"Twenty-sixth consciousness world observation failed."
This time, after Vil-V halted the experiment, she didn't record data or tell Dystopia to prepare for the next one. Instead, she shook her head. "Stop. If Dystopia continues, her consciousness will collapse."
Dystopia's face was paler than a corpse's. After emerging from the pod, she knelt on the ground dry-heaving, but nothing came out. In the previous attempts, she had already vomited everything in her stomach; now, she couldn't even bring up bile.
"No... I..." Dystopia instinctively wanted to protest, but Vil-V cut her off firmly.
"This isn't a matter of how many tries. After so many observations, the required data has been fully collected. The failure to enter the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world is simply because you alone are not enough."
Dystopia bit her bloodless lower lip, a flash of frustration in her eyes. Perhaps in her view, this was caused by her own inadequacy.
"Then what about me? I'll also..." Kosma looked at Dystopia's face and took a step forward, but Vil-V quickly stopped him as well.
"You won't work either. Only a mental-perception type MANTIS can execute this mission. If you were subjected to consciousness observation, your brain would be fried in a single attempt."
"..."
Then, the atmosphere in the room fell silent again. After all, the other mental-perception type MANTIS would not help them.
In their understanding, Aponia had been forced to undergo the Project Soldier surgery; she likely harbored considerable resentment toward Fire Moth and had declared she would not participate in any battle.
Vil-V paced back and forth anxiously, muttering to herself, "Even if we perform another Project Soldier surgery now to turn one of us into a MANTIS, we don't have the materials from an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, let alone one that can stably produce a mental-perception type..."
Spaciel, sitting on the table, glanced at her but didn't speak.
"Isn't it right here?"
Mobius characteristically bold tone drifted in from outside, but the person entering with her was...
"You're back?" The frown on Mei's brow suddenly lightened. She saw the slightly injured Ato and a mostly unharmed Elysia walking in together. "Where's Lin?"
"Su is stitching his wounds," Mobius said casually, a stimulated smile appearing on her face. "Returning to Vil-V topic, we now have the Honkai Beast materials to stably produce a mental-perception type MANTIS."
"...I see. The Honkai Beast you encountered?"
Mei immediately understood Mobius meaning.
"Good. Perform the Project Soldier surgery immediately."
"Wait a moment—"
Mobius raised a finger, smiling mysteriously. "There is one more question. Who will fuse with this Honkai Beast?"
This sentence instantly dropped the temperature of the discussion by several degrees.
Currently, the people who could undergo the surgery were Mei, Su, Spaciel, Vil-V, and Einstein.
Perhaps there were patterns to the success of Project Soldier surgery, but one couldn't ignore the 98% death rate. Among these people, Mei, Spaciel, Vil-V, and Einstein were individuals of immense significance to Fire Moth. The death of any one of them would be a great loss for Fire Moth and humanity.
Spaciel was silent for a long time. He got off the table and said in a heavy tone, "I'll do it..."
"I'll do it."
Everyone shifted their gaze to the person walking in from outside.
Su walked in, supporting Lin, who was still wrapped in bandages. Those words had come from his mouth. His expression was resolute, like a rock.
"No." Spaciel's expression changed abruptly. He scolded sternly, "I will not let my student undergo the Project Soldier surgery."
"And besides, it would be performed by me, the notorious Mobius, right?" Mobius sneered. "Don't bother denying it; I can see you hate me."
"..."
Mobius act of tearing off the mask made the already crumbling discussion even worse. Spaciel, who usually hid his likes and dislikes well, showed a forceful attitude at this moment.
"I approve of Su undergoing the Project Soldier surgery."
No one expected that "he" would be the one to say this.
Lin looked very weak; he couldn't even walk normally without support. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, yet there was no hint of retreat in his tone.
"..." Spaciel looked at Lin blankly, and Lin looked back at him without avoidance.
"Project Soldier surgery must be voluntary. In other words, whether to undergo it depends only on his own will." Lin added after speaking, "Aponia was the same."
Aponia had volunteered for the surgery. If she had shown any reluctance at the time, Lin would not have allowed Fire Moth to force it upon her.
"Can we start now?"
Su didn't look back, or rather, he didn't dare to look at Spaciel's eyes. Spaciel had told him the story of his wife and daughter; Su didn't want to see that look again right now.
...
"Do you want me to have a drink with you?"
"...I'm afraid the alcohol would leak out of your stomach." Spaciel looked at the layers of bandages around Lin abdomen. "I don't want to be sent to the operating table by Dr. Mobius later... but forget it."
Spaciel took a flask from his waist and threw it to Lin.
"By the way, don't you have no sense of taste now?"
"...I can hear sounds. It's especially clear when drinking liquids." Lin opened the lid, lifted his helmet, poured a mouthful into his mouth, then threw it back to Spaciel, who also tilted his head for a large gulp.
"Burp... Ever since Karen left, I've been drinking more often. I guess it's true what they say: when a man gives up on himself, he turns to smoking, drinking, and women." Spaciel felt the cold draft flow down his throat and into his stomach. He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
"No one gives up on themselves by researching how to save people."
"Isn't that how you gave up on yourself too?"
"..."
Spaciel felt the smell of alcohol slowly waft from his nasal cavity. He shook his head vacantly. "In the end, it seems nothing has changed."
"A Honkai energy serum that can cure Honkai sickness, yet it can only save a few dozen people at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives."
"I took a student, and I can only watch him lie on the operating table."
"In these years, I... seem to have been unable to change anything."