35. The Serpent's Discovery and "Infinite" Love
[One month later, the damage caused by the Herrscher of Dominance to MOTH had been repaired.]
[There were few casualties among the soldiers. Your sacrifice successfully freed Hua from her Herrscher state, and the massive amount of Honkai energy within your body was provided to Mobius. She triggered an extremely large-scale Honkai thunderstorm, directly annihilating the Herrscher of Dominance.]
[Although you lost your energy, your body was kept intact by Mobius and quietly placed deep within the laboratory. She hoped that one day you would awaken.]
[The core of the Herrscher of Dominance was used by Dr. Mei to create a thousand "Keys of Dominance." Combined with the newly developed MANTIS serum, this allowed MOTH to mass-produce MANTIS warriors.]
[Hua survived the experiment, and the Garuda factor personally injected into her by Mobius was activated. She successfully transformed the Keys of Dominance into the "Grips of Tai Xuan," becoming one of the MANTIS warriors.]
[But in their lives, you were gone.]
Removing the golden gauntlets from her hands, Hua walked into the messy laboratory.
Without that "butler," the place had quickly reverted to its former state.
"Ah, Hua, you're back. You should go see Dr. Mobius."
"The doctor is waiting for you. Please convince her to rest. She hasn't slept for a week. With Mr. Zero gone, even Senior Klein can't persuade her."
Seeing Hua, Nuwa and Fuxi finally felt as if they had found a savior. They quickly ran to her side. These days, Hua had grown close to Dr. Mobius, and they had quickly become good friends with Hua.
Hua nodded and walked deeper into the laboratory.
She ran into Klein on the way. The two exchanged no words, only a glance, and could see the sorrow in each other's eyes.
Then, she saw the green figure buried among piles of documents and materials.
"I'm back, Mobius... sis."
"Alright, no need to overthink it. Call me whatever you like—you performed excellently in this experiment, As expected of the MANTIS I personally crafted.."
With two large dark circles under her eyes and her long green hair, long untended, messy as a bird's nest, Mobius stood up from the stacks of old files.
If Gao qi were here, he might have mistaken her for someone else, exclaiming, "Holy crap, Yssring!" and thought he had traveled to the Honkai Gakuen universe.
"Congratulations. Now both of us have gained long lives—long enough to find all the answers."
Her body, more curvaceous than before, moved like a slithering snake as she approached Hua. Mobius began to gently pinch and prod Hua, as if handling a lab rat.
"What a pity. Neither of us is particularly eloquent. Otherwise, before Zero left, we could have put on a good show for him—what was it called? A 'love battlefield'? Well, we have plenty of time to rehearse now. Next time we find him, we can figure out how to make him feel embarrassed and flustered."
Since Zero's departure, Mobius had not shed a single tear. Instead, she quickly threw herself back into her research, as if she had never felt any sorrow.
"Do you really believe... what Brother Gao qi said? That he will meet us again?"
Looking at the seemingly normal Mobius before her, Hua felt that the other woman had already gone mad.
"At least he didn't lie to you last time. He said he would return, and he did. Why not believe him once more?—What about the things I asked you to investigate?"
Mobius shrugged and sat back in her office chair, taking a sip of the instant milk tea she had brewed. She frowned at its unpleasant taste.
"What is there to investigate? Nagazora City has been destroyed. All records related to Brother Gaoqi are gone. Among the people he knew, only I, Carol, and Miss Elysia remember him. Dad and Captain Himeko have also passed away. What's so strange about that?"
Hua shook her head. These days, Mobius had been constantly asking her to investigate various past records, which annoyed Hua, who had other tasks to attend to.
"Ha, really, as foolish as Zero. No wonder you're like siblings. Forget it. His social circle as Gao qi was too small, no wonder you didn't notice the anomalies. But as Zero, he was the one who made the MOTH higher-ups fall in line—take a look at this."
As she spoke, Mobius pulled up several electronic documents and handed the tablet to Hua.
"Take a look. See what's missing."
Hua frowned, realizing that these were ordinary documents that all MOTH soldiers had the right to view.
"What's so interesting about this? The first MANTIS warrior is, of course—what, Kevin!"
Seeing that the place where her brother's photo should have been was now replaced by Kevin's image, Hua looked astonished and began flipping through the documents.
