"Hm?!" Vill-V looked displeased. "That's it? No other reaction?"
"What kind of reaction do you want from me?" Mo Xie tilted his head slightly, his expression as calm as still water.
He took a slow breath, as if preparing to deliver something of great importance.
Then he spoke.
"I never expected that I'd hidden it so well, only for you to see right through me."
His tone was flat, utterly without inflection.
"Vill-V, you truly are a super genius."
The same blank expression. The same deadpan, emotionless delivery. Paired with those perfectly calm, unreadable eyes...
"Eugh—!!!"
Vill-V jumped back as if she had been electrocuted, crossing both arms over her chest, feeling discomfort crawl all over her body.
"Y-you—you... don't do that!" She pointed at Mo Xie, her finger trembling slightly.
Mo Xie blinked, looking as innocent as ever. "But weren't you the one who asked for a reaction?"
"I asked for a reaction! I didn't ask you to... to be that sarcastic about it!" Vill-V cried, raking both hands through her hair in frustration. "What is wrong with you? Even your compliments are creepy!"
"I wasn't being sarcastic." Mo Xie answered with perfect seriousness. "I was praising you sincerely."
Sincerely.
Coming from that utterly expressionless face—and that lifeless monotone from moments ago—the word stood out with almost painful irony.
"You call that sincerity?!" Vill-V's eyes widened. "That expression, that tone—you were obviously saying, 'Fine, I'll play along for a second, now hurry up and leave!'"
"Was I?" Mo Xie frowned slightly, as though genuinely reflecting on himself. "Then perhaps my manner of expression still needs improvement."
As he spoke, he drew in another breath, seemingly preparing to try again.
"No!" Vill-V immediately threw up a hand to stop him. "Stop right there! That's enough! I don't want your feedback anymore!"
Mo Xie halted. A glimmer of mischief flickered through his eyes—so quickly it was almost impossible to catch.
"Understood." He nodded and returned to his usual placid look. "Then we'll consider the matter settled."
He continued on his way.
But as he passed by Vill-V's side, a voice—light and faint, yet perfectly clear—slipped into her ears.
"Thanks, Professor V."
Vill-V froze.
She turned instinctively, but Mo Xie had already walked past her, continuing down the corridor. All she could see was the same calm, unruffled back, as if that sentence had never been spoken at all.
By the time his figure disappeared completely at the end of the hallway, Vill-V opened her mouth, only for the words to dissolve into an indistinct snort. Yet the corner of her lips curled upward of its own accord.
"Tch. That guy... just what you'd expect from someone trained by Mobius."
Arms folded, she leaned against the wall and stared in the direction he had gone, her expression turning subtly unreadable.
[After meeting Vill-V and receiving a dose of her verbal therapy, it is as if your Ren and Du meridians have suddenly opened. Inspiration begins pouring into your mind without end.]
[Though your experimental goal is still far away, the progress of your research undeniably advances by another small step.]
[At the same time, when Mobius comes to speak with you, she also mentions a very talented girl. According to her, she happened to meet the girl while attending an academic seminar on the Mu Continent, and recognized her potential at a glance. She even seems interested in inviting the girl into her institute, to take over the position you once held.]
[Outwardly, you act as though you do not care. Later, however, you pry more detailed information out of Blanka.]
[Apparently, the girl is still a high school student and has no intention whatsoever of becoming Mobius's assistant, so the whole matter is pure nonsense.]
[That is what Blanka tells you, and she even suggests that you should simply go back—then you would not have to worry about your former place being taken.]
[You refuse.]
[You are merely concerned about whether that person is worthy of that position—or perhaps you want to abduct a talented assistant in advance, lest she fall into the hands of that woman Mobius.]
[It is absolutely not because you care about your former position.]
[Yes. Absolutely not!]
[Age 17: Your experiments advance by yet another small step. In the process, you produce a byproduct—something sufficient to satisfy your investors.]
"Dr. Mo, may I ask whether your research has made any progress?" The liaison officer asked the routine question, a professional smile fixed on his face.
Mo Xie frowned slightly and set down the materials in his hand. "If I remember correctly, before this research even began, I already emphasized that this would be a difficult project, one requiring a great deal of time and funding."
"Of course, of course." The man quickly raised both hands in a placating gesture. "I understand that. But my understanding doesn't help—it's the investors who need to understand. All they know is that they've poured money into this project and still haven't seen any results. Naturally, they're starting to get uneasy."
He leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"If this keeps up, some people may start cutting back their investment... or even pulling out altogether."
Mo Xie said nothing. He merely looked at him in silence.
The man grew visibly uncomfortable under that gaze, forcing out a dry laugh before continuing, "So, Dr. Mo, could you at least reveal some small piece of good news? Something to reassure them and keep the money flowing?"
He gestured vaguely as he spoke, his expression carrying that unmistakable you know what I mean look.
There did not need to be any true breakthrough. As long as there was something presentable—something that would make the investors feel their money had not been wasted—that would be enough.
Mo Xie was silent for a moment.
He recalled his days back in Mobius's laboratory. Though she was one of Fire Moth's founding figures, she had still been suppressed time and time again, forced to scrape together research funds on her own, leaving her experiments endlessly bottlenecked.
He had seen far too much of that life already.
With that thought, Mo Xie let out a soft sigh.
"There has been progress in the experiment."
The liaison officer's eyes lit up.
"But I won't go into the details," Mo Xie said, a trace of dry mockery entering his voice. "They wouldn't understand it anyway."
For an instant, the smile on the man's face stiffened, but he quickly pretended not to notice and kept up his expectant expression.
Mo Xie withdrew his gaze. Casually, he rummaged through the pile of cluttered documents beside him, then finally pulled out a thin stack from a heap of waste paper and tossed it carelessly onto the desk in front of the man.
The pages scattered with a soft slap.
The man stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly picked them up and flipped through a couple of pages.
The jargon and data left him completely lost. He could only recognize a few familiar terms.
"Dr. Mo... what is this?" he asked, looking up in confusion.
By then, Mo Xie had already picked up the materials from before, his eyes lowering back to them as he replied in the same casual tone:
"An accidental byproduct generated during the course of the experiment. Or, if you prefer, a derivative."
He paused, then added:
"I call it a human enhancement agent."
-------
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty...then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (45 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (55 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (45 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (70 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
I Can Hear the Thoughts of Uma Mutsume (30 Chapter)
Dead-Men Chat Group: Winning the Resurrection Bracket (40 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero: Saving the World While Falling in Love! (40 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: My Breathing Techniques Can Be Leveled Up (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon Age of Gods: Starting with a Simulation as Heracles (40 Chapter)
Terra Love Trap: They All Want Me to Themselves (40 Chapter)
Dimensional Ranking: Top Ten Saviors (40 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zen'in Wants to Stay Alive! (40 Chapter)
Bleach: This Everyday Multiverse Is Seriously Falling Apart! (60 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail, What Do You Mean My IF Routes Became Real? (30 Chapter)
Honkai impact 3: This Is Definitely Not the Simulation Outcome I Wanted (30 Chapter)
Succubus Chen Sir Reborn in Terra, with the Ability to See Affection Levels? (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it