Three great geniuses gathered in one room. The three of them could be called the pinnacle of the Previous Era's intellect—each unrivaled in her own field.
"What did you call me here for? If, Mei, you're worried about your little boyfriend, you can have someone else go first for the MANTIS surgery." Mobius had heavy dark circles under her eyes.
At this point in time she hadn't undergone the MANTIS procedure yet, so Mobius still had that proud, stunning figure—curves in all the right places. Not a "little snake-snake." You could call her a "big snake-snake."
She was busy, you know. She only came in person because it was Mei asking.
"Dr. Mobius, I trust Mei—and I trust you."
Kevin's meaning was obvious: he still intended to be the third test subject.
He wanted to become stronger. There was no way he was letting an opportunity like this slip away.
"Oh?"
Mobius smiled faintly. Human feelings, huh… Kevin said he trusted both Mei and her, but it was pretty clear he trusted his girlfriend Mei even more.
But Mobius didn't care about that sort of thing. Kevin just needed to be a good little lab rat.
"Mobius, we're preparing to deal with the Flame Chasers' top brass. Want in?" Vill-V asked.
"Huh? Vill-V, are you sure you're awake right now?" Mobius couldn't understand her at all.
She was annoyed with those finger-wagging higher-ups too, but they were entrenched—rooted so deep you couldn't possibly move them.
"Psh, I'm wide awake. If I'm saying it, then I've already got everything ready." Vill-V spoke with full confidence.
"Wow. Little Mobius is adorable too. I really want to scoop her up and hold her in my arms."
Mobius's most hated voice rang out—and it even said "little," which immediately made Mobius care way more than she wanted to.
"What is this?" Mobius walked closer. The instant she saw the little snake-snake, her mind blanked out and her brain nearly started shrinking.
It looked exactly like her when she was young… but the eyes carried a chill and danger that only her present-day self possessed.
"Mobius, later on you were planning to use Shesha's Honkai-beast factor to turn yourself into a MANTIS, right?" Koji said.
Mobius was a little surprised at how Koji knew that, but she still nodded.
"Shesha's regeneration isn't infinite. Every death-and-rebirth cycle shrinks its body by a certain amount…"
That was how a big snake-snake became a little snake-snake—because it had died too many times.
"I see." Mobius raised an eyebrow. That wasn't the "infinity" she was pursuing.
She could already imagine what would happen if you kept shrinking and shrinking. In the end… what? Would she become a fertilized egg? Or just die for real?
"So how many times did the other me die to end up like that?"
Even bringing up "the other me" made Mobius look disgusted. She hated herself so much she could practically hate herself in layers.
"Other than dying to your own experiments, she got explosively murdered by Kalpas who knows how many times. That's how she ended up looking like a little kid." Koji said.
"Kalpas?"
Mobius thought for a moment. She didn't know that person.
"Bro—are you talking about that masked guy who came back with us this time?" Magician Vill-V asked.
Koji nodded. Mobius, meanwhile, was baffled. If that Kalpas was joining the Flame Chasers, then why did he kill her so many times?
"Kalpas has a nasty temper. If you piss him off, he doesn't care whether you're a woman—he'll just start swinging. I heard after you got smaller, a lot of people treated that little kid version of you as Kalpas's daughter with you." Koji said with a grin.
Mobius: "…"
Good grief. That "wild history" was really wild. Tiny her became the child of her and Kalpas—what kind of hell joke was that?
"I understand."
Killing her over and over just because he got angry… that guy was insane. Fine. She'd just stay far, far away.
"Dr. Mobius—has the Chimera Project been developed yet?"
Mobius shook her head. "Never heard of it. Explain it properly."
They hadn't even succeeded with the MANTIS procedure on a human test subject yet—why would they be thinking that far ahead?
"The Chimera Project: fusing multiple Honkai-beast factors…"
As Koji explained, Mobius's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"In theory it's feasible. But when you actually implement it, the difficulty is enormous." Mobius shook her head.
The idea was good, but Honkai-beast factors were foreign to the human body to begin with—rejection was a constant risk. Multiple factors made it far worse.
If you wanted to pull it off, it was brutally difficult. Multiple Honkai-beast factors inside one body would conflict.
And if it failed? You died. Or worse—you turned into some monster that was neither fully human nor fully Honkai beast.
"Kevin can do it." Koji pointed at Kevin.
"Me?" Kevin froze, then pointed at his own face. Just hearing it sounded deadly.
"Are you sure?"
Mobius sized up the little lackey. A project as extreme as Chimera… you could count on one hand the people on Earth who might endure it.
But if Koji was right… then maybe it really could succeed.
"In the future, Kevin fused almost every Honkai-beast factor there is. His strength reached the point where he could cut down a small Herrscher with a single swing." Koji said.
"Please let me try."
The moment Kevin heard "one swing per Herrscher," his spirit ignited. That was exactly the power he wanted.
"Kevin, don't rush. Become a MANTIS first." Mei soothed her boyfriend.
The Chimera Project was too dangerous. Even if she trusted him, she didn't want him trying to fuse multiple factors right now.
"Mei's right. Little lackey, the Chimera Project is just a proposal. The one doing the experimenting isn't you—so you don't have to think about anything." Mobius said.
"A human chimera… it really is an excellent plan."
Mobius actually valued Kevin quite a bit now. If it succeeded, she would have personally shaped a monster with her own hands.
But right now it was only a framework. It still needed time to build.
"As for your 'Li Haozhao Plan'—I'm in. Those higher-ups really are a headache."
Now that she knew so much, inspiration was bursting in her head. She needed to put it into practice—she didn't have time to keep playing games with those worms.
"I've got some of the higher-ups' positions."
Mobius handed a USB drive to Vill-V without hesitation.
"As for funding, the ultra-rich Eden will be sponsoring the Flame Chasers in the future." Koji said.
Elysia opened her mouth. She hadn't even contacted Eden yet, and Koji was already agreeing on Eden's behalf?
"Now that's perfect."
Mobius and Mei's eyes lit up. They knew exactly who Eden was—an absolute super-rich patron whose wealth was immeasurable.
With a backer like that, they'd never be short on money for experiments again.
For researchers, the bare minimum is research funding. Otherwise, no matter how brilliant your mind is, you'll still get shackled by reality and end up stuck in place.
(End of Chapter)
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