267. Separation Was a Better Choice
As it turned out, their choice was absolutely correct.
Because here, the two were finally able to touch that forbidden thing—human experimentation!
What was strictly prohibited in almost every other country was commonplace in this organization, even the warriors of the Fire Moth were used to it.
And here, Ling and Mobius even came into contact with another side of this world: Honkai!
This was the source of Honkai disease.
Although the two were already famous, in the Fire Moth, it seemed insignificant.
Because almost every short distance, they could see academic tycoons who had appeared in newspapers or news reports; here, their past seemed insignificant.
But what limited them was never their talent, but their environment.
Ling and Mobius threw themselves into it, beginning to research how to overcome 'Honkai disease'.
With a constant stream of test subjects and day and night experiments, they finally extracted the Honkai disease serum!
When a soldier with his body covered in disgusting purple markings lay on the bed, his eyes had long lost any will to live.
He knew that Honkai disease was incurable, and he was already in its late stages.
The precious serum was slowly injected into his body, and at that moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
At first, he thought it was euthanasia, thinking he could finally escape the disease, but when he awoke again, his body had completely recovered!
Not only that, but subsequent tests showed that his Honkai energy resistance had greatly increased, several times that of a normal person!
This experimental result shocked the Fire Moths. They had begun researching Honkai decades ago, but had never found a solution.
The only drug that could be mass-produced to suppress the disease would cause patients to become mentally unstable, exhibiting strong violent tendencies; Mobius's father had survived on this drug.
But after Mobius left, he chose to give it up.
In fact, this was the choice he had always wanted; bound by the drugs, he had always longed for liberation.
Mobius simply refused to accept this fact.
Except for the first time, her father had never taken any medication voluntarily; it was always Mobius who fed him…
Perhaps at some point, Mobius suddenly realized that the father who had gently instructed patients in her memory had long since died at the hands of this Honkai disease.
But unfortunately, this serum… could not be mass-produced!
It required extracting from thousands of patients for only one vial.
Even though over ten million people worldwide suffered from this disease, the cost of this serum remained unimaginably high.
A thousand people for one—how to choose?
Ling and Mobius, having successfully created the Honkai serum, gained independence from the Fifth Laboratory and had their own lab.
Mobius also found an assistant, Blanca.
Blanca was very talented; Mobius even felt that Blanca could surpass her.
Moreover, Blanca had a weak moral compass, perfectly matching Mobius's standards.
Not long after, Ling left the lab and started his own lab.
When Mobius stormed in, Ling was leisurely experimenting. Then the lab door slammed shut, and Ling's hand trembled. Two days' worth of work was gone.
"What's wrong? Who made you angry again?" Ling could only finish recording the experimental data and ask without turning around.
"Why did you leave the lab? Are you trying to compete with me?" Mobius asked angrily.
He had clearly said that they were equals, but now Ling had left halfway through—wasn't that running away?
"Oh, so that's what it is..." Ling stopped writing and turned to look at Mobius.
"I just felt that you might feel a little constrained with me, and I... feel the same way," Ling explained.
"I never said that," Mobius narrowed his eyes.
"No, you misunderstood me," Ling shook her head.
"What I mean is, our tracks should be separated so that we can maximize our individual talents, understand?"
"The Honkai Serum, even if there's only one of us who researches it, we can produce it in the same amount of time. That means the other person's existence is essentially diminished." Ling tried to persuade Mobius.
However, Mobius was an extremely stubborn and willful person, as she always had been.
"That's none of my business! Ling, I'm giving you one more chance. Come back, or this will be considered a declaration of war against me!" Mobius said coldly.
"I refuse. Double the research space, double the research materials—it's all public money anyway, so what difference does it make where I stay?" Ling retorted.
"Your chance is gone. I hope you won't regret it." Mobius turned and left without looking back.
Blanca glanced at Ling, then at Mobius.
"Actually… Dr. Mobius, she just…" Blanca seemed to want to say something.
"No need to explain, I know, but I still stand by my point of view," Ling stopped Blanca.
"She's always been so stubborn, even if she really said she didn't want to be separated from me, I would still refuse her, for the same reason as before."
Compatible paths are a waste of each other's talents; only separation is the right decision.
It's just that Mobius is too obsessive, to a pathological degree; she can't accept it even if it's just this.
Blanca, hearing this, didn't say anything more and left with Mobius.
"Liar…liar…saying we're the same…he's a big liar!"
Mobius buried his head in the blankets, slamming her fists hard on the bed.
"I will definitely defeat you, destroy everything you have…that way you'll know how important I am to you! Ling!"
Mobius began researching other things, while Ling continued researching the Honkai serum, feeling that it could perhaps be further optimized.
Using one less patient would be a success.
However, what Möbius was researching was... well, not so good.
Ling could often hear the screams of assassins and the sounds of gunfire coming from next door.
It had even become a regular occurrence in Mobius's lab.
This led the Fire Moth to keep a close watch on her, fearing she might accidentally create something terrible and destroy the surroundings.
Six months later, Ling finally completed his research on the Honkai serum. Although mass production wasn't possible, the required proportions were greatly reduced.
Besides some important researchers and leaders, elite warriors could also use this serum!
Mobius had long since given up on researching this, as it was irrelevant to her direction.
When she created the first Honkai serum, the psychological trauma from her childhood was cured.
And now, what she wanted was still to allow 'humanity' to 'evolve' once again.
...