"I can't believe I discovered such a huge hidden risk just by visiting a friend while showing Elysia around the Xianzhou. Jing Yuan, I have failed you," Chen Li sighed.
Although he had long told Jing Yuan that these friends of his were not a placid bunch, Chen Li himself had never expected them to be this un-placid. From the looks of it, before Phantylia could even hand over the Stellaron to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, Mobius could single-handedly bring down the entire Xianzhou.
While on the surface, the Ambrosial Arbor was sealed at the bottom of the ancient sea, its roots had long since spread throughout the entire Xianzhou. Without prior preparation, whether instantly destroying the Arbor or reawakening its vitality could cause the Xianzhou to suffer a massive blow.
"Don't look at me like that. I know my limits. Bold hypothesis, careful verification. And experiments, naturally, must be conducted with the utmost caution," Mobius stated repeatedly.
"You'd better be. My dear Snakey, please use your supernatural powers with care, or I will show you what it means for supernatural powers to be no match for fate," Chen Li said with a smile.
"What kind of ridiculous nickname is that? Anyway, relax. I will be on my best behavior until I get the Curio you promised me, the one that can see life force. Besides, I'm not interested in destroying worlds. I just want to pursue infinity," Mobius said.
"When did I promise to forge this Curio for you?"
"Sooner or later, you will."
"..." Chen Li couldn't really refute that point.
If Ruan Mei was already an expert in the field of life cultivation, Mobius might have had a repetitive character profile if she also focused on creating life. But now, Mobius had clearly carved out a different path. The Curio's help was undoubtedly significant, but if Mobius had been born in the Honkai: Star Rail universe from the start, she might have developed in this direction anyway. Because this world had Paths.
The power of Abundance manifested differently in everyone. If Mobius didn't have this scalpel, the Abundance power she gained might not have been simple growth-forcing, but perhaps synthesis—non-directional synthesis. Thinking of it that way, it was better to let Mobius use the scalpel. At least it would prevent her from suddenly researching something uncontrollable and utterly terrifying.
And confiscating the scalpel from Mobius would indeed be a colossal waste. Her research on life seeds was highly consistent with the blessings of Abundance that Yaoshi bestowed upon all life in the myriad worlds; it could either cause great chaos or benefit countless beings. The blessings of Abundance were selfless; it was just that the Aeon of Abundance never judged whether the requests made of it were reasonable.
Honestly, Chen Li had always felt that the Aeon of the Hunt never managing to catch the Aeon of Abundance was very un-Hunt-like. That was until he read a book in the Divination Commission's archives a while ago called Glimpsing the Arcane in the Mirror of Changes, which recorded: [The Divine Archer tirelessly hunts the undying abominations created by Yaoshi of "Abundance".]
At the same time, however, Chen Li had also read an unofficial history book. According to its records, when the Xianzhou's Emissary of Medicine first sought medicine from the Aeon of Abundance, the Aeon did not agree immediately. Instead, it demanded that the Xianzhou offer up a handsome man to be its favored consort.
And so, Lan was sent... The reason Lan became the Aeon of the Hunt was that after a few hundred years, the Aeon of Abundance grew tired of him and threw him back to the Xianzhou. The strange looks from those around him and the heartlessness of the Aeon enraged Lan.
Love turned to hate, and in his fury, Lan instantly ascended to Aeonhood, hunting the Aeon of Abundance for thousands of years in the name of revenge!
At the time, Chen Li had thrown the book away.
Damn Fictional Historians! You dare to 'craft history' about the Aeons?!
[There's one thing I'm curious about. If you, in your capacity as a Blasphemer, were to say, "I was there, I can confirm this is true!", how much Fiction Value do you think you would get?]
"..."
Chen Li didn't know how much Fiction Value he would get. He only knew that he might get to see just how martial the spirit of the Xianzhou people truly was.
"Mobius, take my advice. Don't ever walk the path of crime, and don't walk the path of the Aeon of Abundance. I really don't want to be like the Aeon of the Hunt, constantly chasing after you to clean up your messes," Chen Li said suddenly, placing his hands on Mobius's shoulders.
Mobius, the people call her the little Aeon of Abundance!
"What nonsense are you spouting? Shouldn't your first thought be that I could use this scalpel to cultivate seeds that could transform planets, or even worlds, and therefore you couldn't bear to take my scalpel away, and should even increase your investment?" Mobius tilted her head.
"Mobius, you actually know you can do good things with this scalpel?" Chen Li was a little surprised.
"...I, of course, know better than you what the life seeds I researched are capable of. If there is a planet covered in wind and snow, I can cultivate seeds that are cold-resistant, frost-tolerant, and can even gradually change the snowy environment.
