Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

"I wonder when Sakura-san will be back."

Leaning against a wall by the street, Pardofelis muttered to herself.

There was a factional conflict between Europe and the Mu Continent. When dealing with the internal issues of the Mu Continent faction, Dr. MEI had naturally anticipated the problems in the European faction. However, due to the threat of the Honkai and a lack of manpower, she hadn't been able to attend to it.

But this didn't mean their forces in Europe were nonexistent. Even though the European faction, mainly composed of old, corrupt conservatives from old European noble families, still contained a minority who shared Dr. SPACY's belief that humanity could only win the war against the Honkai by uniting.

Sakura was among those who had gone ahead to make contact with them.

As for Pardo, although Sakura liked the girl after their brief time together, for the sake of the secrecy and safety required for their line of work, Sakura chose to act alone for the time being and bring Pardo along later when the operation officially started.

This led to the catgirl waiting for quite a while.

Bored, Pardo took out a cat-paw coin from her pocket and started playing with it. The coin spun in the air as she tossed it, reflected in her heterochromatic blue-green eyes like a Persian cat's – the vigilance she had gained from her years in Dusk Street kicked in at this moment. The chill coming from behind her made the girl instinctively shudder.

Nothing good ever happened when she felt this way. When she was a phantom thief in Dusk Street, she had relied on this 'intuition' to escape death several times.

And this time, Pardo undoubtedly chose to trust this feeling.

— But it was futile.

"Gotcha!" Before the catgirl could display her skills honed in Dusk Street – or perhaps because the comfortable life as a quartermaster in the logistics department had made her complacent – a cold, youthful voice rang in her ears, followed by a feeling of constraint.

"Ouch—Mercy, good sir, have mercy! I surrender, I surrender!"

Her fair, slender arm was twisted behind her back and pressed against the wall like a common criminal. The pain instinctively made Pardo perform a French military salute. If she hadn't been restrained, she might have already been kneeling and kowtowing in surrender, knowing the catgirl.

After seeing the white-haired youth's attire clearly, Pardo panicked even more – she looked like a mouse that had encountered a cat.

Crap, it's a cop!

Did I get caught?

Thinking of her 'glorious' past in Dusk Street, Pardo felt terrible.

If I get locked up, I'll be here forever!

And getting caught was one thing, but if it caused problems for Elysia and the others' mission… Recalling Sakura's instructions to keep a low profile, the catgirl contorted her face, trying to hide her identity.

"What are you twisting your face for? Behave yourself and show me your ID!" Kevin was very professional, staring sternly at Pardo. Although flustered, she could only silently take out the ID card that the staff at the Fire Moth base had helped her get after she joined – a metal card with the Fire Moth logo.

Undoubtedly, it was completely different from the ID cards, passports, and driver's licenses popular in Europe.

It was unique to Fire Moth and wouldn't be registered in any national police or security systems.

A part-time police assistant like Kevin naturally couldn't find any information about it, which made him even more suspicious of Pardo. He bluntly said, "Open your bag."

Although most law enforcement officers in Europe preferred violent enforcement, Kevin followed the rules.

"Ah…"

"Is there a problem?"

Pardo flinched at Kevin's sidelong glance and weakly replied, "N-nothing…"

There wasn't much noteworthy in her small bag: some Fire Moth internal currency, a few cat-paw coins that the catgirl loved, shiny bottle caps, marbles, bent metal wires, and a key-like metal device – Kevin's gaze settled on the only suspicious item, a strangely shaped bottle filled with liquid.

"What's this?!"

Picking up the bottle amidst the catgirl's flustered expression, Kevin became even more suspicious after noticing her reaction and questioned her.

"Ah… this… this is just regular water!"

"Hmm?"

Her reaction was clearly abnormal—suspicious (confirmed).

The professional and intuitive Kevin was certain that there was something wrong with this bottle of water.

He tentatively opened the bottle cap, and the catgirl's eyes were fixed on it.

Even more suspicious.

But before Kevin could do anything else, a figure bumped into him in a hurry. Quick to react, he managed to dodge but was splashed in the face by the water spilling from the bottle. He instinctively licked his lips. There was no strange taste or sensation.

It seemed to be just regular water.

