A warm, supple tongue brushed lightly over his fingertips. Looking at the unmistakably teasing expression on Mobius's face, An Xora couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
After all, with her current appearance resembling a young serpent, Mobius really did give off a mischievous, bratty-girl vibe.
"Besides what you just mentioned, are there any other research results?" An Xora asked.
"Of course there are—and this one is the most significant breakthrough I've had in quite some time," Mobius replied.
"I've discovered a new material that can be used for MANTIS fusion surgery. Its effects far surpass those of Judgement-class Honkai Beasts, as well as the monsters from this world."
Hearing that, An Xora finally paid serious attention.
A material suitable for fusion surgery—and one that outperformed Judgement-class Honkai Beasts and the monsters of this world?
Wouldn't that mean that, with this newly discovered material, one could create fusion warriors with a baseline strength even higher than those in the original Honkai Impact 3rd timeline?
Even if they didn't reach the level of Demon Lord Kevin, as long as the minimum standard reached something like "everyone is Kevin-tier," or even just half of base-form Kevin's strength, that would already be an earth-shattering discovery.
"Then where is this newly discovered material?" An Xora asked.
Mobius raised a finger and pointed directly at him.
An Xora looked down at himself, then back up.
"You're saying… I'm that new material?"
"What's strange about that?" Mobius replied calmly.
"Don't tell me you still don't have a clear understanding of your own physical condition."
At present, An Xora's primary sources of power came from two things:
First, the Perfect-Version Goro Goro no Mi he had obtained from the Devil Fruit gift pack;
Second, the fusion surgery that had integrated Kryptonian blood into his body.
Just those two factors alone were enough to make An Xora's genes exceptionally valuable as fusion material.
More importantly, during her recent research, Mobius had extracted a tiny amount of cells from hair samples An Xora had left behind. To her astonishment, she discovered that the cells in An Xora's body were abnormally stable. If used as material for fusion surgery, there was practically no need to worry about compatibility issues at all.
"So that's why you thought of using my genes as material for fusion surgery?" An Xora asked.
"In fact, I've already performed a new fusion surgery on myself using a portion of your genes, Master," Mobius said casually.
As she spoke, faint dark-green lightning crackled around one of her hands.
From that electricity, An Xora could clearly sense traces of the Goro Goro no Mi's properties—it was obvious that his genes had directly enhanced Mobius's abilities.
And, whether it was just his imagination or not, upon closer inspection, An Xora realized that there was now a faint, indistinct connection between himself and Mobius.
It wasn't the same kind of link that existed between a main body and a clone. It was something else entirely.
Through this connection, An Xora could vaguely sense what Mobius was doing, and could even influence her actions to a certain extent.
"This is the other discovery I wanted to mention," Mobius continued.
"After using your genes as material for fusion surgery, those genes didn't sever their connection to you. On the contrary—once they merged into a new host, their link to you actually became closer, to the point where you could directly influence the host's behavior and thoughts."
"Right now, I only used a very small amount of genetic material extracted from the hair you shed in daily life, so the connection isn't very obvious. But if a large amount of your genes were used in fusion surgery, the level of control would likely be comparable to—if not stronger than—the control effects of the mass-produced Monster Cells I previously developed."
After all, Mobius's improved Monster Cells merely prevented users from disobeying Mobius's and An Xora's commands—in other words, they only controlled the body.
If An Xora's genes were used as the fusion material, however, they could subtly influence the subject's consciousness itself, making them instinctively more inclined to trust, obey, and draw close to An Xora as the core entity.
"That actually sounds pretty good," An Xora said thoughtfully.
"In that case, once I return to the Arknights world, I'll see if there's anyone suitable and bring them back for you to perform fusion surgery on. Let's see how effective it really is."
"Of course," Mobius replied.
"I'll be ready at any time."
After reporting all of her recent research results, Mobius lazily stretched her body.
At the same time, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around An Xora from behind. Makima—who had been standing quietly behind him, listening to his conversation with Mobius the entire time—had somehow moved close without him noticing.
"It seems that you and Dr. Mobius have finished discussing business, Master," Makima said softly.
"In that case… may I ask you to help me relieve some stress next?"
"Heh."
An Xora turned around, pinned Makima against the wall, and looked down at her shapely figure accentuated by her tailored women's suit. He reached out, gently stroking her smooth, pale cheek with his fingers.
He had no intention of refusing Makima's invitation.
After all, Makima wasn't Gepiriel.
With his current level of strength, unless it was broad daylight under the open sun, he probably couldn't handle Gepiriel—but just because he couldn't deal with Gepiriel didn't mean he couldn't deal with Makima, right?
Not to mention—
Even if Makima, Mobius, and Seele all came at him together, An Xora would still eat them alive!
And so, what was originally planned as a quick stop—listening to Mobius's research update before returning to the Arknights world—ended up dragging on for two full days.
Over those two days, Makima was obviously not the only one involved. Just as An Xora had said, Mobius herself was dragged in halfway through and joined the "battle."
It was often said that snakes, lacking chewing functions, swallowed their prey whole by contracting the muscles of their throats. As a result, their mouths and throats possessed astonishing swallowing capacity.
After experiencing it firsthand, An Xora could only say—
The rumors were absolutely true.
That warm, tight serpentine cavity and its extreme suction nearly sucked the soul right out of him.
Only after two whole days did An Xora finally remember that he still had actual business to attend to. Leaving Mobius's research base behind, he activated the system's traversal function and returned to the Arknights world.
Victoria—no, it should now be called the capital of the Holy Terra Empire, Londinium.
Upon returning to the city, An Xora headed straight for the imperial palace, intending to find Talulah and the Doctor to bestow blessings upon them. Instead, he was informed that neither of them was currently in Londinium.
During An Xora's absence, the Doctor had returned to the Ursus tundra to re-plan the trade routes between the newly unified Ursus, Kazimierz, and Victoria, and had not yet returned.
As for Talulah, she had recently—under the title of Emperor of the Holy Terra Empire—established several cooperative agreements with Yan. She was currently on a diplomatic visit to Lungmen, the key hub designated for their cooperation.
Judging by the timing, she should be arriving in Lungmen very soon.
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