Chapter 81: Miss Elf's Advance
Although she noticed the two sisters were not willing, Mobius didn't care.
There had been plenty of times when these two weren't willing. However, Mobius felt it was a pity.
These two actually possessed very good research capabilities. After all, having stayed in her research institute for so long, it would be impossible for them to lack skill.
Although these two mostly caused trouble, that was simply a problem caused by their personalities. If they only knew how to cause trouble, she would have swept them out the door long ago.
However, the fact that they could stay for so long proved that they indeed had some ability. Nuwa was basically an all-around genius.
From data programming to biological research, Nuwa understood a bit of everything. Although the depth of her knowledge was certainly inferior to Mobius's, her strength lay in her ability to stick a foot in anywhere.
later stages, an all-around researcher like Nuwa became even more precious; she was like a brick, moved wherever she was needed.
As for Fuxi, she leaned more towards being a normal researcher, yet she had an inexplicably profound understanding of financial matters.
Exerting her abilities, she had won quite a bit of extra investment for the laboratory.
Plus, because of Mobius's personal style, very few people were willing to have contact with her, so it was Fuxi who handled negotiations.
Although later on, the laboratory's funding was directly handled by Eden and Fuxi's talent in that area was no longer needed, it didn't hinder Fuxi from continuing to shine as a fairly decent researcher.
So, even if these two sisters constantly made mistakes on small issues, Mobius didn't kick them out. People who possessed decent Honkai Adaptability at that time, could conduct research, and were also considered smart, were truly very, very rare.
After all, setting aside talent, there were relatively few people at that time who possessed decent Honkai Adaptability and could accompany Mobius in conducting direct Honkai energy research.
If one added the requirement of being able to understand the tasks Mobius assigned, the number was even smaller.
Just as Mobius was preparing to leave, she suddenly turned her head to look at Irene. "Oh, right, Lab Rat. If you are interested, you can also come to my place to sit for a while."
"I am very curious about your situation." Mobius looked at Irene, sticking out her tongue like a snake to lick the corner of her mouth. Although others hadn't understood yet, Mobius had already sniffed out something very intriguing about Irene.
She had already seen the people who came in with Irene, but according to the report submitted by Klein, Irene was alone when she entered.
Counting Rin, Nuwa, Fuxi, Pardo, and those two unrecognized lab rats, Irene actually had a full seven souls living inside her head including her own.
This was not something Vill-V's severe Dissociative Identity Disorder could compare to. After all, when all was said and done, a split personality was still just one person; no matter how much they split, they only had that one original soul.
But Irene was different. There were truly seven souls inside Irene's head. If Irene were a Herrscher of Sentience, Mobius would accept it, but Irene obviously wasn't.
That meant Irene's brain really aroused Mobius's research interest. If Irene could truly store consciousness bodies, then could it be that...
"Hmph!"
Looking at Mobius, Kalpas let out a cold snort. He stood in front of Mobius, blocking her line of sight toward Irene.
"Take back your disgusting gaze. If you dare to do anything to her, I will pull off every single one of your snake scales."
Kalpas didn't know what Mobius wanted to do, but he knew Mobius definitely wasn't up to anything good. If it weren't for the fact that Mobius was currently going to think of a way to save Rin, Kalpas would have beaten Mobius up right now just to make her a bit more honest.
As for why he cared so much about Irene? That little brat being able to save Rin, plus those two little fellows, was enough reason for Kalpas to do so.
"Heh!" Mobius let out a light snort, deciding not to bicker with this powder keg that exploded at the slightest spark. There were other things to do now, so why bicker with him?
Besides, there would always be a time when Kalpas wasn't watching. As long as she caught an opportunity, Mobius was confident she could make Irene cooperate properly with her experiments.
"Let's go." Mobius turned and walked into the laboratory. Sakura, holding Rin, hurriedly followed. Nuwa and Fuxi sighed again before following together into the teleportation gate.
For the two of them, what followed could probably be called hell—mm, overtime hell.
"Mm, and here I thought I wouldn't have to live through days of pulling all-nighters anymore," Nuwa uttered a final lament, then walked into the teleportation gate alongside Fuxi.
