a brief moment of thought, Liu Bai decisively chose Mobius's highest-level skill—Researcher Lv10.
Before you continue