Mobius Awakens / I Only Want to Protect You

"Uh... Lin?"

Hen groggily lifted his eyelids and saw Lin sitting in the distance; his consciousness was somewhat disordered.

He remembered going to the Deepest Place with Lin, then meeting Aponia, and then...

He suddenly froze.

His memory was crystal clear; he remembered every single word Aponia said.

But why did he leave so "obediently"?

"..." Hen covered his forehead, his face gloomy and silent.

Even Flame-Chaser couldn't withstand Aponia's power? But if Aponia can achieve this, then the Eighth Herrscher...

"Aponia has agreed."

"...What?"

Lin's casual remark left Hen stunned for a moment before he stared in astonishment at Lin, who was inspecting the weapons. "She... agreed? Didn't she say... could it be that, Lin, you..."

"Yes, I paid the price with my body." Lin cocked the pistol with a click.

"... Selling oneself?"

"More or less."

Lin walked to the cockpit that Prometheus was operating, brought up the surrounding view, and turned on the helmet's button to illuminate the view window.

"Hen, prepare for battle."

"..." No questions were needed. As soon as Hen saw the "thing" blocking their way on the monitor, he had already stood up with his weapon.

It was a magnificent peacock with golden feathers and a long green tail.

"Su, what do you want to do in the future?"

Amidst the melodious singing and classical music, Kevin asked Sue in a barely audible low voice.

Everyone around craned their necks to watch Eden, who shone brightly on the stage. Under the lights, she wore a rose-red dress and looked like a saint who had stepped out of a medieval painting.

"Huh? Asking a question like this at a time like this? Kevin, you actually think about these things?"

Sue was engrossed in appreciating Eden's beautiful singing when he was suddenly asked this question, and he was immediately puzzled and asked back.

After all, Kevin is the type to take things one step at a time, and he shouldn't be thinking about things that are both mentally taxing and mood-dampening.

"...I'm a high school student, you know. Don't make me sound like I'm just a gorilla." Kevin made a small joke, but then his expression became much more complicated. He glanced at Mei sitting to his right. "I just suddenly feel like...maybe I'm the only one who's stuck in the same place."

"Mei will enter the halls of science and become a world-renowned scientist. She is constantly learning for this purpose. She told me that the charm of science lies in the process of seeking knowledge and solving problems. She will spend her whole life moving forward and exploring this path."

"I don't know what Lin was thinking. When I first met him, he looked like a walking corpse. He slowly became the person I was familiar with, but then he suddenly left and told me that he was going to another world."

"They are all going down paths I don't know, as if... I'm the only one left."

Sue was genuinely surprised that Kevin would be thinking about these things, and she could also detect a hint of melancholy in his words.

This cheerful young man seemed to have grown up a lot in an instant.

Su, who had only come to listen to a concert with his friends, now felt his heart cool down. He stared at Chrono's profile and then looked at Eden on the stage.

"... About 40% of the world's population lives in malaria-affected areas, and about 100 million people worldwide experience clinical symptoms of malaria each year, with more than 2 million people dying from malaria annually."

"There are more than 7,000 different types of rare diseases worldwide, bringing the total number of rare disease patients to 350 million. These diseases are rare, difficult to cure, and few people are willing to try to cure them."

"In the world's largest population area, due to poor sanitation conditions, the incidence and mortality rates of infectious diseases are far higher than in other areas, making it a paradise for intractable diseases."

Su spoke these words softly, his eyes flashing with a firm yet complex light. He turned his head and smiled at Kevin as if making a vow, "There are many reasons why I studied medicine. Once I saw a news report about a seven-year-old girl who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory demyelinating lesions in the white matter of the central nervous system. The patient's immune system becomes abnormal and attacks the myelin sheath frantically."

"Because the patient's ability to transmit signals in the nervous system is impaired, a series of physical and mental problems will occur, such as abnormal movement, depression, visual impairment, numbness... Many adults may not be able to bear the pain, but that little girl persevered."

"She smiled and thanked every uncle, aunt and kind person who visited her in the ward. Even though half of her face was paralyzed, she still tried her best to smile."

"I think that's when I became determined to study medicine. It wasn't just for her, but because so many people were suffering in places I couldn't see, gasping for breath and desperately trying to survive."

"If God has given me a mission, then I think... my mission is to save everyone I can reach."

Chapter 113 The Awakening of Mobius

"Su... Su..."

A distant, ethereal voice jolted Su awake from his cold desk. He jolted upright and shook his head vigorously to dispel the drowsiness from his mind.

This made everyone turn to look at him, and after looking around in confusion, he sat down blankly.

"I'm sorry, I..."

Spasi walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"Su, you haven't rested in a long time." Spasi's face also showed deep fatigue. They were not as physically fit as Flame-Chaser or ordinary soldiers. "Rest for a while now."

"... No, it's okay."

Su sat down again, sweating profusely. He covered his face and listened as Vill-V next to him continued to instruct Dessidobia, who was nearing her limit, to conduct her twenty-first observation of the consciousness world. His eyes, visible through his fingertips, were utterly exhausted.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a makeshift hospital bed set up in the Spiral Workshop, on which lay a petite figure.

"Su, what do you want to do in the future?"

Sue looked up at Kevin, who was standing silently in the corner. His face was cold and resolute, as if he was no longer the boy who used to be confused and searching for the future.

... Now, who is standing still?

He sat blankly in his "seat," and all he could see ahead was a thick fog, obscuring the road he was about to take.

