Aponia's Unlock

Next, Saltwind City will only attract a bunch of people with ulterior motives.

And only after she leaves will the little white mice that want to rush ashore follow her footsteps, or rather, the scent of the small sharks, and avoid this dilapidated little town.

Therefore, instead of wasting time here, Mobius should think carefully about how to safely leave this place, and even Iberia, with this perfect experimental fish in its hand.

And so, the colossal, serpentine beast of Mobius, in its Artificial Honkai Eruption form, marched toward the hills of the Iberia wasteland amidst the awe and fear of the people of Saltwind City.

Artificial Honkai Eruption monster, a towering snake, moved toward the hills of the Iberia wilderness amidst the awe-inspiring gazes of the people.

"You said an unidentified behemoth has appeared in the location of Saltwind City? And Seaborn is also coming ashore for unknown reasons?" The Grand Inquisitor looked at the messenger while reading the email, seemingly trying to read deception from her expression.

But her fearful expression revealed one fact: she was not lying.

"I remember Gran Faro isn't that far from Saltwind City ..." He wiped his hand cannon and called back, "Irene, has everything been handed over here?"

"Yes... um, I mean it's finished, teacher." The petite girl counted the scrolls in her hands and carefully handed them to the official she was questioning.

"Go pack up. Next stop: Saltwind City. Let's see which guys angered them."

"Hmm." Upon hearing this, the girl nodded slightly and then headed towards her room.

Watching the girl's departing figure, the Grand Judge was pondering something else entirely...

Giant beast... Giant beast?

Just as the Iberian Inquisition judges were preparing to head to Saltwind City to investigate, a Rhodes Island reconnaissance squad that was currently near Saltwind City was already sweating profusely.

Scout sat in front of the camp, getting details about Saltwind City from the team's reporters. "Little Mary, explain in more detail. What do you mean by 'a giant beast suddenly crawled out of the ground, and then the back of the church collapsed'?"

Little Mary took a few deep breaths and said seriously again, "It was a giant creature with snake-like hands that suddenly crawled out from behind the church, and after it came out, the back started to collapse! It smashed up the church."

"Oh, right! I also saw that the monster was holding a woman with silver hair in its hand!"

"White hair?" Scout thought for a moment. "Are you sure it's the target of this mission?"

"..."

Little Mary thought for a moment, shook her head, and looked at the captain with a complex expression that was hard to describe.

Scout, seeing the fear on Little Mary's face, knew that she probably hadn't seen anything else useful in this regard.

So he didn't ask any more questions, lest he further provoke her fragile rationality.

Scout quickly organized the situation in his mind and then began assigning tasks.

"Next, Thumbtack, Yulan, Longtone, you take Little Mary and leave here to report the situation to the main ship."

"Leifa, Mulam, Wineberry Core, Solana, Mimi. The five of you will first help evacuate the residents of Saltwind City, and record the situation on the coastline to report to the Inquisition. Act as quickly as possible."

Seeing that Leifa to argue, Scout waved his hand and said, "Alright, no need to say more. The upcoming task is very important, and I trust you with this kind of mission."

"Then, Silinke, Puter, and Longscorpion, we'll pair up and try to track that giant beast. I have a feeling this will have a big impact. Once we get a feel for the situation, we'll all retreat. Absolutely no conflict, understand?"

As a commander with years of war experience, Scout's orders were short and authoritative.

After everyone nodded and understood their purpose, they didn't waste any more time and went about their own tasks.

Scout and his team began investigating in the direction the giant beast had left, slowly making their way towards the desolate hills of Iberia.

While the Iberia judge and the Rhodes Island reconnaissance squad were sweating profusely over this matter.

In a safe spot in the wasteland... Mobius, who had attracted a great deal of attention, was leisurely warming himself by a fire with the unconscious Laurentina, contemplating his next move.

Chapter 7 Unlocking Aponia

Mobius, sitting in a sheltered spot by the fire, had a slightly strange expression on his face. The reason...

She looked at her own hand, which was resting on Laurentina's, and at the progress of unlocking [Discipline] Aponia displayed on the panel, and fell into deep thought.

It seems that her operation this time has an unexpected bonus.

To be honest, if Mobius hadn't reached out and touched Laurentina's hand while trying to adjust her position by the fire, she wouldn't have known that this little fish on the ground could unlock Aponia...

It can only be said that Specter's nun's habit was still too covering her up. Mobius carried her in her Artificial Honkai Eruption Form for so long, but even after putting her on the ground, he didn't touch her skin to trigger the unlock.

Of course, Mobius can't rule out that the situation is caused by the flawed system's judgment rules...

"..."

Thinking about his next move, Mobius seemed to remember something, his eyes flickered, and he thoughtfully turned his gaze back to Laurentina was still unconscious.

