The First Signs of a Rift

Mobius's laboratory.

"Doctor, regarding Astaroth's special ability... it has been confirmed." Klein said hesitantly, holding a report. "Astaroth's ability... is an extremely powerful and uncontrollable mental ability, largely influenced by Astaroth's emotions, regardless of whether she subjectively wants to use this ability..."

Mobius glanced at Klein: "You should just tell me what the council is thinking."

"The council's initial idea... is to place her in the deepest depths, under the administration of Aponia..."

"Are you sure the parliament used the term 'placement' instead of 'directly imprisoned in deep underground'?" Mobius said with some disdain. "Let me guess, that's what they said the first time they got this result, right? And then, because they were concerned about Yu Feng's side, they wanted you to come here and have me act as their lobbyist?"

Klein paused for a moment, then said, "But, Doctor... as things stand, apart from a temporary assistant Michael who's willing to go into Astaroth's ward, no one else dares to go in... and before this, several medical staff members have already been affected by Astaroth's abilities, experiencing hallucinations they can't shake off... Doctor, even if Astaroth is Maple's adopted sister, we can't..."

Indeed, it was because Astaroth's abilities were too uncontrollable that she was imprisoned in the Deepest Abyss. After merging with the Hypervariable Factor of Brahma as a participant in the Chimera Project, her fantasy abilities were even materialized... But in essence, Astaroth was a child who did not fight with the world. She did not have any subjective malice, which led to her being bullied in the Deepest Abyss before joining the Fallen Angel Squad.

For those convicts locked in the deepest prisons, a child who is extremely dangerous but does not show any resistance is the easiest target for venting their evil thoughts.

After joining the Fallen Angel Squad, it was only after Beelzebub stormed into the deepest depths and wreaked havoc that the others dared not provoke Astaroth.

Astaroth doesn't resist doesn't mean the Fallen Angel Squad behind her will tolerate it.

The reason why Astaroth didn't resist was mostly due to her family environment. After all, she grew up in a family where her parents were at odds and would beat and scold their children when they were tired. Resistance would be futile and might even bring more violence. In addition, her nature was also inclined to indifference, so she chose to get used to it and remain silent.

In her previous life, after Astaroth's abilities were detected, she was almost immediately taken to the deepest place, where soldiers pointed their guns at a child's head without daring to lower them, until Aponia appeared and took over Astaroth's subsequent arrangements.

This time, the council initially thought the same thing, but then they realized that Astaroth wasn't without powerful backers; Feng was her biggest backer. If they "invited" Astaroth into the Deepest Abyss without Feng's knowledge, it would at least arouse the hostility of half of the current number of Fusion Warrior.

The senator who criticized Kaede during the Seventh Herrscher Incident is probably digging coal somewhere in Africa now...

This only considers the Fusion Warrior team led by Feng. If Kevin also gets involved...

Will the Tianzhiyu Fusion Warrior choose to overturn the table?

Many members of Congress still harbored reservations about the Fusion Warrior Project. However, because Lionel, as the military representative, strongly promoted the Fusion Warrior Project and forcibly suppressed some of the opposing opinions, they had no grounds for objection. Nevertheless, they still held a disapproving and distrustful attitude towards the Fusion Warrior.

Astaroth's identity is currently too sensitive. First of all, she is a child who is innocent and carefree. The Deepest Place is a place where criminals are imprisoned. Currently, apart from Beelzebub and Esmodius, two madmen who are imprisoned there as Fusion Warrior, Aponia is the only one who voluntarily guards the prisoners. Apart from these two, there are no other Fusion Warrior imprisoned there.

Beelzebub and Esmodius had criminal records, and Maple had signed an imprisonment order for them, stipulating they couldn't be released except when carrying out a mission. So, the others had no objections. However, locking Astaroth, a child who hadn't done anything wrong, in the deepest place...

This means we need to consider what the other Fusion Warrior will think.

Moreover, so far, the evaluation of the Fusion Warrior within the Fire Moth has been mostly positive. It's just that the idea of imprisoning a child in the deepest abyss because an ability is theoretically too dangerous and uncontrollable is not convincing enough.

This uncontrollability remains questionable, after all, no one knows whether Astaroth's ability will become uncontrollable as she gets older.

The answer is yes.