"Robbery!"

Hearing the shouts of passersby, Kevin realized what was happening. He quickly wiped his face, returned the bottle to the catgirl, and chased after the 'robber' who had almost bumped into him.

Holding the bottle, Pardo stood there in a daze.

Huh… it's over?

Somewhat caught off guard, the girl looked at the bottle with a slightly pained expression, seeing that about a third of the liquid was gone – this was a gift from Elysia. Elysia had told her it was a magical potion.

Because it was 'mysterious,' [Elysia] hadn't told her the effects, but Pardo had always cherished this bottle. She had even brought it with her on this trip to Europe, hoping that this mysterious magical potion with unknown effects would come in handy someday.

But now…

Looking at the remaining half of the liquid, Pardo couldn't help but mutter, "I guess Elysia-san was just teasing me… This thing is completely useless."

…

"Achoo~"

Sneezing, [Bronya] touched her nose, feeling a little strange.

Could a Herrscher's body sneeze?

…Maybe Elysia was talking about her.

"Your efficiency is really something else." Standing beside her, Tesla stared at the ice-blue crystal in the containment unit, clicking her tongue in amazement or perhaps resignation.

Thinking back to their battles with the Herrschers, the First Herrscher was fine since he was one of their own, though it took them quite a while to raise him.

But the Second Herrscher… millions died during the Second Honkai Eruption, and even Yang, the Herrscher of Reason, was beaten so badly that he had to get back up multiple times. It wasn't until Schicksal and Anti-Entropy joined forces that the crisis finally ended.

And Jiang Qiao? From the birth to the subjugation of the Herrscher of Ice, it probably didn't even take half an hour.

"Just luck. She was already resisting the Herrscher's power."

[Bronya] didn't pay much attention to the praise, calmly looking at her fair, jade-like palm.

Although the power of the Herrscher of Truth did surpass that of the Herrscher of Ice, if the latter had fought with all her might without resorting to tricks, even if the result was still his victory, it wouldn't have been so easy.

After all, they were on the same level.

Anna Schariac, due to her identity as a Valkyrie and her dedication to salvation, hadn't even unleashed one-tenth of the 'authority of ice.'

Otherwise, Rita wouldn't have even lasted until his rescue and would have already turned into a solid ice sculpture.

"But Bishop Otto from Schicksal headquarters will probably make his move soon."

The silver-haired girl murmured softly.

The disappearance of the Herrscher of Thunder and Herrscher of Wind vessels was already unsettling news for Otto. After all, the significance of any Herrscher was enough to greatly impact his plans. Moreover, the 'core' of Otto's plan, the Herrscher of the Void, was also among the missing.

In fact, during their disappearance, Schicksal had already begun suppressing Anti-Entropy from various directions.

And now, the Herrscher of Reason had appeared in Manila, and the Herrscher of Ice had once again disappeared.

Thunder, Wind, Reason, Void, Ice… five Herrscher cores out of his control, and the completely unknown Herrscher reaction in Nagazora City.

This power was enough to overturn the world.

Undoubtedly, the current situation had reached a point that even the extremely confident man found unacceptable.

"Tch, who's afraid of that bastard!"

Tesla seemed unable to remain calm whenever Otto was mentioned. She looked annoyed.

But Anti-Entropy now had the confidence to back it up.

They had originally intimidated Otto for years with just one Herrscher of Reason, preventing him from taking drastic measures and only daring to use Schicksal's influence for suppression.

But now, although Yang had learned from the Cocolia incident and improved Anti-Entropy's flawed 'Executor System,' which was designed in its early years to evade Schicksal's encirclement—due to this system, Anti-Entropy's forces were scattered around the world, unaware of each other, only meeting during Executor conferences.

It was like the vassals of ancient China, only bearing the name 'Anti-Entropy' under the command of the Anti-Entropy leader.

Undoubtedly, this system was a massive failure. The misdeeds of the Anti-Entropy branches, which had broken away due to their disgust with Otto's methods, were even worse than Otto's.

In Nagazora City and New Zealand, Yang, realizing that he couldn't let the Executors continue to grow unchecked, chose to centralize power. This made Anti-Entropy lose its ability to develop under Schicksal's suppression and become easier to wipe out.

