More of a Hindrance Than a Help (Part 2)

Kujou Sara apologized readily.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Master Ying."

"Stop talking... Sara..."

A short while later, Ragna came over with another plate of snacks, and the group stopped talking.

"Can I take it to go?" Bai asked Ragna.

"...Of course." Ragna paused for a moment, then nodded. "I'll help."

After receiving a positive answer, Liu Bai ordered some desserts—after all, there were so many people in the family, and he had to bring some back for them.

After a while, Ragna watched the group leave and then used his bracelet to call Rita.

"Hello~ This is Rita Losweiser."

"Take a quick look at the caller ID, Rita."

"Excuse me, excuse me, Lord Ragna, is there anything I can help you with?" Rita, who was making tea in the room, was slightly surprised.

"The pig you chose has gone out."

"...ha?"

"Little cabbage, you're trying to lure a pig to the coffee shop, aren't you?"

"... What nonsense are you spouting, Lord Ragna?"

Rita's hands were quite steady as she poured the tea.

"First of all... well, I do have some intention of luring Liu Bai away. Secondly, I would like a dozen of Liu Bai's 'pigs'."

"It's just a metaphor—that's not the point. The point is... I've already spotted two women around him who might be interested in him."

"Oh... so?"

Rita put down the pot with some confusion and pondered for a moment.

"I understand, Lord Ragna, you don't need to worry about it."

Rita for a moment before realizing what Ragna meant. Wasn't "pigs rooting up cabbages" just a metaphor for relationships between men and women?

As for the relationship between men and women... well, although she admits it was abduction, this abduction is not the same as that abduction.

Hmm... it's not entirely out of the question, but it's still too early. We should at least resolve the issues with Kiana and the Herrscher before considering these things.

"... You really don't need to worry about it."

"I'm not you, Lord Ragna," Rita replied with a smile.

"Waaah! Give me back that innocent little angel I used to know!"

"Sorry~ The angel has fallen into the abyss~"

Rita's lighthearted reply even included a pinch on his cheek at the "Abyss Angel" café.

"Next, we're going to Dr. Mobius's lab. Who wants to go back to the pot first?"

No one present wanted to return to the pot—after all, the laboratory was still a "wonderful place" full of imagination for outsiders.

Apart from Kujou Sara, the others were still very eager to visit. Even Kitsune Saiguu was curious about Mobius's workplace—although she had already heard Kujou Sara mention it before.

However, Kitsune Saiguu felt that Kujou Sara's description of the laboratory was a bit too demonized.

Well, Kujou Sara only went to Mobius's lab twice. The first time was after he captured Kiana, and the second time was... when he brought Kiana in for a checkup, and incidentally, he also visited the Jackal on the bed.

The first time was alright, but the second time... even Kujou Sara had to admit that she had a phobia of Mobius's laboratory ever since that incident—especially since Mobius was planning to give Kiana the drug as well.

To be honest, it's not scary physically at all, but psychologically... Kujou Sara finds it scarier than a horror movie.

Kujou Sara even felt that one day he might replace the Jackal because of Mobius's curiosity.

... Even so, Kujou Sara did not back down at this moment.

Don't ask, the answer is simply that I'm strong enough.

Kujou Sara took two deep breaths. "May I ask why you want to go to the Doctor's place?"

"Since the Doctor has been quite busy lately, could you perhaps go and help out? Also, could you check on Kiana's situation?"

"Hmm..."

An argument that is completely irrefutable.

Afterwards, the six people called two cars and arrived at Shencheng Pharmaceuticals in a short time.

"This entire area belongs to Shencheng Pharmaceuticals?" Kitsune Saiguu was slightly surprised.

"Mm." Bai nodded.

Although he usually only goes in and out of the office building, in reality, the entire Shencheng Pharmaceuticals also includes a large area of factories, laboratories and other miscellaneous places.

This place should actually be called the "Shencheng Pharmaceuticals Industrial Park".

It is no exaggeration to say that Shencheng Pharmaceuticals is the largest enterprise in Celestial Vault City in the true sense.

This explains why Mobius's underground laboratory has so much space, and can even house a large number of Honkai zombie and special Honkai Beasts.

The office building is just an entrance.

"Hmm... I feel like we could collaborate on pharmaceuticals?"

Kitsune Saiguu silently pondered in her heart, "Sara never said this place looked so proper."

"Are you selling medicine legitimately?"

"Yes." Bai nodded. "They are making real money, and they are even partners with Schicksal."

"That's really an exaggeration..." Kitsune Saiguu exclaimed.

Cocoilia stood beside her, looking on with envy.

