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ArabicChat Group Crossover: My System Simulates Infinite Anime Worlds — Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Soft
MOBIUS smiled, raising the watch on her wrist. Its face glowed, displaying a stark red danger symbol.
“It’s quite dangerous, I’ll admit,” she said, her tone light despite the warning. “But I’m sure you can handle it. The level of Honkai Energy in your body right now is extraordinarily high, comparable to a Herrscher.”
Nagumo let out a sigh, a hint of helplessness coloring its edges, and agreed to her request. He began to explain the principles of the original Breathing Technique, a calculated move on his part. In truth, he had been deliberately exposing these capabilities.
His future goal was to bring Mobius firmly over to his side. After the inevitable Great Purge swept through the Flame-Chasers, her influence among the remaining members would be immense. Once the organization’s internal rot was investigated and excised, only a handful of veteran scientists would be left in its upper echelons; the rest were disposable.
After giving Mobius a brief, foundational explanation, Nagumo felt a pressing need for high-calorie food to replenish his energy. She simply reached into the pocket of her lab coat and produced several small bottles of a concentrated nutrient solution.
He took a sip from one. The taste was surprisingly palatable, and the energy it provided was immediate. ‘If I had this back then,’he thought with a flicker of dark humor,’I wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of eating and defecating so much.’
With the preparations complete, Mobius immediately sat cross-legged on the floor, assuming a meditative posture. Nagumo placed a hand on her back, just as he had done for MEI, and began to precisely control the flow of Honkai Energy, channeling it into her body to strengthen her cells.
Practice, as they say, makes perfect. He was far more skilled this time, his control more refined. Despite this, he deliberately strengthened her bit by bit, drawing out the process, making each enhancement careful and thorough. From time to time, as her body consumed energy at a ferocious rate, he would pause to pour another bottle of nutrient solution into her mouth.
This delicate and intensive process lasted for two full days and two nights.
Once the guidance was finally complete, Nagumo closed his eyes. The acting skills he had picked up from watching Eden’s plays recently proved their worth. He let his body go limp, orchestrating a controlled collapse as he slumped heavily onto the ground. It looked perfectly natural.
He did, however, feel a genuine wave of exhaustion wash over him. Somewhere on the way to the hospital, his feigned unconsciousness gave way to a deep and deep sleep.
When he next awoke, it was to the sterile, sharp scent of hospital disinfectant and the sight of an unfamiliar white ceiling.
He turned his head slightly. MEI was asleep in a chair by his side, her small hand clutching his tightly even in her slumber. On another bed across the room, Mobius was also sound asleep, hugging a sleeping Blanca like a plush toy. He also noted the quiet, professional presence of several bodyguards standing watch at the door.
With his free hand, Nagumo raised it to pinch the bridge of his nose, feeling the phantom ache of fatigue. He then moved with practiced gentleness, carefully lifting MEI from her chair. He carried her to another empty bed in the room and thoughtfully tucked her in with a small blanket, ensuring she wouldn’t be cold.
Returning to his own bed, he lay back with his hands laced behind his head and closed his eyes. His mind, however, was already racing, contemplating the next steps in his mastery of Current Propulsion.
Lost in his thoughts, he drifted off once more. When he awoke the next day, it was to a sensation akin to sleep paralysis.
Nagumo slowly cracked his eyes open. The first thing he saw was Dr. Mobius, lying directly on top of him. A thin trail of drool trickled from the corner of her mouth, and she was sleeping with a blissful soundness that was almost infuriating.
Just as he was about to wake her, Dr. Mobius stirred. She slowly lifted her head, her bleary, unfocused eyes opening to meet his direct gaze.
A shiver ran through her. In that single, heart-stopping moment, she became wide awake.
Nagumo simply stared at her, his face a mask of utter impassivity. He held to the firm belief that in any embarrassing situation, as long as you weren’t the one to feel awkward, the awkwardness belonged entirely to the other person.
“Could you wipe your drool?” he said, his voice flat. “And could you get off me? You’re heavy.”
“Oh,” Mobius uttered, propping herself up on the bed with her arms and hastily wiping her mouth. Her gaze then fell to the large, damp patch her drool had left on the front of his hospital gown. A faint blush crept up her neck, dusting her beautiful face.
