"These past couple of days must have been hard on Principal Theresa... no, that's wrong, it should be Overseer Theresa now." Einstein walked alongside her. "I imagine Schicksal's workload is quite something."
"I'd rather say it's absurdly overwhelming. I really have no idea how Grandpa handled all of this before." Theresa let out a sigh, feeling rather woeful about her lot.
The intensity of these past few days' work had gone beyond merely being hard — it wasn't hard, exactly, it was just plain miserable.
"Though in other respects, we've always had our grievances with Otto." Einstein shrugged, clearly able to imagine the situation Theresa was in. "But when it comes to work capability alone, one can't help but admire him."
It wasn't that they'd never tried to manage Anti-Entropy themselves, but as the scale grew larger and larger, the amount of work to be handled grew along with it, and so the Agent mechanism had developed.
Sigh, when all was said and done, it was because the two of them simply couldn't handle that much paperwork — after all, the two of them were scientists at heart, and the bulk of their energy was still focused on research.
The other reason was that they weren't like Otto, who possessed the political ability to single-handedly suppress every petty troublemaker. That much was evident from how Cocolia, who came up later and surpassed them, had managed to splinter Anti-Entropy apart.
So if one thought about it, one could roughly imagine just how much work Theresa now had to handle as Overseer of Schicksal.
"Still, it has to be done in the end." Theresa quickly adjusted her mindset. Now that she had taken up this responsibility, then it ought to be done.
"Mm." Einstein nodded. "But let's not talk about this matter today, shall we? Let's eat first — the food Miss Rita made tastes quite good."
"Rita?" Hearing Rita's name, Theresa instinctively turned her head toward the crowd, and sure enough she spotted Rita setting desserts down on a table.
Rita noticed Theresa's gaze as well and lifted her head with a smile, waving a hand at Theresa before pointing toward Durandal, who was chatting with Siegfried, Cecilia, and Kiana.
Theresa nodded. Clearly, Rita had come along with Durandal. Still, she also knew that Rita was there, and apart from being formidable at certain private jobs, she was also very skilled at making desserts.
"Hehe." A gust of fragrant air suddenly swept up behind Irene as Elysia threw herself onto Irene's back and nuzzled against her. "Irene, do you want some barbecue?"
"Barbecue?" Irene took the barbecue from Elysia's hand and tasted a bite. The crisp, charred crust sealed in the juices within the meat, and as she bit down, the juices burst out, the aroma instantly filling her entire mouth.
The only thought that could flash through Irene's mind was that it was delicious, extremely delicious. Irene polished off the skewer in her hand in a few quick bites: "Delicious — did Rita make this too?"
"Nope." Elysia wagged her finger, then pointed toward the other side of the venue, where one could faintly see the direction wreathed in smoke. "It's..."
"Brother Kalpas made it." Irene had already answered before Elysia could say it. A flicker of surprise flashed through Elysia's eyes, and then she smiled and nodded.
"That's right." Elysia nodded. "The taste really is quite good, isn't it? We'd heard that Kalpas's cooking was excellent, but back in those days we never really got many chances to try it."
Although they'd learned from Aponia that Kalpas had in fact always been very good at cooking, by the time they became good friends with Kalpas, there was no longer any room left for Kalpas to cook, and Kalpas had always worn that hot-tempered look in front of everyone.
Today they'd finally found the leisure to see it, and sure enough, just as Aponia had said, it was utterly delicious.
"Oh my, then I might have to go join in the fun." Irene nodded, and slipped off after Elysia to mooch a round of Brother Kalpas's barbecue.
Soon Irene followed Elysia to the other side of the hall, and waiting in front of Kalpas's barbecue stall for some grilled food was someone rather unexpected.
"Hm?" Seele turned her head toward the approaching Irene. The vivid crimson eyes made Irene realize that the Seele before her was Black Seele. Black Seele waved a hand at Irene.
"It's me. Seele said I could come out for a while."
"Mm, I can tell." Irene nodded and instinctively reached out a hand wanting to pat her head, only for Black Seele to dodge with a flash, narrowing her eyes at Irene.
"I'm not Seele." Black Seele looked at Irene. "Save that routine for dealing with Seele."
