HI3: Previous Civilization

"Brevity is the soul of wit." – MIlkshake

At that moment, the two in the lab were trapped in a strange atmosphere.

One of them huddled in a corner, cheeks flushed red, fiddling with bubble wrap.

The other stood nearby, smiling faintly as he watched from behind.

Ruoyin tilted her head. She couldn't fathom it.

"Human emotions are truly complicated. But I'd better take a picture first."

"My power core keeps telling me that if I don't preserve this scene, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

She lifted her camera. Click! A moment later, she'd captured it forever.

At some unknown future date, someone would stumble on this photo. They'd gleefully wave it in front of Mobius, exclaiming, "Who knew the dreaded Dr. Mobius had such a girlish side? So cute! Dr. Mobius, might you grant this tiny wish of mine…?" That, however, is a story for another time.

Right now, Ruoyin was using her phone to stream events live to those in the Big Hollow.

Because, for the past hour and thirty-six minutes, Mobius and her Master had essentially frozen in this mutual standoff.

In the Big Hollow, everyone sat before a massive screen, each holding a bowl of rice, quietly spectating. As for those two spies discovered earlier—somehow, they'd been won over in record time.

Indeed, one of the spies was named Hen. He clutched his bowl, watching the feed. A wry grin tugged at his mouth.

"Dr. Mobius, guess you're not so invincible. Blanca would be thrilled to see this."

He paused, remembering that Blanca was still in college. 'Maybe I'll try recruiting him here, see if any flies are buzzing around him. If so… I'll just break their legs.'

Hen also shook his head at their outrageous training program. 'Who dreamed up this insane regimen? If I ever find out… I'll… Wait—it's our boss's idea? Never mind. I'll keep quiet…'

As for how they'd handled these two so-called spies, the Big Hollow folks hadn't really done much. They just put headphones on them and looped an old recording of the boss's first-ever speech.

"Where'd it come from?" someone once asked. Turns out, back when their boss gave that inaugural talk, a member of the audience had a pocket recorder. The playback effect wasn't as strong as hearing the speech live, but repeated listenings were enough to make you see a tragic future in your mind's eye.

Some considered uploading that audio to the internet. But they all hesitated—what if chaos broke out from widespread knowledge of the future? They concluded it was safer to keep it private. Besides, only the original recording produced the effect; copied versions just didn't work.

If this tape somehow landed in the Honkai: Star Rail world, it might become a new magical relic. Some folks started jokingly blaming the "darn Honkai" for all these bizarre phenomena, shaking their fists. "We'll crush you eventually—our Boss will smash you to bits!"

Meanwhile, the two spies who listened to the speech for the tenth time each underwent a vivid illusion:

They found themselves as Fire Moth soldiers. One spy died at the hands of the Second Herrscher; the other, 'Hen,' apparently married a lovely wife and had a cute daughter—only for the Eighth Herrscher to kill that wife. In a desperate final mission, he sacrificed himself to take down the Ninth Herrscher.

They snapped back to reality, staring at the friendly muscleheads around them, now feeling a strange kinship. Immediately, they volunteered to become double agents: funneling false data to Fire Moth and those higher-ups.

As soon as the mechs—er, mechanical lifeforms—who managed the Big Hollow heard all this, they stealthily urged Ruoyin to begin live-streaming the scene in the lab. At first, she refused. But with the veterans' encouragement, she yielded, and thus the entire base ended up watching the broadcast.

Meanwhile…

Over by the kitchen, a few little ones shuffled around on stubby legs, carrying out steaming pots of red-bean rice. Dr. EINSTELN stared at the big screen, already finishing her third bowl. She was halfway through the fourth, marveling at the so-called "devilish" Mobius now looking so girlish. "What a perfect side dish," she joked.

…

In the lab:

Mobius refused to turn around, having fully popped her sheet of bubble wrap. She had no idea how to face that little white mouse. He was just a test subject—so why did she feel… like this?

'And yet… maybe I should study what happens if a Herrscher and a regular person have a child?' she mused in confusion, momentarily entertaining the notion of naming their third child.

Fan, standing behind her, sensed it was time to break this awkward spell.

"Dr. Mobius…" he said gently.

"Wh-what?!" She panicked, suspecting he might be about to confess. Her fingertips fluttered anxiously, heart thumping wildly as though about to leap out of her throat.

'No, no, I'm not ready for this!' She raised her palm, warding him off. "Wait—don't say anything yet. G-give me a moment to prepare myself."

Taking a few deep breaths in the corner, Mobius tried regaining composure, leaving Fan smiling indulgently. He'd initially pegged her as overbearing, but she turned out to be downright adorable when caught off guard.

'If I actually confessed right now, I've probably got an eighty-plus percent shot,' he thought. But then again, if she really agreed, she'd have every excuse to poke him with that huge syringe. 'Boyfriends have to share their blood, right…? She'd want more than that, too (bleep~)…'

Besides, the lab still housed a few spies from the upper echelons, not fully re-educated yet. He wasn't keen to let them catch him forging such a relationship. The moment the higher-ups caught wind, they might treat him as a valuable test subject.

Even if he theoretically could hijack the world's nuclear codes, desperate people might attempt some suicidal last-ditch measure, destroying everything before the true Honkai threat even emerged. Then his only option would be fleeing into the Quantum Sea with his loyal group.

Fan didn't realize that the "spies" had already been subdued behind the scenes. As it turned out, the folks he'd assigned to recruit new researchers were from the Big Hollow. With Maya's help, they'd used that tape again. The majority of new hires swiftly joined the cause, leaving just a few "holdouts." Today was their final day, with plans to convert those last stragglers.

Meanwhile, Yàn slouched through a hidden passage, flinging a tiny recorder to the local research staff. One of them fumbled to catch it, scolding, "Hey, careful! This is our Boss's only audio, you know. We have to treat it properly."

"Ah, you gotta problem with it?" Yàn shot back, adopting his usual thug-like stance. He was in a rotten mood because he'd been enjoying the meltdown between Mobius and Fan via live stream—and now he'd missed it. He'd only get to see replays. That's no fun.

"Understood," one researcher soothed him with a flourish of arms. "But we all must sacrifice for our great cause, right? We're in the same boat. We can only watch the replays, too."

Yàn just grunted and shrugged, stomping away. The scientist then turned to the remaining spies, kindly addressing them:

"Don't worry, my little cuties. We're not going to harm you. Truly."

One spy spat out the cloth gag from his mouth. "You're all traitors—starting a rebellion? I warn you, let me go or else… once I vanish, they'll storm this institute and drag you all in for questioning!"

From beneath a desk, another researcher retrieved a small listening device. He placed it on top of the table with a smirk.

"Ah, you mean this bug? Our team found it on day one and hacked it. Same goes for the one you wear on your person. So the outside only hears what we want them to hear."

He spread his arms theatrically.

"Come, join us in our Great Leader's embrace…"

The white-coated spy realized how hopelessly he was tied up, squirming away like a caterpillar.

"Don't… don't you come near me!"

But the group advanced calmly, the muffled pleas echoing in the background.

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( dà qǐ dà luò) literally means "great ups and downs," often describing dramatic changes in fortune or emotion within a short period. It can refer to emotional swings, stock market crashes and rebounds, or any situation involving extreme highs and lows.