Hearing Blanca call his name, Levi swallowed and walked toward her with trembling steps.
Elysia watched him with interest as she asked about Mobius's experiment.
"By the way, can this experiment really succeed?"
If she remembered correctly, Honkai energy seemed to be capable of giving birth to Herrschers.
And only Herrschers could perfectly coexist with Honkai.
Could the experiment the Doctor was conducting be turning people into Herrschers?
Elysia could not help making that guess.
Hearing her question, Blanca checked the various indicators of Levi's body as she answered, "It can succeed."
The probability of success was just very, very low.
"How low?"
"About one in ten thousand."
"One in ten thousand?!"
'Isn't that basically zero?'
Looking up and seeing Elysia's stunned expression, Blanca recalled what she had said and realized she had gotten it wrong.
Elysia wore an expression that said she knew it.
"I knew it."
'How could the probability of success be that low?'
Blanca's voice rang out.
"Actually, it's one in ten million."
"..."
"What happens if the experiment fails?"
"The best outcome is contracting Honkai disease, and your life starts counting down."
Blanca did not say what the worst outcome was, and Elysia did not ask.
Honkai energy injected into the body, the worst possible outcome was obvious.
Aside from death, there was no second option.
However... wouldn't people who died after being infected by Honkai energy turn into zombies?
Kiana had mentioned this in the group chat back then.
Remembering this, Elysia looked toward the tightly closed laboratory, her expression becoming somewhat serious.
She pricked up her ears and carefully listened to the sounds inside. If anything went wrong, she would have Levi go rescue the Doctor.
"Mm, all the body's indicators are normal."
"Me?"
Hearing Blanca's conclusion, Levi was somewhat surprised and pointed at himself. Blanca's gaze toward him was rather strange.
It was like Bronya's gaze when she looked at Kiana.
And also like the look he had just given Elysia.
Levi fell silent.
"Do you have some other illness? The testing equipment at the research institute isn't very comprehensive at the moment. If you want a full-body examination, I can arrange for you to get checked at another research institute."
"No need, no need."
Levi hurriedly waved his hands, refusing Blanca's goodwill.
Then, under his gaze, Blanca took off the bracelet marked 'L1' from her wrist and threw it into the trash can.
After that, she disinfected the area around the vein.
But halfway through disinfecting, Blanca suddenly stopped.
Under Levi's puzzled gaze, she silently threw aside the disinfecting tools and bent down over a pile of bottles and jars.
Her fingertips kept sliding across one label after another.
"Mm, I think it's this one. Here, take two... one. Try one."
Levi took the white pill and swallowed it in one gulp, then stared at Blanca with wide eyes.
Under that gaze, Blanca looked somewhat embarrassed.
"I got it wrong just now."
She had instinctively assumed it was another injection like the others. Only halfway through disinfecting did she suddenly remember that this one was a pill.
Composing herself, Blanca picked up the documents on the table and began recording something while looking at Levi.
"If you feel anything, remember to say it. Remember, any feeling at all."
"The laboratory is a little cold."
"..."
"My stomach is a little hungry."
"..."
"The disinfectant smell is too strong."
"..."
Blanca did not interrupt him. Instead, she dutifully listened and recorded everything, even though none of the sensations Levi mentioned were useful.
———
[After A While]
Mobius had already come out of the laboratory, while Levi was still sitting in front of Blanca, who was holding paper and pen, casually picking at his fingernails.
Looking at the time that had passed and Levi's unchanged expression, Blanca showed a puzzled look.
When she saw Mobius come out, she immediately stood up and handed over the sheet of paper filled with Levi's complaints.
After scanning the words on it, Mobius nodded at Levi.
"I received the feedback."
As for why Levi had shown no reaction at all after taking the pill...
"Perhaps this thing has no effect on the human body."
After thinking for a moment, Mobius decided to have Blanca find a few more volunteers.
"Doctor, what happened inside..."
Elysia looked at the open door and asked.
Glancing at the laboratory, the expression on Mobius's face did not change at all.
"The experiment failed. Blanca, notify the Flame-Chasers to come and clean up the scene."
"All right, Doctor."
With a phone call, many uniformed personnel arrived at the research institute. There was no need for Mobius to say anything else.
They automatically picked up the bodies in the laboratory, carried them away, and burned them.
"Dead."
Seeing the body, Elysia's mood became somewhat heavy.
Regardless of what the other person's nature had been, in the end, it had still been a living person.
And now, that living person had become a cold corpse.
Anyone who saw it would find it impossible to remain completely unmoved.
Levi agreed with this. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing a subtle expression.
"If you're dead, then stay dead. Don't..."
"Rise from the dead."
For some reason, when Mobius heard this sentence, she suddenly noticed that the bag containing the corpse moved slightly.
She initially thought it was caused by air movement.
After all, how could a corpse that had just died suddenly rise from the dead just because someone said it would?
But the next second...
Roar!
A howl that belonged neither to a human nor an animal came from inside the bag.
Accompanied by a "rip" sound.
A corpse covered in purple patterns appeared before everyone.
Seeing this scene, Mobius could not help looking at Levi.
"F*ck!"
Levi's eyes widened, looking extremely shocked.
"Elysia!"
He hurriedly called Elysia's name for help.
Everyone who had come to clean up the scene was support staff with no combat ability. Mobius and Blanca were researchers and also had no combat ability.
As a volunteer who had come to undergo the experiment, Levi should not have any combat ability either.
So Elysia was the only person present who could deal with the zombie in front of them.
Hearing Levi, Elysia glared at him.
She seriously suspected that this guy had somehow caused the corpse to rise from the dead.
Otherwise, how could it possibly rise from the dead right after Levi said, "Don't rise from the dead"?
But now was not the time to investigate the culprit.
The zombie in front of them let out another howl, then immediately lunged toward Elysia.
It was then pierced through the head by an arrow and taken down.
Thump!
The corpse fell to the ground. Elysia stepped back several times to prevent the blood from splashing onto her.
Seeing this, Levi hurriedly squeezed between Mobius and Blanca, pulled out his phone from his pocket, and took a series of pictures of the corpse on the ground.
Lowering her longbow, Elysia saw the phone in Levi's hand, its pink case catching her eye, and her expression froze.
"When?!"
She hurriedly felt around in her pocket, and sure enough, the phone she had put in her pocket was gone again.
She looked at Levi, and her cheeks immediately puffed up in anger.
"Didn't I tell you?! Tell me before you take it!"
"Next time for sure, next time for sure."
'What the hell did he mean, next time for sure!:
'I think "not necessarily next time either" would be more accurate!'
Elysia got angry, feeling that Levi was taking her far too lightly.
And then...
She got angry for a moment.
"..."