I am a hero of the former civilization.

World-renowned biologist, director of the Fifth Research Institute of the Moth of Fire, and top scientist Möbius nearly bumped his head on the instrument next to him and quickly steadied himself with his hand.

"I told you you were too tired, come and rest for a bit." Alicia went up to support her without hesitation.

"Get out of my way." Möbius covered his head, his face cold. "You've been thinking about this for so long, and it's just this trivial matter?"

Alicia showed no sign of anger, tilting her head slightly: "That's right, after all, it was Mebius who said something that I care about, how could anyone not want to talk to a girl like me?"

Mebius looked at his opponent speechlessly, having failed in his probing for the nth time. He took a deep breath and regained his composure.

"Because according to the virtual rules of the internet, the other party will not treat you as a girl, and this is the consequence of overacting."

"Acting? I only do what I'm really like." Alicia blinked, somewhat confused.

“You… never mind.” Möbius took another breath and gritted his teeth slightly. “Can you not waste a single day? I’ve read that novel you mentioned in my spare time. Apart from its decent imagination, it’s all low-quality and cringeworthy writing. How could I like such a book? If you want to finish it quickly, I can have the field agent drag him back and lock him in some dark room. Hey, what’s with that look?”

Alicia was staring at her, her purple eyes showing no impatience at being lectured, nor resentment at being misunderstood, only joy, a joy that came from the bottom of her heart.

What's wrong with this woman? Could she be a masochist?

"Mebius, I'm so happy."

"What are you so happy about? And don't come any closer."

"I only mentioned the book title once, and you went to find it and read it. You're so gentle and beautiful."

Me? Gentle?

Mebius wanted to laugh, but couldn't manage it, so he turned away indifferently.

"Don't overthink it. I'm just looking for some research inspiration, and it's also a good way to kill time. It has nothing to do with you!"

She emphasized it deliberately, only to find that Alicia was just smiling at her, which made her scalp tingle and she quickened her pace.

The short-heeled leather shoes made a crisp sound on the metal floor. The pace quickened as they left the laboratory, and they suddenly stopped when they were almost at the literature room.

“Ari-shia, I told you not to follow me.”

"But you haven't answered my question yet. Why does he often disappear mid-conversation?"

"Can't they have something to do?" Mebius didn't know how to explain, but fortunately, footsteps sounded again at that moment.

At the other end of the corridor, a white-haired woman dressed in a researcher's uniform walked over. She also had a good figure, but with a more mature and sophisticated air.

"Hey, Blanca." Alicia immediately let go of Mebius and waved to greet him.

"Good evening, Miss Alicia." The woman gave a graceful bow.

"Just call me Alice, no need to be so formal."

"Ahem." Mebius couldn't help but cough lightly. She knew that if she didn't interrupt, she would have to listen to a whole night of nonsense, so she simply crossed her arms and looked at her assistant: "Blanca, what's the matter?"

"Doctor, the Far East Branch has sent a message that they have prevented a small-scale collapse in Changkong City."

"That's all?"

"No, you care about the person who stopped the Honkai, so I brought the documents over specifically."

Changkong City?

Mebius paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He snatched the document, glanced at it briefly, and his usually expressionless face became lively.

"He struck again as expected. Why does Honkai always seem to happen around you? Compared to the Honkai of the same scale three years ago, he's completely unscathed. Is he hiding his strength, or...?"

The doctor's old habit kicked in again. Even though she had been ordered not to research Ryan, why did she have to be the good guy?

Blanca was having a headache. She knew that Ryan had connections in the Fire Chaser Council. The last time he cut research funding, it made Dr. Mebius quiet down for a few years, but now he couldn't hold back anymore.

Or should we let Miss Alicia try to persuade her to give up?

Blanca looked up and was astonished to see an ethereal girl peeking out from behind the doctor, her face full of interest.

"Changkong City? I want to go there too."

Chapter Five: I am utterly powerless.

The morning sunlight illuminated the white exterior walls of Chiba Academy, and students were walking in twos and threes to class, their chatter filling the air.

