This is the Moment of Apotheosis

For Jiang Qiao, the mental barrier that humans struggled to overcome was not a problem. His existence was inherently unique.

Having experienced apotheosis as [Elysia], his will partially mirrored hers. Moreover, regarding the aspect of being a "Herrscher," his acceptance was far greater than the Pink Fat Woman's… or rather, he didn't resist it at all, but embraced this power completely.

Within Mobius's lab, a purple gem radiating an ominous glow floated in the hand of the curvaceous green-haired woman. The green and orange heterochromatic eyes of the Snake reflected the Herrscher core extracted from Seele. Its dangerous light illuminated the entire lab, creating an unsettling atmosphere.

This wasn't unusual, of course. Herrscher cores were inherently accompanied by vast amounts of Honkai energy. Although this core didn't possess the infinite Honkai energy reserves of a normal Herrscher core, Jiang Qiao, using Seele's body, had already fully replenished it during the flight back to base.

"So this is the Herrscher of Death's core?" Mobius, currently inhabiting Jiang Qiao's body, gazed at the dazzling gem with interest. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen other Herrscher cores before; she had even attempted to study them out of personal interest and experimental necessity.

But... perhaps the cores of different Herrschers were fundamentally different after all?

"And you're going to put this little thing inside me?" She wasn't worried, but the potential consequences of the authority of Withering gave her pause.

[Mobius] with a faint smile, replied softly, "No, before that, we need to deal with the core's inner workings."

After all—

The foundation of a Herrscher's power lay in the Imaginary Singularity. If they simply transferred the core without addressing this aspect, even if Seele had no objections after the exchange, it would be a complete failure.

It was almost impossible for an artificial Herrscher to wield the true power of a Herrscher core, unless the original Herrscher was dead.

Well, a more accurate way to put it would be—to completely eliminate the original Herrscher's consciousness.

For example, Bronya.

To counter Project Stigma, the 300,000 consciousnesses within the Herrscher of Reason core, along with Joyce, had already dissipated during the Herrscher's "ascension." Afterward, the only will remaining within the core was Bronya's.

That was the final stage a Herrscher could reach, evolving from "I am a Herrscher" to "I am the Herrscher."

Although they sounded incredibly similar, the difference between the two was as vast as the heavens and earth.

"How are you going to do that?" Mobius was curious. If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't care about the process. They wouldn't understand it, nor would they be interested, as long as the result was good, right?

But for a researcher, especially one studying how to evolve humans into Herrschers, this incomprehensible process was undoubtedly invaluable for research.

"Hehe, with this~" A faint pink light flickered at the tip of a pale index finger, illuminating a beautiful face, slightly haggard from irregular sleep. [Mobius] toyed with this power, a smile on her face.

The Authority of Origin—it was a highly manipulative power.

It could help Jiang Qiao merge a body theoretically incapable of withstanding a Herrscher core with one, just like how he could use the Herrscher of the Void's powers while inhabiting Bronya's body.

Bronya originally couldn't have accommodated that owned core. Forcibly inserting it would have resulted in an outcome no better than the Gem of Serenity experiment—she would have been transformed into a mindless Honkai beast by the overflowing Honkai energy, then immediately incinerated by the lethal dose.

But with the Authority of Origin, one could use a Herrscher core within a human body—as long as one could endure the pain of every cell feeling as if it were being pricked by needles and scorched by fire.

"Using the power of Origin to locate the Imaginary Singularity at the core's heart from the Imaginary space, and then..."

"Extract it." A raised index finger gently traced across the Herrscher core in hand, stirring up dark motes of light.

At this moment, Seele, standing nearby, suddenly felt as if she had lost something.

—It was her connection to the Imaginary Singularity.

It was through this connection that Sirin and Welt were able to achieve the miracles of "rebirth" and "getting back up."

As long as the core remained, and the will within it wasn't extinguished, the Herrscher wouldn't die... or rather, even if they died, they still had a chance to revive.

Of course—this mainly applied to the Herrscher of Death and Herrscher of Reason, as these two were particularly adept at constructing physical bodies.

For other Herrschers, it was extremely difficult, bordering on impossible, to recover solely from the core if their bodies were destroyed. (Except for a certain Divine Key).

"And then..." With that, [Mobius] brought the Herrscher core to her lips with a smile and, like a snake flicking its tongue, swallowed it whole—Mobius could even see the lump moving down her throat... The corner of her eye twitched as she stared at [Mobius] who wore a teasing smile... So annoying!

