Listening to Selene's self-directed muttering, Fu Hua knew that Selene was not hiding her thoughts from her. She tilted her head slightly and took a light sip of her drink.
"Mobius? Your Majesty, why are you talking about her?"
Recalling the memories that had resurfaced, Fu Hua remembered that in the Previous Era, Mobius had conducted multiple modifications on herself through experiments related to "Corruption."
Fu Hua pondered silently.
Although Mobius had helped her greatly, Fu Hua had always found her difficult to deal with, never quite knowing how to evaluate her.
Neither wholly righteous nor wholly evil—this was not some vague gray area, but a true balancing act along the razor's edge between black and white. Fu Hua genuinely had no idea how Mobius managed to maintain that precarious equilibrium.
As for her true self, Fu Hua could say she knew virtually nothing.
Mobius was a scientist, and Fu Hua acknowledged her technical expertise. But the experiments she conducted often caused significant trouble for the organization and for others. Some had even placed her squarely in opposition to humanity itself.
Thinking of this, Fu Hua cast Selene a suspicious glance. "Your Majesty, you're not interested in her because of her scientific ability, are you?"
Clap! Clap!
"That's right." Selene dusted her hands together and nodded. "The Elysian Realm was created by her, was it not? After destroying it, I discovered a living thing—or something like a living thing among the dead."
As she spoke, Selene tore open the space beside her and pulled out a small figure.
She had mid-length green hair, wore an ill-fitting white lab coat, and had slender legs wrapped in black stockings. An eyepatch covered her right eye, while her visible eye displayed a rare green-to-red gradient. Slung across her shoulder was a backpack strap attached to a book that looked far too thick for her size. In her pocket were several fluorescent green vials resembling medical reagents. At the junction of the backpack strap was a gemstone shaped like a vertical emerald pupil.
"Mmff—mmff—let go of me! I still have maintenance work to do!"
Held by the back of her collar by Selene, her short legs kicked wildly as she shook her head and cried out in flustered protest.
"I told you, there's no need to maintain that thing anymore."
"No! That's Klein's task. It must be completed!" Though her voice was still childishly soft, Klein's tone was extremely serious.
"She is... Klei...?"
Seeing this "little person," Fu Hua immediately recognized her distinctive features. She was a combat puppet modeled after Mobius' assistant, Klein.
"Ah? Ms. Hua!"
Upon seeing Fu Hua, Klein instantly straightened up. Although she possessed the ability to float, being held up like this by Selene made her feel oddly uncomfortable.
"Yes, that's right. It's me. My name is Klein. I am Dr. Mobius' assistant. If you need to find Dr. Mobius, please sit over there and wait. She should be back soon..."
She spoke instinctively, but halfway through she faltered.
Uh... it didn't seem likely that Dr. Mobius would be returning. She herself had no idea where Dr. Mobius had gone.
"Ahem... she probably doesn't know where Mobius went either. She was captured by me as the caretaker of the Elysian Realm."
Selene shook her head with a faint smile. "From her base code, I discovered that Mobius input 'workaholic' as part of her fundamental programming—and had her working inside the Realm without a single vacation for fifty thousand years."
Working fifty thousand years without a break—what kind of concept was that?
Mobius, using child labor like this... even hanging you from a streetlamp wouldn't be enough to atone for your sins. Not only would capitalists weep upon seeing this—slave owners would probably weep too.
Ahem... just joking. Although not yet comparable in duration, in sheer quantity Selene might actually deserve that streetlamp more.
"After her defeat against the Herrscher of Finality, Mobius did not enter a cryo-sleep pod. Instead, she set out alone to search for Dr. MEI's creation—the super artificial intelligence Prometheus. Her whereabouts remain unknown."
"Have you found her? Where is she now? I didn't discover anything from this little one's program memory."
Fu Hua fell silent at that. As for why Selene could examine the base code memories of a combat puppet like Klein, she found nothing strange about it.
The authority of the Herrscher of Reason.
Truly, the Herrscher of Finality possessed the full authority of all thirteen previous Herrschers. Fu Hua could not help but sigh. It was simply too unfair.
"Hmph... how can you casually inspect Klein's base code without Klein's permission?" Klein puffed her cheeks angrily.
"Because you are now my spoils of war. Your master is no longer Mobius, but me." With that, Selene released the puppet, allowing her to float freely.
Whether Fu Hua had been affected by this armed puppet or not, Selene displayed no outward reaction. She remained as composed as ever, half-lidding her eyes with gentle calm.
"Of course, if you insist that your master is Mobius, then very well. Go and bring her here. Have her personally request you back from me. Otherwise, I will dismantle you and rewrite your base code as I see fit."
"Wah—!" Klein quickly darted behind Fu Hua, revealing only half her head as she whimpered in fear.
"Alright, Your Majesty. There's no need to scare a puppet whose mentality is still that of a child." Fu Hua naturally caught the teasing tone in Selene's words.
Although combat puppets (ELF[1]) were highly intelligent and possessed strong support capabilities, for some reason—perhaps the creator's peculiar taste—their mental age was always regressed to varying degrees compared to their originals, trending toward that of children.