Some people are talking about the helicopter that flew by last night, some are talking about the newly released games, and some are seemingly taking pictures of morning flowers but are actually showing off their new phones.

Of course, there were also girls secretly admiring the handsome white-haired men passing by.

"Kevin, these are cookies I made myself."

"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Here's some extra milk I just bought, it's for you."

Before the young man could refuse, the girl who delivered the gift had already run off, leaving Kevin standing there in a daze.

“It’s so good to be popular, you can even save money on breakfast.” Ryan walked past him silently, unable to resist teasing, “It’s a good thing you dated Mei, otherwise you would have been rumored to be a scumbag by now.”

Kevin snapped out of his daze and waved the bag in his hand: "May definitely trusts me. Sigh, it's a shame to throw it away. I don't know what these girls are thinking."

"Stop at Versailles, here, let me help you with something." Ryan said, taking a piece of bread and stuffing it into his mouth, then gesturing with his lips: "Let's go, handsome."

"Don't call me that. Besides, Ryan, you're not bad either. If you join a club and become more cheerful and outgoing, you'll definitely be popular."

"Hold on, that makes me sound like a gloomy, shut-in guy."

“It’s not that bad, but how should I put it…” Kevin hurried to catch up, unable to think of a perfect adjective.

He had known Ryan for two years, yet he still couldn't fully describe his friend: mysterious? rational? gentle and polite?

These are all things about him, yet they cannot be fully summarized. It wasn't until they passed the second teaching building that Kevin, who had been silent all along, finally raised his head.

"Yes, it's indifference, as if keeping a distance from everything around them, as if everyone is going to die tomorrow."

Hey.

Ryan stopped in his tracks, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. It was such an intuition, like that of a paramecium, that he had come up with such an interesting guess.

"Alright, human nature is very complex; it can't be so easily summarized by you."

"No way, I'm just simple and pure." Kevin grinned, revealing a bright, sunny smile.

You're just too naive.

Ryan answered in his mind, then slowly lowered his eyes. He couldn't connect this boy, who had climbed the stairs late at night to wait for his lover's delayed flight, with the madman who was supposed to be saving the world.

Sometimes, he was glad that he had arrived at the beginning of the story rather than the end, because by the end, most of the Thirteen Heroes had become obsessed and paranoid.

Of course, the price is that you don't have a powerful backer to rely on, and you can't simply copy the personalities of those memory units.

"Why are you looking at me? If you have a problem with your sexual orientation, go find Sue." Kevin scratched his face.

"It's nothing. You really are simple, not only simple but also pure and passionate. Such a great opportunity to get to base, and you actually climbed the stairs back to your dorm to take a cold shower. You know I slept with my butt covered all night..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ryan quickly lowered his head. The milk carton flew over his head and hit a street lamp with a dull thud. Without even looking, he grabbed his schoolbag and ran away.

This wasn't the first time he'd teased Kevin. Despite Kevin's seemingly angry and embarrassed demeanor, he would act as if nothing had happened when he returned to his dorm at night.

Ryan kept running forward until the bell rang for the first class. Kevin, who was chasing after him, reluctantly turned back. He was a physical education major, so of course he couldn't go with Ryan to audit the high energy physics class.

Wow... What a monster athlete! He traversed the entire academy without even breaking a sweat.

Ryan turned to look at the figure that had run away again; some things had already begun to show.

"When we first met, I deliberately provoked him. After we fought, I found that he was strong enough to fight a Knight-level Honkai Beast. Are all high school students in the Far East monsters?"

He shrugged. This kind of illogical thing was beyond even the 'exploration' path to understanding. He was only 10 or 90 percent certain that Kevin was definitely not an ordinary person.

Ryan adjusted his glasses and walked towards a white house with a pointed roof. There was a high wall surrounding the house, and the words 'Physics Department Laboratory' were written at the entrance.

As one of the world's leading private universities, Chiba Laboratory has been responsible for some government projects, and its equipment is cutting-edge. It is also the only place in the Far East with a particle collider.

