"Mobius, do you think that those famous heroic epics in this world, those literary masterpieces renowned through the ages, must all be filled with tragedy to be remembered?"
Xin Yu sat in a chair, flipping through a mythological storybook from this era in his hands, asking Mobius who was eating dinner beside him.
"People always find stories of perfection and beauty to be bland and uninteresting. So, they start to pursue thrilling adventures. And if there are no twists and turns, how can it be considered exciting? When they start pursuing this, tragedy is born under such conditions."
"If a beautiful vase is placed before you, and it doesn't belong to you, you might only pause for a moment to admire it before walking away."
"But if this vase is shattered in front of you, you will remember that there was once a beautiful vase. You will remember how it was shattered, and who shattered it. You will clearly remember this story. And you'll think, if this vase hadn't been shattered, wouldn't that have been a better thing?"
"Comedy brings laughter, but it's not easily remembered. Tragedy is unforgettable, precisely because the scars it leaves make it hard to let go."
Mobius picked up her knife and fork, speared a small piece of the after-dinner cake Xin Yu had made, and popped it into her mouth. After savoring the sweetness on her tongue, she continued, "Why are you suddenly asking about this? I've seen you running around outside these past few days, sometimes even going out at night. Did you see something?"
"Yes, you know that my emotions, for certain reasons, have become very sensitive and prone to fluctuations. So, I want to take this opportunity to complete my emotional spectrum as much as possible. I plan to enrich my own emotions by continuously witnessing all sorts of people."
"At the same time, I'm also reading books, trying to experience the stories and emotions the authors want to convey, to understand some of the things contained within those stories."
"As a result, I found that those good books are basically grand epics, and they absolutely contain regrets and tragedies, large or small."
"This made me start to think, if I were to free those who were originally heroes from their predetermined destinies, allowing them to return to an ordinary life, preventing them from experiencing those magnificent epics of the future, stripping them of the chance to become heroes. If I do this, is it ultimately good or bad?"
Xin Yu closed the book and looked at Mobius. This was the question he wanted to ask her.
"Will those people you've changed lead better lives? Or rather, will the tragedies they originally experienced be altered?" Mobius put down her cutlery, wiped her mouth, and her snake-like eyes gazed at Xin Yu. Even without having undergone the super-soldier surgery at this point, her pupils still had a serpentine quality.
"They will. They will no longer have the tragedies they wanted to change as before, nor will they experience various hardships and sufferings. They will only lose the noble ideals and the immense power they should have shouldered in the epics. They will shed the golden image of a hero, don the woven clothes of mortals, return to the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, and live the day-to-day life of an ordinary person."
"Meaning, the pain and despair that might have appeared in the future are gone, but so is the future grandeur. Everything will return to the mundane, is that it?"
"Yes."
"Such a life isn't bad. At least for me, personally, rather than continuing to be a world-saving hero, I'd rather just be a behind-the-scenes researcher achieving my own dreams and ideals. Of course, it's even better if someone is by my side."
Mobius sat on Xin Yu's lap, her arms wrapped around his neck, pressing her body tightly against his.
"Xin Yu, for many people, the word 'hero' is more for aspiration than for bearing. The responsibility these two words entail is very heavy. If it's not necessary, who would want to experience those painful tragedies, to shoulder everyone's dreams and convictions, to achieve some lofty ideal?"
"I understand now."
Xin Yu nodded. Over these past few days, he had witnessed too many things, seen how much helplessness and how many troubles an ordinary person faces in life. He watched those common people, tormented and worried about earning money, and he wondered if turning those former heroes into ordinary people like this would be a cruel fate for them, as they were meant to be more different than ordinary folk.
While contemplating this matter, Xin Yu experienced what it meant to hesitate.
Now, Mobius had told him that those heroes weren't born heroes. They originally emerged from the ranks of ordinary people, forced by circumstances beyond their control to bear the responsibilities a hero should bear.
Heroes were, one after another, just ordinary people who became heroes because the time was right.
"Recently, thanks to your financial support, my research lab has also grown much larger. Besides the assistant who came to help me with research before, I now have several more helpers and apprentices. Would you like to come to my lab tomorrow and meet them?"
"Alright, but let me say this upfront, to ensure your reputation among others doesn't plummet to an irredeemable level, I won't agree to any experiments you might want to conduct on me in the lab tomorrow."
"Relax, ever since I took your genetic material to the lab for examination last time, I won't be conducting any research on you in the short term."
Mobius was also quite helpless. After learning that Xin Yu's condition was completely different from that of a normal person, she had no intention of studying that genetic material as if it were ordinary.
When she used all sorts of laboratory equipment to test the various parameters and changes of that sodium-like substance, she didn't know which step in the procedure went wrong, but that genetic material suddenly became agitated, as if it had transformed into a living creature. It almost wrecked her entire laboratory. If Xin Yu hadn't arrived in time, forget the lab, Mobius herself might have been dismantled.
It was also after this incident that Mobius temporarily lost the idea of researching Xin Yu. She felt she should first deal with the Honkai situation. At the very least, she needed to strengthen her own body. Otherwise, if she ended up being counter-killed by material shed from her own boyfriend while studying him, that would be too ridiculous.
She might even end up in a textbook.
"By the way, regarding Honkai, Xin Yu, can you help me obtain some biological tissue from Honkai Beasts and Deadwalkers? Although the Flame-Chasers did provide some, they were all inactive and had lost a lot of energy—defective products. While these things are somewhat helpful for current research, they really aren't as good as fresh samples."
"I can. Coincidentally, I'll also go with you to your lab tomorrow. With me there, no accidents will happen."
"Since that's the case, I'll have to thank you properly."
"No need, between us… Hiss! Again?"