Wendy rolled her eyes. "Forget it. I'm doing this for your own good. I heard researchers barely get any exercise. I don't want to see a pale, chubby Researcher Chen in two years."
Their relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds over the past two days.
Mainly because Chen Ran was shameless enough.
He said, "What's wrong with being a couch potato? The joy of life is your own."
"But you did remind me—if I could find a formula that replicated the taste of cola without making people gain weight, wouldn't that have a huge market?"
Wendy tilted her head. "Are you that short on money?"
"Yeah. I'm saving up to marry a wife. Since you won't be my wife, I'll have to find one myself."
Chen Ran still had not kicked his habit of flirting.
Wendy had already gotten used to it.
She would not take Chen Ran's words seriously, but this almost distance-free way of getting along made her feel happy.
More precisely, perhaps it had covered up the sense of loss brought on by her physical condition.
After finishing his workout, Chen Ran began handling firearms and practiced shooting under Wendy's guidance.
No man could resist firearms, and naturally, he was no exception.
However, researchers were not issued weapons of their own, so he and Wendy shared a Colt. This piece of trash that would be dismantled the moment it was pulled in the game was the most advanced weapon they could get their hands on right now.
As for Chen Ran's shooting skills—
Wendy said he had plenty of room for improvement.
Still, she did not crush him with professional standards. Everyone had different duties, so their standards differed as well. Chen Ran only needed to know how to fire a gun to qualify.
After the brief training session, Wendy suggested they rest.
She was already exhausted, and the day had been eventful enough.
After taking another shower, Chen Ran logged into Schicksal's internal network from his dormitory.
He began searching for everything related to the Herrscher Core infusion experiment. Because of his identity, his internal clearance was actually quite high.
After all, if his clearance had not been high enough, he would never have been involved in this project.
The Divine Right Plan.
[After the Second Honkai War in 2000, Schicksal researched the corpse of the Herrscher of the Void, thereby obtaining stable Artificial Stigmata technology, the Time-Space Rupture System for Valkyrie Armor, and numerous other technologies. In 2002, Schicksal's laboratories began researching Herrscher Cores, intending to decipher the mysteries of Herrscher Authorities.] [In 2003, Schicksal's laboratories successively declared their research into Herrscher Gems a failure. At the end of the year, Schicksal sealed away the gems.] [In 2004, Bishop Otto proposed using Herrscher Gems as the core and finding suitable vessels for core integration experiments. The goal of the experiment was to grant humans Herrscher Authorities by infusing Herrscher Gems, without requiring them to pay a price. This would create stable Artificial Herrschers.] [This plan was named the Divine Right Plan by Otto and was handled by the Oceanic Branch of the Schicksal Organization.] [From 2004 to 2014, the Oceanic Branch continuously searched for subjects for the Divine Right Plan. Its first proposed test subject was Bianka Atagina, but Otto himself vetoed it.] [In 2014, A-rank Valkyrie Wendy graduated from St. Freya at the Far East Branch. Recommended by Theresa, she was transferred to the Oceanic Branch and became the first experimental vessel for the Divine Right Plan.]
After roughly reading through the files, Chen Ran could not help but admire Otto.
Clearly, the Divine Right Plan was actually a supplement to the Sirin Plan. If Otto's plan to "use emotional bonds to create a Herrscher controlled by humans" failed, he would immediately turn to the Divine Right Plan and create a Pseudo Herrscher of the Void.
But Chen Ran also knew that the Divine Right Plan had been declared bankrupt after the Third Honkai War arrived.
Raiden Mei, who had also been implanted with a Herrscher Core, became the Herrscher of Thunder—and she was controllable. That meant the principles behind the Divine Right Plan had succeeded. Wendy simply was not compatible with the Gem of Desire.
And after the Divine Right Plan completely failed, would the Oceanic Branch still value Wendy?
Thinking back to what the Oceanic Branch personnel had said today—that Wendy's physical condition was good and that the rejection symptoms from integrating with the Herrscher Core had eased...
A terrifying suspicion suddenly arose within him.
The experiment to integrate the Herrscher Gem into Wendy's body had not ultimately failed. It had been abandoned.
After the Third Honkai War, the Oceanic Branch considered further investment in the experiment meaningless. So they suspended it and instead turned Wendy into a humanoid container for storing the Herrscher Gem.
Calculated purely by profit...
That was entirely possible.
"Damn it, I suddenly can't remember the exact date of the Third Honkai War."
He slapped his forehead. "No, I have to speed this up. I need to complete the Divine Right Plan before the Third Honkai War breaks out."
"So Wendy can become a Herrscher like Raiden Mei."
That way, his simulation could count as a success instead of dragging on until the Fourth Honkai War broke out two years later.
"I can't keep following this pace." He said, "The Divine Right Plan cost an entire Gem of Desire, so they probably would not just scrap it that easily. They may even have debated it first. But I can't afford to gamble."
He immediately wanted to leave the room.
If he wanted to learn the Divine Right Plan's specific confidential details and truly participate in Wendy's project, he needed to find someone else.
The person in charge of the Divine Right Plan.
However, just as Chen Ran was about to step out the door, a sudden sense of danger struck him.
He instinctively retreated, only to see a throwing knife miss and bury itself in the wall, more than half its blade sunk in.
A masked woman stood there, killing intent blazing in her eyes.
"Sorry. You've interfered with too many things."
She was an assassin on the Charon Ranking.
