As if grasped by the throat of fate—or perhaps, it was the tightening grip of Mara's golden headband? Clamped tight, entwined to death, everything felt instinctual.
For Mobius, her greatest strength lay in focusing intently on a single task. And now, she was taking this 'feeding' to the absolute extreme. Ms. Snake was exceptionally serious about this process.
After all, although the superficial sensations flowing from life's instincts weren't worth her attention, experiencing the process of myriad lives waxing and waning was exceptionally fascinating.
If placed in certain cultivation novels, this would undoubtedly be an extremely 'vicious' demonic cultivation technique involving dual cultivation.
And indeed, this 'battle' with Mobius... no, perhaps it should be called a 'duel.' The kind that determined not only victory or defeat, but also life and death.
A normal human physique couldn't possibly withstand this level of exertion; they likely wouldn't even qualify to enter the ring. After all, ordinary flesh and blood couldn't endure power comparable to hydraulic clamps.
But regardless of the outcome, attempting unrestricted combat with Mobius without sufficient 'strength' was extremely fatal. However, she herself clearly didn't care.
After all, as the old saying goes in Shenzhou, if you don't have the diamond drill, don't take on the porcelain repair job. Since she dared to 'draw her sword,' then... being prepared to bet one's life was the bare minimum, right?
Otherwise, given her, Mobius's, personality, how could she possibly submit? Anyone she deemed worthy must offer something; otherwise, how could they 'convince' her?
Of course, being a coward was also fine~ In that case, Mobius would certainly be willing to lower the 'intensity.' But if that were the case, it would be far too disappointing~ Little lab rat~
"....." Feeling the undisguised desire to 'eat him clean,' Mr. Jiang, the victim, felt an exceptional headache. After all, this felt a bit too much like a 'dark duel.' But... who asked Mobius to have such a personality?
Loving excitement, loving to challenge limits—whether physical, moral, or perhaps... spiritual limits? Or perhaps all of the above? Isn't this also a process of seeking 'infinity'?
Facing this cunning and incredibly ferocious snake spirit lady, Jiang Qiao's response was expectedly direct. Bring it on!
Although this felt like the pressure was immense, practically turning into a life-threatening extreme sport... compared to being told, 'Hmph hmph~ What, are you scared? Or perhaps... you can't handle it anymore?'
He still chose directly. Fight! You are the challenger! I am devoted to Elysia! Don't even think about tarnishing Ms. Pink Fatty's place in my heart!
However, Mobius paid this no mind. Even if she couldn't win, so what? As an outstanding snake spirit lady, when she ate people, she didn't leave bones behind~ As long as she was full, wasn't that enough?
Facing such an aggressive Mobius, the targeted latter felt a major headache. Indeed—even Jiang Qiao had to admit, in this battle with Mobius, he was truly at a disadvantage.
Although both possessed the authority of the Herrscher of Death and Life, logically, in terms of endurance, they should be evenly matched.
Even from a hierarchical perspective, the Sea of Quanta-level Death and Life authority he possessed should be superior to Mobius's single Imaginary-side Death and Life authority.
But, even if his energy was higher level, in terms of physical bodies, the two weren't quite equal. He was still just human—only through the enhancement of various authorities could he compete on the same stage as Mobius.
And Mobius's body—she wasn't just a true Herrscher; driven by research needs, Mobius had also performed self-modification, applying the perfected MANTIS technology.
Physical strength comparable to a Judgment-class Honkai beast, specialized 'anti-personnel' attributes, plus the natural advantage of physiological structure... These factors easily offset the difference of the Sea of Quanta-level Death and Life authority, placing her in a more advantageous position.
Continuing like this, it would likely take ten days to half a month, making it difficult to seize the fruit of victory in the short term.
However... since overwhelming Mobius on the physical level was difficult... Then... The next moment.
Perhaps due to being overly engrossed, Mobius was caught completely off guard—like a python in nature after consuming prey, during that moment of digestion, they are most vulnerable, most defenseless.
Clasped hands felt like shackles, difficult to break free. Without time for much thought, a shadow lunged forward.
"Hm?" Green eyes widened slightly, filled with astonishment and dazedness.
Honestly, Mobius had done similar things before—at the very beginning, when targeting this desired prey, she had been sufficiently proactive.
