I am a hero of the former civilization.

Do you find it funny when I'm angry?

"No, I've followed you for many years, and this is the first time I've seen you get angry over something other than research and funding. No, to be precise, you got angry over a person. I feel like you've changed a bit."

Mebius was taken aback. She herself hadn't realized that when the topic was brought up, she momentarily showed an expression of agreement, but the expression vanished in an instant, and she returned to her usual aloofness.

"That's not true, you're just imagining things, forget about it quickly."

She rubbed her chin, feeling that something was wrong, but no matter how she analyzed it, her brilliant mind couldn't come up with a result; instead, the more she thought about it, the more confused she became.

Besides researching difficult problems, I also have damned funding, and yet I'm emotionally affected by one person... How is that possible?

He's just a guinea pig. If I were to take pity on him, I could make him my assistant.

My emerald eyes turned completely cold; this was a detestable negative emotion that would hinder my research into evolution. All I needed was absolute calm and rationality.

Blanca sighed, knowing that the Doctor had fallen into his old habit again. He clearly longed for understanding people and partners to walk alongside him on the path of ideals, yet he insisted on categorizing these deep-seated thoughts as something like his inherent flaws.

Knowing that persuasion was useless, she simply pressed her earpiece: "Doctor, breaking news, Dr. Ryan is already on his way back."

what?

Mebius's aloof expression melted away instantly, revealing a hint of joy. He strode out, but turned back at the door, giving his assistant a cold look.

"Don't overthink it, I'm going to settle accounts with him!"

Blanca gave an OK sign, and after the figure disappeared, she covered her mouth again.

Doctors can be quite interesting sometimes...

......

"So, how about fighting alongside me?"

Ryan sat at the cabin door, arms crossed, watching the city of Changkong rushing past below. The ground was still bustling with traffic, and some military enthusiasts were taking pictures of the helicopters in the air with their DSLR cameras.

"I just want to go back, take a good shower, and get a nice good night's sleep." Kevin hugged his gun and lowered his head.

He was covered in filth and smelly clothes, and his beard hadn't been shaved in a long time, making him look much older.

In seven days, he swept across most of Japan, and his teammates changed several times. He couldn't even remember how many Honkai Beasts and zombies he had killed.

“I understand Major Himiko’s thoughts now. The Honkai can’t be completely wiped out, and people’s energy is limited. Fortunately, these disasters are in the wilderness, mostly in remote forests.”

"That's for now. Don't think that far ahead. Just remember that we rescued more than two hundred survivors and think about their gratitude to you."

Kevin paused for a moment, then smiled genuinely: "Yeah, you're right."

Ryan was happy for him for a moment when he saw how easily this guy was satisfied, but calming down, he realized that it would not help him personally.

There aren't that many Emperor-level Honkai Beasts; most are just a few cannon fodder. Only when encountering a medium-sized Honkai Beast can Ryan gain some advantage.

'Since I'm just killing time anyway, I might as well take what I can get. Plus, I got to practice energy shaping in combat. This thing is a piece of cake against ordinary Honkai Beasts, and... how should I put it... I feel a little satisfied?'

Ryan took a deep breath and finally understood why being a hero was so addictive. Fortunately, he was rational by nature and put these boring glories behind him.

It's almost time...

After glancing at the distant military base, he had another thought: to avoid Mebius. While he could at least get some scraps outside, staying by that woman's side was clearly like taking out a loan to work, becoming a data entry tool.

I've already done right by confiscating the money from the Far East branch. Plus, this collaboration went quite well, which will make things easier within the Firemoth organization in the future, as long as those other bastards don't use this opportunity to mess with me.

Ryan remained expressionless as he listened to Kevin's snoring.

He had no intention of getting involved in power struggles, as long as these people didn't get in his way.

As for his next steps, Ryan had already thought them through. He had no intention of becoming a free tool for the Far East Branch, nor did he want to conduct research on the Mu Continent.

