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

Mei began her speech, which consisted of nothing more than the vicious and wicked Herrscher of Knowledge lurking in the Fire Chaser Base, attempting to destroy humanity's outpost against the Honkai. However, in times of crisis, humanity always has resourceful and quick-witted warriors who uncover the Herrscher's plot and save the precarious base. Humanity did not even suffer any casualties in this battle, which was a huge victory against the Honkai, and we should feel incredibly honored and proud of it, blah blah blah.

Indeed, this is true. Although the immense power that the Herrscher of Knowledge could not counter cast a shadow over people's minds, most people are now immersed in the joy of defeating the Herrscher of Knowledge without taking any damage, thanks to Mei's gentle and detailed explanation.

However, the Fusion Warriors were thinking about other things.

"Mébius deserves the most credit, but she doesn't care about that. Today's star performer will definitely be the baby, right?"

"Oh my god, what a waste! He doesn't need military merit or money. He's wasting all this incredible achievement... If we had that credit, I'd dare to challenge Kevin!"

Chapter 49 Where else could the Holy Mark be if not on the waist...?

"Are you kidding me? Eve has never needed military merits. He's the darling of the Infinite Experimentation Laboratory. He was born to be the most beloved. You and I can't compare."

"You want to be a guinea pig? It's hard to say whether the higher-ups even consider that child a person. He's just an artificial human. Who would really care about his child?"

"Hey, have you heard? Among the earliest batches of fusion warriors, that guy named Kosmo... his girlfriend went out with Eve for half a month, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He violated the rules to communicate with her, which directly caused Eve, Paddo, and his girlfriend to fall into a deep sleep."

"That's nonsense. Kosmo is a very composed person. Would he violate base regulations? Besides, has Dobia admitted to being his girlfriend? Would he have tipped her off?"

"Who knows? But anyway, haven't they always been seen as more than friends by others? I wouldn't stand it if my girlfriend went on a trip with another man, but... but that's Eve! Eve is still so young... I don't understand why he's in such a hurry?"

"Indeed, although I don't particularly like androids, Möbius is quite skilled at manipulating genes. Eve is prettier than almost all the girls in the base. Rather than worrying about Eve having designs on his girlfriend, I think we should be more worried about his girlfriend having designs on Eve, right?"

"You seem to be biased towards the baby in your words. What, is it because that little one is so pretty that you're mistaking her for a girl?"

"Almost... Hahahaha..."

……

Kosmo was standing in the crowd at the edge of the playground, sitting at a long table laden with various cooked foods. He didn't really want to get close to the viewing platform; this spot was at the edge of the crowd and didn't attract much attention.

Sitting next to him was Qianjie, who skillfully cut steak, and Su, who was pouring wine for herself. The group were all fairly familiar colleagues at the base. A seat was left for them, and Kevin would come down to eat meat with them after Mei finished her speech.

At this moment, Qianjie patted his shoulder, roughly handed him a large piece of boneless leg meat, and sneered, "Why the gloomy expression? I didn't expect you to be jealous of a child."

Kosmo said in a low voice, "I'm not in the mood to eat."

He knew very well that in other people's eyes, Eve would always be that little one who had been watched grow up, innocent, pure, and ignorant. But perhaps he was still ignorant, while the girls who had raised him had long been impatient; beneath that seemingly delicate face had already been transformed into a little tiger ready to devour its prey.

“May is only punishing you with fifteen months’ salary and three months of fieldwork, that’s nothing.” Sue tapped the table and said calmly, “Kosmo, May’s orders must be obeyed. This time you disobeyed May’s orders and almost caused the deaths of three colleagues. I know you’re in a bad mood right now, but what needs to be said must be said: you made a mistake.”

Kosmo hummed in agreement, offering no rebuttal. Rather, it was more accurate to say that upon waking and learning of the Herrscher of Knowledge's abilities, he was already filled with regret.

Just then, he heard a familiar laugh. He subconsciously looked up and saw Desdovia, who was arm in arm with Paddy, wearing a similarly beautiful evening gown, walking towards him, chatting and laughing.

Then the two looked at each other, and both Daisy Dobia and he were taken aback.

Immediately afterward, Desdovia's expression turned cold, and Kosmo, who was about to speak, froze on his face upon seeing the change in her expression.

Qian Jie, standing to the side, adjusted his mask. He had no experience in dealing with this kind of thing, so he could only snort and continue cutting his steak.

Immediately afterwards, the two girls walked past them as if they hadn't seen them, their high heels making a crisp sound on the wooden ground of the playground.

