A pink figure stood at the entrance of the laboratory.
"Hi~ Mobius, I didn't interrupt your experiment, did I?"
"You did."
"Oh, that's really unfortunate~"
Looking at Elysia, who apologized with her hands clasped together but had no intention of leaving the laboratory, frost filled Mobius's eyes.
The second Flame-Chaser, Elysia.
She herself was warm and lively, with a friendly personality, and had an excellent reputation both within Fire Moth and among the Flame-Chasers.
But with Mobius, she had nothing but negative reviews.
One reason was that Elysia often stopped her from conducting all kinds of experiments. The other was that Elysia always appeared in various corners of the Elysian Realm without anyone noticing, then pulled out a little pink dress and tried to put it on her.
Combined with other factors, the fact that Mobius had not hung a sign reading "Elysia and Dogs Are Not Allowed" on the laboratory door was already an act of great mercy.
And she still expected Mobius to greet her with a welcoming smile?
Dream on!
"Don't look so gloomy all day~ Smile more." Elysia pressed her fingers against the corners of her mouth and pushed them upward, revealing a bright smile.
"I heard Raven say that one smile makes you ten years younger. I think that makes quite a lot of sense."
"Besides, people who love to smile generally don't have bad luck!"
"Doctor, smile more. Maybe the experiment that failed last time will succeed next time~"
"Heh."
"Don't give me that cold laugh, don't give me that cold laugh, don't give me that cold laugh..."
Elysia waved both hands with a serious expression and earnestly taught her again how to smile properly.
"Heh."
No matter how seriously she taught her, Mobius gave the same cold laugh as always.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Levi asking about the reward. Mobius opened her mouth, then remembered that the chat group could turn thoughts into text, so she didn't need to say them aloud and closed her mouth again.
"A potion formula that can resolve Honkai's erosion of the human body."
By the late stage of the Previous Era, the Honkai disease that had been incurable in the early stages already had a method of treatment.
Although those who had suffered too much erosion were still beyond saving and could only quietly wait to become a Herrscher's servant, there was still a high chance of returning to normal during the early stages of erosion.
Seeing the reward Mobius offered, Levi thought of the tube of medicine Himeko had injected into Kiana's body back then.
Its effect seemed to be dispersing the Honkai energy within her body?
It could be considered Himeko's lifesaving medicine under those circumstances.
[Ding! Commission detected: Teach Elysia a lesson!]
[Reward: Mysterious potion formula: Can cure Honkai's erosion of the human body? (Verbal description)]
[Accept?]
Because the formula existed in Mobius's mind, out of humanitarian considerations, the system could not determine whether the formula's effects were actually as the other party claimed.
Levi could only verify whether it was genuine himself after completing the commission.
"If you don't want to die, I advise you not to think about dropping gold coins from me."
After posting the commission, Mobius kindly reminded him in the group chat, "Elysia isn't someone you can deal with."
As the second Flame-Chaser, Elysia's strength was unfathomable.
Although she had never truly made a move, it could be confirmed that her strength was second only to Kevin.
Who was Kevin?
The existence that had made the Herrscher of Finality crash for twelve hours.
Although the Moonlight Throne had contributed to that, it could not be denied that Kevin was the strongest existence among humanity.
If it had been someone else, even with the assistance of the Moonlight Throne, they probably could not have accomplished this.
And Elysia's true strength was second only to Kevin. The gap between them might only be that tiny.
But no matter how much the difference between her and Kevin was discussed.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that aside from Kevin, if she got serious in the Elysian Realm, no one was her opponent.
Moreover, if someone fought Elysia, none of the Flame-Chasers would provide assistance.
They might even turn around and help Elysia instead.
Especially someone like Levi, who wasn't even a Flame-Chaser. If he made a move against Elysia...
Mobius could predict what would happen with her own toes.
He would definitely face a group attack from the Flame-Chasers.
She could name them just from their names: Hua, Sakura, Kosma, and so on, including... herself.
After all, if an outsider attacked a Flame-Chaser in the Elysian Realm, as one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, even if she and the others were at odds on the surface, she would definitely help her own side.
"There's no need for you to worry about that."
Seeing Levi's message in the group chat, Mobius smiled. "Then I'll be waiting for your arrival, big brother."
Suddenly, Mobius noticed that her field of vision began to rise, and in the blink of an eye, it had reached the height from tens of thousands of years ago.
It was level with Elysia's gaze.
However, Elysia wasn't looking at her. Instead, just like before, she kept her eyes lowered and looked down.
She smiled and said, "Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly how you should smile!"
'Smile? Me?'
Mobius wanted to touch the corners of her mouth, but she felt that the corners of her mouth had not moved upward at all.
Then what did Elysia mean by 'smile'?
When she came back to her senses, she found herself standing in front of a full-length mirror, with Elysia standing behind her and both hands resting on her shoulders.
Clearly, Elysia had pushed her over here.
But... why couldn't she feel anything?
Her gaze stopped on Elysia's hands resting on her shoulders. There was no sensation of being touched at all.
"Look, isn't smiling so much prettier?" Hearing her voice, Mobius looked toward herself in the mirror, her brows tightly furrowed.
The version of herself in the mirror had the corners of her mouth raised, revealing a light and calm smile that she would absolutely never show.
"Promise me, Doctor, that from now on you'll often smile at yourself in the mirror like this."
"No."
Hearing her own answer, Mobius's pupils were filled with shock. She had made no movement to answer at all. Whose voice had just come out?
Mobius looked at the mirror in front of her and stared at herself with a smile, as though looking at a stranger.
"Who are you?"
There was wariness in Mobius's eyes. She was one hundred percent certain that the reflection in the mirror was absolutely not her.
In other words, had an outsider taken over her body?
Could even an consciousness body have its body taken over?
Judging from Elysia's appearance, she probably couldn't see or hear Mobius.
If this thing that had taken over her body wanted to do something to the Elysian Realm, she could only stand by and watch, with no way to stop it.
She couldn't even warn the other Flame-Chasers.
"Me?" The 'Mobius' in the mirror touched her cheek and revealed an incomprehensible smile. "I am Mobius, the only, the real Mobius."
Looking at her own smile and listening to what she said, Mobius felt inexplicably annoyed.
'She stole my line.'
Behind her, Elysia frowned when she heard this. She looked at the 'Mobius' in the mirror with her smiling expression and couldn't help taking several steps back.
"You're not Mobius."
"..."
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