Inside a spacious, soundproof interrogation room, Elysia sat face-to-face with the officer in charge of the kidnapping case.
The interrogator, a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses, pointed at a photo on the table.
"Is the person in this photo you?"
Elysia leaned over to take a look. The picture showed a girl flashing a peace sign at the camera.
She was wearing a mask, and her eye color and hair color were different from Elysia's. But just judging by body proportions alone, Elysia could still tell.
This girl looked eight… no, nine parts like her.
"That's not me," Elysia said calmly.
She brushed a finger through her hair, drawing attention to it.
"My hair is pink. The person in the photo has light purple hair."
Then she pointed at her eyes.
"And the eye color is different too. Brownish-red eyes are pretty and all, but mine are gemstone blue with a touch of romantic pink."
As if worried the interrogator would not believe her, she even leaned in closer.
"See? Completely different, right? Right?"
Looking at this overly friendly pink-haired girl suddenly invading her personal space, the interrogator wanted to remind her that this was a serious interrogation.
Unfortunately, this pink-haired fairy seemed to possess some strange charisma that made it impossible to feel annoyed at her.
"Miss Elysia," the interrogator said, forcing herself to stay professional, "this is a formal inquiry, and the entire process is being recorded."
As she spoke, she pulled out another photo.
This one was identical to the previous image, except the hair had been changed to pink, the eyes matched Elysia's, and even the mask was gone.
She slid the photo across the table.
"This image was generated by our technical department using AI reconstruction based on data collected at the scene. The accuracy rate exceeds ninety percent."
"Miss Elysia, do you have anything else to say?"
Looking at the photo, Elysia puffed up her cheeks, looking utterly wronged.
"That really isn't me…"
"Very well. Let's continue," the interrogator said as she put the photo away. "Where were you at the time Eden was attacked?"
"In Australia, on a mission. Eliminating Honkai beasts and rescuing civilians."
"Your mission ended after Eden arrived in the Far East. After that, your action recorder shows no activity. Where did you go afterward?"
Elysia tilted her head, thinking back.
"Hmm… after the mission, I wandered around nearby. You know how Australia is. Lots of empty places, but tons of interesting animals."
"I ran across the plains with emus, boxed with kangaroos, fed platypuses and silly geese by a big lake in the wilderness. Oh, right… I even saw koalas. They're so slow and cute."
"So, Miss Elysia," the interrogator asked evenly, "do you have any proof that you were in Australia at the time?"
"..."
Elysia froze.
She realized she really could not prove it. Most of the places she visited were uninhabited areas. Some did not even have signal coverage.
Seeing her fall silent, the interrogator sighed inwardly.
She actually liked this girl. As the strongest warrior in MOTH and a hero who had defeated Herrschers, Elysia was incredibly well-known within the organization.
Whether emotionally or rationally, she did not want to make things difficult for her.
But this incident was simply too big.
"Miss Elysia, you understand," the interrogator continued. "Miss Eden is not only the most influential figure of this era, she is also one of MOTH's major sponsors."
"Someone has connected this incident to you, and the fire has spread to MOTH itself. We are under immense public pressure."
"We also know that you and Miss Eden are very close. Perhaps there was some kind of conflict between you."
At this point, there was even a hint of pleading in her voice.
"No matter what disagreement it was, it could have been talked out. There was no need to take things this far…"
After hearing the interrogator's earnest appeal, Elysia felt even more wronged.
Only someone who had been falsely accused could truly understand how unfair it felt.
How could she ever tie up her dear Eden… okay, fine, she had thought about it sometimes, but she had not actually done it!
"But it really wasn't me," Elysia said softly, looking on the verge of tears. "I really didn't kidnap Eden. Really."
Seeing the pink-haired girl's pitiful expression, the interrogator suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Could it be… that Elysia really was innocent?
Just then, a beep sounded on the table, signaling an incoming call.
