Upon seeing the crystal in Li Mu's hand, Mobius let out a cry of exclamation.
As someone who had personally researched the remains of the Herrscher of Reason, she had seen this thing before.
Unfortunately, even though she participated in the research of the Herrscher of Reason's corpse, Fire-MOTH didn't let her touch the most valuable part: the Herrscher Core.
Moreover, she could tell that the core in Li Mu's hand was slightly different from the one she had seen.
The one she saw was dull and lusterless. Although it still possessed incredible power, Mobius knew that core was "dead."
But the one in Li Mu's hand shone with a silver-blue light, giving her an extremely active feeling. In other words, this core was "alive."
Li Mu wasn't surprised by Mobius's shock. Any scientist would go crazy over a Herrscher Core—the authority left behind after a Herrscher's death.
However, he still underestimated Mobius's fanaticism.
After seeing the Herrscher Core in his hand, Mobius was first shocked, then lunged right at Li Mu.
"Let me see it!"
Seeing the green creature flying towards him, Li Mu executed an elegant spin, brushing right past the airborne Mobius.
Splat!
Mobius sprawled spread-eagle on the floor.
Li Mu crouched down, holding the core in one hand while extending a finger with the other to poke Mobius's face repeatedly.
"Doctor, with your current body, you can't touch this thing. Without my restraint, just the dissipating Honkai energy could burn you to ashes."
Li Mu's words poured like a basin of ice water over Mobius, cooling the fanaticism born of her thirst for knowledge.
But confusion still lingered on Mobius's face. She felt her previously established cognition had shattered.
She always thought Herrscher authority was unique, but now...
Mobius swatted away Li Mu's poking finger, scrambled up from the floor, stared deeply at Li Mu, and asked, "Are you... even human?"
"Doctor, we have no grudges, and I even gave you a huge sum of research funding. Why are you insulting me?" Li Mu looked wronged.
But Mobius glared at him and said, "You know what I mean. Are you human or a Herrscher?"
Facing Mobius's questioning, Li Mu didn't even hesitate, replying decisively, "Of course I am human, without a doubt."
Then he dangled the Core of Reason in front of Mobius a couple of times.
"As for this thing, consider it a little secret of mine."
"Doctor, please keep it a secret for me. After all, we are accomplices now~"
"Tch..."
Mobius was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Mu changing the subject, but she knew that even if she kept pressing, there would be no result. So she gave up asking.
Of course, the main reason was that she had come up with another bold hypothesis.
Mobius scrutinized Li Mu deeply. Looking at the Elysia appearance he was currently using, some past research data regarding Herrschers surfaced in her mind.
Based on the research of the two Herrschers already killed, Fire-MOTH was certain these two Herrschers possessed a sort of alienated personality, which she termed the "Herrscher persona."
She then thought that this person calling herself the Faded Elf was very likely an alternate personality of the Elysia she knew.
Synthesizing the acquired information:
Elysia's alternate personality possessed a Herrscher Core and likely could exercise Herrscher authority...
Mobius quietly lowered her gaze, a confident smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
I see, I see. No wonder I always felt Elysia was so special...
Why could Elysia kill a Herrscher with a mortal body? Why could her secondary personality hand-rub a Core?
It's because Elysia herself is a Herrscher!
And my guess wasn't wrong. The person in front of me is indeed Elysia's alternate personality. Who says a Herrscher persona isn't an alternate personality?
However, the emergence of this hypothesis caused some deviation in her research on Herrschers.
She originally thought Herrschers were killing machines completely devoid of humanity, aiming to thoroughly destroy mankind. But now, it seemed these Herrschers also had the potential to fight for humanity?
Could they... also have humanity?
What did you, you big brain, figure out now?!
Looking at the silly smile on Mobius's face, Li Mu felt this genius with a superior IQ had thought of something weird again.
But he didn't have time to deal with it right now. He had more important things to do.
A faint blue light emerged from Li Mu's body, quickly spreading outward. Where the light swept past, the laboratory equipment seemed to be erased out of thin air.
Mobius froze for a second, then let out a scream like a marmot, rushing madly towards Li Mu.
"My centrifuge!"
"My gene editing pod!"
"What are you doing to my accumulated fortune!!"
Seeing Mobius lunging at him again, a mechanical arm materialized out of thin air, extended two fingers, and pinched the back of Mobius's collar, leaving her flailing her arms and legs in mid-air.
Like a kitty picked up by the scruff of its neck.
"Quiet, Doctor. Your fortune isn't disappearing. I'm just sending them to your other laboratory."
Hearing Li Mu's explanation, Mobius stopped struggling and asked, "What other laboratory?"
"The Heliopolis Life Sciences laboratory. Buying these pieces of equipment from scratch and recruiting personnel is a waste of time. It's better to just move them from your left hand to your right hand directly from your lab."
"We're going to balance the books later anyway. Just report these as losses and have Fire-MOTH replenish a new batch for you."
Mobius thought it over and felt something wasn't quite right, but she quickly caught another name in Li Mu's words.
"Heliopolis Life Sciences, what's that?"
"A bio-pharmaceutical company we recently established to verify Project Stigma. You can take over when the time comes."
Hearing Li Mu's explanation, Mobius quieted down.
Although she didn't know what Heliopolis Life Sciences was yet, she could guess that this was likely her assignment after joining the Golden Courtyard.
As expected, this one hundred billion research fund isn't so easy to take...
Seeing Mobius no longer struggling, Li Mu set her down.
"Well then, Doctor, take your people and leave. This is my stage now."
...
Watching Mobius grab Blanca and run out anxiously, Li Mu plunged his consciousness into his mind.
His figure appeared in the pitch-black space. Opposite him was a humanoid mass resembling shattered glass. This was the secondary personality he had carved out using Vill-V's thought slicer.
Looking at the secondary personality opposite him, Li Mu fell silent for a moment.
"Do you... have anything else to say?"
"We are the same person. Don't you feel weird talking to yourself? Stop dawdling and get to it!"
"Alright!"
Li Mu didn't pause any longer. He grabbed the secondary personality in front of him and stuffed it into the Core of Reason.
There weren't many things in this world capable of carrying a consciousness, but conveniently, the Core of the Herrscher of Reason was exactly one of them.
After stuffing his secondary personality into the Herrscher Core, Li Mu's vision seemed to split in two. Suddenly changing from single-core to dual-core processing made him feel extremely unaccustomed.
In front of him, the Core of Reason shimmered faintly. Around the perimeter of the core, a brand-new body was outlined.
With the eruption of the authority of the Herrscher of Reason:
A brand-new body, meant to carry the Herrscher Core, was outlined.