Mobius's Plan; The Empress-Training Project / Talulah, Interested in Building a Country for Us?

If I had this power, then perhaps I could...

"Alright, quiet down."

Before certain thoughts could even surface, Mobius spoke lightly from beside her, and Talulah's imposing aura abruptly stalled.

What was going on? Why could she no longer control her own body just because the other party had said a single sentence?!

PS: Fourth update. I rushed as hard as I could and finally made it before midnight.

Mobius's Plan: The Empress-Raising Project

"Looks like the results are fairly good."

Watching the girl calm down again, Mobius nodded in satisfaction.

Although this trip to Terra had only been meant to test the effects of the Improved Monster Cell and the Limit Break Potion, that did not mean Mobius would not leave some safeguards behind in her test subjects.

The Improved Monster Cell truly worked exceptionally well in this world. For someone like Talulah, a Drac who was already powerful and possessed tremendous racial potential, the increase in strength after taking it could only be described as outrageous.

But correspondingly, anyone who consumed this improved Monster Cell would be unable to disobey any command from Mobius or An Xiu. This was a fundamental logic engraved into their genes, and the life and death of every person who had consumed Monster Cells modified by Mobius rested on a single thought from her.

Therefore, there was absolutely no chance of someone taking the Improved Monster Cell and then turning against them.

A biting gust of cold wind swept through. FrostNova had acted, extinguishing the flames on the houses that Talulah's outburst had set alight.

"Now it's your turn."

Seeing Mobius's gaze turn toward them, Patriot and FrostNova, who stood nearby, glanced at Talulah, who had not said another word since earlier. After hesitating briefly, they still followed Talulah's example and picked up the Monster Cells from the ground before swallowing them.

Immediately, two more powerful auras erupted.

Unlike the flames Talulah had unleashed before, an icy gale now swirled around FrostNova, sweeping away the lingering heat in the house left by Talulah's eruption. The walls, roof, and every corner began to freeze over in large patches.

However, compared to Talulah's earlier display, FrostNova's commotion was undoubtedly much smaller. After all, compared to a Drac with limitless potential, FrostNova, whose race was merely Caster, was far inferior in both potential and upper limit.

Patriot, meanwhile, caused a far greater disturbance.

Patriot had already been extraordinarily tall and broad, but after consuming the Improved Monster Cell, his body swelled by nearly a third. The heavy protective suit he wore was torn apart by his rapidly expanding frame, and his throat, once so ravaged by Oripathy that he could barely speak, now released a deafening roar.

At that moment, whether they were ordinary Reunion members resting in the village or FrostNova standing beside Patriot, everyone who heard that roar felt fear and palpitations rise from the depths of their hearts.

A faint red light flickered within Patriot's bone-white eye sockets. He did not know how long it had been since he had felt a body this healthy. The unknown chunk of flesh they had been given not only restored his body, which had been on the verge of collapse, but also greatly enhanced his strength.

Why would they give something so precious to them instead of using it themselves?

And if his body could recover after eating this unknown flesh, then had FrostNova recovered as well?

With that thought, Patriot turned to look at FrostNova. Sure enough, her complexion was much rosier than before. However, she was clutching her chest with an uncomfortable expression, clearly frightened by facing Patriot's current aura at such close range.

"Sorry."

Although his throat could now speak normally, Patriot remained as sparing with words as ever as he voiced his apology.

"It's fine. Just be careful next time."

It was rare to see the old stubborn man recover his health. Naturally, FrostNova would not blame her old man for losing control for a moment.

At this time, Talulah also rose from the ground and looked seriously at Mobius before her.

"We have already eaten what you gave us as you asked. By our agreement, you cannot make another move against the other members of The Reunion."

Unlike FrostNova and Patriot, who had yet to realize the problem, Talulah knew very well that while the thing they had been given was beneficial, its price was also extremely heavy.

Thinking back to how a single sentence from Mobius had prevented her from even harboring the slightest thought of disobedience, Talulah was certain the other party possessed some means of controlling them.

"Don't worry, my dear little mouse. I always keep my word. From now on, you may continue as usual. You only need to occasionally cooperate with me in a few experiments."

