Chapter 232: Mobius: You haven't kissed him yet, have you?

There is no need to say too much about what happened at the concert. Although Eden was happy about the arrival of her friends, she did not make any mistakes because of it. Rather, the joy in her heart made her singing more charming.

Everyone who came to listen enjoyed a visual and audio feast, and many careful people also felt the obvious joy in Eden's singing, the feeling that she wanted to show it to someone, which made people wonder if Eden's girlish heart was moved.

'...hiss...no way? That shouldn't be the case, right?'

Unfortunately, everyone's doubts could not be answered. They could only hear the familiar ending song and then saw Eden singing two more songs under the encouragement and cheers of fans. After that... the concert ended successfully.

The people who came to listen to the music left satisfied. This concert will become a topic of conversation among them. I believe that in the near future, there will be discussions about this concert on the Internet... These are already routine. As the brightest star in the world, people are always paying attention to Eden's singing.

But those were common things to Eden. What she... or they cared about more was the dinner tonight.

...

"You are indeed a big star."

Vill-V shook the wine glass in her hand, looked at the magnificent wine in it, and said with some emotion.

"She actually booked the entire place just to host us... She's really rich as expected."

"No wonder my brother was so partial to her before... It seems that he was really half-kept by Eden before."

"Would you like to hear what you're saying, Vill-V?"

Mobius supported her face with one hand and used the other hand to skewer the noodles on her plate with a fork, spinning it continuously, letting the noodles get tangled up on the fork one by one, but she had no intention of putting them into her mouth.

Obviously, she was not in a good mood for eating.

No... it's better to say that ever since leaving the "Fire Moth" and coming here with Nozomi, Mobius has not been in a very good mood. She is like a snake hibernating in her own nest and has no response to many things in the outside world.

"I'm telling the truth. Otherwise, how did he manage to get around in school and have extra money to deal with other things? Was it just because of those scholarships and church subsidies?"

Vill-V said casually.

"I even applied for several patents myself in order to reduce the burden on my family, so that I could have the start-up capital for subsequent business..."

"But my elder brother didn't care about this. He always kept his money at a level that was just enough for his daily life, just like what he learned before. He kept it at a level that was just enough for his daily life."

"Hmm... If you think about it this way, maybe [Brother] has already thought of a way out? After all, with his talent in music, he can debut with a little learning. Plus, with his relationship with Eden, he can become a star directly with a little effort."

"Did you come here just to show me how good the little one's relationship with her is?"

Mobius stopped her meaningless act of wrapping the pasta with her fork and shifted her gaze to Vill-V beside her.

"No, how could that be? To be honest, Brother is more concerned about that girl named Sakura."

Vill-V shrugged, tried to take a sip of the wine in the glass, smacked her lips, and after tasting it, Vill-V frowned.

"Tsk... As expected, I can't taste wine... Never mind, I'm not a fan of this anyway."

Putting the wine glass down casually, Vill-V continued.

"My brother's preference for her is always reflected in every aspect..."

"If you just want to come here and tell me how much the little guy likes them, then I think you can shut up now."

"No, I'm just curious..."

Vill-V adjusted her hat slightly and then asked with interest.

"Dr. Mobius, why are you not so anxious now? According to your personality, shouldn't you take the initiative to attack and declare your sovereignty?"

"That's probably something you would do, Vill-V, who is always worried that you might suddenly lose something."

Mobius countered calmly.

"...I don't deny that."

Vill-V's face darkened for a moment. She didn't feel good about being suddenly seen through... but then, she admitted it openly.

Why should she hide such a thing? After all... no matter what, she had an "advantage" over everyone present.

From the moment she gained her "memory," no matter what happened, the first person her brother would think of would be her.

The position she holds is unique and unshakable.

'The advantage lies in me!'

"What about you? Dr. Mobius, why are you sitting here so relaxed?"

Vill-V glanced at Nozomi, who was happily chatting with Eden and Sakura not far away, and even occasionally chatted with Eden's agent, Ms. Fidel, and asked softly.

"You're so nosy, Vill-V."

"As a younger sister, I should at least be concerned about my older brother's affairs, right?"

"Then you, as a [sister], are too nosy."

