Mobius ended up crying after all.
She cried so hard that she could barely catch her breath.
How many three-year periods could a person have in their life? Blanca had given Mobius the three years that had come infinitely close to being the most precious of her life. During those three years, she had conscientiously done everything an assistant was supposed to do, worked without complaint, and followed all of Mobius's arrangements. She had even been responsible for Mobius's daily routine—waking her up, reminding her to go to bed early, and so on.
But what about Mobius?
Apart from that graduation certificate at the end, she had given Blanca almost nothing. Even when they parted, she had been unable to produce a decent gift.
Affection and gifts had once been the things Mobius despised most, but now they had become a thorn that stabbed viciously into her heart.
She wore an expressionless face and remained silent, yet she kept pacing, running, and rolling around the room... Her mouth kept muttering, "It's fine, it's fine. I don't care," while tears continued to fall one after another.
In the end, Mobius could not hold back anymore. She threw herself onto the bed where Blanca had once lived and burst into loud sobs, heartbroken like a child.
"Waaah... Ah... Blanca... My dear Blanca... How could you just leave like that, aaaah! I can't accept this!! Waaah... Hen, you bastard! If I find out later that you dared bully Blanca, I, Mobius, swear I'll kill you! Ah... Ah, Blanca... My dear Blanca... Waaah waaah waaah..."
It had to be said that crying really did not suit Mobius.
How should this scene be described...? Had you ever seen someone cry so hard on a bed that... Ah, forget it. That description did not suit Mobius either.
In any case, Elysia and Xu Ziling were both thoroughly amazed at the sight of Mobius like this.
Elysia had wanted to go over and comfort her, but she also understood that approaching her at a time like this would probably have the opposite effect. Thus, after patting Xu Ziling on the shoulder, she silently left the room.
At the same time as Xu Ziling felt sad for Mobius, he also seemed to gradually understand something.
So... the [perform a bout of heart-wrenching sobs in front of any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser] in the daily task... was supposed to be performed like this?
It was not difficult, after all. Xu Ziling already felt sorry about Blanca's departure. Seeing Mobius crying her eyes out, he simply hugged her and cried with her. While helping her shoulder some of her emotional burden, he could conveniently complete his daily task as well.
Mobius cried until late at night before gradually calming down.
Xu Ziling, meanwhile, stayed by her side until the early hours of the morning.
[Ding~ Daily task completed.] [Daily Task: Perform a bout of heart-wrenching sobs in front of any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser.] [Basic Task Reward: Stellaron Shards*150] [Random Item Reward: Blanca's Notebook.] [Blanca's Notebook: Proof that an assistant followed a doctor for three years. It records her experience as an assistant during those three years and the doctor's daily habits. This is a parting gift from its owner. Please keep it safe.] [Host's remaining Stellaron Shards: 450.]
The next day.
[Ding~ Daily task refreshed.] [Daily Task: Maintain an ambiguous pose with any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser for more than thirty minutes.] [Task Reward: Stellaron Shards*150, Random Item Reward*1]
"Hiss~"
Xu Ziling had spent the entire night sitting by the bed and watching over Mobius without sleeping. He rubbed his somewhat sore temples as he looked at the daily task appearing in his field of vision and fell into thought.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Ziling raised a finger and tapped his forehead, saying inwardly:
System, are you sure this daily task isn't leading me somewhere strange?
[I... I don't know?] [If you don't like it... I'll see if I can change it for you?]
...Then change it and let me see.
[Ding~ Today's daily task has been changed to a weekly task.] [Weekly Task: Maintain an ambiguous pose with any Valkyrie/Flame-Chaser for more than thirty minutes.] [Task Reward: Stellaron Shards*150, Random Task Reward*1] [Weekly Task Note: Upon seeing this task, you may wonder: Is this weekly task different from the daily task? No... Are they still different? For example... the completion period of the latter has been extended to one week instead of one day. That is a full seven days, you know?]
Xu Ziling: ...
Fine.
Xu Ziling wore an utterly speechless expression, but at this point, he should have gotten used to it.
