Elysia brought Himeko along to Eden's special area—a room filled with gorgeous clothes and works of art.
However, the magnificent attire was just one part; there was plenty of other furniture too. Compared to Mobius's laboratory, Kalpas's battlefield, or Griseo's art studio, it seemed overly normal.
After chatting for a while, the three decided halfway through to start a small drinking party. Eden was very generous, retrieving a case of wine from her cellar and setting out several exquisite wine glasses.
Elysia's eyes lit up. "Eden, this wine must be very expensive, right?"
"It certainly would be, if we were in our civilization." In the Previous Era, any fine wine worthy of entering Eden's cellar was naturally outrageously expensive. But here in the Elysian Realm, as long as Eden remembered the taste of the wine, she just had to wait for the Realm to automatically refresh it.
Eden sat down and asked, "Elli, weren't you going to console Mobius? How come you're back so quickly?"
Eden and Mobius weren't exactly extremely close, but they could be considered friends. Eden was quite concerned about her situation.
Mobius had been very listless these past few days; even Griseo could clearly sense the color of sadness when she went to paint.
Without a doubt, the only-tough-on-the-outside Mobius was certainly feeling uneasy because the past couple of days marked the anniversary of Jun An's death. Therefore, Elysia had taken it upon herself to be the one to guide her mood.
"It's alright. There's someone more suitable than me to comfort her now." Elysia downed a glass of wine, a slight flush appearing on her face. She asked, "Eden, want to guess who that person is? If you guess right, I might even let you plan my wedding~"
Himeko merely sipped her wine delicately, trying hard to suppress a victor's smile.
"Now that would be something to look forward to," Eden treated Elysia's words as a joke and casually replied, "Someone more suitable than Elli... could it be Aponia?"
Aponia had the greatest capacity for tolerance among the Thirteen. Although she was often misunderstood due to her unique nature, even being considered as dangerous as Mobius within the Fire Moth organization, it was indeed possible if it were her.
More importantly, if Mobius was truly overcome with grief, Aponia's mental abilities could certainly provide adequate solace.
So, besides Elysia, it should be Aponia.
"Wrong guess, Eden. Try again?"
"Could it be Griseo? She gets along well with Mobius." Griseo's mother, Blanca, was once Mobius's assistant. After getting married, she introduced Klein to Mobius's lab. Mobius even almost ended up being Griseo's midwife.
Therefore, Mobius's attitude towards Griseo had always been quite friendly.
Elysia wore a mischievous grin. "Wrong again, Eden. Penalty drink for you. I'll give you one more chance. If you guess wrong again, you'll have to be my bridesmaid, okay ♫~"
"Can you give me a hint?" Eden took a few sips, a faint blush also appearing on her cheeks. Although the current topic was a bit silly, occasionally discussing such things with friends was quite rare and enjoyable.
Elysia nodded.
Eden asked, "Someone I'd absolutely never guess... Do I know this person?"
Elysia nodded again. "Of course, you know them. Eden even taught him how to sing."
Eden asked again, "Could it be Pardo?"
Elysia shook her head. "Wrong again! Let me top you up!"
Eden looked towards Himeko with some vexation. "Is this person male or female?"
Himeko downed a glass heartily. "Male."
A slightly complicated expression appeared on Eden's face. "Don't tell me it's Kalpas?"
Elysia was shocked. "You even taught Kalpas how to sing?"
Eden nodded, smiling wryly. "After all, quite a few things have happened in the Elysian Realm over these fifty thousand years. It's just that the accompaniment he made using the shrieks of Honkai Beasts rather overshadowed the main performance."
Elysia shook her head. "But regrettably, wrong again~"
Eden, Griseo, Pardo, Kalpas... Excluding herself and Elysia, Eden had already guessed a third of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. She had no choice but to concede defeat helplessly. "Alright, alright, I give up. Just tell me, Elli."
Seeing Eden surrender, Elysia immediately said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. It's a surprise Himeko brought! I got a huge shock when I first saw him too!"
Eden looked at Himeko and asked, "You brought someone new to the Elysian Realm for trials?"
"It's an old acquaintance," Himeko smiled faintly. "It's the Captain. Jun An is back."
"The Captain is back? Are you telling the truth?!" The normally graceful Eden, in a rare display, lost her composure and shot up, slamming her hand on the table. "Where... where is he now? I have to go see him."
"Eden, calm down, calm down," Seeing Eden, whose thoughts were already somewhat scrambled, Himeko reminded her helplessly, "Didn't Elysia just say? He went to find Mobius. He should be undergoing the Super Transformation surgery right now, probably can't come back yet."
"Apologies, my friends. I lost my composure." Eden immediately collected herself; the alcohol had stimulated her to reveal a bit of her true feelings. "So, what you two were saying just now is true?"
"Of course, it's true ♪~!" Elysia replied. "But he looks much cuter now than before. Easy to push over! Eden, you'll definitely like him!"
"Easy to push over?" Eden frowned instantly. "He didn't take anyone else with him?"
