Dr. Mobius Side Story · Before Ascending to Divinity

Zhu Yufeng lay quietly amid a pile of instruments, watching Mobius collect all sorts of data. He said nothing and simply waited for the results.

After a long time, Mobius finally stopped what she was doing. She leaned wearily against the back of her chair and said, "Regarding your body, I have one piece of news that can barely be considered good news, and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Zhu Yufeng replied expressionlessly, "Whichever you prefer."

"Heh... fine, then I'll start with the good news." Mobius looked over the data displayed by the instruments. "Your resistance to Honkai Energy has reached Herrscher level. That means even the Honkai Energy radiation released when the End is born might not kill you. As for your current physical condition, aside from the fact that no Herrscher Core has been found, you are already close to being a Herrscher. Of course, your situation differs from that of the Twelfth Herrscher. If I had to use a term to explain it, at most, you count as a Pseudo-Herrscher, or rather, a Herrscher vessel."

Zhu Yufeng neither agreed nor disagreed. He merely asked, "Then what's the bad news?"

Mobius looked at Zhu Yufeng. Being close to a Herrscher was not particularly significant. With combat power like Zhu Yufeng's, once he activated Artificial Collapse, his Honkai Energy reaction could likewise reach or even surpass Herrscher level. That was why she had said this news could only barely be considered good.

Defeating a Herrscher was, in theory, no difficult task for any member of Fallen Angel.

What were Herrschers? What did they represent? Or were they merely another manifestation of Honkai? One thing was certain: even Fusion Warriors found it difficult to surpass Herrschers in their capacity to contain and control Honkai Energy. A Herrscher Core could also be regarded as the crystallization of the Herrscher's own highly concentrated Honkai Energy. It was both their reserve of Honkai Energy and the embodiment of their authority. Just as Kevin could use Heavenfire to unleash a nuclear strike visible from the other side of the planet, and Zhu Yufeng could use Black Abyss White Flower to smash out an entire Sahara Desert, they had to rely on Divine Keys—in other words, Herrscher Cores—to accomplish such things.

Mobius cut off her train of thought and said, "The bad news? Your body has less than a year left to live, even though you're now a Fusion Warrior."

Even he had ultimately failed to break through the limits of the human body. Just as her own body was completely incompatible with the authority of the Twelfth Herrscher, he had originally been an ordinary person. He had survived the earliest Hypervariable Surgery by sheer luck, then fused with one Honkai Beast after another in what was practically a forced integration. In the end... through Vishnu's traits, he had devoured every member of Fallen Angel.

Obtaining power always came at a price. Trying to steal the authority of gods, to wear the divine shadow of the gods' crown, would ultimately...

"At least I can live until before the End." Zhu Yufeng did not seem surprised by this at all. He accepted it with remarkable calm.

"Though I probably have no right to say this, you're really becoming less and less human. You truly seem to be only one Herrscher Core away from becoming a Herrscher." Mobius sighed softly. "Forcibly fusing with all kinds of Honkai Beasts has affected more than just your physiology and the searing pain. It has affected your mental state as well."

"Doesn't that just prove that I'm already nearing the final form of Project: Ascend to Divinity?" Zhu Yufeng said. "The formation of a Herrscher Core requires an enormous amount of Honkai Energy. But clearly, even though high concentrations of Honkai Energy now fill the Earth, it still cannot be gathered together to catalyze the birth of a new Herrscher unless..."

"The Herrscher of the End..." Mobius murmured. "Are you planning to seize the End's authority?"

"The End will inevitably be born. We both know that, don't we?" Zhu Yufeng stood up. "That will be our final battle, one in which we stake everything."

"When the End is born, the immense Honkai Energy gathering on the moon can indeed catalyze the birth of a Herrscher, but..." Mobius frowned. "The problem now is why you possess such a constitution. Kevin, who carried out the Chimera Project as well, has not undergone the changes happening to you. And I cannot guarantee that, after becoming a Herrscher, you will still retain your own consciousness."

"Ling already proved that Herrscher consciousness cannot necessarily overcome one's own consciousness." Zhu Yufeng said, "At the instant we sealed the Twelfth Herrscher, Sakura and I got Ling back. It was not that we sealed her. It was her lingering consciousness that overcame the Herrscher consciousness and created an opportunity for us."

"One misstep, and you'll become humanity's enemy." Mobius raised her head and looked into Zhu Yufeng's silver eyes. "Think about what they did to you. Think about why you became what you are now... Are you still willing to protect humanity?"

