Elysia has a daughter...?
O_O?
The dark-haired youth examined the girl before him from every angle, and had to admit that her claim was quite plausible.
Her pink hair was identical to Elysia's, and even the decorations on her head were the same bird design.
Elysia was buxom in just the right way, while the girl in his hands had a milky-scented baby fat.
The chubby flesh wrinkled into layers as the girl moved, making one want to taste what this unique kind of ice cream was like.
Xilian and Elysia looked so similar, there could be no other possibility besides her being her daughter.
But!
"Little Xilian, can big brother ask you a question, okay?"
The young Brian patted the little girl's head, his voice gentle and soft.
"How old is Xilian this year?"
The cute little daughter counted on her fingers and gave an innocent smile: "Four years old."
"Big brother understands now. It seems Xilian is a very well-behaved child."
The young Brian's smile was full of deep, inexplicable meaning.
He had already found the key in what the little one had just said!
First, all the inhabitants of the Elysian Realm were memory bodies, so they naturally couldn't perform the act of childbirth.
Since the number of people in the Elysian Realm could not increase on its own, Xilian could only have come from the outside world.
And the Elysian Realm was established fifty-five thousand years ago. If this little one were real, she should belong to that era.
And the most crucial point: the purpose of establishing the Elysian Realm was to preserve the data of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, to leave them a trivial memento, the last romance before the apocalypse.
Rin, a Flame-Chaser's sister, didn't even have the qualifications to be recorded. A mere little girl of a few years old...
Thwack—!
The dark-haired youth flicked his finger, leaving a red mark on the little girl's forehead, which made her tearfully clutch her head.
"Little one, can you take me to find your mommy? I'd like to hand you over to Miss Elysia personally."
"..."
Elysia sensed trouble, a premonition of being caught in her own trap. "Big brother, it's fine for Xilian to go back by herself. The uncles and aunties in the Realm are all very nice people."
The little girl's eyes were brimming with tears, making one's heart ache for her.
She had no idea how devastating a cute human cub like her could be to adults.
The young Brian wouldn't allow her to refuse: "No, I must personally hand you over to your mommy. There are strange aunties like Mobius in the Elysian Realm. It's too dangerous for you."
The story about Elysia having a daughter could only fool someone unfamiliar with the Elysian Realm; it was useless on him.
This little one was Elysia, just turned into a child's form due to someone's prank, and had lost all her power.
He didn't know the reason, but that didn't stop him from joining in on the farce.
Elysia: "..."
What else could she say? She had brought this upon herself.
She had intended to avoid embarrassment and give herself the status of a married woman to foil Mobius's ill intentions toward her.
But unexpectedly, because her beautiful and cute self was just too charming, she ended up locked by this man's side, caught in her own trap.
Elysia wanted to cry but had no tears, which only made people pity her more.
"Xilian, don't cry. Big brother will take you to find your mommy. I won't leave until we find her."
Elysia: "..."
Rin-chan, if you don't come and clean up the mess you left me, I'll share life and death with your sister!
...
"My my, I didn't expect that woman Elysia to be quite enjoying herself."
The girl with sakura-pink hair lowered the binoculars in her hands, a look of interest on her delicate face.
The object in her hands was a masterpiece of the Herrscher of Corruption's power, allowing her to quickly see what was happening around the man, Brian, as if using a shortcut.
She had thrown Elysia over there, intending to see the woman make a fool of herself under the Inner World Protagonist's tyrannical power, but unexpectedly, she got to witness an even more exciting performance.
Simply subarashii!
She had no doubt that Elysia, using the identity of Xilian, would only sink deeper and deeper into the mire.
Even if she wanted to give herself the status of a married woman to sever the Inner World Protagonist's delusions about her, she would only get one answer—isn't that even better?
Miss Rin could already see the future, see that woman Elysia, whose brain had been sucked out by her boobs, making a V-sign in shame on a Simmons bed.
She had great confidence in the Inner World Protagonist's ability to bed women!
Patting her butt and standing up, Rin was about to head to the next area in the Elysian Realm to understand the grudges she had left behind fifty thousand years ago.
Here, there were not only her relatives and friends, but also those who had unintentionally hurt her.
But before she could get far, an enchanting figure blocked her path.
"I knew it. There's no way that woman Elysia could violate the fundamental settings of the Elysian Realm. You must be the one who turned her into a child, right?"
Mobius's gaze was sharp, her snake-like eyes staring aggressively at the girl before her.
She had thought that Elysia had given her a big surprise, actually managing to have a baby with a Herrscher as a memory body.
But it turned out to be just a prank by the Herrscher of Corruption, turning her into a helpless child.
