Mobius's pupils dilated and contracted repeatedly, as if caught in an earthquake...
But soon, Mobius's emotions shifted from shock to a surge of frenzied delight.
She didn't care much about having her First Kiss forcibly taken. What truly caught Mobius's attention was the physical strength displayed by the man who had leaped out of the statue.
He possessed enough strength to effortlessly pounce on her, enough flexibility to adjust all the bones in his body at will... And the fact that he had found a way to escape in less than a minute after awakening proved that his intelligence was by no means lacking.
Most importantly, after pinning her down for so long, this fellow had done nothing to hurt her aside from swallowing the noodles that had not yet gone down her throat. This showed that the man who had leaped out of the statue might be capable of communicating with humans.
If he could be studied, he would absolutely be a magnificent creation capable of advancing all of humanity's evolution!
Having thought of this, Mobius, who was salivating over Xu Ziling's body, was no longer in a hurry to resist.
Faced with the strange man who kept searching her mouth with his tongue for scraps of food, Mobius instead took the initiative to meet him, preserving a sample of his saliva in her mouth... Fortunately, she was Mobius—the Mobius who would stop at nothing for experimental data. If it had been any other doctor, they would either have been so aggrieved that they lost their mind or been scared to death on the spot.
After all, discovering a new microorganism was a major biological breakthrough, but discovering a gigantic new life-form with terrifying strength could mean a civilization-ending catastrophe.
As for Blanca, she didn't have Mobius's powerful adaptability. At the end of the day, she was merely a girl working under Mobius.
After seeing the "stone statue man" break free from the statue's restraints and leap out of the tank in an extremely twisted and bizarre posture, then pounce on her own doctor like a beast, Blanca was so frightened that her vision went black and she fainted on the spot. She was a living negative example.
Back to Xu Ziling himself.
He only felt that his mind was groggy. Subconsciously obeying his instinct to feed, he searched for the nearest food.
After finishing the instant noodles, his body's instincts urged Xu Ziling to eat the "green little bun" in front of him as well. But just after he took a bite, the smell of a snake made him recoil his tongue, and he turned to search for other food.
By the time Xu Ziling's rationality gradually returned, the table before him was already covered with empty instant-noodle cups.
Across the table, a big sister with long green hair pushed over a cup of prepared instant noodles. Her pair of pinkish-green eyes kept blinking at him, as if she were looking at some rare species.
"..."
Seeing the big sister in a white lab coat, her face filled with delight, Xu Ziling fell silent for a moment. Then he set down the cup of noodles and tentatively said:
"...Serpent?"
"Hmm?"
Mobius blinked and asked in delight,
"You understand our language?"
"Hiss~"
Xu Ziling couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
However, when Serpent heard him inhale sharply, she froze for a moment before tentatively saying:
"Hiss hiss hiss?"
"...Huh?"
"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss?"
"...Wait a moment. Let me process this."
Having appeared here for no apparent reason and inexplicably heard the language of snakes, Xu Ziling was somewhat dazed. He roused his muddled mind and began trying to figure out his current situation.
The person before him had distinctive snake pupils and long, light-green hair. Combined with the greed and wicked charm toward evolution between her brows, she was definitely Mobius, without a doubt.
The room he was in also had the typical interior of a research institute, with everything centered on efficiency and practicality. All he could see were instruments of various sizes.
Was this Mobius's research institute?
And his appearance here... Could it be that he had transmigrated to the Previous Civilization before the Honkai?
Xu Ziling looked again at the Blanca who had fainted in the room, and his heart immediately sank halfway.
No, seriously, how had he transmigrated to this hellhole?
While he had still been inside the statue, Xu Ziling had been unable to see or sense anything outside. But the system had said it was the Star Rail Cultivation System, so he had assumed he had transmigrated to some universe in Star Rail.
But the truth was that the moment Xu Ziling opened his eyes, he saw an endlessly wicked snake, with his future mother-in-law lying beside her.
Quite clearly, this was the Previous Civilization era of the Honkai Impact 3rd universe.
System, weren't you going to explain this?
[Beep~ System restarting...]
"..."
The system was clearly useless. After thinking for a moment, Xu Ziling merely shrugged.
Whatever. The Previous Civilization it was. In many fanfiction novels Xu Ziling had read before transmigrating, the Previous Civilization was described as incredibly dangerous and utterly despairing.
Well, Xu Ziling just refused to believe that.
I can't do anything?
No, no. With the system in hand, I can do anything!!