"Mm-hm." Selene chuckled softly and leaned against the railing. She gazed out at the Mediterranean beneath the evening glow after sunset and began recalling the information she had extracted from Mobius' memory data within the Elysian Realm.
Mobius' main body and her memory construct truly were an interesting pair—completely different from the memory constructs of the other Flame-Chasers.
When the original Mobius synchronized memories with her memory construct, the construct planted a "seed" within the original, guiding her toward embracing death. It even declared itself to be "the only and true Mobius."
Yet Elysia's memory construct had told Selene that Mobius' memory construct was incomplete—that the original Mobius had tampered with it.
Was this what Infinity meant? Infinite possibilities.
Compared to the words of the memory construct, Selene was more inclined to believe that the original Mobius was still alive. As the greatest mind of the Previous Era second only to Dr. MEI—and even slightly surpassing her in the field of biotechnology—how could she possibly be outmaneuvered by her own memory data?
When synchronizing with the memory construct, Mobius must have deliberately made her own modifications.
The Signet she bore was—Infinity.
To grant a memory construct such subjective initiative, to loosen control to that extent—the most plausible explanation was that Mobius was observing yet another path among the infinite possibilities.
And the original Mobius must still be alive. Snakes shed their skin. They evolve... Was that not precisely what she pursued?
Just as she was thinking this, Selene suddenly lifted her head. "Hm? Gray Serpent? An anomaly? Very well, I understand. Good work."
"Then I'll leave this little one with you for now, Fu Hua... my dear minister."
Selene looked at Fu Hua meaningfully as she spoke.
"Alright." Ever sparing with words, Fu Hua nodded.
Srrrip—
With a casual wave of her hand, Selene tore open a spatial gate as tall as a person. Just as she was about to step inside, she suddenly turned her head.
"Oh, right. Fu Hua, regarding the cultivation and interpretation of the Edge of Taixuan—please compile it into a teaching manual."
"I have great use for it. Surely you won't be stingy, Fu Hua?"
The incantations of the School of Taixuan that Fu Hua practiced were, in essence, derived from an experiment conducted fifty thousand years ago in the Previous Era.
Fu Hua had participated in the experiment led by Dr. MEI known as SWARA. The so-called SWARA was a secondary derivative application of Discipline.
It was a form of subconscious hypnotic therapy that stimulated the cerebral cortex of a developing body, guiding it to adapt in a direction more compatible with Honkai energy. It made it possible for ordinary people to gain the power to fight against the Honkai.
Selene already possessed the essence of Discipline, but it lacked scalability. In contrast, the mnemonic system Fu Hua had summarized for the School of Taixuan carried significant potential for broader dissemination.
Moreover, having it was better than not. Even if it ultimately proved unsuitable for mass promotion due to high demands on comprehension—or simply went unused—Selene would lose nothing. At worst, she could archive it in the Imperial Capital's grand library to gather dust at the bottom of the shelves.
"No problem. I'll complete it."
"Good."
Bzzzt!
...
As Gray Serpent used the laboratory left behind by Mobius to broadcast to all surviving Previous Era shelters the announcement that the Current Era civilization had failed against the Honkai...
Aside from those shelters that had been completely destroyed, and those whose dormant Flame-Chasers had already awakened and departed, only a handful of underground shelters remained operational.
Needless to say, these were Dr. MEI's handiwork. Aside from herself, no one likely knew how many shelters she had prepared for the Current Era—or how many contingency plans she had left behind.
Among them were facilities in North Africa—Egypt, Jerusalem, and the Middle East.
Every expert had their specialty. After learning that these regions were rife with religious forces and similar organizations, Alex decisively handed over operations in the above areas to the Astartes Seventeenth Legion—the God-Empress Preachers.
Unlike the Far Eastern region overseen by Great General Budo, the European continent, North Africa, and the Middle East under Alex's responsibility had suffered comparatively lighter losses.
Giza, Egypt.
As the headquarters of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, a world-renowned pharmaceutical corporation, the city was filled with architecture steeped in exotic Egyptian flair.
These structures blended organically with modern skyscrapers. Strings of beautiful colored lights traced the outlines of building after building. Digital screens atop high-rises shimmered with all manner of displays...
But then—
Boom! Boom!
The sudden explosions and the thunderous roar of bolt weapons shattered the stillness. The city, which had just been "persuaded" by several hundred kilograms' worth of holy scripture from the God-Empress Preachers, once again plunged into chaos.
A graceful feline-eared figure darted across rooftops at incredible speed. Her agility was anything but ordinary—the bolt shells simply could not catch her. Considering that Giza had already been pacified, the God-Empress Preachers were reluctant to deploy heavy firepower.
An awkward situation indeed.
"Xenos! Stop running! Halt at once!"
"Hey now, I only just woke up! Why are you chasing me the moment I open my eyes? I'm not Brother Kalpas, and I haven't eaten your rice! Ugh, how annoying!"
[1] Equipment: Living Form