Chapter 63: Success

The Soldier Project has been a mainstay within Fire MOTH for more than five years. It was one of the projects that got a huge focus. The power of honkai was terrifying. 

Thus, what would happen if it was used for humanity's sake?

That project aimed to give an answer to that question.

Unfortunately, it has been so many years yet the project plateaued. A lot of people volunteered to be the test subjects at first, but as the casualty rates became higher with no signs of success, it dwindled until there was none.

Mobius wasn't the type to let it stop her, hence resulting in doing the surgery on herself; albeit with a weaker honkai genome (also known as ICHOR).

She succeeded. She gained valuable research data from it. Nevertheless, what she took down was nothing but one of the roadblocks.

It all changed when Aleph arrived. They drove a huge truck and broke through one roadblock after another. Before Mobius knew it, she had already arrived in an important point of her life.

If this surgery succeeds…

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The periodic ticking of the machines disturbed the noiseless room. Mobius' eyes intently eyed one monitor after another, all the whilst doing the surgery herself. Klein remained to be her assistant in case something might go wrong.

The room was cold enough due to its internal cooling systems (not limited to air conditioners). The dozens of monitors within the control/operation room converted Aleph's current state into numbers. That became possible due to the devices placed on him prior to the surgery.

Everything remained on the safe level. The operation was going smoothly—to smooth to the point the two checked whether they overlooked something.

Aleph's figure inside the glass cabin remained as it was before. The oxygen mask indicated his periodic breathing rhythm. The mask has a tube connected to his nose, serving as the place where several reagents could be used to stabilize certain scenarios.

He was left with nothing but a pair of boxers during the operation. The small robotic arms moved efficiently as it started "balancing out" the reactions occurring inside Aleph's body; with needles, that is.

Shockingly, it didn't encounter any hiccups. The robotic arms moved less compared to the usual operations. It could be said that Aleph was the most optimal test subject for the Project Soldier.

Time passed by.

When the operation was over, Aleph remained the same as before.

"..."

Mobius crossed her arms and stared intently at him. He was already injected with something that should've woken him up. She was waiting for it to take effect.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

When it hit the five-minute mark, she enacted her backup plan.

"Continue monitoring his condition. I'll see where the problem is."

Just then, an alarm sounded out.

One of the readings started spiking.

"Honkai energy…" She muttered. "It must be the post-surgery effect."

The duo calmly resumed their work, as if the alarm didn't ring out at all.

The concentration of honkai energy swiftly increased within the operation room. The entire room made of enhanced metals isolated all forms of reactions inside.

By the time the readings went over 2000 HW, Aleph opened his eyes. From its previous blue color, it turned bright purple. It looked similar to the Emperor-class honkai beast where his genome originated.

It was a huge black dragon that accompanied the second Herrscher. Its body was extremely tough. Its existence was to solely serve at its ruler's side, yet that ended not long after. 

When it was killed, the second Herrscher soon fell to Elysia's arrow.

Thus, the accompanying beast received a fitting name—

Skanda. (God of War.)

Hum.

The honkai energy readings sharply died out. Aleph's act of enclosing them into his Sphere Boundary created this shocking phenomenon.

As if sensing Mobius' gaze, he gestured an "okay" sign in his hand.

"...This guy."

There was a smile on her lips.

*****

Click-!

The solution inside the cabin was drained out. Aleph took off his oxygen mask and exited the glass cabin. He didn't mind the slight pain when he took the tubes on his nose.

Screech-!

"...Well."

Each of his steps left a mark on the metallic floor. His body felt light, to the point he felt he could fly. His brain activity increased as the mutation pushed forth by the honkai beast genome occurred inside his body. 

The MANTIS Surgery gave him an all-aspect improvement.

Most importantly…

[Cursed Energy (Converted): 2,001]

[Estimated Grade: Grade One]

He stepped into the realm of Herrschers. Considering the one-to-one ratio of cursed and honkai energy, he reached a Herrscher's starting point.

Nevertheless, the Grade One description below did not change.

'Special Grades… The power to overturn a country…'

In a sense, Herrschers are qualified to be a Special Grade. It's just that humanity didn't give them the time to adapt to their powers, thus resolving them the moment they appear. As for Aleph, it may be his lack of 'incomprehensible' means.

{Analysis complete.}

{Result: Heightened cellular activity is resulted by the foreign energy contained within the body. Its…}

While [Great Sage] ran through the diagnostics, Aleph took a towel in the rack and wiped his entire body with it. His elemental sight was fully activated, reading all sorts of information that originated from his body.

Just then, the door outside opened. His eyes met Mobius'. For some reason, this staredown lasted for a dozen seconds.

"...I'm still naked, you know?"

"Your pupils changed."

"Hm?"

Beneath the metallic floor, Aleph saw his own reflection. That included the reptilian-like purple pupils that he had. His irises were tinged with a bright purple color.

Somehow, Aleph felt that there were some things under his skin. It was as if he could actively suppress the transformation that was about to occur on him.

"Your teeth too."

With Mobius' words, Aleph touched his teeth. He could feel that his canines became sharper. Even his flat teeth turned out to be tough.

"Follow me. We'll record your changes."

With only a medical gown, he stepped out of the surgery room. 

'She's that excited..? It's reasonable.'

Aleph's senses alone were strengthened to a certain degree. It wasn't as exaggerated as a normal human becoming a superhuman, but it was still there. Coupled with his elemental sight, he saw all sorts of emotions coming from Mobius through her microexpressions.

'...How cute.'

Aleph decisively stopped peeping. Such a strong ability was used by him to peek through a girl.

Throwing any unserious thoughts, they soon arrived on another room filled with various tools.