Several days flew by quickly, and soon it was the day of Eden's concert opening.
Kiana took her concert ticket and found her seat.
Looking at the lively and bustling scene around her, her mood couldn't help but improve.
"Everyone has happy smiles on their faces, and nothing strange has happened. If only life could always be this lively and cheerful."
"It's a pity that Lucius didn't come along, and Su... I can't let him know about my current situation for now."
Thinking of this, Kiana felt somewhat dejected.
However, while she was feeling sentimental, she didn't notice that someone was sitting in the seat behind her, wrapped tightly in a coat, wearing a baseball cap to hide their face, as if trying to conceal themselves.
Su looked at Kiana, who was alone, with some confusion.
What's going on? Didn't Lucius come with her?
Feeling like he was being excluded from the small group, after much deliberation, Su decided to follow Kiana to see what these two were up to without him.
After learning that his good brother had also gotten a ticket to Eden's concert, he guessed the other would definitely come to watch.
So the day before the concert, he staked out Kevin's house, preparing to tail them and see what these two were doing while excluding him.
And everything went quite smoothly—he did indeed catch sight of his good brother at Kevin's house.
But what puzzled him was that from start to finish, there was only the other person alone, with no trace of Lucius.
Just as Su was thinking this, he discovered that a purple-haired girl wearing glasses had actually sat down next to his good brother.
After looking at each other in surprise, the two actually began talking.
Obviously, his good brother clearly knew the other person.
In an instant, Su's mind flashed like lightning, and a bold idea suddenly arose.
"Wait, could I have misunderstood Lucius and Kevin?"
He was an extremely sensitive person, and looking at Kiana chatting with Mei at this moment, he could still sense that passionate emotion.
Su gradually lowered his head as a certain bold idea began to take shape in his heart.
Was there a possibility that his good brother Kevin was crossdressing to get close to this purple-haired girl?
As for why?
Perhaps this girl was a les...
This would also explain why only Kevin was here alone while Lucius hadn't come—because this was a stage specifically left for Kevin!
He understood now, completely understood!
...
Lucius stood at the very back of the audience area, looking at Su who had wrapped himself up tightly, just short of writing "I have a problem" on his body, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Su, what are you here for?
In Lucius's plans, Su didn't have much of a role in the early stages. The only thing he needed to do was stay alive until his part came.
However, this world was becoming increasingly dangerous, and he needed to keep an eye on the script at all times, so he couldn't protect Su for extended periods.
So it would be best to find him an absolutely safe place and have him hole up there.
"A safe place..."
Lucius pondered. He remembered that Su's ambition seemed to be becoming a doctor, and among the people he knew, there happened to be a woman who, although not a doctor, had medical skills that wouldn't lose to any doctor.
A green figure flashed through Lucius's mind, and he suddenly had a bold idea.
Mobius's laboratory was chronically short-staffed due to reputation issues, and Su himself had decent talent. Why not throw him to Mobius as an assistant?
Although Mobius's reputation was extremely poor, Lucius knew this woman actually had quite a protective personality, and her laboratory would be extremely safe before the Herrscher of Dominance arrived.
Thinking about it, Lucius turned his gaze toward Su.
Su's body trembled for no reason as he looked left and right.
"Strange, why do I suddenly have a very ominous premonition?"
However, Lucius quickly shifted his gaze away from Su, Kiana, and Mei.
He wasn't here to watch the concert with them. He came here to discuss a business deal with Eden.
Lucius's figure disappeared into the crowd, and using the surrounding environment, he easily passed through the backstage guarded by Eden's professional security team.
This stigmata from Schicksal's Central Intelligence Department's A-rank Valkyrie Ghost not only granted him the ability to transform at will, but also bestowed upon him all of that Valkyrie's infiltration skills.
Although Eden's security team was indeed professional, they still weren't enough in front of him.
Lucius found Eden's private resting room, sat down, and prepared to wait for Eden to finish the concert so he could talk with her.
However, while Lucius was quietly waiting, he felt some strange sounds coming from the surrounding walls.
Lucius looked around and pressed his ear against the wall.
His powerful physical qualities granted him excellent hearing, and even through the wall, he could faintly hear the voices next door.
"As long as we can pull this off, we can completely wash our hands of this business..."
"Where is Spade 4..."
Hearing the sounds from next door, Lucius's expression became strange.
After thinking for a moment, bloody mist began to emanate from Lucius's body, and his figure twisted in the blood fog, quickly transforming into another appearance.
Using the large floor mirror in Eden's lounge, Lucius saw his current appearance.
Pink hair, and that flawless countenance.
It was Elysia.
The transformation ability granted by the stigmata was essentially a mimicry ability that reshaped one's appearance by analyzing the target's DNA. To perform the mimicry, he needed to obtain at least ten milliliters of the target's blood.
As for Elysia's blood?
Lucius actually had it, and quite a lot. Back when he was her big brother at the orphanage, he had drawn quite a bit of her blood under various pretenses for future research.
Recalling those past days, he raised his hand toward the mirror and made a peace sign, smiled, then took out a spray bottle from his system inventory.
After shaking it, he sprayed it on his hair. Instantly, the head of pink hair turned light purple.
At the same time, he took out a pair of orange-red colored contacts from his inventory and placed them on his eyeballs.
