22. "Zero" and Mobius
[Simulation Time: 50,000 years ago, Previous Civilization Era.]
[Simulation Location: World Serpent Headquarters.]
[Dungeon Name: The Snake and "The Infinite."]
Upon entering the dungeon, this time, Gao qi did not feel the rapid passage of time. On the contrary, he felt that everything was stagnant.
It seemed as though he was trapped in a murky flow of water, slowly drifting within it, watching countless figures moving back and forth on the other side of the current.
[You are a corpse, a victim of the Third Collapse.]
[However, it is an honor that your body was chosen by a visionary and great scientist to become a test subject in humanity's glorious evolution.]
[Yet, scientific research never achieves success overnight. You are merely one of countless test subjects. After your death in the Collapse, you did not turn into a Honkai zombie, and the erosion caused by Honkai energy was not significant in you, making you a subject of great interest.]
Gaoqi's consciousness remained clear as he watched the figures outside the water moving about, observing various tubes and wires drifting around him, yet he was completely unable to move.
[The Honkai energy did not fully corrupt you. On the contrary, it imbued your body with a certain wondrous vitality. Precisely because of this, the scientist conducted many experimental tests on you, even putting into practice a theoretical concept that existed only in theory.]
[The fusion of human genes with Honkai beast genes, preserving human rationality while using the power of the Honkai to combat the Honkai.]
[This plan is called the MANTIS Project. It was proposed by Dr. Mei, and the executor of the plan is the world's greatest biologist, a one-in-a-million super genius—the founder of the World Serpent, Dr. Mobius!]
[And you are her most precious—Test Subject Zero!]
[Although the Honkai beast genes in you did not trigger any reaction, and you became a failed product, you were preserved as a typical case study by Mobius.]
[And now—you are about to awaken.]
Finally, Gaoqi's consciousness gradually returned to him. He began to try moving his fingers one by one, slowly regaining control of his body.
For some reason, the authority of the Herrscher of Death, which Gaoqi had recently acquired, seemed to have found a power similar to itself within him—a power with excellent compatibility.
This power came from some external transplant and should have remained dormant in Gaoqi forever. However, the Herrscher's power forcibly awakened it—life and vitality began to return to Gaoqi.
And so, Gaoqi opened his eyes.
————
"Wait for me, Fuxi! If you're walking so fast, at least help me clock in!"
"Slow down, Nuwa. No loud noises in the laboratory."
In the cold, mechanically sterile laboratory, the electronic door slowly slid open. A petite girl, clutching a piece of bread in her mouth, rushed in with disheveled brown hair and a panicked expression.
She swiped an employee card fiercely across the time clock, and as a green light flashed above, the girl named Nuwa finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Yes, made it this time! Don't have to buy bubble tea for the Doctor— Hey, Fuxi, were you just looking disappointed?"
Squinting her eyes, Nuwa looked at her twin sister, who shared her features but had a completely different temperament, then puffed out her cheeks and rushed over to poke her sister's face.
The two were twin sisters, distinguishable only by their eye colors—one blue, one red. To make it easier to tell them apart, they had even deliberately dyed a strand of their hair differently. However, their personalities were worlds apart. The older sister, Fuxi, was calm and composed, while the younger sister, Nuwa, was lively and noisy all day long.
"If you woke up just five minutes earlier every day, you wouldn't be in such a mess now."
Casting a helpless glance at her sister, Fuxi reached out and straightened Nuwa's collar.
"But those last five minutes of sleep are the most important! Otherwise, I'd feel drained all day—and besides, I wasn't late today, was I?"
Puffing out her nearly non-existent chest proudly, Nuwa wore an expression of someone completely unfazed, which made Fuxi sigh involuntarily.
"You, who clock in and out on time every day and get a full ten hours of sleep, have no right to say that. If anything, you should give some of that sleep to Senior Klein. Look at her—she's practically on the verge of ascending to immortality."
Fuxi raised a slender hand and pointed toward the laboratory desk nearby.
There, a girl with light green short hair, heavy dark circles under her eyes, and a somewhat gloomy demeanor was buried under a mountain of documents. She kept dozing off, her head occasionally nodding heavily, yet her hands moved almost instinctively—tapping away at the computer, scribbling and sketching on the papers.
Klein, the assistant directly under Dr. Mobius in the laboratory. Ever since the previous assistant, Blanca, left, Klein had been recommended to take over the role.
"I remember hearing that dolphins can rest one half of their brain while the other half stays awake. Ah, Senior Klein is working so hard—if the MANTIS experiment succeeds, I'm totally transplanting a dolphin-like Honkai beast's brain into myself!"
"Um, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a dolphin Honkai beast. Personally, I'd rather have a cat. I'm just worried that one day Senior Klein will suddenly collapse from overwork, and we won't even notice."
"That's not going to happen. We deal with corpses every day—we can still tell the living from the dead. Look, Mr. Zero has been keeping us company for quite a while now."
"You're not even going to refute the 'sudden death' part?... Good morning, Mr. Zero."