Distracted by her embarrassment, Mobius’s supporting hand suddenly slipped.
In the next instant, they were eye-to-eye, their faces inches apart. Nagumo felt something distinctly soft press against his chest.
And at that exact moment, he felt a resentful gaze boring into him from the side.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw MEI, now awake on the adjacent bed. Her small mouth was slightly pouted, and her eyes were filled with a silent, sorrowful reproach.
Click-FLASH!
The sound of a camera shutter, accompanied by a flash as bright as day, shattered the tense silence.
Mobius immediately pushed herself up with both hands, her fair face now a brilliant shade of red. She whipped her head around toward the source of the flash.
There stood Blanca, holding a phone with an awkward, apologetic smile. She muttered softly, mostly to herself, “I forgot to turn off the shutter sound. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken a photo; I should’ve just recorded a video.”
It was just a minor episode. After a flustered explanation from Mobius and a sheepish apology from Blanca, the misunderstanding was more or less cleared up.
Nagumo, however, was left with a single, lingering thought. ‘Mobius was quite soft.’
Once the morning’s chaos subsided, Mobius formally invited both him and MEI to the M Continent to join the Flame-Chasers.
Hearing the name, Nagumo put on a performance of his own, acting perfectly surprised. He asked, his tone laced with feigned innocence, “Is that the charity organization Eden mentioned recently? The one that was supposedly involved in bribery and embezzling donated funds?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the room fell silent.
MEI, sensing the suddenly awkward atmosphere, took out her phone and began searching for information on the Flame-Chasers.
The search yielded a trove of information. Articles and documents detailing bribery, misappropriated funds, and various other forms of corruption filled the screen. The amount Eden donated annually was an astronomical figure, yet the reports suggested that less than one-twentieth of those funds were ever actually put to use for their intended purpose.
MEI looked up from her phone, her gaze shifting between Mobius and Blanca. Her expression was a complex mixture of disbelief and disappointment. It was a look that clearly said, ‘This is the organization you were talking about?’
Deciding he had pushed the point far enough, Nagumo stated his position directly. “I have no interest in joining a place riddled with bribery and corruption. How can anyone conduct proper research with vermin like that crawling around?”
For a moment, Mobius’s professional composure fractured. A flicker of genuine anger crossed her face, and she found herself strongly agreeing with him. “Those who embezzle my research funds are indeed vermin.”
Watching the subtle shifts in her expression, Nagumo felt a deep, quiet sense of gratification. There was a certain satisfaction in being the mastermind behind the scenes, especially when orchestrating events right in front of the person involved without their knowledge. But in the next instant, he dismissed the thought, wary that if he continued down this path, he might devolve into a boring, self-indulgent pleasure-seeker.
Despite Mobius’s persistent attempts at persuasion, Nagumo tactfully declined her offer.
He stated that as long as there were no internal changes within the Flame-Chasers, and as long as its leadership continued to ignore the threat of the Honkai in favor of maintaining their corrupt lifestyle…
“…it would be better to just go to Shenzhou and establish our own laboratory.”
MEI voiced her strong agreement. “When money and Honkai Energy are involved, that’s a very dangerous combination. If the organization meant to fight the Honkai is truly like this, it would be better for the two of us to set up a lab on our own.”
In the end, Mobius failed to convince them. She had to depart due to urgent matters concerning the Flame-Chasers, but not before leaving behind her contact information and a wealth of research data on the Honkai for both of them.
For the remaining time, Nagumo and MEI were inseparable. They immersed themselves in Honkai research within her father’s top-tier laboratory, rarely even going to school. They only attended occasionally, more as a way to change their pace and clear their heads.
Of all the world’s nations, Shenzhou responded most quickly to the Breathing Technique. They chose to publicize it immediately, even adding it to the compulsory curriculum for primary and secondary school students.
Progress in promoting the technique in other countries and regions was negligible; they simply didn’t seem to take the threat, or the solution, seriously.
Yet, around the globe, some people who suffered from chronic, Honkai-related illnesses found their bodies growing stronger after practicing the Breathing Technique. They were all deeply, deeply grateful to its mysterious creator.
However, at that very moment, the creator of the technique was in his basement, and he had just spat out a mouthful of blood.
Wiping the crimson from the corner of his mouth, Nagumo smiled.
He smiled very, very happily.