If the goal is to minimize trouble, she should give Laurentina, the experimental subject, an injection right now to keep her unconscious and prevent her from waking up and causing trouble.

However, out of humanitarian considerations and overall deliberation, she should not administer any additional medication.

After all, Mobius still doesn't know Specter's physical condition or other data. If he were to inject any additional drugs rashly, it could very likely cause conflicts, side effects, or even harm this rare "experimental subject."

"This is such a hassle..."

Muttering something under her breath, Mobius withdrew her gaze, her expression somewhat displeased. Ultimately, it was because she hadn't prepared adequately this time... she hadn't made any preparations to bring an extra person.

However, there was no way around it. Before coming here, Mobius hadn't expected that her target would change from the extremely numerous and resource-intensive lab rats like Seaborn to the rare experimental subject like Laurentina.

In her original plan, after collecting enough samples and materials in Saltwind City, she intended to have Sakura or Vill-V summon her back directly.

But now... Mobius can't exactly slice Laurentina, stuff her into a jar, store her in a spatial dimension, and just pack her up and take her away, can he?

Putting aside whether it's cruel or not, she can't stand it just from the perspective of waste!

Mobius wants is a lively, active experimental subject that she can continuously study, and if it cooperates well enough, she can also help with its treatment.

Instead of some lifeless slices, which she doesn't lack.

Now Mobius can only hope that Aponia will be unlocked soon. Even she has to admit that sometimes the Commandments are much more effective than potions.

However, Aponia's appearance wasn't all good news for Mobius. Thinking about that guy's indecisive personality, even though it was "herself," she couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

When the time comes, the question of who will end up with Laurentina will likely involve a lot of back and forth between the two incompatible individuals...

Unfortunately, given the lack of preparation, Mobius had no choice but to prioritize bringing Aponia out of the way. Who else could she rely on? Senti? Well, that just made them even less compatible...

Now that Senti has been brought over, the Mobius and she didn't immediately start fighting can be considered as a way of showing consideration for each other, since they are both "one of us".

Time flew by and it was already afternoon--

At this moment, a "girl" with light green, shoulder-length short hair and a pair of cat ears on her head, who was sitting in a car with people on the road, was looking at the report in her hand with a serious expression, seemingly lost in thought.

This "girl" is none other than Kal'tsit, the current head of Rhodes Island, and the report she is holding is the investigation report of the investigation team that went to Saltwind City in Iberia, which was recently delivered to her.

Some time ago, through a transaction, Rhodes Island learned about an Abyssal Hunters being trapped, and is now sending a team to investigate and prepare for rescue.

However, before the rescue team could even arrive, news from the investigation team alerted Kal'tsit, Rhodes Island's busiest woman...

But she couldn't leave it alone. Looking at the report about the unidentified behemoth and the person it had abducted, who was suspected to be their "target," she couldn't just ignore it. Especially since the reconnaissance team had lost track of the beast, or rather, couldn't find any trace of it...

So why would giant beasts appear on the beach? Giant Seaborn organisms?

Unable to figure out the specifics, Kal'tsit had no choice but to personally lead her people to the scene.

At the same time, she was also relieved that, in order to prevent any unexpected events from occurring during this rescue operation, and because she had some matters to attend to Iberia, it would be relatively convenient for her to meet up with the reconnaissance team.

Before long, Mobius, who had already changed positions several times with his "spoils of war," welcomed the arrival of night.

On the vast Iberia wilderness, Mobius looked up at the countless illusory stars, then at Laurentina beside him, who was still asleep and whom he was holding onto, and felt a little uneasy.

She still really disliked the burden, even though she had brought him along herself...

There's one more thing Mobius had to complain about: why hadn't Laurentina woken up all day? What on earth did that good-for-nothing Quintus do to her?!

If she hadn't been able to confirm that the person she was holding was still alive, based solely on the temperature and the fact that the person hadn't moved for so long, she would have suspected that she had rescued a "corpse."

While Mobius certainly didn't want Laurentina to wake up before she unlocked Aponia, as time went on, even she couldn't help but start to worry about the lab rat's health...

"Whispering sound..."

With a frustrated snort, Mobius began planning her next steps. She felt it was essential to find a decent city so she could get Laurentina a proper medical checkup.

She had to be careful during this process, as the Iberia were still quite hostile towards the Aegir, and having a small white shark with her was rather conspicuous.

These are the lab rats I caught myself; no matter how annoying it is, I have to check on them to make sure they don't die.

Just as Mobius was thinking about her next plan, the system unlocking sound she had been waiting for all day suddenly rang in her mind, interrupting her thoughts.

[Ding, (Discipline) Aponia has been unlocked.]

"..."

P. S.: I saw a cockroach in the living room late at night, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. I panicked! o? o