Inside Mobius' laboratory.
Blazing flames melted every instrument. Among all Herrscher authorities, the Authority of Fire—possessing the highest destructive power—annihilated all Imaginary Constructs and Quantum Shadows.
Like a flickering firefly, Kiana cleaved apart the final enemy with a single strike. Her heeled combat boot stepped on the head of a Husk: Nihilius, and she used the Flamescion Sword in her hand as a cane to support herself.
"Huff... huff... I'm—so tired... but I finally took them all down. As expected of me—this lady is amazing!"
Kiana felt a bit of her confidence returning.
Looking at the group of high-tier monsters she had just blasted apart, she finally confirmed that she hadn't fallen out of the meta. Flamescion could still carry!
On the other side, Mobius was also somewhat astonished.
"Five Husk: Nihilius, three Couatl: Revenant, and seven Judgment-class artificial Honkai Beasts. Logically speaking, that should already exceed the handling limit of a dual-Core Herrscher. Yet this little girl actually managed to resolve everything through sheer willpower."
The firepower of the Herrscher of Flamescion was beyond doubt. But high-level Imaginary Constructs and Quantum Shadows like these were comparable to—or even surpassed—Judgment-class Honkai Beasts.
Especially their abilities to manipulate time to a certain extent and to render themselves into void-like quantum states. In a one-on-one fight, they could toy with ordinary S-rank Valkyries with ease.
Against a single-Core Herrscher, sending out three would already be enough.
In the original storyline, the reason Raiden Mei was able to defeat [Husk: Nihilius] was largely thanks to the Honkai Beast Gurikara, as well as the beginner protection period of the Herrscher of Thunder.
But the combat ability Kiana displayed right now truly shocked Mobius.
Individuals who could break through their limits mid-battle like this—according to Mobius—were limited to Kevin, Elias, and Durandal.
Thus, the snake began to take interest in this little paramecium.
A dangerous glint appeared in Mobius' snake-like eyes.
"Not bad, not bad. Truly excellent combat capability. Now then... little one, it's time to settle the bill."
"Eh? S-settle the bill?"
"That's right~ Five Husk: Nihilius, three Couatl: Revenant, and seven Judgment-class artificial Honkai Beasts—none of those are cheap. And then there's all this valuable equipment you destroyed. Altogether, it's about... this much."
"!!!"
Seeing the long string of numbers Mobius casually input—numbers she didn't even know how to read—Kiana instantly froze.
Her earlier heroic aura vanished in an instant. The nonexistent cat ears above her head seemed to droop, and the flames of Flamescion went out as if doused with a bucket of water.
"I... I don't have any money."
Kiana spoke weakly.
Money? What use did a pet need money for?
Although Kiana had received New Year's money and also earned a Valkyrie salary every month...
Theresa: "Kiana, you're still young. Auntie will keep this money for you for now and give it back when you grow up."
Kiana: "Huh? Oh... okay."
And so now, Kiana rummaged through her pockets, and in the end... successfully pulled out two arcade tokens.
These were leftovers from a recent arcade date she had with Elias. Reluctantly, Kiana-cat handed them over.
"..."
Mobius looked at the two tokens. Her eyes narrowed, and her aura immediately turned dangerous. From Kiana's perspective, Mobius' shadow suddenly transformed into the silhouette of a massive serpent.
"No money? That won't do, little one. Since you can't pay, then stay in my lab and work. You'll leave when you've paid off your debt."
"Ah? C-can you let me off just this once?"
Kiana trembled as she looked at Mobius. She suddenly regretted coming here to seek a method to grow stronger. Kiana-cat just wanted to go home now—curl up in Elias' bed.
"No! Little one, you wouldn't want Elias to find out you caused trouble outside and lose affection points, would you? Naughty girls aren't very likable, you know."
"Waaah, don't—don't tell Lia! I'll stay and work, okay!"
Kiana was on the verge of tears.
"Hehe~ so easy to handle."
Mobius revealed a delighted smile, thinking it had been a long time since she encountered someone this easy to deal with.
