I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

Mebius clutched his protesting belly, glanced out the window, and after confirming it was still early, decided to leave the lab for the cafeteria.

As for why she didn't eat instant noodles... well, that's because Snake also wanted to go out and gather some information, definitely not because she was tired of eating instant noodles these past few days.

Having made up his mind, Möbius tidied his clothes a bit, concealing his fatigue, before heading out to the structural engineering department's cafeteria.

However, before she even reached the cafeteria, she encountered an unexpected person.

"Hmm? You shouldn't be here, little snake, or is it the commotion here that's attracting you?" Mebius narrowed his gradient-colored eyes as he looked at Horhyah standing in the corner and said with amusement.

"Well, although I prefer reading books to understand the historical context, I do like to change things up sometimes. Besides, gathering intelligence is also part of my job." Facing Mebius, Horhyah made no attempt to hide anything and frankly stated her purpose for coming here.

After all, in her view, hiding such a thing from someone like Mebius was completely pointless. On the contrary, hiding it would only deepen the rift and even anger the person in front of her, which would be a loss.

"Ha~"

After hearing Horhys's frank explanation, Mebius suddenly chuckled softly, then looked at the person in front of him and said, "With Miss Spy's intelligence skills, you must have already discovered something, right?"

"!"

Mebius's sudden scrutiny and casual question startled the previously composed Horhyah, causing her body to tremble.

It's impossible not to tense up subconsciously.

Then his brain started working frantically, trying to decipher the meaning of Mebius's words.

However, the person's words were so vague that Horhaya couldn't immediately determine what exactly she was talking about and what she was trying to trick her into revealing.

"..."

After waiting for a while, Mebius still hadn't received the answer he wanted, and he glanced at Horhyah with some disdain.

Others might not be able to tell, but she could see that the seemingly calm person in front of her was actually pondering her words in her heart.

“I’m not interested in the little secrets you know. I’m talking about this matter, to be more specific, Ifrit.” As he spoke, Mebius couldn’t help but give Horhyth a look of disdain once again.

"Uh...you mean this? I do know quite a bit about it." Even Horhaia felt a little embarrassed and ashamed after being glanced at twice with disdain by Mebius.

"Tell me about it."

Upon hearing this, Mebius replied calmly.

"Um……"

Then, Holhaya poured out the whole story, revealing the current situation of the Structural Department and the condition of Ifrit, the experimental subject.

After listening to Horhys's account, Mebius remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was quite satisfied, because she had obtained the information she wanted to know.

However, knowing this was one thing, but Mebius didn't want others to be able to guess or fathom her thoughts, so she sneered and said, "Heh, you should know that's not what I wanted to ask, or have you feathered serpents become so stupid?"

"..."

Staring at the sneering person before her, Holhaia remained silent for a moment before speaking with a hint of self-abandonment, "I do know that it was you who injected Ifrit with the drug..."

She paused here, then quickly added:

"However, this matter was not obtained through normal intelligence, but rather through my guess... You handled this matter perfectly, so perfectly that you did not leave a single clue."

"If I hadn't known your identity beforehand, I probably would have been completely fooled by you."

"Perfect? ​​Something that can be guessed is far from perfect." With that, Möbius slowly lowered his eyes, concealing his emotions, and continued:

"Next time you're in front of me, keep your little schemes to yourself. Trying to be clever only makes you look boring."

"..."

After hearing Mebius's words, Horhaia suppressed her frustration and nodded.

"Hmm~"

Having obtained the information he wanted, Möbius, who had originally planned to leave, seemed to suddenly remember something interesting. He stepped forward, pinned Horhys against the wall, reached out and lifted her smooth chin, whispering in her ear:

"Little snake, tell me... does a mouse that recovers from Oripathy but perfectly fuses with a [Flame Demon Fragment] count as atavism, stealing the Flame Demon's power, or as evolution?"

"!"

Hearing the whispers in her ear, Horhaya understood their meaning and was greatly shocked. This time, she couldn't help but show her astonishment on her face.

Gazing closely at the now-fragile Horhyah, a flicker of pleasure flashed in Mebius's serpentine eyes. She then took a step back and said:

"Alright, I should leave now. You know what you should and shouldn't say, little snake~"

This time, Möbius didn't linger; he turned and left. Leaving behind a poor soul, still reeling, standing alone, savoring the turmoil of emotions…

P.S.: There are two more chapters today. I rewrote this one this morning, reducing it from 1300 to 500. I was still feeling too bad last night, and the tone of the story didn't quite hit the mark. Now it finally feels right.

Chapter 105 Infiltration Begins

Shortly after Mebius left, Horhysya came to her senses and returned home. However, someone's words had already left a deep impression on her, once again stirring up her thoughts.