Mobius's designs on studying the Captain had long been obvious to everyone. After all, the Captain's precognitive ability was even more ridiculous than Su's 'foresight,' and Jun An's constitution, capable of undergoing two Super Transformation surgeries, was also of considerable research value.
She had been craving Jun An's body for a long time; everyone knew that.
"Nope," Elysia answered matter-of-factly. "After all, the Super Transformation surgery takes a long time, right? Sometimes even a day or two. So, Himeko and I came down to find you."
The duration of the Super Transformation surgery varied depending on the type of Honkai Beast and the individual's physical condition.
Take Kalpas, for example. Back then, to deal with the Herrscher of Binding, Mobius had barely modified him before throwing him onto the battlefield. This meant his combat power didn't change as drastically as others'; he couldn't go from 1 to 100.
But he was already strong enough to begin with. Even if he couldn't visibly power up like the others, he still surpassed ninety-nine percent of the MANTISes.
Elysia took another drink, the blush deepening on her face. "But don't worry. Mobius likes the Captain so much, she'll probably just take some hair, blood, or other cells for research. She wouldn't do anything too bad to the Captain."
Although Mobius's research was quite inhumane, she generally wouldn't easily harm someone she liked. Just like with Griseo; helping her become a MANTIS was only because Fire Moth didn't need 'useless' children.
"Is that so?" Eden was a bit disappointed she couldn't see the Captain immediately, but then another thought struck her. "But you two have been here looking for me for quite some time now. What I mean is, I heard Mobius completed an innovation in MANTIS technology half a year ago."
"Nowadays, the Super Transformation surgery no longer requires a major operation. All that's needed is to create the corresponding Super Transformation Factor and inject it."
This was one of Fire Moth's former technologies. Fu Hua had been injected with such a serum, but the technology was very immature back then, not only requiring binding to the Tenth Divine Key but also having a low success rate.
Kalpas had once used such a reagent, consumed a large amount of Xuanyuan Sword energy, and still failed to become a MANTIS until Mobius personally performed the surgery on him.
But times had changed. Through the experience accumulated by World Serpent and Mobius's research, she had already solved most problems except for mass production.
In other words, now they just needed to give Jun An a shot of the Super Transformation Factor, and he could become a MANTIS. It wouldn't take much time at all.
The gazes of the three women lingered on Eden's antique clock. An hour had passed since they arrived here and started chatting with Eden.
If it only took a single injection to finish... then what were they doing for the rest of the time?
"It should be fine, right?" Elysia was the first to speak, comforting herself. "After all, Mobius is so stubborn; her progress should be the slowest."
Himeko also took a drink to calm herself. "It should be alright. After all, he's got so many layers of debuffs applied; he probably can't get hard."
Eden, however, looked worried. Mobius never sought others' opinions when doing things. Coupled with her biological expertise, she could squeeze out however many rounds she wanted.
"Elli, Himeko, perhaps we should end the party here for today?"
"Agreed."
"Let's go."
————
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
"Weren't we supposed to be doing the Super Transformation surgery?" Jun An carried Mobius as they moved around the laboratory.
Because Mobius's 'transport tool' was scrapped, Jun An now had to carry her to complete the experiment.
"We are. But the technology has long since iterated. Little Guinea Pig, you're behind the times." Mobius mixed the contents of two test tubes together, then placed them in the centrifuge. "Little Guinea Pig, a little more to the left. I need to get the Honkai Beast genes from over there."
Jun An moved with difficulty within the lab. "Um, can't we change the way you're holding me? It's hard to move with my back to the experimental bench."
"You're not doing the experiment; it's fine as long as I'm facing the bench." Mobius's small feet wrapped around Jun An's waist. "Just be obedient and listen. I won't be responsible if there's an accident."
After a series of operations, overcoming difficulties in movement, and dealing with sudden tremors, weak waists, and limp hands midway, Jun An and Mobius finally managed to produce Jun An's first shot of Super Transformation Factor.
"Here, this is the Brahma Super Transformation Factor." Mobius personally plunged the syringe filled with a slightly blue reagent into Jun An's carotid artery. Jun An winced slightly in pain but could clearly feel the absorption rate of Honkai Energy within his body increasing.
"Say, this won't have any side effects, will it?" Jun An was slightly worried Mobius might have added some extra ingredients to the Super Transformation Factor's genes due to her wicked sense of humor.
"Hmm, I'm not entirely sure about that. After all, no new MANTISes have been created since the end of the Honkai." Mobius tossed the syringe into the trash bin, then said seductively, "Next, we just need this shot of Super Transformation Factor to circulate throughout your entire body. The best way to speed up blood circulation... Little Guinea Pig, you understand, right?"
"...Can I rest for a bit?" Jun An wasn't a beast of burden, after all.
"No," Mobius whispered softly in Jun An's ear. "Besides, what just happened was only the price for the first Super Transformation Factor. The other one, naturally, also requires genes in exchange~"