The next moment, countless pieces of knowledge from Mobius flooded into Liu Bai's mind, and the entire world seemed to take on a different appearance in his eyes.
When he appeared in the Schicksal corridor again, merely staring at the surveillance cameras on the walls seemed to give Liu Bai some understanding of how they operated and how they were built.
—But it also felt like he didn't understand anything.
Liu Bai simply lacked the relevant mechanical knowledge, yet an inexplicable confidence arose within him—if he could take one of those cameras apart once, he might be able to build another himself.
So this was Mobius's research ability...
Thinking of Mobius sprawled drunkenly across her bed at the end, Liu Bai felt a little worried.
—Would Mobius be able to get up on time without him around?
After a brief moment of thought, Liu Bai invested all his skill points into Haunting Ability—the stronger his ability to interfere with reality became, the more he could help his host.
S-rank evaluation detected. Final results confirmed. Spirit: Liu Bai Skills: Haunting Ability lv.5, Persuasion lv.2, Guardian Spirit lv.3 Current Hosts: Rita Rossweisse (Compatibility: 8%, current host), Aponia (Compatibility: 120%, abnormal status, unavailable), Mobius (Compatibility: 262%, abnormal status, unavailable) Remaining simulations today: 0
Rita's Dog
"Awake?"
"...Mm."
Question: what should one do when one woke up and heard an unfamiliar man's voice beside them?
Suppressing the urge to punch the air, Rita felt as though this instant had shaved at least three years off her life.
"How did you sleep last night?"
"Thanks to you, I feel like I had a nightmare, though I can't remember it."
Rita answered neither servilely nor arrogantly. Of course, the nightmare was a lie—she had actually slept quite well.
Perhaps he really was some kind of Guardian Spirit.
"And you? How was your night?"
"I was scaring the little girl in the corridor."
"...Did you clean up properly?"
After asking that, Rita fell briefly silent. Why did that sound like she was asking whether he had disposed of a body?
But she also didn't want rumors about hauntings spreading from outside her room.
"Properly. Dispose of the body... Ahem, I mean, I only scared her a little."
Using Haunting Ability, Liu Bai created an illusion of low temperature around Rita.
"This level..."
Rita raised an eyebrow slightly. Such an illusion meant little to a battle-hardened Valkyrie like her, but if used at the right moment...
Rita suddenly developed some interest in the abilities of the "Guardian Spirit" by her side.
Since she had decided to accept his existence, Rita felt that she ought to gain a better understanding of him.
"Ghostly Gentleman, would you like to go to the training room and see how well we work together?"
Rita smiled lightly at the empty air beside her.
Ghostly Gentleman... That name reminded Liu Bai of Mobius again.
"I don't mind... but won't your Bishop or anyone else discover us?"
In Liu Bai's impression, anything related to Otto was usually accompanied by trouble.
"I have a private training room, and Bishop Otto is busy with countless affairs every day. As long as there isn't any abnormal data, it will be fine." Rita seemed unconcerned about it.
Valkyries trained for a period every day. Some even trained nonstop aside from eating and sleeping. How could Otto have the time to specifically look over such things?
There were so many Valkyries in Schicksal that even watching everything at ten times speed would probably take an entire day.
Liu Bai nodded after hearing Rita's explanation.
"..." Rita looked at her pajamas, then at the empty air beside her, and couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. "Ghostly Gentleman, I'm going to change clothes. Could I trouble you to leave for a moment?"
Honestly, this felt like living with a strange man.
Rita felt that she might need some time to get used to it.
Still, one advantage was that her Guardian Spirit was truly easy to talk to.
Only after sensing the other presence leave did Rita let out a sigh of relief... This was the first time she had been seen by the opposite sex while wearing pajamas.
Fortunately, her sleeping posture was decent.
Rita blushed faintly as she inspected her pajamas... Good, all her buttons were properly fastened, and her collar hadn't fallen open. He probably hadn't seen anything, right?
Phew...
"Her figure falls just short of Mobius's."
Floating outside, Liu Bai curled his lip. Of course, more importantly, Mobius never avoided changing clothes in front of him.
She had the sort of attitude that said he could look if he wanted to... though Liu Bai only ever glanced.
"I'm finished changing."
Not long after, Rita emerged after changing her clothes.
"Aren't you eating breakfast?"