Rather than pursue this matter, Xu Ziling was actually more curious about where he was supposed to find a Valkyrie or Flame-Chaser to help him complete this "ambiguous" daily task now that Mobius had cried herself unconscious and Elysia had also become unusually restrained.
He could only take things one step at a time.
"Mm..."
As he pondered, Mobius's eyelashes moved slightly on the bed in the bedroom. She looked as if she was about to wake up.
Xu Ziling quickly gathered his thoughts and prepared himself to welcome Mobius when she awoke.
"Hiss~..."
After rubbing her temples, Mobius sat up on the bed while covering her aching forehead. Her turquoise snake-like eyes swept across the room, which undoubtedly contained only Xu Ziling and Mobius.
"Doctor, you're awake."
Seeing Mobius wake up, Xu Ziling moved closer and said,
"You seem to need a cup of hot coffee, Doctor."
Mobius rubbed her temples, which were still somewhat sore and painful, then looked around the room. Finally, her gaze fell on Xu Ziling beside the bed as she asked with a complicated expression,
"Little Mouse... did you watch over me all night?"
"Yes."
Xu Ziling answered honestly,
"But I used to stay up all night regularly. You don't need to feel awkward about it, my doctor."
"..."
Mobius let out a long sigh and leaned her back against the headboard. Her snake-like eyes, usually filled with extreme wisdom, rarely showed a trace of dazedness. After a long while, she murmured,
"So... Little Mouse, Blanca really left?"
Xu Ziling's breathing suddenly stopped, because Mobius's question was a deadly one that tested his emotional intelligence.
If he said yes, he would be an insensitive blockhead. If he said no, he would be lying to her. Either answer would ruin their growing rapport. The question seemed to have no solution.
But Xu, the great actor, was a genius actor who could still live comfortably and freely under the exploitation of the streetlamp boss. Looking at the problem from another angle, if he could not solve the problem, he could solve the person who had caused it.
Applied to the current situation, the same principle worked. Since he could not answer, he would simply throw the ball back and let Mobius answer for herself. That would be better for both her and Xu Ziling.
Thinking this, Xu Ziling leaned slightly forward in the chair beside the bed. After supporting his cheeks with both hands, he asked in return,
"Doctor, before asking this question, you already had an answer in your heart, didn't you?... Senior Blanca ultimately has her own life. You should learn to accept that."
"Heh..."
Mobius laughed, though there was a hint of self-mockery in it.
She did not continue asking about that topic, so Xu Ziling had achieved his purpose.
A long time passed again. Only then did the dazed look in Mobius's snake-like eyes gradually fade. Xu Ziling continued watching over her as usual. Just as Blanca had said before leaving, Mobius truly needed companionship right now. It was fine even if he said nothing to her.
After another while, when Mobius's stomach finally protested to her brain, she came back to her senses. She had originally intended to glance outside at the sunlight to determine the time, but instead saw the windows completely sealed off by thick curtains.
After giving a helpless smile, Mobius turned her gaze toward Xu Ziling and said,
"Little Mouse, putting experiments aside, how about we talk about something else?"
Hearing Mobius's request, Xu Ziling smiled and nodded.
"Of course. Doctor Mobius, as the person who is going to conquer you, I naturally have to be prepared to listen to your feelings at all times. That is, after all, a boyfriend's most basic duty, isn't it?"
Mobius did not react much. She merely slumped against the headboard, her somewhat complicated gaze turning toward the incandescent lamp on the bedroom ceiling.
Xu Ziling knew that Mobius was not looking at the lamp, but at the person who had once sorted through research reports beneath it.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
Mobius extended a finger and unconsciously tapped her forehead. Her gaze remained fixed on the ceiling of the research institute as she said,
"Little Mouse, let me ask you something... What kind of person do you think Blanca is?"
"She is a conscientious assistant and also a role model worth learning from."
Xu Ziling answered without hesitation.
"Only that...?"
Mobius murmured to herself. She seemed somewhat disappointed and did not appear to want to continue.
Seeing her expression, Xu Ziling was not surprised. After thinking for a moment, he spoke again,
"Doctor, I haven't known Senior Blanca for very long. Strictly speaking, I only met her three days ago... And during those three days, my most direct impression of Senior Blanca was that she was a good assistant, absolutely conscientious when it came to her work.
