Maiden and Serpent

"Pfft—"

The hydraulic door slid open to one side, making a muffled and harsh echo.

The person who came to a stop because of the sound, as if afraid of being discovered.

After hesitating slightly, she quickly jumped into the laboratory, which was so dark that there wasn't a trace of light, just like jumping into a bottomless abyss.

"Pfft—"

The hydraulic door closed automatically, and the last trace of light was also cut off.

"Mobius, Mobius?"

The visitor tentatively called out twice, but unfortunately, there was no response.

"Aiya! Mobius isn't here? A bit of a miscalculation… But it's okay, let's help her organize her closet first!"

Ellie touched the ornament on her chest and hummed a triumphant tune softly—

[Hmm… this brooch does go well with the dress, but the hair clip and collar pin are completely no good I'll have to ask Eden to design a uniform later… My dear Mobius must also have one set, and all sizes must be available!]

She very skillfully found the cold metal closet door and entered the password Pardo had told her—with a "click," the closet unlocked smoothly.

"Let me see… as expected… My dear Mobius, you're too hard on yourself. Except for white coats and green shirts, no wonder you're not popular with boys!"

Elysia thoughtfully took away all her white coats and green shirts, stuffed them into the pipes in the laboratory ceiling, and then hung the three maid outfits she had prepared and the plain white dress she bought during the day in the closet.

She also took out a marker and wrote flowing yet delicate handwriting on the closet door:

[Hi! Dear Mobius, this is a gift carefully selected for you by me and Mikael! Looking forward to seeing you appear in one of these in front of me tomorrow morning—I'll be very happy!]

[—Left by Mikael]

"Snap!"

The lights in the laboratory suddenly turned on brightly. Immediately afterwards, crisp applause sounded unhurriedly.

"Elysia, oh no, Mikael, right! Maid outfits, right! You did all this, right!"

Mobius stood in an inconspicuous corner, looking at the handwriting left by Elysia, and the clothes revealed in the closet that wasn't yet closed, her eyes almost spitting fire.

"Eh… Aiya, Mobius, you were here…"

Ellie turned around, moved her position, trying to close the closet door with her back.

Mobius appeared almost instantly by her side, pushed her away, and threw out all three maid outfits.

But when her small hand reached for the slightly oversized plain white dress, she suddenly stopped.

She snorted coldly and slammed the closet door shut.

Ellie stood aside, witnessing her actions throughout the whole process, and the smile on the corner of her mouth rippled out like water waves, unable to stop.

"Follow me."

Mobius sneered and opened the secret door of the secret laboratory.

"Wow! Turns out there's a whole world inside! I was wondering where my dear Mobius popped out from… Really, not in the room, not in the lab, you scared me, I almost thought you were lost!"

"Elysia, if you can't speak properly, you can shut up!"

Stepping into the secret door was Mobius's real laboratory. Dark green light floated in the narrow and confined space. Various lines crisscrossed underfoot, and various instruments that she couldn't name were piled up randomly. It was even difficult to turn around.

"Mobius, have you ever considered making the space here bigger? It's really… too small, isn't it?"

Ellie's words were clearly just stating the facts, but when they reached Mobius's ears, she always felt that they were implying something.

So she turned around, imperceptibly tiptoeing, trying to prove that she wasn't "small."

But Ellie boldly reached out and put her hand on top of her head, messing up her hair in her incredulous gaze, and then forcibly pressed down her tiptoeing height.

"Elysia!"

Green arcs of electricity were already flashing on Mobius's body. Ellie quickly let go, casually glanced around the laboratory, and finally fixed her gaze on the girl who was not even up to her shoulder. She said with a chuckle:

"What a nostalgic scene… There was a similar scene back in Fire Moth, right? But this time, no matter how much you tiptoe, you still can't surpass me!"

The anger that had just surged in Mobius suddenly dissipated, replaced by an unnamable emotion.

Her gaze flickered a few times, and then she impatiently pursed her lips:

"...How boring! But, Elysia, I still have to remind you: the space of the laboratory is completely sufficient in terms of height. The reason why you feel it's small is actually very simple—Elysia, you've gained weight."

Elysia's teasing smile gradually froze on her face.

Seeing that she had won back a round, Mobius's mood instantly improved a lot.

She no longer entangled herself in those many emotions that she didn't yet understand, but directly led Ellie to a culture dish.

"Elysia, if I'm not mistaken, your real target is it, right?"

"Yes, Mobius, I didn't expect you to understand me so well in private!"

Ellie gently touched the culture dish with her fingertips. The sudden force caused the pink cell tissue inside to turn over.