Upon entering the office building, Kitsune Saiguu didn't feel anything special, but Liu Bai could clearly see that it was visibly busier than before.

Because the Honkai energy activity here has exceeded control, the number of Honkai Disease has begun to surge.

"It seems like there are more people coming and going..."

"Yes, because of the Honkai Disease, the Doctor is receiving patients from within the city."

Now, the World Serpent is ultimately under the control of Mobius, so the World Serpent is also systematically accepting Honkai Disease patients.

"I really couldn't tell..." Sara's expression was strange.

Liu Bai suddenly thought of something.

"Hey, how about we make a bet?"

"Alright, I'll bet my shadow." Kitsune Saiguu didn't even ask Liu Bai what he wanted to bet.

"Waaah..."

"...Never mind then." Shiro rolled her eyes, then looked at Kujou Sara. "Sara, do you believe that if I ask the doctor about these patients, the Doctor will definitely say that they are her human experimental subjects?"

"Huh?" Sara didn't quite understand what Liu Bai meant by that.

Seeing this, Liu Bai shrugged and led everyone underground.

"Good afternoon, senior... oh no, guinea pig senior!"

In the laboratory area, Danzhu was still as energetic and lively as ever.

"You don't need to emphasize the lab rats." Bai rolled her eyes at Danzhu, then took out a box of pastries. "Here, a token of appreciation."

"Thank you, senior guinea pig!"

[Danzhu's Favorability: 2127]

Liu Bai didn't have much contact with Dan Zhu and Danzhu Cangxuan, so she didn't gain much favor with them usually. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult to raise their favorability.

Besides, I'm currently at a charm level that's already exceeded the limit.

The charm at level 12 is just as valuable as Acheron's level 12... The Flying Weave Cape's ability to ignore the upper limit for boosting one's charm is indeed quite incredible. Now, other people's initial favorability towards me, especially those who are attracted to my looks, is even higher.

Of course, some people, like Miyuki Chiyo, may seem to have initial favorability, but in reality, they already know about him and have formed an initial impression in their minds. It's just that their favorability is only shown after they meet each other.

Danzhu accepted the snacks with great delight.

"Senior, are you here to see the Doctor again today? In the innermost lab, no less."

"Then why are you just loitering around here as an assistant?"

"Slacking off, huh?" Danzhu said confidently, puffing out her chest.

... Where does this urge to press come from?

Liu Bai suppressed the instinctive signals from his brain and tapped Danzhu on the head.

"Waaah... It's not like I'm the only one slacking off, my sister's doing it too! Sis—!"

"Danzhu? There's a senior here?"

A head peeked out from the lounge.

"Here you are, a token of my appreciation... although I really don't want to give it to you all, seeing how you're slacking off."

"Thank you, senior."

Cangxuan jogged out and took the snacks.

[Cangxuan's Favorability: 2127]

"Hmm... Is Klein working overtime?"

Liu Bai at the lounge. Although he couldn't see everything, he had a feeling about it.

After all, he is the one who is "fake".

"As expected of the guinea pig senior! Here, a reward!"

Danzhu acknowledged it in an award-winning tone, then stood on tiptoe and stuffed a biscuit into Liu Bai's mouth.

"... What kind of reward is this?" Bai swallowed the biscuit and tapped Danzhu with his hand.

They even bribed me with my things.

... It's only because you two are so cute.

And the feeling of being suddenly fed isn't bad, is it?

"Can't you two go and help?"

"But we'd only be a hindrance if we went," Danzhu continued, spreading her hands. "Although my sister and I know a little about biology, neither of us are professionals in this field."

Cangxuan nodded in agreement from the side.

"..."

Well, that's true. Although both of them studied biology due to the Honkai, and were even quite proficient, Cangxuan's main profession was computer research, while Danzhu was involved in social sciences and humanities. Of course, Danzhu was actually a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.

"Ah, don't look at us like that. Actually, the Doctor herself is mostly making things worse."

Danzhu scratched his head.

"If you think about it that way, maybe it's just that Senior Klein is being too stubborn, and the problem isn't with us!"

Cangxuan nodded again.

God knows why what Klein could do in an hour by herself took two hours when the four of them worked together...

Yes, it's actually making things worse than helping.

However, they weren't completely useless; they were actually quite capable of doing their own thing.

... So the problem lies with Klein, isn't it?

Even Mobius's curls aren't this tight!

"... Not really surprising."

Liu Bai rolled her eyes.

Although these two little ones seem useless, they just lack a stage – even if they did have a stage presence, they'd be rather clueless.

Klein's problem was that she wasn't "high-end" enough; she could only really be an assistant, and these two were only assigned the assistant role by Mobius...