Investigation Report on the Fifth Honkai Eruption
Subject: Cat
Codename: Pending
An unknown lifeform that appeared during the Honkai incident on the Rosentina Archipelago. Its external characteristics resemble a cat. It currently shows a high level of dependence on the MOTH warrior Elysia.
Notes
Sampling of Honkai energy from the Rosentina Archipelago indicates that this organism possesses a form of energy that resonates with Honkai constructs. The manifestation of this resonance can be summarized as "high-efficiency destruction."
The organism displays a strong affinity toward humans. Observed preference trends include humans, female individuals, good looks, and cuteness.
Directive from the High Council
Based on all currently observed intelligence, this organism is judged to have strong potential as a weapon against the Honkai. This would significantly strengthen MOTH's overall power. For now, a peaceful approach is to be adopted. All laboratories are prohibited from conducting research on this organism.
Votes in favor: 10
Votes against: 7
Abstentions: 4
The directive passed by majority vote.
…
The order from the higher-ups was "prohibition."
But considering the makeup of MOTH's upper leadership, Mobius more or less knew how that result came about.
"Modern humanity has become overly urbanized. Honkai disasters are nature's punishment upon mankind. Protect the natural environment, protect wildlife, and the Honkai will gradually weaken. In the end, that is the same as protecting humanity."
It was honestly hard to keep a straight face.
But a fair number of the higher-ups genuinely believed this sort of thing.
Anyone who tried to make contact with the indigenous people of the Rosentina Archipelago was labeled a criminal. That was the handiwork of the faction within MOTH that worshiped a return to nature.
The fact that the Fifth Honkai erupted in such a backward region was, without question, a slap in the face to those people.
The civilization of the archipelago was primitive enough, right?
Sure, they had agriculture, tools, and houses, but they were still basically at the level of blood-drinking, human-sacrificing cultures from three thousand years ago. Every tribe was cannibalistic.
A civilization so primitive, so devoted to nature, and yet a Honkai disaster still erupted there. Worse still, the Herrscher flattened the native population in the very early stages.
Oh heavens.
Was that not a direct slap across the faces of the nature-worshiping higher-ups?
And then, right at that moment, a cat appeared. A cat that solved the Herrscher, the Herrscher's companion beasts, and the Herrscher's extreme cold domain.
Mobius was certain that if a human had done all that, no matter who it was, their body would be sliced up and sitting in petri dishes across various labs within days.
But this was a cat.
The appearance of this cat perfectly completed the nature faction's narrative.
The primitive tribes may have lost their lives, but their devotion to nature was not in vain. Look, the proof is right here. A cat born of nature itself, helping us fight the Honkai.
A gift from nature.
Divine intervention.
God's blessing.
Quite a few of the higher-ups believed in this mystical nonsense. Especially after the Honkai disasters began. In the end, the richer and more powerful someone was, the more likely they were to cling to these beliefs. Probably just for peace of mind.
"Haha, if that's the case, my dear little kitty, then you coming to me must be the will of God, right?"
Mobius laughed as she chewed on a sausage.
She could already picture the future scene. Her secret experiments on the cat getting discovered, and her verbally skewering those higher-ups afterward.
She had even started planning the experimental process.
This would be different from ordinary experiments.
This cat possessed power beyond imagination. Not something a physically weak scholar like her could handle head-on. Which meant the most important thing was the cat's "affection level."
As long as she built a good relationship with the cat.
As long as the cat could not leave her.
Then taking a few hairs, collecting some saliva or blood for a small checkup would be perfectly reasonable, right?
If the nature faction truly cared that much about this cat, she might even be able to charge them some kind of caretaking fee.
A top biological expert providing personal care.
Charging two hundred or three hundred million per month was not excessive at all. That would neatly solve the lab's funding problems too. Thinking this far, Mobius's lips curled upward.
The biologist extraordinaire was already running through a list of one hundred possible food combinations the cat might like.
…
Meanwhile.
Inori Cat was utterly confused.