The Sixth Herrscher was killed by Kevin alone, and it was said he did not hesitate at all.
The subduing of Sesa was accomplished by Mobius personally retrieving its eyeball and spine.
The first batch of MANTIS warriors numbered only eight.
And finally, the Tenth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Dominance, was subdued by Mobius, Kevin, and Su in their ICHOR states. The Herrscher was successfully eliminated, but the identity of the Herrscher of Dominance was not specified?
Hua looked at the records in her hand, her expression growing increasingly strange.
These seemed to be historical records, but they had been deliberately tampered with, completely erasing Brother Gao qi's existence. However, some parts were altered so clumsily that they couldn't be logically reconciled—without Gao qi, no one could explain why Fu Hua became a Herrscher.
"Did you fabricate these false records?"
Hua looked at Mobius in surprise, feeling puzzled.
"Do you think I could break through Vill-V's firewall and tamper with the entire database?—You can try asking any soldier, or Aponia and Eden, and see how many people still remember Zero."
With a disdainful smile, Mobius revealed the answer.
"Let me tell you, the only people who still remember 'Zero' and 'Gao Qi' are me, Klein, Nuwa, Fuxi, Kevin, Su, and... Elysia. Hmph, that woman again."
Looking at the data with no trace of Gao qi, Mobius smiled brightly.
"And their memories vary in depth. Perhaps in the end, they will all forget Gao qi—do you know what this means? Some force is correcting Zero's existence, making people forget him, making them think he never appeared!"
Whether it was Hua or anyone else, they couldn't detect these subtle changes. Unfortunately, Mobius was an exception. She loved to be meticulous.
"Only certain stronger connections can maintain people's memories of Zero. Perhaps it's friendship, some kind of entrustment, or witnessing his death. But as time passes, we might all forget him—only the most intense determination can make us remember him forever!"
Locking eyes with Hua, Mobius made a crazy speculation.
"Who would do this? It doesn't make sense. Don't we even have the right to remember him?"
Hua's eyes wavered. Would she forget Brother Gao qi too?
"Who knows? Perhaps it's the Honkai, or the hypothesis Zero mentioned, the Will of the Honkai, or some higher-dimensional power. Whatever. But since this phenomenon exists, it means—what Zero said was not a lie!"
A smug smile flickered across her face. Mobius suddenly felt that, compared to concepts like eternity and infinity, her lover's departure had instead left her with a subject that interested her even more.
"Don't be afraid, my poor Hua. Love and hate—only such power can make one remember him most firmly. I loved him the most, and I hate him the most, so I will absolutely never forget him—no matter what that force trying to erase him is, it is my enemy now!"
Standing up, Mobius gently pulled Hua into her embrace and ruffled the small head beneath her gray hair.
"However, if you're still afraid of forgetting him... It seems Mei has recently been using Aponia's power to create something called 'Divine Voice.' Although it's somewhat dangerous, perhaps you need it?"
Thinking this, she released Fu Hua and gently placed both hands on her own lower abdomen. The tenderness in her smile even made Hua feel a hint of unease.
"Of course, this doesn't mean I've forgiven him. I will wait for him properly, until I see him again... then give him a surprise!"
Seeing Mobius like this, even Hua, slow as she was, guessed something.
"Wait, Mobius, you didn't... from Brother Gaoqi's body..."
Seeing Hua's astonished expression, Mobius felt particularly pleased.
"Yes, just as you guessed. But not now. A MANTIS's body is sufficient to preserve our love for hundreds of thousands of years. If we fail, I will cling to life until the world's end—until I see him again, or until the end of the world."
That cruel smile reappeared on Mobius's face, but this time, in Hua's eyes, it seemed much more agreeable.
"Perhaps I should give her a name. Both my name and Zero's contain 'snake.' Black Snake? Not good. Green Snake? Still not quite right..."
Catching sight of Hua's hair, Mobius seemed to find inspiration.
"Sigh, thank you for telling me all this. At least it gives me a little more hope—I won't give up the fight against the Honkai either. I will continue to take revenge on It."
Nodding, Fu Hua turned to leave, but after a few steps, she couldn't help but stop and look back at Mobius, feeling somewhat guilty.
"Um, I'm just asking... about Brother Gao qi's... is there any left?"
Seeing the interest in Fu Hua's eyes, Mobius revealed a radiant smile.
"Billions of them, full of vitality!"