"Brat, yours is ready." Kalpas suddenly spoke up at this point. Although his tone was somewhat gruff, it inexplicably carried a hint of gentleness as well.
After Black Seele turned around, Kalpas had already placed the finished skewers directly onto the plate in Black Seele's hands. Black Seele nodded, said a word of thanks, then turned and left.
Kalpas turned his head toward Irene and Elysia: "What would you like? Pick for yourselves over there."
"Sure thing, let me take a look." After Irene nodded, she ran over to the freezer off to the side — though calling it a freezer didn't do it justice; it was more like an enormous refrigerator.
After picking through it for a while, Irene handed the skewers she'd chosen to Kalpas. Once Kalpas took them, he lightly placed his hand on the grill, and the flames instantly blazed up much higher.
"Looks like everyone's gotten used to their new bodies." Irene looked at Kalpas. "Any sense of discomfort?"
"None." Kalpas's voice came across rather flat, and then, after a stretch of silence, Kalpas lifted his head to look at Irene. "The Binding matter is resolved?"
"It's already resolved."
After hearing Irene's answer, Kalpas nodded slightly, then looked into Irene's eyes: "Then you should know — once Binding was dealt with, it's come down to the final moment, hasn't it?"
"I know." Irene nodded, then looked toward Mobius and Vill-V, who were coming over with plates in hand and glancing their way. "Everyone's thinking of a way to deal with it."
"It's not just you carrying a burning anger — all of us are." Mobius walked over carrying a plate. "But today isn't the right time."
"I know." Kalpas didn't dwell too much on this matter. He had always understood one thing clearly: he didn't have such great wisdom; all he could do was fight.
All he could do was use his own body to shield everything he wanted to protect behind him. Last time, he hadn't managed to protect anything at all.
So he raged, so he destroyed everything that sought to threaten what he wanted to protect — but it was no use. That self had died, and everything he'd once wanted to protect had vanished as well; he hadn't managed to protect a single thing.
This time, he'd obtained another chance, and this time, he didn't want to fail to protect anything ever again.
Kalpas's fire was fierce and roaring, and it quickly grilled the meat. He placed it on a plate and handed it to Irene, then at last began grilling for the others. Irene carried her plate over to the side.
"Come to think of it, I really never would have guessed Kalpas had such a skill." Mobius looked at the skewer in hand, somewhat moved at the thought that back in the day the two of them could be called the two great urban legends of the Fire Moth.
If something got wrecked, it was Kalpas's doing; if someone felt unwell, that was Mobius's doing. But who would have thought that Kalpas actually had this skill.
"Is this like how Dr. Mobius, in moments unknown to anyone, has a fondness for small animals?" A smile appeared on Irene's face as she looked at Mobius.
Beside her, Elysia's eyes lit up, and she bounced over next to Irene: "Really? Really? So Dr. Mobius likes small animals?"
"Of course." Irene nodded, looking at the frozen-stiff Mobius beside her as she continued spilling secrets, "And even though small animals don't much like Mobius and run off the moment they see him, he'll have Klein go feed them on his behalf, and have him film animal videos for him too."
Elysia turned her head toward Mobius: "Really? Really? So Dr. Mobius likes small animals — now that's something I've truly never heard before."
Mobius twitched the corner of her mouth, then, feigning calm, denied it: "I don't know where you got that information from, but I can guarantee that absolutely no such thing exists."
"Ehh~" Elysia caught the fleeting embarrassment that crossed Mobius's face. "Looks like it's true after all. To think our Dr. Mobius could have such a childlike, whimsical side."
"Elysia." Mobius looked at Elysia's convinced expression, grinding her teeth a bit, but faced with Elysia, all Mobius could do was grind her teeth.
But what Mobius hadn't expected was that, beside her, Irene was still going on spilling secrets: "Not only that — Dr. Mobius used to draw little animals on a coordinate plane using functions whenever Mobius was at her busiest."
"Ohh~" The sparkle in Elysia's eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if she'd uncovered her best friend's secret, hidden history. "Is there more? Is there more?"
"There certainly is." Eden too came over carrying red wine, as though drawn in by the commotion. "Mobius used to be unable to turn down the cocktail parties we investors held."
"But she couldn't hold her liquor, so she'd often get drunk under the table. Back then she'd often get carried home by Klein — oh, right, I remember that after getting drunk back then she'd also often perform a snake shedding act."
