280. The Evolution of Honkai
After bringing Elysia in, the two humans and the AI simply stared silently at her.
"How long are you going to keep up this act?" Mobius suddenly spoke.
Elysia opened her eyes slightly, but was still acting unconscious.
"Dr. Ling, I learned in fairy tales that at this moment, all you have to do is have the prince kiss Sleeping Beauty and she'll wake up," Ai said playfully.
"Although I'm not a prince, I can do it for her," Ling said, pretending to stretch to her.
Elysia's body trembled violently.
As Ling's figure drew closer, Elysia felt her heart begin to race.
They… must be joking, right?
Suddenly, a breath of hot air hit her face, startling her.
She couldn't keep up the act any longer and immediately rolled over, waking up.
"Fairy tales are all lies after all," Ling said, taking a few steps back and looking at the still-shaken Elysia with a half-smile.
She had searched everywhere outside but couldn't find any other entrance, so she had no choice but to resort to this method.
It was freezing outside, and she couldn't stay out there any longer; getting hypothermia would be terrible.
"Explain yourself," Mobius said coldly, looking at her.
"Uh...actually, I received a mission and accidentally got lost in this area...is that a good enough excuse?" Elysia asked tentatively.
"I've already had Ai ask Prometheus. You're currently on vacation and have no missions at the moment," Ling reminded her.
"Well...actually, I came out to explore and accidentally ended up here," Elysia offered another excuse.
"Follow me if you want to see, lest you get eaten by a monster," Mobius said, not bothering with further conversation, and walked inside.
"Great! Is Mobius concerned about me? I'm so happy~" Elysia immediately beamed.
Then she looked at Ling.
"Dr. Ling, your little secret is about to be discovered! How many times did it happen?" Elysia blinked.
"Definitely not the first," Ling replied casually, continuing to show Mobius around the entire laboratory.
This place not only housed thousands of clones, but also countless Honkai Beast samples—all hunted by the K-series clones for experiments.
From the lowest-ranking Seraph-class Honkai Beasts to the highest-ranking Judgment-class, they had them all.
"Unfortunately, the sample of 'Mahesevara' is under tight guard, and there's no second 'Mahesevara' in the world. The only thing I can obtain is this feather."
Ling opened a container and took out the feather.
This was the most powerful Honkai Beast ever recorded by the Fire Moth, but no one knew why or how it died.
Its form was that of a manta ray, with a pinkish-white base. It was already dead when the Fire Moth discovered it.
Judging from the Honkai energy emanating from its body, it was a terrifying existence far surpassing the Judgment-class Honkai Beasts.
Therefore, it was also classified as a Vipralopa-class Honkai Beast by the Fire Moth.
Unseen by Ling and Mobius, a hint of longing and sorrow flickered in Elysia's eyes.
As if sensing Elysia's emotions, the feather suddenly glowed faintly, as if comforting her.
"?" Ling looked at the feather in confusion. Why did it suddenly glow?
Mobius was equally puzzled. Could this feather be alive?
However, the light quickly dimmed, as if it had never appeared.
Even having Ai analyze it yielded no results.
Elysia gently stroked the clones through the glass dome.
She probably felt that being trapped inside the glass dome was too tragic.
Thinking about it, could a human with normal values really accept such an inhumane experiment?
"Elysia, if you can't accept it, you can stay outside for a while. I'll take you back later," Ling noticed her expression and kindly reminded her.
However, Elysia shook her head, insisting on staying.
Seeing this, Ling stopped bothering her and began discussing the branching evolution with Mobius.
The laboratory was well-equipped, featuring a separate lounge and recreation room, as well as a collection of books and documents for reading.
Even if the three of them stayed here for several months, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
But Elysia was a soldier, so this was obviously not an option; she needed to go out on missions.
So on the third day, Elysia's vacation ended, and she had to leave early.
With Mobius's addition, the branching evolution process was progressing steadily.
"Ling, do you think... if I inject this, can I survive?" Mobius picked up a sample of Honkai Beast ICHOR and waved it in front of him. Ling snatched it away without hesitation.
"This one doesn't meet my requirements, so it won't do." Ling put it back in its place.
"Your requirements? What requirements?" Mobius gently placed a hand on Ling's shoulder, whispering intimately in his ear.
"At least there can't be any danger to life or side effects. I've already prepared what you wanted: the Third Herrscher's companion Honkai Beast—Śeṣa." Ling replied.
The Judgment-class Honkai Beast—Śeṣa, had been exterminated by the Fire Moth more than five times, yet it would mysteriously revive each time, like a snake shedding its skin.
And this ability perfectly suited Mobius's tastes.
"As expected, you understand me best," Mobius said sweetly.
Even though the success rate of this potion was an astonishing 30%, Ling would absolutely not let Mobius take such a big risk.
Knowing that the success rate of normal potions is less than one in a thousand, the potion before them is obviously of immense value.
"Don't let Klein hear this, she'll cry," Ling remarked casually, then continued having Ai simulate the other possibilities.
"Klein isn't that fragile," Mobius waved her hand dismissively.
Suddenly, Ai's operating system issued a red alert.
"What's going on?" Mobius asked, puzzled, having never experienced anything like it before.
"Honkai energy field detected, location... Australia!"
"So, we can create another Herrscher?" Mobius's face was filled with undisguised excitement.
"This time it might be too late, because the Herrscher has already descended."
Looking at the image Ai transmitted, the newly descended Herrscher had already turned everything around into a sea of fire.
"...Could it be that the Honkai has evolved too? Knowing you created two Herrschers, did it directly use this method to forcibly create a Herrscher?" Mobius speculated.
"That possibility can't be ruled out, but it would likely lead to a significant vulnerability."
"You mean..."
...