"Worried about money?!"
After hearing Durandal's explanation, Elysia was glad she hadn't been drinking water, or she would've sprayed it all over her laptop.
Durandal shrugged. "It's a real issue, you know... Think back to the day we first met. Didn't I end up in that situation precisely because I had no money..."
Elysia's face instantly paled, and she quickly cut in, "Please, I beg you, don't remind me of that day! It was an absolute nightmare!!!"
She took a sip of water to calm herself before continuing, "Actually, Durandal, aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?"
Durandal looked puzzled, then followed Elysia's pointing finger toward Connie's room.
"You mean..." Durandal's expression shifted to thoughtful contemplation.
She stroked her chin and nodded to herself. "It seems that in Nagazora—no, across the entire Far East—the gang culture is extremely rampant."
"Indeed, as the leader of an organization fighting the Honkai, I should lead by example, eradicate these societal tumors, suppress the chaotic environments that feed the Honkai's growth, and restore peace and order to the Far East!"
Elysia gave a thumbs-up.
As long as Durandal wasn't directing this kind of zeal toward her, Elysia quite admired the other woman's determination.
"Speaking of which, no time like the present. Tonight's dark and windy, perfect for robbing the rich to help the poor... Ahem, I mean, eliminating evil. So..." Durandal trailed off, as if remembering something. "Wait here a moment."
With that, Durandal hurried back to her room and retrieved the pair of Moon Rings that Gnius had previously rewarded her.
"Here, this is for you."
She handed the pink Moon Ring to Elysia, keeping the golden one for herself.
Elysia immediately recognized it as the Moon Ring mentioned in the documents she'd studied earlier.
"You actually have a physical one? Why didn't you just give it to Vill-V for research before?"
As she reached for the pink ring, Elysia suddenly swiped the golden one from Durandal's hand instead. "I prefer this one."
Durandal glanced at the pink Moon Ring now in her hand, confused. "But I thought you liked pink more?"
Not particularly bothered by the color, Durandal didn't wait for an answer and instead responded to Elysia's earlier question.
"If we don't collect enough data first, giving it to Vill-V now won't be very useful. Let's wear them, gather sufficient data, and then hand them over to Vill-V for research."
And so, that very night, an illegal gang hideout in Nagazora was raided. Contraband was burned, a large amount of money and valuables vanished without a trace, and the gang boss immediately called the police—only to be arrested on the spot.
According to local reporters, the boss was still shouting as he was hauled into the police car, demanding the capture of the so-called 'Pink and Gold Bandits.'
The Pink and Gold Bandits were, of course, Durandal and Elysia, now equipped with their Moon Rings.
The two moved so swiftly that the ordinary gang members couldn't even catch a glimpse of their attackers.
The faint glow emitted by the Moon Rings became the only useful eyewitness evidence from the scene.
For the next two days, similar news reports surfaced in Nagazora. Rumors spread that the usual street thugs had largely vanished, terrified of accidentally drawing the attention of the Pink and Gold Bandits. The city's public order noticeably improved.
Naturally, Nagazora authorities established a special task force dedicated to capturing the Pink and Gold Bandits.
However, shortly after its formation, the team was disbanded following a directive personally signed by the city's mayor.
After two consecutive nights of action, Durandal and Elysia had reaped a considerable haul. They had seized large quantities of gold and cash, totaling several million dollars when combined.
While it was merely a drop in the bucket compared to their future expenses, it at least provided a viable way to generate funds.
Once they had thoroughly 'sheared' Nagazora, they planned to move on to neighboring cities.
At least until Eden's company was established and turning a profit, they'd have to continue their work as the 'Pink and Gold Bandits' to keep the organization afloat.
They skipped operations on the third day because Mobius had finally arrived.
Now, the agreement from Fire Moth regarding Durandal's conditions had actually been settled ten days prior.
At that time, Fire Moth stated that Mobius would arrive in Nagazora in ten days.
However, due to some complications, Mobius only learned about the arrangement seven days later.
She then spent three frantic days—with the help of her former assistant Blanca, and three new assistants, Klein, Fuxi, and Nuwa—packing up her personal lab equipment and research materials from Fire Moth.
Rushing against the clock, and even utilizing Fire Moth's latest research achievement, a floating warship, they managed to deliver her just within the deadline.
When Durandal met them at the airport, she was surprised to see so many familiar faces.
The first was Emile, whom she'd briefly encountered during the Second Honkai Eruption.
He was originally destined to become Kalpas's adjutant in the future, and later became one of the Herrschers of Domination during the Tenth Honkai Eruption, known for possessing a certain degree of immortality.
Next were the familiar faces she knew from the game: Mobius, Klein, Fuxi, and Nuwa.
Lastly, there were the couple, Ato and Blanca—people she knew only by reputation until now.
The couple also carried a blue-haired infant girl.
Though much younger than the version Durandal had seen in the Elysian Realm, she recognized her immediately as Griseo, who currently appeared to be about one year old.
Considering the timeline, from the outbreak of the Third Honkai Eruption to the Eighth Honkai Eruption, approximately five years had passed.
This calculation was based on the fact that in the original story, Kevin and Su lost contact after the Third Honkai Eruption and only reunited at Fire Moth during the Eighth Honkai Eruption, stating it had been five years since they'd last met.
Doing the math, it seemed a Honkai Eruption occurred roughly once a year...
The Ninth Honkai Eruption was when the couple Ato and Blanca died in battle, and it was also when Griseo underwent the surgery to become a MANTIS—without it, she wouldn't have survived, as certified by Mobius herself.
Since Elysian Realm memory constructs lack growth, the Griseo there remained frozen at the age she was during her last memory sync.
Similarly, Hua, who underwent the Divine Key surgery, also lost her ability to age, which is why she still looked the same as her memory construct fifty thousand years later...
Ahem, getting back on track—the point is, Durandal always had a clear concept of the timeline:
The Third Honkai Eruption occurred about half a year after Kevyn and Mei first met.
Counting from the Third Herrscher to the final Herrscher of Finality, and assuming one Herrscher appeared per year, Durandal only had about eleven and a half years left.
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