Chapter 141: If you defeat me, you can save everyone...

"Dr. Mobius, you should stop this experiment. If you continue, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get your application approved next time... and your laboratory's funding may also be in trouble."

"I know, I know... Really, all you know is to threaten with money, how boring."

Mobius waved her hand indifferently, sorted out the collected data, copied a copy, and handed it to Mei, and signaled her assistant Klein to seal the body of the "Eighth Herrscher".

"This is also to ensure your future research, Dr. Mobius."

Light spoke softly, and at the same time instructed others to transport the sealed body of the "Eighth Herrscher" away.

"What a surprise... Those guys actually let you take charge of supervision all the time... It seems like they really trust you."

Mobius said meaningfully.

"And you... are you not afraid of me?"

"I am honored to be valued by others."

He first said this quite politely, in response to Mobius's previous words, and then after watching the escort leave, Light relaxed a little and said half-jokingly.

"As for you... Honestly speaking, I was a little scared at first, but since Nozomi trusts you so much, I don't think you'll be as scary as the rumors say."

"Is that so... What a pity..."

Mobius's eyes suddenly became disappointed, as if she had lost interest. She waved her hand casually and asked again.

"But do you trust him that much?"

"Yeah, yes... Don't laugh at me for telling you this, I have been a fan of his since the beginning, and... I even thought about promoting his songs after becoming a member of parliament... Haha, it's quite funny to think about it now."

"...really."

Mobius smiled cooperatively, then unceremoniously ordered them to leave.

"Okay, now it's time for you to go, right? I think you need to go over there and notify them."

"Well, that's true. Well then... see you next time, Dr. Mobius."

Light nodded and left.

"Heh... kind of interesting..."

Watching Light's departing back, Mobius narrowed her snake-like pupils meaningfully and spoke softly to Mei beside her.

"Mei, do you think that guy comes here too often?"

"He was just doing his job and supervising the experiment normally, Dr. Mobius."

"But his eyes lingered on the body several times. And there was no fear in his eyes like the others. It was really interesting."

Mobius said as she classified and saved the data she had just recorded.

"And he seems to have come into contact with the [Core], right? He seemed to have handled the sealing and management of it... So~"

"Alas... Dr. Mobius, Senator Light has passed the test. There is nothing wrong with him. Please put away your bold idea."

"Really? I haven't said anything yet~"

Mobius curled her lips and said with some dissatisfaction.

"An ordinary human being has no reaction at all after repeatedly coming into contact with something similar to the Eighth Herrscher... Either he is pretending, or his will is so strong that it is unimaginable. As far as I can see now, both possibilities are possible."

Mobius smiled, brushing her fingertips across her lips.

"Dr. Mobius... some suspicion is unnecessary."

"But we also have to prepare in advance, don't we? Just like what you applied to them for, the transformation of the lunar base... You asked for a set of transformation drawings of the [prison] from Vill-V, right?"

Mobius narrowed his eyes.

"Who do you want to use it to imprison? Mei?"

"..."

Mei remained silent.

"…Tsk."

Suddenly, Mobius frowned and smacked her lips in displeasure, as if she sensed someone particularly annoying approaching.

She quickly stepped forward, blocking Klein and Mei, and then...

boom!!!

The door of the laboratory was kicked open and was stopped by Mobius.

"Kalpas, can't you be a little more polite? Or do you intend to use your body to compensate for my losses? In that case, I will be happy to study you~"

"Shut up, and check this guy out."

Kalpas said this impatiently and threw Nozomi in his hand into Mobius' arms.

"Um?"

"Kalpas, please be gentle..."

Nozomi said this somewhat helplessly, and Mobius looked at Kalpas with a puzzled look, not understanding what he was talking about.

"I say, check him out! There's something wrong with this guy!"

Kalpas suppressed his irritability and emphasized it again.

"…Dr. Mobius, please put aside other matters for now."

Mei frowned, and thought of a possibility... and spoke.

"…Tsk, can't it be true?"

She looked at Mei with some confusion, and then instantly thought of a possibility. She frowned in annoyance, and without giving Nozomi any room to resist, she carried him and walked inside.