Seeing that Mobius did not appear to be lying, Talulah reluctantly chose to trust her.

And so, after cooperating with Mobius in several more tests and experiments, the three each left behind a tube of blood as genetic samples before being dismissed.

"Master, what do you think of Talulah?"

After the three left, Mobius suddenly asked An Xiu beside her what seemed like a completely unrelated question.

"She's dependable, loyal, responsible, and when trouble comes, she actually steps up. I think Talulah's a solid person."

An Xiu answered calmly.

Mobius could only roll her eyes helplessly.

"You know that isn't what I'm asking."

"Then why ask that out of nowhere?"

An Xiu was also rather confused. Why had Mobius suddenly started asking about his preferences? As his clone, Mobius should know his tastes as the original perfectly well.

"Hehe, then I'll be direct. Do you remember the scoring system when the system was updated? The higher a woman's overall rating in appearance, strength, status, power, and other aspects, the more points Master can obtain from her."

"Now that we have happened to encounter The Reunion and have also conveniently brought Talulah under control, does Master have any interest in personally raising an Empress of Terra?"

After hearing Mobius's explanation, An Xiu immediately understood.

Mobius was planning to have him play an empress-raising game in Terra?

Although the waters beneath this world's setting ran deep, with Mobius's help, taking down several countries on the surface of this world would not be much of a problem.

Talulah herself also had exceptionally favorable qualifications. As long as the Black Serpent parasitizing Talulah was dealt with, Talulah would possess strong claims to Ursus, Great Yan, and Victoria all at once. She was practically born to rebel.

Mobius's role as a new clone was that of a researcher, so she was not particularly suited to frequently appearing in public like Seele and Makima had in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. Thus, supporting Talulah as a public front while Mobius provided support in secret would allow An Xiu to develop influence in Terra while also living off women and gaining points.

Of course, if he found that too troublesome, An Xiu could directly manifest a new clone and have her publicly develop his influence in the Arknights World.

However, since Mobius's methods had already eliminated An Xiu's worries, and there was no need to fear Talulah doing anything foolish, he was idle anyway. An Xiu did not mind playing along with Mobius's suggestion.

To be honest, when he played Arknights in his previous life, he had wanted more than once to crawl through the screen and beat those Terra native states senseless.

Perhaps Mobius had made this proposal precisely because she knew what he wanted?

Talulah, Are You Interested in Building a nation for Us?

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

Over those two days, Mobius kept her promise. Aside from the occasional experiment and blood draw, she did not interfere with The Reunion any further.

Therefore, although she remained somewhat worried, Talulah gradually began to act as if Mobius and An Xiu did not exist, turning her attention back to worrying over supplies for The Reunion.

"How much food and cold-weather clothing do we have left?"

Standing outside the warehouse where The Reunion stored its supplies, Talulah asked the Reunion member responsible for keeping count.

"We have a total of thirty jin of food left, and there are no cold-weather clothes remaining."

The Reunion member answered.

Talulah's expression darkened upon hearing that.

Food and clothing were undoubtedly essential if they wanted to survive the harshest winter on the Ursus Snowfield.

But clothing was scarce, and even if they rationed the food as much as possible, it would last The Reunion at most another three days.

After all, while The Reunion was not large at present, it still had over a hundred people. Dividing thirty jin of food among more than a hundred people, lasting three days would already require distributing the absolute minimum ration.

The team sent out to search for supplies had only returned yesterday. As expected, they had clearly found nothing.

Anyone who understood Ursus understood the situation. Aside from noble lords, ordinary households had no surplus grain either, much less the wilderness.

The problem was, without food, how would The Reunion survive this winter?

"Little mouse seems to be troubled. Would you like me to offer you a little help?"

Just then, Mobius's leisurely voice drifted over.

"Are you willing to provide supplies for The Reunion?"

Talulah immediately turned around and looked earnestly at Mobius, who was walking over from nearby.

Although the other party had invaded The Reunion not long ago and used some unknown method to control Talulah, FrostNova, and Patriot, if she was truly willing to help The Reunion, Talulah was still willing to regard her as The Reunion's benefactor.

