Elysia's cheek twitched slightly.
Someone was getting better and better at taking things out of context.
Could you at least let Kosma finish his sentence?!
She silently complained in her heart, her emotions swinging wildly just like the viewers in the livestream chat.
Still, after a few internal grumbles, she managed to hold back her feelings and chose to patiently keep watching.
The game screen continued.
Under a somewhat tense BGM…
Mei and Vill-V were chasing after a "faded creature."
From the player's perspective, that creature looked extremely familiar—it was the same one that had appeared in front of Mei right before she passed out, and it had shown up several times since.
So then...
What exactly is this thing? Where did it come from?
Carrying the same questions, Mei continued chasing the "faded creature" while conversing with Vill-V.
To increase efficiency, Mei asked Dora-V-V—who often pulled out strange magical contraptions—if she had any tools to trap the creature.
Dora-V-V, hurry up and use one of your bizarre gadgets!
Vill-V simply spread her hands helplessly, saying she was powerless to help.
Eventually, after a bout of pursuit, the two lost track of the creature, which ran extremely fast.
Vill-V and Mei stopped to talk.
Mei told Vill-V she felt like the creature could predict their pursuit routes, as if someone was pulling strings from behind.
But after investigating all the Flame-Chasers, she found it difficult to identify any suspect.
It felt like... there weren't any traitors among them.
In response—
Vill-V offered a hypothesis.
"I must say, based on Miss Mei's deductions, the mastermind should be obvious."
"Who?" Mei asked.
Players perked up immediately.
What?
The mastermind is obvious?
Vilmos figured it out just like that??
Who did Vill-V think it was? Kosma, Mobius, Aponia…
Everyone mentally ran through the Flame-Chasers' names.
But what Vill-V said next shocked them all.
Vill-V, unhurried, spoke: "Time that had been frozen in fifty thousand years of silence only recently began flowing again."
"Buried stories are being unearthed, conflict rekindled—every Flame-Chaser in the Elysian Realm has, more or less, taken part."
"And all these changes were triggered by the arrival of a special successor—a Herrscher."
"It was her who brought about the chance for change. She drew the attention of the Flame-Chasers. She brought transformation to the Realm."
"Well? Isn't that persuasive enough?"
The implication in Vill-V's words was very clear.
Of course, the players all understood—but precisely because they understood, they now felt even more bewildered.
What's going on?
The culprit... is me?
Really?
Actually, Vill-V could've been speaking with double meaning.
She said "a Herrscher," but never directly identified Mei as the one.
Throughout her entire speech, she referred to "her" and never once said Mei's name.
[If you look at the Elysian Realm arc on its own, as an isolated story from Honkai Impact 3rd, Mei is the only outsider. It's hard to clear her of suspicion.]
[Mei is suspicious? Aren't we Mei? How can we be suspicious?? Are you all okay??]
[But I honestly feel like the writers would pull something like this.]
[If the culprit turns out to be me, don't even wait for the Flame-Chasers. I'll just self-destruct, okay?!]
[You think the writers would give you a chance to do that? You think too highly of them. Better reevaluate.]
Among all the discussion, chaotic comments inevitably began slipping into the livestream barrage.
After all, someone always had to stir the pot.
[It's her, it's her, it's totally her! Our hero~ Miss Mei~! Good grief, I just started singing.]
[Mei: You want a punch? I'll give you a punch.]
...
Of course, Mei wasn't going to be tongue-tied by Vill-V.
After all, her split personality had long been "cured." She was perfectly clear-headed now.
"You're suspecting me?"
"Ah, of course not. I place 100% trust in Miss Mei. I was just kindly pointing out where your reasoning might lead."
Vill-V acted completely unbothered.
Mei stared at her. "Then… what brilliant insights do you have, oh sharp-tongued magician?"
Vill-V smiled and offered her thoughts.
First, she fully trusted her fellow Flame-Chasers. There could not be a culprit among them.
Second, there were no other outsiders in the Elysian Realm besides Mei.
Therefore…
"You're saying… the mastermind is neither one of us, nor someone from outside? How could that be?"
Yeah, how could that be?
Players were equally baffled.
[Could it be someone from the real world? Someone interfering from outside? A traitor inside World Serpent? It might line up with Raven's mission earlier in this chapter?]
[What if it's not a person causing the chaos? (wacky emoji)]
[Not a person? You mean… the newborn? (dog head emoji)]
The comments started derailing.
Back in the story—
The investigation once again hit a dead end.
Mei thought for a bit and decided to search elsewhere for clues.
But just before leaving, she happened to discover… someone was tailing them.
So—
To catch the stalker, Mei devised a little trick.
"I just remembered—there might have been an important clue at the spot where the creature disappeared earlier. Let's go back and check."
"An important clue?"
Vill-V saw the look in Mei's eyes and gave a knowing nod.
"Oh, I understand. Some clues indeed need a little… encouragement from behind."
The two turned away.
Behind them, a small figure peeked out from behind a wall and quietly dropped down.
"Ah—why'd they go back? Guess I'll have to keep following…"
It was Pardofelis's voice.
But before she finished speaking, a cold gleam landed at her neck.
Mei's icy voice followed: "Following others isn't a good habit... Pardofelis? Why is it you?"
"Mei-sis…"
Pardofelis raised two fingers and gently pushed the blade away, grinning awkwardly: "Calm down, calm down. No need to point knives at me."
The players, seeing Little Cat's nervous look, and hearing the suddenly cheerful BGM—
Smiled uncontrollably.
Every time Pardofelis showed up, she successfully lightened the mood.
It felt so good.
A true mascot of the Realm.
[Cat-Cat is sooo cute~ I'm falling for her.]
[Speaking of which, have you noticed her eyes look different every time?]
[Really? Looking closely… yeah, kinda does seem that way.]
Watching the livestream, Hokuto nodded with satisfaction.
Finally, someone had noticed that detail.
You see, Pardofelis had once teamed up with Hua and Kosma as a three-person squad.
Hua was responsible for frontal suppression. Kosma handled stealth strikes. As for Pardofelis…
She was the alarm clock.
Because a cat's pupils change shape depending on the time of day ( ).
With a detail that fun, how could he not faithfully recreate it in-game?
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