128. Want to Go for a Hot Spring Together?
The Cocoon is a very special organization, a special operations force of the Fire Moth, specializing in carrying out rather unusual missions.
Of course, the division of labor within it is somewhat intriguing.
For example, 'Forget-Me-Not' generally carries out assassinations, while 'Thousand Calamities' and 'Feather' mostly handle missions related to combating the Honkai.
Within the Cocoon, everyone has their own unique codename, and when carrying out missions, they must wear masks and special clothing to conceal their identities.
'Forget-Me-Not' is Sakura, 'Thousand Calamities' is Kalpas, and 'Feather' is Ling.
Their initial encounter wasn't as tense as expected; the three seemed to have a rather... good relationship.
After all, both of them knew that the source of that disaster wasn't anyone else, but the 'Honkai'.
Sakura also understood that Kalpas and Ling only chose to oppose her to protect their families, and therefore harbored no resentment towards them.
During his time working with the Cocoon, Ling gained a deeper understanding of this world, and gradually developed his own ideas.
Since the Honkai brought so much calamity, he would use his own hands to drive it away.
Perhaps having been rained on and injured, Ling didn't want to see others get rained on and hurt.
This was the goodness within him.
Loneliness did not defeat him, nor did it twist his heart.
Because he was fortunate, he had one person after another supporting him.
Kalpas, the children in the sanatorium, Aponia, Elysia, and everyone in the laboratory.
They made Ling no longer lonely, allowing him to face himself with hope and confront his suffering.
Since he brought calamity, then let this world be free of calamity!
Here, Ling also unexpectedly discovered someone—'Snake'.
'Snake' was Mobius. At first, Ling was somewhat unsure, until he saw that long green hair and the undisguised desire for him, Ling was certain that the other person was Mobius.
Ling works almost year-round, every single day.
He enjoys fighting; each battle makes him stronger.
He no longer wants to succumb to fate because of his weakness.
Unfortunately, Mobius didn't discover anything about his unlucky constitution, but instead figured out why he grew stronger in battle.
On Ling's back is a strange birthmark, the reason he becomes stronger.
Mobius calls this a 'Stigmata'.
In all previous research, this had never been seen before, and no one had ever heard of possessing it.
They even found Ling's biological father, but he was just an ordinary person.
In other words, the Stigmata on Ling's body is very likely the 'Stigmata Prototype'.
It's a product of the selective expression of special genes.
This Stigmata not only gave Ling the talent of growing stronger with each battle, but also granted him Honkai energy resistance several times stronger than normal.
This also explains why he frequently appears in areas with extremely high Honkai energy concentrations, yet his body shows no abnormalities.
From the village where the Herrscher of Ice descended to the sanatorium where Honkai disease festered, Ling's body remained completely unaffected by Honkai energy.
This greatly inspired Mobius. Perhaps she could try creating a gene pool, injecting it into people, and then selectively expressing it.
This would create a group of powerful 'Stigmata Warriors'.
Moreover, this gene pool would be passed down to the next generation! In other words, if this plan succeeds, humanity will no longer fear the erosion of Honkai.
It's even possible that everyone could be an incredibly powerful 'Stigmata Warrior'!
At that time, Honkai will no longer be a threat, and humanity might achieve true victory.
This plan was named the 'Stigmata Project' by Mobius and adopted by 'Dr. Mei'.
However, the implementation of this plan was destined to be fraught with difficulties.
First, there was the issue of compatibility.
Mobius packaged Ling's gene pool and injected it into the bodies of death row inmates.
Two outcomes were common.
One was ineffectiveness; the Stigmata gene pool couldn't be expressed in their bodies.
The other was death; the gene pool was expressed, but incompletely, exhibiting significant flaws.
Hundreds of people were tested, and not a single person could perfectly express this gene pool.
However, both Mobius and Dr. Mei placed high hopes on this project.
Because this was a completely different way of becoming stronger than the 'MANTIS Warriors,' even a way to drive human evolution.
As for why they were so enthusiastic:
One was that the 'MANTIS Warrior' project still had significant flaws; the death-to-success ratio was frighteningly high.
Another was the inherent nature of MANTIS Warriors; they were humans embracing Honkai Beasts, causing humanity to continuously fall towards them.
While they gained immense power, MANTIS Warriors, fundamentally, could no longer be considered human.
Their descendants could not inherit the power of the 'MANTIS Warriors.'
Coupled with such a pitifully low success rate, we can't let the hero's child suffer the risks of another "MANTIS Warrior" surgery, can we?
In conclusion, this is a completely blocked path.
Therefore, the sustainable "Stigmata Project" is the ultimate destiny of human civilization.
Embrace the Honkai as humanity, and defeat the Honkai!
Thus, Ling's importance is evident.
As the only "Stigmata prototype" currently, Mobius practically wants to keep him in the lab all the time.
This has led to a slightly strained relationship between Mobius and Kalpas.
Kalpas feels that Mobius is completely using Ling to achieve her own goals.
That crazy woman, Mobius, doesn't care what happens to Ling. Until the research can't continue, one day, maybe Mobius's scalpel will pierce Ling's chest.
Kalpas couldn't interfere when she was detained by the Fire Moth in the 'Deepest Abyss', but now that she's out, she'll definitely protect Ling.
There's another person with whom Kalpas has a very bad relationship with.
It was Aponia.
Because Aponia would indiscriminately pull Ling into her arms and caress him.
And Aponia was also an extremely dangerous person, capable of manipulating others with her 'Discipline'.
Moreover, she was an absolutely 'compassionate' and 'kind' person.
Having acquired this power called 'Discipline,' if Ling were to do something truly outrageous...
Kalpas was also worried that Aponia might become an accomplice in killing Ling.
Therefore, both Mebius and Aponia were placed under close surveillance by Kalpas, and her attitude towards them wasn't particularly friendly, although she treated everyone the same, except for Ling.
Returning from another mission, Ling removed his mask and let out a long sigh.
Just then, Kalpas also returned. Judging from the rising heat around her, she had probably just gone through a considerable battle.
"Kalpas, want to go to the hot springs together?"
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