Mobius applied every result obtained from Dusk City to Kevin.
Even a "Vampire Duke" was nothing more than a byproduct to Mobius, a defective specimen used to verify her experimental results.
It was easy to imagine that the modifications Kevin underwent could raise his strength by yet another level.
This battle was also Mobius' way of verifying the results of Kevin's surgery.
If Vill-V had been present, she definitely would have objected to Mobius using the experimental results of Project MANTIS on Kevin.
And she would have questioned Kevin, "You were perfectly fine, so how did you suddenly end up becoming a MANTIS? The Seventh Herrscher hasn't even appeared yet. Does your wife, Dr. Mei, know you're doing this?"
Unfortunately, not everything in the world's development would proceed according to Vill-V's wishes. More often than not, reality went against them.
Dr. Mobius' MANTIS surgery did not require much time. In the original story, it had not taken long at all for Kalpas to be sent onto the operating table, transformed into a MANTIS, and returned to the battlefield.
Kevin had merely gone to the lounge for a nap, and by the time he woke up, he was no longer human.
Compared with the original story, Kevin's evolution into MANTIS Kevin could only be described as uneventful, but the price was still there.
Being unable to control his body temperature meant he could no longer make physical contact with others.
Not only that, even basic needs such as drinking water and wearing clothes would be severely affected, never mind anything else.
"Of course it's difficult for a human to control the genes of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast."
Dr. Mobius did not seem particularly concerned that her surgery had produced a flaw.
"What? Regretting the decision you made on impulse?"
Mobius smiled. Dr. Mei deserved much of the credit for providing her with such an exceptionally cooperative experimental subject.
Kalpas, by contrast, was the exact opposite. Mobius had no idea where Vill-V had abducted that guy from, but he stubbornly refused to undergo her surgery no matter what.
What is this supposed to mean? Did she send Kalpas here just so he could act like some pampered lord and make trouble for me?
Kevin remained silent for a while, his emotions spreading together with the frost.
Just when Dr. Mobius thought Kevin would remain silent as he had when she mocked Dr. Mei earlier, he finally spoke. "I regret it."
"Oh?" Mobius set down the caffeine in her hand, raised her head, and asked in a rather strange tone, "If you regret it, why did you voluntarily lie down on my operating table?"
Yes. Kevin had voluntarily requested to become part of the third batch of clinical test subjects for Project MANTIS.
Although this was already the third batch of clinical trials, the risks remained considerable. There was still an extremely high chance of dying on the spot. Successfully becoming a true MANTIS was practically equivalent to betting one's life on the lottery.
Yet Kevin had still done it, leaving Mobius, who believed she understood him fairly well, genuinely puzzled.
Wasn't Dr. Mei's little follower always thinking about staying glued to her and acting lovey-dovey with her?
Why had he suddenly volunteered to take the risk of undergoing MANTIS surgery?
Kevin looked at the pitch-black underground Floor 2.5, and the four words Come Back Alive surfaced in his mind.
Kevin answered sincerely, "Because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to complete the mission Mei gave me. That's what my intuition told me."
After hearing that, Dr. Mobius fell silent as well.
"Heh. I'm actually starting to feel a little jealous of that silly girl."
Mobius pulled a bottle of suspicious, oily green liquid from a pocket in her leather case and tossed it to Kevin.
"Don't worry. If the experimental results were to head into the unknown... although that would interest me even more, it would also prove that the designer of the experiment lacked sufficient control over the experimental process."
"My Project MANTIS has no flaws whatsoever. Right now, you're only in the first-stage adaptation period. Once you've passed that, I'll perform the second-stage surgery. That's when you'll finally understand what it means to wish you were dead."
The liquid did not freeze in Kevin's hand, clearly having received special treatment from Dr. Mobius.
Kevin released the safety catch on the injector and injected the solution into his muscle.
Before long, the chill emanating from his body slowly receded.
His strength vanished along with it, and Kevin returned to the state he had been in before the surgery.
In the original story, the Seventh Herrscher's sudden appearance had forced them to use an incompletely refined MANTIS surgery, resulting in severe side effects.
But the current Mobius had already conducted three full batches of experiments. With no time pressure forcing her hand, she could naturally take her time modifying Kevin's body at a comfortable pace.
The three-stage MANTIS surgery gave her ample time to observe how Kevin fused with Parvati's genes, while allowing Mobius to make appropriate adjustments based on the conditions he displayed along the way.
It was vastly superior to the MANTIS surgery Kevin had undergone in the original plot.
Seeing the side effects subside, Kevin instead looked puzzled. "If Parvati's power is suppressed, I'm afraid I won't be qualified to participate in the final battle that's coming."
"You want to earn some credit for your little girlfriend?"
There was a faintly jealous edge to Mobius' tone.
Kevin's attitude remained cold. "Mobius, you know what I'm trying to say."
"Heh. Your intuition was accurate, Kevin, but you were still wrong about one thing."
"The enemy we're about to face may no longer be something that can be described as an ordinary Herrscher."
"It is something truly capable of destroying humanity at its very foundation."
"And that is humanity itself."
"No matter how strong you become, your power won't be able to influence the situation at all."
"...I understand."
Kevin replied icily, hoisted the two "corpses" onto his shoulders, and followed Mobius deeper into the passage.
He showed no emotion whatsoever, as though the sacrifice he had made meant nothing at all.
That irritated Dr. Mobius somewhat. It was impossible for her not to dislike people who treated their own lives as worthless.
Mobius might have handled the deaths of countless experimental subjects, but that did not mean she lacked respect for life.
Quite the opposite. Dr. Mobius was the scientist who respected the lives of her experimental subjects more than anyone.
"Looks like I shouldn't have bothered considering your feelings in the first place. Explaining all that was just me flattering myself..."
"Thank you..."
"Tch."
Kevin's sudden thanks left Dr. Mobius speechless.
And Kevin was not the only reason Dr. Mobius found herself at a loss for words.
Chaotic footsteps echoed through the empty underground passage.
As they spoke, a second group of uninvited guests arrived, clearly with hostile intentions... No, technically, Mobius and the others were the intruders here.
"Kevin, can you still fight?"
"I'll try..."
Mobius revealed a cold, sinister smile.
"Good. Today, half of MOTH's upper leadership won't be going back either. That should take quite a bit of pressure off Dr. Mei."