Kalpas crossed his arms over his chest. After watching the group disappear, he turned his head to look at Irene. "You. If that Mobius asks you to cooperate with some experiment, reject her directly. That has no benefit for you."
"Mm." Irene nodded seemingly obediently. "Okay, I will be careful."
However, Irene still had her own little schemes. To tell the truth, [Irene]'s research had fallen into a certain stagnation. After all, neither Irene nor [Irene] was very proficient in biology.
Relying merely on the bits and scraps currently in Irene's brain, the Authority of the Herrscher of Death couldn't be fully developed. However, if she could obtain Mobius's guidance, the situation might be vastly different.
"Hmph!" After glancing at Irene, Kalpas prepared to squat near Mobius's laboratory for a while. If Mobius dared to do anything, he definitely wouldn't let her off.
"Oh my, Kalpas really is as enthusiastic as ever, isn't he?" Elysia looked at Kalpas with a face full of smiles. At this moment, Elysia had unknowingly sidled up to Irene's side.
"But don't be scared by Kalpas. Professor Mobius is actually a very cute girl."
"Shut up, Elysia." Kalpas glared fiercely at Elysia, but Elysia's face still wore that bright and beautiful smile. After Kalpas snorted coldly once more, he turned and disappeared into the other side of the teleportation gate.
"Oh my~ Is Kalpas being shy?" Elysia looked in the direction Kalpas left, maintaining her smile, then looked at Irene. "Don't look at Kalpas's fierce appearance; he is actually a very warm-hearted person."
"Mm, I know." Irene nodded. As long as one didn't touch Kalpas's bottom line in certain aspects, Kalpas should actually be very easy to talk to.
Just like in the story, the relationship between Mei and Kalpas was entirely because Mei's way of speaking at the time was truly too aggressive; it could be called bringing up exactly what shouldn't be mentioned.
Although Mei was doing it to explore the truth of the Honkai, for the Flame-Chasers, the things Mei wanted to ask about were tantamount to the pain in their hearts.
And Mei's questioning style in the early stages was basically tearing open the other party's wound and then asking how exactly this wound was formed back then.
It could only be said that a Mei who spoke in that manner wasn't beaten to death because, firstly, her strength had indeed come up by that time and she wasn't so easily killed, and secondly, the magnanimity of the Flame-Chasers was indeed quite good.
As for Irene, she didn't need to know. After all, she also clearly knew roughly what had happened, so she didn't need to explore any truth. Naturally, she wouldn't do such a thankless thing.
"Oh, right, speaking of which." Elysia clapped her hands and looked at Kallen and Lixue, who hadn't spoken just now. "Miss Irene seems to have not introduced the other girls to me yet. We... can't give the cold shoulder to other cute girls~"
"Mm." Irene nodded, then walked to Kallen's side. "This is Kallen Kaslana. Mm, if I had to say, she should be considered Mr. Kevin's descendant."
"!!!" Before Kevin could say anything, Elysia, standing to the side, exclaimed in surprise instead. "Kevin's descendant? Really?"
"Mm-hm." Irene nodded. "Actually, after the Battle of Finality, Dr. MEI used Kevin's cells and her own cells to create a test-tube baby."
"...Is that so?" Upon hearing Irene's words, Kevin was slightly stunned. The gaze he cast toward Kallen also shifted slightly. His and MEI's child?
In his memories, because of the freezing cold of his body temperature, he couldn't even give MEI a hug. After understanding that fact, he hadn't thought he could have a child with MEI.
Su, standing to the side, patted Kevin's shoulder, his eyes also holding a trace of emotion. He had been observing from the sidelines regarding the events of the past and felt deeply regretful.
Two people who liked each other could only greet one another from a distance.
Even for a hug, MEI had to wear special cold-resistant clothing. Of course, later on, there was simply no opportunity at all. In the end, although it was a test-tube baby, this wasn't bad. It wasn't bad at all.
However, speaking of white hair and blue pupils, Kevin's gaze turned to Irene. Catching Kevin's gaze, Irene waved her hand. "Mm, I have no relation to the Kaslana family."
