"Relax. While there might be some unexpected and severe side effects, it won't be life-threatening. And the neurotoxin aspect is quite reliable."
"Eek—! D-Don't come any closer!"
At the sight of the green potion in Elias' hand, Vill-V's face had already turned green. She knew she had to struggle immediately.
One mechanical creation after another was hurled out like she had an endless supply, and in the blink of an eye, a small mechanical army had formed.
Both Elias and Elysia widened their eyes in surprise.
What was this woman, a feline robot? How did she hide all this stuff on her?
"Interesting, but not strong enough. If you could throw out a Gundam or something, then I might be a little impressed."
Elias shook his head.
Then, under Vill-V's stunned gaze, the white-haired boy charged straight into the mechanical army before him.
He didn't wield any weapons. With nothing but his fists enchanted by Honkai energy, he dismantled the machines with ease.
It was overwhelming power—pure brute force.
Steel was torn apart with bare hands.
Even bullets couldn't keep up with his speed.
Vill-V was left in shock at the sight. Her creations were being shredded like paper in front of Elias. She was seriously starting to question reality.
"Are you really even human?!"
She couldn't help but ask again. To this mechanical cultist, this was beyond absurd.
Of course Vill-V knew about Honkai energy.
This energy, exponentially more powerful than regular sources, allowed her creations to perform far beyond their usual limits. But up until now, she'd only ever used Honkai energy in her weapons.
She had never seen a human capable of directly manipulating Honkai energy. For a moment, an important intel file she'd recently discovered in the Fire Moth base surfaced in her mind.
A human-shaped Honkai lifeform known as a Herrscher.
Though she'd never seen one in person, Vill-V now deeply suspected that the boy before her was exactly that.
A few minutes later—
"...You really are a machine-churning maniac."
After Elias destroyed the last of the machines on Vill-V, he looked at the sea of broken parts on the floor and sighed.
Each of those machines was powerful enough to handle Chariot-class Honkai Beasts from the Previous Era, or Templar-class in the current civilization.
And while Elias was tearing through her arsenal—
Vill-V had even managed to pick up discarded components from the wreckage, plus some tools from the Fire Moth base, and, without any proper equipment, hand-crafted several new powerful machines.
Elias couldn't help but marvel—this green-skinned girl was totally hacked!
He was honestly tempted to reward her with a Herrscher Core of Reason!
"Alright, now you're finally out of stock, right?"
"Er, dear audience, if you'd give me ten minutes, I could whip up a few more for your entertainment. But it's getting late now, so maybe we should part ways here."
Vill-V spoke as she prepared to toss a smoke bomb and vanish.
"Trying to run? Ely, shut the door."
"Got it!"
The next second, Elysia blocked the door with a crystal wall, and Elias summoned a gust of wind inside the room to disperse the smoke. The two of them looked up—
Only to see Vill-V trying to crawl through the ventilation duct.
"Go on then, why aren't you running~"
"Ahem. Dear audience, the magician's act ran into a slight mishap. Would you kindly lend a hand?"
Vill-V awkwardly wiggled her legs and rear.
Her figure was just too good, and now her upper body was stuck in the ventilation shaft. Only her legs and backside were left dangling out—she couldn't go forward or back.
"Hehe~ Of course I can help. I'm always happy to lend a hand. But... you're under arrest now, Miss Vill-V. And just to make sure you don't try anything weird—let's give you a little dose first. Don't worry, it won't hurt~"
Elias said with a smile.
"Y-You, what are you doing?! I'm warning you, don't you dare!"
Cold sweat poured down Vill-V's back as she struggled wildly. Unfortunately, her flailing only made the scene more... suggestive.
Elias pulled out an injector from his coat, loaded it with the neurotoxin, and aimed it at Vill-V's wiggling lower half.
"Don't move, alright? If I miss, I'm not taking responsibility. Ehh~ It's not like I want to inject it in an awkward spot, but you're the one stuck halfway up there."
"Like hell I'm letting you inject me with something that looks that suspicious! Damn it, why can't this part of me be smaller?! What's the point of being this big—it only holds me back at times like this!"
(Ji Xuanyuan gives this statement a thumbs-up.)
Elias shook his head—this was a necessary precaution.
After all, someone like Vill-V, who could be tossed onto a deserted island and still cobble together modern weapons to kick off a full-scale monkey war, was a walking glitch.
