Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

If he were in the identity of [Elysia], he couldn't agree with Mobius's ideas – after all, in his original timeline, Elysia was the one most opposed to Mobius's attempts to turn humans into Herrschers.

In the Elysian Realm's records of the Previous Era, there were even instances of her stepping in to dissuade Mobius when she was privately dissecting the remains of the Second Herrscher.

But if he put aside that identity, then Jiang Qiao would agree with what Mobius wanted to do.

Perhaps it was indeed a high-risk endeavor, a future that was difficult for everyone to accept, but regardless, it was a decision made by 'humans'.

If that was the case, what was the difference between an individual and a collective?

"Seriously, saying things like that to Dr. Mobius will cause trouble later."

After the communication with Mobius ended, MEI, who was still on the line, gave the pink-haired girl a helpless look, her tone tinged with exasperation.

She and Vill-V were the faction that strictly guarded against Mobius causing trouble, but they never expected that [Elysia], who they thought was on their side, would directly defect to Mobius's camp.

Although even if everyone opposed her, Mobius's personality meant she would never give up, this move would certainly motivate her considerably.

"Hmm~ We're comrades after all. If even I opposed her, wouldn't Dr. Mobius be all alone? That would be too… pitiful, well, I can't use that word. With Mobius's personality, she would never accept something like 'pity'. So—I guess I just don't want her to be alone."

"You really understand her. If Dr. Mobius heard these words, she might be particularly touched."

"Aiya, if it were her, she'd probably say: Who needs your concern? I don't need such pointless things! After all, Dr. Mobius is just that bad at being honest." The pink-haired girl pinched her throat, winking and making faces, perfectly mimicking 'Mobius', making MEI cover her mouth and chuckle.

This was followed by a sigh:

"I just hope this decision won't lead to the wrong outcome."

Although she didn't object to [Elysia]'s feelings for her comrade, as she gradually gained more power within Fire Moth, MEI inevitably had to view Mobius's ideas from the perspective of a leader, for the sake of humanity's future.

"You're overthinking it, MEI. Even if Mobius doesn't do that, aren't we still struggling to come up with a reasonable countermeasure against the current Herrscher of Dominance?"

"In that case, we might as well let Mobius do it."

Compared to the previous Herrschers, the current Herrscher of Dominance felt more like a genuine test.

It no longer tested humanity by creating massive disasters but transformed the form of that disaster into humanity itself.

Faced with such a Herrscher of Dominance, even [Elysia], as the Herrscher of Origin, couldn't interfere too much – after all, it was a test for the human race as a whole.

"Don't worry, MEI, even if something really goes wrong in the end, I'm here, okay?"

Despite the simple smile, MEI felt a rare sense of reassurance from the girl on the other end of the communication.

She smiled and then returned to her work-mode composure:

"Although the Herrscher of Dominance has indeed created a difficult problem to eradicate."

"Even if we can't find a solution to this problem in the short term—we at least need a strategy to effectively curb the social unrest caused by the Herrscher of Dominance."

"Do you have any suggestions on this, Elysia?"

The emergence of the Herrscher of Dominance would undoubtedly lead to a global public safety crisis, especially in countries with already precarious security, which would likely worsen after this catalyst – 'zero-dollar shopping' would become commonplace.

And public safety often concerned the stability of the political situation. Extremely low public safety could easily lead to the overthrow of governments. Of course—this would be somewhat beneficial for Fire Moth and them.

Taking advantage of the social turmoil and the decline in public trust in the existing nations, Fire Moth could seize the opportunity to rise and further consolidate resources.

MEI had already planned to discuss this with Vill-V.

But even if they could rise to power, they still needed to consider the society destabilized by low public safety.

With the Herrscher of Dominance present, this was unavoidable, and a reasonable solution was necessary.

Given their previous experiences, MEI thought the reliable [Elysia] might offer some help.

"I don't know much about this… it seems the only option is to increase supervision."

Human hearts were uncontrollable, and the only things that could reasonably restrain them were laws and law enforcement agencies.