Kiana wanted to cry but had no tears left. She dropped to her knees in an OTZ pose, thinking that her plan to grow stronger hadn't even started yet, and she had already sold herself off. No wonder Cecilia and Theresa had always warned her not to come here casually.
This snake pit devours cats whole without even leaving bones!
"Alright, you won't have time to rest soon. So if you have any last words—cough, I mean, anything to say, say it now. What brings you here at this hour?"
Mobius crossed her arms and asked. Having gained a new target to exploit, she wore an alluring smile.
"F-finally getting to the point... I want to become stronger!"
"Oh? Not bad, not bad. Quite motivated. And you've come to the right person."
"Really?"
Kiana's eyes lit up. Meanwhile, Klein and the others looked at her with pity, silently mourning the foolish paramecium who had delivered herself into the snake's jaws.
"Of course. I have plenty of ways to make you stronger. Come~ little lab rat, take a look—what would you like to choose?"
"I... I get to choose?"
"Mm-hmm~ For example, drink this potion, and you'll instantly become two or three times stronger. Though as a side effect, you'll grow a few tentacles."
Mobius pointed at a bottle of suspicious green liquid inside a cabinet.
"Eh? T-tentacles?"
Kiana widened her eyes. This felt very different from what she had imagined.
"Or lie down on my operating table for a nap. When you wake up, I guarantee a full-body enhancement. Though your appearance might not look very human anymore—but that's a minor issue~"
As she spoke, Mobius took out a soulium scalpel and casually twirled it in her hand, clearly eager to dissect Kiana and examine her internal structure.
"No no! Lia is very picky about appearances—I don't want to become ugly! Auntie, the price for your methods is way too high! Oh right—how about you turn me into one of those MANTISes instead?"
Kiana crossed her arms, cold sweat trickling down her back. Imagining herself turning into some kind of tentacled monster, she immediately shook her head like a rattle drum. Trading looks for power? No way!
In this world, beauty was justice, and cuteness was righteousness. No matter how carefree she was, Kiana was still a girl—she cared deeply about her appearance.
"Meta-Morph surgery? Tch, boring."
The moment Mobius heard that Kiana had come specifically for Meta-Morph surgery, she instantly lost interest.
She had already grown tired of that back in the Previous Era.
Through Mobius' hands, there had been no fewer than eight thousand, if not ten thousand, MANTISes created. At this point, fusion warriors no longer sparked even the slightest curiosity in her.
"If you want Meta-Morph surgery, go find Klein. You can do it together with Jackal. Don't bother me with something so trivial."
"Wait! That's not it! I don't want a normal MANTIS surgery—I want the same one Lia had!"
"Huh? The same Meta-Morph surgery as that little lab rat? You mean... the Chimera surgery?"
Mobius, who had been about to log off, paused mid-motion and looked at Kiana in surprise.
"Uh... I think that's what it's called."
Kiana scratched her head.
"...If you're trying to kill yourself, I suggest you pick one of the earlier options instead." Mobius crossed her arms and kindly advised.
"Eh? Those methods could actually kill me?!"
Kiana was shocked, silently grateful she hadn't agreed.
"About a fifty percent chance. Strength always comes at a cost. Ahem... don't worry about such trivial details. Let's continue discussing Chimera surgery."
Mobius cleared her throat.
Although Chimera surgery was technically a type of Meta-Morph procedure, it was fundamentally different from the standard version—and unlike the latter, she had never grown bored of it.
Over the past fifty thousand years, Mobius had improved upon the original Chimera procedure that Elias and Kevin underwent. The results had been promising... but unfortunately, test subjects were always in short supply.
And now, one had delivered herself right to her door.
Mobius lightly licked her lips with her slender pink tongue, thinking—
She absolutely had to stop Kiana from choosing this path.
Because after all these years of research, Mobius had come to only one conclusion...
The birth of a Chimera MANTIS depended entirely on fate.
Those without the fate for it would simply be seeking death by undergoing the procedure.
Though it sounded unscientific, it was the only explanation Mobius could arrive at.
"I understand your desire to become stronger, but you should give up on Chimera surgery. Aside from Elias and Kevin, there may never be another successful case."
