Chapter 212

The thought that people might become extreme in their pursuit of power once the Stigmata became widespread made Ai Yue's expression turn strange.

Quack! I don't want to turn the Honkai world into a crazy world!

But Ai Yue quickly calmed down and smiled slightly, "I think this problem shouldn't be difficult to solve."

"You already have a plan?"

Although he was already used to Ai Yue's abilities, Mobius was still somewhat taken aback to see the other party so quickly display a confident expression. "Or is my thinking wrong?"

"Your idea is certainly reasonable, but I think it's just a few problems that will arise during the process of perfecting the Stigmata."

Ai Yue explained, "Once the Divine Tone Project is completed, this problem will naturally be solved."

The current Stigmata Project can only achieve dual-phase fusion, so its effect is incomplete and it is naturally difficult to control. However, if the results of the Divine Tone Project can be added to complete it, then given Hua's performance in controlling "Qi", there will be no problem with extreme personality traits.

In other words, as long as the three-phase fusion experiment yields results, everything will be alright.

"That's true, after all, these plans are part of the path to evolution."

Mobius then remembered, "However, before the path of evolution is complete, the power of the Stigmata must be treated with caution."

"That depends on whether Honkai gives us that time."

Ai Yue casually ended the topic, "Alright, now it's my turn."

If there was still a 2% chance of other possibilities before Desdrobia, then after these few days of research and adjustments, Ai Yue is now fully confident that he can perfectly conduct the experiment of Stigmata Project Stigmata.

Therefore, his next experimental subject was naturally himself.

"Wait, I don't think it's the right time yet."

Mobius stopped him, "Have you forgotten that you still possess the power of Herrscher of Constraint within you? If we truly intend to complete the Stigmata Project, no one can guarantee how this power will manifest itself, can they?"

The power of restraint, a force not belonging to humans, is now stored in Ai Yue's body as genetic information, and is mobilized according to his will.

Theoretically, this is already part of Ai Yue, so the Stigmata Project can naturally be effective against it as well. However, this power comes from the Cocoon of Finality, and even Ai Yue dares not say that he can completely control this power.

If it clashes with the power of the Stigmata, Ai Yue will likely die on the operating table.

"That's why it's my turn."

Ai Yue said with a smile, his tone showing no hesitation or retreat, "Don't worry, at least I'm quite skilled at controlling the Authority of Binding. As long as the details are handled well, there won't be any problems."

"Is it because of Elysia?"

Mobius quickly grasped the key point. "You plan to use the Stigmata Project to unravel the mystery of the power within her, so before that, you want to experiment on yourself to ensure everything goes smoothly?"

At this point, Mobius's expression gradually hardened, and he looked at Ai Yue with a cold gaze. "This is not a worthwhile deal."

Admittedly, even Mobius had to admit that Elysia might have played a very important role in the fight against the Cocoon of Finality, but even so, she did not think Elysia was more important Ai Yue.

If she had to choose between these two people to sacrifice, she would choose Elysia without hesitation.

But at the same time, Mobius was also very clear that human life was never a bargaining chip for Ai Yue.

This person would do everything possible to minimize the commotion and destruction that might be caused by Honkai about the Honkai, so how could he possibly choose to sacrifice Elysia?

He would only choose to sacrifice himself, again and again!

Mobius suddenly felt a little irritated because she realized that she couldn't persuade Ai Yue, and there was even a high chance that she would be persuaded by him, so that she would personally handle his surgery and make him do this unprofitable deal.

She had even begun to regret her decision to rush into the project and allow Cosmo to join the Stigmata Project —without Cosmo's results as a case study for analysis, Ai Yue would not have made such a choice now.

As expected, when faced with Mobius's questioning, Ai Yue simply smiled gently, "Isn't this the best way?"

With just one sentence, Mobius was left speechless.

Yes, Ai Yue always uses the best method, and now, it turns out that this really is the best method.

"Come help me, Mobius."

Before Mobius could respond, Ai Yue extended his hand to him, saying, "With you on board, this plan will have a 200% success rate."

Mobius stared at the hand, then shifted his gaze to Ai Yue's face. After gritting his teeth for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out, "Aren't you worried that I'll refuse?"

Ai Yue seemed to have anticipated this question, so he simply raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're willing to do that?"

The two stared at each other for a long time before Mobius finally slapped the other's hand away, looking annoyed. "I need to see the specific plan first!"

