"Sorry about that, Dr. Mobius~? I know it was wrong of me to drag you into this without asking…"
"But seeing such a cute and lovely girl in danger right before my eyes—I just couldn't stand by and do nothing!"
"Still, it's fine, isn't it? If anything really goes wrong, I'll make sure to take responsibility for it~"
Though Elysia had already caught on to the real confusion Dr. Mobius wanted her to clear up.
Even as she very "Elysia"-style deflected with an excuse.
Elysia could only manage an awkward, bitter smile at that moment.
Her words were essentially telling Mobius that the truth she wanted was a secret not easily spoken.
After all, Elysia couldn't just come right out and say to Mobius's face that she'd acted because little Seele was just too adorable.
Plus, little Seele happened to be the first Herrscher she'd ever met since her own birth who also possessed humanity—wasn't that why she'd been willing to pay such a high price to protect her?
At least for now...
It wasn't the right time to reveal this secret just yet!?~
"Tch... If you don't wanna say, then don't. Why pile on all the excuses? It's not like I'm dying to know your dumb secret! Who do you think you are, huh?"
Understanding Elysia's attitude, and well aware of the responsibility behind her decision, Mobius, though still speaking in a rather ungracious, sharp-tongued manner made it clear between the lines that she didn't intend to press the matter further.
Truly, the classic soft-hearted snake with a hardened mouth.
After the Elysian Realm blew up, maybe the only thing left on-site would be a trace of Snake's mouth, huh?
After all, in the eyes of all Honkai Impact 3rd players, Mobious's mouth is famously the toughest thing around.
Even compared to Soulium—that so-called toughest metal—Snake's mouth still comes out on top.
"Alright, since I'm here now, I'll take this cute little mouse back for a check-up. But to produce enough results to shut those people up, this cute little lab rat might have to stay with me quite often from now on. Don't say I didn't warn you, E-ly-sia~"
With that, Mobius—who was indeed big-hearted in every sense—actually reached out and took Lunelle's soft, delicate hand without even putting on gloves.
Daring to make direct contact like that knowing full well Lunelle was a Herrscher—Mobius really lived up to her title as Fire Moth's maddest "demon."
In risky experiments where others might hesitate over their own safety, Mobius wouldn't even blink before diving right in!
"But... at least when conditions allow, could you please give dear Seele a chance to turn over a new leaf?"
Seeing Mobius about to take the adorable Seele away, Elysia felt a twinge—well, more like a tidal wave—of reluctance, but still managed to plead earnestly for the girl one last time before they left.
On the surface, Elysia seemed to be referring to Lunelle accidentally killing someone in self-defense.
But Dr. Mobius, who knew the inside story, understood Elysia's hidden meaning perfectly: she was hoping Mobius would go easy on the cute little mouse.
"Hmph! So noisy!"
Mobius paused briefly, leaving behind a grumpy remark.
Then, without looking back, she dragged the confused little Seele away by the hand.
Even though Elysia had just been snapped at, she couldn't help but break into a relieved smile.
Because in Elysia's understanding of Mobius's tsundere code, if Dr. Mobius hesitated and then deliberately scolded her for being noisy in that annoyed tone…
It meant she'd gotten the message, and those two words—"so noisy"—really translated to:
'I already knew that. Did you really need to remind me?'
'Thank you… really, truly, thank you, Mobius~!'
Mentally giving a thumbs-up to the tough-mouthed but soft-hearted Mobius, Elysia quietly followed after the two.
After all, to guard against the risk of the Herrscher losing control, Elysia—one of Fire Moth's strongest—had to keep her promise and stay vigilant, keeping watch over Lunelle.
And so, after being transferred inside Fire Moth, Lunelle began her daily routine as Dr. Mobius's dear little "lab rat."
Though in the simulation Lunelle seemed reduced to a live test subject for Dr. Mobius.
Once she actually became Snake's dear little "lab rat," Lunelle wasn't sure if it was because she viewed her wife through rose-tinted glasses, or if the tough-but-tender Snake had really taken Elysia's words to heart.
But at least, none of the inhuman experiments Lunelle had imagined—like being forced onto an operating table and sliced into samples without anesthesia.
Or being injected with all kinds of forbidden drugs against her will to observe her reactions—actually happened to her.
