It's Snake-Snake's Temptation!

"Hmph, still trying to argue? You obviously lied to me."

Mobius still looked dissatisfied as she huffed, "I've treated you so well, yet you still lied to me. Do you know how heartbroken I was?"

"Uh..."

Ling Xi did not know how to answer. After all... he really had deceived Mobius, at least regarding the fact that he had hidden his strength from her.

"Sigh, forget it this time."

Just as Ling Xi was thinking about how to explain himself to Doctor, Mobius chose to compromise on her own. Still standing with her hands on her hips, she added forcefully, "But you're not allowed to lie to me again, understand? Otherwise... I really will get angry."

"Okay, Doctor. From now on..."

Ling Xi hesitated for a moment, but then decisively nodded. "If I ever lie to Doctor again, I'll be Doctor's little dog!"

"Sounds good."

A satisfied smile appeared on Mobius's face as she said with slight excitement, "I happened to want to raise one too... Ahem, I mean, I happen to trust you too."

Ling Xi: "..." Why did that feel a little wrong...

"Whoa, Ling Xi, you're actually this amazing!"

"That was so awesome, Ling Xi!"

At that moment, the twins ran out of the laboratory as well, both staring at Ling Xi with astonishment. They had seen his performance through the laboratory surveillance cameras. Although his final move had destroyed all the cameras nearby, that did not stop them from recognizing just how powerful he was!

Just look at the ground around them, then look at the Honkai Beast that had been blasted away without even a scrap left behind. Was that not powerful enough?

"What are you all doing out here? The Honkai Energy concentration nearby is so high!"

Seeing everyone come out, Ling Xi was immediately speechless. The Honkai Energy concentration around them was not low at all. They had just walked into a place like this without a second thought? What if they caught Honkai disease?

"Huh? Is it really that high?"

Klein walked out as well, holding a detector as she said, "According to the readings, the Honkai Energy concentration around the laboratory has already dropped into the safe range. This should have been a sudden Honkai incident. Since there was no singularity continuously supplying Honkai Energy, the energy had been dispersing ever since the outbreak. And..."

Klein scanned the surrounding energy again, glanced at Ling Xi, and said, "After you eliminated the Honkai Beast, the Honkai Energy dispersed extremely quickly. It's like a tornado. When a Honkai Beast is present, it firmly locks down the Honkai Energy. Once the Honkai Beast is eliminated, the Honkai Energy rapidly dissipates. After all, this was only a relatively small-scale Honkai incident."

"Uh... okay."

Ling Xi scratched the back of his head. So... that was how it worked? He had never specifically studied this sort of thing. What he knew was only some background information from when he had played the game.

"By the way, Ling Xi."

Klein spoke again and unfolded an electronic map. "Based on the Honkai Energy intensity map, there are at least six Honkai Beasts remaining in the research facility. However, they should all be the lowest-level Assault-class. I suggest you go clear them out!"

"No problem!"

Ling Xi decisively nodded in agreement. The Honkai Beasts in the research facility definitely could not be left alone!

"Doctor, Klein, and you two as well."

Since he was about to head out and eliminate the other Honkai Beasts, Ling Xi looked at the four of them with concern. "Go back into the laboratory and hide for now. I'm worried that some stragglers might make their way over here!"

With that, Ling Xi was about to set off...

"Wait."

Mobius suddenly spoke.

"Yes? What is it, Doctor?"

Ling Xi hurriedly stopped and turned back to look at Mobius.

"Nothing. I just wanted to remind you that when you eliminate the Honkai Beasts, use the Lightning Power from your weapon. Don't expose any stronger abilities again. Also..."

Mobius smiled faintly. "If anyone asks about your power, tell them it comes from your weapon. And your weapon... is a new weapon that I personally developed, understand?"

"Mm... I understand, Doctor."

Ling Xi froze for a moment, then instantly understood Mobius's intentions. His Doctor... was planning to help him hide this secret.

"Mm, go on. Be careful!"