Mobius sneered, put down the fork in her hand, reached out for her wine glass, shook it gently, looked at the magnificent wine in it, took a sip, closed her eyes, and felt the sweet taste in her mouth before she spoke slowly.

"I just suddenly figured out some things."

She opened her snake-like pupils and looked towards Nozomi who was not far away... He seemed to be discussing something important with Eden and Eden's parents at the moment, with a serious look on his face, while Eden and the others had a look of surprise on their faces.

Even Eden's father didn't bother to maintain the expression of examining Nozomi. He just listened to Nozomi's story with a slightly surprised expression. Occasionally, he would ask a few questions in between, and finally fell into deep thought, as if he was thinking about the truthfulness of Nozomi's words.

"Like the little guy said before, if he really wanted to leave me, he would have left long ago."

"If he wanted to develop his talent in art, he could have chosen it a long time ago... when he first met Eden."

"If he really wanted to, he could use that wave of popularity to become an Internet celebrity. He could even use my fame to give himself a good label and gain more popularity."

"That might have made me very unhappy, but he got what he wanted. That level of popularity was more than enough to support his transformation."

"But he didn't."

Mobius leaned back in her chair, swirled her glass leisurely, and took another sip.

"If he hated me, if he was disgusted... no, if he simply disagreed with what I did, he would have left long ago when I handed over all the [miscellaneous tasks] to him."

"But he didn't."

"If he was more in agreement with his own ideas, or if his ideas differed from mine, he would have left on his own before your engineering department and those guys invited him."

"At that time, even I supported him in doing this. After all, at that time... Haha, I was also a fool."

With her eyes a little blurry, Mobius shook the wine glass in her hand.

"But he didn't."

He raised his glass and looked at the people not far away through the magnificent wine in the glass.

"He knew that the day's work would still be busy, and if there was even a slight mistake, his own schedule would be disrupted, and he would be burdened with even more heavy work."

"I knew that I was just being willful at the time, but when I think about it, it's a little funny that I was so old and still deliberately got angry with him because of this... I don't know if the little guy was about to laugh out loud at the time, or was troubled by my attitude."

"Obviously, even if he turned around and left, I wouldn't say anything. After all, this is my own problem."

"But..."

After drinking the wine in the glass, a blush quickly appeared on Mobius' face.

"He didn't."

"It's come to this, and I'm the one who got nervous in the end... That's underestimating our previous experience."

Mobius refilled her glass, her tone slightly hazy.

"You sound very confident... Dr. Mobius."

Vill-V raised her eyebrows, and there was a hint of sharpness in her words... and she always felt that Mobius' attitude seemed to have changed a little. Was it because of the wine?

"Be careful not to be overtaken on the curve, okay?"

"No, haha...you can't do it."

Mobius answered casually.

"After all, the little guy finally... chose me."

"I...have already eaten half of him."

"And the other half...will be mine too."

Mobius exuded a dangerous aura, like a snake protecting its [prey].

"Of course, more importantly... the little guy should have something to do, right, Vill-V?"

Mobius turned her gaze towards Vill-V again.

"And that matter is closely related to me. In fact...it has to do with me."

"After all... [Progress] requires [price], just like [evolution] requires [sacrifice]."

"On this point, the little guy's cognition is highly consistent with mine..."

Mobius chuckled.

"...."

Vill-V curled her lips, not intending to argue with Mobius on this point, and just looked at Eden who was approaching, and said casually.

"Even if what you said is right... Well, Brother should have finished what he said. I'll let you negotiate with her about the next matter. After all, you still have some power in the Fire Moth."

"Hehe... Do you really want to avoid me, Vill-V? Or do you think you only have a slight advantage when facing me?"

Mobius taunted casually.

"Just take it as it is."

Vill-V said this indifferently and stood up to leave... She was not on the same "track" as the others now, so there was no need to deliberately fight for anything.

"snort..."

Mobius snorted, then stood up, looked at Eden who was approaching, and raised her glass slightly to her.

"Hello, big star, the performance was great. Even I felt a leap of joy in my heart because of that kind of music."

"I don't deserve it, Dr. Mobius. I am just a singer. Compared with the help you have brought to civilization and society, what I have done is not worth mentioning."

Eden also raised the glass in her hand and clinked it with hers, letting their glasses make crisp sounds. They both took a sip together as a way of showing courtesy to each other.

