"Hey, Nuwa, I'm telling you, I saw with my own eyes that Michael was one-shotted by that Imaginary Husk thingy!" Elvin exclaimed.
"You saw it through a screen!" Nuwa retorted.
"That's basically the same thing... I just want to know how Michael is doing. I know he's not dead, obviously, I just want to know how badly he was hurt."
Nuwa completely ignored Elvin. Ever since being assigned to Mobius's lab, the workload had been insane. She wished she could work twenty-five hours a day! And that was with Prometheus handling most of the calculations and Klein shouldering the majority of the experimental tasks!
She glanced at the clock on the wall. Almost eleven PM. Not bad, not bad.
Thank goodness I'm smart and sped up Fuxi's alarm by an hour. She should be here to take over soon... Better change the clock and computer time too, so she doesn't notice the trick right away.
She didn't respond, which frustrated Elvin. Seeing him scratching his head, Nuwa tweaked the computer's clock and said with a sneer, "Why do you need to know all this? Did Dr. Mobius send you? No way, she could find out anything she wants, she wouldn't need you... Or are you going to run off and brag to someone again?"
"Ahahaha, how could you think that? Am I that kind of person?"
[Hey! At the Fire Moth's bigmouth competition, you and your sister took second and third place!]
Elvin only dared to think that in his head. He cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment.
"Still, Nuwa, Michael's been in your doctor's lab for over a day. Are you sure nothing bad is happening?"
"Like... Dr. Mobius dissecting him?"
Elvin's idea was both unexpected and entirely predictable. Nuwa clutched her stomach, laughing.
"Hahaha, ah—Elvin, you seriously don't know about Dr. Mobius and Michael's relationship, do you?"
Elvin's eyes widened like stars. He was like a person lost in the desert finally seeing an oasis... no, like an adventurer who had been sailing through storms for weeks and had finally spotted the legendary new continent flowing with honey, milk, and lumps of gold and silver!
Even without him saying anything, Nuwa could read his sparkling eyes.
"What relationship? What is it? Don't keep me in suspense, tell me!"
"Hehe!" Nuwa rubbed her fingers together. "Equivalence exchange!"
"Uh... cough cough cough!"
Elvin suddenly bent over, coughing violently.
Before Nuwa could turn around, Michael's voice spoke behind her.
"Oh? Mobius and I have a special relationship?"
"N-no... um, I mean, you're... just, normal comrades! Ah! Dr. Mobius probably needs me, gotta go!"
Nuwa jumped off the lab bench and ran away from the scene of the crime.
Michael turned to Elvin. "Captain Michael, Dr. Mobius asked me to deliver this. It needs your attention. I'll just leave it here... cough cough, I'm out of here!"
Michael shook his head as he watched them go. Clamping the folder under his arm, he snapped his fingers, using electromagnetism to restore the wall clock to the correct time.
It was late. Whatever it was, he'd deal with it tomorrow.
As he walked out of the experimental zone, he spotted Karabis escorting five prisoners.
These people were probably Fire Moth members not long ago. However, the way they were being escorted was peculiar.
Their heads... no, their faces were covered with black cloth. Their bodies below the neck were encased in black alloy plates, leaving only their necks exposed.
Seeing this, Michael stopped to chat with Karabis.
"More lawbreakers? Even for heinous criminals, is this really necessary?"
Karabis gave him a helpless look. "Don't ask me. I'm just escorting them. I don't know anything else."
But after saying that, she leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"They're being sent to that place Vill-V built on P-21 Island—the Abyss... I didn't say anything!"
The escort disappeared. Once again, Michael was alone.
He rubbed his head, walking back to the living quarters. It wasn't that he couldn't use his powers to teleport home, or that he needed sleep. To him, it was more of a way to confirm he was still human.
But as he walked along the empty road, his only companion was his shadow under the streetlights.
Were those shadows—each reflected by a different streetlight, cast by a different glow—really the same?
Was he walking past shadow after shadow... or were they passing him?
He realized he had missed something.
A moment later, both his feet and his mind sped up.
"That gaze... yes, that gaze. What is it?"
Michael walked, tugging at his nascent stubble. He had felt that gaze three times.
The first time was right after he defeated the Third Herrscher, the moment he was about to leave the Imaginary Space.
The second time was when he defeated the Sixth Herrscher of the World Bubble, right as he was about to leave.
That was why he had turned the World Bubble into his world instead of following in the footsteps of a certain respected (and missed) leader who liked sending people into the Imaginary Space every chance she got.
The Will of Honkai? No, the Will of Honkai didn't exist yet. And 17 hadn't been fitted with the mass of human emotion modules...
Could it be what Elysia had talked about—the vague, chaotic, true consciousness of the Honkai?
Possible, but even less likely. Michael hadn't sensed any pressure in that gaze, nor had he felt...
Of course, the biggest problem was:
If that gaze came from the Honkai itself, why could he sense it?
It was a gaze, but that presence seemed to intentionally reveal itself, as if afraid Michael wouldn't notice it...
Michael clutched his head.
His thoughts spiraled, unable to find an exit.
His forehead suddenly hit a cold door.
"Oof... Already here?"
Oh, well. No more thinking about it.
Besides, even if he thought more, what was the point? Without evidence, he couldn't confirm anything. And even if he guessed right, there was nothing he could do against such a being—except be wary.
Luckily, it didn't seem malicious.
It was just silently watching everything, occasionally reminding Michael of its existence...
Even this Husk of the Imaginary Constructs, which had reached a level of power capable of casually managing time. Michael couldn't believe that Elysia, Kevin, and Mobius had won without paying a price.
Besides, this Husk—under the influence of that presence—had reached a level where it could instantly kill him without resistance.
Could Elysia plus Kevin plus Mobius now easily kill Michael?
That meant that being was only interested in him. After saying "hello" to Michael, it seemed to have somehow reduced the Husk's power—almost as if it was afraid of hurting the world. Or Michael's friends...
Such a contradictory attitude...
Michael suddenly thought of a completely impossible possibility.
But he quickly laughed it off, erasing the thought from his mind.
His hand gently gripped the doorknob.
A strange tremor arose in his stomach.
Michael unconsciously opened his mouth, then quickly closed it.
That wasn't a human instinct.
It was the impulse to devour, brought on by the Vishnu factor.
He really wasn't human anymore...
The doorknob turned, and dim light spilled through the crack.
"Huh? Someone's here?"
Curious, Michael stepped into his room.
Two familiar figures were hunched over piles of documents at his desk, illuminated by the soft glow of a lamp.
Elysia smoothed her hair back, smiling. The shadow covered half her face, giving her an almost ethereal look.
As for the other, cat-like figure...
She stood, stretched, and groaned, "Captain Michael, you're finally back! Another minute, and I'd die from exhaustion here, waaaah..."