——————
[Simulation Instance: Snake and "Infinity" - Completed.]
[Evaluation Level: S]
[You did not drastically change Hua's life. Hua's journey continues. She shone in the battle against the 11th Herrscher and participated in the fight against the Herrscher of the End. After returning to Earth, she entered a cryopod with Nuwa and Fuxi to prepare for the new era's "Ember" project.]
[You completely altered Mobius's path. Mobius's will remained unchanged until the arrival of the Herrscher of the End. She lived in seclusion, rarely appearing before other soldiers and showing little interest in the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.]
[She did not enter the Divine Key: The Great Hibernation, but instead chose to enter the location housing the supercomputer Prometheus—no one believed she was dead.]
[The snake still walks the path pursuing "Infinity," and this time, she does not intend to stop.]
[Klein did not die in the battle against the 10th Herrscher. She remained as a confidant and assistant, helping Mobius through her lonely times. After the final battle, she chose to enter a cryopod. No one knows where she went later.]
[Dr. Mei did not use the Blank Key. Her health remained good. A few months after your death, her and Kevin's child was born. This child was the ancestor of the Kaslanas. Unfortunately, even without in vitro cultivation, their brains were still... not the best.]
[You changed the fates of many people, but the predetermined destruction could not be halted—the Previous Era was still destroyed.]
[Reward Obtained: Incomplete MANTIS (Vasuki).]
[As the first MANTIS, the surgery you underwent was incomplete. The Vasuki Honkai beast cannot fully unleash its true power. You require further modifications.]
[Incomplete MANTIS (Vasuki): Your body contains MANTIS genes. Even without armor or weapons, you possess strength comparable to an A-rank Valkyrie. Vasuki's power greatly enhances your power of Creation.]
[Note: Prolonged use of MANTIS power will inevitably lead to excessive metamorphosis, or even an artificial Herrscher form.]
[Additional Reward: Emblem of the Flame-Chasers (Infinity):
Adoring [L]: Rejoice, for you have obtained the eternal love of the 10th Flame-Chaser. Regardless of time and space, dimensions, the Sea of Quanta, or the Imaginary Tree, she will find you and bring you back to her side.
Be careful; if she finds you getting too close to other girls... it could be dangerous.
Undying [M]: Unbeknownst to you, Mobius performed modifications on you similar to the "Snake Molt" technique, causing your Vasuki power to enter a permanently active state.
When you encounter a crisis, the power of Creation will form a protective "cocoon" for you, capable of blocking an attack with power equivalent to a Flame-Chaser's full-strength strike. If you lose consciousness but are not dead, the power of Creation will also repair your body.]
Gaoqi held the proof of assignment issued by the Personnel Department, walking on his way to report to the Immortal Blades squad, feeling quite cheerful.
He had seriously asked the system if performing a few more simulations would allow him to re-enter the previous simulation world and received a "possible" reply from the system.
This made him exceptionally happy, even more so than gaining power.
Although it wasn't the same as the real world, Gao qi believed he would meet them again.
[With Mobius, and little Hua added too, I can't be unfaithful. It must be the same in reality—Gao qi, ah, Gao qi, you must know shame!]
But before Gao qi could firmly resolve himself, his sharp MANTIS senses suddenly detected a figure quietly approaching from behind, making him whirl around abruptly.
"Hello, Miss Rita."
This time, it was the maid-attired woman who was slightly startled by Gao qi's sudden movement, her elegant expression stiffening momentarily.
"Hello, Mr. Gao qi. These are your belongings—apologies, but there's no time for you to settle into the job. We must start the mission early. Our target has made a new move."
Smiling, she pointed behind her to a large pile of haphazardly placed weapons, ammunition, and support equipment, alongside a very sleep-deprived Alvitir. Rita then shoved an Immortal Blades uniform into Gao qi's arms.
"Alright then, Vice-Captain Rita, for this operation, our target is—if it's classified, forget I asked."
Having experienced years of battle and returning to reality, Gao qi felt as if he had been in a different world. Looking at Rita again, he found her much cuter.
Rita simply smiled slightly and walked towards the transport aircraft not far away.
"It's fine. The Immortal Blades squad's mission this time is simple—find the intelligence broker in Arc City, Gray Serpent."
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Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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Raw: 崩坏模拟器,你找的人是我么?