If he wanted her to behave and lose resistance, Mobius-brand neurotoxin was the only choice. One shot could knock out an Emperor-level Honkai Beast for half a day.
However, just as Elias was about to administer the shot to her leg—
Vill-V's desperate, flailing kick ended up landing a solid hit on his forearm.
What can you say—people have incredible potential under crisis. Even though Vill-V was still technically a normal human, the strength behind that kick was enough to throw Elias off.
His hand shifted upward—and the injection, originally aimed at her leg, instead landed right on her rear.
"WAAAAAAHHHHH—!"
"Uh... Elias, that was a bit..." Elysia blinked, lips slightly parted with a very complicated expression.
"You saw that, Ely! It was a total accident!" Elias twitched at the corners of his mouth, looking both frustrated and helpless.
On the other side, Vill-V went completely silent after that initial scream. She had been flailing with full energy moments ago, but now she was completely limp.
Wait—her lower half was still twitching a little.
Looking at her condition, Elias felt a rare pang of guilt.
"Uh... I'll ask Dr. Mobius later—getting hit in that area shouldn't be too serious, right?"
He glanced at the handcuffs in his other hand and went ahead and locked them around Vill-V's ankle, then he and Elysia pulled her out of the ventilation shaft.
"Wahh, that expression is... rough."
"Did the doctor actually make real neurotoxin...?"
Vill-V had both eyes rolled back and her tongue hanging out in the most awful expression. Elias glanced at the injector in his hand, then promptly chucked it in the trash like it was radioactive.
And so, the top wanted criminal of Fire Moth—Vill-V—was successfully captured and contained.
...
Two days later.
"Dr. Mobius, I have some questions. First, who exactly was your neurotoxin designed for? And second... what is this bucket of green soup-flavored instant noodles supposed to be?"
Elias stared at the freshly made noodles with a twitching eye before slowly turning his gaze toward Mobius.
So that neurotoxin was originally meant for him?! This snake was seriously wicked!!
Mobius turned her head away expressionlessly.
"Tch. Looks like I'll have to make it colorless next time."
"Doctor, I can open teleportation portals inside people now... If you don't believe me, I'll pour this bucket of noodles straight into your stomach."
Elias said coldly. There was no need to be polite to this scheming snake. And honestly... he was pretty curious what Mobius would look like with her eyes rolled back and tongue out.
"Ahem! Stop! I won't do it anymore!"
Mobius shivered, feeling her stomach cramp from sheer tension.
At the same time, she found Elias more and more absurd.
Opening portals directly inside someone's body? Not even the Herrscher of the Void could pull off something like that.
And his compatibility rate with the Gem of the Void exceeding 300%—Mobius couldn't help but feel that if Honkai truly had consciousness, then it definitely picked the wrong person to become a Herrscher.
Elias sighed and shook his head, then snatched away the perfectly normal cup of noodles in Mobius' hands and started slurping.
"Sigh~ My dear Dr. Mobius, if only you could be a little more obedient. Also, just so you know—being tsundere and standoffish is outdated now. You're totally behind the times."
"Heh~ So you want me to become like Elysia? I can do that. If you like, I can even imitate her way of speaking. Might help me recruit more test subjects."
"If you do that, I'll be angry. And Mobius—when I get angry... you can't handle it."
Elias said flatly.
"...Tch!"
Mobius turned away, clearly annoyed.
But she didn't argue this time.
Because Mobius could feel her own accelerated heartbeat. In that moment, she realized she had experienced an emotion called "fear."
That primal sensation, like a lesser creature facing a being of higher order. A biological fear.
And it made her feel... excited and curious.
She had feared Elias' words.
She had trembled at his gaze.
For a brief instant—
She had the impulse to submit and beg for forgiveness.
Could this truly happen between two humans?
"Elias, tell me the truth. You are human, right? I need a clear answer—now."
Mobius asked seriously.
"Of course I am, Mobius. Everything I've obtained so far has been built on the foundation that I am human. Though flawed as it may be, I'm proud to be human. And I have no intention of abandoning that identity."
"So you really possess power beyond human limits?"
Mobius' breathing grew heavier. Her eyes were fixed on Elias like she was trying to unravel every layer of him.
And Elias looked down at her from above—his usual gentleness completely gone, replaced by the gaze of a young god.
"Don't disappoint me, Doctor. Are you saying that in Mobius' eyes, humanity is just a fixed, unchanging concept?"
"Body or will— which one do you think truly defines what it means to be human?"
"I say it's the latter. What about you, Mobius?"