"Little white mouse, don't move. Let me check you out."

"Okay~"

"...Um?"

Mobius frowned... she vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"…Klein, notify Eden and Sakura, ask them to come back… and call Aponia over."

Mobius turned to Klein and spoke to Kalpas who was waiting outside impatiently.

"Kalpas, now, keep quiet, understand?"

"Do your job."

Kalpas responded casually, and when Kevin and others came over and wanted to ask some questions, a dangerous look swept over and forcibly stopped them from asking questions.

A few of them waited for the result anxiously and nervously.

...

......

"Dr. Mobius, Dr. Mei, and... is everyone here?"

Eden and Sakura, who met on their way back, walked into Mobius's laboratory together.

"Eden, Sakura."

They nodded to each other and greeted each other briefly, then Mei took the initiative to step forward and ask.

"Have you noticed anything unusual about Nozomi recently?"

"Abnormal? Did something happen to him?"

"In a sense, I guess so... Let me ask you first, has he rejected any of your requests recently?"

"...No."

Eden and Sakura were both stunned, with puzzled expressions on their faces, as if wondering why Mei would ask such a question... but in the end, they shook their heads and answered truthfully.

"…Is he usually like this?"

"Um."

"…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you this question…and no wonder you didn't find it."

Mei took off her glasses and pinched her brows with a headache... If she thought about it carefully, Nozomi would never reject their request for them, so it is natural that they would not notice... Tsk, that's exactly why it's troublesome.

"Nozomi, something is wrong with him, right?"

"Yes, and it's a problem that... seems insignificant, but is actually very serious."

Mei put her glasses back on and motioned for the two to follow her into the depths.

"According to our previous examination, Nozomi has some mental problems now... He has lost the ability to [refuse], but neither Su nor Aponia can find any mental damage to him. We can't find any signs of injury to his brain or body, not even a trace. It's as if this is not some kind of [injury], but a [natural] condition."

Mei introduced Nozomi's current situation as briefly as possible.

"According to our speculation, this should be the final effect of the Eighth Herrscher on Nozomi... Logically speaking, this effect should dissipate after the Eighth Herrscher dies. Aponia also described this point. If the caster dies, then the power should also dissipate, and the recipient will slowly recover... As for the subsequent problems, it should be the effect that the recipient has on himself."

"Plus, Nozomi's behavior was no different from before, which made us relax our vigilance, so we didn't find any problems... Tsk."

Mei rarely smacked her lips without caring about her image, and her furrowed brows showed her anxious mood at the moment.

"He won't... refuse?"

Eden and Sakura looked at Nozomi who was pressed on the test bench by Mobius. Seeing that he was smiling and greeting them, they smiled back, and then showed a worried expression and looked at Mei beside them.

"Do I need to demonstrate it to you? Hehe..."

Mobius' voice was still frivolous and full of an inexplicable temptation.

After taking a slightly playful look at Eden and Sakura, as well as the others who were concerned about Nozomi but remained silent, Mobius turned his gaze back to Nozomi.

"Like... little white mouse, kiss me."

?

The others slowly typed a question mark, while Mei pinched her brows in pain… Ever since she discovered this, Mobius seemed to be in high spirits and had been "playing" all the time.

"Why?"

Nozomi did not show any intention of refusing, but just asked out of curiosity.

"There's no reason... Just think of it as me having a crush on you, little guinea pig."

"Right... now?"

"right, now."

As she said this, Mobius laughed again.

"In front of Eden and Sakura."

???

Others were full of questions.

"Okay~"

However, Nozomi agreed without even hesitating for long.

Then the others just watched Nozomi... and tapped Mobius lightly on the forehead.

"What a shame~"

"What else do you want, Mobius..."

Even Elysia looked at Mobius speechlessly.

"Is it not possible?"

Nozomi blinked and asked with some confusion... He didn't even think there was anything wrong with what he had just done.

"No, this is fine."

Mobius waved her hand, then chuckled and glanced at Elysia.

"You're still talking about me, Elysia... You thought about it before, too, right?"

"No, no, no, I just wanted to try to see if I could comb Nozomi's hair, okay?"

