Adhering to the bizarre principle that "fresh is better," the group aboard the Hermes in the imaginary space decisively extended their demonic claws toward the Dragon Girl.
As Doll Sirin watched with a dumbfounded expression, the blue-gray-haired Dragon Girl was pinned to the ground by several Herrschers and MANTISes.
Then, to Benares's utter horror, the attending physician, Mr. Su, pulled out a power drill and a chainsaw...
"Why a power drill—! Are all you human doctors this terrifying?!"
The Dragon Girl immediately began her desperate struggle. Doll Sirin, who had initially wanted to save her beloved Benares, shrank back when she saw the gleeful expressions on everyone else's faces. She feared that, on a whim, they might decide to use her for practice too.
"Well... we're dealing with a Honkai Beast's hide, after all," Su explained matter-of-factly, flashing a gentle smile as he revved the power drill in his hand. "Ordinary scalpels and syringes would be useless, wouldn't they?"
"This is a specialized extractor developed by Fire Moth," he continued. "We typically use it to drill through the skin and external carapaces of Honkai Beasts to extract their genetic material."
"Don't worry. Rationally speaking, Honkai Beasts' pain receptors are far less sensitive than humans'. We've dissected numerous Judgment-class and Emperor-class Honkai Beasts—their pain nerves are much sparser than a human's, with dense clusters only around vital weak points."
"I don't know the exact mechanism behind how you transform into a human, Miss Benares, but I imagine it's roughly the same, right?"
Su, the medical researcher, offered this utterly unscientific and irresponsible assertion.
"Go figure it out properly first! No—stay away from me!!!"
"At least give me some anesthetic—"
The voice cut off abruptly. Muninn, hammer in hand, waved casually, and the deadly weapon dissipated into thin air.
"You needed some kinetic anesthesia," she stated matter-of-factly, nodding to the others with an utterly innocuous smile.
Huddled to the side, Doll Sirin shivered violently, immensely grateful she hadn't jumped out to be the "bird that sticks its head out." Otherwise, it might not have been just one dragon lying there, "kinetically anesthetized."
"Well done, Miss Muninn."
Su gave the silver-haired girl a thumbs-up for her ruthless efficiency. He then grabbed one of Benares's arms, pressed the strange drill-extractor against it, and started drilling.
Just as Su had predicted, sparks flew from the unconscious Dragon Girl's seemingly delicate and fair arm. The drill boring into Bella's arm didn't even cause her hand to twitch instinctively from the pain.
"Hmm, our theory was correct after all," Su nodded, observing the sparking drill and Benares's completely still form. "Practical application truly is the best proof of theory."
The drill finally seemed to break through the Dragon Girl's outer skin. The whirring sound ceased, and a fine needle extended from the center of the drill bit, piercing her flesh. It began to draw a strange, blue-gold, glowing blood.
"Hmm... Blue-gold...? What is this...?"
Although Su had seen the blood of countless Honkai Beasts and other biological species, this was the first time he had ever encountered blood that glowed so bizarrely.
"Does it contain some kind of energy... Honkai energy? But Honkai energy usually manifests as black and purple..."
As Su puzzled over the strange blood, Snow spoke up to explain the source of its golden glow. "As for the gold, that's the Nihilius Seed I gave her."
"The blue blood isn't strange at all," she continued. "It's rare, but not unheard of."
"Nihilius Seed...?" Su repeated, confused. "So, does this mean Miss Benares is no longer a humanoid Honkai Beast, but something akin to the guardians of the Imaginary Tree?"
"That's right," Snow confirmed. "But those guardians don't have extractable genes. She still retains some Honkai Beast elements. This Imaginary energy won't interfere with the MANTIS Surgery; it will dissipate quickly."
"So... why does this Dragon Girl have a Nihilius Seed?"
"Well, when I found her, she was submerged in a frozen lake in Siberia. The Core that the Purple Cat Snail from the Past had helped her condense had already been shattered—"
"This Dragon Girl's reason, spirit, and emotions all sprouted from that Core. Once it broke, her beastly instincts naturally took over."
"Back then, I had just left the Imaginary Tree not long ago, and I'd swiped quite a few things on my way out, including a Nihilius Seed like this one. To save myself the trouble, I just Super-Fused it with her as a replacement for the Core."
"It turned out to be quite useful, anyway."
"I see. It seems this Dragon Girl's luck is quite good."
As the syringe finished extracting the blood, it emitted a ding like a microwave. Su withdrew the syringe. The golden glow within the blue-gold blood quickly dimmed and vanished without the energy supply from its source, leaving only the blood's original blue color.
"Next is the fusion and crafting process... Speaking of which, Hua, the modification surgeries and experiments you endured back then were nothing short of a miracle."
Su examined the extracted blood. Looking at Fu Hua's phantom beside him, he seemed to recall something and remarked with a sigh.
"A miracle? Uh... Did something happen during my modification surgery?"
"Well, it was Doctor Mobius, of course. And sometimes Doctor Mei was involved too... You know what Doctor Mobius is like, and yet you actually agreed every single time..."
"In your MANTIS modification, the Doctor used a specially formulated Hyper-mutation Factor... But as for what she added to it... perhaps only the Doctor herself, who is no longer with us, ever knew."
"Ah... and then there were all those chaotic incidents you went through afterward... Perhaps luck truly is a part of strength."
Recalling the past, Su gave a helpless shrug.
"Let's not dwell on that. Ms. Himeko, please come with me. The preparations for the MANTIS Surgery will take some time. For now, please be our guest. According to the arrangements made by Kevin's little blonde friend, it's best you stay out of Schicksal's sight for the foreseeable future."
"Kevin does have an organization he left behind in the Current World. I can make further preparations for the surgery there."
"Ah, can't we just do it now?"
Himeko was clearly getting impatient.
"Although we can completely suppress the dangers Fu Hua mentioned, to ensure the surgery's success, both the reagents and your body, Ms. Himeko, require specific adjustments."
"Besides, are you sure you want to undergo surgery in a place like this?"
Su glanced around at their surroundings...
"Alright... I guess I'll follow the doctor's orders for once."