"..."
"..."
Mobius could roughly guess what Lin would say next. He would probably start with "Is something the matter?" and then, after she failed to say anything meaningful, he would either ask her to leave or simply ignore her, leaving her hanging.
She suddenly realized she understood Lin very well, just as he understood her.
After all, based on the time they had known each other, she was actually the earliest of the few people Lin was close to.
"Is something the matter?" Lin put down the pen, crumpled the paper into a ball, and casually tossed it toward the trash can.
However, the paper ball didn't go in. The poorly controlled force and direction caused it to bounce off the rim and land on the floor.
Lin said nothing. He stood up, picked up the paper ball, and threw it into the trash.
Mobius observed his nonchalant manner. Though he looked almost like an ordinary person, that move just now showed that the side effects of the Project Soldier surgery were still affecting him.
As Mobius had told Mei, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to bear Lin side effects. Physical discomfort was a minor issue; the psychological trauma was enough to alter a person's psyche.
But this man's resilience still exceeded her imagination. After experiencing all that, he could still settle down to adapt and practice...
It was truly annoying.
"Can't I come if there's nothing the matter?" she spat out suddenly, her tone like a sharp blade as she watched Lin reaction.
"If it's about the experiment, I can go now..."
Mobius impatiently interrupted him: "It's not about you. You are a failed experimental product. Why would I research you instead of the successful cases?"
"..."
"But there is still a need for post-operative adaptation data collection. Have you felt anything abnormal? For example, the phenomenon of seeing parallel universes or hearing nonsensical words—is that still happening?" Mobius found a topic nonetheless.
"No."
Since that day, Lin hadn't heard any strange words or seen any bizarre scenes. He would sleep until dawn as soon as he closed his eyes.
More accurately, however, he found it impossible to fall asleep.
Whenever he closed his eyes, his body—devoid of touch—would fall into a state where he couldn't even tell if he was awake. He could only close his eyes and sleep once his body felt tired enough to faint.
"That's good. Have you been taking the things I gave you on time?" Mobius didn't wait for Lin answer after asking. She took a medicine bottle out of her lab coat and placed it on the table. "From now on, take one every night before bed."
"...Alright."
Lin took the bottle. He glanced at the label, wanting to know the ingredients, but unfortunately, Mobius hadn't labeled them—as if she knew from the start that Lin would care about the composition.
"Your situation is quite special. Logically, when Project Soldier surgery fails, there are usually only two outcomes," Mobius said in a light tone, though her words were piercing. "Death, or a fate worse than death."
"..."
"Don't misunderstand. Your current situation doesn't count as the 'worse than death' category. Usually, if a failed subject doesn't die, they are consumed by massive amounts of Honkai energy and Project Soldier factors, turning into a Honkai beast. You didn't experience that; only side effects appeared."
After briefly stating the conclusions drawn from several days of research, Mobius said indifferently in a detached tone, "So, even if others don't care about a failure like you, I still have some interest in your condition. I had Mei cancel all your missions. Consider missions only after you've adapted to your current state."
"...I understand."
"Tch."
I understand, I understand, I understand.
Couldn't he change his tune? Every time he said he understood, it looked like one thing and sounded like one thing, but he never actually did what he said.
Truly infuriating.
But Mobius held it in. She hated Lin attitude, but she hated her own groundless frustration even more.
"Is there anything else?" As expected, Lin wanted to dismiss his guest. Mobius found herself stuck, unable to think of anything else to say.
"..."
"...If there's nothing else, please leave. I will come to the lab tomorrow."
Lin lowered his head, took out another piece of paper, and gripped the pen tightly with a trembling hand.
Mobius stared at his fingers, which were turning white from the grip, and let out a cold breath.
"Do you remember what you said before?"
"..."
Lin looked up in confusion, seemingly asking Mobius with his eyes.
"Heh, you forgot, didn't you?" Mobius sneered. "Didn't you say you could cook the cuisine of fourteen nations? What, I've only eaten a few, and you're already at your wit's end? Are you planning to gloss this over?"
"...I have no sense of taste right now."
Mobius eye twitched slightly, but she quickly suppressed that unidentifiable feeling and continued coldly: "No sense of taste is your excuse? I remember you said before that everything of yours belongs to me. Then you shouldn't have any excuses to refuse."
"..."
Lin didn't understand why Mobius was forcing him to cook. Now that he had no sense of taste and no sense of touch, he couldn't tell how much seasoning to add. He couldn't grip the knife properly to chop vegetables, and he couldn't even use color to judge if certain dishes were cooked.
Perhaps he was never proud of his culinary skills, but now, he couldn't cook anything at all.
Just like some things lost from his heart.
"Now, go to the kitchen and cook immediately. From today on, I must have lunch and dinner every day," Mobius commanded mercilessly. "And don't think you can just give me anything because you lost your sense of taste. My tongue is still perfectly fine."
"..."
There was no choice; Lin could only put down his pen and paper and head to the kitchen.
Mobius followed him all the way there. Lin glanced at her but said nothing.
She watched Lin open the refrigerator, take out some meat and vegetables, and place them on the cutting board. He hesitated for a moment when picking up the kitchen knife, then his hand shook as he gripped the handle.
"...Sorry, can you help me hold the food down?" he turned and said to Mobius.
If both hands couldn't be controlled, then what was sliced would only be a messy pile.
"Tch, how troublesome."
Mobius frowned but didn't say much. She stepped forward and held the vegetables down for him.
"Watch your hand, I..."
Lin was afraid of cutting Mobius hand, but she interrupted him directly: "Stop talking and just cut."
So, after another look at the cold-faced Mobius, Lin began to chop the vegetables with extreme care.