Boring! What a waste of time!
Her "Herrscher's Postpartum Care: Elysia Edition" would have to be postponed again!
"Yo, Dr. Mobius, what wind blew you here?"
Faced with the piercing gaze of the Elysian Realm's hostess, the sakura-haired girl showed no weakness.
Mobius might be the hostess of the Elysian Realm, but she, the Herrscher of Corruption, was its emperor!
This mere data world was like a lamb to the slaughter before her; she wouldn't even need to exert herself to solve the problem.
"What, don't you know that I'm the master here? I can go wherever I want."
Mobius was confrontational, completely unafraid.
"Yes, yes, you old lady are the hostess of the Elysian Realm."
Old... old lady!?
The curve of Mobius's chest heaved; she almost exploded at this person.
No woman can be indifferent about her age, not even her!
"So what do you want from me? You couldn't possibly be asking me to let Elysia off the hook, could you?"
"Hah!"
Mobius looked disgusted. "What makes you think I'd clean up that woman's mess? She made her own trouble, she can solve it herself!"
"As for you."
The hostess of the Elysian Realm's expression once again returned to its stern look.
"The Elysian Realm is my territory. Don't you dare cause chaos here!"
Rin shrugged. "So what if I do? What can you do to me?"
Mobius: "..."
She really couldn't do anything about it.
Rin was the Herrscher of Corruption, and her foundation was the Divine Key, Jizo Mitama.
If this person were a Herrscher without a foundation, she could have dragged the entire Elysian Realm down with her.
As long as the entire host of the Elysian Realm was formatted, even a Herrscher would have a hard time surviving.
The pinnacle of technology from the Previous Era, its capabilities far exceeded the imagination of this era.
But it was a double-edged sword: a blessing and a curse of the Divine Key.
Rin, with the Divine Key as her body, was inherently invincible, leaving the hostess of the Elysian Realm powerless against her.
The only weakness she could possibly exploit was...
"Rin, you wouldn't want your sister to be sad because of what you've done, would you?"
In an instant, the Herrscher girl's gaze sharpened.
Her sister was the one thing in her heart that was untouchable, not to be defiled by anyone.
"Mobius, you're playing with fire!"
"Hah, better that than letting you turn the Elysian Realm upside down!"
With that, Mobius turned around without hesitation, exposing her back.
She wasn't good at fighting, and fighting the Herrscher of Corruption was pointless anyway.
However, this rather contemptuous act made the Herrscher girl's evil intentions grow.
"Mobius, you forced my hand!"
Mobius turned back, only to see a hand rapidly enlarging in her vision, grabbing her head, about to refine her in an instant!
"You..."
The hostess of the Elysian Realm offered no effective resistance before slumping to the ground, unconscious.
Her last thought was that this person was so evil, truly intending to turn the entire Elysian Realm upside down.
But when she opened her eyes again...
"This is..."
Looking down, the bulging lab coat announced a figure all too familiar to her.
It was a size that could compete with Elysia's in her prime!
"My voice has become more mature."
Staggering to her feet, Mobius found a mirror from somewhere and saw her current appearance.
The appearance of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl was long gone, replaced by an intellectual and mature temperament that felt incredibly real due to her dazed state.
Mobius squeezed her chest, which was on par with Elysia's, and finally, belatedly, realized her current situation...
"I've turned back into my old self, just like Elysia?"
She squeezed harder, but the mirror showed no reaction.
Like Elysia, she had become as weak as a kitten, though they were now at slightly different age stages.
"What on earth is that person trying to do?"
She didn't kill me, but instead turned me into a state similar to Elysia's.
Mobius didn't think that lawless person, Rin, had any good intentions. She only felt that this person had laid out a series of evil plans around her.
"Whatever, I should head back to the lab and find a way to change back."
She had also studied the power of the Herrscher of Corruption. Solving this problem wouldn't be difficult; she just needed the right equipment.
Not yet accustomed to this body, Mobius staggered to her feet, feeling a long-forgotten pressure on her shoulders and waist.
Sometimes, having too good a figure was its own unique kind of trouble.
She prepared to return to her domain to solve the problem with her body.
However, before she could get far, an uninvited guest arrived.
"Dr. Mobius, we meet again."
The dark-haired youth held the cute, pink-haired little girl in his arms, his expression extremely playful.
Just this one sentence sent a chill down the spine of the powerless Mobius.
"What do you want?"
Before losing her power, she dared to take risks as a MANTIS and flirt with this man.
But now that she had lost all her power, any gesture like puffing out her chest or sticking out her butt could very well lead to her being taken by force by this aggressive man.