"That question is meaningless." Zhu Yufeng folded his arms. "I've already come this far. Until I defeat the End, I will never fall, because... I will not let Lilith's sacrifices, or everything you have given up until now, become a joke."

Mobius froze.

"Perhaps humanity truly is as you say. Perhaps they are not all that wonderful, and perhaps they have always borne malice toward me. But what does that have to do with what I intend to do?" Zhu Yufeng continued.

"But they hurt you. They almost killed you!" Mobius's voice suddenly rose several degrees. "And you think that doesn't matter?!"

"But I still have all of you!" Zhu Yufeng said with absolute certainty. "Dr. Mobius, setting you aside for a moment, has Kevin ever hurt me? Has Elysia ever harbored malice toward me? Haven't you helped me?"

Mobius's body stiffened.

"The dice have already been cast." Zhu Yufeng turned to look at the screens in the laboratory. "After everything we've experienced, after all the sacrifices we've made, am I supposed to give up just because of their betrayal? What does defeating the End have to do with humanity?"

"Heh!" Mobius sneered. "You really are a selfless saint..."

"Selfless? No. I'm a selfish person, an extremely selfish person." Zhu Yufeng closed his eyes and spoke softly. "If I gave up everything now, that would be the greatest betrayal of Lilith and the others. Their sacrifices would become utterly meaningless, and all the pain I endured to reach this point would be nothing but a joke."

Silence.

A long silence.

Neither of them spoke. The laboratory was left with only the sound of the machines operating.

Only after a long while did Mobius say, "The Honkai Energy level of the End far exceeds that of every Herrscher who has appeared so far. You may be a qualified Herrscher vessel, but... even I cannot guarantee that you can truly withstand the Honkai Energy erupting when the End is born. The Honkai Energy resistance your body possesses was ultimately created artificially. I cannot guarantee that, when the final Honkai eruption comes, that unprecedented level of Honkai Energy will not reactivate the Hypervariable genes within you."

"But we... no longer have a choice." Zhu Yufeng said.

"We do. There is another path." Mobius's voice was quiet. "Before the End is born, I can work with Vill-V to create a device that condenses Honkai Energy. In theory, as long as the Honkai Energy reaches the threshold, a Herrscher will be born. We can make a device and slowly inject Honkai Energy into it. And you only need to absorb that Honkai Energy."

"How slow is 'slow'?" Zhu Yufeng frowned. "Including the blueprints and production, we don't have that much time."

"Slow compared to the birth of other Herrschers." Mobius looked at Zhu Yufeng. "You know that the birth of nearly every Herrscher is accompanied by a large-scale Honkai eruption. We cannot instantly gather enough Honkai Energy to create a Herrscher, but we can collect the Honkai Energy that is everywhere now."

"But what if it fails?" Zhu Yufeng asked again. "Doctor, you said it yourself. The birth of a Herrscher comes from a massive instantaneous concentration of Honkai Energy. If I absorb Honkai Energy like this, can it really achieve what we expected in the plan?"

"No. The essence of a Herrscher's birth is the formation of a corresponding Herrscher Core through the absorption and condensation of Honkai Energy." As Mobius spoke, she added in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, "Except the reason for her birth remains unknown..."

"Except what?" Zhu Yufeng asked in confusion.

"That cannot be used as a reference. In any case, we have to try, don't we?" Mobius said.

"Indeed. There is very little we can do now." Zhu Yufeng sighed.

"I'll contact Vill-V immediately. Until then, wait for news."

"I'm counting on you, Doctor." Zhu Yufeng nodded and turned to leave the laboratory. Just as he was about to step through the door, Mobius's voice sounded behind him. "When all this is over, what are you planning to do?"

"Find somewhere to bury myself, if I'm not dead. If I am dead... tossing me onto the moon would work just as well."

"...Before you bury yourself, I forbid you from leaving whenever you please. If you really become a Herrscher, you are not allowed to leave until I get your experimental data!"

"...As you wish."

The laboratory door closed. Mobius looked at the shut door, lowered her gaze, and murmured to herself, "I won't let you die... There must be another way..."

When humans became Herrschers, some of their illnesses would disappear as well. She did not know whether Herrscherification could heal Zhu Yufeng's current condition, but it was still a hope, wasn't it?

"Your reasoning sounds selfish, but to us—to someone like me, who watched you walk this path all the way here—how could that possibly be selfish? Have your eyes ever held yourself, Yu Feng?"

He was selfish enough. He did not care what others thought; he only wanted to protect the meaning of the road he had walked. Yet he was selfless enough as well, because he had never cared what he himself had borne.

