"Ah?"
This time, it was Xu Ziling who was dumbfounded.
Wait... I thought the daily reward from the system, that cup of Realgar Wine, should still be in my inventory. Serpent, you didn't secretly drink it, did you? How did your thoughts jump so far ahead? Why are you suddenly offering me benefits?!
Before transmigrating, Xu Ziling had often wrangled with the Dog Boss over a few hundred yuan in overtime pay—someone who would sooner or later be hung from a lamppost. He had never experienced the feeling of a dream being thrown straight into his face. His eyes were unusually blank, and he stammered, unsure what to say, not knowing whether he should be happy or shocked.
However, Professor Mobius directly grabbed Xu Ziling's hand and said with complete seriousness:
"Little Mouse, you didn't hear me wrong. I'm asking whether you ever had a girlfriend in the era you came from. If not, what do you think of me?"
"Hiss!~..."
Faced with Professor Mobius's shocking words, Xu Ziling was completely at a loss. He stood there in a daze for a moment before tentatively saying:
"Doctor, you... you haven't had too much to drink, have you? Although... I've never had a girlfriend, but I don't think I'm worthy of you just giving yourself away like this, Doctor. Besides... I really don't have any intention of doing that."
That was the truth. Before transmigrating, Xu Ziling had been an ordinary office worker with a little social experience. He had no girlfriend, but he had a whole pile of waifus from the world of anime. And amid their repeated warnings of, "Whatever you do, don't let women from the real world trick you!", Xu Ziling had never even held a girl's hand more than a few times before transmigrating, let alone had a girlfriend.
"Hmph. It's not just you, Little Mouse. To tell you the truth, I never intended to date anyone either. But according to the Fire Moth's public-education surveys, 'romance' is the connection between people most likely to transcend everything, isn't it?"
Mobius pursed her lips, then looked at Xu Ziling with a serious expression and continued:
"In short, I believe I was blessed with a fairly decent face, and I do have a certain amount of authority. If you follow me, I can at least guarantee that you won't lack food or clothing for the rest of your life... Of course, that's on the condition that you cooperate with my experiments.
"Or, if you really can't accept it, you can treat this as... well, an experiment. Do you remember what you once promised me? You promised to cooperate with my experiments to the greatest extent possible in order to repay me for saving you... Ahem. In that case, as a doctor, I'm now ordering you to cooperate with me in a long-term experiment. In this experiment, I want you to try every possible means to establish an 'emotional connection' with me. Only then can the variables in the experiment be reduced to a minimum, and only then can I completely trust you."
"How about it, Little Mouse? Think it over."
Mobius added:
"I'm not in a hurry. Give me your answer after you've thought it through. But in my opinion, you probably won't refuse. After all, for you, this is an almost entirely beneficial choice.
"The most obvious benefit is that once your strength is exposed, you only need to tell people that you're my man, Mobius's man. No one will dare ask too many questions, because everyone knows that Mobius is capable of anything. Turning her boyfriend into a humanoid fierce beast isn't anything unusual, either.
"And you just said it yourself: 'When you have the chance to make a choice, remember not to let yourself regret it.' I'm giving you a chance now. It's time for you to make your choice."
"This... this, this..."
Xu Ziling was still somewhat dazed. It wasn't that his mental fortitude was too weak; it was simply that happiness had come too suddenly! When happiness came knocking, he hadn't been prepared for it!
Meanwhile, Mobius held Xu Ziling's right hand tightly. Although she had just said she wasn't in a hurry, everything she was doing now proved that she was actually extremely anxious.
This strange posture continued until...
[Ding~ Daily mission complete: Hold hands with any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser for more than ten minutes.] [Basic mission reward + additional random reward issued: Stellaron Shards*150, Viper Serum.] [Viper Serum: Injecting it will make you immune to all snake venom. As the host is a boy, remember to protect yourself when you're out there. Don't let women from the real world trick you!] [Current Stellaron Shards: 300]
"Hiss~..."
The system's voice pulled Xu Ziling's thoughts back to reality. He raised his head to look at Mobius and subconsciously swallowed.
Although he knew perfectly well that Mobius was painting him a rosy picture, the promise was simply too tempting. After one final internal struggle, Xu Ziling decisively gave up resisting. He coughed twice in a show of composure, then asked Mobius:
"Ahem, what you just said... is it really true, Doctor?"
"Of course it's true."