"Let's just leave it at that~"

Mobius didn't comment on this... Anyway, she has turned the blame around, so the verification will be left to others.

"…Anyway, that's basically it."

Mei rubbed her forehead with a headache and said so.

"And the more troublesome thing is..."

Mei stepped forward slightly and came in front of Nozomi.

"Nozomi, commit suicide."

?!

Mei looked at Nozomi with calm eyes and her tone was the same as usual, but her words... were shocking.

"...Why?"

they could vaguely sense the confusion and doubt in Nozomi's words, but... he didn't mean to refuse.

"Because you are no longer needed now."

"is that so?"

"Um."

"Now…?"

"Now."

"I see."

Nozomi nodded and reached out to take something... and then he was controlled by Kalpas.

"Hey, stop it already."

Beneath Kalpas' calm inquiry was hidden a violent rage, and beneath the mask, there was a hint of danger in the look he gave Mei.

"...Nozomi, it's okay now. I was just joking."

"really?"

"Um."

"All right."

After confirming that Nozomi had returned to "normal", Kalpas slowly let go of his hand.

"Why didn't you refuse just now?"

Mei suddenly asked again.

"Why should I refuse?"

Nozomi asked back in confusion.

"There's nothing wrong with what you said, and it's not a big deal..."

"Are you kidding me?"

Kalpas growled.

"I'm serious."

Nozomi said so.

"Mobius's request wasn't excessive, and the same thing happened to Elysia before..."

"What about what I said?"

Mei's tone took on a hint of seriousness.

"Do you think your life is something that can be thrown away at will with just a few words from me?"

"Of course not. Like you said, it was just a joke, wasn't it?"

Nozomi tilted his head as if wondering why Mei asked that.

"Besides... this might solve a big problem..."

"...What did you say?"

"Hmm…"

Just when Mei wanted to ask more, Nozomi looked away and looked at Eden and Sakura beside him. He gently took their hands and rubbed his fingertips on their palms twice, as if to soothe their anxious and panicked hearts.

He shifted his gaze slightly and looked at Kalpas' rare quiet appearance, then looked at Aponia... She didn't say anything, but just looked at him silently, with a little concern and... compassion in her eyes.

Finally, Nozomi's gaze rested on Elysia.

"Mei, if one day... you just command me to die like you did just now..."

"Nozomi, I just wanted to check on your condition."

Mei said seriously.

"Hmm Okay I'll put it another way~"

Nozomi seemed very happy about Mei's deliberate correction. He shook his head happily and adjusted his words.

"If one day, you can save the majority... no, everyone..."

Nozomi blinked and his gaze returned to Mei.

"What would you do?"

"..."

Everyone fell silent... because they noticed the word Nozomi deliberately used.

[Crusade]... Could it be that Nozomi...

Elysia pursed her lips, and a rare look of worry and surprise appeared in her beautiful eyes.

"…Do you know what you are saying?"

"Of course~ And... didn't you and Mobius already guess something."

Nozomi shook his head again, and his white hair rose and fell like waves.

"Mei, you have been preparing for this for a long time, right?"

"..."

Mei didn't respond.

However, just when Elysia was about to say something...the alarm inside the "Fire Moth" was sounded.

?!

Everyone's eyes were instantly focused on Nozomi, but they soon realized that this was not Nozomi's problem... This made everyone feel somewhat relieved.

"Mei! Mobius! Ah... are you all still here? What a blessing!"

Light's anxious voice sounded at the door.

"Ha... the front line... ha... the front line is in danger! The Ninth Great Collapse has broken out! And... it's right here on Mu Continent! The place where the Ninth Herrscher appeared is only a hundred miles away from us!"

He seemed to have come here in a hurry and spoke quickly while panting.

"Moreover! The energy level is higher than expected! It is very likely..."

Boom!

There was a slight tremor beneath them, and then everything in sight began to shake. The building seemed to be pulled by something and began to be torn apart, becoming extremely unstable.

If you look outside at this moment, you can see that... all the buildings are gradually torn and dismembered by an unknown force, along with the land, trees, and affected people and creatures... everything on the ground is pulled into the air.

And then...it fell heavily!