"...You want to go together with me?"
Faced with this sudden request from Kevin, even Mobius, who was currently fuming, couldn't help but falter.
There was no doubt—no one understood Kevin's current combat capabilities better than she did.
After all, she was the one who personally performed the MANTIS surgery on him and, together with Mei and Vill-V, proposed Project Stigma.
Come to think of it, in the latter half of Honkai Impact 3rd, though the plot events came one after another, the actual time span wasn't that long.
In the original story, by the time Mei left the Elysian Realm, World Serpent's Project Stigma was already complete.
Meaning, at this point in time, while Project Stigma couldn't be said to be nearly finished, it was definitely more than halfway done.
And as for Kevin's strength...
"That's right. I'm going with you." Kevin nodded.
Ever since he brought Lynelle back to World Serpent last time, he rarely spoke this much in one go.
"First, I don't doubt your abilities. But from the current intelligence, the Herrscher of Dominance has a clear suppressing effect on other Herrschers."
"After using the Corruption virus, you've effectively become an artificial 'Herrscher of Corruption' in a sense. That means you've also entered the scope of the Herrscher of Dominance's ability."
"Second... I need to ensure that after you eliminate the Herrscher of Dominance, you won't excessively interfere with the current era's civilization."
"As for the reason, I've said it before: the Herrschers of this era, with the exception of Dominance, have all sided with humanity. And humanity's strength, aside from lacking someone like me, is basically on par with the Previous Era's."
"Project EMBER is currently developing vigorously. So, aside from Project Stigma as a safety net, I don't recommend anyone else meddling in the current civilization's development."
"I have no issue with the first point. As for the second..." Mobius fell silent for a moment.
"I also support Project EMBER. But, aside from Dominance, I intend to deal with one other person while I'm at it."
"Who?"
"You know who I'm talking about, Kevin. Don't play dumb with me." Mobius let out a cold laugh.
"If we don't count those researchers from Babylon Labs who've already paid the price, there are exactly two people in this world directly responsible for Lynelle's death."
"The Herrscher of Dominance is one. And the other... I don't need to say more, do I?"
"That child Lynelle inherited Elysia's temperament—she can't bring herself to kill someone who appears to walk the line between good and evil. But I'm different, Kevin."
"...You can't kill him." Kevin slowly shook his head.
"He holds the First Divine Key. That means he can also replicate the authority of Corruption. Besides, he can use the Blank Key to boost his combat power at any time."
"Factoring in the 2nd Divine Key and the 4th Divine Key that Otto secretly retrieved, his peak combat strength is equivalent to a fully-powered Triple-Core Herrscher."
"Moreover, he and I also have a deal. Before he completes his plan, I will intervene once on his behalf... That was World Serpent's condition for exchanging the Gem of Serenity. And his plan..."
Kevin leaned slightly closer to Mobius.
His left hand began to morph into the limb of some psychically-specialized Honkai beast, transmitting several memory segments to Mobius. A few seconds later, Mobius' eyes widened.
"His plan actually... Heh, heheh... To think the current era has such a madman. I originally thought he was just some gray figure walking between both sides. But now it seems... his goal is remarkably clear."
"Correct." Kevin sighed. "Before his plan is complete, you cannot kill him."
"What's more, he's also capable of preventing the emergence of the Herrscher of Binding, which poses the greatest threat to humanity."
"You need to understand, ever since the Herrscher of Ice, every newly born Herrscher has begun to specialize in response to the current civilization's circumstances."
"If the Herrscher of Binding is allowed to be born normally, it's inevitable the other side would develop countermeasures against me."
"And after his plan is complete... killing him or not becomes meaningless."
"Even if you could find that reborn branch... You don't actually think, given Lynelle's personality, she would mercilessly kill the lover Otto revived, do you?"
"Hmph..." Mobius let out a soft snort.
"Kevin, don't use your college-dropout perspective to guess at the thoughts of a world-class scientist."
"I admit what you say makes sense. But, given Lynelle's personality, if I don't help her vent some anger, that child will definitely just let the matter drop."
"Alright then. During this outing, I'll kill him once, and take the opportunity to bring his Soulium body back to the Elysian Realm for some research."
"Without affecting the plan to prevent Binding's emergence, without interfering with his lover's resurrection, and without going against that child Lynelle's inherently kind nature... I'll teach Otto a lesson..."
"Don't push it."
Kevin gave a noncommittal nod.
Regarding Lynelle's matter, while he understood the reasoning, it didn't mean he didn't want to vent anger on her behalf like Mobius did.
Now that Mobius had made such a guarantee, he naturally wouldn't interfere further.
"If that's all, then I can help you. But... don't cause any more interference in the outside world."
"Relax... it won't be in the outside world." The corner of Mobius' mouth curled up. "I'll bring a certain disobedient child back to the Elysian Realm as well, for some proper... education."
"On that point... even Elysia agrees~"
"...I won't interfere in your family affairs. Just don't go too far."
Kevin silently averted his gaze. He had a feeling that his adorable junior... was about to run into a bit of trouble soon.
--+--
Meanwhile, due to the news of Lynelle's "death," the Salt Lake Base had become unusually crowded again.
For instance, upon hearing the news, the three stationed at St. Freya immediately had Kiana open a portal straight to the Salt Lake Base.
As for Bronya's physical examination, some long-awaited good news finally came through.
Whether it was Little Senti's psychic positioning or Anti-Entropy's technological methods, both basically confirmed that Lynelle's soul was unharmed.
Just as she herself had said, she was only going to sleep for a while, not truly die.
However, Einstein did point out another issue.
Theoretically, Lynelle's soul was actually fine; she could even wake up right now without any problems.