Seeing that Ling Xi understood her meaning so well, Mobius felt very reassured.

"Okay, Doctor. See you later!"

With that, Ling Xi headed toward the next target location...

"Klein."

After Ling Xi left, Mobius looked toward Klein again and smiled. "Make a copy of all the previous surveillance footage related to Ling Xi and store it away. Then... delete all footage of Ling Xi from today. Understand?"

"Yes, Doctor."

Klein naturally understood Mobius's intentions. The tacit understanding between the two of them needed no explanation!

Finally, Mobius looked toward Cangxuan and Danzhu, a smile appearing on her face as well...

"Uh... Doctor, don't worry. We don't know anything."

Cangxuan shrewdly declared that she knew nothing at all. Even an idiot could see how important Ling Xi was, and Mobius clearly had her reasons for hiding this matter. If Cangxuan failed to read the room, she might actually get silenced!

"Hehe, relax, relax. I'm not some kind of demon."

Mobius spread her hands and smiled. "You're my assistants. You're supposed to assist with my research, so of course you have the right to know about this. But... because this matter is very important, don't let it leak, okay? Otherwise..."

An exceptionally kind smile appeared on Mobius's face. "The consequences... will be very serious."

Cangxuan: "..."

Danzhu: "..."

Having spent so long in the Flame-Chasing Moths, Mobius naturally knew what certain people within the organization were like. If Ling Xi's power was exposed, what awaited him would definitely not be the treatment of a hero, but...

All kinds of recruitment attempts. If that failed, threats. If that still failed, then eventually kidnapping and elimination—just like what she herself had experienced.

Ling Xi's power seemed very strong, but Mobius also knew that there were people in this world with special abilities. And there were quite a few such people in the Poisoned Pupae organization.

Besides, no matter how powerful someone was, they still needed to understand one thing: it was easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against an arrow from the shadows!

Therefore, both to protect Ling Xi and to keep him by her side, what happened today had to be concealed.

With Ling Xi's help, this Honkai incident was successfully resolved. Although it caused some casualties, for a Honkai incident of this scale, those losses could already be considered an extremely small price to pay.

Of course, Mobius successfully concealed Ling Xi's situation as well. After all... she did not want to share what belonged to her with anyone else.

The Snake's Temptation!

"Doctor, this is the estimated damage to our research facility from this Honkai incident."

That afternoon, in the laboratory hall, Klein handed a list to Mobius and said, "However, our laboratory did not suffer much damage, and there were no personnel casualties. The other two laboratories, on the other hand, both suffered casualties!"

Klein continued, "In this Honkai incident, including researchers, staff, and guards, a total of sixty-seven people in the research facility died. Thirty-three of them were corroded by Honkai Energy during the outbreak and turned into Dishi, while thirty-four were subsequently killed by Honkai Beasts. Another thirteen were infected. They have not died yet and are currently receiving treatment."

"Mm, count those thirteen among the dead as well."

Mobius casually glanced at the list before tossing it aside. "With our current technology, we simply cannot effectively cure Honkai disease. Besides... those who have lost consciousness after being infected, do you really think they are still human?"

Klein did not answer, because she knew there was no answer to that question. Besides... she had already guessed what Mobius intended to do.

"Klein."

Mobius smiled at Klein. "Go submit an application and have them send one patient over first. I'll try a new treatment method."

"Yes, Doctor..."

Klein nodded and turned to leave. As for the treatment Doctor had mentioned...

Mobius herself had previously said that current technology could not save them. Therefore... this so-called treatment was actually an experiment.

After hearing Mobius's words, Ling Xi silently glanced at her. Treatment, huh...

Before long, the "patient" was delivered, and Mobius immediately began her treatment!

Ling Xi sat beside Mobius, watching her eagerly research the half-Dishi before her. He felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Ling Xi?"

Noticing Ling Xi's gaze, Mobius smiled at him. She felt that... Ling Xi would eventually accept this kind of thing. Besides... to her, this was truly child's play!

"Nothing. I was just wondering... why Honkai suddenly appeared in Changkong City."