Mobius had no doubt about it!
Her gaze met Elysia's, and in an instant, the big eyes and small eyes completed their communication.
Mobius: 'You're the one who led the devil here?'
Elysia: 'Snakey, you're so cute right now~~'
"I probably want to ask you a few questions."
The young Brian put down Elysia from his arms, not exposing the eye-contact communication they just had.
He had come to the Elysian Realm for serious business, not just to conquer beautiful girls.
"What questions?"
Mobius was on high alert.
Though she was a very mature and intellectual beauty, she clutched her lab coat tightly, her posture like she was fending off a wolf.
Her frail body and the aggressive man filled her with a sense of insecurity.
But no matter what Mobius thought, she couldn't change what was happening.
"I want to know the detailed process of the Stigma Project."
In for a penny, in for a pound.
Since he knew the end of the world was destined to come, Brian had no reason to indulge in a land of pleasure and not work hard.
He acknowledged the necessity of the Stigma Project, but that didn't mean he could let it proceed without oversight.
It was just a last resort, not the only way to save the world.
Mobius frowned, but the hand clutching her lab coat relaxed a little as she breathed.
Thank goodness this guy was thinking about something serious, and not about doing her in while she had no fighting ability.
Mobius chose her words carefully: "The Stigma Project is a plan that will absolutely allow this era to overcome the Honkai, and ensure that the Honkai will never happen again. This is our legacy to you."
"But the price will be very high, so high that it's almost unacceptable, isn't it?"
"It seems you really do know a lot of the inside story."
Elysia blinked. Unfamiliar with the Stigma Project, she could only listen quietly.
Combined with what she had learned from Rin about this person's past, she believed that this handsome boy was truly trying to save the world.
Brian: "Just so-so. I'm just the one who let the executor of the Stigma Project out of the Sea of Quanta, so naturally, I have to clean up the mess."
The Elysian Realm is a data world, a complete weakling in front of the Key of Corruption, Jizo Mitama.
But destruction is always easier than creation.
Destroying the Elysian Realm only takes a single action, but trying to find useful information for oneself within fifty thousand years' worth of massive data is as difficult as reaching for the sky.
At least at this moment, Brian understood how Otto felt when facing the Void Archives.
A brute-force search without an index is simply too wicked!
"I see. I never thought that guy Kevin would be so soft-hearted."
Mobius had already figured out the whole story.
It was nothing more than Kevin believing that the humans of this era were incompetent and had no hope of overcoming the Honkai, so he planned to complete the Stigma Project at its first time node with the least cost.
His companion, Su, disagreed and used the Thousand Worlds to banish him to the Sea of Quanta, causing him to miss this time node.
Now, if the Stigma Project is to be executed, the only option is to choose the second and final time node, which is to activate it after all the Herrschers have appeared.
In this way, Kevin, who has usurped the power of the Herrscher of the End, will become the god of the Earth, locking himself on a lonely throne.
As long as he doesn't stand up for a day, the Honkai will never appear.
Brian: "So what's your answer, Dr. Mobius?"
"Of course it is."
Mobius straightened her back. "I! Re! Fuse!"
"Since you know the purpose of the Stigma Project, you should understand its importance to you all."
"Fighting the Honkai is not a game. There are no second chances for you."
"If you want to stop the Stigma Project, then you'd better work hard yourself!"
With that, Mobius started to walk past the young Brian on her long, plump legs.
A hand grabbed her wrist.
"Dr. Mobius, I'm asking you out of courtesy. Please don't make me resort to extraordinary measures."
"Even if you kill me and destroy the entire Elysian Realm, you still won't get what you want."
Mobius was fearless.
Her research on the Herrscher of Corruption was enough to ensure that even if she were destroyed, this person would get nothing.
This was the confidence of a genius scientist!
Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit, Mobius's mouth was as stubborn as ever.
The young Brian really wanted to use his big iron rod to loosen up this woman's stress-relieving mouth, but of course, business came first.
"Dr. Mobius, I don't want to say it a third time. If you don't cooperate, then I'll have to use some extraordinary measures."
"Hah, you?"
Stubbornly clinging to old ways, obstinately refusing to see reason...
Since Mobius refused a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, she couldn't blame him.
"Rin, show our Dr. Mobius what you've got."
"Hehe, you got it."
The treacherous laugh made Mobius's face change. She had no idea what kind of tricks this goddamn Herrscher of Corruption would play.
The next moment.
[Truth or Dare]
[Answer the question or complete the dare]
[The punishment for lying or failing to complete the dare is something I think you'd rather not know]
The area the three were in turned into a game field, sending a chill down Mobius's spine.
...