As Elias posed that question, a flood of indescribable emotion surged through Mobius. All her fear turned into excitement and elation.
"Of course it's the latter! The human body is riddled with incurable flaws—so fragile, weak, prone to failure. It breaks so easily. An ordinary person can't even withstand a single Herrscher Core. I would never accept the body as proof of humanity."
Mobius' eyes glinted with disdain.
To her, the body was a burden to the will.
She would one day evolve into a perfect vessel—ageless, tireless, immune to disease, one that would fully sync with human will and never falter.
"Excellent. That's the answer I was hoping to hear, Doctor."
Elias nodded approvingly. In that moment, he was like a teacher praising a student for answering correctly.
Mobius narrowed her eyes. Looking at the boy who was six or seven years her junior, not only did she not feel offended—she was gripped with intense curiosity.
"Elias, tell me... are you the next step in human evolution? Do you possess the infinite potential I seek?"
"...What if I said yes? What would you do then, Doctor?"
"Heh~ I'd probably toss all my silly principles aside and tie you to a lab table by any means necessary, whether you agreed or not—until I dug out all your secrets."
Mobius' eyes lit up with fanaticism. When a long-sought ideal was right before her, who cared about morals? She'd abandon them all on the spot!
"Oh, well then, I don't have anything on me."
Elias replied coolly.
"You—!"
Mobius ground her teeth and slammed her fist on the table. If she could overpower him, she'd have taken action ages ago.
Elias couldn't help but smile at her—seeing her fuming but helpless face lifted his mood immensely.
Truly, deriving joy from others' frustration must be part of human nature.
"Alright, Dr. Mobius, just keep walking your current path. I really do believe you'll achieve your ideals. I'm rooting for you."
Elias gave her a thumbs-up, returning to his usual approachable, easygoing self.
"Sounds nice coming from you. But tell me—how many people have you said that to, 'Mr. 500'?"
Mobius rolled her eyes.
"Not many, actually. There aren't a lot of people in this world I'm genuinely interested in. But I believe in them—and I don't think they'll disappoint me."
Elias spoke with unshakable confidence.
"Heh~ Is that so? Then how do you explain the last one who caught your interest? She's in the Fire Moth prison now—arrested by you, no less."
Mobius sneered. That Vill-V really was lame. At first, she seemed like some impressive wildcard. But what? Just two or three chapters in, and she's already in jail.
She clearly remembered Elias had shown a lot of interest in Vill-V. He'd been full of anticipation—but she had been dealt with so easily. Mobius couldn't help but wonder if he felt disappointed.
Elias merely shrugged.
"Elias, something's wrong!"
At that moment, a pink-haired elf dashed into the lab, bringing news that left Mobius dumbfounded.
"That Miss Vill-V you caught a few days ago—she's broken out of prison! Can you believe it? She used scrap parts in the cell to build a working jet-powered iron suit and even a mini reactor!"
Elysia spoke with gleeful excitement.
"Well, Doctor? Told you I have a good eye~"
Elias said smugly. Jet suits? Vill-V, are you secretly Iron Man?
"Hmph. Not bad. Looks like Vill-V is more interesting than I thought," Mobius grunted. "But are you sure this won't backfire? Aren't you afraid she'll come for revenge?"
"Well..."
Riiing—riiing—
Before Elias could answer, his terminal rang. He glanced at the unknown caller ID, then smiled confidently.
A moment later, in front of the stunned Mobius and Elysia, Elias answered the call.
"Hello? Miss Vill-V, congrats on your prison break. Where are you now—Dusk Street?"
"Y-You, how did you know?!"
Came Vill-V's shocked voice from the other end.
"Just a guess. But that's not important. What matters is—we can finally talk properly now. By the way, your escape took longer than I expected. I thought you'd be out by the same night. A bit disappointing."
"That's only because of that damned neurotoxin! I couldn't move a single finger for two full days! If not for that, I'd have broken out of Fire Moth's prison in ten minutes!"
At a phone booth somewhere on Dusk Street—
Vill-V was fuming. That cursed neurotoxin had paralyzed her completely, and even now her butt was still numb.
But for now, she set that aside and looked at the small scrap of paper in her hand.
It had a phone number written on it.
Elias had slipped it into her clothes back when he caught her, with a note: "Remember to call me after you escape~"
Vill-V couldn't help but be intrigued by him. Did he really trust her abilities that much?
"Boy... what exactly are you planning?"