After Amber, Einstein, and Tesla left, Natasha wandered alone through Chiba Academy.
Though it looked like she was merely strolling, she was actually collecting intelligence.
However, her actions soon drew someone's attention.
A hand silently rested on Natasha's shoulder.
"You're a bit too conspicuous. You need to suppress your aura more. Don't let your eyes wander—and keep your mind still."
At those words, Natasha froze.
She turned her head.
A tall, exquisite woman with long blue hair stood behind her. Her ample chest and shapely legs exuded elegance and strength. The woman's azure eyes shimmered like clear water, but the pride and coldness within them made her seem unapproachable.
Just one glance told Natasha that this woman was extremely dangerous.
"Hello, I'm Natasha, a new teacher. I was just getting familiar with the academy grounds. And you are?" Natasha replied politely, pretending nothing had happened.
"Me? I'm Esdeath, also a teacher here." Esdeath gave her an amused look, then said, "I'd like to have a fight with you."
Seeing that Esdeath wasn't joking, Natasha hesitated. "Here?"
"Just accept."
Esdeath directly sent Natasha a duel request.
So teachers here really did settle things through battle...
Looking at the duel prompt window before her, Natasha sighed inwardly but outwardly kept calm. "Alright."
She clicked "Accept."
It was a good chance to gauge the opponent's strength.
A faint smile curved Esdeath's lips.
The two appeared inside a duel space.
Within moments, the system generated an empty replica of Nagazora City around them.
Esdeath formed an ice sword with a wave of her hand.
The duel began.
Natasha barely saw Esdeath vanish before she felt a sharp pain in her side—a deep cut along her left waist.
What just happened?!
She couldn't see the movement at all, nor sense the attack.
Standing behind Natasha, Esdeath looked slightly disappointed. She had expected her to be a hidden powerhouse in disguise.
Unable to resist the effects of Mokobotoma's Time Freeze—so much for that.
Maybe she had other talents or abilities?
Esdeath recalled one of her students—a little grade-schooler who loved research and science. Through sheer adaptability and near-immortal regeneration, that child had managed to break free from this very move.
There were several ways to counter time-freeze techniques. The most common were temporal fracture systems or Klein Fields—the former allowed one to preemptively slip into Imaginary Space to evade freezing, while the latter used dimensional defense to resist it head-on.
After further testing, Esdeath found that aside from having decent close-combat skills by human standards, Natasha's abilities were inferior to many gifted elementary students.
Still, she now understood.
This Natasha knew practically nothing—an absolute novice.
She had zero experience fighting against people equipped with specialized gear, innate talents, or rule-based skills.
When the battle ended, Natasha was utterly dejected.
She had been crushed from start to finish.
She'd always thought of herself as fairly strong.
But here, she was nothing more than a disposable weakling.
"Have you undergone some kind of basic physical enhancement surgery?" Esdeath asked.
Esdeath could easily tell the difference between artificial enhancement and true cultivation-based evolution.
"Uh..."
The improved Meta-Morph procedure was being called a 'basic physical enhancement'? How was she supposed to respond to that?
After thinking for a moment, Natasha answered honestly, "Yes, but my Meta-Morph procedure is a weaker version. It has fewer side effects and a lower mortality rate, but it's not as powerful as the original."
"Meta-Morph procedure? The kind that fuses powerful biological genes into humans?"
"You know about it?"
"I've heard of it. One of my students—Mobius, that little one—loves experimenting with biological evolution and modification."
"???"
Who?
"Mobius!"
Natasha was stunned.
"You know her?" Esdeath crossed her arms.
"I'm not sure—maybe just the name."
Mobius, who loved biological evolution and genetic modification experiments!
It couldn't possibly be that Mobius, could it?
Natasha began to mutter inwardly.
"Oh? Really? Then I'll call her here."
Esdeath tapped a few times on the panel before her, and a holographic projection appeared—
A young girl with light green, wavy hair cascading to her waist and icy serpentine eyes looked displeased. "Esdeath-sensei, what is it now? If this is about a fight, please find someone else. I'm just an ordinary scientist, very weak in combat."
It was Mobius!
Natasha, who had once seen Mobius' memory fragment in the Elysian Realm, was filled with shock and disbelief.
"This new teacher, Natasha, says she knows you," Esdeath said.
"Natasha?" Mobius tilted her head, staring at her. "Who are you? Have we met?"
"You don't know me."
"Never seen you."
"Alright, I understand." Esdeath smiled and nodded, then opened a channel to Headmistress Diana. "Headmistress, this Miss Natasha—did you hire her as a new teacher?"
"…"
Natasha knew that Esdeath was beginning to doubt her identity.
Diana replied, "Yes. Is something wrong?"
Esdeath: "Nothing serious. She's just a bit weak. I thought she might be a spy."
Diana: "She's indeed a new teacher."
Esdeath: "Understood."
Diana added, "Miss Natasha, please try not to act so suspiciously. Several teachers and students have already reported you to me."
With that, Diana ended the call.
"My apologies," Natasha said, bowing slightly. She had no idea how she could possibly be acting suspiciously.
Reported by multiple people, even!
In truth, this was the realm of sixth sense—intuition beyond logic. Even if someone didn't show any outward signs, guilt or unease in their heart could still be sensed.
Within that instinctive perception field, Natasha was like a flickering flame in the dark—impossible to miss.
Mobius looked Natasha up and down, frowning. "The Mobius you know—does she have the same name and appearance as me?"
"Yes."
Natasha nodded.
My counterpart?!
This woman's from the same cosmic framework as I am!
Mobius' eyes lit up with interest. Previously, both Elysia and Griseo had also said they knew her.
"Wait here. I'm going to visit your world."
Back in her laboratory, Mobius quickly began packing up her instruments.
Whether it was her former world or a parallel version of it, she found the idea fascinating.
...
Honkai World No. 2.
World Serpent's newly purchased base, funded by hundreds of thousands of its believers.
Inside the conference room—
Kevin was eating instant noodles, while Su sat across from him with his own cup of noodles, eyes closed.
"Kevin, don't you have anything you want to do?" Su finally asked.
"Do what?" Kevin replied between bites.
The world had undergone earth-shattering changes. Su had pulled him out of the Sea of Quanta.
Though he was back from that endless void, the world as it was now no longer seemed to need saving.
The Cocoon of Finality had become that unknown being's toy.
The good news—Finality was gone.
The bad news—something far beyond Finality had taken its place.