"Besides...if you are willing, Dr. Mobius, you can definitely become a very popular star."

Eden smiled and spoke softly, her tone full of sincerity.

"Why do you think so? Or... can you see something in me that matches my potential to be a star?"

Mobius took another sip of the wine in her hand, and the blush on her face became even more intense.

"That's natural."

Eden nodded, and after looking at Mobius carefully, she nodded again, as if to confirm her previous judgment.

"You are beautiful, Dr. Mobius, and that's exactly what a star needs."

"Showing others the beauty you possess, letting them witness it, identify with it, pursue it, and yearn for it, this is what a star should do."

"And in the process of pursuing this [beauty], others will also feel happy and find their own direction to move forward, and even... give some [hope] to those who are sinking into the abyss. This is [beauty]."

"Really? But I've never felt that there is anything beautiful about me."

Mobius smiled self-deprecatingly and looked at Eden, waiting for her answer.

"No, you are naturally beautiful, Dr. Mobius."

Eden said so.

"You can be determined to move towards your own 'desire', and devote your efforts, sweat, and even everything to it, throwing away the opinions of others, and using any means to achieve your goals, but you have your own bottom line... You should be [beautiful], Doctor."

"The little guy told you."

"Half and half."

Eden admitted with a smile.

"Because I know that if you really did what is being said... then you should be in prison instead of here, even being admired by many people in the academic community."

"Besides... here, we have a different view on many things in the world."

"Incompleteness has its own beauty, imperfection has its own beauty, even ugliness and distortion can be considered a different kind of beauty. It just requires a different perspective and a different standpoint to look at it."

"More importantly...what you described is not that different from what Nozomi described, Doctor."

"Haha, you are really rude sometimes."

Mobius took another sip of the drink in her hand and shook her head slightly to help herself stay awake.

"But there is one thing you still don't clearly realize... In the face of more serious crises, some small things that cross the line are still allowed."

"But it should also be related to the fact that you haven't really crossed the line, Doctor."

"...I like your honesty and clarity, Eden."

Mobius adjusted her address, and her attitude and tone became much more formal. Unfortunately, the increasingly obvious blush on her face and the increasingly obvious drunkenness in her eyes made her attitude less formal.

"Honesty should be the first priority in making friends. Only when we are honest with each other and open our hearts can we become friends."

"I think I understand why the little guy likes you so much."

Mobius took another sip of the wine in her glass and took the initiative to ask.

"How is it? After learning about Honkai from the little guy, what do you think? And... do you want to join in?"

"...You seem to know him well and know what he would say to us."

"Haha, of course... The little guy is always busy. He rarely does a single thing. He often stacks several things together to make more efficient use of his time... If I'm not mistaken, you should have seen the 'Fire Moth' logo from the little guy just now, and got some people's contact information for you to verify whether his statement is correct."

Mobius shook the wine glass gently, looked at the remaining wine in the glass, and spoke slowly.

"That's why the Fire Moth released me... I have the authority to contact you directly after you learn the details and test whether you can join the Fire Moth... But considering your identities, besides financial support, it seems that I can only play a promotional role."

"Speaking of this, I have to praise you."

Mobius regained her hazy consciousness, raised her eyelids, and looked into Eden's eyes.

"After learning about more important things, you suppressed your emotions and focused on more important things. You didn't feel the same nervousness as when you invited me before... Very good. It seems that you all have clear minds."

"I think you feel the same way about this, Doctor?"

Eden was silent for a moment before she slowly responded.

"According to what I learned from Nozomi, you and Miss Vill-V don't need to come. Nozomi can handle everything by herself. As for the follow-up matters, we can contact other people from the Fire Moth to negotiate directly after we have considered it carefully."

"You and Miss Vill-V, in a sense, are the ones who have done unnecessary things, right?"

"..."

Mobius drank her wine silently and did not object.

"Doctor, can I ask you a question?"

Eden took a half step forward, and even her tone became serious.

"What is your current status as someone who is interacting with Nozomi?"

She seemed to be concerned about this issue.

"Heh...it seems I have to adjust my evaluation of you guys a little bit."

"I hope you won't dodge the question, Dr. Mobius."

"...You want to know? Sure, I'll tell you."

Mobius also took half a step forward, her body close to Eden, and spoke without giving in.