"I ate while changing clothes." Rita smiled.
"...That was quick."
Liu Bai simply couldn't understand how Rita had prepared and finished breakfast within those few minutes spent changing clothes.
Beep beep—!
Just as the two were preparing to head to the training room, Rita's wrist communicator suddenly rang.
"From Otto?"
Rita stared at the communicator in slight surprise, then looked toward the empty air beside her.
"...It seems our plan to coordinate will have to be postponed."
"Something happened?"
"The Second Herrscher has apparently appeared in Sky Dome City... It looks like I'll need to make a trip there."
Rita spoke calmly. "But it shouldn't take long."
Sky Dome City?
Liu Bai froze slightly. That meant the current point in time was around four months after the Queen's descent. If so... that wasn't bad, was it?
As long as this simulator came through for him, he might have a chance to change the outcome of that battle.
"Oh, well, I'm your spirit. Wherever you go, I can only follow."
"..."
The composure of her spirit truly exceeded Rita's expectations—if possible, she would rather he not follow her.
Night, Sky Dome City.
"Bishop Otto, I have arrived in Sky Dome City. Please issue my next instructions."
Wearing the Valkyrie Armor, Valkyrie Armor: Shadow Iron, Rita was communicating with Otto through her communicator.
Liu Bai only glanced at Otto before looking away—he had seen more than enough of Otto in his previous life.
What a joke. He had no curiosity whatsoever.
Liu Bai's gaze settled on Sky Dome City at night.
They had departed in the morning and arrived at night. Liu Bai had no idea whether that counted as fast.
Or perhaps... they had deliberately arrived at this time?
Liu Bai glanced at the mechanical dog by Rita's feet... Well, its official name was Carbon-Based Hunter, an autonomous tracking weapon.
Honestly, Liu Bai was more interested in this dog than in Rita right now.
Haunting Ability lv.5: You can mildly interfere with reality. You can possess non-living, unintelligent objects to strengthen your interference with reality.
At level five, the minor curses and illusions had all been integrated together and enhanced somewhat. The power he could wield had also reached the level of an ordinary person—but that was a trivial matter.
The most important part was the latter—it allowed him to possess non-living, unintelligent objects.
Then this mechanical dog... It was an autonomous weapon, so it definitely counted as non-living. But did it count as intelligent?
By the definition of intelligence... probably not?
—I've wanted to take over this dog and become Miss Rita's dog myself for ages!
Jokes aside, Liu Bai was genuinely tempted.
...Trying wouldn't hurt—after all, he didn't have any flesh to lose.
Give it a try. Just once.
Driven by curiosity, Liu Bai decisively used Haunting Ability on the dog at Rita's feet.
"...Understood."
At that moment, Rita happened to finish communicating with Otto. Then she felt an important part of her Valkyrie Armor stop responding.
—The part connected to Carbon-Based Hunter.
"?"
Rita's heart jolted, and she immediately looked down at the Carbon-Based Hunter by her feet.
At least thirty percent of this Valkyrie Armor's combat power came from Carbon-Based Hunter. If it suddenly malfunctioned, she would have to consider retreating for the time being.
But then Rita witnessed a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.
—The Carbon-Based Hunter at her feet stood up like a person.
...Yes, it stood up like a person.
Possession and Gray Serpent
This body...
Liu Bai curiously lowered the dog's head and examined Carbon-Based Hunter's body.
Though it was mechanical, its flexibility far surpassed his expectations. Even someone who had practiced yoga for years might not possess such outstanding flexibility.
Liu Bai twisted the body around. Mobius's research ability allowed him to adapt to it at an astonishing speed.
But soon, Liu Bai sensed a gaze filled with confusion.
"..."
Rita was staring directly at him.
"Is something wrong?"
"...Did you hack it?" Once Rita confirmed that Liu Bai was controlling her dog, she instead began observing the now human-like Carbon-Based Hunter with great interest.
"Uh... Not exactly? It should just be possession, limited to inanimate objects."
After Rita put it that way, Liu Bai himself became a little uncertain. If nothing else, what he was doing now really did look a bit like hacking.
"Oh? Possession... Since you can possess Carbon-Based Hunter, does that mean you can also possess all kinds of mechs?"
Rita's first thought was of Schicksal's and Anti-Entropy's mech forces.
Before you continue