This place resembled the dark cosmic domain of a primordial age. Humanity's footsteps had yet to spread here, and everything upon the earth was shrouded in a cold silence, suspended within this deathly stillness.
The land lay in total darkness, as though a black cloth had been draped over it. Almost nothing could be seen.
But gradually, viewed from above the sky, from far to near, faint points of light began to illuminate this dark world. Then brilliance erupted—what began as scattered dim sparks grew into searing beams that shone like miniature suns.
The source of the light was a supermassive fortress complex, standing quietly upon the land.
The dim purplish-red light curtain in the sky declared that this was Imperial territory.
Yet this place did not belong to the metropolitan sphere of the Imperial Capital. On the contrary, under Selene's deliberate planning, it lay far from bustling districts, surrounded by desolation. Even the expansion direction of residential construction within the Empire had intentionally avoided this area.
This was—the headquarters of the Imperial Science Bureau.
Nominally the Empire's largest research and development institution, it was also the heart and brain that supplemented the Empire's reserve military power.
The outermost perimeter of the Imperial Science Bureau headquarters consisted first of enormous docking decks, warehouses, and factory buildings. Within them were countless ore depots, smelters, refineries, chemical plants, maintenance workshops, armories—every known procedure of heavy industrial production.
Only after that came the vast military factories and cutting-edge research institutes of imposing scale.
Although this was not the Empire's largest military-industrial production site, as part of the homeland it not only ranked among the top in production capacity among all military factories currently in operation or under construction, it also contained the Empire's most valuable and highest-level military manufacturing facilities.
Bzzzz—!
Various massive transport craft slowly moved from the launch exits into the docking platforms. Vector thrusters spat violent plasma flames. Amid thunderous roars, the nozzles gradually lowered, gently guiding the vessels onto the landing decks.
"It's truly astonishingly large..."
Stepping out from the central transmission hall and looking out across the expanse, Mobius found her field of vision exceptionally broad. On the docking decks, layers upon layers of factory buildings stretched from beneath her feet all the way to the edge of sight.
And this was only one production and forging district of the Imperial Science Bureau headquarters... As expected, this Empire—from top to bottom—favored grand and colossal things.
And she herself had always conducted her research alone.
Mobius thought so.
Although during the Previous Era her reputation had not been small and government research funding had flowed to her in an almost uninterrupted stream, the research institutions she had worked in before joining MOTH were astonishingly small—like family workshops.
That was putting it generously. In truth, aside from a few who understood her—her assistant Klein, Blanca, and Griseo's father—Mobius had been entirely solitary.
Blanca, like Klein, had been Mobius' assistant, and also Griseo's mother. That was why Mobius later took such care of Griseo.
Fu Hua's close friends Dan Zhu and Cang Xuan had once been Mobius' assistants as well—responsible mainly for slacking off and adding to Klein's workload—but neither of them understood Mobius the way Klein did. In the end, the two left due to irreconcilable differences in philosophy.
After the Honkai catastrophe claimed the lives of Griseo's parents, and the Herrscher of Dominance incident led to the death of her assistant Klein, Mobius became even more alone in the field of research.
As for her colleagues in MOTH...
Dr. MEI's fundamental research direction differed from Mobius' at its core.
Vill-V specialized in machinery, engineering, and architecture—fields that had nothing to do with her domain of biology. Unless Mobius were to abandon bodily evolution entirely and instead pursue the path of weak flesh and mechanical ascension.
And clearly, Mobius' focus was on "flesh." At most she conducted minor research in the mechanical field. The two were rivals in different domains and often engaged in small private transactions.
For example, she constantly obtained mechanical organs from Vill-V to piece together bodies for Gray Serpent. And for instance, her current means of transportation—the suitcase she carried—had also been acquired from Vill-V.
As for the other Flame-Chasers she was relatively close with—Eden, Griseo, Elysia... that was about it. Seek them out to study the mysteries of life together?
Forget it. A mere singer, a little girl, and a plump woman—that was all. Mobius was not insane.
A trace of excitement colored her serpentine eyes. With a teasing tone laced with lighthearted anticipation, Mobius said, "But these are only 'low-end' mass-produced things. I hope their standards won't disappoint me."
As she spoke, a small figure suddenly popped out beside her.