Although extremely irritated and wanting to wrestle this guy to the ground and ███ him, Mobius, with her dismal track record, clearly wouldn't pick a fight she had no chance of winning. She merely frowned and asked, "And then what?"

"That's it." The green-haired woman replied casually.

A question mark immediately appeared above Mobius's head: "?"

"Hee hee~ Did you think becoming a Herrscher was some complicated affair?" [Mobius] swaying her attractive figure in her researcher's attire, leaned close to Mobius and whispered in the ear of the 'Jiang Qiao'-inhabiting Mobius, her tone filled with playful mockery, reminiscent of Mobius's usual mannerisms.

However, that familiar scent of a female brat... well, perhaps now she should be called a female demon... made Mobius feel a hardening—as for where exactly the hardening occurred, let's not delve into details.

Before Mobius could enter her enraged snake state, Jiang Qiao, perfectly demonstrating the art of teasing, pulled away and leaned against the lab table, smiling as he felt the transformation of this body.

Cells were tearing apart. Should it be called pain? Or comfort? Emotions stemming from human instincts surged like a tide, making self-control difficult.

This was the core of Herrscher transformation on the physical level.

Unlike humans, whose consciousness was influenced by their physical bodies, and were limited by the fragility of those bodies, these primal instincts were obstacles to human evolution, and quite difficult to overcome.

After all, how could any human defy their bodily instincts?

Seeing a cute girl would evoke the desire for close contact. Feeling hungry would prompt the need to eat. Feeling tired would trigger the urge to rest.

Only by overcoming these, by shifting from the body influencing the mind to the mind dictating the body, could a human complete the transformation into a Herrscher.

Because...

The essence of Honkai energy was a power with idealistic properties.

Unaware of Jiang Qiao's situation, Mobius watched him with a mixture of annoyance and suspicion.

Becoming a Herrscher... was it really that simple?

Looking at his seemingly nonchalant demeanor, and recalling her own setbacks in her experiments, the slightly irritated Snake went straight for him: "Let me try!"

Grabbing his collar, Mobius forcefully reclaimed her body—and then, [Mobius]'s previously smiling face instantly contorted.

"Aaahhh—!!!"

A scream echoed throughout the lab, loud enough to startle Klein, who was processing documents next door.

"Doctor, are you alright?"

"Doctor—?!"

Klein immediately saw Mobius leaning against the table, completely unlike her usual calm demeanor, as if enduring excruciating pain. Although confused, Klein was primarily concerned.

"Really..."

"Don't worry, I'll handle it, Klein."

"I-Is this really alright?"

"You… go out… Kle…"

"Doctor!"

"I'm fine…!"

Looking at Mobius's incredibly contorted expression, Klein felt a headache coming on—Doctor, you don't look fine at all.

Jiang Qiao sighed. "It's alright, you can go out first, Klein. Seele can leave too."

"This…"

"Alright." Although hesitant, after glancing at Mobius, Klein took Seele and left.

Jiang Qiao, left alone, looked at Mobius, who had curled up into a ball, and sighed, "Really, why so sudden? I wasn't finished yet."

"Well~ It's not bad that you lasted this long, good job."

"Alright, give it back to me."

Gently helping Mobius up, he spoke, only to be 'bitten' by Mobius as she leaned in.

A moment later, [Jiang Qiao] pale and shaken, stumbled back two steps, nearly falling over. Fortunately, a slender yet strong hand caught him, steadying him.

"You…" Mobius gritted her teeth, but paused, looking at Jiang Qiao, who was smiling, completely unlike her own reaction. Her voice softened, "... Doesn't it hurt?"

"You'll get used to it."

How could one get used to that?

Every cell was exploding, every cell was being reborn.

This was a torture far more terrifying than being sliced into a thousand pieces or fried in oil—and it wasn't just physical. Mentally, Mobius felt a tormenting sense of "no longer being herself."

"'Hee hee~ The evolution of life inevitably requires a 'price.' I thought you would understand this, Mobius~" [Mobius] having regained control of her body, shook her head, propped her cheek on her hand, and uttered a sarcastic remark in Mobius's characteristic style.

"Or did you simply not prepare yourself to face all this?"

"Stop mimicking my speech!" Mobius glared at him irritably, but her gaze held a hint of complexity.

Although she had mentally prepared herself to a certain extent, she still couldn't have imagined it would be so extreme...

Remembering something, Mobius rushed to the operating table and retrieved a specially marked vial—it contained her strongest anesthetic, powerful enough to knock out an elephant.

For ordinary people, it was a lethal dose.

As for why she had such a thing... ahem, different people had different constitutions.

"Give me your hand!" She rushed to Jiang Qiao's side, eager to alleviate his pain.