During the Ninth Herrscher incident, Astaroth had already largely controlled her abilities. However, the number of Honkai Beast attacking Griseo was too large. To ensure Griseo's safety, Astaroth chose to Artificial Collapse to fight them. In the end, the Honkai Beast were annihilated, but the Honkai Energy released during her Artificial Collapse still harmed Griseo...

After this, Astaroth felt quite guilty and didn't go to Griseo for a long time, instead locking herself up to practice controlling Honkai Energy.

However, at present, only the survivors, including Mobius, know about this matter. Even some survivors, such as Pardo, Sakura, and Hua, are unaware that this ever happened.

Mobius has been preoccupied with the whereabouts of the Eighth Herrscher Core lately. The unexpected events surrounding the Seventh Herrscher Incident had already put a lot of pressure on her and Vill-V, and now the Eighth Herrscher has also caused trouble. If she can't find the Eighth Herrscher's Herrscher Core, she has to start considering the possibility that the Eighth Herrscher might not be dead.

After the surgery, based on Admil's guess, she immediately conducted a second examination on Seele. The results confirmed Admil's idea that the Stigmata Space had indeed been transferred to Seele, but she still couldn't find the Herrscher Core of the Eighth Herrscher.

As a researcher, she shouldn't fear the unknown, but the end of the unknown might mean someone's second departure. She couldn't afford to gamble with the unknown, so she could only try her best to keep the situation within the known...

Now there's another problem: the placement of Astaroth...

Mobius clicked his tongue softly, then looked at Klein and asked, "What did Lionel say?"

"Sir Lionel's opinion is... he also agrees with the council's idea, but before that, he believes it is necessary to inform Maple, and..." Klein said somewhat hesitantly, "Sir Beifengge believes that if Maple can handle this matter himself, it might not need to be made so serious..."

Mobius glanced again at Rovoc, who was silently typing data and analyzing the possible fate of the Eighth Herrscher 'Herrscher Core in the Imaginary Space over and over again. Noticing Mobius's gaze, Rovoc looked up, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Follow Feng's judgment."

He then went back to typing.

"After all, Feng is Astaroth's brother..." Danzhu said, placing a pile of data on the lab table. "Who knows, maybe when Astaroth wakes up and sees her brother, she'll be so moved that she'll learn how to control her abilities? That's what you call... uh, sibling bond?"

Danzhu's older sister, Cangxuan, placed another pile of experimental data on the lab table and then said, "When I came here with Senior Sister Klein before, I heard Nahamah say that he could pay for a villa to be built for Astaroth to live in alone, so she wouldn't have to stay with those guys in the Deepest Depths."

"But I don't think the council will agree," Klein said to Bi Cangxuan. "Someone has to keep an eye on Astaroth, and Aponia is clearly the best candidate."

"I think that if Nahamah insists on doing this, the council may not really have the right to object," Cangxuan said in a calm tone. "After all, Nahamah, like Miss Eden, is currently a major financial sponsor of the Fire Moth, and Miss Eden is also unusually aligned with Nahamah in terms of attitude."

If we go against our big investors, what will happen to our research funding?

Although there is still funding support from the Mu Continent, who would complain about having too much research funding? Moreover, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. After Nahamah and Eden took down the Fire Moth, the funding for each research department of the Fire Moth was much more abundant. The Present, it's all gone because of the Council's actions. Let's see if those researchers will directly grab knives and go to the Council to argue.

She herself might do it, it's not easy... She's in charge of managing so much funding in the Mobius Lab, her younger sister Zhu is basically just a mascot, Rovoc, an experimental fanatic, has to run between the Mobius Lab and the Spiral Workshop. Dr. Mobius doesn't care about this, and Senior Sister Klein has countless situations to deal with every day. Cangxuan doesn't trust other researchers to handle it, so Cangxuan has to do it herself.

If research funding is cut, Cangxuan will immediately go and settle accounts with the culprit.

Unless the instigator of the incident can fill this funding hole himself, but given the greedy nature of those members of parliament, it's practically a pipe dream for them to come up with the money themselves.

"Then let's wait until Yu Feng wakes up before we talk about it," Mobius said. "If it's really urgent, we can ask Elysia and Lilith as well."

If both Elysia and Lilith feel it's necessary to do so, Zhu Yufeng generally won't object.

Mobius felt a pang of frustration thinking about this, wondering if he should try to learn how to cook some simple dishes himself. The Present Zhu Yufeng knew how to cook...

