After Eden's concert ended, in Cocolia's office.
"Cocolia, this is what you call foolproof?"
"I staked my future, risked going to a military tribunal to mobilize the mech forces, and this is the explanation you give me?"
Hearing the roar from her military partner in the communication, Cocolia painfully pressed her temples.
Originally, according to her plan, as long as she could complete this self-directed performance and rescue Eden from those Poison Cocoon assassins she anonymously hired, all participants could advance further.
But unfortunately, the plan that should have had a good chance of winning lost completely.
"Don't worry, Colonel. You were just conducting routine training and happened to appear near the concert venue. No one will suspect you."
"It better be like that!" An angry voice came from the other side, suppressing rage. "If I'm discovered, don't think you can stay out of it!"
The communication was hung up, and Cocolia sighed.
She looked at the photos on the desk, her face quite troubled.
The photo showed Lucius, disguised as the Faded Elf, tearing apart the mech forces. If ordinary people saw someone hand-tearing mechs, their worldview would probably shatter.
But for Cocolia, who had reached the position of United Government Council member, she knew what was hidden beneath the peaceful surface of this world.
She took out another photo and placed it on the desk. The photo showed a pink-haired girl. This was sent to her by a friend in Fire Moth after she sent these videos to them.
That friend even repeatedly warned her that she absolutely must not continue investigating.
Cocolia looked at the person in the photo—except for different hair and eye color, basically similar to that light purple-haired girl who tore apart mechs.
Or rather, these two were the same person!
She wouldn't think that dyeing hair, wearing colored contacts, and putting on a mask could hide one's identity, would she?
Reality wasn't anime—how could changing hair color cover it up?
No, or rather, she never planned to hide it.
From her friend in Fire Moth's reaction, this girl who broke through with Eden was very likely a big shot inside Fire Moth.
Thinking of this, Cocolia gathered the photos on the desk and threw them into the shredder.
Since she knew the waters here were very deep, she didn't plan to continue investigating. After all, she herself couldn't withstand scrutiny either.
Anyway, Eden had returned unharmed and had no intention of holding the Far East accountable. Since that was the case, let this matter pass.
Listening to the shredder humming, Cocolia was silent.
"Failure is nothing. I've already failed enough times." Cocolia muttered to herself. "Whatever doesn't defeat me makes me stronger."
Quickly adjusting her mindset, Cocolia began thinking about what to do next.
The plan to use Eden's power to return to the United Government's center of power had obviously failed, but her goal remained unchanged. To realize her long-cherished wish, she had to climb up step by step, climbing to the highest point of power.
But how easy was it to climb up?
Every year, so many people wanted to advance. Everyone was eyeing the positions above them. How could she stand out?
No background, no connections. To successfully climb up, she had to produce sufficiently large achievements—achievements so big that others couldn't steal them.
"One step at a time."
Cocolia pressed her temples. For her, the Far East really wasn't a good place.
This place was controlled by various conglomerates and great families, and was extremely xenophobic. As a Slav dispatched by the United Government, she could be said to be fully loaded with debuffs here.
If she had been sent to her homeland Lucia, she would still have a good chance of making a comeback. But in the Far East, even if she wanted to make some achievements, she would be tripped up in various ways.
In the end, she was still an outsider and didn't understand the local situation well enough.
"So I need to find a local ally to help me integrate into Nagazora City's circles."
But thinking of this, Cocolia got another headache.
In the Far East, the upper positions were controlled by conglomerates. As vested interests, they were naturally wary of outsiders like her.
"Are there no locals with no connection to local conglomerates but with promising futures to choose from?"
...
The chaos created by Lucius using the Faded Elf identity hadn't yet spread to the other side of the Earth.
At this moment, a certain pink fairy lady had just finished a mission and returned to Fire Moth's base.
Humming an unknown tune, the pink-haired girl walked into the base, like an eternally lively, eternally optimistic, eternally smiling cute fairy.
It was Elysia, returning after completing a Honkai disaster elimination mission.
"Hi, did you miss me?~" Elysia greeted everyone she met.
Usually, everyone greeted by her would be infected by her liveliness and give polite responses.
But this time, the reactions of those she greeted were somewhat strange.
After seeing Elysia, these people's eyes seemed to carry some kind of disbelief, then without saying anything, they hurriedly distanced themselves from her.
This made Elysia somewhat puzzled.
She took out the small mirror she carried with her and looked at the flawless face in the mirror, as well as her capable yet beautiful outfit, showing a confused expression.
"My appearance is fine too. Why are everyone's expressions so strange when they look at me?"
Elysia was completely baffled. She wanted to ask someone about the reason, but the people she stopped desperately ran away, as if afraid of getting involved with her.
"How could this be..."
Elysia's expression became dejected, pouting.
It seemed something had indeed happened that she didn't know about. She decided to figure out what was going on.
Although everyone in the base was avoiding her, she knew one person who definitely wouldn't do this.
"So sad, I feel like my beautiful maiden's heart is about to wither."
"So, let me go find my dear Mobius to replenish some beautiful girl energy?~"
Just as Elysia was thinking this, her communicator sent a pleasant reminder.
Opening the interface, she found that the communication was actually from Mobius.
Elysia opened the communication. A woman in a white lab coat with an unnaturally pale face and green hair appeared—it was Mobius.
However, this friend who in Elysia's memory seemed perpetually impatient with her currently had a rather strange expression.
As soon as the communication connected, after seeing Elysia's current state, Mobius froze for a moment.
"Elysia? You're not in prison?"
"Mobius, I'm a law-abiding beautiful girl. How could I be in prison?"
"Law-abiding?" Mobius's voice suddenly rose, as if she had heard something incredible.
Elysia was extremely puzzled.
However, after seeing the environment around her, Mobius nodded.
"I'm glad to see you haven't been arrested yet."
"Doctor, your words are so strange. I'm not a criminal, why would I be arrested?"
As her words came out, the expression on Mobius's face became even stranger.
"I understand. Don't worry, I'll keep it secret for you."
"However, if you need treatment for split personality disorder, you can come find me. I'm very interested in your body."
After saying this, Mobius hung up the communication, leaving Elysia confused in place.
"Mobius, what is she talking about..."
Elysia was even more confused. What was this feeling where it seemed like everyone knew what happened except herself?
At this time, the opened communicator popped up a message.
[Outrageous! Singer Eden Kidnapped in Front of Thousands, The Culprit Is Actually Her!]
Elysia's heart tightened.
"Eden was kidnapped?"
She hurriedly opened the news and found it wrote at length about Eden's kidnapping on stage after arriving in the Far East.
Just as she was about to scroll down to see what this so-called culprit looked like:
[This information violates regulations]
[404]
Elysia closed the communicator, her little face puffing up angrily. "Who kidnapped Eden? That's so bad!"
"No, I can't let Eden go."
Elysia's heart was anxious. According to that report, the kidnappers were extremely vicious.
She didn't dare imagine what Eden might encounter.
Therefore, she prepared to make a trip to the Far East and rescue Eden.
Just as she was thinking this, a series of urgent yet extremely orderly footsteps rapidly approached. Elysia looked over and found a group of fully armed Fire Moth soldiers.
These soldiers lined up in front of her.
"Elysia, your crime of kidnapping Eden has been exposed. Please come with us."
"...?"
"You have the right to remain silent, but everything you say will be used as evidence in court!"
---
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