Mobius and the others did not notice Misteln. Her body dissolved into particles and vanished, leaving Academy City.
...
Honkai World.
Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent reorganized once more. With experience from the first attempt, everyone boarded Anti-Entropy's floating warship and passed through the passage again.
However, this time they did not appear upon the colossal structure suspended in the starry sky as before. Instead, they emerged on a planet swarming with cockroach-men.
At the sight of the floating warship in the sky, the densely packed, muscular cockroach-men spread the wings on their backs and hurled themselves at the entire hull of the ship.
After a brief moment of stunned confusion, Su immediately used his psychic abilities to effortlessly erase the consciousness of all cockroach-men within a radius of more than ten kilometers. The dense swarm fell like black raindrops.
Even if the unconscious cockroach-men did not die from the fall, they would remain in a vegetative state, unable to move ever again. After some time, they would simply starve to death.
Welt Yang adjusted his black-framed glasses. "Where exactly have we been teleported to?"
Einstein glanced at the computer's analysis of the planet's soil and environment. "Most likely this is Mars. However, this Mars appears to have been artificially modified. There is breathable oxygen."
Jackal clicked her tongue. "So many cockroach-men."
Theresa said, "Don't tell me these cockroach-men are native creatures of Mars!"
Jackal waved dismissively. "Who cares? Let's capture a few for research. At least we didn't run into that damn— that Bronya right away this time. That's nice."
Thinking that Bronya might be watching from somewhere in the dark, she decided it was better to remain polite.
Otherwise, when she got beaten to death later, she might end up with a dozen extra holes in her body.
Fu Hua said, "This Mars isn't the one from our world, is it?"
Otto replied, "No. I can be certain this universe may very well be what they referred to as a world outside the Honkai world."
Tesla frowned. "Have any of you considered one thing? How are we supposed to get back?"
Everyone froze.
When they came, they had Kevin's power of Finality. When they returned, Bronya had sent them back. But if Bronya simply dumped them on this godforsaken Mars—
How were they supposed to return?
Prometheus said, "That's simple. As long as the player dies, they can restart."
Kallen nodded. "That makes sense."
Otto said, "Now that we have a way back, let's think about what we're here to do."
Prometheus explained, "According to game plot logic, when players encounter a boss at the beginning and are killed by the story, they're then arranged to fight minor enemies and level up."
Otto nodded. "Indeed. That possibility is quite high."
Raven said, "I don't think killing these cockroach-men will give me any kind of experience to level up and become stronger. She's probably just trying to disgust us."
Su said calmly, "Let's investigate this planet first."
As for Bronya, perhaps just as Prometheus said, all of this was nothing more than a game to her.
Since that was the case—then they would play.
Whether it was them or even every single person in the Honkai world, none of them possessed the capital to negotiate with the Will of Ruler. Not even Kevin, who had obtained the power of Finality.
The only ones the Will of Ruler cared about were K-423 and Sirin.
As for the other billions of people, the Will of Ruler did not care whether they lived or died.
Based on the currently known information, Su conducted an evaluation of the Will of Ruler and the Divine Emperor.
He ultimately confirmed one thing.
They could not win.
There was no way to fight.
Certain death.
Moreover, the Will of Ruler and the Divine Emperor had, in truth, nothing to do with them.
It was merely due to their own experiences that they had developed a sense of disgust toward humanity—especially the humans of their Honkai world.
Bronya had thrown Otto and the others onto this Mars filled with cockroach-men to let them squash some bugs.
Originally, she had considered sending them to fight zombies, but zombies were far too common in the Honkai world.
A change of flavor.
...
Akame ga Kill World.
Rvy's laboratory.
Mobius held in her hand three residual consciousness fragments recovered from within Chiyou in a parallel Honkai world. Her original goal had been the legendary Honkai Beast Chiyou of Shenzhou. During scanning, she discovered these three lingering consciousnesses.
"Dan Zhu, Cang Xuan, Ji Xuanyuan."
Placing the three residual consciousnesses into restoration cultivation chambers, Mobius operated the holographic panel before her and recreated bodies for the three of them.
In human eyes, they were dead.
In Mobius's eyes, they were not quite completely dead.
They could still be saved.
Of course, Mobius had no interest in simply recreating fragile human flesh. The bodies she created for the three were all specially gene-modified forms.