"It seems like we're being disliked too now." Qianjie threw down his knife, hugged his chest helplessly, and glanced at Kosmo. "Go after her! If you really like her, go after her! She could pursue you back then, so why can't you pursue her now?"

"Are you stupid?" Kosmo downed his drink in one gulp. "They went to the free medical ward, which is where Eve is. Am I supposed to go and watch her please the dolls?"

"You don't really think Doll and Dobia have anything to do with each other, do you? They're more than ten years apart!" Qianjie laughed. "In my experience, Dobia is just being stubborn with you. You just need to be shameless and you can win her back. Trust me, I've seen it all before!"

Kosmo sighed deeply.

—If you don't know anything, don't spout nonsense, okay? This is my first time experiencing heartbreak.

However, he was powerless to do anything about it; he didn't want to break his promise to Dobia. Besides, it wasn't that the doll had stolen his girlfriend. He knew Eve very well and knew that the child wouldn't do anything proactively; most likely, Dobia had simply given up on him out of disappointment and pursued someone else.

If he had realized this sooner, things might have been very different.

However, despite the logic, Kosmo was still feeling annoyed. He stared at Desdobia's back and suddenly his eyes narrowed slightly.

The blonde girl's waist was slit with straps on both sides, revealing her alluring and fair side waist, which was decorated with bright red and intricate patterns.

A scale.

Kosmo didn't know what the scales meant, but he knew that Desdovia was actually a girl with a rather rough and rugged temperament. She didn't like art or painting, and even though she gave him a harmonica, she couldn't play it herself, let alone get tattoos.

Her combat suit's ventilation vents often exposed her waist, and Kosmo knew that she didn't have such vibrant patterns on her clothes before her trip with Eve.

—Nothing else so vividly and domineeringly asserts its sovereignty amidst pure whiteness.

If it wasn't a mark she left herself, then there's only one possibility, Kosmo said with a wry smile.

—I really should have given up.

Kosmo thought to himself, looking in the direction Desdobia had gone. It was a medical station, and Eve was sitting in that tent. Although he was a major contributor, he was clearly much busier now, surrounded by three little girls he'd known since childhood: Danzhu, Cangxuan, and Klein. Kosmo guessed that the reason the tent was surrounded by people was probably because the doctor was Eve… his popularity among the girls of the Flame Chaser far exceeded that of the boys.

Even among men, Eve is quite popular. Last month, in the ranking of the most beautiful girls in the Fire Moth region, Eve ranked at the top in almost seven regions because she does not belong to any one category. She even surpassed Mei to take the first place in region A, where the most people have contact with dolls. It is worth mentioning that the second place was not Mei, but Xu Sheng, a game character that was popular many years ago.

Neither of the first nor the second district beauties are pretty girls, which shows the extent of the distorted orientation of the Fire Chaser Base.

Kosmo raised his glass to drown his sorrows again, but because he was in a terrible mood, he glanced at Qianjie next to him and said coldly, "With your experience? What experience do you have to speak of? Someone graduated from the Poison Chrysalis unit and became a Fusion Warrior. Three years have passed and you haven't even met him more than a few times. It's hard to say whether he even remembers a colleague named Qianjie."

"Huh?" Qianjie slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "I may not have had a chance to run into Sakura, but if I did, I wouldn't be as stupid as you! I have my own reasons..."

"You want to confess your feelings?" Su laughed.

"As expected, you're all more and more repulsive than the last! Isn't having wine enough? Shut your mouths!" Qianjie said angrily.

Kosmo smiled slightly, and seeing Qianjie burning with anger but having nowhere to vent it, he immediately felt at peace.

------

At this moment, Shen Liang was providing treatment to a steady stream of injured people.

The Black Abyss White Flower hasn't been completed yet, so Shen Liang is currently assisting Danzhu and Cangxuan in receiving patients. Although the three sisters, Danzhu, Cangxuan, and Klein, are all quite young and address him as their siblings, they are all students and assistants of Mebius.

As students of Möbius, a leading figure in the biology department, all three of them also possessed considerable medical skills, while Shen Liang could probably only work as a nurse. This wasn't because Shen Liang hadn't studied enough, but rather because he had only lived at the Fire Chaser Base for three years.

Subtracting the growth period from the three years, he only absorbed knowledge for about two years. Although the android's various genetic adjustments are close to human perfection, intelligence cannot be adjusted through genes. Shen Liang's knowledge is far inferior to most people in the base.