With the changing of the guard for the Herrscher of Reason, Anti-Entropy could be considered extremely weak.

Of course—what did the changing of the guard for the Herrscher of Reason have to do with the Herrscher of Truth?

When Jiang Qiao logged in, it was Duckie Beyond.

With some skill, he could dominate anyone.

When the Anti-Entropy duo learned that [Bronya] had reverted to Jiang Qiao's version, they felt a great sense of security.

But this sense of security would soon face a brief lull.

Because—

The direction of the Selene was now heading towards the ruins left by the Previous Era.

The gateway to the Sea of Quanta—Sea of Data.

Not everyone was as talented as Seele Vollerei, able to easily enter the quantum realm. At least the body Jiang Qiao was currently using definitely couldn't.

After all, imaginary and quantum were contradictory.

As a Herrscher—an imaginary apostle created by the Cocoon—[Bronya] was fundamentally incompatible with the Sea of Quanta.

Therefore, he had only two ways to enter the Sea of Quanta.

Enter openly through the Sea of Quanta Gate, or use the Second Divine Key's zero-th power, World Reversal, to seal himself and sink to the bottom of the Sea of Quanta—that's how Kevin was thrown in.

Although there was a third option, using the authority of Truth to construct 'Geniuses' to sneak in, Jiang Qiao, who had some personal goals for entering the Sea of Quanta, chose to charge in directly through the front gate after considering it.

"The Sea of Quanta is full of unknowns for us. You must be cautious and careful when entering it." Einstein's projection appeared beside him. Her listless voice contained a hint of advice and complexity.

Unlike Tesla, who specialized in electromagnetism and mechanical dynamics, quantum mechanics was her main focus. Since discovering the ruins of Sea of Data, documented by the Previous Era, shortly after the Second Honkai Eruption, she had been working on repairing and researching it.

According to the original schedule, it would take about two more years to complete.

But… for the Herrscher of Truth, that was clearly irrelevant.

Of course, Einstein's complexity wasn't entirely due to this gap. It was also because of a former companion, an Anti-Entropy veteran—Erwin・Lyra・Schrödinger—who had fallen into the quantum realm during a battle with Otto years ago.

"Bronya, if possible, I hope you can bring Erwin back."

Although she knew the difficulty, Einstein made the request, her hand lightly touching her forehead, out of comradeship.

"No problem."

The silver-haired girl nodded lightly.

For him, it was just a small effort, something he could do on the way.

Guided by the Anti-Entropy duo, they arrived at Sea of Data and entered its depths. Jiang Qiao finally saw the massive portal left by the Previous Era, where the Sea of Quanta Gate was located.

Although the location was relatively hidden and many techniques to extend its lifespan were used when building this portal, any effort paled in comparison to the scale of 50,000 years.

Unlike repairing the Selene, the difficulty of repairing this structure was even higher than the portal Duckie repaired during the Finality.

After all, the former was just a transfer over a physical distance—the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

But the Sea of Quanta Gate in front of him connected reality and the Sea of Quanta.

"The Honkai energy is abundant."

Slowly spreading his arms, feeling the 'abundant' Honkai energy, [Bronya]s' brows relaxed slightly.

The Herrscher core slowly emitted light.

[Second Form Activated. Herrscher of Truth]

[Detecting Construction Target: Sea of Quanta Gate]

[Core Output Frequency 80%]

[Narrative Loading]

[Sub-Core Detected—Connecting Sub-Core: Herrscher of Ice]

[Core Output Frequency 100%]

A somewhat mechanical, childlike voice rang in his ears—unlike the Herrscher of Reason stage, in this Herrscher of Truth form, perhaps for symbolic reasons, or simply for fun, Jiang Qiao abandoned Project Bunny and chose the regular Bronya.

Yeah, this childlike voice is the right flavor~

— The Previous Era had planned to use the Sea of Quanta Gate to guide the abundant Honkai energy on Earth into the Sea of Quanta, thereby weakening the Honkai's intensity and attempting to defeat it through this clever method.

But the result was obvious.

However, it did provide Jiang Qiao with considerable convenience.

At least in repairing the Sea of Quanta Gate, his energy supply, in addition to the brought Herrscher of Ice core, also included the Honkai energy reserves equivalent to a major Honkai Eruption.