A few days later.

Another dawn arrived. Zhu Yufeng lifted his head from his book, casually inserted a bookmark, returned it to the shelf, then opened the door, intending to ask Mobius about the development progress of the Honkai Energy gathering device. Making a new device in a few days would likely be difficult for ordinary people, but Evil had told him that she could finish it in only a few days.

Was that what one should expect from someone with half of Vill-V's talent? Then what kind of era-defying monster was complete Vill-V?

"Hm? What is this..." Zhu Yufeng noticed an invitation pinned to his door, surrounded by clusters of pink crystal flowers that seemed to grow straight from the door. One look at that style told him Elysia was responsible.

Zhu Yufeng reached out and took down the invitation. The crystal flowers holding it in place vanished the moment he removed it, as though they had never existed.

The floral patterns on the invitation were exquisitely detailed. Elysia had clearly put considerable thought into it. But why had Elysia left an invitation here for him?

She had indeed written invitations in the game, but not a single one had ultimately been sent.

Thinking this, Zhu Yufeng returned to his room, sat down at the table, and gently opened the invitation.

He stared at its contents for a long time. Even when Mei announced within Fire Moth that the Thirteenth Herrscher had appeared, he still had not recovered his senses.

After reading the contents several times, Zhu Yufeng resealed the invitation and left his room.

He first went to Eden. Eden was preparing to depart for where Elysia currently was. After asking whether she had received an invitation and receiving a negative answer, he went to find the others.

Aponia, Qianjie, Sakura, Hua, Vill-V, Kosma, Griseo, Pardo, Su...

None of them had received any invitation.

"Only Mobius and Kevin are left..." Zhu Yufeng lowered his head to look at the invitation in his hand. "But presumably, they did not receive one either... Elysia, Elysia... Why would you think I would go subdue you just because you're a Herrscher?"

Could it be that she simply wanted to see you?

A nonsensical thought surfaced in his mind again, and he immediately rejected the possibility. If she merely wanted to see him, why had Eden not received an invitation? Was she not afraid Eden would not go?

She didn't send out invitations because she wanted to give the other Flame-Chasers the choice, didn't she? Giving the invitation to you means she would rather deny you that choice just to see you, doesn't it?

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

He should have already let go of Elysia, shouldn't he? Why did he keep thinking in that direction? It was practically as though he had split off another personality...

Besides, even if he went to see Elysia, what would he do? What should he say?

He had decided to fight Honkai for her and joined the Fusion Warrior program for her, yet in the end, she had still made that helpless choice... More importantly, Lilith and the others' deaths remained like a deep chasm separating him from Elysia.

He did not hate Elysia, because if she had not done that, she would not be Elysia. But he could not possibly not care about it.

And they had spent so long together. Even though he had done his best to avoid seeing her lately, did she distrust him because of that? Sending him an invitation to subdue her...

At last, the voice in his mind disappeared. Kevin's voice came from ahead. "Feng, there you are. Are you going to where Elysia is now?"

"No, there's no need..." Zhu Yufeng handed the invitation to Kevin. "Return this to her. If she asks, tell her this: 'Those who came did so because they believed in Elysia. Those who stayed away did so because they believed in Elysia and refused to subdue her.' That's all. Tell her that..."

Kevin paused, then accepted the invitation. "...I'll convey it exactly."

"I'm counting on you." Zhu Yufeng nodded, then headed toward Mobius's laboratory.

Kevin lowered his head and looked at the invitation. It seemed as though it had never been opened, but he believed Zhu Yufeng must have read it. He had never forgotten what Mobius said a few days ago. What exactly had Elysia written in the invitation?

Forget it. He was only responsible for returning it, not reading it.

Zhu Yufeng arrived at Mobius's laboratory. Vill-V was absent because she had already gone to the appointment. Mobius was adjusting the device she and Vill-V had created together with the Armed Doll Klein.

Seeing him, Mobius was somewhat surprised. "Yu Feng? I thought you went to see Elysia."

"There's nothing worth seeing. Even if we met, I wouldn't know what to say. I'd probably make things even more awkward than Kevin." Zhu Yufeng replied expressionlessly. "So, Doctor, has the device been completed?"

"It has indeed been completed, but to begin the final step, we will probably have to wait until Vill-V returns." Mobius said. "Are you really not going? That may be the last time you can see Elysia."

"I know, but... my relationship with her is not that close. There is no need." Zhu Yufeng said.

"Suit yourself." Mobius shrugged. "Before the final step begins, let me make one last adjustment to your physical condition."

"Alright."