"Why? Didn't Durandal also—"
"You mean that straightforward girl who became a [Palatinus]? Fine, she may indeed possess the qualifications of a Chimera. But what she achieved was through awakening the Kaslana stigmata, gaining abilities similar to a Chimera—ultimately, it's still different."
Mobius shook her head.
Back when she learned that Durandal had awakened her stigmata, becoming a Palatinus and gaining access to the ultimate Artificial Cascade only achievable by Chimera MANTISes, she had been deeply shocked.
But after... inviting Durandal onto the operating table and thoroughly examining her, Mobius reached a clear conclusion.
Durandal was not a Chimera MANTIS.
Though her Artificial Cascade was indeed a miracle.
She lacked the most crucial ability of a Chimera—[Devouring].
Both Elias and Kevin could acquire abilities by devouring Honkai Beasts, but Durandal could not. She had no way of enjoying such a feast.
While becoming a Palatinus allowed her limitless growth, it was ultimately a completely different path from a Chimera.
"Uh... sorry, I didn't really understand all that. Anyway, just go ahead and perform that Chimera surgery on me—I'll definitely succeed!"
"..."
Kiana stood with her hands on her hips, radiating inexplicable confidence.
Mobius' eyelid twitched. Looking into Kiana's sapphire-like eyes—beautiful as a Persian cat's—she felt there was a certain purity untouched by knowledge.
"Don't call me auntie, you brat! Chimera surgery isn't that simple! Even after all these years, I've only improved the success rate to one percent."
"Uh... is one percent high?"
"When Elias underwent it, the success rate was only 0.0001%. What do you think?"
Mobius shot her a glare.
Over fifty thousand years, she had increased the success rate by a thousandfold. Yet even at one percent, in Mobius' eyes, it was no different from zero.
"Tch. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes data doesn't lie—but it also doesn't become reality."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Hmph! Theoretically, it's one percent—but that one percent has never been realized. Not once! Not in a hundred attempts, a thousand attempts, or even ten thousand attempts!"
Mobius was practically shouting now.
Far away in Anti-Entropy, her real body clenched her fingers into the alloy wall, recalling failure after failure over the past fifty thousand years.
Forget fusing hundreds of thousands of Honkai Beast genes like Elias had—Mobius couldn't even successfully fuse a single-digit number of genes.
And as for where all those failed experiments came from despite the lack of test subjects...
The answer was herself.
"For fifty thousand years, I've used myself as the test subject for Chimera surgery again and again. And I've never succeeded. No matter how much I improved it, optimized it, or repeated the procedure—I never succeeded even once!"
Mobius erupted in fury, unable to hold back her curses.
Tens of thousands of attempts. She had experimented on herself tens of thousands of times. With a one percent chance, she hadn't succeeded even once. If this were a gacha game, that would've been enough for fifty guaranteed pulls.
Mobius: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Kiana: (⊙﹏⊙)
Even Elf Klein trembled, looking at Mobius with awe. She had seen ruthless people before—but never someone this ruthless toward themselves.
Mobius had never hesitated in using herself as a test subject. If not for Shesha's revival ability backing her up, she would have died countless times over.
These failure counts far exceeding probability forced Mobius to believe that perhaps fate truly existed—as that charlatan Aponia once claimed.
Everything was predetermined. If someone possessed the right fate, even a minuscule chance would lead to success. But without it, even a one hundred percent success rate would fail.
After "accepting reality," Mobius had thrown all research data related to Chimera MANTISes into the incineration pool.
"Now do you understand, Kiana Kaslana? Give up on this dream of becoming a Chimera."
"Kevin succeeded because he had the fate for it. Elias succeeded because he could defy fate. As for Durandal... reaching a similar realm likely means she possesses the qualifications."
"All three are special cases. Don't compare yourself to them."
Mobius spoke with clear displeasure.
But to her surprise, Kiana's expression only grew more confident.
The girl straightened her posture slightly, her face blooming into a bright, moonlight-like smile.
"Thank you, Auntie Mobius. Hearing that just makes me even more certain—I'll definitely succeed!"