In order to cure the Honkai Sickness, he graduated early and became a doctor, and joined the Fire Moth for this purpose.

However, the Honkai Sickness has not been completely cured. Only one in ten thousand people can survive, which is an unimaginable "luxury" measured in lives.

And now, how much will they have to pay to cure these contaminated people?

Did he become a doctor because he wanted to measure life with life itself?

"Buzz... Headquarters received, please respond..."

Prometheus's mechanical voice came through the communicator. May gestured to Vill-V and Dessidobia to stop for the moment, then responded to Prometheus's intermittent communication, "This is May, Unit 1, reporting."

"Sizzle... We've encountered... the Emperor's Collapse... Beasts... Forest... Severely injured... Nerves..."

"Number One, transmit information using signals," Mei calmly instructed.

Emperor-class Honkai Beast?

Even from just a few brief words, they understood the gist of the situation, which made everyone feel even worse. After Mei received the message from Number One, her expression became even more somber.

"... They encountered Emperor-class Honkai Beast, which, like the Eighth Herrscher, is capable of mental attacks. Preliminary analysis suggests that it injects Honkai Energy into people as a neurotoxin, causing damage to the nerves and brain."

"Lin has now been injected with a large amount of neurotoxin... and is in a coma with serious injuries."

"What... seriously injured?"

At this moment, a voice that had not been heard for a long time entered their ears, and even Mei Du did not react for a moment.

"Mobius?!"

"Uh..."

Mobius slowly stood up. The long period of unconsciousness had left her body and mind somewhat numb, and the disorientation of time had exacerbated this dullness.

What time is it now...?

The electronic clock lying on the ground ticked away, like drops of time flowing into the long river of time.

... What exactly did that frivolous man do?

Mobius only remembered the moment he saw the video before his consciousness sank into darkness.

Then...

"Damn it..." Mobius muttered through gritted teeth, feeling both ashamed and resentful.

Like the other corrupted individuals, she sank into a dream, except that her dream was pre-programmed, and its content...

"So now Lin and Hen went to seek help from that woman who was completely out of their control, but were attacked by Emperor-class Honkai Beast on the way. Lin was injected with a neurotoxin and is on the verge of death?"

It took Mobius some time to get to the Spiral Workshop. She could roughly guess what had happened just from the dilapidated scene she saw on the way. After listening to Möbius's explanation of the situation, she frowned and went to the bedside.

On the hospital bed is... Griseo.

Her innocent, childlike face was filled with indescribable pain. Unlike the other contaminated individuals, her brainwaves were chaotic and continuously declining.

Mobius quickly examined Griseo's body and nerves, and her expression gradually turned grim. "Griseo's body cannot withstand the contamination of Honkai Energy."

The message from Prometheus made them realize that the Eighth Herrscher's attack method was likely to convert Honkai Energy into neurotoxins to attack humans, and the Meme Contamination of the video might be something that only a more advanced Herrscher Authority could achieve.

The fundamental reason why Griseo's situation is different from others is that her body is still developing and does not have the physical qualities of an adult. Furthermore, the contamination of Honkai Energy will cause her already unhealthy nerves to deteriorate further.

This is not a disease that can be cured with Honkai Energy serum, because while the attack on the nerves is indeed caused by Honkai Energy, the final effect is not the same as the erosion of the body by ordinary Honkai Energy.

These are two different situations.

"... There are still four hours left before the brainwaves enter the danger zone, and surgery must be performed immediately."

"Surgery?" Su asked blankly. "Do you know how to save her?"

Right, since Mobius woke up from the pollution, she must know how to save people, right?

"How to save her? Heh... If you're willing to use the word 'save,' then so be it." Mobius coldly curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a not-so-friendly sneer. "Since it's because her body's strength can't withstand it, then we'll just increase her body's strength."

"You mean...!" Sue's expression suddenly changed. He looked at Griseo, who was unconscious and in great pain, and then at Mobius.

There is only one type of surgery that can improve physical strength in a short period of time.

Hypervariable Surgery that integrates the genes of Honkai Beast into the human body.

The others, including Spasi, remained silent and simply watched everything unfold.

After all, we are in a critical period. The fact that they would allow their already limited manpower to be used to perform Hypervariable Surgery to save a little girl who has little to do with this incident is already the maximum concession they can make.

"I need to go back to my lab; there's still some unused material there."

Mobius understood this, and she pushed Griseo's hospital bed out.

"Wait a moment."

"..."

Sue called out to Mobius, but Mobius did not stop.

"I'll come with you. It will be very difficult for you to have the Hypervariable Surgery alone."

"...May I have your name?"

Mobius had seen Sue at the last banquet, but did not know who he was.

At this moment, Mobius turned his head and carefully examined the unfamiliar young man, who was about the same age as Horing.

"Su".

"Very good, Su, then come and assist me."

"And..." Su hesitated for a moment, "What about Lin?"

"... Don't worry, that guy, even I can't poison him to death."

Chapter 114 I Just Want to Protect You

"Bass!"

"Snap!"

"Forest!"

Hen stared with bloodshot eyes at Lin Cong the sky like a bird with broken wings. He reached out his hand, but failed to grasp Lin's hand that slipped through his fingers.

The colorful thorns pierced through the paper-thin armor, and all of this happened just seconds ago.

He didn't even have time to react.

What happened? Why was Lin hit so instantly? He should have dodged the attack!