"Poor again."
Looking at the remaining three-digit points on her panel, Mobius sighed at how quickly they had been spent.
Before she knew it, they were gone.
At that moment, the cultivation chambers emitted a faint humming sound.
Then they slowly rose automatically.
Dan Zhu opened her eyes first, her gaze confused yet lively. "Where is this?" she asked weakly.
Mobius curled her lips. "Welcome back, my dear assistant."
"Dr. M-Mobius… you're still alive?"
Recognizing the person before her, Dan Zhu's eyes widened in shock.
"I emptied out my entire fortune for you." Mobius examined Dan Zhu's body, admiring her own perfect creation.
Dan Zhu's delicate body tensed. In her beautiful red eyes were both fear and joy. Seeing someone familiar again was a pleasant surprise—but when that someone was Mobius, the surprise carried far more shock than comfort.
She was already beginning to worry about her future fate.
"Right!"
Suddenly, Dan Zhu reacted and hurriedly asked, "My sister—how is she?"
Mobius glanced at the two adjacent cultivation chambers. Following her gaze, Dan Zhu saw her sister Cang Xuan floating inside a container filled with green liquid.
"She'll need a bit more time to recover. Now, let's discuss your debt. The effort and points I spent on you weren't free."
Mobius turned her holographic panel around. It displayed the total cost of this treatment.
The largest portion was the gene-modified bodies and Mobius's own treatment fees.
"Dr. Mobius, there's no need for this between us, right?"
Seeing the total number—three hundred forty thousand—Dan Zhu instinctively felt afraid.
This won't mean endless overtime again, working day and night without rest, will it?
"No can do. I settle accounts clearly even with my own mother, let alone you." Mobius smiled.
"We'll repay it," Dan Zhu said quickly.
Three hundred forty thousand wasn't a huge number. It should be manageable.
She just didn't know whether money was easy to earn in this era.
Mobius did not say anything further to Dan Zhu. Although Dan Zhu, Cang Xuan, and Ji Lin had once been her assistants fifty thousand years ago in another world, to her, the three of them were merely strangers.
Moreover, Dan Zhu, Cang Xuan, and Ji Lin were not part of their Honkai faction. If they failed the screening and could not enter Academy City, then this investment of hers would be a loss.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on the holographic panel: the Mars Cockroach Ranch was under attack, with a large number of casualties.
"Stay here. I need to leave for a moment."
After receiving the message from the other world, Mobius transferred her consciousness away as soon as she finished speaking.
Those cockroach-men might be ugly, but they reproduced quickly and had short growth cycles. They were basically usable right after birth. They could adapt to extreme temperatures, fly, and even wield weapons.
Most importantly, they were not a race under their jurisdiction.
They could be freely controlled, armed, and used as cannon fodder.
The key point was that the cost was almost zero.
Inside the underground base on Mars, Mobius's body reassembled. She looked at the figures of Otto, Fu Hua, Su, and the others displayed on the large screen.
The Mars of this solar system could accelerate the evolution of cockroach-type insectoid species. For research purposes, she had purchased this Mars from one of her senior schoolmates at the Academy.
"How did these people get here?"
Mobius frowned. The moment she saw Otto, Welt Yang, Su, and the other men, she knew they had nothing to do with their Academy.
This universe was not within the range of universes on the Imaginary Tree, was it?
Watching Otto and the others easily slaughter the cockroach-men on the screen, Mobius decided to increase the difficulty.
Her hands flew across the control panel. From underground, numerous massive black spiders surged forth.
The giant black spiders rapidly advanced toward Otto and the others.
On the Martian surface, Otto and his group sensed the ground trembling and immediately prepared themselves.
Su extended his psychic power to probe, only to encounter a powerful interference force. "Everyone be careful. An unknown danger is approaching."
When the giant spiders burst from the ground and entered their field of vision, Siegfried was stunned. "That's a huge spider!"
Welt Yang condensed a gravity sphere. "Whatever it is, let's deal with it first."
The black giant spiders spat out high-strength webs. The group dodged and counterattacked.
In the underground base, Mobius activated a psychic interference device, greatly restricting Su's mental abilities. At the same time, she issued attack orders to various experimental specimens and armed cockroach-men.
These spiders were merely one of her experimental projects here.
