Chapter 107

"That's fine then."

Kevin was relieved and then began to try to figure out in what aspect his abilities had been enhanced. "It doesn't seem like anything has gotten stronger... wait, it seems like my control has gotten stronger?"

He raised his hand, showing Ai Yue a flower made entirely of ice that appeared in his palm.

Although the flower only has four petals and looks very simple, it is undoubtedly a huge step forward for Kevin.

Although he has been Fused Warrior for a year, Kevin's use of his power is still simple and brutal – brute force is all it takes to send bricks flying. While the destructive power is astonishing, the energy consumption is equally astonishing.

This also makes it difficult for Kevin to fight for a long time. After all, even if he has great energy, he cannot withstand such consumption. Moreover, this problem is not unique to him. Almost all Fused Warrior with Physical Enhancement type have similar situations.

There are actually two ways to solve this problem. One is to learn more precise energy control to reduce the energy consumption in battle. The other is to find a way to replenish energy in real time, so that energy can be replenished while being Honkai Energy concentration is high.

Unfortunately, so far, only Cosmo has been able to do the latter, since the "Vishnu" gene in his body is used for this purpose.

Kevin did try to solve this problem through training, but unfortunately, there are still obstacles to humans' mastery of Honkai Beast genes. They cannot truly control this ability forcibly inserted into their bodies as if they were using their own bodies, so Kevin's training did not have any effect.

Then Ai Yue resolved this problem through surgery today.

"Oh, it's alright."

Ai Yue glanced down at it, then nodded and said in an encouraging tone, like that of an elementary school student, "Keep up the good work."

"I'm afraid my efforts are no match for waiting for your next surgery."

Kevin shook his head, decisively choosing to give up, but in the end he couldn't help but ask, "So what's the underlying principle?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain,"

Ai Yue looked thoughtful, as if considering how to make the principle understandable to Kevin. "You can probably think of it as me installing a control system between you and the Honkai Beast genes, so that the Honkai Beast genes can process your commands more efficiently—like this."

Ai Yue pointed to his palm, Kevin looked down and found that the simple flower had somehow turned into a rough doll. Although it had no details other than a general outline, it was clear that she had smooth, long hair.

Kevin quickly grabbed the doll with his hand, a slightly embarrassed expression appearing on his face. Clearly, anyone who knew Kevin even a little bit would know who that doll represented.

"What's there to hide?"

Ai Yue didn't seem to care, but he still teased her, "You don't think there's anyone in the 'Moth to Fire who doesn't know you're love-obsessed, do you?"

"Is it really that much like being love-struck..."

Kevin offered a weak rebuttal, then quickly changed the subject, "Are there any other projects to do later?"

"That's all for you today, go home early."

Ai Yue didn't dwell on that point and cooperated by saying, "After you go back, familiarize yourself with the new changes in your abilities. As you get used to the new Honkai Beast genes, the precision of your control will increase."

The essence of the "Chimera Project" is to extract the best parts of different Honkai Beast genes, fuse them into a person, and then use gene editing technology to create an artificial Honkai Beast that does not exist in reality.

Ai Yue's "Brahma Project" is a further step on the Chimera Project. He is not limited to creating new Honkai Beast, but also wants to incorporate the human aspect into them, creating a new direction for human evolution.

However, the "Brahma Project" and the "Stigmata Project" are actually two completely opposite directions. The former requires the use of Honkai Beast genes, while the latter aims to replace the role of Honkai Beast genes in the Fused Warrior's body by catalyzing Stigmata Factor. They can be said to be mutually conflicting.

In Ai Yue's plan, the former was merely a transitional product, a helpless measure to overcome difficulties using existing conditions, while the latter was the project that could truly open up a new future. For human civilization, they can be said to be equally important.

Of course, if the "Brahma Project" can demonstrate new possibilities in the future, then pursuing both approaches simultaneously is not out of the question.

After Kevin left, Ai Yue took the fresh blood extracted from him to the laboratory next door.

Mobius, who was already getting impatient, saw Ai Yue enter and eagerly stretched out his hand. "Quick, give me the sample!"

She has yet to see a real "Stigmata Factor" with her own eyes.

"Wait a minute, let me save a part of it first."

Ai Yue divided the blood sample into two parts, "At least with blood as a medium, the Stigmata Factor can be preserved for a little longer."

"Why don't you just put it in that artificial Imaginary Space?"

Mobius asked, "Didn't you say before that there was no concept of time in it?"

That's what they say, but that doesn't mean things won't change.