"Parvati… Among the Honkai beasts recorded by humans, its combat power is definitely not the strongest, and it's not an exaggeration to describe it as [weak]. But it is undoubtedly the most dangerous one—because it's too easy to kill, and too difficult to kill. It is precisely because of this that the definition of Apocalypse-class (Vipralopa-Class) exists, not simply because its combat power surpasses Judgment-class, but because its mechanism has infinite possibilities… How is this the Honkai beast you've taken a fancy to?"

"Of course!"

Ellie nodded with a smile, but her gaze quietly shifted away from Parvati's tissue.

"Ordinary Honkai beasts all look weird, but Parvati's avatar form looks cute enough, and the color of its main body is also my favorite pink!"

"Tch."

Mobius sneered unhappily.

To still be picky about the MANTIS Factor, only this woman… no, and him…

"Elysia, you have to think carefully. Theoretically speaking, the higher the level of the Honkai beast, the greater the difficulty of the surgery MANTIS. Sakura didn't make a single mistake when fusing with the Yaksha Factor, and when I fused with the Jormungandr Factor, although the surgery was successful, it also destroyed my body tissue. If it weren't for the ability granted by Jormungandr, I would have been dead long ago."

"Aiya! Are you worried about me, Mobius?"

Mobius secretly clenched her fists.

"Or… let me think—Sakura fused with the Emperor-class Honkai beast Yaksha, Kevin fused with the Emperor-class Honkai beast Parvati… Eh, the surgery records are written here: Aponia, Emperor-class Mitra… Hmm! I'm angry! Aponia underwent hyper-evolution surgery without even telling me! But, they're all Emperor-class, only you are Judgment-class… Aren't you afraid that I'll surpass you after fusing with Parvati?"

"Tch! Only you would have such a boring idea."

Mobius watched Elysia open her arms, but didn't make any move.

"Come on! Mobius! You guys have all become MANTIS Warriors, and Mikael is a Herrscher… I can't be left too far behind!"

However, Mobius still didn't make any move.

Ellie was surprised. Her eyes turned around, provocatively reaching out and touching Mobius's childish face, but was lightly slapped away by the latter.

"Mobius, what do you mean? Are you going to cruelly reject a beautiful girl's request?"

Mobius closed her eyes, turned her head away, and let out a heavy breath. The emotion that she had deliberately ignored before began to grow wildly in her heart.

"To be honest, Elysia—I would very much welcome you to undergo hyper-evolution surgery. I dream of having you lying on my operating table, and then being tortured by the hyper-evolution factor until you become an existence that cannot be called [human]."

"Then why aren't you doing it now? Is it because I'm too cute, and you can't bring yourself to do it? Aiya, I know Mobius is the best! But don't worry! A beautiful girl can do anything, besides, this is my own decision!"

Ellie's frivolous words were like a spoonful of hot oil poured on Mobius's heart. A fire burst out instantly, her breathing suddenly became rapid, and even her whole body couldn't stop shaking.

"Mobius, what's wrong with you?"

"Hehe…" Mobius responded with a bleak smile.

As the woman who quarreled with her the most, she naturally knew Ellie's inner thoughts, and even knew that she actually hated this ambiguous approach of blurring the lines between [human] and [Honkai beast].

But in order to become his strength, she could abandon her own likes and dislikes, and willingly turn herself into the appearance she hated the most…

And he, had already foreseen this possibility…

"It's useless to beg me, hmph! Mikael is very concerned about you. Without his consent, if I perform surgery on you, tomorrow's meat dish might be snake soup!"

Ellie's eyes gradually widened, gleaming with inexplicable brilliance.

This was what Mobius hated to see the most.

"Oh! Mobius, you're still so good at joking!"

Ellie hurriedly used a silly smile to cover up her excitement and embarrassment, and unconsciously looked around at the bottles and cans in the laboratory, trying to change the subject.

"Eh? Mobius, you have something new here!"

Ellie picked up three syringes, which were filled with some kind of tissue fluid. The syringe shells were pasted with patterns, a symbol similar to "∞" whose two ends were not connected, with the words "Anti-Entropy—Mobius Made" written in small letters below.

"Heh! How could this garbage be made by me?"

Mobius snatched all the syringes, and gestured for Ellie to leave.

"Eh! Isn't it? But it still has the Anti-Entropy logo on it? And your name is on it!"

"Elysia! Do you think Mikael and I would be so ostentatious as to leave traces on this kind of thing!"

Mobius snorted coldly, shifted her gaze away somewhat guiltily, and still maintained the "please leave" gesture.

But the latter was still unwilling to leave. She pointed to the wall behind Mobius and said, "Aiya, Mobius, there's a crack in the wall! Could there be another laboratory inside?"

"How is that possible?"

"Thump!"

At this moment, a soft sound came from the storage cabinet beside Mobius.

Before Ellie could say anything, she was rudely turned around by Mobius, and pushed out with her back.

"Elysia! Remember to put my original clothes back in the closet—and then you can scram!"