The only thing that felt like a cost was Mobius drawing a syringe of her blood each week for some secret experiments.
But the syringe wasn't some insane, arm-thick monstrosity.
It was just a normal one, about the width of Lunelle's finger.
And Snake, buried under endless work with hardly any free time, only paid Lunelle any attention when she needed blood drawn.
Whenever she didn't need to draw blood from her dear Lunelle, Mobius would instantly transform into a cold-hearted workaholic.
Heartlessly neglecting the adorable little Herrscher, tossing her aside while diving headfirst into her research!
This move from Mobius marked the first time Lunelle had encountered such a steel-straight wife in the simulation!
In the same situation, if it were Elysia…
Even while busy with work, she'd probably be unable to resist scooping the cute little one onto her soft, fragrant lap.
Then she'd claim something like, "Sticking close to a cute girl really boosts work efficiency," just to sweet-talk the confused little Seele, wouldn't she?
Sigh… her Snake wife still had a lot to learn.
Though Lunelle felt a bit bored with the idleness.
Having a wife nearby constantly grinding away at work was like living in a college dorm where all your roommates rush to the library to study as finals approach, leaving you alone in the room lying on your bed scrolling through your phone.
With the whole world around you grinding away while you're just lazing about.
Even someone who could easily ace exams without studying might feel the pressure and eventually put down their phone to join their roommates at the library, right?
That's exactly the situation Lunelle faced in the simulation.
But every extra week Lunelle lasted in the simulation meant she grew a little stronger in reality.
Didn't that feel like being able to "pass exams without studying" without even lifting a finger?
Because she knew full well this was just a simulation she could laze around doing nothing all day, and no one would say a word.
But the idleness, surrounded by all that hard work, filled Lunelle with an indescribable sense of guilt!
So…
"Um… e-excuse me, Dr. Mobius, is there anything I can help with…"
Though Lunelle strongly suspected she might've been influenced by Snake-wife's vibes without noticing.
Now that the guilt from idleness had set in, Lunelle had to act like a proper little employee, softly asking her current "boss," Snake-wife, if there were any chores she could handle.
"Oh?"
Suddenly hearing the adorable little lab rat before her actually express such an interesting desire to find work for herself, Dr. Mobius, who had been tormented by mountains of work and severely lacking in rest, paused her current task with considerable interest.
"Want to learn, huh?"
Feeling oddly as if she were channeling a certain Stephen Chow character, Mobius—her eyes currently adorned with thick dark circles—slowly focused her naturally captivating gaze on the little cutie who was now utterly avoiding eye contact.
"Mhm! Mhm!!!"
Seeing that her 'snake-wife' had actually, for once, put aside her work to pay her a little attention, Lunelle felt an inexplicable surge of emotion in her heart.
'Sniffle... Snake-wife actually put down her work to say a word to me. She really does care deep down!'
"Then figure out how to learn on your own, cute little lab~ rat!"
Yet, faced with Lunelle's delicate, unfairly adorable, expectant eyes, Mobius—who had just shown interest—suddenly pulled out a notebook as thick as a brick from who-knows-where and, with all the subtlety of a steel girder, promptly bonked her dear little Lunelle right on the head with it.
"Ow!!!"
Hit out of nowhere by a 'brick,' Lunelle instinctively clutched the spot and dropped into a defensive crouch, hugging her head. The throbbing pain brought a wave of indignation.
'Whimper... I just wanted to help out of kindness, and Snake-wife actually hits her husband! Hmph!'
'If I ever get the chance for a proper fight on the bed, I'll make sure Snake-wife learns the terrible consequences of provoking her husband!'
Though the sudden head-bonk was startling, Lunelle, who quietly noted this debt against her snake-wife, could only sniffle pitifully as she picked up the fallen 'thick brick' from the floor.
However, once Lunelle got a clear look at what Mobius had thrown, her initial assumption that Snake-wife was just annoyed with her quickly vanished.
She understood all too well just how much her tsundere snake-wife loved this whole 'hard words, soft heart' act!
After all, the 'brick' Mobius had so casually tossed was none other than her personal research journal—a notebook that contained nearly all the records of her current scientific achievements!
Lunelle had certainly never heard of any researcher who would casually chuck a detailed log of their life's work at someone's head like it was trash...