Very similar to Mobius: green medium-short hair, an ill-fitting white lab coat, black stockings over short legs, and an eyepatch over her right eye. Her remaining eye shimmered in a rare green-to-red gradient.
A backpack strap supported a book that appeared rather thick relative to her small frame. In her pocket were several fluorescent green vials resembling medical reagents. At the junction of the strap was a vertically slit emerald gemstone shaped like a pupil.
"It's so big here, Doctor. Klein likes it here. So happy."
Because Mobius had written a workaholic program into her core code, the armed puppet Klein—modeled after her original assistant—grew visibly excited upon seeing such an enormous factory complex. Thinking that this would be the Doctor's future workplace made her even more thrilled.
It was far larger than the Elysian Realm. Just how much work would that be... ah...
Ever since the Elysian Realm had been scrapped by Selene, Klein had lost her former maintenance duties. She had effectively been on "leave" for a very long time. Simply put—she could not hold back anymore. She needed work!
"Waaah~"
Sitting on Mobius' shoulder, her short legs swung back and forth as she opened her small mouth, shaking her head in visible excitement.
"Dr. Mobius, please follow me." At that moment, a group of people approached.
There were both men and women among them, all carrying the standard bearing of soldiers. They wore iron-gray uniforms, and the Empire's double-headed eagle emblem was embedded upon their upright shoulders.
Step, step...
Without unnecessary words, Mobius walked under their escort toward a towering spire.
Upon entering the tower's main hall, her gaze pierced through thick grilles and numerous obstructions. In a fleeting glance, she caught sight of a massive purplish-red device—countless intricate wedge-shaped metal constructs linked together by innumerable black cables, encasing a cluster of purplish-red crystal at the center.
"A high-concentration Honkai Cube..." converting Honkai energy into electricity to power the base.
Dense pulse waves crawled across the surface of the device like tangible streams of energy, accompanied by flickering arcs of electricity.
However...
Retracting her gaze, Mobius felt displeased. That fellow called Dr. Stylish was the chief. His research institute ought to be located in the central district. But this was not the central district.
A show of authority?
Just as Mobius was maliciously speculating about Dr. Stylish's intentions—
"Roar... roar!"
The metal gate opened. Inside the building, it was filled with the furious, fearful, and unwilling howls of beasts.
The interior was brightly lit, like a hive. Within it were nothing but crude "cells." The bars of each cell were made of metal pillars as thick as a forearm. Every single one confined over a hundred... demi-humans.
Following the heart-wrenching screams, one could see the back of a middle-aged man. He wore black-rimmed glasses, and his white lab coat was soaked with foul-smelling blood.
The wailing was so miserable that it was unbearable to hear.
The operating table before him was even more horrifying. Yellow-green limbs were scattered across the floor, crushed bone fragments ground into powder, severed muscle tissue and organs splattered everywhere.
This was no prison.
Nor was it an operating room.
It was clearly a slaughterhouse.
Inside the cells.
They huddled together, some clutching their heads and lying prone on the ground, others collapsed in their own filth. Whenever the dismembered screams of their kin rose from the operating table, their bodies would twitch uncontrollably, as if afflicted with Parkinson's.
"Ugh! Doctor, it's so disgusting." Hiding behind Mobius, Klein spoke in discomfort.
And this was after multiple rounds of washing. One could imagine that when first handling these freshly captured goblins, it had been a double torment of sight and smell.
"Sir, Dr. Mobius has arrived," the leading soldier stepped forward and said cautiously.
"Oh, you're here."
Holding a small chainsword, the man turned around with a lump of bloody viscera in hand. Upon seeing the green-haired little girl, he merely smiled faintly.
Then, as if belatedly remembering himself, he hurriedly tossed aside what he was holding, wiped the blood-splattered lenses of his glasses, and adopted what he believed to be a refined aristocratic posture.
"My apologies for the poor reception. I've been busy researching these little fellows..."
"After all, the fact that they are a single-male species excites me tremendously!"
As he spoke, he spread his hands wide. Wild laughter crept across his face. Beneath the bloodstained lenses, his eyes burned with a feverish flame of desire.
"Allow me to introduce myself... hmm, I don't even remember my original name. Everyone calls me Dr. Stylish. Welcome to the fold, Dr. Mobius."