After the examination, Ryan changed into a white lab coat, which, paired with frameless glasses, made him look very scholarly.

Between the main gate and the laboratory is a small garden, where a few cherry blossoms have already bloomed. A gentle breeze blows, and pink petals fall. You can vaguely see a girl sitting on one side of the garden.

The girl held a book and slowly turned the pages. Her long blue hair, tied in a ponytail, swayed in the wind. Her delicate face was full of focus. While reading, she was also writing something on a draft paper.

'I really don't understand how she and Kevin became a couple. He's a wise man, and she's a paramecium.'

Ryan looked at Mei, who resembled a literary girl, and couldn't help but complain. His learning ability was enhanced by his destiny, while Mei's talent was simply abnormal. Even words like "academic genius" and "intelligent" became insults.

He completed his studies in engineering, physics, biology, and other related fields at the age of nineteen, earned three doctoral degrees, was in charge of a research project on his own, and obtained licenses to use all the instruments. This made the old guys in the lab lament that they had wasted their lives.

"It's a pity that those who follow the path of destiny don't attract each other, otherwise I would really doubt that she is an intellectual."

Ryan stepped into the garden and gently stopped in front of the girl. Perhaps it was his shadow that stained the book, but Mei, who had already filled the entire page with formulas, paused slightly.

"Did you make Kevin angry again?"

"That kid's tattling again? I was just teasing him a little. What, are you going to stand up for him?"

Mei put down her pen, looked up, and showed no anger on her face, only a slight smile: "On the contrary, I am glad that you and he are still not at odds."

This statement is somewhat nonsensical, yet it gives the impression that the speaker knows everything.

Ryan had no doubts and smiled in response: "There's nothing I can do. I don't have many friends, and I can't accommodate too many things."

"A self-protection mechanism?"

"If even if I can't change the outcome no matter how hard I try, at least I won't regret it, and at least I'll have maintained my individuality during the process of exploration."

Mei seemed not to understand, nor did she intend to. She patted the empty seat next to her and said, "I sent you the main content of this discussion to your email last night. Did you see it?"

"Yeah, I got up at five in the morning to read it. It's over ten thousand words long, and I didn't even have time for breakfast." Ryan sat on the bench, glancing to the side, and could see the girl's dark circles under her eyes.

In the middle of the night, one person climbed the stairs back to the dormitory while the other was doing equations. This bizarre couple is truly an eye-opener.

Fortunately, after two years, he was used to it. He opened the notebook on his lap, which was filled with dense equations. Most people would feel dizzy just looking at it, as if it were some kind of illusion.

Ryan also calmed down and asked while reading, "I heard that the legendary Dr. Möbius contacted you?"

“Well, Dr. Mebius has been missing for a long time. It was quite unexpected that she attended the forum. She was quite interested in my paper, but…” Mei raised her head slightly and said calmly, “She seems to be working for some organization, and she’s a bit hesitant.”

Ryan's eye twitched. He had never met Möbius, but he knew that this mad scientist was very interested in him and had tried to trick him into coming to the institute many years ago. But he had to admit that Möbius was a smart man who was no less intelligent than Möbius.

Honkai energy, or rather imaginary energy, is no secret in the world. After all, the Fire Moth has been developing it, and there are people like myself who can use it. But researchers need to trace its origins in addition to its application.

"Your paper on the origin of imaginary space and imaginary internal energy should have been noticed. What does Dr. Möbius have to say about it?"

“She showed me several papers that had never been published before. Although the hypotheses were different, they could still provide evidence that my research direction was correct, just like this leaf.” Mei picked up a fallen leaf and pressed her finger against the stem.

"If we consider this leaf as the world, the energy of the imaginary space should not be poured into reality, otherwise reality would not be possible at all. But for some reason, this energy has come in. If it accumulates and reaches a certain concentration, it will affect the organisms, climate, and even physical rules of the real world."

Yes, if the imaginary number reaches a certain concentration, it can cause a collapse phenomenon.