Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

This statement was met with another round of envious, jealous, and hateful howls.

Desdobia was thinking the same thing at that moment.

If Pado, as a pet cat, can successfully rise to power, then I can definitely do it too.

Wait until he grows up... Hmph, the women at the Fire Chaser Base are all impatient, who can wait until he grows up?

Before you, my little philandering cat, are excitedly anticipating that solemn and beautiful wedding, all of us will steal your little male cat and play with him to our hearts' content!

--------

More than half an hour later, Shen Liang and his group returned to the Infinite Laboratory and went directly to the Fusion Warrior Ability Testing Room.

Mebius has activated all the monitoring devices in the room. Not only are there devices that monitor Honkai energy reactions, but also various other monitoring devices that monitor temperature, sound waves, gravity, and special gravitational forces. This place is usually used to test the abilities of fused warriors after they have been successfully fused, but now it is being used to prepare the formula for Shen Liang.

Shen Liang, wearing a bodysuit filled with sensors and far-sightedness devices, walked into the testing room. The room's transparent bulletproof glass was lowered, and Mei, Möbius, and other guardians stood outside.

Danzhu, a teenage girl with long, straight black hair, grinned as she tried to insert a plug into the neural monitoring port on his head. However, Danzhu was half a head shorter than Shen Liang, so she couldn't reach the top of his head. She patted his shoulder and said, suppressing a laugh, "Squat down!"

Shen Liang frowned and squatted down.

Danzhu laughed even more mischievously, deliberately poking the plug at his head while whispering, "Ah, no~ Ah, it won't go in~ No, no~ Ah, it's in~"

Shen Liang was speechless.

Mebius, who was watching from outside, knocked on the glass. "Stop playing around. You sisters can do whatever you want in a couple of days. Now, let's get to work."

Danzhu pouted, stood on tiptoe, and tapped the plug into the interface on Shen Liang's head, still reluctant to let go.

"Hey! Be sure to cooperate properly during the experiment, and don't plug it in by yourself."

"I know, Sister Danzhu, you've been talking a lot of nonsense today."

"Hehe, this plug won't be pulled out until you, the doll, are broken."

"Sister Danzhu, you really talk too much nonsense!"

Chapter Forty-Eight: It's time to reward those who have contributed.

Everyone left the testing room and gathered around the glass wall to look at Shen Liang, who was standing alone inside.

Shen Liang gestured to indicate that he was fully prepared.

Mei rested her chin on her hand and carefully examined Shen Liang, who was dressed in a silver-gray bodysuit. After a long while, she turned to look at Mebius next to her and whispered, "When dressing dolls in bodysuits in the future, try to use looser ones. Don't make them fit the skin completely. It's not good to outline all the lines."

The bodysuit fit the boy's body perfectly. Although he was slender and less than 1.5 meters tall, the more delicate and petite he was, the more certain parts of his body, visible through his lines, made one's face flush.

"This shows I've done a great job raising her," Alicia laughed lightly. "Healthy, beautiful, and full of energy... I suddenly understand why boys care so much about girls wearing stockings. It's that feeling of clearly seeing the curves of her body... umm, a little sexy~ Dolls like this are definitely a gift from God, and they will fulfill our expectations no matter what~"

“But his genes have been modified, Miss Alicia, so he’ll probably have adolescence that lasts for more than a decade,” Möbius said sarcastically.

"It doesn't matter. Even if the doll is always a pure and innocent boy like a new sprout, I, the lovely Lishia, will always be a beautiful and lovely girl like a flower."

"I'm truly fed up with your shameless narcissism," Mebius couldn't take it anymore and announced over the intercom, "The test is now beginning. Activate your Herrscher cores one by one, using your gentlest output."

“Okay.” Shen Liang said, and began to activate the First Herrscher Core.

Beside her, Vilvi's eyes shone as she watched the gradually forming afterimage.

A golden cube-shaped Rubik's Cube emitted a dazzling light, then suddenly shattered, forming a semi-transparent circular wall surrounding Shen Liang in front of everyone.

The wall looked infinitely high up and infinitely deep down, with countless empty spaces on it.

Shen Liang stared blankly at the wall of nothingness surrounding him. He could feel the Honkai energy within him slowly dissipating, which meant that the core of the Herrscher of Reason was indeed functioning.

The onlookers, including Möbius, also sounded puzzled: "This... the ability has been activated? What's the effect? ​​The various detection devices haven't changed at all?"

At this moment, Velvet suddenly realized and punched her palm: "This is not a wall, it's a bookshelf! One of the powers of this Herrscher core is to store knowledge and information! The Herrscher of Reason can analyze and copy everything, which means that the Herrscher core can analyze the information of things and store it here!"

Shen Liang glanced at Mebius, who habitually wore a black, openwork dress with a slit. He casually transformed the Herrscher Core into the shape of the dress.