She knew that Mobius, before obtaining the Serpent's Shedding ability, was a woman with extremely heavy frontal armor. Not the small girl she would later become in the Elysian Realm.
But still… this was bizarre.
In theory, Mobius was incredibly intelligent. And yet here she was, like some creepy old man trying to lure a little girl, pulling out a single sausage to tempt her.
After Inori Cat showed no interest.
Mobius went chomp chomp and ate the sausage herself.
She ate it with alarming enthusiasm. No one knew what she was fantasizing about, but her lips were curled upward, and she looked one step away from humming in satisfaction.
You… are you sure this is Mobius?
Could this be some relative of hers instead? Why did she look so clueless? She felt even less reliable than that pink pig-cat.
Fine, better go look for Dr. MEI instead.
Just as Inori Cat was about to leave.
Mobius, still with sausage crumbs at the corner of her mouth from eating too fast, blocked her path.
"Meow, meow." Mobius pinched her voice and tried to imitate a cat, attempting to win her favor. "Listen to me, little kitty. The outside world is very dangerous. Pink-haired weird sisters love to eat cute little cats like you."
Inori Cat: ?
Opening with an insult aimed at the pink pig-cat. Verdict confirmed. This really was the snake doctor. But seriously, how tragic was this snake doctor? She could look this happy just from eating a sausage.
If not for being stuck in a cat's body.
Inori Cat would not have minded showing the snake doctor her cooking skills. Three dishes and a soup, easy.
Unfortunately, cat paws did not straighten very well, and cooking was simply too inconvenient.
Maybe once the cat system finally let her pull the snake doctor as a unit, she could think about cooking then.
"Hehe, let me think…!" Mobius's gaze swept around the lab before locking onto a cup of instant noodles. "Go play with this for now. Once big sister finishes her work, we'll properly bond, okay?"
Inori Cat: (blank stare)
First a sausage, now a cup of instant noodles? Do not actually treat others like cats. And besides, even a real cat would not play with that.
During the Fifth Honkai, MOTH deployed many squads. This included covert operatives planted by the higher-ups to keep an eye on her. Mobius took advantage of the chaos to happily run a round of experiments.
Now that the Honkai was over, the much-watched cat had wandered straight into her lab. She needed to quickly organize her results and clean up any traces of experimentation.
The cat followed her.
It did not play with the instant noodle cup she offered.
As long as the cat did not cause trouble and stayed in the lab, Mobius honestly did not care what it did. But while organizing her materials, she noticed something absurd.
This cat seemed to be reading her experimental reports.
She was a biologist by training, someone who could easily read the meaning behind animals' eyes and expressions. And this cat's expressions were far too human.
When it read reports related to Honkai energy, it showed:
A confused expression.
An expression of intense thinking.
An expression of sudden understanding after thinking.
An expression that clearly said "That's it?"
Unbelievable.
Ninety-nine percent of people who read this would only show a blank, drooling expression. And yet a cat could display such a rich range of reactions.
Mobius frowned.
This was not simple at all.
Her hands slowed as she sorted documents. She even deliberately took out several failed experimental reports, paying close attention to how the cat reacted to each one.
"Vill-V's Marvelous Little Gadget, Model One Three Seven."
One of Vill-V's inventions.
Members of MOTH's research and engineering departments constantly suffered from neck, shoulder, and back problems. The genius Vill-V specially invented a chair that could completely cure all issues caused by prolonged sitting.
Its effect was simple. Once someone sat down, a timer would start. Every hour, the chair would eject the person once.
Ten units were produced for trial use.
On that very day, ten MOTH members were hospitalized, and ten display screens were destroyed on the spot.
It was indeed extremely effective for treating neck, shoulder, and back problems. After a few days of lying in the hospital, the returning members felt much better. Their bodies, at least. Their heads and the monitors they collided with were another story.
Upon seeing this design blueprint, the cat displayed a vivid expression that clearly said, "What in the world is this thing, meow?"
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.