"Eden, why are you joining in on the fun?" Mobius looked at Eden, who'd also come to join in, and the expression on her face turned even darker. She hadn't even dealt with Irene and Elysia yet, so how did yet another Eden come popping out?
"Oh, no wonder Dr. Mobius so often turned down our cocktail parties." Elysia reached out and poked Mobius's already irredeemably dark face, then wore a somewhat disappointed look.
"So that's how it is. But why is it that Mobius has so many little secrets, yet I don't know a single one of them?"
Mobius looked at Elysia, at a loss for words. If Elysia found out, that would be the end of it — she was already plenty annoying on a normal day, and if she learned all these little secrets, that would be even more unbearable.
Although by now it was already a little too late.
"It's all right, Elysia, let me fill you in on others..." Before Irene could finish her words, she felt a pulling force come across her neck — Mobius had directly put Irene in a chokehold, pressing down hard on Irene's neck with her elbow.
"You still dare to talk?!" Grinding her teeth, Mobius dragged Irene down, the plate of skewers she'd originally been holding getting set down onto a hovering chair to the side.
"Oh my, what's so bad about it?" Irene's face was full of a mischievous grin. "See, doesn't this just go to show how well I understand you? Don't be so tense."
"So you brat, where did you find all this out?!" Mobius was already past the point of merely grinding her teeth. "Knowing this much — aren't you worried you won't live to see tomorrow's sun?"
"Sigh, in Haiyuan City you can't see it to begin with... mmph mmph mmph!!!" Before Irene could finish, Mobius clamped a hand tightly over her mouth, and Irene cooperatively struggled in Mobius's arms for a while.
Finally her two legs kicked out and she went still, as if all signs of life had ceased. Mobius twitched the corner of her mouth, raised her hand, and landed a punch right on Irene's head: "Stop pretending."
"Hehe." Irene chuckled a couple of times, then flipped over and stood up. "Wasn't I just playing along with you? Besides, this isn't a bad thing at all — now that we've come to a new civilization, we can only take on a new look."
"Forget it." Mobius waved a hand and knocked Irene on the head once more, then, as if offhandedly, asked, "So who told you all these things?"
Though she asked this, Mobius already had a suspect in mind. The only ones who could know about this were Klein and the two sisters Nuwa and Fuxi, who had learned of it by accident from Klein.
Klein would absolutely never betray her, so there was only one possible answer left — it must be those two sisters.
It seemed there still wasn't enough work to go around, that they'd actually dare to leak her secrets. She'd have to go back and discipline them properly.
At this moment, within the laboratory.
"Ah-CHOO!!!" The two sisters Nuwa and Fuxi, who hadn't appeared in a good while, suddenly let out enormous sneezes. The two of them rubbed their noses at the same time, looking around in puzzlement.
"Fuxi, I feel like someone's out to get me." Nuwa looked around. "Do you have any clue?"
"No." Fuxi shook her head. "I don't even know who'd be out to get us. It couldn't possibly be Dr. Mobius, could it? Our workload is already plenty as it is."
"That's what I'm saying — why is it that Dr. Mobius and the others get to attend the banquet, but we don't?" Nuwa tapped at the keyboard somewhat sullenly. "Just because we haven't finished our work?"
"What else?" Klein lifted her head to look at the two sisters. "You should have submitted all the reports two days ago, and your completion rate hasn't even reached fifty percent."
"Senior Klein, you're calculating your speed based on a twenty-four-hour day, aren't you?" Nuwa looked at Klein. "We only slacked off just a teeny bit."
"Only a teeny bit?" Klein neither confirmed nor denied it. "In any case, get back to your overtime. You two know as well, what this experiment means right now for Dr. Mobius, don't you?"
"Yeah, we know." Hearing this, Nuwa and Fuxi stopped making mischief, nodded, and began to throw themselves back into work. Only Fuxi lifted her head to look at Klein.
"Can the plan that Dr. Mobius and Dr. Vill-V and Dr. MEI proposed actually succeed? This Artificial Finality Plan."
"That's not a question we need to ponder." Klein shook her head. "The Doctors had us verify the data; we only need to do as told."
"Mm."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