“Mimicry? My skirt has a shape-shifting function. Because of my ‘snake molt,’ I grow very quickly, and the skirt changes shape according to my body size.” Möbius studied it for a while.

The leather dress in Shen Liang's hand has also undergone nano-stretching.

"It's not just about copying appearances?" Velvi exclaimed in surprise. "As expected of the Herrscher of Reason's core, which possesses the ability to copy pheromones, once I materialize it so that everyone can use it, I'll name it 'Void Treasury'!"

Immediately afterwards, the second Herrscher Core was also put into trial use.

Secondly, the core phantom of the Herrscher of the Void resembles a train engine, and its estimated abilities include spatial travel and connecting to the "imaginary space" where Honkai energy resides. After taking a picture, Velvet named it "Thousand Worlds One Ride".

Thirdly, the core phantom of the Herrscher of Thunder is a gun, and it can transform into different forms. Units hit by it will be decomposed into atomic states. It is the most powerful single-target attack from a Divine Key, and it is named "Seven Thunders of Purification".

And so on, all the way up to the eighth, the core of the Law of Knowledge, "Feather Crossing the Dust".

The form of each Herrscher core was recorded, and research and development would be carried out according to the form provided by Shen Liang. Each Divine Key has different abilities, and even the abilities of the Divine Keys themselves are not singular.

The power of the Divine Keys is estimated to surpass that of the Fusion Warriors themselves, as they are ultimately the source of the Herrscher's power. High-damage Divine Keys such as the Herrscher of Thunder's core "Seven Thunders of Purification" and the Herrscher of Flame's core "Judgment of Heavenly Fire" will be equipped to Fusion Warriors with exceptional strength, such as Kevin. Even Divine Keys that are not used in direct combat have extremely high research value and are entirely managed by the Fire Chaser Base.

In the end, Shen Liang was left with only half a Herrscher core.

The only one judged to be completely harmless, possessing only the ability to "create" but not "decompose," the core of the Herrscher of Death wields the healing aspect. This "white flower" was named "Black Abyss White Flower" by Velvet.

“I’m sorry, Doll. Although you extracted all the Herrscher Cores, we really can’t entrust such dangerous things to you. The Fire Chaser Council will not allow us to trust you too much,” Mei said apologetically. “As you know, your current clearance is only B, and you can’t even access high-level items like the Divine Key. Leaving you the safest Divine Key is the only thing we can do.”

Shen Liang glanced at the guardians, whose eyes were somewhat unfocused, and felt more or less ashamed. Many of them looked away.

In Mei's eyes, they always felt like they had snatched away a child's favorite toy... These Herrscher Cores were essentially taken away by Shen Liang because they were compatible with his genes. For him, losing a Herrscher Core felt almost the same as the Herrschers losing their Herrscher Cores.

Those who wield power must relinquish it; in fact, even Mei wasn't confident she could get Shen Liang to hand over the entire Herrscher core within him. The reason so many people came today was because they feared he might lose himself in the euphoria of obtaining the power of eight Herrschers and thus refuse.

Even with the weakened power of the eight Herrschers, his resistance is enough to make people nervous... But Mei is not worried about Shen Liang getting lost in the Honkai; she is only worried about Shen Liang getting lost in the power.

But Shen Liang actually handed over all the Herrscher cores so obediently...

This feeling of shame and suspicion towards their own child immediately gripped the hearts of Mei and the others.

Shen Liang knew what they were thinking, but he didn't really care about the Herrscher core; power wasn't important to him. Or rather, as a "son of man," his responsibility was never to fight on the front lines.

There are plenty of people who want to live that kind of life; Kevin Chika or even Yae Sakura Mebius could do it. What he needs to do is something else...

What needs to be done is...

Ok.

Shen Liang didn't really know what he was striving for in his life. He simply felt that his current life was fine as it remained unchanged. If the Fire Chasing Base needed him to do something, he would cooperate. He didn't crave rebellion or power; he just wanted to quietly be his "Son of Man," and he didn't care what kind of person the Son of Man project wanted to cultivate.

It would be enough if things just continued like this, unchanged. The huge Fire Chasing Base housed many, many people, who took turns living in different guardian dormitories. Every day, besides accompanying Möbius to work at the Infinite Laboratory, they would accompany Velvi to test explosives in the alchemy workshop. After get off work, they would play basketball or work out with Kevin Qianjie or Su and others. In the evening, they would check the duty roster to see if they should go to Alicia and Eden's Golden Garden, return to the dormitory to accompany Yingyi, or stay at the laboratory.

Staying in the lab was the worst thing, because Mebius didn't sleep at night. Most of the time, he had to keep Klein or Danzhu Cangxuan company, two quirky little devils. Although the little devils weren't very physically fit, they had a lot of creative ideas and were outgoing peers. They often used equipment and drugs to help him, which made him a little hesitant.

