Click.
The pitch-black room was illuminated by a light that wasn't particularly bright. Messy clothes, experimental equipment, and discarded drafts of proposals filled every corner of the room. A pile of leftover instant noodle cups sat by the door, with used tissues stuffed into the stale, discolored broth.
A cold wind blowing in from the open door sent the manuscripts on the floor fluttering like falling snow.
Mobius shut the door blankly and hopped off her transport device. She casually peeled off her silk stockings—which she had forgotten to change for two days because she was so busy, now soaked with sweat and smelling foul—and threw them into the pile of things destined for the trash.
She flung herself onto the cluttered sofa, grabbing a tangled mess of a blanket to cover herself.
Witness reports of the Tenth Herrscher had increased from thirteen to a hundred. It was now certain that this Herrscher consisted of multiple individuals. The Herrscher Cores extracted during vivisections had also been compared with previous ones.
It seemed a new trouble had arrived; a hard battle was inevitable.
Aside from possessing some abilities of previous Herrschers, no connection between the Tenth Herrschers had been discovered yet, nor was it known if the hosts possessed any unique characteristics.
All of this required investigation, but for now, there were no leads.
Her body was exhausted, but her mind was still restless from the high-intensity surgeries. She couldn't sleep; closing her eyes only blocked her vision, making her more aware of the rustling sounds in the darkness—noises she couldn't tell were real or just a product of her own mind.
There was still a mountain of work to do...
Mobius' tiny body curled up into a ball on the sofa,her green hair, longer than she was tall, trailing behind her. She forced herself to sleep.
She had sleep-inducing drugs, but she didn't want to use them.
To be precise, she loathed medication.
Drugs turned humans into hideous monsters. From the moment she left that cage called "home," she had deeply despised humans who relied on drugs.
After closing her eyes and staying quiet for a while, her consciousness finally blurred. Drowsily, she seemed on the verge of sleep.
But once a person forces themselves to sleep, they are easily startled awake, especially when things they usually refuse to think about quietly appear before them.
She snapped her eyes open. Her snake-like pupils saw clearly in the dark, but she vaguely saw someone walking nearby, seemingly tidying up her messy room.
Mobius stared unblinkingly at the figure. She stretched out a slender arm, which froze in mid-air.
"...Even in death, you are annoying."
Mobius lowered her head, stood up, and turned on the light.
"..."
In the room, there was only trash, and herself.
That was right. How could there be anyone else?
She scoffed, covered her face, and sank into the sofa.
It was as if she wanted to crush her own body and stuff it into the crevices of the couch.
Dr. Mobius, the dark side of MOTH, ranked first in the most inhumane anonymous poll on the intranet, with five times the votes of the second place. In the non-anonymous polls, she was last—no one dared to let her know they had voted. Demon, monster, a snake in human skin... her nicknames were too many to count.
Such a person—no one dared to get close to her, and no one dared to approach her laboratory.
Except for one person.
Mobius looked up at the only wall that was still somewhat clean. A piece of clothing hung on that wall.
What she had seen in the dark just now was actually just that piece of clothing fluttering.
She had originally intended to collect his physical data behind his back... forget it, nothing mattered now.
She hugged her legs with both hands, her head resting on her knees, silent and still.
Just like that, she spent the entire night without moving.
...
The wound was healing much slower than expected. Lin suspected that after the Pseudo-Herrscher Core was sealed, his self-healing ability hadn't just returned to normal, but had dropped to a subpar level.
A man being followed and cared for by a maid wherever he went—even if Lin and Rita themselves didn't care, the ELF (Equipment: Living Form) units were exceptionally gossipy.
Lin didn't know to what extent the rumors had spread; he only knew that whenever he approached an ELF now, they would stare at him with sheer terror, so much so that he felt an inexplicable sense of guilt from their gaze.
"You wish for me to... help with training?"
Rita expressed some confusion upon hearing Lin request. She looked at Lin, who was calmly holding his spear horizontally in front of his chest with both hands.
"What exactly do you intend to train, sir?"
"...Cultivation."
"..."
Rita looked at Lin.
Lin looked back at Rita.
Rita burst into a sweet smile. "Well then, playing around with you for a bit doesn't seem like a big deal."
Lin let out a long sigh of relief. He handed the spear over, but Rita shook her head and declined.
"Please wait a moment. Let's train in the open space outside."
With that, Rita walked quickly into her own room. Lin watched her leave, thought for a moment, then walked out of the hollow tree to the open ground outside.
Perfect. As soon as he walked out, the ELF who had been playing there automatically cleared a space for him without him having to say a word.
Lin closed his eyes, recalling the cloaked man's moves. Lin was now more certain that he was using a sword style evolved and refined from MOTH's combat techniques. As the man himself had said, it was just refined and improved under a different name.
Taixuan Sword Qi... something he had never heard of. According to the cloaked man, it was a "cultivation technique" that could utilize Houkai energy to achieve the effects of a Herrscher's authority—manifesting, shaping, and extending Houkai energy, which was originally just a formless energy, to utilize it with maximum efficiency.
But... how was it done?
At this point, no matter how slow Lin was, he knew the cloaked man wanted to teach him the Taixuan Sword Qi. The man wasn't there to kill him, though he showed no mercy, seemingly wanting Lin to remember these things with his body and consciousness.
But shouldn't a technique be taught with at least some mental insights first, as in novels? At the very least, a manual should be provided. Beating someone up and leaving them to figure it all out on their own would leave even a martial arts genius bewildered.
Fortunately, this wasn't true cultivation or martial arts, and he didn't have to follow a manual step-by-step.
What he hadn't expected was that after the Pseudo-Herrscher Core was added to his body, the introductory part of the Taixuan Sword Qi—the "Heart Essence"—no longer needed to be practiced. This was also why the cloaked man had glossed over what should have been the most difficult essence besides the "Sword God."
Even if the cloaked man's true purpose was still unknown, Lin would attempt to practice the so-called "Spirit Essence."
Not relying on Herrscher abilities, but relying on himself to control Houkai energy.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"..."
"What's wrong?"
It was hard for Lin to say what was wrong. After all, when Rita appeared before him wearing a magnificent evening gown adorned with exquisite rosemary, her legs looking as if they were wrapped in thorns, and holding an equally gorgeous scythe, he truly didn't know how to respond.
So Lin thought for a moment and calmly pointed at her slender waist. "Your sides are exposed."