Mobius thought Xu Ziling was referring to the obvious result she had promised after his strength was exposed, so she answered casually:
"As for how I can do it... you don't need to worry about that. After all, 'because I'm Mobius, of course I can do it.' So? What do you think, Little Mouse?"
Now that things had reached this point, pushing away happiness that had been delivered to his door would make him a complete idiot. Unable to conceal his excitement, Xu Ziling slapped his hands together and said:
"Good. Then, Doctor, I agree. For the rest of my life, I'll devote all my time to this experiment of 'using every possible means to conquer you.' Please raise the difficulty a little, too. Don't let me conquer you too easily!"
"Mm~..."
Looking at Xu Ziling, who had already begun to be troubled by "romance," Mobius nodded in satisfaction. She then reached out, brushed aside Xu Ziling's brilliant golden hair, gently pinched his delicate face, and murmured:
"If you exclude those feminine features... he's actually quite handsome. I suppose he can count as worthy of me."
"Hm? Doctor, what did you just say?"
"...Nothing. I was just wondering how you planned to establish an emotional connection with me and conquer me. Let me make this clear first: if the relationship you build isn't strong enough, I may take the initiative myself."
"It's fine. I like it best when you're proactive."
"You... Sigh, forget it. Whatever. Remember to cooperate with me for another experiment later."
"We still have to wait? ...Not now?"
"Of course not. My body isn't as abnormal as yours. I need to eat. Come on, Little Mouse. Let's go upstairs and taste Elysia's cooking.
"Oh, right, Little Mouse. You said you were helping Elysia make breakfast for the research institute. What did you make?"
"You mean that? It was just a very simple Shenzhou breakfast."
"What?"
"Eight Treasure Congee."
"Ta-da~ Professor Mobius and Little Ziling have gone off to enjoy some time alone together, so I'll have to trouble you, Little Blanca, to taste this 'Congee Treasure' I made, okay?~"
"Congee... Treasure?"
Blanca looked at the bowl of Eight Treasure Congee Elysia had placed in front of him and asked in confusion:
"Miss Elysia... Although the doctor and I don't often come to Shenzhou, and we haven't eaten much Chinese food, if I remember correctly... isn't this supposed to be called Eight Treasure Congee?"
"Huh? But the tutorial I found online said this was called 'Congee Treasure'!"
Elysia scratched her head, then took out her phone and looked through the tutorial again. She immediately displayed the screen to Blanca with a serious expression and said:
"Look! The tutorial says that most people are too ignorant to understand the true meaning behind the name of breakfast congee. But this congee is blessed by the spiritual energy of creation, so it must be a great treasure! That's why it's called 'Congee Treasure.' It can't be wrong, right?~"
As Elysia seriously explained all this to him, the corner of Blanca's mouth twitched slightly. He reached out and scrolled through the screen she was showing him, saying helplessly:
"But, Miss Elysia... look for yourself. The same tutorial also has people calling this 'Congee Venerable MK2000'..."
"Eh? Eh?!"
"Heh. Blanca, I've told you many times, haven't I? Stupidity is a chronic illness. Try not to talk to idiots when you have nothing to do, or you'll catch it."
A familiar voice rang out. Mobius emerged with Xu Ziling from the hidden elevator connecting the research institute and the building. Seeing that her assistant was once again being teased by that Pink Demon, Mobius rolled her eyes at Elysia and said bluntly:
"Let me make this clear first, Elysia. Since you've voluntarily taken on the responsibility of cooking, don't make a pile of strange things. At the very least, they need to meet the two basic standards of being 'convenient' and 'quick.' And if they really taste awful, don't blame me for being blunt."
"Mhm~"
Elysia smiled, then carried another bowl of congee out of the kitchen and said:
"I'll take that as Professor Mobius's cooking trial for a beautiful girl! Come and try it, quick! I was a little rusty when I first started making Chinese food, but I'm very skilled now! Little Ziling, you should try it too. It's definitely more delicious than the instant noodles you used to eat!"
"More delicious than instant noodles?"
Hearing Elysia's audacious claim, Mobius raised an eyebrow and curled her lips disdainfully.
"Give me a break, Elysia. Anyone can boast. Even if I, Mobius, were to starve to death today, get crushed to death by research funds, or leave home and wander off from this place, I would never admit that anything in this world could be more delicious than instant noodles."
"Mhm~ Professor Mobius, you've said so much already, so come and try it! Whether it's delicious or not can only be determined beneath the tongue!"
"Heh. How could an ordinary breakfast like this possibly be better than instant noodles...!!!"
Before you continue