Ai Yue sighed, "You don't think I haven't tried, do you? The Stigmata Factor is even depleting faster, I don't understand what's going on."

"Could it be that it resonates with the Imaginary Space in some way?"

Mobius also became interested, "Theoretically speaking, Honkai Energy is a lower-level energy derived from Imaginary Energy, while Stigmata Factor is a substance born after the human body combines with Honkai Energy, so it seems quite normal that there is a connection between them?"

"Don't make wild guesses in areas you're not good at."

After preserving the blood sample, Ai Yue turned around and gave Mobius a helpless look. "The Stigmata Factor and the Imaginary Space don't resonate so easily. Do you even know the relevant theories of the Imaginary Space? You're just guessing."

"I've heard Mei mention it a few times before,"

Mobius wasn't angry. He leaned against Ai Yue with a smile, watching the equipment extracting the Stigmata Factor operate. "How about we invite Doctor Ai Yue, the most capable human being, to give a talk?"

"Then you don't need to do anything else today."

Ai Yue poked her forehead. "Even if we had time, the Stigmata Factor wouldn't give you that time."

The Stigmata Factor separated from the blood will lose its activity after more than half an hour, the spiritual power contained within it will completely dissipate after one hour, and all substances will be completely sublimated after two hours. Therefore, it can only be fully exerted by injecting it within half an hour of extraction.

Mobius wanted to say something more, but the equipment had already stopped working and turned on a green light, indicating that the Stigmata Factor in the blood sample had been separated and the next step could be carried out.

So she consciously lay down on the bed next to her, took off her clothes, connected the testing equipment to herself, and waited for Ai Yue's next steps.

"Mobius, are you really ready?"

Ai Yue took out the container containing the Stigmata Factor and sucked it into the syringe. "This is the last chance. After this, there will be no going back."

"Why are you being so indecisive?"

Mobius rolled his eyes at him impatiently. "Of course I'm prepared. You could ask me a thousand times and I wouldn't regret it."

"That's fine then."

Without further hesitation, Ai Yue injected the syringe directly into Mobius's body. "To be on the safe side, let's use an intramuscular injection for the first time."

Although these injection methods are no different for Mobius, a rigorous scientific attitude is still necessary.

Ai Yue did not inject the entire Stigmata Factor from the syringe into Mobius's body, because according to his previous simulation, a second experiment should be possible within half an hour.

"That's it?"

Three minutes after the injection, Mobius's appearance remained unchanged, and she herself did not feel anything unusual. So she looked at Ai Yue curiously and asked, "You didn't inject me with glucose, did you?"

"I don't have any glucose here at all."

Ai Yue focused his gaze on the monitoring equipment beside him, not on Mobius. Then he frowned slightly. "The data shows a slight change. Don't you feel anything?"

"I don't feel anything?"

Mobius subconsciously touched his arm. "It's just a little cold. Should I put my clothes on first?"

"Cold? That's to be expected."

Ai Yue nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. "If the characteristics of the Stigmata Factor are closely related to the abilities of their holders, then isn't low temperature exactly the ability that Kevin possesses?"

Now that you mention it, it does seem to be true.

Mobius also realized, "And it seems to have gotten even colder..."

"It's going to get even colder, hang in there."

Ai Yue remained indifferent at this moment, saying, "Take a moment to sense if there are any other changes. Theoretically, you should be able to control a portion of Kevin's power."

Once he got into research mode, Ai Yue put his personal feelings aside.

"I'll give it a try."

Mobius also entered a research mode, then closed his eyes and began to carefully feel the changes in his body. "Tsk, it's so cold, I feel like my brain is going to freeze."

"After all, snakes are cold-blooded animals, but Honkai Beast shouldn't be affected by temperature changes,"

Ai Yue began to ponder another matter, "'Sesha' may be snake-shaped, but it's not a snake in essence. Could it be that Honkai Beast have prototypes?"

"Honkai Beast don't just appear out of thin air; it's normal for them to have genetic prototypes."

Mobius added a sentence, and then couldn't help but reach out to Ai Yue, "I can't take it anymore, it's so cold, come and hug me."

Ai Yue subconsciously took a step toward Mobius, but then stopped warily. "Wait, you're not that delicate... Are you trying to trick me?"

He had witnessed firsthand how cruel Mobius could be to him, repeatedly trying experiments that would cause her to self-destruct. How could he possibly ask for help from others just because of a mere low temperature?

"Tsk, I suddenly find your keenness a little annoying."