Horhaia truly discovered that every time she came into contact with Mebius, this "god," there were always new discoveries and new shocks.

While she was shocked, she was also thinking about why Möbius told her this... If someone else had told her this, she would have found it ridiculous and absurd.

However, these words came from someone like Mebius, and her confident and determined gaze made Horhaia believe her without much doubt.

That's why she started thinking about why... but after thinking it over, she realized that the most credible answer was "seduction".

He lured himself to become a lab rat on the operating table, a being called Mebius.

"A lab rat? That's really... like your style..."

After quickly arriving at the most probable answer, Holhaya, walking down the street, couldn't help but mutter to herself.

She then temporarily suppressed her thoughts and quickened her pace.

----------------

the other side--

Compared to the currently distraught Horhyah, Möbius, who was sitting in the cafeteria taking small bites of his dinner, was in a completely different mood.

That's much better.

Although the actions of some idiots in the morning had put Snake in a bad mood, the various little incidents in the afternoon, coupled with Ifrit's not-too-bad physical condition, had eased her mood considerably.

At least I no longer have the urge to tear idiots apart...

As for what Mebius said to Horhyth, it wasn't just empty talk; it was a plan she genuinely intended to implement on Ifrit.

Of course, this plan is a series of initiatives, with a priority on treating Oripathy, otherwise Charmander's current body simply cannot withstand these experiments.

However, even Mebius sometimes had to admit that those fools did have an eye for choosing guinea pigs, and Ifrit was indeed an excellent prototype.

"..."

Just as Möbius was leisurely finishing his dinner, Himer, wrapped in bandages and looking exhausted, finally arrived at the cafeteria late with his friend Joyce.

Upon seeing familiar faces, the snake's already slow eating speed subtly slowed down even further.

"Hemer, you sit here, I'll go get you some food..." Joyce said in a flat voice, looking at her tired friend.

"Um, no need to trouble yourself... I'm not at the point where I can't take care of myself yet, Joyce." Hearing this, Hermer smiled and shook her head gently, responding helplessly.

“Yes, you need to. You were injured today, and you were busy all afternoon.” After saying that, Joyce didn’t give Hermer a chance to refuse and walked towards the window with her meal card in hand.

Coincidentally, Joyce was originally supposed to be in the lab observing instrument data today, but she was sent out to make coffee by the department head, Ahrendts.

And by doing so, he coincidentally and luckily avoided Ifrit's outburst. He was the only one in the entire experimental team to survive.

Soon, Joyce returned to Hamer's side with two meals, handed one to her, and then sat down.

"Thank you for your help, Joyce."

Taking the tray, Himer said with a somewhat helpless expression.

“It’s all trivial… On the contrary, you look very tired, Hermer. Go back and rest early after dinner.” Upon hearing this, Joyce gently shook her head and then denied it in her calm voice.

"I'll go to the lab again later. Although Ifrit's condition has stabilized, I'm still a little worried." Faced with her friend's concern, Himer smiled apologetically and said softly.

"Hmm... then I'll go with you."

Joyce, who had originally wanted to say something, changed her mind after meeting Himer's stubborn gaze.

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me for this kind of thing..."

……

After listening for a while and realizing he couldn't get any more useful information, Möbius didn't linger any longer. He took his tray to the designated spot and left the cafeteria.

It's already this late. Instead of wasting time here, we should go back and prepare. After all, there's a fierce battle tonight.

-----------------

Night falls, at the entrance to Ifrit's newly relocated laboratory—

"I'll leave you with this tonight, Miss Sakura."

Looking at Sakura's serious expression, Hermès said softly.

This morning, Sakura proved her abilities with her actions, so after her position was transferred here, Himeru could be said to be much more at ease.

"Yes, I will guard this door. Miss Hamer and Miss Joyce, please go back and rest; it's getting late."

Upon hearing this, Sakura nodded earnestly and replied in a gentle tone.

"Yes, see you tomorrow, Miss Sakura."

"See you tomorrow."

See you tomorrow, everyone.

After Himer and Joyce had been gone for some time, Sakura used her perception abilities to begin to ascertain the current situation of her structural department.

Finally, after confirming that there were no extra people or obstacles in the structure class, she began to silently contact Möbius in her mind.

'Aside from adding a few more surveillance cameras, the structural engineering department is completely out of staff. Dr. Möbius can come anytime.'

"I understand. It's still early. Let me make some final preparations." Möbius replied calmly after listening to Sakura's report.

'it is good. '

……

After everything was ready, Mebius then had Sakura summon her.

The moment she was summoned, she did not appear immediately, but instead used her abilities to evade surveillance and silently infiltrated the laboratory.