"As expected, none of the people I set my sights on fail."
These were the first words Mobius said after walking out of the operating room.
"Except for a waste like you." She glared at the indifferent Lin.
She took off her mask to reveal a sneer, mocking the incredibly nervous Spaciel. "Go in and see for yourself. I didn't turn your valuable student into a monster."
Spaciel nodded gloomily and walked into the operating room, leaving only Lin and Mobius in the empty corridor where a broken streetlight flickered.
"I'm curious about something."
Mobius walked in front, Lin followed. They reached the vending machine at the end of the corridor.
"Please insert coins."
Mobius felt her pockets but couldn't find a coin. A Fire Moth emblem could also pay, but she hadn't brought that either.
"You might use the excuse 'Su volunteered' to brush me off." The doctor, who looked like an eighteen-year-old girl, leisurely smoothed her long hair. She pressed the button for hot coffee. "But there is no way your approval of his surgery was for that reason. You can fool Spaciel, but you can't fool me."
Beep... Please insert coins, the disturbed vending machine reminded.
"..."
"..."
Mobius suddenly turned to look at Lin, but Lin didn't seem to notice the conflict between her and the vending machine; he was looking elsewhere.
She slammed her palm onto the vending machine, making the whole thing rattle. But it was useless. Fire Moth's vending machines weren't low-tech items that would drop goods if you gave them a powered roundhouse kick. Heaven knows what the headquarters' researchers were thinking when they installed paid vending machines in a base that was essentially free, and equipped them with anti-theft tech that even weapon vaults didn't have.
She suddenly stopped speaking and moving, staring straight at Lin.
"..." After a moment, Lin shook his head, stepped forward, and used his emblem to buy two cans of coffee—one hot, one cold. He handed one to Mobius.
He opened his own can, but just as his mouth touched the rim, he saw Mobius frowning at him. She shouted dissatisfiedly, "You took my coffee! Mine was the hot one!"
Saying that, she snatched the coffee Lin hadn't even tasted and tilted her head to take a large gulp. After drinking, she wiped her mouth and suddenly realized something. She froze, head down, covering her lips in thought.
"Because..."
Mobius looked up and saw Lin push his helmet up to the bridge of his nose, revealing a smooth chin. He opened the other can of cold coffee and took a shallow sip.
He looked into Mobius snake-like, enchanting pupils. In them was clear purity, and also complex turbidity.
"Because I believe in you."
...
"How do you feel, Su?"
"...I feel... very strange." Su was somewhat surprised by his condition. Ten minutes after the surgery, he could already stand on the ground without support. He didn't open his eyes, yet he could perceive his surroundings—even Spaciel's breathing, heartbeat, and... thoughts.
It was as if an extra sensory organ had grown inside him, and this organ was sharper than eyes.
Su could even sense Honkai energy. Even in this area with extremely low concentration, he could control it as easily as his own limbs, just like the ability of the original owner of the Honkai Beast genes within him.
This gave him a weird thought. Was he... still human? Or just a Honkai Beast wearing a human skin?
Spaciel saw his actions but said nothing. Now was not the time for that. They had no time; humanity had no time.
"...Let's go." Su closed his eyes and nodded slightly to Spaciel.
...
"I'll explain the situation first. Observing the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world relies on reverse-invading the consciousness modules of the contaminated. The difficulty is on a different level compared to her invading us. It's like finding her lair along the path she left behind, but she will set traps on that path. Furthermore, the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness is far more resilient than an ordinary person's. One wrong move and you'll fall into her hands to be toyed with at will."
Dystopia's complexion had improved after some rest, but she still looked like she might collapse at any moment. If Kosma hadn't been supporting her, she might have fallen.
Su listened to Vil-V explanation with a serious expression.
"To be honest, just the two of you might still not be enough..."
"I'll join too."
It was Lin who spoke. He stood by the equipment, took off his helmet, and turned his back to everyone.
"You?" Vil-V hadn't expected Lin to suddenly interject. She looked at his back in surprise. "But you..."
"It's fine. Aponia will help me."
"Aponia... alright."
Lin had indeed said Aponia would assist with all her strength; it seemed this was it. They just didn't know in what form she would help Lin from a distance.
With three mental-perception type MANTIS working together to observe the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world, the success rate increased greatly. The three of them entered different pods, and the stabilizing E.L. liquid was injected, submerging them.
"Twenty-seventh Eighth Herrscher consciousness world observation—begin."
Vil-V, Spaciel, Mei, Einstein, and Mobius—several of Fire Moth's most representative researchers—gathered together, adjusting the data of the observation instruments to ensure they could start the observation in the best possible state.
At that moment...
Aponia opened her eyes in the darkness. Her pupils turned from blue to red. Massive Honkai energy, transformed into a special form, was transmitted through the anchor point connection between herself and Lin. This application of Honkai energy was close to the Eighth Herrscher attaching her authority to the recordings.
"Huh?"
When she prepared to help Lin attack the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world, she sensed that a certain part of Lin consciousness—one that had been replaced—was also being called upon. Then, a surge of majestic consciousness energy that didn't belong to Lin poured into his consciousness world.
Besides her, was someone else helping Lin?
But there was no time to think. The equipment had started. To be safe, Aponia also channeled her own consciousness power into Lin consciousness world.
Under the joint attack of three mental-perception type MANTIS, an individual of unknown origin, and Lin own unique consciousness, this time, they broke through the barrier of the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world.
...
Yama opened her eyes. The feather floating in front of her dissipated in the air.
"I see. You ate a part of his consciousness and used it to lock onto the location of the parallel world he resides in. So that was your purpose for eating his tongue? I thought you were..."
"Shut up."