And therefore—

He could deal with uninvited guests more easily.

"How long are you planning to watch?"

Slowly lowering the bright silver gauntlet touching the Sea of Quanta Gate, the ponytail tied with a blue ribbon swayed as her delicate, indifferent face turned in a certain direction, looking at the uninvited guest—a skeletal metal face holding an umbrella.

A cadre of World Serpent, Gray Serpent.

Seeing Gray Serpent here didn't surprise Jiang Qiao. After all, Gray Serpent was a network spanning the globe, and the Sea of Quanta Gate beneath his feet was an important facility guiding Kevin back to reality. It would be strange if Gray Serpent ignored it.

"That depends on how long Miss plans to stay."

Although it was a network, the Gray Serpents had different personalities—this one wasn't Dodo Bird's adoptive father. The latter seemed to be planning for the Serenity and Seraph Gems at Schicksal headquarters.

Although World Serpent was somewhat wary of those close to that Lord, due to the Lord's influence.

But this didn't mean they would treat them with the same attitude as they treated Elysia. At most, they would try not to actively provoke them and avoid them.

But for someone like 'Bronya,' who was related to World Serpent's very existence—even if she was that Lord's friend, they had to take action.

Moreover, [Bronya] as the [Herrscher of Truth] represented not an individual, but 'Anti-Entropy.'

[Bronya] naturally understood this and sighed, "Sigh… it would probably be more convenient with that body, right?"

"I don't quite understand what Miss means."

"It doesn't matter. You can't stop me anyway."

"Then—"

Gray Serpent wasn't angry. After understanding her meaning, he planned to retort, but before he could utter a complete syllable, he lost the opportunity to continue communicating.

— Because he had turned into a solid block of ice.

"So what if you could?" The silver-haired girl, like a knight, stood before the solid ice, admiring the artwork created by the authority of ice.

"Not bad."

A slender hand encased in a metal gauntlet gently touched the ice block. A hint of satisfaction appeared in her gray eyes. The girl gave it a gentle push—the huge ice block fell.

The falling ice block crushed the Honkai beasts that had been spawned by the Honkai energy leaking from the opening Sea of Quanta Gate.

Centered around it, the entire area where Sea of Data was located slowly solidified. The Honkai beasts were thus turned into magnificent ice paintings.

She glanced past it indifferently—her jade-like feet encased in sci-fi-looking metal greaves stepped onto the mirror-like surface, landing in a world that was completely different from Sea of Data, desolate and monotonous.

Floating rocks, imaginary shards. Witnessing the remnants of that era, although it was the same silver-haired girl—what was different from before was that this trip to the Sea of Quanta seemed more like a 'journey' for 'her.'

Of course, this tourist destination wasn't very friendly to 'Bronya.'

As an apostle of the imaginary, she had stepped into the quantum realm.

The Honkai beasts driven by the quantum, rushing towards the girl one after another, clearly expressed the Sea of Quanta's attitude towards this unwelcome guest.

Unfortunately, their power seemed too weak.

The area within a hundred meters of the girl seemed to have become a forbidden zone for living beings—a more powerful application of the power than its original owner, Anna Schariac, had previously shown.

It had to be said, Jiang Qiao seemed quite talented at 'using other people's things.'

The next moment—

As if sensing something, [Bronya] stepped forward, and the surrounding scenes flickered strangely and fleetingly, becoming peaceful and silent.

Not feeling puzzled by this change of scenery, the girl simply looked at the clear river. It reflected the figure of the body's owner—but it didn't seem to be just [Bronya]s' figure.

Countless Bronyas, leaves of different destinies, fell into his hand.

Jiang Qiao casually dropped the fallen leaves—the falling leaves touched the water surface, breaking its original tranquility and turning into ripples whose future was difficult to foresee, unable to calm down for a long time.

Then he turned his head to look at this world—the master of Sumeru Mustard Seed.

Su.

The Genius of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of Fire Moth, the executor of Project VALUKA, the nameless peacock wandering in the Elysian Realm, the Lady of the Lake guiding King Arthur to obtain Excalibur—these were all labels belonging to this man with his eyes closed.