She thought this should help somewhat.

However, he didn't move, only smiled. "Do you think this will be effective?"

"We'll know after trying!"

"Forget it. Although it might be somewhat effective, using this will slow things down considerably." [Mobius] shook her head slightly. "It's just a little pain. I didn't expect you to care about such a thing. This isn't like you, Mobius."

"..." Mobius fell silent for a moment, then, as if in a fit of pique, she declared, "I don't want this core anymore!"

It was just the power of a Herrscher. Even without it, with her talent, she could achieve her goals.

Now, she wasn't interested!

Jiang Qiao sighed. He didn't speak, but merely met her gaze.

Mobius didn't back down, but after a long while, her resolve wavered. She paced around, then sat back down on her mobile platform irritably.

'Mobius's' lips curved slightly.

After a long while, he slowly opened his hand—

This body's compatibility with the Herrscher of Death core was surprisingly low. Even though Mobius so persistently pursued immortality, pursued "infinity"... well, perhaps it was precisely because of this that Mobius's compatibility with the Herrscher of Death was so low?

Of course, Honkai resistance might also be a factor.

Although Honkai resistance was a genetic technology developed by the Previous Era, considering that the Previous Era wasn't the only civilization, from Jiang Qiao's perspective, Mobius's body was pretty much on par with MEI's, or perhaps even slightly worse.

And due to her age, her unrestrained lifestyle, and various other issues... Through this body's memories, Jiang Qiao even discovered that Mobius would actually "test medicines on herself."

As long as it was something she could experiment with, the first test subject would almost always be Mobius herself... With all these buffs stacked together, Mobius's physical condition might seem like that of a woman in her late twenties, but in reality, it wasn't much better than that of someone over fifty.

This was also why she enjoyed Jiang Qiao's massages so much—for an "old lady" like her, this kind of "maintenance" was a rare treat.

But all of this was clearly a thing of the past now.

Her body was brimming with vitality, the hidden ailments and injuries within swept away by the transformation of her life level.

"Are you done?"

"Hee hee~ Guess?" [Mobius] replied playfully. The adult form was certainly beautiful, but somewhat incongruous.

Well, in that case...

With a smile, the Jiang Snake, under Mobius's gaze, was enveloped in a layer of emerald light, then, like some kind of crude oil excavated from the ground…

The moment the oil shattered—

The atmosphere in the lab stagnated, and even Mobius's breathing grew heavier.

Her eyes widened, staring in shock at the girl standing amidst the black, "oily" substance.

She no longer resembled the adult woman from before.

Mobius's usual lab coat and green jacket had vanished without a trace, replaced by a white strapless corset and a black, dark green, and lace-adorned bodysuit resembling a snake's belly.

Long, smooth emerald green hair cascaded down her back, adorned with a strange crown-like headpiece. The incredibly beautiful girl opened her heterochromatic green and pink serpentine eyes, smiling, but her gaze held a dangerous glint, like a female snake on the hunt.

"Mmm~ This form is indeed more fitting. Don't you think so, Mobius?"

Her voice, unlike the adult Mobius's, had returned to a girlish tone, tinged with youthful tenderness. Yet, the mature, playful undertone was impossible to conceal.

"Seeing me like this, do you feel a bit nostalgic?"

Hearing these words, Mobius remained expressionless, biting her lip.

She didn't have much fondness for this familiar face… How should she put it? This youthful appearance of hers wasn't exactly a pleasant memory for Mobius.

After all, her family relationships were extremely strained. Her foolish and pathetic biological father had made Mobius resent this period, which should have been the most radiant and beautiful stage of her life as a woman.

Of course, if she had to be honest...

She actually quite liked the appearance of this 'Jiang Snake'—if it weren't for the knowledge that inside this body of hers was a man.

Considering this factor, Mobius only felt 'anger' towards this teasing tone!

Who did this guy think he was, showing off in front of her?!

That was her body!!!

Unable to stand Jiang's taunting, or perhaps driven by curiosity about this body... various reasons compelled Mobius to pounce on Jiang Qiao.

She unceremoniously and forcefully reclaimed her body.

Although the previous psychological trauma made her apprehensive, the surging power flowing through her chest, through her veins... this vibrant life force, this authority that felt capable of changing and seizing everything...

This was undoubtedly what she had always yearned for!

Her thoughts became more agile than ever—the Herrscher's body granted Mobius intellect and processing speed surpassing her previous capabilities.

The ailments caused by years spent in the lab also vanished. Her back didn't ache, her legs weren't sore, and—

… they weren't swollen anymore!