"You've gone delusional from your coma."
The first sentence Mobius uttered after Lin connected and explained the situation to her was an unreserved ridicule.
"Mistaking dreams for reality. Are you a middle school student who hasn't graduated from a crush on his moonlight goddess?"
"…" Lin was momentarily at a loss for appropriate words to counter her sharp sarcasm.
"Forget it, you won't understand much professional knowledge anyway." After letting off some steam, Mobius returned to a normal conversation. "So, your point of confusion is a series of hallucinations you experienced during a deep coma. What were they about? Tell me."
Lin thought for a moment. He remembered the key term: "Do you know what 'Project Soldier Surgery' is?"
"...Where did you hear that? Did Mei tell you?" Mobius's tone abruptly changed.
"I learned that term from a 'conversation between me and you' that I saw while I was in a coma."
"…"
Mobius's sudden silence lasted for several seconds over the communication. She seemed to be searching for something and was no longer treating the matter casually.
In a moment, she spoke again, her voice much more serious this time: "Project Soldier Surgery is the surgery in the Fusion Soldier plan that transforms humans into Fusion Soldiers. That name is still confidential to this day; only a select few responsible for the Fusion Soldier project know it."
Clearly, the fact that Lin knew this name, whether by accident or something else, made the entire matter far from simple.
"You said the space your consciousness entered was very similar to the inter-dimensional gap of the Phase-Shift Device. I have a hypothesis." Mobius brought up the necessary data on her computer. "That your consciousness observed scenes from the 'Sea of Quanta.'"
"…"
"Vil-V, Einstein, and Mei are more familiar with the concepts related to the Sea of Quanta than I am. I've only accessed some basics, but the most accepted hypothesis, also proposed by Einstein, is that parallel worlds exist inside the Sea of Quanta, and the timelines between these parallel worlds are not synchronized."
Did this mean he actually saw the Lin and Mobius of another world where time progressed differently, inside the Sea of Quanta?
"I speculate that your consciousness existed in different dimensional spaces—the Herrscher Core, the inter-dimensional gap, and reality—leading to a change in your consciousness that allows you to observe parallel worlds. However, achieving this solely with one person's consciousness is virtually impossible. There must be something else specifically enabling your consciousness to observe parallel worlds..."
A hint of her characteristic fervor gradually entered Mobius's tone.
Something that enabled him to observe parallel worlds?
The only thing Lin could think of was the Second Herrscher Core, but he had never come into contact with that Herrscher Core.
"Forget it, we'll talk when you get back. You should be returning soon anyway." Mobius reined in her irrepressible curiosity. She leaned back comfortably in her soft chair. "Your mission is complete, and you need to replace your limb, right? Seriously, are you treating yourself like a piece of assemble-it-yourself furniture?"
"No... I'm not planning to return yet."
"...What? Why?"
"I'm going to the concert."
"…"
Mobius clutched the communicator in a daze. She couldn't understand what Lin meant.
A concert...?
"Eden's concert. She's hosting it in Australia. I happened to meet her, and she gave me a ticket."
"...So you're just going to wait there for the concert, even without an arm?"
"Yes."
Lin responded honestly. Then, to make his words more convincing, he slowly explained: "I've been a fan of Eden since way back. I was listening to her music when she first debuted."
"…"
"…"
"Heh heh heh heh... Is that so..." Mobius suddenly started laughing, her voice carrying an extreme piercing quality through the communicator. "You know what? I wasn't wrong. You really are a middle school student who hasn't graduated from a crush on his moonlight goddess."
"...You don't need to worry. I'll come back after the concert."
"Worry about your tank-class Honkai Beast head! I don't care if you die in Australia."
"Beep————"
The communication was cut.
...
Lin collected his thoughts. From Mobius's words, it was highly probable that he saw scenes from a parallel world in the Sea of Quanta, but what caused it remained to be studied.
Project Soldier Surgery, the procedure to transform humans into Fusion Soldiers. The scene he saw provided three pieces of information.
One: Project Soldier Surgery has side effects.
Two: Lin has undergone Project Soldier Surgery.
Three: Su's Project Soldier Surgery had just been completed at that time.
Lin had once promised Mobius that he would be the first test subject for the Fusion Soldier plan, so his undergoing the Project Soldier Surgery was within expectation.
But the existence of side effects to the Project Soldier Surgery, and Su's Project Soldier Surgery...
Lin frowned. He thought about the conversation he had overheard.
Mobius's attitude was vastly different from now. She seemed to be angry and resentful toward Lin at that time. Did he do something that caused a major shift in her attitude?
Finally, since what he saw was a parallel world in the Sea of Quanta, then... who was that person?
When he broke out of the deep coma, someone had forcibly broken into that space and saw Lin.
After a short while, Lin entertained an incredible conjecture.
"Observer of the Sea of Quanta..."
Since parallel worlds exist inside the Sea of Quanta, it was possible that people in those parallel worlds existed who could also observe the Sea of Quanta, or even exist within the Sea of Quanta itself.
That sense of oppression, as if wanting to crush him, couldn't have been merely someone who accidentally observed a parallel world like him. That person was able to track him to that space, showing a familiarity with the Sea of Quanta that far surpassed their theoretical understanding.
And that person was looking for Lin with unconcealed malice.
Did even the Sea of Quanta have enemies?
Lin thought for a moment and dialed another person's communicator.
"Dr. Einstein, I have some questions for you."
...
"Primacy, although I feel I shouldn't have to repeatedly stress this, and few people aside from Lin can change your logic."
Vil-V looked with a subtle expression at the mechanical girl currently flexing her joints.
"But you really don't need to personally join the combat. Your job is only to provide support to Lin."
"...Great Dr. Vil-V, wouldn't you like someone to test out the new weapon?"
Vil-V was silent for a few seconds, then immediately slammed her hand on the table: "...In that case, I am indeed very interested."