He grew up at the Fire Chaser Base and came of age there.

Everyone he knew was here, friends and lovers alike. This unchanging life was the best life he could have. His loved ones were by his side every day, and his best friends lived just across the street. His world was only this big; he didn't crave much change.

Passing through the years peacefully.

Eve, still a child, never understood that the world changes, and that all traceable happiness is merely a castle built by adults for children. In the end, everyone will leave, leaving you behind.

--------

Shen Liang walked out of the testing room with half a core in his hand and handed it to Wilvie.

Velvi promised to first materialize the Black Abyss White Flower, the core of the Herrscher of Death, so that he would also have his own exclusive weapon. However, Shen Liang didn't think that the White Flower, which could only heal, had any value as a weapon. It was even inferior to ordinary Soul Steel weapons, at least Soul Steel weapons could block the flow of Honkai energy.

However, the other girls had different opinions about Baihua's "creation" power.

Pado said, "This weapon is not very useful in combat, since you might not even get hurt if you don't use it. But for logistics, the ability to heal unconditionally is great. It's more effective than any medical equipment."

"It's precisely because it's so precious that you think it's best to give it to someone? Powerful fusion warriors are better suited to powerful weapons. As for logistics, what kind of logistics can keep up with fusion warriors?" Mebius shrugged. "Using fusion warriors as logistics would be too extravagant. Moreover, based on current analysis, there are very few people who can adapt to the Divine Key. The vast majority rely on their powerful strength to forcibly suppress the Divine Key. Apart from the doll itself, there are very few people who can wield the Black Abyss White Flower."

“But if you give it to a doll, it’s actually the best of both worlds,” Eden said gently. “Think about it, what do most people who like dolls actually like?”

The women exchanged glances.

“Ah, you mean…” Pado suddenly realized.

Mebius's expression was similar, and he narrowed his eyes: "Not bad, it's a good idea. Most of the fusion warriors and researchers who volunteer use dolls for emotional comfort, which is roughly equivalent to toys that bring them joy and happiness."

"I am not a toy," Shen Liang denied outright.

“Not for you,” Mebius said, standing on tiptoe to pat his head and comforting him before continuing, “but usually it can only soothe the mind, while the body mostly just enjoys relaxation. With the White Flower, finding the dolls is not just about relaxation, but genuine healing. For example, those fusion warriors who have made great contributions in field operations will definitely suffer various injuries. In this case, using the dolls as a reward is a double treatment for both mind and body, and everyone is very happy.”

"I am not a toy!" Shen Liang emphasized loudly.

Vilvi continued to stroke his smooth, long black hair perfunctorily, her tone equally dismissive: "Yes, yes, no, nobody said you are. They are your toys, they are your toys, okay?"

After thinking about it, Shen Liang finally gave up.

----------

Although the celebration party wasn't supposed to start until 8 p.m., by 6 p.m., all the members of the Fire Chaser organization who weren't working had gathered at the sports field.

The Fire Chaser Base has a huge population. In addition to fusion warriors and researchers, there are tens of thousands of other staff and service personnel. The entire Fire Chaser Base can basically be regarded as a super university town.

Only an open-air stadium could accommodate so many people, and May announced that a medical station had been set up there so that ordinary people who were injured but had not yet received treatment could receive unified treatment there.

Considering that many areas are not yet fully repaired, the cafeteria chefs have set up rows of long tables on the playground, laden with hot food and drinking water. The celebration banquet was originally scheduled for 8:00 PM, but many people have already started eating, and the chefs and waiters are busy turning over tables.

After all, it was a victory celebration to boost morale. To make the atmosphere of victory even stronger, the chefs even prepared dishes on the spot, slaughtering pigs and sheep on the chopping board. In Mei's words, fresh, hot, and even just-alive food is most likely to stimulate people's primal excitement and turn them away from feelings of defeat.

So, tempted by the delicious food and medical care, people quickly gathered, and by eight o'clock, the entire playground was packed with people.

At that moment, the music started, and under everyone's gaze, Dr. Mei, dressed in a pure black strapless evening gown, appeared gracefully on the viewing platform. Mei was a rare beauty; even the universally acknowledged handsome young man Eve inherited one-ninth of her looks. Most of the time, she wore white lab coats and uniforms, so this glamorous formal evening attire was something many people were seeing for the first time, and the venue immediately quieted down.

Kevin, dressed in a black suit, stood behind her for security. He wore sunglasses, trying to avoid being seen peeking at Mei's bare, white back beneath her evening gown, while a small thrill ran through him. He had never seen Mei so radiant before; the bespectacled, studious girl from university had blossomed into someone so dazzling.