Hmm... never mind. Looking at it from another angle, she's the only one who needs Yu Feng to bring her food, so that's a different kind of treatment.

On the other side, Michael gently closed the door to the ward and saw Nahamah and Baal standing in the distance, seemingly arguing with the head nurse. Abaddon stood beside him without saying a word, but his gaze was clearly unfriendly.

Feng the Present was asleep and unaware of the situation on this side. Astaroth's support came from the Fallen Angel Squad members of her previous life. Although she had lost her memories, the trust between them still remained.

Baal is the same age as himself and is the most troublesome and impulsive member of the Fallen Angel Squad. The main reason for the argument that broke out the Present there should still be Baal.

The people arguing were divided into two sides: one represented by the head nurse and the councilor, and the other by Nahamah and Baal...

If a conflict breaks out between Fusion Warrior and ordinary people, it will only give Feng a headache, and it will also further worsen the situation, right? Michael narrowed his eyes and thought to himself.

She decided to go forward and find out what was going on.

"Don't think you're so great. Let me tell you, when we were fighting the Honkai Beast on the battlefield, you were probably hiding somewhere. You think you can just take Astaroth away like that?" Baal was practically pointing his finger at the head nurse and yelling, "Is that desolate place in the Deepest Place even fit for a human? Why don't you live there?"

"The Present situation is special..."

"She's only 12 years old. Would you be willing to throw your child into the Deepest Place?" Baal continued to criticize. "I think what Brother Nahamah said is ridiculous. It's not you who's paying for it, so why are you so concerned?"

"This is a decision made by Parliament..."

"Even Yu Feng has a say in the council's decisions, right? Didn't Lionel say he was waiting for Yu Feng's opinion? Why are you all in such a hurry to take Astaroth away?"

The council representative's eyes flickered. If the Fusion Warrior compromised this time, they would inevitably become more and more arrogant in the future, and eventually the council might become meaningless in their presence... Moreover, the Fusion Warrior currently enjoy considerable prestige among the warriors, especially Feng and Kevin...

Thinking of this, the council representative looked at the soldiers behind him. "Ignore them, carry out the council's orders, and 'invite' Astaroth to the Deepest Place."

"You dare..."

Before Baal could finish speaking, Nahamah reached out and stopped Baal, then looked at the parliamentary representative with a smile and said, "Are you sure you want to do this? Or are you so confident that the parliament can protect you and your family after offending me?"

Australia wasn't completely destroyed this time, and Nahamah is still the son of Australia's first family. In addition, his family provided a lot of convenience for the Australia in the aftermath of the Fire Moth, and is the Present an important financial sponsor of the Fire Moth. He doesn't even need to be a Fusion Warrior to directly threaten the council representatives.

Holy crap, you have no sportsmanship!

The council representative's face twitched. He was about to say something when Lionel's voice rang out, "What are you doing? Private conflicts are forbidden within the Fire Moth!"

"Sir Lionel, you've come at the right time. We were merely acting on orders from the Executive Council, but we've been met with..."

"I seem to recall that the council's voices weren't entirely unified, were they? Which council are you acting on orders from?" Lionel glanced at the representative. The Fire Moth Council was the Present divided into three groups: one was Mobius's side, which held a neutral stance; another was May's side, which believed that Astaroth needed to be controlled, but more detailed confirmation was required beforehand; and then there was his own side, which he agreed with May's viewpoint.

So, which parliament issued this order?

Most likely, it was some behind-the-scenes maneuvering by Mei's people. After all, Mei doesn't seem to care much about managing her own faction, and they were only assigned to her side for the sake of easy identification.

Moreover, the people on our side aren't entirely pure either...

Conflict between Fusion Warrior and ordinary people was bound to happen sooner or later, and Astaroth's special ability was just the fuse.

If this situation is not handled properly, it may eventually turn into a direct conflict between Fusion Warrior and ordinary people, making the fight against the Honkai even more difficult.

There needs to be a link between Fusion Warrior and ordinary humans. May can do it, but not entirely. Elysia or Lilith could have also done it, but they went to undergo Fusion Warrior surgery first...

Therefore, the Present if Lionel were able to, he couldn't undergo the Fusion Warrior surgery.

He shifted his gaze to Michael and said, "Isn't there another child who spent time with Astaroth? Let's hear her opinion first."