Seeing his seduction plan fail, Mobius clicked his tongue in disbelief, then raised a finger at Ai Yue, saying, "You really are not a gentleman at all."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thin layer of ice appeared on the finger that Mobius had raised. The ice extended upwards from the tip of Mobius' finger and finally turned into a sharp ice spike.

"It actually works?"

Seeing this, Ai Yue breathed a sigh of relief, but he still didn't forget to monitor Mobius's condition. "How are you feeling now?"

"I feel..."

As Mobius was speaking, she suddenly fell silent, and at the same time, her raised arm fell limply, as if she had lost all feeling in it.

At the same time, the instruments monitoring Mobius's condition began to alarm wildly, and the information on the monitor showed that various data in her body had become disordered to varying degrees.

The level of chaos was as absurd as a human body in a comedy cartoon starting to convulse and deform after drinking a bizarre potion.

"What's going on?!"

Ai Yue immediately rushed to Mobius, trying to wake him up, "Mobius? Mobius! Can you hear me?"

At this moment, Mobius's body was extremely cold and even became stiff, making Ai Yue wonder if he had been frozen solid.

However, since it was the first experiment, Ai Yue was unable to quickly neutralize the Stigmata Factor to interrupt the experiment. He could only hold Mobius and try to support her in this way.

A moment later, about five minutes later, the alarm from the monitoring equipment gradually subsided, and Mobius's body returned to normal temperature and became soft.

She then opened her eyes, looked at Ai Yue whose expression had relaxed, and revealed a somewhat subtle look. "I just saw Kevin's memories."

Ai Yue frowned immediately.

63

Chapter Sixty-Three: If you stab me, I'll stab you too.

Neither of them spoke for a moment, but Mobius was able to glean some details from Ai Yue's expression.

"You don't seem surprised?"

Realizing something, Mobius couldn't help but ask, "Did you foresee this happening all along?"

"Theoretically speaking, this is indeed possible, because Aponia can do the same thing, but I didn't expect you to be able to do this on your first encounter with the Stigmata Factor,"

Ai Yue snapped out of his thoughts, "What exactly are these memories?"

"There's not much to say. The content is short and fragmented. It's called a memory, but it's really just a collection of images."

Recalling those memories filled with images of the training room, Mobius couldn't help but shake his head. "To be honest, if I hadn't never been to the training room, I probably wouldn't be able to tell if those were Kevin's memories."

Those memories were so vivid that Mobius momentarily thought they were things she had forgotten. Fortunately, her mind was clear enough, and the memories were too fragmented to cloud her judgment.

Thinking of this, Mobius pressed on again, "What do you mean by saying Aponia can do it?"

"By attaching her spiritual power to certain objects, Aponia can convey what she wants to express to the next person who comes into contact with those objects,"

Ai Yue explained, "In other words, mental energy can be used as a medium to transmit memories. Since the Stigmata Factor contains Kevin's mental energy, it is reasonable for you to see fragments of his memories during your contact with him."

But then Ai Yue also showed a puzzled expression. "But Aponia was able to do such a thing under intentional manipulation. Kevin is neither a psycho-sensory Fused Warrior nor does he have the intention to manipulate things, yet he can still do something similar. So at the moment, I find it hard to judge which of the two of you is more at fault."

"So, it's possible that I unconsciously absorbed some of its spiritual energy, which allowed me to access Kevin's memories?"

Mobius sat up with a frown. "So what do we do next? Try again?"

"Let's be careful first. Absorbing too much of other people's memories might cause some disturbance to your consciousness. I don't want other people's personality traits to appear on you in the future."

Ai Yue put the remaining Stigmata Factor into the analysis device. "Moreover, judging from the current situation, the stimulation of external Stigmata Factor cannot produce any positive benefits for you."

In their initial idea, if there were indeed hidden Stigmata Factor in Mobius's body, then the stimulation of external Stigmata Factor might make them manifest. Even if the expected effect could not be achieved, at least the changes in data could be used to observe the degree to which Mobius's body adapted to the Stigmata Factor.

However, from the extremely chaotic data changes just now, Ai Yue could see that Mobius's body was rejecting the Stigmata Factor. Before figuring out the reason for this reaction, it was obviously not a wise choice to expend the Stigmata Factor to torment Mobius.

"What can you see from just one experiment? You need to repeat the experiment at least five times to identify the problem through comparison, right?"

Mobius looked at Ai Yue with displeasure, "It's rare to have such a useful volunteer, and you're just going to waste it like this?"

"What's the rush? There will be plenty of times when you can come in handy later."

Ai Yue dismissed this, saying, "Don't forget, this is just the first plan in the experiment. Get up and analyze the data; we'll need it later."

"You bastard..."