Kevin nodded. It seemed it was just a pure coincidence. "Then, what did you mean by saying that she should be considered my descendant?"
"Because... they are not people of this world." Irene looked at everyone. "If I had to say, you can consider us people from another branch."
"Another branch?" Vill-V rested her chin on her hand, her tone carrying curiosity. The Imaginary Tree was not unfamiliar to them. After exploring the Sea of Quanta, they had speculations about the relationship between the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta.
Their Project Valuka was formulated because of this: observing other worlds to find a feasible way to fight the Honkai. Speaking of which, she wondered how that project was progressing now?
"Or you can treat it as another possibility." Irene looked toward the catgirl, noticing that at some point, the Realm's Pardo had also run over. The two catgirls had been whispering to each other over there since just now, discussing who knows what.
Noticing Irene's gaze, Pardo stood up, hugging the Realm Pardo's Can. Her tone carried a hint of hesitation. "Mm, I am a Pardo from another world."
"It is... Pardofelis who survived due to some accidents when opening the door that time." As Pardo spoke, she raised her hand. Her hand happened to start quantizing at that moment, blue light and shadow covering Pardo's arm.
"The moment I was eroded by Honkai energy, because the passage was unmanned and unmaintained, I fell into the Sea of Quanta. Because of the Sea of Quanta, I survived, but my body also has the problem of random quantization because of it."
The Realm's Pardo standing to the side wasn't surprised. When they were interacting just now, Pardo had actually already told her that, in fact, she hadn't survived.
The 'self' of this world didn't catch that final bit of good luck.
"I'm sorry, everyone, for disappointing you." Pardo lowered her head, her tone somewhat downcast. She knew everyone must be thinking she was the Pardofelis of this world.
Thinking that Pardofelis had survived—even if the situation was a bit wrong, leaving only a soul—but that she had survived in the end, just like Nuwa and Fuxi.
But she wasn't the Pardofelis of this world after all. The Pardofelis of this world had ultimately died in that intermediate passage.
Just as Pardofelis lowered her head, she was pulled into a warm embrace. Elysia rubbed Pardo's head. "It doesn't matter, Little Pardo~"
Elysia's voice was like the gentlest warm breeze of a spring day. She gently held the head-bowed Pardo in her arms, her palm tenderly stroking her hair.
"Regardless of whether you come from another branch or possibility, you are still the Little Pardo we know—the one who worries, who gets scared, who slacks off, but is brave..."
Elysia pulled back slightly, cupping Pardo's cheeks with both hands, making her look straight into those pink eyes filled with smiling intent.
"So you are also our Pardofelis, our important family. This point will never change because of the difference in worlds~"
"Or could it be that in your world, we aren't family living together?"
Pardo's eyes were instantly covered by a layer of mist. She opened her mouth but felt like her throat was blocked by something, only able to emit a few choking gasps.
"Oh my, such an emotional scene, it really makes one embarrassed~" The Realm's Pardo rubbed her slightly reddened eye rims, leaned over with a grin, and wrapped her arm around the other self's shoulder.
"But she's right! I am Pardofelis, no matter which world. So, the other me, from now on we are double the Pardo, and we can have double the Super Luck! Can, don't you agree?"
Held in Pardo's arms, and now sandwiched between Elysia and Pardo, Can let out a timely "Meow," then continued trying to break free from the embrace of the two.
Eden approached elegantly holding a glass of red wine. Her gaze was gentle and profound. Eden didn't say much; she just looked at Pardo and said softly:
"Welcome home, Pardo."
Griseo tilted her head back, looked at the two Pardos, tugged on Kosma's shirt corner, and whispered, "Kosma, the two Elder Sister Pardos... their colors are both warm, like the sun."
Kosma nodded silently, giving a cool nod toward Pardo.
Pardo vigorously wiped her eyes. The worry originally hidden in her heart was finally laid to rest at this moment. "Mm! Thank you, everyone! I... I know now! Please take care of me from now on!"
"That's the way~" Elysia pinched Pardo's cheek with a smile on her face. "Looking like a crybaby doesn't suit Little Pardo at all~"
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