"I am the [owner] of the little one, understand?"

"Nozomi is not something that can be possessed by anyone at will."

"Whatever you say."

Mobius stuck out her tongue and licked her lips gently, like a snake spitting out its tongue, making threatening "hissing" sounds.

"The little guy is mine now. His bones, blood, flesh, and everything else are mine."

"Whatever you think now, you can't take it away, understand?"

Mobius raised her hand, tilted her head back slightly, and touched her lips with her fingertips, then moved them down, across her chin, touching her throat, across her collarbone, and finally stopped at her chest, which was touching Eden's.

"I have [swallowed] him, although only half of him, but the other half..."

Mobius narrowed her eyes, and the sweet aroma of wine continued to flow in and out with her lips and teeth, bringing out words that were full of charm, but also had a hint of sweetness and threat.

"I'm not going to let anyone else do it."

"...I see."

After a moment's silence, Eden nodded as if she understood something. Her tone was steady and calm as if all this was not unexpected. She did not show any anger, jealousy, or even complaints.

She even took a half step back naturally, giving Mobius some space, as if she had voluntarily given in... But Eden's attitude made Mobius unhappy. It was like punching cotton, which was too uncomfortable and depressing.

'What the hell is going on… It's as if I'm the one who's going too far' Mobius couldn't help but complain in her heart.

"What do you mean?"

Perhaps she was a little drunk, Mobius expressed her thoughts almost subconsciously.

"Nothing, Doc."

Eden shook her head and chuckled.

"I have no intention of intervening too much in Nozomi's emotional affairs... After all, we are just friends, so it is better to stop at a certain point in certain aspects... What's more, I am not related to him now, so naturally I have no status to point fingers at you."

"Oh, are you kidding? When it comes to emotions, people are the most irrational, especially women."

"Yes, that includes you, doesn't it, Dr. Mobius?"

"...."

Eden's relaxed words left Mobius unable to find a reason to refute.

"But I do understand that you do favor him, Dr. Mobius, just as he favors you."

Eden shook her glass again and spoke casually.

"It seems that I can rest assured..."

"...What do you mean?"

"It seems that Nozomi didn't tell you about this... Hehe, just like you said before, Nozomi always likes to do several things at the same time, so... Nozomi mentioned to me just now that he wanted me to invest in you and Miss Vill-V separately, to alleviate your troubles in the funding budget."

Eden raised her eyebrows and her tone rose slightly, as if she was a little proud that Mobius didn't know about this.

"In other words, from the beginning, you are not only testing me, but I am also testing you, Dr. Mobius."

"But now it seems that you really care about him. Well... this at least ensures that you are not using him to defraud funds from me."

"It looks like I can rest assured about this investment."

"…Am I such a bad woman who deceives other people?"

Mobius complained with a frown on her face and then continued to ask.

"Besides, do you trust him so much? Be careful or you'll lose everything you've invested."

"Please rest assured, Dr. Mobius. In terms of wealth, I can be considered to have some assets," Eden answered casually.

"And I believe... with the pride you and Miss Vill-V hold, you will not let me lose everything, right?"

"At worst... consider it a charitable investment on my part, and contribute a little to humanity's fight against the Honkai."

"Haha, the little guy is really respected by you..." Mobius sneered twice.

"Of course, after all... there are only a few people who can communicate with me through music~"

"......"

"What's wrong, Dr. Mobius? You look so alert... are you worried that your things will be stolen?" Eden swirled her wine glass slowly, raised it, took a sip, and smiled confidently and proudly.

"Please don't worry, Doctor. I have no intention of competing with you, and Sakura has the same intention, so there is no need to be so wary of us."

"After all..."

There seemed to be a hint of drunkenness in Eden's voice. That kind of tipsy, hazy feeling was just like the clouds floating in the sky—soft and sticky. Coupled with her touching voice, even if she was just speaking normally at the moment, it gave people a feeling of heavenly music from the clouds.

"I and Sakura both occupy the most unique place in his heart."

"That is the most stable position that can never be erased."

But... more importantly, the sense of arrogance in her words could not be erased, and that feeling made Mobius feel particularly uncomfortable.

"I can feel it. I can feel the emotions from other people's words. This is something I do all the time. Because of this, I can feel that his love for me and Sakura is inevitable."