The other party's goals did not matter. What mattered was that if they could not find food soon, The Reunion truly would have nothing left to eat. When that happened, everyone would either starve or freeze to death together on the snowfield.

"Come find me alone tonight."

Unfortunately, Mobius did not seem inclined to answer immediately. She merely left behind those meaningful words before departing.

That evening, following Mobius's instructions, Talulah came alone to the room where Mobius usually stayed.

However, to her surprise, besides Mobius, An Xiu and another red-haired woman she had never seen before were also in the room.

Talulah could understand An Xiu being there, since he was usually with Mobius anyway. But when had this unfamiliar red-haired woman arrived in The Reunion? How had no one noticed her at all?

Noticing Talulah's gaze, Makima gave her a friendly nod, as if greeting her.

"You're finally here? We've been waiting for quite a while."

Seeing Talulah arrive, Mobius lazily stretched her body before speaking unhurriedly.

"Let's continue our conversation from earlier. You want me to provide The Reunion with material aid. That is not a problem for me. Food and warm clothing—if I wish it, I can easily ensure that every member of The Reunion eats well and stays warm through the entire winter."

"But before that, I have a question."

"You founded The Reunion because you wanted to help the Infected, didn't you?"

Talulah nodded without hesitation.

"That's right. Because I saw too much of the Empire's oppression of the Infected, I founded The Reunion. I wanted to help these Infected escape Ursus's enslavement and persecution, and fight for the rights they should have had."

Although every nation in Terra more or less discriminated against the Infected, Ursus was undoubtedly among the least humane of them.

Other countries might at most strip the Infected of their rights and drive them away, but Ursus directly treated them as free slaves. Once discovered, they were dragged off to mines or other factories and worked to death.

Logically, such near-slavery should not exist in a normal industrial nation. But Great Ursus had its own national conditions, and oppressing the Infected was political correctness in Terra. At most, other countries were less blatant about it than Ursus.

"Mm, a noble and naive ideal. On this cruel land, someone like you who clings to impractical ideals will probably end up drowning while clutching them."

Mobius sneered and spoke without the slightest courtesy.

"Are you saying the Infected are destined never to receive equal treatment or live in this world like ordinary people?"

Talulah's expression was very unpleasant, but she did not become angry because of it. After all, along the way, she had understood that her goal might be difficult to achieve. She had heard plenty of similar denials, yet even so, she did not want to give up.

However, to her surprise, Mobius did not continue mocking her. Instead, she shook her head.

"No. While absolute equality is nearly impossible, simply allowing the Infected to live in this world as ordinary people is not impossible."

"The only reason I call your ideal impractical is because you yourself are incapable."

The ideal was not incapable, but I was?

Talulah was somewhat stunned by Mobius's words.

"Isn't that right? You speak of fighting for the Infected's rights and preventing their oppression by the Empire, but what have you actually done? After founding The Reunion, an organization of the Infected, other than leading them around in guerrilla warfare and having them freeze and starve on the snowfield every day?"

"But... but I can't think of any other way..."

For once, Talulah, the leader of The Reunion, who should not show weakness under any circumstances, appeared somewhat at a loss.

"That is exactly why you have no idea how to realize your ideal. You are merely leading a group of Infected day by day beneath the pursuit of the Imperial Infected Patrol, never considering a path forward for the future."

"In that case, even if I were willing to provide supplies to The Reunion, it would be useless. This is an organization that literally cannot see a future, one destined to fail under your leadership."

"The Reunion, under my leadership... is destined to fail?"

Under Mobius's layer-by-layer analysis, The Reunion's cruel future had been laid bare before Talulah.

The white-haired Dragonewt now stood there blankly, unable to say a word.

"But things are different now. Because of us, you have another choice."

"Are you interested in building a new nation for us? A nation willing to abandon the oppression of the Infected."

"Me? Build a new nation for you?"

Hearing Mobius's outrageous statement, Talulah barely recovered her senses, only to see the red-haired woman who had been standing off to the side wave her hand.

The next second, several golden chains tightly bound her body.