"Don't make me look down on you. We both know the truth. Even though there's no concrete evidence—and I haven't reported this to the [Higher-Ups]—"
Yes. Every move Vill-V had made was flawless. There was no evidence whatsoever that could pin her as having once opposed MOTH.
"Continuing to play dumb won't benefit you. Don't waste my patience. Or do you have conditions? If you do, say them. I'll satisfy them as much as I can."
"Then shall we go into a room and do something interesting?"
If this were the future Mobius, she'd probably say something flirtatious like that.
Seeing that Vill-V was still pretending to be slow on the uptake, Mobius flushed faintly and crumpled the paper on the desk.
"Do you realize that if I don't protect you, the moment you walk out that door, those people will send you to the harshest prison in this world—[Deep Blue Vortex]? Not only will you never see sunlight again, you may even suffer inhuman treatment!"
"In prison, everyone's a talent. They speak nicely too. I love it there."
Vill-V's calm indifference made Mobius pause.
"Is that so? You think the situation here is already that dire? Don't speak in riddles with me. Their hands don't reach this far."
Vill-V waved a hand.
"Conflicts between humans are often more terrifying than the Honkai. At least the Honkai doesn't pretend to be your friend."
Mobius shook her head.
"No. That's because you've never encountered the true Honkai. You and the others have always lived in a greenhouse."
"Even if you've uncovered some truths from scattered clues, that's merely the tip of the iceberg. Even what MOTH understands about the Honkai is only the tip of the iceberg."
"That's why we must devote the full strength of human civilization to fighting it."
Vill-V suddenly spoke up.
"But Doctor, that isn't what you truly seek, is it?"
Mobius stilled.
In the reflection of her coffee, the swaying green silhouette overlapped with Vill-V's figure.
She smiled faintly.
"That's not something one can see through on a first meeting. You... and I... we truly are the same kind of person."
Slap.
A stack of documents was tossed in front of Vill-V. Mobius took a sip of coffee, gesturing for her to read.
Yet Vill-V pushed the documents back toward her.
"Doctor, you overestimate me. I don't possess such lofty resolve." Vill-V spread her hands with a sigh. "As you can see, I'm merely a weakling. A pitiful creature about to be thrown into prison."
"Why?"
Mobius did not understand.
She had already offered such generous conditions, yet Vill-V would rather go to prison than accept her olive branch.
"That prison is the abyss of darkness that strikes fear into MOTH members. A hell on earth from which none return. A true demon's nest. Don't tell me you genuinely think it's full of talented people worth chatting with. What a joke."
"So-called 'kindred spirits' only devour each other. I don't trust you, Dr. Mobius. Just as you don't trust me."
Mobius' gaze sharpened.
She knew what Vill-V said was both truth... and lie.
Vill-V's actions did not match the resistance she claimed with her words.
Mobius thought the others might be right—Vill-V was too uncontrollable, yet possessed intelligence far beyond ordinary people. Such a heretic was dangerous.
Yet she also felt their conclusion was wrong.
Rebellious geniuses could not be understood by mediocrities.
There was a certain mutual appreciation among geniuses that allowed Mobius to glimpse some understanding of the girl before her.
At the very least, she sensed no malice from her.
Perhaps Vill-V's cruelty, like her own, was buried deep.
But from her words, it was clear she held firmly to her own moral bottom line.
In short, Mobius understood she would not see through this master swindler anytime soon.
Mobius gave a soft, derisive laugh.
"You're right. I shouldn't have regarded you as the same kind..."
With a trace of boredom, she turned away and sat back down in her work chair.
"I understand. What a pity. I only offer opportunities once. Don't think I'll go easy on you. The intelligence I suppressed will be reported to the [Higher-Ups] afterward.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Vill-V gave a thumbs-up.
"Of course. That'll make the show much livelier. Oh, and it'd be even better if you added some fuel to the fire. Portray me as an utterly heinous villain."
"No problem. I still look forward to seeing whether you can undergo a metamorphosis in adversity."
Mobius paused, then added immediately,
"I'll hold Elysia back. Don't expect her to come help you."
"Thanks, Auntie Mobius. You're such a good person. I'll perform a magic trick for you next time~"
"Boring."
...
A new round of meetings concluded at MOTH Headquarters. The attending executives rose and left.
Two of them exited the conference room and walked in steady strides to a quieter corridor.
"So it seems that swindler named Vill-V didn't reach an agreement with Mobius."
"For the best. Even without concrete evidence, anyone capable of infiltrating the B-3 Laboratory is unquestionably talented. If Mobius' 'demon's nest' gained another powerful ally, we wouldn't be able to suppress that poisonous snake."
"Hmph. Not necessarily. It was Mobius who released that information in the first place. And if she insisted on protecting that woman, she'd lose her excuse to mobilize S-1's resources. That plan would collapse. That might actually be a good thing."
"Regardless, Vill-V cannot die. MOTH needs geniuses like her. Lock her up for a few days first. Break her until she becomes controllable. Once she wakes up and begs for mercy, we'll appoint her to lead the S-3 Laboratory project to counterbalance Mobius."
"That's the mission this time. Understood, Captain Sonako?"
Behind them, a man in a military officer's uniform saluted.
"Understood. I guarantee mission completion, Dr. Edison."
As he watched them leave, Sonako's gaze darkened.
The corners of his mouth curled downward, his eyes brimming with ridicule.
"A genius MOTH cannot afford to lose, huh..."
He lowered the brim of his cap and hummed softly as he walked away.
"He fell from the sky that day. The people on the ground looked up—and thus saw the starry night sky..."
...
The high-tech modern prison—[Deep Blue Vortex]—stood in the center of the Pacific Ocean.
It was constructed by master engineers gathered from across the world government, built with exquisite craftsmanship and advanced technology—a near-future marvel.
The entire construction process resembled a fantastical journey. Over three years, explorers crossed abysses and challenged endless undercurrents to establish the prison on the ocean floor.
They excavated its foundation from the depths, like giants filling in the earth itself, laying an unshakable base.
Then, with steel as bricks and intelligence as lamps, the engineers built it like magicians crafting an impregnable castle.
There had once been a super drug lord with an extraordinary sense of smell.
Through ventilation ducts, he could detect conditions outside and the movements of guards.
With that ability, he had escaped from Chicago Prison and even from a supposedly inescapable federal penitentiary.
There was no prison in the world he could not break out of.
And yet, that infamous escape artist had now spent nearly ten years inside [Deep Blue Vortex].
As long as the prison had existed, he had been imprisoned within it.
One could say [Deep Blue Vortex] was built precisely for inmates like him—those with abilities beyond the norm.
No matter how special their powers were, before [Deep Blue Vortex], they amounted to nothing more than a joke.
There were no human guards here.
Only robotic wardens, executing their duties with cold efficiency.
The prisoners lived within their cells, surging like tides, their entire lives locked inside this place.
A biting wind swept through the damp seabed tunnel, carrying what sounded like the roar of an enraged beast.
It sent a chill down Vill-V's spine.
Fortunately, Elysia had prepared a thoughtful fur-lined coat.
The moment she wrapped herself in it, warmth spread through her body.
For some reason, the MOTH soldiers escorting her turned a blind eye to the clothes Elysia had prepared.
They treated them as though they were standard prison attire, raising no demand for replacement or further search.
Who knew why?
Was Elysia's authority truly that great?