But now, having already taken things further, the extremely stubborn Mobius, caught off guard by such a sudden move, found herself somewhat unable to stand firm.
It seemed Mobius wasn't adept at facing proactive attacks. Although she could be very aggressive, initiating extremely bold attacks herself, when this initiative shifted to passivity... the tragically blank emotional experience of the past decades became a fatal flaw, causing her mind to go blank.
Furthermore, this disruption of rhythm on the physical level triggered a chain reaction. The sudden assault directly breached her heart's defenses, invaded her mind, causing her to lose herself in a daze, losing control.
By the time she recovered and wanted to turn the tables, this brief loss of mental control had already led to Mobius's utter defeat.
Control over the body required single-minded focus; only then could one ensure they weren't influenced in return—otherwise, Mobius herself would be the first to suffer greatly.
Therefore, she chose to operate herself with extreme concentration, single-mindedly. And now, her heart's defenses were lost. As they say, when masters clash, there's no room for the slightest error.
This momentary lapse was enough for a certain Jiang-surnamed man to turn the tables, launching a desperate counterattack!
"Guh... No, you despicable fellow...!"
"...Have mercy... let me rest, just for a bit! One second..." Struggling, trying to gain some breathing room, but the result was obvious—even crawling humbly only exposed fatal weaknesses more easily, leading to devastating blows.
However 'arrogant' Mobius was before, that's how wretched Ms. Mobius looked now. Like a defeated general, no matter how hard she struggled, trying to regain the lost initiative, it was futile... In fact, this powerless struggle only pushed the situation of this unrestricted combat further in a direction unfavorable to her.
This was the power of the heart, the power of the True Self—in other words, perhaps... Elysia's victory?
Leveraging this power from Elysia, Mr. Jiang successfully turned defeat into victory, subdued the malicious snake spirit lady, and successfully defended the former's dignity... probably?
And facing Ms. Snake's objections, he expressed: You chose this 'dark duel' yourself, idol!
After mercilessly teaching this harmful snake demon a lesson, Mobius's room, previously tidied by Klein, was successfully transformed into a different state.
However, during this period, there seemed to be some unexpected discoveries, for example... after opening the closet door. Mixed among a pile of work clothes, an extremely conspicuous pink little skirt.
---||---
"Hmph hmph, I wonder if Mobius likes the little skirt I sent her~" Elysia, unaware of everything, after assisting MEI with her work, although feeling inexplicably irritable and unhappy for some reason, as if something precious had been stolen, being very optimistic, quickly remembered the carefully selected pink little skirt she had secretly snuck into Mobius's room the day before yesterday.
Smilingly imagining Mobius's expression upon seeing the little skirt, and how she would look wearing it.
Eagerly, she headed towards Mobius's laboratory—after all, since MEI's matter was resolved, she definitely needed to find Bad Jiang Qiao quickly.
She had been thinking about going to play with that bad guy before, but her previous attempt at taking leave resulted in two direct imprisonments... returning empty-handed.
Now that she had finally managed to call that bad guy over, plus with the Honkai suppressed, there were no urgent Honkai Eruptions to deal with. If she didn't seize the opportunity, how could she quickly take down that bad guy?
"You're looking for Mobius? But she didn't come to the lab." Klein, hair messy, sporting heavy dark circles, looked somewhat surprised upon hearing Elysia's purpose.
"Eh? How could that be?" The latter was taken aback. "Mobius said she needed to borrow Bad Jiang Qiao for some research."
Since it's research, looking for her in Mobius's lab should be correct, right?
Besides, based on Elysia's impression of Mobius, Mobius rarely went out—she basically spent most of her time泡在 (soaked in/holed up in) the lab all day. It was hard to imagine Mobius being absent one day.
Klein scratched her head. "That I wouldn't know. Besides herself, probably no one knows the Doctor's affairs."
"I guess maybe she went to collect some materials, or perhaps investigate something... Although rare, Dr. Mobius does occasionally do that."
"You could also check the Doctor's room, maybe she's there."
"Sorry, I still have a lot of data to sort...!" With that, Klein hurried back into the lab.
"Klein really is busy..." Left behind, Elysia didn't mind too much, just sighed, then followed Klein's suggestion, planning to try her luck at Mobius's room.
