The research assistant had no idea why Dr. Mobius had suddenly burst into wild laughter. Had the dead experimental subject somehow angered her before?
Perhaps she should take advantage of Mobius' good mood and tell her about the assignment from above.
She had heard that several previous research assistants had failed to choose the right moment to report their tasks and had been "broken" by Dr. Mobius.
Although robots did not need to worry about their lives, they were not cheap to manufacture. Around here, one was almost worth as much as a human life.
And so, displaying remarkably poor judgment for such a supposedly perceptive research assistant, she interrupted Dr. Mobius' emotional outburst. "Additionally, [a 'company' under Heliopolis encountered an accident while gathering 'talent.']"
"Talent" was simply another name for blood fodder.
Dr. Mobius' expression instantly turned cold. "Heh. 'Talent.' How particular they are about appearances, always powdering their own faces. Go on. What do they want this time?"
"Two adults arrived with a child and requested to become the 'company's' 'talent'... despite already knowing the truth."
Dr. Mobius narrowed her eyes. "Oh? Spies from another organization?"
"Unclear. They destroyed the 'talent market' used to gather 'talent,' and no one there could explain their origins. Regarding these 'talents' of unknown identity, the 'company' hopes we will 'handle' them on its behalf."
As the research assistant spoke, she projected the relevant footage onto the wall through her "eyes."
Dr. Mobius glanced at the images of the three people and asked no further questions, looking entirely uninterested.
"They're too troublesome for them to deal with, aren't they? Fine. Bring them here."
Yet inwardly, she pondered, Kevin is here. Did Dr. Mei learn about my situation and send him to help, or did Vill-V send him? This is faster than I expected.
The greatest difficulty restricting Dr. Mobius' movements here was her lack of a high-level combatant.
Kevin's arrival perfectly compensated for her current weakness. With Kevin's help, Dr. Mobius could carry out far bolder plans.
A high-level combatant was useful not only in battle, but also as a sacrificial pawn.
That was the one thing Dr. Mei worried about most—that Dr. Mobius would sell Kevin's blood and life alike.
Before long, Dr. Mobius met Kevin, Kalpas, and Charles. Strangely, none of them were bound, as though they had come willingly.
This was naturally Kevin's compromise. He had been unable to overcome Kalpas' fury, and since they were headed this way anyway, he had ultimately agreed to bring Charles along and become so-called "blood fodder."
"Whoa, what's all this? Amazing! A secret base! A secret base!"
The young boy, Charles, stared wide-eyed at the countless bottles, jars, and cultivation pods. Fortunately, Mobius had already disposed of the useless corpses. Most of what remained could no longer be recognized as human remains.
Mobius looked at Kevin's "miserable" state and asked, "What kind of beast did you fight? Anything capable of beating you into this condition couldn't have been an ordinary beast."
Dr. Mobius made no attempt to pretend she did not know Kevin.
The people who had captured her and brought her here were members of MOTH's upper management. How could they possibly be unaware of Kevin's background?
Mobius even suspected this was not the "company" trying to dump a troublesome burden on her at all, but a deliberate trap laid by those higher-ups.
"..." Kevin said nothing.
Kalpas merely snorted. "Hmph."
Kalpas' rudeness made Dr. Mobius raise an eyebrow. "Is that so? Him?"
"..." Kevin remained silent, but his gaze said everything.
Although Mei was close to Dr. Mobius and had instructed him to follow Mobius' arrangements, that did not mean Kevin felt any fondness for her.
The appalling experiments Dr. Mobius conducted made it impossible for Kevin to view her favorably. Given the choice, he would even prefer Mei to stay away from Dr. Mobius, lest she become tainted by Mobius' madness and malice.
"What a devoted little follower. Once you're away from Mommy, you turn into a mute."
"...You've changed."
Kevin had noticed that Dr. Mobius' barbed remarks came far more frequently than before.
In the past, when he accompanied Dr. Mei on visits to Dr. Mobius, Mobius had been relatively gentle and modest.
Now, Kevin could even sense a cold, sinister aura around Dr. Mobius.
"Oh, you finally reacted? It seems your Broca's area and Wernicke's area haven't been damaged after all. I was beginning to think... you'd come for brain-chip implantation surgery." (Broca's area is located in the frontal lobe and is primarily responsible for the motor control of speech, coordinating movements of the mouth, vocal cords, and other organs to produce language. Damage to it can cause varying degrees of aphasia. Wernicke's area is primarily responsible for language comprehension. Damage to it can cause aphasia and impaired comprehension.)
Dr. Mobius made the cutting remark but did not deny that she had changed.
To protect herself in this place, Mobius had indeed paid a certain price.
Kevin's arrival did not mean the price Mobius had paid was wasted. Thinking that way would be nothing more than hindsight.
Mobius was not the sort to wait until battle was upon her before sharpening her spear. She would never gamble on Vill-V and Dr. Mei receiving the news and immediately sending someone to help her.
The three of them had never truly shared one mind. Whether they would receive the message, and whether they could send anyone useful, had both been unknown.
Mobius had always firmly believed that the only person she could trust was herself.
And so, Dr. Mobius had performed a tiny operation on herself in advance.
Judging from the fact that Dr. Mei and Vill-V had each sent someone to assist her, however, perhaps she really could grant the two of them just a little more trust.
Mm.
She walked up to Kalpas and examined him from head to toe, yet found nothing visibly unusual.
Kalpas wore a torn black leather outfit, his face ashen—meaning his mask—and his arms folded across his chest. Despite his unusual identity, he appeared no different from a human on the outside.
In fact, he looked even more human than Kevin, who had undergone genetic-warrior modification.
"I heard that when the Fifth Honkai Eruption broke out, someone challenged the Herrscher of Ice alone. Afterward, both the Herrscher of Ice and that person vanished without a trace."
"They say that person wore a strange mask. I've been wondering exactly how strange it was. Now that I've seen it, it really is peculiar."
"The main body is made of meteoric-iron alloy, with a layer of verdigris plating on the surface... Oh? It's actually a cosplay prop. Such a wild yet utterly impractical surplus design...
"Mm. It reeks of Vill-V's design sensibilities."
Indeed, the mask Kalpas now wore was the "Mad Hatter Knight Mask" transformation device that Pardo had taken from a reserve warehouse years ago... a creation made by [Expert].
By performing a designated sequence of Showa-era poses, the wearer could use the mask to transform into a masked knight.
Of course, Kalpas had no idea how to perform any Showa-era poses. He wore the mask the kitten had given him purely because it was sturdy and durable.
He had previously fought Kevin hard enough to bring down an entire building, yet the mask had remained completely undamaged.
A product of [Expert], guaranteed quality.
The fact that it was also Vill-V's work made Dr. Mobius realize that the man before her had been sent by Vill-V. Otherwise, Mobius would not have begun observing and probing him the moment they met.
After all, Mobius only spent time on people who interested her. Anyone who did not was nothing more than air.
Mobius had no interest in observing air or conversing with it.
"Don't touch it. Do you want to die?"
Before Dr. Mobius could touch Kalpas' mask, Kalpas slapped her hand away and roared at her.
The fact that he wore it on his face showed just how much Kalpas valued it.
Had he refused to accept it, that would have been the end of the matter. But once he accepted something, Kalpas would treasure it as an object he had to protect.
Mobius rubbed her aching hand and gave Kalpas a strange look.
What exactly did Vill-V do to him to make this guy so utterly devoted?
Forget it. I should never have tried to investigate that woman's private life.