Seeing his temperament suddenly change in the mirror, transforming from flawless to sinister, Lucius nodded with satisfaction.
Then he took out a black mask and put it on.
As for why he needed to change his appearance?
"Hah, who does bad things using their original appearance?"
Now he was no longer Lucius, but the Far East bandit named the Faded Elf!
...
At the concert venue, Eden sang.
The seats below were packed, and the audience waved their glow sticks and banners bearing Eden's image, surging like waves.
The singing swept across the concert venue, as if stirring up tremendous waves.
When the song ended, the crowd shouted frantically.
"Eden!"
"Eden!"
"Eden!"
"Miss Eden, I'm your dog!"
"? Above, isn't your formation wrong?"
"I'm the real Miss Eden's dog!!!"
In the audience seats, Kiana and Mei were also infected by Eden's singing, waving their glow sticks.
Looking at Mei beside her with equally excited eyes, Kiana felt particularly smooth-sailing today and couldn't help but sigh: "If only such peaceful daily life could continue forever."
After hearing Kiana's words, Mei thought of her father's flourishing new life after turning over a new leaf during this period, and couldn't help but empathize.
"Yes, how wonderful it would be if such peaceful life could continue forever..."
Just as the two were sighing, Eden's concert entered the next segment.
That was—interaction!
Eden would select a lucky audience member to sing a song together with her.
On stage, Eden raised her arm high, her index finger pointing upward.
"So then, my dear listener, may I invite you to sing a song with me?"
Eden's arm lowered, her index finger pointing toward Kiana's direction, and the stage lights began moving toward her position.
Kiana and Mei looked at each other, seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.
"To think I'd encounter such a low-probability event, it seems today really is my lucky day." Kiana sighed, preparing to stand up.
But the light actually stopped in front of her and quickly moved in another direction, stopping at an extremely remote audience seat.
The light fell upon a girl wearing a mask with light purple hair.
It was Lucius disguised as the Faded Elf.
Ignoring the mixed expressions of jealousy, envy, and teeth-grinding from the people in the audience, Lucius fearlessly ascended the stage.
Regarding this, the true owner of this stage, Miss Eden, was somewhat bewildered, because the light just now was not operated by her.
However, looking at the person who had ascended the stage, Eden's expression changed from bewilderment to surprise.
Her eyes widened slightly, her face showing disbelief.
Although the other person wore a mask, had different hair color, and different eye color, Eden still couldn't possibly be mistaken.
"Ellie, how did you..."
Before Eden could finish her words, Lucius flashed behind her and lifted her up in a princess carry.
Before Eden herself and the audience could react, he ran off carrying Eden.
Leaving behind only the dumbfounded audience and the empty stage.
After waiting for a while, everyone finally realized this didn't seem to be a pre-arranged performance.
The venue instantly erupted.
...
Next door, a group of men and women in work clothes had gathered together.
They weren't Eden's team's logistics personnel, but a gang of bandits disguised as staff members.
And their purpose for being here was self-evident—to kidnap Eden, the brightest star of this era.
A sponsor had paid a huge price to post this task on Poison Cocoon, and they were the assassins who had taken on this job.
Although they were assassins, they could find cats and dogs, investigate mistresses—naturally they could also take on kidnapping jobs.
However, this kidnapping operation encountered an accident before it even began.
"Why hasn't Spade 4 arrived yet?"
The person in charge of this operation, whom the assassins called Captain, was so angry his face was about to twist.
"Captain, she said she had something at home, but she'll be here soon."
The captain checked the time and felt even angrier.
"I've heard of people being late for work clocking in, being late for class sign-in, but being late for a kidnapping is a first!"
"This is completely unprofessional! Once this mission is complete, I'll definitely request the organization lower her rating... Bang!"
A loud noise—the door was violently kicked open. As well-trained assassins, these people instantly found cover and drew their firearms, ready to quick-draw.
But after seeing who opened the door, the bandits froze.
They saw a light purple-haired girl wearing a mask, holding another unconscious girl in a princess carry.
And the person in her arms was none other than their target for this operation—Eden!
"This, this this..."
Just as the bandits were recovering from the shock, they heard the light purple-haired girl say: "I said I'd be here soon."
"So you're Spade 4... Boom!!!"
Just as the captain was about to confirm her identity, he heard a huge noise from outside the door, and noisy voices began to surge in.
Everyone's expressions instantly changed drastically.
Lucius, disguised as the Faded Elf, pulled a smile at the corner of his mouth hidden by the mask and said: "There's no time, follow me quickly!"
Without waiting for them to react, he rushed out.
"Damn it! Follow Spade 4!"
The plan had obviously gone awry, but as long as Eden was already in hand, next they just needed to rush out and deliver this troublesome woman to their employer.
The self-proclaimed captain cursed under his breath, grabbed a handgun, and led everyone rushing out.
Outside, Eden, who had been unconscious in Lucius's arms, now showed no sign of unconsciousness whatsoever and was curiously observing Lucius and the surrounding scenery.
Lucius winked at her lightly, and Eden instantly understood.
She closed her eyes and her body went limp.
She 'fainted' once again.
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Advanced 30+ Chapters of Honkai: Is this even the Prevoious Era