Mobius's room was quite far from the lab. Of course, this wasn't really an issue, because although Mobius did have a personal room, due to her obsessive research madness, she actually rarely returned to her room.
Most of the time, she would pull all-nighters for days, napping on the lab desk when tired, or perhaps wrapping herself in a blanket and sleeping on the floor.
After obtaining the authority of the Herrscher of Death and Life, the significance of Mobius's personal room diminished even further. Because she had completely eliminated the act of 'resting' from her physiology.
The reason was simple: compared to wasting time resting, she preferred spending time on research.
Previously, as a human, she chose to rest because her body couldn't support it—even as a MANTIS, continuous hyper-operation was tiring.
But now, possessing the Death and Life authority that allowed self-definition of physiological functions, as a dignified Herrscher, she naturally wouldn't be troubled by such things anymore.
"Ding dong~" The Fire Moth personal staff dorms had excellent soundproofing. Even through the not-so-thick door, it was difficult to hear what was happening inside. Out of politeness, Elysia used the electronic device equipped in the room to ring the doorbell.
After a long while... "Guess she's really not here..." Elysia, hearing no response, scratched her cheek, thinking this.
However... the next moment. Beep beep~ A futuristic video communication screen flickered to life. It was Mobius! Seeing her face, Elysia's heart instantly leaped with joy. She's actually here!
Limited by the screen size, only about half her body was visible. Mobius on the screen looked somewhat disheveled, her smooth green long hair messy, slightly matted—though hard to notice without careful observation, and Ms. Elysia clearly didn't notice this problem.
Cheeks slightly flushed, maintaining a serious expression, upon seeing Elysia, Mobius narrowed her snake eyes slightly, her tone holding faint 'mockery,' yet tinged with a strange emotion for some reason.
"Hmph... Hmm, hmph hmph... So it's you~ Elysia~"
"MEI's business is temporarily concluded. I went to the lab to find you, Klein said you might be in your room, so I came looking."
"Klein... Hmph, meddlesome..." Hearing the name, Mobius muttered dissatisfiedly. "Alright, what do you want from me?" Half smiling, half impatient, she swayed slightly like someone drunk.
...Looks... kinda... strange... For some reason, looking at Mobius on the screen, Elysia had this thought. Messy, and these strange movements, could it be... Remembering Bad Jiang Qiao earlier... A bold idea formed in Elysia's mind.
"Mobius, have you... been drinking?" she asked, somewhat puzzled.
The latter, initially feeling somewhat awkward and looking peculiar under the stare, paused upon hearing the question, then recovered, curling her lip. "Hm? Hmph... Can't I drink?"
"..." Elysia smiled awkwardly. ...Mobius's drinking tolerance, everyone who knows, knows. Famously terrible...
No wonder she looks shaky and messy... It must be that bad guy Jiang Qiao dragged Mobius to drink together!
This also explained why Mobius wasn't at the lab—after all, with Mobius's drunken antics, how could she possibly go to the lab after getting drunk? Even if she went, Klein probably wouldn't dare let her in, would have to tie her up with hemp rope and send her back to her bedroom.
"What's with that expression? Looking down on me? I can't drink? I can drink a lot!" Her movements became somewhat exaggerated. Mobius, seemingly sensing the former's belittling intent, expressed strong 'dissatisfaction,' her voice becoming somewhat fragmented, full of strangeness.
"..." ...She really is drunk.
"Haha, how could that be... But, talking through the screen like this is also strange, why don't you... open the door?"
"Not opening!"
"Uh..." Elysia paused. Suddenly, she seemed to notice something... noticed the upper half of the tipsy Mobius... Isn't that outfit...
At this moment, she instantly became clear-headed. I get it, I, Elysia, get it! Hehe... Suppressing her laughter with effort, Elysia said, "Alright, then I won't come in."
"Rest well." She didn't ask about Bad Jiang Qiao's whereabouts. After all, she didn't see Bad Jiang Qiao's figure in the corner of the screen. Since that was the case, he probably wasn't here. It wouldn't be a problem to spend a little effort looking for him herself.
However... thinking of Mobius in that incredibly familiar and conspicuous pink little skirt, and that 'shamefully indignant' look. Elysia, having already made the connection, instantly burst into joy. You did good, you did good! Bad Jiang Qiao! I, Elysia, will reward you heavily, you idiot!