"Little Mouse, are you listening to me?"
Seeing that Xu Ziling remained motionless, Mobius set the cup of noodles aside and tentatively reached out to tap him on the forehead.
When Xu Ziling showed no sign of anger, Mobius couldn't help sighing in relief.
At the very least, based on her current communication experiments, she had discovered that this humanoid life-form who had leaped out of the Ancient Stone Statue was friendly and communicative as long as he was not starving. Mobius could now converse with Xu Ziling without worrying that this "ancient life-form" would suddenly lash out and hurt someone.
She and Blanca had sneaked out this time, so naturally they had not brought bodyguards or anything of the sort. If she ended up dying at the hands of her own Little Mouse, she truly wouldn't even have a place to cry.
"Sorry... I spaced out just now..."
With the spiritual encouragement of the system supporting him, Xu Ziling had naturally accepted the fact that he had transmigrated to the Previous Civilization with remarkable speed. Once his thoughts returned, he turned to Mobius and said,
"Please, continue."
"Hmm... If... assuming! Assuming you really can understand my language, then tell me your name first, all right?"
Mobius did her best to show Xu Ziling goodwill. After all, according to the experience she had learned from some unknown little fairy, building a good relationship with the victim... no, with the experimental subject could make the entire experiment much easier.
Xu Ziling studied Mobius's chest very carefully.
Hmm... She was a big♀ snake with a generous bosom. Her personality was qualitatively different from that of the extremely wicked snake in later-day Paradise. There was no need to panic now. At the very least, the woman before him wouldn't tie him to an operating table while he was asleep.
After sorting that out in his mind, Xu Ziling adjusted his excitement at being reborn inside a statue after transmigrating. He smiled at Mobius and said:
"Doctor, before asking someone else their name, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
Mobius's eyes lit up when she saw that Xu Ziling had actually said so much in one breath.
She had still been uncertain, but now it seemed... this strange man who had leaped out of the statue had indeed learned the language she used!
He had only been awake for less than half an hour, most of which he had spent eating, yet merely by listening to a few casual remarks from her, he had already learned the language she used... What kind of terrifying intelligence was this?!!
If she could obtain his experimental data... As long as she could obtain his experimental data! The experimental funding from "M" would be approved without question. And those old fogies in the Fire Moth who had opposed her would have to come and apologize to This Serpent!
At that thought, Mobius couldn't help licking her lips before breaking into an involuntary smile.
Seeing Mobius grin wickedly to herself in front of him, Xu Ziling was somewhat surprised.
Although he knew that the big snake and the little snake would differ, Xu Ziling hadn't expected the difference to be this great.
At the very least... the Mobius from the game would absolutely never show such a smile.
Then what had turned Mobius into the extremely wicked figure she would become in later-day Paradise?
Hmm... Huh! It must have been ()'s doing!
"Doctor?"
Seeing Mobius looking as though she were lost in Imagination Time, Xu Ziling couldn't help asking,
"Are you all right?"
"Ahem."
Mobius coughed twice in a tactical manner, adjusted her state, and said,
"My name is Mobius. As you can see, I'm a down-and-out biologist."
As she spoke, Mobius pointed at Blanca, who had already been carried to a chair and was unconscious, and added,
"There, this is my experimental assistant, Blanca... You don't need to worry about her for now. She has been exhausted for several days helping me leave M Continent overnight. Let her sleep for a while."
Xu Ziling nodded thoughtfully and said:
"My name is Xu Ziling. Xu as in the character for 'two people,' and Ziling as in 'tomb.' Doctor, you can call me by my name or just Ziling."
Seeing how easygoing Xu Ziling seemed, Mobius nodded in satisfaction and said:
"Xu Ziling? All right, I'll remember that. However, I usually call you Little Mouse... It's a personal habit, so don't worry about it. Do you need anything right now? I'll do my best to satisfy you, but in return, after a while, I hope you can cooperate with me in conducting a... small experiment."
"No problem."
Xu Ziling agreed without the slightest hesitation. Come on, having a big sister conduct experiments on him—just imagining it was exciting enough!
"It's just... Doctor, I'm still very hungry. Could we eat first and talk about the experiment afterward?"
"Easy... But all we have left here is instant noodles. Can you accept that?"
"I'm not picky... As long as Doctor doesn't mind how much I eat."
The laboratory rocked back and forth, and Blanca opened her eyes.
She said she had just had a dream.
She had dreamed that the laboratory went bankrupt... today.
Before you continue