In this regard, North America and the Divine Land(china) region were in stark contrast.

However—

"Perhaps there is someone who can indeed provide us with considerable help."

"?"

"She's a very cute girl."

Supporting her slender waist, the pink-haired girl raised a delicate index finger and blinked.

"A… girl?"

MEI frowned slightly, not quite understanding.

She didn't think that the problem they currently faced could be solved by just one person.

Especially a girl.

Even if she was being humble, MEI wouldn't deny that she and Mobius were among the most brilliant minds in the world.

And the 'Elysia' before her was the original Herrscher of Origin.

If even they couldn't handle the Herrscher of Dominance, would there be anyone else in this world who could resolve such a societal problem?

Of course, despite her confusion, she didn't doubt the truth of what 'Elysia' said.

As a 'person from the future', the other party had already done too many incredible things, and she and Vill-V were undoubtedly proof of that.

"Alright, where are you going next? I'll help you with the permits."

MEI was also very direct.

Jiang Qiao had mostly traveled privately before, fortunately, those times were usually under the guise of 'taking leave'.

But as the war between Fire Moth and the Honkai intensified, and MEI began to acquire more power within Fire Moth, the travels of [Elysia], as a Fire Moth hero, also needed to be more formalized.

But this wasn't a bad thing. At least with the official procedures, things would be easier, and even when going to other countries, they wouldn't be illegal entries like when they went to New Zealand.

"Thanks, I'll leave the permit matters to you."

The pink-haired girl thanked her with a smile, the image of that person appearing in her mind, then pondered:

"As for the destination—I'll probably have to find Vill-V first."

After all… the place she was going was Vill-V's hometown.

Soon, after ending the communication with MEI, Jiang Qiao connected with Vill-V.

She looked noticeably busy recently, with visible eye bags and dark circles.

"I'm planning to go to Twilight Street."

The girl's concise words immediately made Vill-V, who was initially confused about why she was being contacted, understand.

She frowned, her rarely seen true self—the Deceiver persona—surfacing.

"Why do you want to go there?"

Neither MEI nor Mobius would likely have any impression of the place name Jiang Qiao mentioned—after all, it wasn't a place that would warrant the attention of such geniuses.

But coincidentally, Vill-V was from there.

"You should have heard Mobius talk about the Herrscher of Dominance. I'm planning to go to Twilight Street to find someone who can help us."

Vill-V was taken aback by these words.

With her intellect, although she hadn't participated in the conversation with MEI, after learning about the Herrscher of Dominance's abilities, she had already guessed that public safety issues would become a major concern.

She could understand [Elysia]'s desire to find a solution.

But…

You want to solve the public safety problem by looking for talent in Twilight Street?

Even with Vill-V's disposition, she was amused by Jiang's statement, saying with a wry smile:

"You might not know the situation there. Let me explain it to you first—Twilight Street is arguably the worst and most lawless place in the world."

Trying to find someone who could solve the public safety problem in Twilight Street was like searching for gold in a garbage can.

But the pink-haired girl just smiled, saying nonchalantly:

"Although the environment there is terrible, didn't it also produce a world-renowned genius? Vill-V~"

— This was indeed something Vill-V couldn't deny.

No matter how much she thought her hometown was awful, she was undoubtedly a child who grew up in Twilight Street.

"Alright, that's true."

"So, you plan to learn about the situation in Twilight Street from me?"

"Yes."

"Then you might be disappointed. I left Twilight Street several years ago… Although I still remember the past, I don't know what it's like now." Vill-V shook her head, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes:

"But it probably doesn't matter, that place probably hasn't changed much even after so many years."

"I'll tell you what I know."

…

Narrow, dilapidated, and old-fashioned buildings, garbage and excrement everywhere, the foul stench in the air constantly assaulting the senses – everything was so repulsive.

"This is Twilight Street."

A pink-haired girl, dressed simply yet radiating a brilliance that was out of place in this land, surveyed the surroundings, raising an eyebrow slightly: "Even though I knew the situation here through various means, I didn't expect it to be this bad."

— It was like a medieval European slum.

