After all, Dr. Mobius knew better than anyone just how monstrously talented Mei was in scientific research—she was, in a way, a product of Mobius's own teaching.
And if this forbidden technology succeeded, based on theoretical projections, a soldier who successfully fused with those unimaginably powerful Honkai Beast genes and survived the procedure would possess strength capable of completely overturning humanity's current understanding of power!
Even by Mobius's conservative estimates, if a MANTIS who had fused with genes from a Honkai Beast of Emperor-class or higher could unleash their full power… they would likely be able to crush even the Herrschers recorded so far head-on!
The very thought that obtaining such power would allow her to keep her adorable little Seele by her side forever—and to shrug off any ridiculous orders from those higher-ups—made Mobius's previously wavering mind quickly grow active.
She even began considering how to secretly acquire some humanoid test subjects through her own channels to run preliminary experiments.
Meanwhile, the dear Lunelle, who had been led away by Elysia, had no idea that her 'snake-wife' was already showing signs of darkening, all because the simulation showed her being reassigned by Fire Moth higher-ups to the Australian branch.
For Lunelle, as long as she could keep lying low and developing steadily in the simulation, occasionally finding a wife to snuggle with, life was pretty comfortable.
As for being treated with cold shoulders or deliberate isolation in the simulation… she really couldn't care less.
Her bottom line had always been just one thing: don't interfere with her safe, low-key life and her guaranteed 'Safety Net'!
As long as her survival in the simulation was secure, even being ruthlessly exploited by her snake-wife with unpaid, round-the-clock labor—like before—was something Lunelle could accept.
With her Herrscher-level physique, handling the pressure of insane overtime was a breeze.
Not to mention, her work efficiency wasn't low at all, and by taking on Mobius's tasks directly, she could absorb and master the vast knowledge from Mobius at an astonishing rate.
It was precisely these glimpses of extraordinary talent that Lunelle revealed bit by bit in the simulation that made even the workaholic snake-wife view her in a new light—so much so that Mobius was now deeply unsettled by Lunelle's impending transfer.
Though to be honest, Mobius's current attachment to little Seele stemmed more from the unexpectedly immense benefits she could squeeze out of her, along with having gotten a taste of the delightful intimacy of snuggling with Seele, which left Mobius more than a little addicted to that sweet, sweet 'feast.'
And while snake-wife didn't have the same issue as Dark Seele—seeing Lunelle as some kind of replacement for another—getting the Honkai world's number one tsundere to openly admit she liked someone was clearly not something that would happen overnight.
Fully aware of this, Lunelle decided to shift her strategic goals in the simulation, looking for other avenues to make progress in winning over her wife.
After all, the most dangerous early plot point in the real Honkai world—the Anti-Entropy Invasion—had already passed, so Lunelle naturally felt less rushed in the simulation.
Besides, let's not forget that living inside Lunelle's consciousness in the simulation was her great wife, Dark Seele!
Though being snuggled by a wife who looked almost identical to her but had no physical form felt a bit like… well, 'self-service.'
Still, considering even the simulator explicitly acknowledged Dark Seele as an independent consciousness separate from herself, Lunelle wasn't about to stubbornly—like an idiot—insist on seeing her great wife as just another version of herself.
She certainly wouldn't pull some classic, pig-headed move of labeling Dark Seele's advances as 'improper' no matter what, and then agonize over not being able to accept a relationship with 'another herself,' leading to some clichéd tragic plot of 'she runs, she chases, she can't escape.'
Oh, right!
Since Dark Seele lived inside Lunelle's simulated consciousness, there was no way little Lunelle could hope to escape her great wife's grasp in the simulation anyway.
After reluctantly bidding farewell to her snake-wife, the very next day, Lunelle was treated like some plague that needed to be immediately expelled.
In the early hours of the morning, she suddenly received an urgent order to depart at once.
Fortunately, both Lunelle and her primary escort (and minder) Elysia were Herrschers, so their physical stamina was far beyond ordinary humans.
Though Fire Moth's abrupt command was certainly annoying for Lunelle, who'd been pulling insane overtime recently, those sleepless nights working for snake-wife had truly honed her ability to stay awake.
Within minutes, she shook off her drowsiness and became alert.
As for Elysia, she seemed pretty unhappy about having to leave so urgently at such an ungodly hour.
But seeing the soft, adorable Lunelle not uttering a single complaint, Elysia swallowed her minor grievances to avoid losing face in front of her beloved Seele.
After all, if Elysia—who secretly saw herself as the 'husband' in this dynamic—acted more fragile than her delicate, sweet little 'wife' Seele, what kind of face would she have left?
And so, the two lovely young women boarded a special flight in the dead of night, swiftly departing from Fire Moth headquarters for the rather remote Fire Moth Australian branch.
By the time Lunelle and her wife Elysia set off for Australia, roughly a year and a half had passed in the simulation since it began.
Having spent so much time in the simulation almost unconsciously, Lunelle remained unaware—due to Fire Moth's complete blockade of information regarding her birth as the Herrscher of Death and the timing—that about a year and a half after the Herrscher of Death's emergence…
The Seventh Herrscher, the one who truly cranked up the difficulty for the Previous Era's Herrschers—the Herrscher of Fire, who nearly incinerated the entire Australian continent—was born precisely in the region of Fire Moth's Australian branch!