Reaching out, Nuwa pointed to the man floating in the cultivation pod beside her.
With a sigh, Fuxi gave a slight nod toward the man in the cultivation pod, and Nuwa followed her lead, lowering her head as well. Though both were still young, as researchers of the Moth Seeking Fire, they had long since crossed the ethical boundaries of scientific experimentation.
To confront the growing threat of the Honkai, the MANTIS Project was advanced. They conducted experiments not only on human corpses but also on many volunteers. The number of deaths amounted to at least several dozen, if not hundreds.
Although they were merely assistants handling supporting tasks, they too carried the weight of countless lives on their shoulders. Thus, they maintained the most basic respect for these "experimental samples."
And before them, floating in the culture fluid, was "Mr. Zero"—Subject Zero—whom they saw every day.
Unlike other test subjects who were instantly eroded by the Honkai and died or went berserk like beasts, Subject Zero retained the most basic physiological activity.
Subject Zero was a deceased individual brought back by Dr. Mobius. His brain had been destroyed, and his heart had stopped beating, but his far superior resistance to Honkai energy led Dr. Mobius to select him.
After attempting to transplant the factors of a powerful Honkai beast, unlike other test subjects in the same batch who instantly collapsed, he not only remained stable but also astonishingly regained a slight degree of physiological activity.
Of course, it was only a tiny bit. Compared to him, a person in a vegetative state would be considered lively!
Nuwa and the others couldn't even determine whether the faint activity in him was a human mutation or the transformation into a Honkai zombie. Still, compared to a corpse, he was less frightening.
Subject Zero was preserved just like that. Later, Nuwa, Fuxi, and even Klein, though initially somewhat afraid, eventually grew accustomed to him and even gave him the nickname "Mr. Zero."
At first, Dr. Mobius didn't provide any covering for Mr. Zero. The three young women had to watch him swaying around every day until, out of embarrassment, they jointly requested that a cloth be added for Mr. Zero.
"Alright, let's go and let Klein to sleep. While the doctor isn't out, let her rest a bit more."
Snapping back to reality, Fuxi prepared to start working, but her white lab coat was suddenly gently tugged Nuwa.
"Hey, Fuxi, l-look, Mr. Zero... he moved!"
Nuwa's voice carried a trace of inexplicable fear as she tremblingly pointed toward the culture pod. Fuxi, however, thought her mischievous sister was joking again.
"Don't talk nonsense, Nuwa. Mr. Zero isn't in a vegetative state; there's no way he'll wake up—"
But when Fuxi turned around, she saw that the cloth on Mr. Zero's body—was standing up!
The man returning from the dead, through the skylight, toward the sun, lifted his loincloth!
Beep, beep-beep, beep-beep-beep—
Meanwhile, the instruments monitoring his physical condition began to alarm frantically. All his vital signs were reviving, and his withered muscles began to plump up again.
"Waaahhhhh— He really came back to life!"
"Ah, quick, quick, sound the alarm, call Dr. Mobius!"
This time, even the usually composed Fuxi couldn't help but scream. The two sisters hugged each other, trembling, unsure whether to cover their mouths or their eyes.
Just then, the door leading deeper into the laboratory was pushed open forcefully.
A woman with long green hair, wearing a pair of glasses on the bridge of her nose, beautiful yet with a hint of laziness, hurried into the room.
"Klein, Subject Zero is showing a reaction! I detected that his various vital signs are recovering—my hypothesis was correct!"
The moment she saw Subject Zero, the woman's eyes narrowed sharply. She removed her glasses, and her lazy aura vanished, replaced by a gaze that was fanatical, greedy, yet full of wisdom!
It was like a hunting snake!
She rushed toward the culture pod and pressed the release button. Klein, who had been woken up by the commotion, hurriedly followed behind.
"Dr. Mobius, should we inform other departments of Fire Moth? Have Mr. Kevin bring soldiers over..."
No one was sure whether this test subject named "Zero" from the MANTIS Project would become human upon waking or... something else?
"That little follower of Mei? Forget it. Subject Zero is my achievement and will always belong to me. We have already started a brand new wave. Klein, now, let's greet our new friend!"
The fluid in the culture pod drained completely, and the transparent pod walls retracted into the machinery on both sides. Mobius stared directly into the man's slightly opened eyes and fearlessly extended her slender hand.
"Arise, my warrior. Welcome to this world. I am your creator, Mobius. Will you take my hand, or will you kill us all?"
————
Before Gao Qi, the blurred barrier vanished. He struggled to open his eyes and looked at everything before him.
He saw a somewhat familiar person, though compared to her original appearance, she seemed a bit too voluptuous.
[Oh, it's Mobius... This simulation is really interesting.]
Looking at the voluptuous woman before him, Gao Qi suddenly thought of something amusing.
Under Klein's somewhat surprised gaze and Mobius's barely noticeable fluster, Gao Qi knelt on one knee before her, gently took her hand, and placed a light kiss on the back of it. Then, he met her gaze.
"At your service, my lady."
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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Raw: 崩坏模拟器,你找的人是我么?