"Is your rule that you have to get married if someone sees your face?"
"..."
Faced with Mobius's pointed question, Lin remained silent, but Elysia, standing behind her, couldn't stifle a laugh.
Lin had many mysteries, but the most eye-catching was indeed his habit of hiding his true face at all times, to the extent that there was an open betting pool on the Moth of the Flame's intranet guessing what he looked like.
"At least the good news is that Lin is indeed a boy and not a robot." Elysia took out the Moth of the Flame's all-purpose communicator, tapped on the screen to find the top trending post, and glanced at the highest-voted option. "Those who voted for a girl will be having a sleepless night."
"...What is that?" Lin watched her operate the communicator, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.
Elysia casually swiped away the top search term and said with a smile, "Everyone is very interested in Lin's appearance, so I just went with the flow and set up a betting pool to make a little money."
"..." Lin should have guessed there was only one person in the Moth of the Flame who would do something so pointless.
Lin wasn't overly concerned about this. He hid his face for his own reasons, and simply in the context of the Moth of the Flame fighting the Honkai, concealing his appearance was definitely more beneficial than detrimental.
Lin was more curious about why Mobius had come here.
"What's with that look? Have you forgotten whose hands you're using right now?" Mobius flicked her hair, staring playfully at Lin soaking in the repair pod. "Or are you thinking of breaking our agreement?"
As she spoke the last word, the air grew cold.
Elysia smiled as she ate her fruit, making no sound.
Lin shook his head slightly in the transparent fluid.
Mobius also nodded, quite satisfied with Lin's compliance.
"What I want you to do can wait until this frail body of yours recovers. You are currently my experiment, so I will first tell you a few important notes, especially concerning your body."
"..."
Lin used his silence to convey that he was all ears.
Mobius's lips curved into a smile. She placed her hand on the outer wall of the repair pod and said to Lin inside: "You are lucky. This is literally luck. Being rescued can be called the progress of modern medicine, and having no sequelae after being rescued is even luckier."
The "luck" implied in Mobius's words was the six doses of toxin she had given Lin. She had personally checked on Lin before he was pushed into surgery after his return, confirming that he had used all six doses.
Although Lin not experiencing the brain death symptoms of previous test subjects was within Mobius's expectation, his current state, without the slightest emotional modulation, was far beyond her plans.
The adaptability demonstrated by his reaction to the toxins and the limb replacement had been unseen in other humans. Lin's physical body was like a piece of high-quality putty—it didn't matter how you kneaded it.
If it weren't for the fact that certain aspects of Lin maximized human flaws, he would be a perfect experimental subject.
"But unfortunately, your 'flaw' is as much a party pooper as ever."
Lin already guessed what Mobius was going to say next. After all, a few days had passed since he regained consciousness, and his perception of his body was stronger than the average person's; he could sense any abnormality.
No matter how much protection, prevention, or inhibitor shots were used, prolonged combat in such a high-concentration Honkai energy environment, with close-range contact with a Judgment-Class Honkai Beast and a Herrscher in between, was impossible to avoid.
"Even though you had an inhibitor shot before entering the field and another when you were transported back, your pitifully low Honkai energy resistance isn't something a few inhibitor shots can solve."
Mobius looked up into Lin's calm black eyes and stated plainly: "Your body has been corroded by Honkai energy. This is an irreversible process. You know this, don't you?"
Honkai energy corrosion.
These words, in the current era and within the Moth of the Flame, were synonymous with the death sentence.
This was also a problem Lin couldn't avoid. As long as he was on the battlefield, Honkai energy corrosion would eventually catch up to him.
He just hadn't expected it to be so fast.
Elysia's expression showed little surprise. Before coming to see Lin, she had already learned about his physical condition through various channels.
"But you don't need to worry. Honkai energy corrosion is a process. As long as you regularly use the inhibitor and I apply a few 'tricks' to help you, I can guarantee you a few more years of life." Mobius's smile was as chilling as ever, and it looked even more distorted when viewed through the transparent fluid.
He spoke heavily: "How many years?"
Lin didn't ask about the price. He had no leverage for negotiation. It was better to ask how much of his meager lifespan remained.
"Roughly estimated, five years," Mobius chuckled when Lin spoke. "But considering your long-term service on the front lines, it might be even shorter than that."
Five years...
Would he turn into a monster like a zombie in just over a thousand eight hundred days?
Lin was slightly surprised to realize that he always seemed to measure his life with a countdown, precise down to the day, hour, and even second.
"What? Are you scared? Don't be ashamed of your will to live. Humans have sought eternal life since ancient times. It's an instinct ingrained in biological genes."
"But I advise you to accept it sooner rather than later. I don't want to take on a specimen who has become mentally fragile."
Lin closed his eyes and contemplated for a moment. His tone was unchanged, speaking in his habitually unruffled voice: "I understand."
"..."
"..."
"You..." Mobius narrowed her eyes, seemingly trying to spot the panic hidden beneath Lin's composure.
But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see his despair, because there had been none from the start.
"Hmph... Well, I suppose a person who can endure that kind of surgery wouldn't fear death much." Mobius sneered. Her previously cheerful mood plummeted. She shot a sarcastic remark at Lin and turned to leave.
Elysia waved at Lin and quickly followed her.
She walked up to Mobius and asked with a beaming smile, "Dr. Mobius~ What's your agreement with Lin? I'm so curious~"
"Why don't you just ask him directly?" Mobius gave her an annoyed look.
"Lin will definitely just play the wooden man and not say anything. Please, my dear Mobius, tell me something interesting." Elysia's eyes sparkled; she was practically about to pounce on Mobius. "Could it be something unspeakable..."
"You're annoying." Mobius was utterly irritated by Elysia's pitiful pleas. She couldn't remember how many times she had seen Elysia feign this adorable look, and every time it made her feel discomfort both psychologically and physically.
So, she simply crossed her arms and said coldly to Elysia: "It's simple. I gave him a little help, and he will give me everything."
"'A little help'.... I remember one part of Lin's diagnosis mentioned two toxins that destroyed his pain nerves. One was consistent with the toxin from the Judgment-Class Honkai Beast Shashah, and the other was an unknown synthetic toxin. Dr. Mobius, that's not exactly nice, is it..."
The meaning in Elysia's words was obvious.
"Heh, he should be thanking me," Mobius dismissed it with a look of disdain.
"Beep beep." A communication was sent to Mobius's communicator.
Mobius picked it up, and her expression turned odd.
"What is it?"
"No, nothing... This was sent by that guy in the repair pod." Mobius read out the content with a subtle tone.
"'Thank you.'"