But given Lunelle's lowly status within Fire Moth, even if she knew the risks of going to Australia, what choice did she have?
Those higher-ups in Fire Moth, cowards that they were, had been bold enough to order Lunelle drained of most of her Honkai Energy.
Yet afterward, guilt-ridden and fearful, they suddenly worried that keeping this ticking time bomb at headquarters was too risky.
So, Fire Moth's initial plan was actually to have Lunelle secretly assassinated while she was at her weakest, freshly drained of Honkai Energy.
But thanks to Elysia's constant close surveillance [protection], those underhanded, sneaky moves by the higher-ups never quite made it to Lunelle's doorstep.
After all, Lunelle, whose threat level was now significantly lower on the surface, may seem easier to deal with than before.
But behind the scenes, Elysia, who has consistently obstructed the assassination attempts by Fire Moth's higher-ups, had always been a force to reckon with!
To maintain their grand and righteous public image, the Fire Moth leadership naturally couldn't openly break with Elysia.
Though Mobius often thought of Elysia as nothing more than a loyal dog with immense power, inexplicably content to be wielded by Fire Moth however they pleased.
But when it came to killing little Seele, the higher-ups had repeatedly hinted—and even tried to morally coerce Elysia—using their tried-and-true justification of "for the future of human civilization" to force her to compromise again.
Plain and simple, they wanted to pressure Elysia into dropping her duty of "protecting" the Herrscher.
If Elysia couldn't bring herself to do it, then she could just look the other way, or turn a blind eye—leave the rest to the assassins they would send to handle everything.
In the eyes of the higher-ups, wasn't Elysia just clinging to that "grand and righteous" reputation?
Now that they'd found a way to preserve that reputation for her, surely she wouldn't object to them eliminating a Herrscher who had outlived her usefulness, right?
But this time, Elysia's attitude was resolute.
Unless Fire Moth could provide a truly justifiable reason, Elysia was determined to protect the adorable little Seele!
After all, Elysia was never a mindless tool devoid of principle.
The tasks she had willingly undertaken for Fire Moth in the past—those she agreed to handle always had to be backed by righteous cause, something worthy of her involvement.
Though Elysia loved all people equally and had indeed compromised more than once for the "future of human civilization," this despicable attempt by Fire Moth's leadership to discard Seele like a used tool—even they couldn't bring themselves to openly order the execution of little Seele, who appeared entirely innocent.
So how could they possibly convince Elysia to abandon her protection?
But as the saying goes, how can one tolerate others snoring beside their bed?
Even if they couldn't justify it openly, and even if they couldn't get past Elysia to secretly eliminate Seele as a latent threat, after squeezing out most of the value from Seele's existence, these cowardly individuals, fearing future retaliation from Lunelle, could never allow Seele to remain at headquarters.
At the very least, Seele had to be sent somewhere so remote that any future attempts at revenge wouldn't reach them immediately!
That's why the higher-ups urgently ordered Lunelle to be dispatched to the most remote branch—the Australian division—for custody.
In a way, this could be seen as these guilty leaders acting out of self-preservation, but it was also the best outcome Elysia could secure for little Seele.
After all, expecting humanity—currently in absolute opposition to the Honkai—to accept a Herrscher, even one with humanity, was still rather unrealistic at this stage!
And because the Australian branch was so far from headquarters, even taking Fire Moth's dedicated express flight would take five or six hours to reach the destination.
Suddenly freed from being pulled into her snake-wife's embrace for painful yet pleasurable overtime work, Lunelle felt a bit unsettled.
Sure, overtime was agony, but being held by her unscrupulous snake-wife boss for some "under-the-table" office work was truly... delightful, heh.
So, entertaining a somewhat "risk-seeking" idea, Lunelle figured that since she was restricted by the rules and couldn't make the first move anyway,
and since her dear Elysia seemed a little distant at the moment, why not use this time to visit her great wife, Dark Seele, in the consciousness space for a little "exchange"? Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Fully aware that provoking her great wife Dark Seele might come with an unimaginably "painful price," Lunelle—ever forgetful of past lessons once the sting faded—took advantage of her "resting with eyes closed" to slowly sink her consciousness into the inner space.
As soon as she entered, Lunelle unexpectedly found that this time, her great wife Dark Seele seemed to be resting.
But Lunelle, wanting to chat with her, was feeling a tad... mischievous.
Boldly, almost recklessly, she began to "provoke" her great wife Dark Seele right there in her own consciousness space!
Though Lunelle's idea of provocation was rather like that of an adorable, childish grade-schooler who, unable to sleep during nap time, decides her deskmate across the "dividing line" shouldn't sleep either.
She simply took advantage of her great wife Dark Seele being "asleep" to gently poke her cheek.
Fortunately, this act of poking wasn't counted as initiating intimate contact with her wife. And Dark Seele, suddenly poked, didn't immediately wake up.
This gave the sneaky Lunelle a strange, misplaced confidence—as if she could get away with teasing Dark Seele without consequences!
As if addicted, Lunelle poked Dark Seele's soft, tender cheek—so similar to her own—two more times.
But just as the oblivious Lunelle cheekily went in for a fourth poke...
"My dear little See–le~! Do you know you're playing with—fire—?!"
Lunelle: Yikes!
--+--
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.