Therefore, Lynelle's slumber likely wasn't due to physical reasons, but seemed more like some kind of "punishment mechanism" designed to protect her mental health.
As for why such a punishment mechanism existed... one only needed to look at the numerous girls gathered at the Salt Lake Base because of Lynelle.
Without this mechanism, if Lynelle kept using the equivalent of Arash's Stella on everyone she met, and if the enemy didn't die, she'd just resurrect on the spot and do it again...
Never mind what this die-and-come-back fighting method would do to her own psyche, she'd probably be locked in a basement by the Honkai harem and turned into a permanent decorative fountain after just a few times.
So... after some research, the doctors reached a conclusion—the best course of action regarding Lynelle's condition was to do nothing and wait for her to recover on her own.
Once they learned Lynelle was safe and sound, everyone gradually dispersed.
The girls closer to Lynelle gathered in Bronya's room to study the details of the previous battle with the Herrscher of Dominance.
However, since Bronya mainly served as bait during the fight, she didn't have a full understanding of Lynelle's plan.
What truly caught everyone's attention was the last message Lynelle left.
"Wait, sister, what did you say?!"
"Bronya, who did you say Lynelle's last words were for you to tell?"
After Bronya uttered that name, both Little Senti and Mei in the room gasped in unison, then looked at each other.
"Hold on, Mei, you too..."
"Ahem, well, last time Lynelle... entered my body, she left an imprint within my core. Through that imprint, one can enter the Elysian Realm once per week..."
Sensing the increasingly strange looks from everyone, Mei quickly waved her hands.
"We can talk about that after Lynelle wakes up. The key point isn't that at all... Bronya, are you saying Lynelle's last words were for you to tell Mobius that she was... gone?!"
"To be precise, only 'gone.' After that, Lynelle-nee completely lost contact. The 'gone' part is actually my own inference, because..."
Bronya nodded and explained her earlier analysis.
"So, Mei-oneesama, Little Senti, is there... something wrong with my deduction?"
"Yeah yeah, I also think Bronya's reasoning seems fine... Ow!"
Before Kiana could finish, she was promptly bumped by Sirin (referring to Sirin taking over).
"Idiot sister, don't butt in. Can't you see there's clearly an information gap between Bronya and Mei right now?"
Sirin pointed fingers at the dumb dummy in Kiana's mind whose IQ plummeted whenever she had teammates.
"There is a problem. And it's a huge one. Your point about them possibly not being close, so Mobius might not know Lynelle can revive, simply doesn't hold water..."
Little Senti's expression suddenly turned strange—a kind of strange that wanted to laugh but felt a bit grim, desperately trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.
"Bronya, do you know who Mobius is... hmm, more precisely, who Mobius is to Lynelle?"
Bronya quickly shook her head.
"Mobius is Lynelle's... mother, in a sense."
"According to Lynelle, her body's genetic blueprint should be taken from someone named Elysia. And her body was personally created by Mobius, and most likely 'raised' by her."
Wendy, who just got a huge piece of gossip: "?"
Kiana and Sirin, realizing there seems to be one more Herrscher with a mom: "??"
Bronya, realizing her IQ status might have plummeted to Kiana's level due to this blunder: "???"
"W-wait..." Wendy quickly raised her hand. "Lynelle's... mom? T-that... I don't mean anything else, but, does this person really exist?"
"She does, sis, she does." Little Senti nodded repeatedly. "And, if Lynelle wasn't lying during our casual chats, then you've actually met this person before."
"Huh?"
"Don't be stunned. You've definitely met her. She just sealed that part of your memory. Let me remind you—the time World Serpent attacked Oceania in your memory..."
As she spoke, Little Senti reached out and lightly tapped Wendy's forehead.
Instantly, Wendy's eyes glazed over with confusion for a moment before snapping wide open.
"Yikes—She really exists!"
Now there was one more person looking at Bronya with a strange expression.
"So, your idea that Mobius and Lynelle aren't close, and that Mobius doesn't know about Lynelle's revival ability, is completely wrong."
"Because Lynelle's infinite revival ability is inherited from Mobius in the first place."
"It's just that... cough this is my guess... although Mobius doesn't care about her own body, she definitely doesn't want Lynelle to be like her."
"Hence, this 'punishment mechanism' the doctors discovered earlier."
"And what Lynelle really meant to convey was probably 'I'm fine.' It's probably like a child who messed up outside being too scared to tell their mom..."
"Oh no, oh no..."
After hearing Little Senti's explanation, the S.S. Bronya was instantly critically damaged!
"Gah, I Bronya, have no face left to see Lynelle-nee now..."
"I actually think that's the minor issue. Given Lynelle's personality, she probably won't hold it against you."
Little Senti raised a finger. "The real big problem isn't with Lynelle at all."
While the others hadn't caught on yet, Mei, who was standing to the side, had already understood the implication behind Little Senti's words and wore an extremely odd expression.
"Little Senti, you don't mean..." Mei immediately leaned back in a tactical retreat. "You think Mobius might... leave the Elysian Realm?"
"Not might. Will definitely. You might not know how fiercely protective she is. She used to have a very close assistant named Klein..."
Then, Little Senti began to "enlighten" everyone about Mobius's "little stories."
Since Fu Hua had a good relationship with Fuxi and Nuwa, who were Mobius's assistants, among the memories Little Senti restored for Fu Hua, there were quite a few memory fragments like these.
"Anyway... that's roughly the situation. According to Previous Era records, Klein also died due to the arrival of the Herrscher of Dominance in the end."
"And now, her 'daughter' has died once again for the same reason. Honestly, I can't think of any reason why Mobius wouldn't blow her top."
"Of course..." Little Senti spread her hands.
"I think, for all of you, the more pressing matter is to prepare yourselves properly. I mean... prepare to meet the parents."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.