Invincible Bro looked equally puzzled. He glanced at Robin before lowering his voice as much as possible. "That 'Robin's Lewd Pics' group, Peace Dove... seriously, that wasn't you?"
Lü Heng was shocked. "What?! There's a group like that?!"
Seeing his genuine surprise, Invincible Bro immediately believed Lü Heng wasn't Peace Dove. But that didn't make sense. The Bureau of Anomalous Investigations only had a handful of members. If it wasn't him, who else could it be?
Nearby, Robin was engaged in conversation with Zhong Wanhong. Although Invincible Bro had tried to keep his voice down, she couldn't help but overhear. A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her.
Could this identity be compromised too?!
The identity she'd fabricated for the Peace Dove account—a colleague of Robin —should have been airtight. But who could have predicted that this generation of internet users would include Evolvers, some even aspiring to join the Bureau?
Invincible Bro briefly explained the Peace Dove situation to Lü Heng, and the two of them slowly scanned the room.
Yu Lin? No way. Her online handles are almost always dragon-related. There's no way she'd choose a name like Peace Dove.
Bai Yuanju? Artyom? Neither of them seems likely.
As Robin's anxiety mounted, the two men finally turned their attention to Zhong Wanhong.
"Invincible Bro," one said, "it has to be him."
"Yeah," Lü Heng replied, "but... who would have thought the Captain was this kind of guy?"
"What are you two whispering about over there?" Zhong Wanhong snapped, glaring at them. "Get back to work!"
"Right away!"
"We're going, we're going!"
Neither dared to question Zhong Wanhong further. They hurried away, and Robin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed her "Peace Dove" alias was safe—for now.
Still, she couldn't help but steal a glance at Zhong Wanhong, feeling sorry for whoever was about to have their reputation tarnished because of this.
That evening, after returning home, Robin immediately fired up her computer to start writing—or rather, transcribing—songs. These were the melodies she had heard endlessly looping along Penacony's Streets within the Illusionary Realm.
Sway to My Beat and Hope is the Thing With Feathers—Robin had memorized every note and lyric. Turns out, being a musical plagiarist wasn't as easy as she'd imagined.
With the lyrics and music for both songs complete, all that remained was to record them in a professional studio. However, Robin had no intention of releasing them immediately. Instead, she planned to save them as new showstoppers for her upcoming concert.
After saving her work, Robin couldn't help but sigh in relief. Leaning back in her chair, she let her mind drift into a hazy calm.
Before she knew it, she was back in the Illusionary Realm, reliving the moment Sunday had unleashed Primordial Creation.
To everyone else present, the colossal hand of the Aeon radiated supreme majesty. But Robin felt none of that awe. Instead, she sensed a hint of familiarity.
Perhaps it was because Sunday had deliberately avoided striking her with the attack, or perhaps it was due to her identity as Robin.
Under the principle of Harmony, there were no distinctions of rank or status within the family. Each member was like a note in Xipe's grand composition, equally vital and valued.
et even in this egalitarian structure, leadership was necessary. Thus, the family members were organized into the Recurrence Scale. Those who reached the highest tier, the IVth Tone Tier, were chosen as Tuners of the Harmonic Chorus.
In the simplest terms, a Tuner is someone capable of summoning a fragment of the Aeon Xipe. Robin was undoubtedly one such Tuner. In the game's original storyline, Robin was supposed to summon Dominicus, but Sunday forcibly took his sister's place.
While in the Illusionary Realm, upon seeing Dominicus and the hand of Ena (Xipe), a sudden thought struck Robin: perhaps she too could summon a fragment of Xipe.
The moment this idea formed, corresponding knowledge flooded her mind. It wasn't as if the information materialized out of thin air; rather, it felt as though someone had been tirelessly whispering in her ear for ages. Robin couldn't recall the specific process, but the influx of knowledge left her mentally drained, as if she'd just endured a morning of relentless math lessons.
This knowledge detailed the specific preparations required to summon each fragment of Xipe:
Aelenev, Commander of the Eternal Centurion
Dominicus of the Harmonious Choir
Constantina, the Singer of the Panacoustic Theater
Beatriz, the Merrymaker of the Blissful Ball
"So, if I meet the conditions and prepare thoroughly, I could even summon a Xipe avatar in this world?" Robin's expression was unreadable. There was no doubt that any Xipe avatar would possess combat power at least on par with an Emanator, more than enough to dominate this world.
However, this wasn't a permanent force she could use at will; it required extensive preparation. Besides, even with Emanator-level power, what would she do?
Rule the world? No way. She had no such ambition.
But then another thought struck Robin: perhaps she could try to find a way back home?
Of course, it was just a fleeting idea. While Emanator-level power was formidable, it wasn't omnipotent. Take Acheron, for example. Even if she could cleave a planet in half with a single strike, if asked if she could traverse worlds, the answer would undoubtedly be no.
Every power has its limits, and Acheron clearly wasn't suited for such things.
Robin only knew about Dominicus's authority among Xipe's incarnations. As the collective consciousness responding to wishes, Dominicus commanded the Harmonious Choir, which could reshape the world according to countless desires and establish new laws. All who made wishes would become sources of his power.
In simpler terms, if Robin wanted to transform this world into an exact replica of her past life, Dominicus could likely achieve it. However, sending her back to her previous world was likely beyond his capabilities, even though the former seemed even more outlandish.
As for the powers of Xipe's other incarnations, Robin remained uncertain. Overall, while this might offer a potential solution for her desire to "return home," it wasn't particularly reliable.
Instead of pinning her hopes on that, Robin figured it was better to rely on the System to draw a character with world-traversing abilities. She glanced at the System interface, where the progress toward unlocking the Songstress objective was still skyrocketing, now at 85%.
Perhaps she wouldn't even need to hold a second concert. With just a bit more patience, she might unlock her next Identity soon.