Meanwhile...
While MEI and Aponia were discussing certain confidential matters alone, on the Mu Continent, in The Moths Who Chase the Flames First Research Division...
"Human life forms are truly fragile, aren't they?"
Memory Body Mobius sat on her usual floating portable toolbox, her snake-like eyes narrowing as she looked at the mangled body on the ground.
At this moment, Mobius's... original body had been completely torn in half from the right shoulder down, lying in a pool of blood, its condition extremely pitiful.
For some reason, Memory Body Mobius had not destroyed her head... Perhaps she would have felt very displeased with herself if she had?
In any case, that face still looked the same.
But the eyes were already lifeless.
It was speckled with mottled blood...
Adding a few touches of poignant beauty.
Undoubtedly, if an ordinary person suffered such devastation, there would be no possibility of survival.
But Memory Body Mobius did not want to leave any "what ifs."
Snakes have tenacious vitality.
They are the most troublesome to deal with.
So...
"I originally wanted to keep it for research... Sigh, what a waste."
As she spoke, she activated the strange ink-like substance around her... This substance, derived from the Shesha Factor and named the "Shadow of the World-Devourer," was about to completely consume the original body's remains.
It was during this process...
"With your (my) talent, you (I) surely could have gone much further."
"Pathstrider, MANTIS... those were just your (my) starting lines."
"But now, this is where you (I) end."
"What a pity, what a pity..."
Watching the original body's remains sink into the Shadow of the World-Devourer, Memory Body Mobius's eyes flashed with a hint of helplessness. "Such rare experimental material... there will never be another like it."
"But, compared to research... that 'one-and-only path of evolution' is still more important, just as expected!"
At this point...
Outside the Shadow of the World-Devourer, only the head of Mobius's original body had not yet sunk.
Memory Body Mobius stared intently at this scene.
In the end...
*Drip~*
No miracle happened.
This was the cruel reality.
In reality, how many plot twists really happen?
One wrong move at the end, and the whole game is lost.
And besides...
Today's winner might not become the eternal champion.
But those things have nothing to do with the present.
Now, as the Shadow of the World-Devourer was retracted by Memory Body Mobius, the ground became completely clean.
Only... a golden "Infinite" earring shaped like four interlocking rings lay on the floor, making a crisp clatter.
"Hmph~"
Seeing it, Memory Body Mobius hooked her left index finger, and the Shadow of the World-Devourer appeared once again.
It acted like a flexible tentacle, accurately pinching the golden earring and delivering it into Memory Body Mobius's hand.
At this point, she dangled the earring in front of her eyes, gently shaking it and examining it closely.
Looking at its uniquely linked structure...
"Infinite... can it also be transformed into a Path?"
Memory Body Mobius murmured to herself.
Then...
"..."
She fell silent, raising both hands to put the golden earring on her empty left earlobe.
There had been no earring hole there before.
But she paid no mind to the faint sting.
She forced the matching earring, snatched from her original self, onto her ear.
A single drop of blood fell upon her shoulder.
With this, Mobius, who had worn a single earring only on her right ear for the past tens of thousands of years, was finally symmetrical.
After completing this, she seemed completely satisfied, feeling that she was now complete... and she no longer lingered on the spot.
Just as she had arrived, she used the Shadow of the World-Devourer to quietly sneak away, leaving the First Research Division.
Throughout the entire process, she did not disturb anyone else.
Naturally, this included Blanca, Klein, and the still young... Little Griseo, who were all in the First Research Division at the time.
At one point...
"Mmm~"
The dazed little girl felt something, her eyebrows twitching slightly.
She raised her chubby little hand and rubbed her blurry, sleepy eyes.
Then, she slowly opened them...
"Mama? Auntie Mobius?"
Before she could see anything clearly, Little Griseo called out the names of the two people closest to her.
However...
There was no response.
***
At the same time...
In the secret chamber built by Gray Serpent, the same place where Memory Body Mobius had killed her original self...
A gel-like mass of plasma, like a probing worm, wriggled out from a crack.
It carefully sensed the surrounding changes for a long, long time...
Finally, in a single instant, it locked onto something.
Then, it sprang out like a startled rabbit.
Its target...
Was a gap in an electronic component of Newborn World Serpent's private encrypted communication device.
Mixed within it was a small amount of blood.
As if it had found a treasure, the plasma worm opened a "mouth" at its tip.
It quickly swallowed the already partially solidified blood clot into its belly.
But it was not yet satisfied.
It continued to search...
Not long after, it found another imperceptible trace of blood in another location... on the back of the chair where Mobius's original self had previously sat.
