Inside the human experimentation facility, everything remained exactly as it had been—all equipment, items, and even documents were left untouched—except for the imprisoned individuals, who had already been gathered and taken away.
This made it incredibly straightforward for Mobius, who was intimately familiar with all kinds of labs, to conduct her inspection.
Drawing on her experience, she checked several key areas first. Finding no serious hidden dangers, she delegated the inspection of less critical spots to the three assistants who had come down with her.
She herself headed to the office to focus on reviewing the various experimental records they had found.
By the time Klein, Fuxi, and Nuwa had mostly finished their tasks, Mobius had also completed her review of the documents.
Only then did Mobius and Klein realize that night had already fallen outside.
Fuxi and Nuwa, on the other hand, had noticed the passage of time much earlier and were utterly famished. But since Mobius and Klein showed no signs of stopping, they had gritted their teeth and persevered.
Now, discovering that the other two had simply been oblivious to the time, the twin sisters felt like crying, but no tears would come.
In short, after exchanging a glance, they silently agreed that their future work priority likely wouldn't be assisting Mobius with experiments, but rather reminding her to eat or rest.
As for assisting with the experiments, they'd leave that to Klein, who was just as much of a workaholic.
Outside the human experimentation facility, Durandal, having delivered the people, knew better than to just wait around idly, fully aware of how Mobius got when she was working.
With a wave of her hand, she led everyone back to the Flame-Chasers' temporary office.
It wasn't until evening that Durandal had Emile and Ato play chauffeur, driving over to pick up the clearly exhausted Fuxi and Nuwa, along with Mobius and Klein—who still seemed relatively fine—and took them all out for a proper meal.
Durandal felt rather pleased with herself as the leader of the Flame-Chasers. Treating such a large group to a meal, she'd chosen a seafood buffet, not just instant noodles.
Meanwhile, a certain hard-working white-haired girl, saving up for tickets to Eden's next concert, suddenly sneezed. "Who's talking about me behind my back?" she muttered.
Then she rubbed her nose, a dreamy expression crossing her face. "No, no, how could anyone be bad-mouthing me? It must be Mei thinking about me~ Ah, and it's only Saturday?"
"We haven't seen each other for just a day, and she's already this impatient? My work here is pretty much done too, so maybe... I should just call Mei and ask her out on a date?"
So, the white-haired girl pulled out her phone, deftly dialed Mei's number, and explained her idea.
Then—
"Beep, beep, beep…"
The call was hung up.
The white-haired girl's lips pursed into a pout, the stray lock of hair on her head drooping dejectedly, making her look rather dispirited.
However, her phone soon rang again.
A text message.
Looking at the sender—it was from Mei.
The white-haired girl's ahoge shot up instantly, standing straight as she read the message.
"The internet says the Nagazora City Library just got a new batch of Dr. Mobius's works…"
Tap tap tap~
As if afraid the other might change her mind, the white-haired girl hurriedly typed a reply and sent it.
"I'll ride my bike to your place right now!"
After waiting a minute with no response, the white-haired girl's ahoge perked up even more energetically.
She quickly handed over her work and shift duties to someone else, then pedaled off on her bicycle in the direction of Mei's home, an unmistakable look of happiness spreading across her face.
"So, you mean there aren't any major issues at the human experimentation facility, and we can arrange for the engineering team to move in?"
At the seafood buffet, Durandal looked at Mobius as she asked.
Mobius nodded, her head buried in dealing with the crab in her hands.
However, after struggling for a while, she still couldn't manage to extract the meat from the crab claw. Finally, Mobius pushed the plate away and gave up.
Just as she was thinking how much better junk food was, a plate piled high with neatly extracted crab meat appeared before her.
Turning her head, she saw it was Klein.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Mobius pointed at the plate in front of Klein and asked.
Klein pointed at her own plate. "I am eating. This is mine, right here?"
Looking closely, Mobius realized it was the very plate she had pushed away earlier.
With a strange expression, Mobius picked up a small piece of crab meat with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Maybe it was her imagination, but the crab from this seafood buffet seemed sweeter and more flavorful than any she'd had before.
Nearby, Connie, Fuxi, and Nuwa, who had witnessed the entire scene, instantly had stars in their eyes, their gossip radar clearly pinging.
Elysia naturally saw it too. She nudged Durandal with her elbow, pointed at Durandal's plate, then at her own.
[Elysia: You should shell some for me too.]
[Durandal: ?]
Then, a look of understanding dawned on her face. She took the half-shelled mantis shrimp she was holding and stuffed it directly into Elysia's mouth.
[Durandal: You finished your mantis shrimp already? Here~]
[Elysia: ???]
The pleasant meal concluded with the pink-haired fairy lady feeling rather indignant.
Just as the group stepped out of the seafood buffet restaurant, they spotted two familiar figures heading towards the library not far away.
Clearly, those two had noticed Durandal's group as well.
So, Kevyn, pushing her bicycle, came over with Mei.
As they got closer, Kevyn realized Durandal's group was quite large.
Wait a minute…
Kevyn rubbed her eyes, confirming she wasn't seeing things. The woman with the wine-red long hair among the group was really Eden!
Even though Eden was wearing a face mask, as her die-hard fan, how could Kevyn not recognize her?
Instantly, Kevyn was thrilled.
If she hadn't been holding onto her bicycle, she would have rushed over to shake Eden's hand and ask for a photo.
Of course, the look she shot Durandal also held a hint of reproach, as if saying, "You're not being very friendly, pal. Having a meal with Eden and not inviting me?"
Mei's focus, however, was elsewhere.
She was somewhat nearsighted. Even with glasses, she couldn't see clearly from a distance.
When Kevyn first suggested greeting Durandal and Elysia, Mei had been reluctant.
She was in a hurry to see the new books at the library.
But, seeing how excited Kevyn was, she didn't want to refuse.
Now that they were closer, she didn't notice Eden, but she certainly noticed Mobius!
"You are… Dr. Mobius?" Mei's voice was filled with uncertainty.
At that moment, Kevyn also showed a surprised expression.
She scratched her head. The reason she'd come out with Mei this time was specifically to go to the library and see the newly arrived works by Mobius.
She didn't know much about the person, but she must be incredibly impressive.
And now, the Eden she found so amazing, and the Dr. Mobius that Mei found so impressive, were both connected to Durandal.
Didn't that mean that Durandal was actually even more incredible?
--+--