Perhaps the only difference was that it was slightly more modern? With messy utility poles and small advertisements plastered on the walls.

She could feel the malice emanating from all directions, the residents of this land.

But when Jiang Qiao's gaze swept over, those hostile gazes vanished almost instantly.

She recalled Vill-V's words – the residents of Twilight Street were extremely xenophobic, especially towards those from big cities.

The extremely harsh environment had created the Twilight Street residents' tendency to hate outsiders. At the same time, surviving in this land inevitably meant facing various deceptions and betrayals – kind people could hardly survive here.

From this perspective, whether or not they hated outsiders seemed meaningless, as the residents of Twilight Street were equal opportunity offenders.

Whether you were an outsider or local, if they caught an opportunity, they would devour you, bones and all.

Towards a cute, beautiful girl from the outside like [Elysia].

The ill intentions of those in Twilight Street were undisguised.

Fortunately, she had asked Vill-V beforehand, and in addition to learning the location of Twilight Street, Vill-V had also told her about some individuals she could seek help from.

After all, she was a magician who had grown up here, and she still had some connections.

Jiang Qiao glanced at the map Vill-V had given her – just as she had said, even after several years, this place hadn't changed much.

The people might change faster than the buildings.

"Thump—"

A short figure wearing a cloak bumped into her.

"S-s-sorry!"

A somewhat deep girl's voice was filled with panic. After a hurried apology, she quickly left.

Jiang Qiao didn't mind, focusing on the map, intending to find Vill-V's old acquaintances to inquire about her target.

Twilight Street was quite large. Despite the name, it was almost the size of a small town.

The intricate routes and the terrible urban planning made it easy for outsiders to get lost.

Although she could ask the residents, recalling Sakura's experience in this place from the Elysian Realm records, Jiang Qiao, not wanting to resort to violence in this body, chose a more benevolent approach.

Besides, it was quite interesting, like an RPG game.

Having unlocked a new map, wouldn't it be a waste not to explore it?

Despite the terrible environment, Jiang Qiao was quite interested in this place.

After all—four Flame-Chasers had come from here, making it a feng shui treasure land on par with the Far East Devil's Nest.

Although one of them didn't strictly belong here, even excluding the hot-tempered one, three had still been born here.

Pardofelis was fine, but Aponia and Vill-V, who both had precognitive abilities… one could only say that Twilight Street was truly a land of outstanding people.

While musing to herself, Jiang Qiao followed the map Vill-V had given her and arrived at a hardware store in a corner of Twilight Street.

"You've arrived."

Vill-V, seeing the familiar environment of Twilight Street on the communicator, instantly understood, especially when she saw the familiar hardware store, a smile appearing on her face:

"It's great, it's still open."

"Nostalgic?"

"Yeah, when I was still in Twilight Town, Uncle Smylov often took care of me. My initial engineering enlightenment actually came from him."

Although Twilight Street had a harsh environment and treacherous people, there were also a few incredibly simple and honest individuals, which was Vill-V's only fond memory of this awful place.

"Didn't you consider coming back to see him later?"

"No, I don't really like this town, and if I came back, I'd easily cause him trouble."

Vill-V sounded somewhat helpless.

The things she had done meant she couldn't stay in one place for too long, and even contacting people would bring them trouble – after all, Vill-V was a wanted criminal in multiple countries.

Especially in the region where Twilight Town was located, the bounty was quite high, and there was money to be made from reporting her.

Although she wasn't afraid of being caught, she was worried about Uncle Smylov being bothered if she herself was fine, which she would really feel bad about.

"You can consider coming back to visit him later."

"I have that thought."

Although she really disliked this place, and the country where Twilight Street was located didn't have the Divine Land's custom of returning to one's roots, it was, after all, her birthplace. After leaving, she actually missed this awful place a bit.

The old man sitting in front of the hardware store noticed Jiang Qiao and, upon seeing Vill-V's face on the projection communicator, was a little surprised:

"Are you… Vill-V?"

"Let me talk to him for a bit."

"Okay, I'll step away for a moment. You two can chat."