"But I need to add that Blanca was conscientious about her work, and only her work. But her entire life couldn't consist of work alone, could it, Doctor?
"Perhaps Senior Blanca did once harbor certain special feelings for you, Doctor, but most of those feelings were the affection between teacher and student. Doctor Mobius, Senior Blanca isn't Elysia. She ultimately has a life of her own to live and her own life to face. Aside from her identity as your experimental assistant, she is also a wife in a family, and even more importantly, the mother of a baby. She still has an unfinished story waiting for her to continue writing... Can you understand what I'm saying, Doctor?"
"..."
Mobius fell silent.
A long time passed again... A very long time, so long that even Elysia came and knocked on the door to remind the two people inside that it was lunchtime.
After barely returning to her senses, Mobius looked toward Xu Ziling and asked,
"Little Mouse... What day of the week is it?"
"Hm?"
Although he did not understand why Mobius had suddenly asked, Xu Ziling still thought back to the time he had seen on the electronic clock in the small building and answered,
"It's Sunday, Doctor."
"Good..."
Mobius murmured to herself for a while. Then she took her white lab coat from the bed and put it on as she said,
"Little Mouse, prepare yourself. Spend the next few days doing experiments with me. I'll help you overcome your aversion to sunlight as soon as possible. Then... when next Wednesday or Friday comes, you'll come with me to Chiyu Academy in Changkong City."
"Chiyu Academy?"
Xu Ziling's breathing suddenly stopped when he heard that name.
Good grief, wasn't that the high school in Changkong City attended by Kevin the Great, Mei, and Su the Immortal? Why did Mobius suddenly want to go there?
"Heh, don't overthink it."
Mobius seemed to have seen through Xu Ziling's confusion. After curling her lips, she said,
"Blanca previously recommended a high school student from Chiyu Academy to me to take over her position as my experimental assistant. But at the time, I rejected the recommendation because the person Blanca had recommended was only a high school student... But now that Blanca has left, the research institute really is short one assistant. More importantly... I want to see just what kind of ability that high school student whom Blanca valued actually possesses."
After saying this, Mobius thought for a moment and added,
"Of course, this is merely a personal curiosity of mine. It's not as though I'm going there to verify Blanca's judgment, understand, Little Mouse?"
"Yes."
Xu Ziling nodded. He then propped up his chin with one hand and began to think.
The doctor's new assistant... should be that workaholic, Klein.
This also completely confirmed one of Xu Ziling's previous conjectures: This world had indeed undergone considerable changes because of his arrival.
Otherwise, according to the original plot, Blanca should not have started following Mobius until after the Sixth Herrscher disaster, rather than being halfway snatched away by Mobius before the First Herrscher disaster had even erupted.
But... since Doctor Mobius had invited him to go to Chiyu Academy to recruit Klein, could he also take the opportunity to look for Kevin the Great, Mei, and Su the Immortal?
His years of experience as an overworked employee before transmigrating told Xu Ziling that when it came to personal connections, even merely becoming familiar by sight was better than never having met at all.
Meanwhile, outside the bedroom door.
After packing the lunch she had prepared into an insulated box, Elysia ran over here to eavesdrop. At this moment, after hearing the conversation inside the bedroom, her pink-and-blue eyes narrowed involuntarily.
Then Elysia took a photograph from her bosom. If a certain sunny, white-haired young man saw it, he would probably become so excited that he would jump up, because the picture in Elysia's hand was none other than the stunning photograph of Mei that she had taken by accident the day before yesterday.
Looking at the beautiful purple-haired figure in the photograph, Elysia rubbed her warm cheeks and said happily,
"Mm~ Hmm?~ I remember there's an old saying in Shenzhou that goes... 'Choosing a day is not as good as a chance encounter.' Oh my~ Miss Mei, since Doctor Mobius is going to your school to recruit someone, it's only perfectly normal for me, as an inspector, to tag along and take a look—and make your acquaintance while I'm at it, right?... Hehe?~"
(On the day of the winter-break recommendation, I'll update 12,000 words. Please share this book widely, dear readers. Your encouragement is the motivation behind my writing.)
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