As he spoke, he extended a hand covered in blood and grime.
"Oh? Hello."
Unfortunately, Dr. Stylish had miscalculated. Who was Mobius? A mad scientist who would pay any price in pursuit of truth. This level of provocation was simply her everyday routine.
Bloodstains and bits of tissue were nothing. Even if intestines had been writhing in his palm, it would not have mattered.
Under Dr. Stylish's rather surprised gaze, the little girl clasped his filthy hand without hesitation.
And it was not a mere touch.
She rubbed it.
Feeling the faint warmth of minced flesh between her fingers, Mobius showed no disgust. Instead, she lifted her head and stared at him with her serpentine pupils, teasing, "Doctor, your technique still has room for improvement."
Lowering his gaze, perhaps due to the refraction of the lights, Dr. Stylish narrowed his eyes and slowly withdrew his hand. A flash of white glinted across his lenses.
"Yes, Dr. Mobius. I've reviewed your records. Mm, very impressive... so, would you teach me?"
Rather than angered, Dr. Stylish spoke in a negotiating tone.
The next moment, he raised a delicate finger. A nearby guard immediately obeyed, opening a cell. Amid ghostlike wails and howls, the guard's baton came crashing down.
"Alien bastard!"
Bang! Bang!
Though he restrained most of his strength, the two goblins at his feet were still beaten until their skin split and bones shattered, breathing more out than in, on the verge of death.
"Oh my~ be gentler. Don't kill them," Dr. Stylish said in a slightly effeminate scolding tone.
The others were long accustomed to it.
But Mobius widened her snake-like eyes.
This man was even more deranged than she had anticipated.
Though Dr. Stylish appeared perfectly normal in front of Selene, there had always been something rotten at his core.
Because of Selene's suppression, he had reined himself in considerably. Many of his more peculiar hobbies had died before fully blooming. Yet among the Empire's upper echelon, he still stood out as uniquely perverse.
"Come, let's begin. We'll have a little competition." Rubbing his hands together, Dr. Stylish pointed at the two goblins thrown onto the operating table.
Flicking her tongue lightly, Mobius looked at him and said meaningfully, "Compete? Certainly. But how could there be no wager?"
"Oh? And what does Dr. Mobius wish to stake?"
"The position of Chief."
At last, Mobius revealed her dagger.
...
The sharp click of high heels striking the floor echoed crisply in the quiet room.
Behind the desk, Selene temporarily set aside the documents she had been reviewing. She had received an application for Exterminatus from Esdeath.
"Oh? So it's merely a request for the extermination of the goblin species."
Since this was a centrally administered trial world and not a colonial world awaiting conquest, she did not possess unilateral authority over it.
On the application form was clearly written the name Esdeath Partas. Although no reason had been stated, Selene could guess.
So... Kiana and the others have yet to react, and Esdeath is already unable to sit still?
She had not expected that someone raised with the law of the jungle etched deep into her heart would make such a decision.
Looking at the report in her hands, Selene smiled faintly.
Perhaps it was the influence of the policies she herself had implemented. Though Esdeath still believed that victors had the right to dispose of the weak, that principle had become confined strictly within the bounds of humanity.
As for alien races, in line with the Empire's extreme xenophobia—aside from a few ornamental species such as elves and mermaids, or those deemed useful such as orcs and dwarves—Esdeath and most Imperials did not consider them "people."
"Approved." Selene signed with a stroke of her pen.
"But extermination... especially the precise eradication of a single species without harming others, is rather difficult. Particularly since the goblins of this world are not naturally occurring. Their origin resembles a form of cursed law."
A trial world, as the name implied, was not directly governed by Imperial administrators. It was merely one of the training grounds for new soldiers.
They were typically chosen from worlds lacking significant agricultural, pastoral, or mineral resources, and with little population value—yet teeming with monsters in every corner. Tasteless to consume, a pity to discard.
The civilizations within were effectively enclosed by the Empire—allowed to retain their cultural features without excessive interference, left to develop freely, periodically observed for exceptional talent, and then absorbed into the Imperial Army.
Looking at the application now bearing her seal, Selene leaned back in her chair and tossed the document to the corner of the desk.
"Delay its issuance."