"What's wrong?"

Amidst Vill-V's confusion, the pink-haired girl looked at her lower back, where a crystal flower should have been, and gave a kind smile:

"Hmm~ I'm going to look for something I lost."

…

— Pardofelis, a native of Twilight Town. As a stray child, Felis had lived a life of constant hunger for a long time, so her dreams since childhood were to have enough to eat and a midday nap. It wasn't until one day, when she learned the art of stealing from a black cat, that she finally ended her days of wondering where her next meal would come from.

But although she stole, Felis also had her principles. She never stole from the poor like herself, only targeting the wealthy in Twilight Town's rich areas and outsiders. And each time she stole, she only took enough money for her food, donating the rest to the impoverished.

This behavior made her quite famous among the lower classes, even earning her the nickname 'The Righteous Thief'.

And today, Felis had found a target who was clearly a big spender.

Someone from the outside, clearly rich, and a very cute pink-haired girl.

Was she really going to target such a cute girl?

Felis was uncharacteristically hesitant.

Although she also targeted outsiders, she would choose her targets.

This pink-haired lady seemed like a very kind person.

But after a moment, her rumbling stomach made her decide.

The process was surprisingly smooth.

That pink-haired lady had absolutely no sense of vigilance.

Someone like that would easily be targeted in Twilight Street.

Thinking this, Felis felt that with her lesson, that careless outsider would definitely learn her lesson.

As for this crystal flower, consider it tuition!

"I'm rich~ I'm rich~ Hehehehehehe"

Taking off her tattered hood, the hazel-haired girl's heterochromatic eyes, like those of a Persian cat, revealed a hint of excitement and elation.

Although Felis had stolen many things in the past, including gold and jewelry, this was the first time she had seen such a beautiful crystal flower.

Even though she didn't know the market price of crystals, her intuition told the cat that if she could sell this thing, even if she only kept enough for food and donated the rest as usual to the impoverished, it could help many people.

But… should she really donate all the proceeds from this?

Looking at the crystal flower, Felis was conflicted.

If she swallowed all the income from selling this thing, she probably wouldn't have to work for the rest of her life.

She wouldn't have to live this life of constant anxiety, worrying about where her next meal would come from. The past was fine, but recently, the cat had become a little scared.

Because she often stole from the rich, they had jointly put a bounty on her. Because of this, she had almost been caught recently, a bullet away from death.

Fortunately, the coin she always carried with her had saved her life.

The crystal flower reflected those heterochromatic eyes, and the hazel-haired girl bit her lip tightly.

For some reason, there seemed to be a voice constantly tempting her—what are you hesitating about? You stole this yourself, so what if you don't donate it?

As long as you swallow it, you won't have to live like this anymore. You can not only eat your fill and nap every day, but you can also live even better.

Don't you want to live better?

Everyone else in Twilight Street is like this, so what if you do it?

No one will know what you did.

You're just a thief!

Countless voices echoed in her brain. Listening to these voices, Felis was incredibly tempted, but she also felt…

…It's so noisy.

Strangely, a distant, vague memory flooded her mind.

It was when she was very young, begging for food at the Twilight Street station.

She seemed to have met a little girl, and she had tricked her… but that person not only didn't blame her, she even…

It was because of that person that Felis hadn't sunk into this 'hell' like the other residents of Twilight Street.

Even as a thief, she still had a bottom line.

But why was she doing all this?

Perhaps it was for peace of mind.

Or perhaps, it was just that she didn't want to disappoint that person whose face she couldn't even remember.

So.

— This is good enough.

The conflicted heart gradually eased.

A subconscious smile appeared on the corners of the girl named Felis's lips.

All she wanted was to have enough to eat and a midday nap, that was all.

As for more, that wasn't her pursuit.

As for this crystal flower.

It looked so expensive. Perhaps it had a different meaning for its owner.

Recalling that pink figure, Felis made a decision.

She was going to return this crystal flower!

At this moment.

A shackle in her heart seemed to shatter, and a sweet voice filled with praise rang in her ears:

"You did well, Felis."