"Of course, no problem."

Ai Yue smiled and gestured for him to come this way, "Doctor, this way."

Ai Yue's plan is actually not complicated. It consists of two scenarios. If the Herrscher authority do not conflict with the Stigmata Project, then everyone will be happy. After mastering the Stigmata, Ai Yue can decide how to solve Elysia's problem based on the expression of the Herrscher authority.

However, if the two conflict, then the Herrscher authority shall be relinquished.

Of course, the so-called abandonment does not mean truly removing the Herrscher authority from Ai Yue's body—even if it were possible, Ai Yue would be reluctant to give up such a powerful force.

Rather than abandoning it, it's more accurate to say that the Herrscher authority "bound" to a prescribed scope.

"You want to confine the Herrscher authority to your left arm?"

After reading the proposal, Mobius looked bewildered. "Wait, is it even possible to do something like this?"

"Theoretically it is possible, although the actual operation may be different, but I think the error will not be significant."

Ai Yue said calmly, "In this way, we can both preserve the Authority of Binding and control the power of the Stigmata, achieving the best of both worlds."

"Can it really be the best of both worlds? And your plan isn't even the complete Stigmata Project, is it?"

Mobius shook his head slightly. "One last question: if even this can't guarantee that the two can coexist, then what do you plan to do?"

"Then just give up, what else can you do?"

Ai Yue shrugged, "Anyway, even if the plan fails, no one will die. At most, there will be some minor problems. What's there to be afraid of?"

As Ai Yue said, although the plan was very risky, there were also many insurance measures. Mobius read the plan three times and still couldn't find anything to criticize.

So the experiment began.

Ai Yue lay on the operating table, watching the equipment beside him inject the catalyst into his body, and then slowly closed his eyes.

If there's any problem with this plan, it's that in order to ensure the surgery goes smoothly, Ai Yue must remain fully conscious at all times, so no anesthesia can be used to alleviate the pain, and he has to experience the entire process himself.

So he was a little worried about whether he could hold on.

"If you can't hold on, don't force yourself."

Mobius seemed to sense Ai Yue's nervousness as well, "Anyway, the plan can be terminated at any time before the final step, so don't pretend."

"Since you've said something like that, it would be unreasonable for me not to put on a brave face."

Ai Yue couldn't help but laugh, "Don't worry, I'm not that fragile... Ouch!"

Before he could finish speaking, Ai Yue instinctively gasped – the catalyst had begun to work, and he could feel his body boiling.

This is an illusion caused by the "activation" of genetic information in the body, which also means that the Stigmata Awakening Surgery has officially begun. As long as the monitoring data reaches the critical value, Ai Yue will begin the dual fusion of mind and body under the guidance of Mobius.

However, to the surprise of both of them, things went surprisingly smoothly.

The Herrscher authority did not become agitated due to the Stigmata activation surgery, and there was no life-or-death conflict between the two. Although the conversion speed was somewhat unsatisfactory, nothing Ai Yue happened during the entire process.

Until the moment of true "awakening" arrives.

The awakening of Stigmata involves an "activation" node. At this node, the power within Ai Yue's body will completely erupt, giving birth to new power like igniting an engine.

However, at this juncture, the Herrscher authority, which had always appeared docile, began to stir. As if it had developed self-awareness, it hindered the true fusion of mind and body, causing the activation point to be delayed.

"What do we do now?"

Seeing Ai Yue's trembling body, Mobius asked anxiously, "Should we give up? It's not too late to give up now!"

"No, increase the power!"

Ai Yue squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, "One more injection of catalyst... I have a feeling we're close to success!"

Mobius hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to follow Ai Yue's arrangement—at least since they met, the man in front of him had hardly made any mistakes.

Almost the instant after Mobius completed his operation, a terrifying burst of energy erupted from Ai Yue's body. The powerful energy surge created an exaggerated shockwave that sent everything around Ai Yue flying.

At the same time, the power of restraint spread wildly in all directions, covering the entire laboratory in the blink of an eye. Mobius tried to check Ai Yue's condition by enduring the shockwave of the energy burst, but the next second he was enveloped by the Authority of Binding, instantly draining two-thirds of his strength.

She only had time to reach out and grab Ai Yue before collapsing to the ground and fainting.

Before losing consciousness, she felt as if she had grasped at nothing.