"Even you can't do that, Doc." Eden raised her bright golden eyes and looked at Mobius with a hint of smugness and pride in her eyes... What if you, Mobius, took away everything from him?

There will always be a place for her and Sakura in his heart, and this can never be changed.

If someone wanted to change this... Ha, Eden didn't know what would happen, but what Eden was sure of was that he would definitely be very, very unhappy.

"How dare you say that, you..."

"Being honest with each other and opening your heart to each other is what you should do when making friends, isn't it, Dr. Mobius?"

"Snort..."

Mobius snorted softly, and her already hazy vision turned slightly as if she had thought of something.

She raised her head and drank the rest of the wine in her glass. Still drunk, she staggered slightly and reached out to pour herself another glass.

"Okay, Doc, you can't drink anymore..."

However, at this moment, Nozomi's somewhat helpless voice sounded from the side. He supported the staggering Mobius with one hand and took the wine glass from her with the other to prevent her from drinking again.

"Really? I left for a while and you started messing around."

"Ha~ I knew you would come, little one."

Mobius was not surprised by this and even continued to say a few words while drunk.

"You always come just in time... Yeah, that's great~"

"...Doctor, you are already drunk," Nozomi said somewhat helplessly, then looked up at Eden, who was a little stunned and said with a hint of apology.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, she can't drink very well... Really, I just left for a while, why did you go drinking again? You know you can't drink much, but you still force yourself... I didn't force you to drink this time."

After explaining briefly to Eden, Nozomi supported Mobius's swaying body so that she could lean on him to avoid falling. At the same time, he kept muttering to himself, as if complaining but also expressing concern.

"Ah... No, this is still my problem. I didn't realize that Dr. Mobius's alcohol tolerance was so... low."

Eden looked at Mobius, who was obviously drunk but forced to raise her head and give her a show-off look. She shook her head helplessly and amusedly and apologized to Nozomi.

'I never thought that Dr. Mobius had such a side to her' Eden thought to herself.

'But if it's at this level... I've done that before, too, just by getting drunk and trying to get his attention. So, this level won't be a problem for me, Dr. Mobius.'

Eden casually looked away and took a sip of the drink in her glass leisurely.

'I didn't expect that the famous Dr. Mobius is quite girlish in this respect' Eden thought subconsciously.

"I'm sorry, Eden, I'm afraid I have to take the Doctor back to rest..."

"Well, that's fine. I'm sorry to have caused you trouble. As for what you said before... please allow us to think about it again."

"Well, I look forward to your reply... Okay, Doctor, stop messing around, I'll take you back to rest..."

Nozomi spoke softly with a hint of helplessness and tried to move Mobius's body so that he could carry her on his back.

However, Mobius seemed unwilling.

"Haha, that's really funny."

Mobius chuckled as she spoke drunkenly.

"Although her words and actions are full of trust, and she always expresses her love in overt and covert ways, she doesn't take many of the most important actions... Oh, what a slow little girl you are, Eden."

"......"

"Doctor?"

"Hey, little guy."

Without paying any attention to the silent Eden or Nozomi's words, Mobius just grabbed Nozomi's collar and pulled him in front of her.

"You've known Eden for a long time, right?"

"Maybe you two have already developed feelings for each other a long time ago~"

"But... what a pity, you guys are just dilly-dallying, and there's no progress at all~"

"In other words, you didn't do anything—not with Eden, not with Sakura, or anyone else."

"So..."

Mobius bit Nozomi's lips.

Until a slightly sweet and fishy taste lingered on the tip of her tongue, she slowly separated them, allowing the slightly red saliva to pull out some thin threads between them, which finally broke quietly.

"......"

The surroundings fell into deathly silence.

"I'm so sorry~"

With blurry vision, Mobius raised her head and looked at Eden, whose face was frozen, and the others who didn't know what expression to show.

"Even though you knew him so early, you still couldn't take him down..."

The tip of her tongue gently licked the slight redness of blood that still remained on her lips. She raised her hand and wiped the marks on the corners of her mouth with her thumb, and then licked the marks on her fingers clean with the tip of her tongue, letting the taste of Nozomi's blood spread in her mouth, and finally swallowed it.

"And now, he belongs to me."