Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

"Drawing?" Shu blinked, looking down at Pet. "Are you serious?"

"Mr. Shu, you appear to be… questioning my veracity," Ethics replied, its tone more a statement than a question.

Shu's eye twitched. "No, it's just… unexpected."

"My statements are objective, devoid of embellishment, sophistry, or fabrication," Ethics said calmly. "I relay factual information."

"Right…" Shu coughed awkwardly, hopping over the wall with Pet and hurrying inside.

"Tell me more," he said, knowing Ethics was likely monitoring the security feeds and could see the "special" mutant.

"The target is located in the innermost room on the third floor, currently engaged in creating patterned drawings with crayons," Ethics reported.

Innermost room?

Shu reached the third floor, slowing his approach to the indicated room.

He couldn't just obliterate this one. He needed a tissue sample.

He already felt a faint feedback just from being near the room – a subtle sense of loneliness, sadness… unlike the other mutants, who only triggered his empathy when he attacked.

"Quick and clean," he muttered, raising his right hand, channeling his [hope] into a binding technique.

"The target is unaware of your presence."

Shu nodded, reaching for the doorknob, his right hand charged with power.

He'd burst in, restrain the mutant, and…

The door swung open. He lunged inside, his hand shooting out.

Before he could even register what he was seeing, his hand was around the target's throat. Golden chains snaked out from his sleeve, wrapping around the creature, their sharpened tips piercing its flesh.

Both of them grunted. Shu felt a faint stinging sensation in his arm and leg.

It was minor. He barely registered it. He'd successfully captured the…

He looked up, finally seeing the "mutated organism" clearly.

A familiar, withered face, smudged with crayon dust, filled with fear, confusion, and a deep weariness.

"Little Tian?!" Shu's hand recoiled from the old man's throat, but the golden chains remained, their barbs embedded in his hands and feet.

It was Little Tian… but drastically different from the one he'd seen before. The three twisted arms had transformed into muscular limbs, sprouting from one side of his hunched body. The protrusions on his back had burst through his clothing, forming grotesque bony plates.

But these changes couldn't hide the deep hollows of his eyes, the withered frailty of his body.

"Huh…?" Little Tian looked at him with clouded eyes.

Shu's heart pounded. "It's… it's me…" he stammered, forcing himself to sound calm.

Little Tian's gaze drifted to Shu's outstretched hand, the source of the golden chains.

Shu fell silent. Little Tian seemed confused by the attack, but only by the why, not by the pain in his hands and feet.

Could he not feel it?

No, that was impossible. Shu was receiving the feedback. Little Tian had to be feeling it.

Before Shu could respond, Pet, which had followed him into the room, spoke in Ethics's voice.

"Communication possible, rationality intact… an unforeseen development." Pet circled Shu's feet, weaving between the golden chains.

But Shu had foreseen this. Drawing, especially with tools, required intelligence. This wasn't a mindless monster.

Why hadn't Ethics anticipated this?

"Ethics, explain," Shu demanded, looking down at the small robot.

He retracted his hand, the chains withdrawing their barbs but maintaining their hold on Little Tian.

"What requires clarification, Mr. Shu? The presence of this individual? My classification of him as a [mutated organism]?" Ethics asked.

"All of it."

"Mr. Shu, my arrival in Heliopolis did not significantly predate yours. However, regarding the individual designated 'Little Tian,' I can provide some information." Ethics paused. "This individual was party to the previously mentioned cooperative agreement. The majority of the mutated organisms you have encountered, including those you eliminated, were brought into this facility by this individual."

Shu stared at Pet. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" His voice was cold. He didn't know how much vital information Ethics had withheld.

"Knowledge of their origin was deemed irrelevant to our objectives. It did not enhance efficiency," Ethics replied. This time, Shu heard a distinct coldness in its voice, a purely mechanical detachment.

"Then why are you telling me now?"

"Because you inquired. You are human. I must address your queries to maintain our collaborative efforts. This is… a [compliment]."

Shu was speechless.

"Now tell me everything you know. About these mutated organisms, about your previous collaborator. Everything," Shu said, his gaze hardening.

"This is a non-negotiable condition for our continued cooperation."