Ling Xi shook his head and casually found an excuse. He did not say anything about Mobius's thoughts either. After all, those who understood, understood!

Not to mention the Pre-Collapse Civilization, which still lacked relevant knowledge about Honkai at this time—even in the twenty-first century of the future, human experiments were still constantly being conducted in secret. Sirin had been born from one such experiment!

So compared to the methods of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, Mobius using half-Dishi who had been corrupted and had already lost their human consciousness for experiments was honestly already incredibly, incredibly merciful.

Besides, Ling Xi was not some saint. He was certainly not going to spout nonsense about how such experiments were inhumane!

"Hehe..."

Seeing that Ling Xi had no intention of objecting to her at all, Mobius became even more satisfied with him. This was... exactly the kind of assistant she wanted!

Just like... Klein!

"Honkai in Changkong City..."

Mobius thought about it briefly, but still shook her head with a smile. "I don't know either. But this isn't the first time Honkai has appeared in Changkong City. According to records, this is the fourth Honkai incident in Changkong City. The previous three all happened in bustling districts. Only this one occurred inside the research facility, so I'm curious about that too."

"Is that so..."

After hearing Mobius's explanation, Ling Xi nodded as though he understood, then could not help taking the opportunity to ask, "Doctor, um... should we move to another city?"

"Move to another city?"

Mobius looked at Ling Xi curiously, clearly not understanding why he had suddenly brought that up.

"Well, it's just..."

Ling Xi scratched his head as he said, "Honkai has already appeared in Changkong City. Maybe an even bigger Honkai incident will happen in the future, so... why don't we move somewhere else?"

"Haha, Ling Xi, you're too timid!"

Hearing Ling Xi's words, Mobius could not help laughing. Then she said, "But you don't need to worry. Honkai may appear occasionally, but it is usually only a small-scale incident with limited losses. And after a city experiences a Honkai outbreak, one will not happen again there in the short term, so..."

Mobius smiled faintly. "I'd guess that Changkong City will remain very safe for the next few months, or even years."

Ling Xi: "..."

"Is that so?"

Ling Xi rubbed his nose. He wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words. After all... even if he wanted to tell Mobius that Changkong City would soon face a massive Honkai outbreak, he had no way to explain why. He could not exactly say he was a transmigrator, could he?

Still, he did know some things about Honkai. For example... the intensity of Honkai was actually tied to the level of a civilization's technology!

In other words, Honkai was... entropy!

The faster humanity developed, the more entropy it produced, and the greater the disorder of the universe became. Once entropy reached a certain point, Honkai appeared.

And the reason Honkai generally appeared in major cities was precisely because cities generated more entropy!

As for what entropy was, the simplest example would be this: suppose one thousand units of electrical energy could use a pump to move one kilogram of water from a lower position to a higher one. That consumed one thousand units of energy. But if that one kilogram of water at the higher position was used to generate electricity, it could produce at most six hundred units of electrical energy. In that exchange, humanity lost four hundred units of energy, and that lost energy...

Was called entropy, or imaginary negative energy!

That was why, after Mei took over the Pre-Collapse Civilization, each Herrscher became more absurd than the last. Technology had advanced too explosively.

But then again, if technology did not advance explosively, they would not be able to defeat the previous Herrschers either. It felt... like a dead end!

An unsolvable dead end.

Unless those amateur scientists really invented a perpetual motion machine, brothers. Yeah... probably!

"Alright, alright, I told you not to worry."

Seeing Ling Xi deep in thought, Mobius took off her gloves and mischievously poked Ling Xi's nose. Smiling, she said, "Your ability is so amazing. What are you afraid of Honkai for?"

"Uh... but I'm worried about Doctor."

Ling Xi scratched his head. He was telling the truth. After all... his Hibernation Pod still depended on Mobius!

"Then there's even less reason to worry, because..."

Mobius suddenly grabbed Ling Xi's hand and leaned her head slightly closer to him...

Ling Xi: "???"

"Doctor..."