"It's time to go to Canghai City, but before we go, we need to get our wages back."

The helicopter began to circle, and Ryan, who was deep in thought, frowned and saw two familiar figures next to the helipad.

The wind whipped by the oars ruffled her long hair and white coat as May and Möbius stood together, staring at each other expressionlessly.

"You haven't finished your imaginary number detection project yet, have you? How come you have time to go for a walk?"

"You haven't even finished that fusion experiment, and you have the nerve to ask me?" Mei glanced at her and warned in a deep voice, "Don't lay a hand on Kevin. Don't think I don't know who the first successful sample came from."

When Ryan was conducting the fusion cell experiment, due to trial and error, only the last one was successful immediately. Möbius only said that it came from someone on the Mu Continent.

"I see. You didn't want me to catch your boyfriend, so you're being so helpful. I forgot, Kevin doesn't have any connections. If I applied to the higher-ups to have him be the guinea pig..."

Mebius suddenly shut her mouth. She sensed a terrifying aura emanating from the woman beside her, and her eyes darted around.

"Don't worry, Kevin doesn't have any connections up there, but he's not someone you can mess with. For example, there's a future director of the First Research Institute, and another powerful man that I can't even understand."

"You're actually that wary of Ryan?" May turned her head in surprise. In her mind, no one could control Möbius.

"I wouldn't say I was afraid, it was just a very contradictory feeling. I wanted to put him on the operating table, but I couldn't do it and I felt it was a pity. If I angered him, I would feel very unwilling. It was just this kind of contradictory emotion."

Mebius sighed deeply, watching the approaching helicopter, then rubbed his forehead and glanced to the side, seeing Mei pinching his chin, looking very focused.

"What are you thinking? I told you I wouldn't lay a hand on your boyfriend."

“I’m not thinking about you.” Mei maintained her wise demeanor and slowly raised her head: “I seem to have some clue about this contradictory emotion, both disdainful and unwilling.”

"Oh? Quantum mechanics studies these things too? Tell me about it." Möbius looked at me as if I was about to retort.

“It has nothing to do with that. It’s just that I’ve had the same thought before, which is whether there’s a possibility—” Mei looked at Möbius with a strange look, making the latter feel uneasy all over. He tentatively opened his mouth as if he were defending a thesis.

"You've started to like him?"

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Brainless and the Unhappy

Amidst the whooshing sound of oars, Möbius fully displayed his admirable quality of making bold conjectures. Fortunately, Möbius was no ordinary person, unlike a naive young girl who would jump three feet high in the air.

The strange expression on her face froze for a moment. At first, she seemed not to understand what Mei was saying, then she instinctively wanted to open her mouth to refute, and finally she fell into deep thought.

A seasoned scientist would naturally think carefully when faced with a problem, but she couldn't find an answer no matter how hard she tried.

"I just feel like he's been promoted from guinea pig to a more useful person. This change comes from his value. Ryan can indeed help me with a lot of things, although he sometimes makes me angry, but overall we get along quite well. You see—"

Mebius extended his long index finger and counted them one by one: "He's well-educated, helpful in research, understands my ideals, provides great value, and can even be a bodyguard and hunt for materials for me. He's practically a perfect tool."

"A tool? So you're planning to squeeze every last drop of value out of it and then discard it?"

"I can't bear to part with it. It feels like a treasure trove that I can never fully exploit. I even have a feeling that if I keep clinging to him, I can reach the final step."

Mebius suddenly became interested, and watched as Mebius silently shook his head. This was indeed familiar; he thought he could solve all problems with reason.

"That's why I specifically emphasized 'a little bit'."

"Say what you will, all I'm worried about right now is that this guy is out of control. I need to figure out a way to deal with him." Möbius said dismissively, lightly tossing his long hair. "So don't use your experiences to judge me. I'm not like you mortals."