This was clearly Dr. Mobius's own peculiar way of offering Lunelle the greatest possible assistance.
Yet, too prideful to admit it, Mobius refused to acknowledge she was intentionally helping.
'Hmph! Such an unruly, tsundere snake-wife!'
In Lunelle's view, someone with her snake-wife's extremely stubborn, hard-mouthed tsundere personality would probably, even if she were ever, say, thoroughly stuffed full by her husband, keep relentlessly taunting 'loser~loser~' right up until the moment she completely couldn't take it anymore, wouldn't she?
It was just a shame Lunelle no longer possessed the... necessary'tools for the job.'
So, for now, that delightful and amusing idea of wok-frying Snake-wife into a cream puff remained just a fantasy.
Thus, in the days that followed, as Snake-wife's living test subject, Lunelle gained a new option to pass the time: self-studying scientific knowledge.
But let's be real, even with a top-tier researcher like Mobius's notes handed over completely unedited, for a total novice like Lunelle with zero experience in the field, comprehending this material was probably infinitely harder than asking an ordinary person to decipher divine scripture.
After all, if a mortal had sufficiently unprecedented comprehension, there might still be a sliver of a chance to interpret divine texts.
But this kind of record, saturated with high-level scientific terminology?
Without a solid foundational knowledge, hoping to grasp its obscure and difficult-to-understand content was pure wishful thinking!
Theoretically, one would need to start from scratch, learning all relevant professional knowledge, and fully understand every technical term's meaning and principles within the material, just to preliminarily possess the qualification to interpret and study Mobius's research notes.
And just acquiring that qualification, by normal human standards, would conservatively require over a decade of study!
Only a true freak like Mobius, who could think from inside the womb, possessed this monstrous level of intelligence and capability.
That's how she became Fire Moth's current foremost, unparalleled authority in cutting-edge scientific research representation, all while barely in her early twenties!
A slight aside here: While Mei did eventually prove even more monstrous than Mobius later on, initially she was just the quintessential "genius high school girl" who had published a few papers and caught the attention of important figures who deemed her worthy of investment and cultivation.
It wasn't until after the Third Herrscher's destruction of Nagazora, when the two survivors joined Fire Moth, that Mei truly started unlocking cheat codes and displaying her sufficiently extraordinary talent.
During this period, however, she essentially worked under Mobius. And it was precisely through Mobius's guidance that Mei gained the capital to truly rise.
This situation of being slightly inferior to Mobius probably lasted until after the advent of the MANTIS Soldiers.
Then Mei's status gradually surpassed Mobius's, eventually culminating in her becoming Fire Moth's highest leader.
Currently, Mei had just 'graduated' from under Mobius's wing and earned her doctoral accreditation from Fire Moth.
Although she was now a conservative faction council member, her credentials were still too shallow to enter the truly authoritative leadership.
So, even though Mei was the one who proposed live Herrscher research, the experiments had now been almost entirely taken over by Mobius.
The specific reason? Naturally, Mobius currently holds much higher clearance within Fire Moth than Mei does.
Thus, as one of only two daring enough to conduct live Herrscher experiments, if Mei wanted to proceed with related research, she'd have to wait until Mobius had her fill before it was her turn to take over.
In a way, Lunelle was now under the disguised protection of her snake-wife.
If Mei were in charge of Herrscher-related experiments, a leisurely idler like Lunelle would probably have to face all the 'normal treatment' befitting a test subject!
And Lunelle wasn't sure if it was because her simulation stats boasted an Intelligence score of 50, granting her a monstrous learning talent beyond imagination, but when she started trying to learn from the research journal—which should require sufficient professional knowledge to understand—she felt an indescribable strangeness.
For example, whenever she encountered a completely unfamiliar technical term, the relevant annotation would promptly and automatically pop into her mind.
This sudden, seamless understanding felt exactly as if she had learned all this long ago and was merely recollecting forgotten knowledge!
After all, while many people lament studying, that agony usually stems from trying and failing to learn.
But if you could casually self-study and score perfect marks every time, would you still consider learning painful?
So, as someone who was never particularly fond of studying before, Lunelle found herself, for once, ignited with a fierce passion for learning.
She began mastering an entire cutting-edge field's worth of knowledge at a terrifying speed.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.