Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

—Unaware of the strange brainstorming session between the two girls 50,000 years later, the pink-haired girl withdrew her attention from the chat group, gently pushed open the door, and entered Vill-V's workshop.

This place seemed to have become their secret meeting spot.

But unlike before, upon entering, the girl felt a snake-like gaze.

[Elysia], understanding, looked up and saw Mobius sitting at the table, staring at her with a playful, complex, yet also fervent… in short, an incredibly complex gaze, like a pie chart.

"Oh my~ What a coincidence, I didn't expect Dr. Mobius to be here too."

"But staring at a beautiful girl like this, my heart is pounding~ Would you like to touch it?"

The pink-haired girl raised her arm, covered by the Flame-Chaser uniform's sleeve, and gently pressed her fingers against her fairly standard bosom, her index finger slightly indenting the curve, a sweet, Elysia-like smile on her pretty face.

Mobius, a snake-like woman, with a mocking smile—as always—said:

"Hehe~ I really want to touch it… but more than touching, I actually want to open it up and see how the heart of a living Herrscher beats. This is something I didn't have a chance to observe from the Second Herrscher's remains."

"Hmm… that's indeed something Dr. Mobius would think, but from the perspective of appreciating a beautiful girl, that's a bit terrifying~ I'm fine, but don't say such things to other girls, you'll scare them~"

The girl, showing no fear or panic, maintained her smile, only a hint of helplessness in her voice.

"Heh~ It'll heal even if it's cut open, and it'll grow back even if it's cut off~ As long as there's enough Honkai energy, a Herrscher's body is so convenient, isn't it?"

—Just like this conversation, it was clear that Mobius already knew everything.

And Jiang Qiao didn't intend to hide his identity. After all, there was only one possibility for her to know this—Mobius had already contacted Vill-V and MEI and become a member of this world-saving team.

Otherwise, those two wouldn't have passed their interrogations so easily.

This was good. He originally planned to completely win over Mobius after the Third Eruption. Those two's actions saved him a lot of effort.

…Of course, although she was won over, the friendly daily life between [Elysia] and Mobius wouldn't end just like that.

After all, he wasn't the type to abandon someone after capturing them and move on to the next target.

Dr. Mobius would also be looking forward to it, wouldn't she?

"Alright, let's not discuss this topic anymore. I didn't call you here for this."

A rational voice echoed in the air. Looking up, it was Dr. MEI, wearing her researcher's attire and glasses.

She took the initiative to interrupt the topic. Although she didn't mind much—but as a Herrscher herself, she also got goosebumps hearing such talk.

"After research, the researchers have concluded that the Third Eruption has ended."

The girl's voluptuous legs, clad in long boots, gently landed on the floor as she sat down on the workbench with a thud. Her weight made the table creak slightly, but no one minded.

Taking this opportunity, the pink-haired girl picked out a screw that was digging into her butt from under her black shorts and flicked it away before saying:

"Has the core been processed?"

Although the biggest crisis of the Third Eruption was resolved invisibly at the beginning, how to deal with the core of the Third Herrscher required careful consideration.

Although humanity currently knew very little about the Honkai, and even a Honkai eruption without a Herrscher wouldn't reveal any obvious problems, it would still raise some suspicions, and keeping the Herrscher core wasn't very useful.

An unprocessed Herrscher core was like an open, large-scale Honkai energy furnace, incredibly conspicuous to Fire Moth's detection equipment.

Although there were ways to deal with it forcefully, Jiang Qiao felt it was meaningless.

"Hehe~ With me, Vill-V, around, how could there be any leaks?"

The magician's somewhat flamboyant voice rang out. Under the three's gazes, she said with a chuckle:

"I've made it a trophy of the Third Eruption for Fire Moth in a rather reasonable way."

"And because of this, MEI and I have gained quite a bit of credit."

"I think the higher-ups should be quite happy about obtaining the Third Herrscher's core, right~ Dr. Mobius?"

Facing Vill-V's teasing, Mobius snorted, a mocking tone in her voice:

"Hmph~ Those people's expressions are like children who found candy, completely unaware that what they picked up is bait with a string attached. I truly pity them."

The higher-ups had high hopes for the Herrscher core, fantasizing about seeking immortality and the Herrscher's power from it. Even if they couldn't use it, obtaining such a treasure was enough to make them happy for a long time, like children.

But just as Mobius said, this candy thrown out by Vill-V even had a string attached.

For the still-living Third Herrscher, MEI, the Herrscher core was meaningless.

Even if it was in the hands of the higher-ups, as long as she needed it, she could make it condense within her body again.

However, for "ordinary people," possessing a Herrscher core was too conspicuous.

But even so, imagining the Fire Moth higher-ups trying to play some dirty tricks, only to find their target was MEI, the Third Herrscher… tsk tsk, the scene was too beautiful to imagine.

"Although the Third Eruption is over, the war against the Honkai is not. Next, we need to prepare for the possible Fourth Eruption."

"So—"

"Elysia, are your preparations ready?"

Facing the three's gazes, a smile appeared on the pink-haired girl's lips, and a confident, lighthearted voice echoed in the air.

"Of course."

With a light snap of his fingers—

—A faint image of a giant metal machine could be seen within the slightly opened void.