The two types of blood seemed to come from the same source, but... the latter had a huge difference.
At this time, it did not know.
The first drop of blood was from Mobius's original self.
And the second drop of blood was from Memory Body Mobius.
It successfully collected these two precious "materials."
Then...
"Crack~"
"Crack, crack~"
The cellular division speed was beyond common sense.
The Plasma Worm, which was originally no larger than a fingernail, grew rapidly in just dozens of seconds.
Finally, when the dust settled...
It... or rather... she.
Transformed into a woman with a stunning figure and knee length emerald green curly hair.
At this moment, she wore nothing at all, but lacked even a shred of human shame.
But soon...
The simulation of the original personality began!
The woman's eyes became increasingly lively.
Finally, after several breaths...
"Quite the 'identity'."
"Quite the... genes (power)!"
She spoke slowly, her fingertips seeming to crackle with dark lightning and the eerie Shadow of the World-Devourer, "Dr. Mobius, Head of the First Research Division of The Moths Who Chase the Flames."
"You... no, you all... really put on a great show for me, one filled with irony." x2
In a certain deep sea area, the sky blue Kali "spoke" the exact same words almost simultaneously.
And with this beginning...
"Operation Impostor's effect is even greater than I imagined."
Now, she sat on another new undersea reef with her legs crossed, a clear smile on her face. "Heh, it was originally just a means to distract the humans, yet it has already left them so flustered."
"They are still fighting among themselves, even fighting against 'themselves,' giving me and my Spawn so many opportunities to take advantage... Hahahaha!"
Kali couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
She was filled with mockery.
But suddenly, as if changing her expression, her smile vanished. "As expected, filthy, ugly humans shouldn't exist."
At this time, in her mind, which already far exceeded the processing power of an ordinary person, a three-dimensional world map like a globe had materialized out of thin air.
Marked on it were one red dot after another...
"To this day, a total of three thousand three hundred thirty-three Blood (Snow) Mountain Shrines have been completed at key ocean currents."
"The Honkai Reactor technology developed by humans themselves has also allowed my Honkai Energy self-circulation system to operate smoothly, with no more problems."
Kali's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then, there is no need to delay any longer..."
"Operation Impostor does not need to stop, and Operation Cold Wave can also proceed simultaneously."
At that instant...
Kali rose from her Reef Throne and raised her hands high. "The appointed time has arrived..."
"Unseal the Keystone of Eternal Winter!"
With that thought...
*Buzz!*
*Buzz!!*
*Buzz!!!*
The 3,333 Blood (Snow) Mountain Shrines, now secretly scattered across the globe, activated simultaneously.
Their locations were placed with exquisite precision.
Kali had used the advanced knowledge she obtained from the scholars of the Mu Continent to arrange them into a complete array.
Individually, their effect might be weak.
At least, not enough to affect the entire natural ecosystem.
But with the boost of Honkai Energy, after linking and resonating with each other, the energy conversion rate grew exponentially...
*Crack, crack, crack...*
Ocean currents around the world began to show subtle drops in temperature.
Yes, subtle.
But this was the global average temperature falling.
Now, Earth had no vast ice sheets to reflect sunlight.
Nor did it have dust covering the sky and blocking out the warm light.
This change should have been impossible, violating the law of conservation of energy.
But Honkai Energy... made it possible.
This bizarre energy, summoned by Kali from the Imaginary Space, was transformed through the Blood (Snow) Mountain Shrines. Relying on the genes of ice attribute ancient Honkai Beasts and supported by human developed Honkai Reactors, it struck the first movement of the stagnant civilization's... melody of calamity.
And as this melody played...
Kali stepped forward, her lips curling into a smile, and began to dance gracefully on the seabed.
This was the only dance she had learned as a child from her biological parents, a memory from her original bloodline.
Once, this dance was a ritual performed by the people of Dharavi only during specific festivals to welcome the arrival of spring.
And today, with her immense computing power, she actually...
Actually danced this dance, its steps, postures, and rhythm completely reversed from beginning to end in an incredibly awkward... awkwardly eerie, inverted form... while remaining cheerful and joyful.
It no longer welcomed spring.
Instead...
"Supreme... Great Will."
Kali swung her arms, her five fingers spreading like drooping willows.
"Your most loyal believer will here, offer you..."
Her movements grew faster and faster.
Every single action began to stir the currents of the seabed, and wherever her hands passed, blood-colored ice chips appeared and scattered.
Finally, Kali lifted her bare foot...
"This world-purifying (world-destroying) dance!"
"Boom~" x 3333