And the person who had hired her was named Gray Serpent.
Chen Ran's pupils contracted slightly. Combining this with the plot, he quickly guessed the reason.
There was a World Serpent mole inside the Oceanic Branch!
World Serpent had already set its sights on the Herrscher Gem in 2014!
The woman clutched a throwing knife and lunged at Chen Ran, slicing open his throat.
The fear of death drowned every part of his consciousness.
First Research Institute of Flame-Chaser
The system detected that the host had died and temporarily ended the simulation scenario.
Each death would not cause the host any actual harm, but the system recommended that the host seek an excellent psychiatrist to treat psychological trauma.
During the host's next simulation scenario, time would rewind to one hour before death. Please prepare in advance.
This simulation had no rewards. In view of the host's good performance, the system specially ordered a song, "Liang Liang," for you.
Congratulations, host. Because of death, your consciousness-carrying capacity has increased, theoretically extending simulation time.
The optimal time for the next simulation is one day later.
When all his consciousness gathered again, Chen Ran instinctively gasped for air.
Death was not a pleasant experience.
When every shred of consciousness in his brain was extinguished one after another, when even breathing became impossible, when he could only helplessly watch the world he perceived blur and everything contract into nothingness...
All sensations came in an instant, carrying immense terror.
"What's wrong? Are you having trouble adjusting?"
Chen Ran looked over and saw Bianca watching him with concern. "Or are you a little nervous?"
"But don't worry. Dr. Mobius is very easy to get along with."
Chen Ran was slightly stunned when he heard that name.
Mobius?!
Managed AI, what exactly did you manage?!
After synchronizing with No. 666's memories, Chen Ran finally understood why he was standing before the gates of the First Research Institute.
Simply put, No. 666 had accepted Bianca's invitation, and Bianca was now recommending him to Mobius.
Clearly, No. 666 believed that although Mobius was extremely dangerous, the resources of the First Research Institute were simply too tempting.
"Oh, it's nothing. Let's go in."
A look of determination to face death appeared on Chen Ran's face.
Bianca: "..."
There were not many staff members at the First Research Institute. Most had worked there for a while, failed to adapt to Mobius's personality, and applied to transfer internally.
At present, the entire First Research Institute only had two official employees, along with several external members.
The official employees were naturally Mobius and Bianca. As for the external members, according to Mobius, none of them lasted long enough anyway, so there was no need to give them official positions.
Therefore, Chen Ran did not have an official position either.
He had not expected that even Flame-Chaser had issues with official staffing.
However, Bianca comforted him. "It's fine. External employees receive the same benefits as official employees. As long as you earn Dr. Mobius's approval, becoming an official employee is only a matter of time."
Flame-Chaser was also divided into multiple departments and positions.
There was naturally no distinction between external and official personnel for soldiers, since the requirements for soldiers were the same for everyone. But the other departments used this method to motivate their employees.
Still, Chen Ran had not expected one of the external employees here to be someone he was unfamiliar with personally, yet whose name was thunderous to him.
Mei.
This girl, who looked ninety percent similar to Raiden Mei, stood at an experimental bench inside the First Research Institute.
Bianca introduced her. "This is Mei. Like you, she is a survivor of the Honkai disaster in Changkong City. But unlike you, she is incredibly talented. She had already published papers related to quantum physics while in middle school."
Chen Ran asked doubtfully, "I thought the First Research Institute specialized in biological research. Does quantum physics have anything to do with biology?"
"Quantum physics has nothing to do with biology."
Having overheard their conversation, Mei took the initiative to explain. "But both quantum physics and biology are related to Honkai."
"The request to study at each research institute was my own. I cannot limit myself to a single field."
Mei was naturally a genius.
But even geniuses had limits to their understanding.
For example, before the Third Honkai War, she had not known what Honkai was. Naturally, she could not devise a response to it.
To break through that limitation, Mei had taken the initiative to request study at every research institute. Although Flame-Chaser's upper ranks doubted Mei's learning ability, they did not refuse her.
A saying had always circulated among Flame-Chaser's upper ranks: Do not use the understanding of mortals to peer into the limits of geniuses.
Although they could not yet determine just how far Mei's talent could go, Mobius had recommended her to Flame-Chaser. That alone was enough.
Every Flame-Chaser research institute corresponded to a field of global knowledge.
The First Biological Research Institute, Second Chemical Institute, Third Engineering Institute, Fourth Computer Institute, Fifth Medical Institute, Sixth Material Institute...
But because of Honkai Energy, the research in these institutes was all related to Honkai. The cutting edge of foundational fields unrelated to Honkai Energy was left to Mu Continent.
Every research institute gathered scientists with academic achievements in cutting-edge fields, and among them, Mobius's talent was the most outstanding.
Leaving aside Mobius's work in biology, Flame-Chaser's general-purpose weapons and the drugs that enhanced its soldiers' combat capabilities were all developed by her.
Mei looked at Bianca and asked, "Is he also a survivor from Changkong City?"
Although Chen Ran, as No. 666, often discussed Mei with Kevin, this was truly the first time the two had met in reality.
"Mm." Bianca said, "He has an extensive store of biological knowledge."
Chen Ran introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Chen Ran, from Shenzhou."
Shenzhou had also been affected by the Third Honkai War. Canghai City, where Hua lived, had been destroyed in that disaster.
"All right, you'll have plenty of time to talk later. Chen Ran, I'll take you to see the doctor first."
Before you continue