"So… you're saying this place is another world?"
Listening to An Xora's explanation, Lappland tilted her head.
To be honest, she didn't really feel the reality of having crossed worlds in the blink of an eye. But since An Xora said so, then maybe—just maybe—she really wasn't on Terra anymore.
The ability to freely travel beyond Terra, and with such practiced ease that it clearly wasn't his first time… That meant her newly acknowledged wolf king was very likely not a native of Terra at all, but someone who came from beyond it.
Lappland thought about it for a moment.
Then she decisively gave up.
Why bother thinking about all that? Siracusa itself was nothing more than a small country clinging to the land of Terra. Aside from Siracusa and Yan's Lungmen, she hadn't even visited many other nations on Terra—what did other worlds beyond Terra have to do with her?
Rather than dwelling on that, she might as well think about how her new boss planned to make her stronger.
With that in mind, Lappland followed An Xora deeper into the research base, entering one of the laboratories—where she met Mobius.
"So this is the little lab rat you brought me?" Mobius said with interest as she approached Lappland, circling her a few times and openly inspecting the white-haired Lupo from head to toe.
That scrutinizing, object-like gaze made Lappland feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Not bad. Solid build. Master, you've already had her use my Ouroboros Potion, right?"
"Yes. I brought her here this time so you can perform a Fusion Warrior surgery on her—and also to verify that hypothesis you mentioned last time," An Xora replied, nodding.
"I see. That works. But before the surgery, there's some prep to do—recording physical data, a full checkup, that sort of thing. Come with me, little lab rat."
Watching Mobius walk away, Lappland turned to look at An Xora.
"Go on," An Xora said, sensing her unease, and reached out to rua those fluffy canine ears.
"Mobius won't hurt you. Just listen to her instructions later."
Lappland pouted slightly. After waiting for An Xora to withdraw his hand, she nodded.
"Fine. I'm going."
She followed the direction Mobius had gone, while An Xora stayed behind in the lab, waiting patiently.
Physical examination. Blood draws and analysis. Preparing materials. Calibrating equipment…
Half an hour later, once all the preliminary work was complete, Mobius formally placed Lappland onto the operating table.
"Are you ready, my dear little lab rat?" Mobius asked, standing before the table with a dangerous smile on her lips.
"Tch. Just hurry up and start," Lappland said, casting one last glance toward An Xora outside the operating room before ignoring the ominous aura radiating from the woman in front of her and closing her eyes.
"Very well. Let's begin."
Because this Fusion Warrior surgery used An Xora's genes as the base material, it took slightly longer than the procedure Mobius had once performed on herself.
The entire operation lasted roughly six hours.
Six hours later—
A powerful aura mixed with crackling lightning erupted within the operating room.
Boom!!!
With a loud explosion, Mobius emerged from the operating room, her face dark, dragging Lappland along behind her.
"How did it go?" An Xora asked.
"Very successfully," Mobius replied flatly. "It would've been even better if the dog you're raising hadn't blown up my operating room at the end."
"I'm a Lupo," Lappland retorted from Mobius's grip.
Clearly, neither An Xora nor Mobius cared.
An Xora closed his eyes, carefully sensing the connection between himself and Lappland.
After completing the Fusion Warrior surgery using his own genes as the base, he could now easily perceive Lappland's truest thoughts. If he wished, he could even impose his own will upon her—directly controlling her body remotely.
If he had to describe this state, it was somewhat like possession in his previous life… or perhaps akin to the Sui fragment possession from the neighboring Honkai: Star Rail.
So why did his genes possess such a strange ability?
Was it because a transmigrator's soul and consciousness were inherently special—existing on a higher level than the native beings of these fictional worlds—causing any gene infused with his will to gain such unreasonable effects?
Unable to come to any conclusion, An Xora decided to put that line of thought aside and instead asked about Lappland's post-surgery improvements.
"My physical abilities feel several times stronger than before. My senses are much sharper," Lappland said after carefully feeling herself out.
"And besides that… it seems I've gained the ability to control lightning."
"Not just that," Mobius added. "If I'm not mistaken, you should also have extremely powerful regenerative abilities—at the very least, regrowing severed limbs should be easy."
"Regeneration?" An Xora raised an eyebrow. "You added Shesha's genes too?"
"Yes. Your genes are extremely stable, Master. In theory, even adding a few extra components wouldn't cause problems during the procedure, so I adjusted things a bit and added some extra 'ingredients'."
"Then what level is Lappland at now?"
"Roughly between mid Dragon-tier and high Dragon-tier. Slightly stronger than I was right after I completed my own Fusion Warrior surgery."
Stronger than Mobius had been immediately after her own surgery—that already counted as very impressive combat power.
After all, even though Mobius was positioned as a researcher in the original story, she was still one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. No matter how non-combat-oriented she was, she was still elite. Being stronger than her at that stage meant Lappland could now barely hold her own against some of the more combat-focused Flame-Chasers from Honkai Impact 3rd.
Of course, that was as far as it went.
The gap between combat-specialized and non-combat Flame-Chasers was enormous. Lappland was only stronger than Mobius right after her surgery—and didn't even compare to Mobius as she was now.
After all, aside from her research, Mobius had surely consumed no small amount of perfected Monster Cells, limiter-breaking drugs, and even the Ouroboros Potion she herself developed. Her current strength was likely already at high Dragon-tier—perhaps even brushing the peak.
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