HI3: Starting from the Previous Civilization

Fan hailed a taxi.

Under his direction, the two of them arrived at a five-star hotel. They booked a private room and settled in.

While Fan was ordering food, Mobius hurriedly stopped him. 

"I'm already stuffed—I don't need anything else."

Fan waved his hand dismissively. 

"Dr. Mobius, don't be shy. This hotel is part of my family's holdings. Just order whatever you want."

Mobius slapped the table in annoyance, fixing him with a fierce glare. 

"Then why didn't you bring me here in the first place?"

"Hahaha…" Fan scratched his head sheepishly, avoiding her gaze. He looked guilty, as though he had no good excuse.

Truth was, he'd simply forgotten. Too many things had happened recently: recovering his memories, witnessing the horrifying remains of that Honkai Beast. Frankly, he'd nearly forgotten all about his family's assets in this life. He only recalled after sending that email to Mobius, and by then, it was too late—he had to play it by ear.

"So, Dr. Mobius, do you have a particular research facility you fancy?"

"What do you mean?" Mobius asked, somewhat puzzled.

Fan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. 

"I was just thinking: building a lab from scratch would take a lot of time, so maybe we should just buy an existing one. But don't worry, Dr. Mobius—I'll replace all the lab equipment with brand-new gear. As for the research staff, I'll bring in a full team as soon as possible."

(O.O) Mobius froze for a second, forehead creasing with a few dark lines. 

"Uh… is that just how rich people think? Hard to fathom…"

She stroked her chin, giving it some thought. 

"Actually, Fan's got a point."

"Ah!" Fan suddenly let out a gasp and shot upright, grabbing at his hair in frustration. Startled, Mobius shivered a bit at his outburst.

Seeing how vexed he looked, she asked, "What is it? Are you okay?"

Fan let his hands drop from his head, took a moment to regain his composure, and then spoke calmly. 

"I'm alright, Dr. Mobius. I just remembered something."

"What's that supposed to mean? That's why you nearly jumped out of your skin?"

Fan replied with a slightly hoarse voice, "Actually, I have some good news for you—seems we don't have to worry about the research lab problem."

Mobius frowned. 

"And that's the reason for your big scare just now?"

"Before my parents passed away, they actually invested in a massive laboratory. It's equipped with state-of-the-art facilities…" Fan trailed off and fell silent. A wave of sorrow crashed into him, tears sliding down his cheeks.

Over these sixteen years—when he still lacked his original memories—this world's parents had treated him extremely well. Even with their busy schedules, they always found time to celebrate his birthday. For him, those sixteen years were some of his happiest.

Mobius felt a twinge of awkwardness, seeing this boy so overwhelmed by grief radiating off him. 

"Sorry… I didn't mean to bring up sad memories."

Wiping away his tears, Fan croaked, "It's alright, Dr. Mobius. If anyone should apologize, it's me."

He exhaled shakily, then forced a steadier tone. 

"Alright, let's keep talking. So there's already a complete laboratory in my name. 'All that's missing is a gust of wind to set things sailing.' I'll get the staff together as quickly as possible."

"As for experiment materials, there's no need to worry—I'll take care of that. Dr. Mobius, all you have to do is focus on your research. I truly hope that all those scenes I've seen will never come to pass in our real world."

Or rather, they absolutely won't.

"So, Dr. Mobius, here's to our partnership." Fan extended his right hand toward her.

Mobius let a faint smile emerge and reached out with her own right hand. Their hands clasped firmly. 

"Indeed—here's to our collaboration."

With that settled, the two left the five-star hotel. Fan flagged another taxi and personally escorted Mobius back to her research institute. They sat side by side in the back seat.

A garrulous driver glanced at them in the rearview mirror. 

"Young man, you've done alright for yourself, landing such a pretty girlfriend! Better keep an eye on her so no one steals her away."

Mobius gave a sharp "hmph." 

"You can't keep your mouth shut? One more word, and I'll take a needle and thread to sew your lips shut."

Fan jumped in to smooth things over. 

"Sorry, driver sir, I think you've misunderstood. Dr. Mobius and I… aren't in that kind of relationship."

But the driver just smiled knowingly and gave them a big thumbs-up. 

"Kid, you're pretty good, huh? No need to explain. I've been driving for years—I've seen it all. I've even had a couple who called each other 'Mommy' and 'Daddy.'"

Mobius felt her temples throbbing at the driver's rambling. She whipped out a scalpel from her pocket, ready to lunge at him. Fan quickly grabbed her, pressing her back against the seat, snatching the scalpel away, and stuffing it into his own pocket, all while eyeing her warily.

He could understand, of course—she was a scientist, so carrying one or two scalpels around was nothing unusual. But he really didn't want her to cause trouble. If she ended up killing someone, she'd be thrown in prison. Right now, Mobius was just an ordinary scholar, not yet aligned with Fire Moth. Even though she had some international influence, politicians didn't necessarily care. If someone used that against her, well… sure, Fan could pull strings with the connections his parents left him, but each favor used up one contact. He couldn't squander them lightly.

So he discreetly slipped the driver some bills, giving him an imploring look to please let it go. The driver nodded, displaying a 'got it' expression. Perhaps he misunderstood, but in any case, he said nothing further.

Then, with a clunk, the driver shifted gears and pulled a "launcher start." There was a whoosh, and the taxi shot forward. The sudden acceleration slammed Fan and Mobius into their seats, making them both cry out.

By rights, the institute wasn't far away, but somehow, in that short distance, the driver managed to loop around half the city, drifting around corners and showing off fancy steering moves. His drifting technique was top-notch—the angles, the force, the way he used inertia—all impeccable.

Fan, nosebleed trickling, gave the driver a shaky thumbs-up. Once they finally arrived, both he and Mobius stumbled out of the car, ran to a nearby tree, and started throwing up in rainbow colors. The taxi driver offered them a thumbs-up of his own, then sped off with another rocket-like start.

The two of them collapsed onto a nearby curb, staring up at the blue sky, heads still spinning. After a moment, Mobius struggled to her feet, swaying, and shot Fan a look.

"Hey, where'd you find that taxi?"

Fan, reeling from lack of sleep and his throbbing headache, clutched his temples. 

"I have no clue. I just tapped on my phone to hail any random car…"

She looked like she was about to say something else but, noting his condition, exhaled in resignation. 

"Just go home and rest."

"Dr. Mobius, I'd like nothing better. But rest assured, I'll assemble the lab staff as soon as I can."

He took out his phone and summoned another ride. A taxi rounded the corner, pulling up at the institute entrance. Fan stumbled toward it, giving a weak wave back at Mobius as he got in—entirely failing to note that it was the same taxi from earlier.

The yellow taxi roared off again with another high-speed launch, Fan's screams fading into the distance.

Mobius stood at the institute's gates, watching Fan's figure disappear. She glanced around and, seeing no one, quickly slipped into her personal lab.

From her pocket, she took out a tuft of hair, still attached to a bit of bloodstained scalp, and carefully placed it into a test tube. But not long after she entered the lab, a cluster of heads emerged from behind a wall—male and female colleagues—wearing mischievous grins like they'd just witnessed something truly entertaining.