Chapter Ninety-One: That Damn Hollowfied Dog.

The moment the Authority of Binding surged forth, Ai Yue's mind went blank for a brief period.

He had to admit that he had concealed something from Mobius —he had actually anticipated that the Authority of Binding would hinder the "activation" of the Stigmata power, but he had not written it into the plan.

This situation can be resolved using more radical methods, but the consequences cannot be determined solely by simulation calculations.

Perhaps after overcoming this hurdle, everything will go smoothly, allowing Ai Yue to simultaneously wield both power and the power of the Stigmata. Or perhaps the result of forcibly activating it will be a complete defeat, with neither the Stigmata nor the power remaining. In the worst-case scenario, even his life could be threatened.

In other words, the outcome is uncertain and requires taking a gamble—but Mobius would obviously not agree to such a risky decision.

But Ai Yue himself was confident, after all, he was a man with a cheat code.

As long as the system exists, one's soul will not be harmed. As long as the soul can be preserved, the body can simply be replaced with a new one, so there is no need to worry about losing one's life.

Of course, if possible, it would be best to successfully get through this ordeal.

So, was it a success?

This thought finally brought Ai Yue back to his senses. He tried to gather his power, and then he felt the power that was originally in a violent state surge back like a river flowing into a depression, and instantly disappeared.

The whole process was so smooth that even Ai Yue was caught off guard.

It's important to understand that Ai Yue's consciousness isn't that of a true Herrscher. Although he used this method to circumvent the interference of the Cocoon of Finality, he also missed out on some things. This resulted in him possessing the powers of Herrscher, but his control over them was rather rigid.

He usually uses energy perception and energy loss the most, mainly because he can't use other abilities—even the power of energy loss is very low, let alone the "Absolute White Barrier" that the Herrscher once used.

The Prometheus version of the Herrscher of Constraint can drain all the energy from an adult male's body in three seconds at normal power, but for Ai Yue, even if he goes all out, it may take him twice as long or even longer.

But now, he has a vague feeling that he can do the same things as a true Herrscher of Constraint.

Could it be... a huge success this time?

Ai Yue was about to sit up from the operating table to tell Mobius the good news when he found himself feeling lightheaded, as if he had no physical form.

Only then did he notice the chaotic surroundings, the fallen Mobius —and himself, glowing.

What's going on here?

Ai Yue lowered his head and found that he still had the outline of a human, but his whole body had turned into some kind of luminous body—no, he didn't even have a physical body, he was just a simple aggregation of some kind of light.

Could this be a side effect of combining the Authority of Binding and the power of the Stigmata? Can it be changed back?

Such thoughts flashed through Ai Yue's mind, and then he found that the light on his body was gradually dimming. Immediately afterwards, an indescribable feeling came from every corner of his body.

He instinctively realized that this was the feeling of his body undergoing a transformation.

The whole process lasted about five seconds, and Ai Yue returned to his human form. He looked down at his body with a blank expression on his face.

Even with his current knowledge, he found it difficult to understand what had just happened—it seemed similar to Kevin's change, but Ai Yue understood that the two were not the same thing at all.

"Ai Yue?"

Mobius also "woke up" at this moment. She stood up and saw Ai Yue standing on the bed, seemingly lost in thought. "Did it succeed?"

"It seems to have been successful?"

Ai Yue looked at her and said in a somewhat subtle tone, "Although the process felt a little strange."

"What do you mean by 'weird'?"

Mobius blinked, then realized what he meant and gave him a dangerous look. "You didn't expect this outcome either, did you?!"

When Ai Yue asked her to increase the dosage, Mobius had already realized something, but the situation was urgent at the time, and she could not stop to think about it carefully. But after coming to her senses, coupled with Ai Yue's current behavior, how could she not know that Ai Yue had fooled her again?

"Calm down, calm down,"

Ai Yue realized he had let something slip and immediately looked embarrassed. "But, the result was pretty good, right?"

As he spoke, he demonstrated his current strength to the other person. "Look, I can do this now!"

As he spoke, he pointed his palm toward the ceiling above his head.

After the Authority of Binding spread outwards and directly burned all the equipment in the entire laboratory, the backup energy was activated, turning on the emergency lighting system overhead.

As Ai Yue pointed his palm at the light source, Mobius saw that part of the lighting system, which consisted of six groups of lights, suddenly dimmed, while the other lights remained unaffected.

"This..."