"This... is the reagent that can neutralize Honkai Energy you were talking about?"
Looking at the old man in the white coat tied up like a dumpling, several question marks popped up over Siegfried's head.
"Ahem!" Clearing his throat to cover his embarrassment, Ming Yu guiltily averted his gaze. "Th-that's right. That reagent was developed by him. The formula is in his head. As long as you take him back to Anti-Entropy, you'll naturally get the reagent."
Sensing Siegfried's suspicion, Ming Yu hesitated for a moment, a flash of reluctance on his face, but he still took out a small vial from his pocket and handed it to Siegfried, saying, "This is a sample of the reagent. You can test it first."
Looking at the red liquid in the vial, the corner of Siegfried's mouth couldn't help but twitch. He rolled his eyes and said, "Is there even 1 milliliter in here?"
"Ahem... To be precise, there's a total of 1.5 milliliters here." Pointing at the red liquid in the vial, which was smaller than a fingernail, Ming Yu's face was full of pained reluctance. "You should know that with the value of this reagent, the production can't be too high."
If he remembered correctly, even Overseer Otto had to admit that the yield of this reagent was extremely low. It could be said that this one tube on Dr. Magi was the only one he could get his hands on.
If it weren't to gain Siegfried's trust, he wouldn't have wanted to take out even this tiny bit.
Seeing the reluctance on Ming Yu's face, Siegfried took the pinky-sized vial with a mixture of belief and doubt.
After pondering for a moment, Siegfried placed a cup in front of him, bit his right index finger, and drops of bright red liquid seeped out from the wound.
In no time, the cup was half-filled with blood. White frost slowly spread from the bottom of the cup to the tabletop, and the temperature in the room instantly dropped.
Within the rippling crimson, faint purple specks of light flickered in and out of existence—that was the rich Honkai Energy contained within Siegfried's blood.
After staring at the slightly purplish blood for a while, Siegfried finally came back to his senses. He sighed softly, roughly uncorked the vial, and poured the red liquid inside into the cup.
As soon as the red liquid was added, the blood began to sizzle as if boiling, and countless bubbles rose and burst.
But in the blink of an eye, this reaction came to an abrupt halt. And in that cup of blood, not a trace of purple could be seen. Even the temperature in the room had returned to normal.
It was clear that in less than a second, the Honkai Energy in the blood had been completely neutralized!
Witnessing this miraculous scene, Siegfried's eyes widened in utter shock.
Although Ming Yu had repeatedly said that this reagent could neutralize Honkai Energy, hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was another entirely.
In an instant, several uses for this reagent flooded his mind, making him realize just how precious it was.
"You... Who on earth are you? And why would you give this reagent to me?"
Staring intently at Ming Yu's young face, Siegfried's tone was filled with gravity.
At first, Siegfried had thought Ming Yu was asking for his help because he knew his own strength was insufficient. But everything that happened later proved that Ming Yu himself possessed the ability to annihilate the Titan forces.
The so-called commission was more like an excuse to hand the reagent over to him!
If the two were close friends, Siegfried would naturally not suspect anything. But he knew very well that he had never met this person, Ming Yu, before.
Moreover, according to the information he had requested from Anti-Entropy on the fly, Ming Yu was clearly someone highly valued by the Schicksal Overseer. He was even slated to be promoted to the fourth S-rank Valkyrie soon, with an incredibly bright future in Schicksal.
Siegfried couldn't find a single reason to explain why Ming Yu would risk being discovered by the Overseer to hand over Dr. Magi, who held countless Schicksal secrets, to a wanted fugitive like himself.
Compared to the credit for capturing Dr. Magi, the risk Ming Yu was taking was simply too great, completely disproportionate to the reward.
No, this was all harm and no benefit at all!
Meeting Siegfried's sharp, hawk-like gaze, Ming Yu smiled and said, "I am who I am. That's all."
"Mr. Siegfried, I believe you can understand the value of this reagent. But in Schicksal, in the hands of that Lord Overseer, it is just another secret weapon.
I am entrusting this reagent to you, staking the name of Kaslana on it, in the hope that it will be put to the best possible use, to save more people!"
Extending his right fist towards Siegfried, Ming Yu spoke word by word, his tone more serious than ever before.
Just as Ming Yu's words suggested, he wasn't acting from the perspective of any faction. He made this decision based solely on his own judgment and needs.
Even if it didn't align with Schicksal's interests!
Even if it would harm his interests within Schicksal!
But so what?
From the very beginning, Schicksal had only been a transit station for Ming Yu. He had never intended to stay there forever.
While Ming Yu wouldn't go so far as to be ungrateful or harm Schicksal for personal gain, in certain matters, he would not prioritize Schicksal's interests.
Just like this anti-Honkai serum. Otto simply used it as one of the main ingredients for making the Godslayer Serum, never considering its medical applications.
Even Theresa, the head of the Apocalypse family, didn't know of such a reagent. Ming Yu didn't think any Valkyrie would be fortunate enough to receive treatment with it.
For those Valkyries whose bodies had reached their limit, although this reagent would cause them to lose their Honkai powers and revert to ordinary people, compared to retirement, which was already an option, this side effect was negligible.
But compared to the reagent's ridiculously low production, there were far too many Valkyries whose bodies were on the verge of collapse. It was impossible to use it as a conventional medical treatment.
If the existence of the reagent were made public, how to allocate these resources would trigger new conflicts and intensify instability within Schicksal.
Moreover, in the mainstream ideology of Schicksal, Valkyries had always been treated as tools. If one batch was damaged, they would simply be replaced with another.
Lord Overseer didn't have the leisure to spend so much effort repairing a tool that was destined to be unusable again.
For Schicksal, it was more practical to increase the pensions and compensation for Valkyries.
Perhaps it was for this reason that this reagent, developed for therapeutic purposes, ended up becoming humanity's sharp blade for slaying gods, one of the main ingredients of the "Godslayer Serum."
But the current reagent was still just a prototype; its potential remained unknown. Continuing research in this direction would sooner or later lead to a conventionalized medicine.
Even if the final version's effect might not be as good as the initial model's, it was foreseeable that it would save countless lives suffering from Honkai corrosion.
Under Otto's leadership in Schicksal, this research had no future. Only in the Anti-Entropy led by Welt was there a glimmer of possibility.
But when he thought of Anti-Entropy's so-called Moonlight Throne project, Ming Yu felt a strange sense of uncertainty. They had even handed over the Gem of Conquest and the First Herrscher's genes to Cocolia. Who knew what else Einstein and the others could come up with?
Perhaps today's impulsive act would lead to more severe consequences in the future.
Seeing the seriousness on Ming Yu's face, the suspicion in Siegfried's eyes vanished. He laughed loudly and also extended his right fist, saying solemnly, "I, Siegfried Kaslana, guarantee you that this medicine will be put to the best possible use!"
Hearing Siegfried's promise, most of Ming Yu's worries dissipated, and a smile appeared on his face.
*Thump!*
Two fists of different sizes collided in mid-air, making an equally solid sound.