But probably because he was there, more wounded people came to this tent than to the other tents.

Then Mei took the stage and began her speech. Shen Liang finally had a chance to rest, took off his mask, and came out of the tent to listen to Mei's speech.

As she spoke of the bravery of many base soldiers in the face of disaster, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience with each incident she mentioned, creating a wonderful atmosphere.

"Dr. Mei looks so beautiful in that outfit. I wish we could have figures like that someday." Danzhu gazed enviously at the distant viewing platform. "With Mei's current popularity, she'll probably become the base's strategic commander soon, right?"

“It seems our Dr. Mebius doesn’t have much of a chance.” Cang Xuan nodded.

"After all, their reputations are worlds apart. Dr. Mei is beautiful, mature, and handles herself with great order. Our boss, on the other hand, is an evil little girl who likes to conduct human experiments. She's not someone we can trust at all."

Shen Liang didn't care who was the boss. He turned to look at Daisy Dobia and Paddo who were coming over. The two girls, who considered themselves pets, were wearing evening gowns and high heels, which didn't suit them. They walked unsteadily.

"Um, doll, I have a problem." Desdovia blushed slightly as she pulled open the slit at her waist and whispered, "It's just that, could you... move that stigmata somewhere else? It's really inconvenient to have it on my waist. For example, I can't wear a lot of crop tops or tank tops anymore."

Danzhu and Cangxuan, the two little guys, both said "Oh" at the same time, their tones changing in a playful way.

"Is it that powerful?" Cang Xuan asked.

"You've really abandoned Brother Kosmo, haven't you, Sister Dobia?" Danzhu grinned mischievously. "Poor Brother Kosmo."

"What do you mean by abandoning us? We were never really together, okay?" Desdobia still stuck to her principles, then glared at the two sisters with resentment. "I know that this Stigmata Mark was created by the Infinite Experimentation Institute at Alicia's request. You two must have been involved too!"

Two petite women in cheongsams with long, straight black hair whistled, pretending not to hear.

“I don’t understand this, but if the holy mark has already formed, I guess it’s something like a birthmark, and it’s not easy to erase,” Shen Liang said seriously.

"Of course it's not easy. If it were easy, how would we deter those who simply have designs on the dolls!" Danzhu exclaimed. "It's precisely because the price is so heavy that it proves our love for the dolls."

“But this thing is really embarrassing, you know…” Desdovia said irritably. “It’s not that your plan is bad, but the problem is, it’s pinned to the waist. Wouldn’t it be better to pin it somewhere else? Like, for example, Paddo…”

"Mine's on my back," the cat said proudly, twisting its waist to show Shen Liang its back. "Look, look, baby, I deliberately showed the Holy Mark so that anyone who knows the inside story will know I'm your cat!"

Desdobia was deflated.

Actually, Pado's location is relatively secluded, but Pado is not one to hide herself at all. Not to mention the backless dress she's wearing now, she usually just wears a cool strapless tank top, exposing large sections of her back.

Not only did she not conceal her stigmata, she also proudly showed them off to everyone!

It must be said that when it comes to being a pet, she certainly doesn't have the same level of awareness as Pado.

"Besides, where do you think it would be appropriate to move the Holy Mark to? According to your idea?" Cang Xuan tilted his head and asked calmly, "Sister Dobia, on her back?"

"No, no, no, then I can't wear a lot of backless clothes..."

"Thigh? Calf? Arm?"

"What's the difference between that and a tattoo..."

Cang Xuan shrugged. "So, there aren't really any good places to generate Holy Marks anyway. They're usually random. We just set it so that they can't be generated on the limbs or face to avoid them being too easily detected."

"Is there really no place where I would be absolutely not discovered while dressed in everyday clothes?" Daisy Dobia was still unwilling to give up.

"No."

She stared at the two little girls in white cheongsams with disbelief, thought for a while, then suddenly became alert and snorted: "Heh, that's not right, where are your two holy marks?"

Des Dobiya was extremely suspicious. Danzhu Cangxuan's moon-white, hip-length cheongsam didn't cover much of her body, and the two little ones' relationship with Shen Liang was already common knowledge. Everyone in the girls' group knew that these two little darlings, who were on equal footing with Shen Liang, could be considered childhood sweethearts or even child brides... They had a huge advantage over Des Dobiya.

"hey-hey."

The two sisters laughed together.

“We are indeed not easily exposed by our everyday clothing.” Danzhu tilted her head.

"But are you sure you want to be like us?" Cang Xuan tilted his head.