Different? I guess you're just not as stubborn. Who would care about a tool every day? And who would rush to the command post to watch when they heard that Ryan and Adeddo were at war?

If you put your heart into a tool, it can no longer be considered a tool.

Mei's lips curled into a slight smile. She didn't want to argue with this woman, so she simply said, "If one day, when you are in despair, sad, or extremely excited, the first person you think of is him, then come back and think about this question."

What does that represent?

Mebius's smile froze. Before he could even delve deeper into the topic, the helicopter had already landed on the ground.

Ryan was the first to jump out of the hatch and saw Mebius and May chatting not far away. Both were equally intelligent and beautiful, with long flowing hair and black stockings and leather shoes. The two of them attracted a lot of attention just by standing there.

"How come you two are on such good terms?" Ryan went up to her, focusing his gaze more on Möbius. "If you two could work together fully, it would be a blessing for humanity."

"Whoever was close to her just happened to run into her; she was picking up her boyfriend."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Ryan asked casually, and Mebius froze on the spot, realizing a problem he had overlooked.

Yeah, what am I here for?

Mei came to greet her boyfriend. Why would I run up here instead of being busy with my experiments? I know this bastard is very shrewd, and even if I try to please him, it will be completely useless. So what am I doing here?

"You're crazy." Ryan snorted irritably when he saw Mebius staring blankly, then looked at the tall girl next to him. "Kevin, I brought you back safe and sound. He looks terrible, but he wasn't seriously injured. Take a good rest, and he'll be back to his old self soon."

May had already seen Kevin, who was leaning against the hatch, which made her heart jump. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Ryan's words.

"Thank you. I also hope he grows up quickly; time is running out."

"Have you made a breakthrough in your research?"

"It was a small step. I consulted the classified papers of the Fire Moth and then observed the imaginary space with a particle collider. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, it was still worthwhile."

Ryan nodded with some annoyance. These days he had been acting as a tool and a hunter, and had no time to do the research he was best at.

"So what did you see?"

"An infinitely large space, an immeasurable amount of energy, but according to my calculations, this space seems to be clearly divided, just like positive and negative poles, intertwined yet mutually repelling."

Trees and the sea?

The two words immediately popped into Ryan's mind, but he knew now was not the time to talk about them.

Mei could only guess through calculations; she couldn't even reach the point of observation, let alone witness it firsthand.

"Send the calculation results to my encrypted email address. I'll take a look when I have time." Seeing May give him an OK sign, Ryan shouted behind him, "Kevin, May's here to pick you up!"

Soon, the young man who had been snoring suddenly jolted awake, sat up abruptly, turned his head, and saw his girlfriend whom he had been longing for. His face immediately lit up with joy, and Mei went to greet him.

The two held hands right next to the helicopter, gazing at each other tenderly, as if they had countless things to say.

Hiccup~~~

Ryan suddenly felt full, but he was also happy for Kevin, because the latter had always been afraid of not being able to keep up with May's pace, and the gap between the two in terms of learning ability was too big.

But now Kevin has found his value; in the face of Honkai, warriors and scholars are equally important.

"Plum is like a scabbard. As long as she is still here, Kevin's sword may be cold, but it will never be obsessed."

Ryan smiled, then thought about where his scabbard was, and just then he caught a glimpse of Mebius out of the corner of his eye, and instantly felt an urge to slap himself.

This woman isn't a scabbard; she's clearly a heartless capitalist, the kind that's always there like a streetlight.

"So you came here specifically to get some fresh air by the track?"

Mebius snapped out of his daze, his eyes darting around before he revealed a slightly sly smile: "No, I came to check if my lovely assistant is missing any limbs. If she's become a human stick, wouldn't I be able to take advantage of her?"

Ryan glanced at the other person up and down. She was a huge woman in black stockings with long, flowing hair. It was a pity she had an extra mouth, and her ability to speak in a sarcastic and sarcastic tone was truly impressive.

Looking at you reminds me of a joke.

"What joke?"