The interrogator assumed it was from her superiors and answered it.
But the moment the call connected, both she and Elysia were stunned.
The caller was Eden herself.
"Elysia, I heard things have gotten a bit unpleasant between you and MOTH?" Eden's voice came through the screen.
"Eden?" Elysia gasped. "My dear Eden, where are you?"
"Me? I'm naturally at my residence here in the Far East."
Hearing that Eden was safe, Elysia finally relaxed. But almost immediately, she puffed up in anger.
"My dear Eden, who kidnapped you?" Elysia clenched her fist. "I'll teach them a lesson."
"It was Elysia," Eden replied lightly.
"…Huh?"
"I mean, I was kidnapped by Elysia."
"..."
The room fell dead silent.
The interrogator glanced at the stunned pink fairy, then at Eden on the screen, and quickly lowered her head, pretending she had heard nothing at all.
She had heard rumors before. Strange, inexplicable rumors about these two.
Were they… playing some kind of weird game?
This kind of secret between important figures was not something a small fry like her should get involved in. Best to pretend she was deaf.
Ignoring the interrogator desperately trying to minimize her presence, Elysia voiced her confusion.
"My dear Eden, now's not the time for jokes. How could I have kidnapped you?"
Eden shook her head.
"It really was Elysia who kidnapped me. But it wasn't you. Or rather… it was you."
She looked deeply troubled.
"It's complicated, and I can't explain it here. I'll tell you everything once I'm back."
And so, time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
In just one month, Nagazora City had become livelier than it had been in the past ten years combined.
A company on the verge of bankruptcy, originally focused on manufacturing construction machinery, was fully acquired and reopened under a new name.
ME Corp.
At first, the citizens of Nagazora thought this was just another clueless buyer getting scammed.
But they quickly realized that the force behind the acquisition had terrifyingly deep pockets.
No factory space? Buy it outright. Or just acquire a company that already had it.
Short on workers, engineers, or researchers? Poach them from other companies with higher salaries.
Policy obstacles? Smash them with money.
Reality once again proved that ninety-nine percent of problems could be solved with money.
And the remaining zero point nine percent could be solved with even more money.
In just one month, ME Corp had erected its basic framework.
It even launched its first product: an engineering mech called Icarus.
According to rumors, one Icarus unit could replace ten people on a construction site.
Its efficiency was downright terrifying. As long as it had enough power, a team of these mechs could raise a skyscraper in half a day.
"But Father, why is ME Corp's first product an engineering mech?"
Li Mu had bought the tallest building in Nagazora City. Standing in the top-floor office, massive floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view all the way to the Chiba Academy campus in the distance.
This was the office he had chosen for the company president.
At the moment, Mei stood beside him, holding a book, her expression puzzled.
"Father, if we want higher profits, we could get involved in military mech projects."
"The United Government has lowered entry barriers in many military industries this year. It wouldn't be difficult for us to obtain the necessary qualifications."
Li Mu knew very well that as Honkai activity intensified, the United Government would inevitably pivot toward military development.
Getting into the military industry now would absolutely be the most profitable path. And with technology from MOTH ten years in the future, he could make a fortune.
But unfortunately, he had never been an entrepreneur. He was a director.
ME Corp was nothing more than a tool to advance his script. Whether it made money or not was irrelevant, as long as it served its purpose.
That was why he chose future MOTH engineering mechs as the first product. Profit was never the main goal.
Instead of answering directly, Li Mu led Mei over to a massive table.
Spread across it was a map of Nagazora City and the surrounding seas.
Under Mei's questioning gaze, Li Mu pulled a pen from his breast pocket and drew a circle in the offshore waters outside the city.
Looking at her seriously, he said,
"I plan to use ME Corp's resources to reclaim land here and raise a city from the sea within one year."
"A city integrating research, education, industry, and commerce."
"A second New Nagazora."
"I will call it the St. Freya Academic City Cluster."
…
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