There were also Xenomorph-type organisms, insectoid swarms, and other specimens.
After some probing, and confirming that these people were merely primitives from another Honkai world rather than some trans-universal travel group, Mobius activated the anti-Honkai field.
Otto and the others were completely cut off from Honkai energy.
Without Honkai energy, they could only retreat back to the floating warship.
"How did you arrive on my planet?"
A youthful voice echoed inside the floating warship. Following the sound, everyone looked toward the main screen. On it appeared a sweet and adorable green-haired girl with beautiful yet eerie serpent-like eyes.
"Doctor, you—no. You're Doctor Mobius from another parallel world?"
After recognizing her appearance, Fu Hua, whose memories had returned, subconsciously stepped back.
"You people barged onto my planet and killed a bunch of my experimental subjects. Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Mobius did not care about the deaths of the cockroach-men. They were practically zero-cost assets anyway.
Su stepped forward. "Doctor Mobius, we were unaware those were your experimental subjects. We meant no offense. If we have offended you, please forgive us."
"How did you get here?"
"Through a passage left behind by the Will of Ruler."
Su did not conceal the truth.
"…"
Mobius tilted her head slightly in thought. The management and control of the passages were extremely strict. Even if a passage existed, with their abilities, they should not have been able to open or cross it.
Unless someone wanted them to come.
Someone above doesn't like me researching these insects, so they sent these people to cause trouble?
Forget it. If she wasn't allowed to do it, then she wouldn't.
Mobius was indifferent.
The research was already complete anyway.
"I'm going to reset this planet. Go back to wherever you came from."
With that, Mobius ended the communication and directly reset the entire Mars. All cockroach-men and other experimental specimens on the planet were wiped out.
She had no interest in knowing who was behind it.
Girls wouldn't like cockroach-men anyway.
Including herself.
Mobius arrived at another laboratory. Inside was the most successful creation she and Mom had ever produced.
An Insect Queen—a queen of an insect-type Honkai Beast.
Looking at the Insect Queen, whose egg sac was still in gestation—a purple-haired, voluptuous beauty—Mobius felt extremely satisfied.
Everything else was irrelevant. As long as the Insect Queen was fine, that was enough.
On the reset Mars, plants began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
On the floating warship, everyone stared at the changes on the planet's surface, exchanging glances.
Einstein said, "Why did she say a few words to us and then reset Mars?"
Su replied, "Given Mobius's personality, the experiments she was conducting here were likely of a type that was not permitted."
Tesla frowned. "Destroying evidence?"
Jackal added, "The cockroach corpses and genetic samples we collected were completely dissolved in an instant as well."
She had dissected those cockroach-men. If they could be controlled, they would be very suitable for forming an army.
Resistant to extreme temperatures, physically strong, fast-breeding, highly resistant to starvation, possessing a certain level of intelligence, and capable of using weapons like humans.
Kallen turned to Otto. "Otto, what do you think?"
Otto pondered for a moment. "Let's go to Earth and take a look. If this solar system is territory of the Will of Ruler, then Earth should be no exception."
Kallen asked, "Why don't we look for that Doctor Mobius just now?"
Otto replied, "We won't find her. If she doesn't want to see us, with our current technology and strength, we won't be able to locate her. We don't even know whether that Doctor Mobius was truly on Mars."
Einstein nodded. "Earth isn't far. After modifications, Anti-Entropy's floating warship can travel through space. It will take about a hundred days to reach Earth."
Having decided, the floating warship circled Mars once more. Seeing that there were no cockroach-men or other lifeforms left—only plants—it departed Mars and set course for Earth.
In the laboratory, Mobius used her remaining points to safely transfer the Insect Queen to a laboratory in another world.
Bronya, who had been watching the show in secret, found it rather boring. Once Otto and the others left the Honkai world, they seemed to have no luck at all.
They were just there killing cockroach-men and researching cockroach-men.
There was no lucky accident where they discovered an underground laboratory, unlocked a dungeon, and fought a boss.
Now that too many cockroach-men had died and attracted Mobius's attention, the Insect Queen had been transferred away. The dungeon boss was gone as well.
Still, it was fine if they went to Earth.
On Earth of this universe, most humans had been implanted with various insect genes and were engaged in open and covert struggles against one another. Bronya did not interfere with them.