"What a cruel thing to do."
Levi's face showed reluctance as he looked toward Elysia. "Isn't this a little too cruel?"
"Not cruel at all."
"Not cruel at all?"
"Not cruel at all."
"Good! Then let's make it even more cruel!"
Levi crossed his arms, and the reluctance on his face disappeared completely. "Then let these two participate in the experiment I took part in last time."
Elysia looked shocked. "Isn't that a little too cruel?"
She had heard about the drug experiment that Kosma had undergone back then. It was the same stuff Levi had taken.
The drug was so potent that the person himself had already passed out, yet his intestines were still continuously sending things out.
"Still not cruel enough?"
Hearing Levi's retort, Elysia wondered if he was pretending not to hear her properly, or if there was something wrong with her hearing.
"Then add another pill!"
Kosma had taken two pills back then. Today, Stelle and Lumine would break the record... and take three pills.
Stelle, tied up with ropes and with a smelly sock stuffed in her mouth, seemed to have already foreseen her miserable future.
Her entire face was filled with the word "sad."
Lumine was tied back-to-back with her, receiving the same bondage treatment, along with the smelly sock.
At least Levi was very fair about this.
It was just that the expression on her face was different from Stelle's sadness. Most of it was shock.
She was staring wide-eyed at Elysia in disbelief.
Wasn't she supposed to protect them?
How the hell did she end up standing on Levi's side?
Elysia stuck out her tongue. "If he had come in without getting his application approved, I would have protected you. But he came in through an approved application... Sorry."
She pressed her hands together and bowed toward Lumine and Stelle, expressing her deep apology.
'Didn't you say that if we had any difficulties, we could just tell Miss Pink Elf?!'
Lumine was furious.
"I never said that telling Miss Pink Elf would mean I'd help you solve it."
Compared to Levi's shamelessness, Elysia's skin was still relatively thin at this point, so she was a little embarrassed when acting shamelessly.
Her right hand hardly ever came down from her head.
She was either scratching her head or scratching her cheek.
"You two are really stupid."
Levi sneered. "I'll let Stelle off the hook."
After all, she already had the nickname "Ape."
If she was already being called an ape, how could anyone expect her to use her brain?
Stelle: "?"
"But I have to say something about you, Lumine." Levi paced back and forth in front of Lumine. "As an adventurer who travels around exploring everywhere, what you need is sharp intuition and a sound mind."
[Stelle: ?]
At this point, Stelle wasn't just putting question marks in her mind. Even the chat group was filled with question marks.
'You can't insult people like this!'
Levi ignored Stelle and patted Lumine's little face.
The feel was simply fantastic.
"Think about it. Who exactly was the one who got two private rooms at the Mobius Research Institute reserved for me?"
[Lumine: Today, even if I've fallen into the hands of you, you treacherous bastard... Whether you kill me or butcher me... Do as you please!]
Seeing the humiliated look on Lumine's face, Levi couldn't help laughing, which made her glare at him again.
Levi escorted the resigned Lumine and the still-sorrowful Stelle to Mobius's research institute.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance, the door opened from inside, and Mobius appeared before them with messy hair and heavy dark circles around her eyes.
"Doctor, you..." Seeing Mobius like this, Elysia held it in for a long while before asking, "How long has it been since you rested?"
"I just rested for two hours."
Hearing Mobius's answer, Elysia had only just noticed the extra ornament around Mobius's neck and had not had time to take a closer look before she helplessly looked at her.
"You need to take better care of yourself, Doctor."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
Mobius nodded very perfunctorily, her gaze sweeping over the three people Elysia had brought with her one by one.
When she noticed Levi, her gaze paused for a moment before moving away.
"Come in."
After entering the research institute, Levi suddenly twitched his nose. Aside from the smell of disinfectant, there was also a faint smell of blood lingering in the air of the institute.
Following the source of the smell, Levi looked toward the black, elongated object placed in the corner.
The smell was coming from it.
Elysia noticed Levi's actions. Following his gaze, she also noticed the elongated object.
Although it was wrapped up tightly, it could still be identified as a person.
"A thief who sneaked in last night."
Mobius calmly replied upon noticing this scene.
"A killer?!" ×2
Elysia and Levi synchronized perfectly, both narrowing their eyes.
"No, just a thief."
Mobius emphasized the words "just a thief." "They came for the data."
Otherwise, when Mobius had her back turned to the other person, they would have tried to knock her unconscious rather than taking the opportunity to kill her.
Judging from how brazenly the other party had appeared in the research institute, Mobius guessed that they were very likely after the "research data" related to Elysia.
So many people had been sent over to participate in the Honkai energy adaptation experiments, and every single one of them had died.
Not a single one had succeeded.
Those higher-ups were definitely getting impatient.
They thought Mobius was deliberately interfering and intentionally causing the experiments to fail.
As for the fact that the experiment itself was fundamentally impossible to succeed...
Elysia was still wandering around the Fire Moth all day long, and everyone had witnessed her strength.
She had been brought into the Fire Moth by Mobius. The investigation showed that before coming into contact with Mobius, she had merely been an ordinary person.
Only after coming into contact with Mobius had she displayed such tremendous power.
This almost proved that Mobius definitely possessed a method for allowing the human body to use Honkai energy to increase its strength.
On top of that, with the internal struggles within the Fire Moth, those politicians desperately needed the relevant data so they could conduct the experiments themselves.
So they could create a superhuman army to "fight against the Honkai."
Unfortunately... There was none.
The relevant data was still in the process of being researched and explored.
With her back to everyone, the corners of Mobius's mouth twitched, revealing a mocking smile.
When she turned around, her expression returned to how it had been just now. She pushed up the glasses on her face and calmly said, "Which of you three wants to go first?"
Hearing this, the sadness on Stelle's face became even sadder.
The corners of Levi's mouth curved up slightly as he looked at the Stelle-Lumine duo with a smile.
Only Lumine noticed the key point.
"Why are there three people?"
Shouldn't there be two?
Herself and Stelle.
Three people... Could it be...
Lumine's peripheral vision swept toward the smiling Levi, as well as Elysia, who was standing at the very back and quietly shifting her legs, constantly preparing to run.
She instantly realized who the third person was.
She looked at Levi with a hint of mockery in her eyes. "Didn't see that coming, did you, Levi! When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits!"
A true hunter often appeared harmless, waiting for its prey to walk right into the trap.
Without anyone noticing, Elysia slipped to the door. Her feet seemed to sprout smoke as she immediately ran. "Doctor, I'll leave them to you!"
Seeing Elysia suddenly leave, Levi frowned, feeling a trace of unease in his heart. He turned around and was about to leave.
Just then, a hand landed on his shoulder.
It was Mobius.
"Where do you think you're going..."
"Mr. Volunteer."
"..."