And if I just add the trait of extremely strong reproductivity to the seeds, I could transform an entire planet into a paradise with a single seed in less than a year," Mobius said.
"I'm very pleased that you have this awareness. Keep it up," Chen Li gave a thumbs-up.
"But that's really boring," Mobius said nonchalantly.
"But it can attract investment," Chen Li reminded her.
"That's a problem for you, the investor, to consider. After all, I've already sold all my experimental products to you."
"Emmm..." Chen Li began to stare at the ceiling in thought.
"Speaking of which... Mobius, if you can cultivate seeds to counter specific environments, could you create biological seeds that can absorb or counter Honkai energy?" Elysia asked curiously.
"I can, but I can't."
"???"
"Because to create a seed that counters a certain environment, you first need a biological sample that can adapt to or counter that environment. And so far, I have yet to discover a creature that can grow in Honkai energy," Mobius said, staring intently at Elysia.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Except for Herrschers," Mobius said.
"..."
"Unfortunately, the current Flame-Chasers have not been able to capture a living Herrscher. And doing so would mean sacrificing a living Herrscher. In the original timeline, even with the scalpel, I never made any progress in this area.
One reason was that living Herrschers were hard to find, and the other was that the Flame-Chaser leadership wouldn't allow it. Of course, all of the above is just my speculation," Mobius said casually.
Moreover, before stepping onto the Path of Erudition, Mobius could only determine the general direction of evolution, not the effect of the final result. This meant she probably needed more than just one living Herrscher.
Were there any Herrschers captured alive in the Previous Era? Yes, my friends, yes, there were several such Herrschers. The Herrscher of Sentience was one, some individuals from the Herrscher of Legion were also captured, and besides them, there was the Herrscher of Corruption and... the Herrscher of Human: Ego, who had been hiding within the Flame-Chasers all along.
The sample of the Herrscher of Sentience was extremely precious, so it was impossible that it would be given to Mobius for experiments. The Herrscher of Legion was unclear; perhaps they were too weak, or perhaps the experiments kept failing.
The Herrscher of Corruption was because she wasn't a Herrscher when she was alive; after she died, she became a Herrscher but had no "life," instead turning into a digital virus.
As for the Herrscher of Human: Ego...
"I knew Dr. Mobius was the nicest to me. The future Dr. Mobius must have discovered my abnormality but was unwilling to act because she liked me, right?" Elysia hugged Mobius directly, rubbing against her affectionately.
"Get off, you annoying woman," Mobius said with disgust, trying to push Elysia away, but she couldn't budge her.
"No."
"Chen Li, what are you standing there for? Help me pull this woman off." Mobius could only turn to Chen Li for help.
"I'm thinking, this scalpel could be used to create wonders in your hands, yet the Previous Era still failed. Just how incompetent was their leadership? No, I have to go back and hang those higher-ups up for another whipping later," Chen Li said, stroking his chin.
Because he hadn't expected Mobius to use the scalpel to create something like life seeds, he hadn't added the effect of observing the probability of outcomes to it. This meant the Curio was still a developmental one; it would still fail many times and still require a large amount of funding and experimentation.
But because of the shadow he had cast on the Previous Era's leadership in the original timeline, they had subconsciously distanced themselves from anyone associated with him, so Mobius's experimental funding was insufficient... Of course, it was also possible that without the ability to observe probabilities, the outcome of the experiments would be secretly manipulated by fate or destiny, causing them to never succeed.
Just as, theoretically, someone will always win the lottery, but with behind-the-scenes manipulation, it's possible no one will ever win.
"Ahem, Elysia, stay away from me." After finally being released by Elysia, Mobius said, hiding behind Chen Li.
"Come on, Dr. Mobius, let me supplement you with some more Ely-energy."
"Not needed! Anyway, Chen Li, there are five things you need to do now." Mobius held up four fingers.
"Which five?"
"First, go find the Void Archives. It might contain my experimental records."
"No problem," Chen Li nodded.
"Second, forge a Curio for me that can observe the traces of life force."
"We'll talk about that later."
"Third, help me find Klein. Right now, Bianka's mind is full of Hen and Griseo; she can't do her assistant work properly."
"But Klein is probably still a child laborer right now."
"It's not that far off, not a big deal. We're saving the world here, are you really worried about child labor laws?"
"Alright," Chen Li nodded.
"Fourth, collect enough unique biological samples for me, and they must have life force. This is the foundation of my research."
"No problem, I can go find Ruan Mei," Chen Li nodded.
"And the most important fifth thing: get Elysia away from me!"
"Aww, don't be like that!" Elysia said pitifully.
"When my experiments aren't running into trouble, Elysia, you are my biggest trouble," Mobius said ruthlessly, pushing up her glasses.
---o---