"I'm such a fool, really..."
"I knew Lynelle's abilities were bugged, and that her Aether Spirits couldn't be weak, but I never imagined this wretched girl would actually carry her weakest Aether Spirit around with her..."
"Hehe..."
Looking at the slumped, defeated projection of Silver Wolf on the table, Lynelle grinned and poked the girl's cheek.
Sure enough, Herta's fondness for teasing Silver Wolf wasn't without reason.
Seeing the petite Silver Wolf so disgruntled was truly a delight.
"A loss is a loss, no use crying and fussing about it~ At least you got the new Honkai Impact 3rd game cartridge, didn't you?"
"I am not crying and fussing!"
Silver Wolf's mouth twitched, and she looked like she wanted to chomp down on the slender finger Lynelle kept poking her cheek with.
Unfortunately, while Lynelle could rely on her Herrscher authority to enjoy the soft feel of Silver Wolf's cheek through the projection, Silver Wolf had no way to use her own projection to retaliate against Lynelle.
It was a good thing Lynelle didn't have any truly wicked ideas, otherwise, if Silver Wolf's projection fell into her hands... heh.
The Herrscher of Corruption's power, pretty amazing, huh?
"Anyway, I'll be taking this new cartridge... Also, consider this punishment for using that cheaty Aether Spirit earlier. Tell me, are there any Easter eggs in the new Honkai Impact 3rd DLC?"
"Yep, yep."
Seeing the anticipation in Silver Wolf's eyes, Lynelle nodded with a serious face.
"To commemorate your 76 banned accounts, I turned them into 76 Easter egg Honkai Beasts and hid them all over the open-world Schicksal Headquarters. If you find them all, you'll get a hefty reward... and a secret Easter egg scene."
"Easter egg scene?"
Silver Wolf's interest was immediately piqued.
"I figured the next part of the story would probably involve Schicksal, but what's this Easter egg scene about? Does it affect the main story? How long is it, and how connected?"
"Not bad, truly a veteran gourmet of the gaming world." Lynelle gave a thumbs up. "You go straight for the key questions."
"That Easter egg is pretty long, probably not much shorter than the current story arc... but the content isn't directly related to the actual main plot. Think of it as... an alternate 'What If' storyline for the game."
"Sounds like a massive content dump..." Silver Wolf's mouth twitched again.
"Good thing I don't have much on my plate in the upcoming script, but poor Firefly... she'll probably have to pull all-nighters gaming."
"Ah, speaking of Firefly..." Lynelle became curious. "How's her physical condition right now?"
"Physical condition? What physical condition... Oh, you mean the Entropy Loss Syndrome?" Silver Wolf smacked her own forehead.
"Almost forgot, your intel sources are pretty mysterious too... But I'm surprised you even know about that."
"Don't worry, she's not kicking the bucket just yet. As long as she strictly follows her fixed daily 'out-of-pod' activity schedule, she should be fine for at least a few years... After that, it's hard to say."
"I see..." Lynelle murmured thoughtfully. "Then there's no rush for now..."
"Rush?"
"No, it's nothing." Lynelle scratched her head. "I was just wondering if there's any way to cure her of that illness."
"Oh, I almost forgot, you've also received the Abundance's blessing." Silver Wolf shrugged.
"But you should probably shelve that thought for now. Forget whether Path energy of Abundance can even cure Entropy Loss Syndrome while preserving both consciousness and body intact..."
"Don't forget, because of Blade, I think most members of the Stellaron Hunters probably harbor a significant degree of resentment towards things like the Abundance's blessings."
"That's true too..." Lynelle smiled slightly.
Actually, she wasn't planning to use the Abundance's blessing or Path energy to help Firefly. The method she had in mind... was the Black Abyss White Flower.
According to Honkai theory, the Black Abyss White Flower could only heal organic life, and its method was to copy and positively recompile the genetic blueprint of that organic life—like how Einstein and Tesla lost their lifespan limitations thanks to it.
And Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome could, to some extent, be considered a "defect" in her genes.
If that was the cause, even if the Black Abyss White Flower couldn't completely cure it, it could at least significantly slow its progression.
Who knows, it might just block a certain blade meant for Firefly in the future.
Lynelle thought rather optimistically.
--+--
"Ding dong—badge get!"
In the afternoon, Lynelle, having returned to Belobog via the Space Anchor, successfully met up with the other two at the Goethe Hotel.
"Wow, so amazing," March 7th said, clapping her hands plainly.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Stelle, who was clinging to Lynelle and rubbing against her all over, noticed something odd.
"Lynelle, Lynelle, why do you smell like Herta?"
"?"
Lynelle blinked in confusion. "My dear Stelle, you can even smell that?"
"The Stellaron, pretty amazing, right?" Stelle puffed her chest out proudly.
"I wasn't complimenting you... And how are you so familiar with Herta's smell anyway?"
"Because, I often roll around hugging that Herta puppet on the train for no reason!"
"Right, now I know why Herta stopped frequently transferring her consciousness into that body later on."
Lynelle facepalmed, deciding to drag the soft and adorable little March over to draw some of the fire.
However, March 7th didn't give her the chance. Seeing the flustered Lynelle seemingly searching for her next target, she quickly used the excuse of selecting photos to duck back into her room.
"Hehe, now March can't save you either?" Stelle wore an 'evil' expression. "Come on, let's go inside!"
"Stelle, nooo!"
Since it wasn't too late yet, and because her legs were already a bit weak—feeling that if Stelle dragged her into the room now, she probably wouldn't have the strength to even come out for dinner later—Lynelle quickly used her abilities to make a temporary escape from the Goethe Hotel.
As for what to do tonight... she'd leave that headache for her future self to deal with~
"For now... how about just wandering around a bit?"
--+--
Meanwhile, just as Lynelle began randomly spawning around Belobog's city, elsewhere, a girl who looked a little lost was also wandering around, looking left and right in the central district.
To be precise, she was wandering around using Silver Wolf's appearance.
As for why this situation arose, we have to go back to a day ago...
"Um, so... this is that 'interesting little toy from a friend' you mentioned?"
Firefly's expression was a bit strange as she looked at the mysterious little button Silver Wolf handed her, which looked suspiciously like the controller for a certain kind of adult toy.
"To be precise, this thing's official name is 'One-Button Transformation Device'. A Masked Fool gave it to me, said it was a freebie for cooperating, told me to go have fun with it."
Silver Wolf tossed the peculiar little button in her hand casually.
"As for why I have a Masked Fool friend, and what cooperation we agreed on... don't ask. Elio won't let me say, it's written in the script."
"Okay..." Firefly took the little button curiously. "Then why aren't you keeping it for yourself, Silver Wolf?"
"Because this thing is pretty useless for me." Silver Wolf sighed, took the button back from Firefly, and pressed it.
"Uh... seems like nothing changed?"
"Nothing is correct." Silver Wolf spread her hands. "Because this little button can only transform the user into a fixed image of me, and it's only a visual effect. There's no actual physical transformation."
"While it's true most people wouldn't notice... but what's the point of me turning into myself just to go for a walk? That's just weird."
"So... it's yours now."
"But, even if I take this, it doesn't seem very useful..." Firefly hesitated as she accepted the button. "After all, aren't we both wanted by the IPC...?"
"It is useful! For example, right now, Elio didn't specify anything in your script, but I brought you so close to Stelle. You can use my projection to go out and wander around." Silver Wolf gave a thumbs up.
"Don't worry, I checked it. The sound and visuals are fine. The only issue is our heights are different, so if someone touches you, there might be a slight mismatch with your visual height... but just be mindful of that."
"So..." Firefly, now in Silver Wolf's form, sighed on a street-side sofa. "Even if I'm out, I don't really know where to go..."
"Hm? Wait..."
Just as the girl was wandering aimlessly, the superhuman eyesight of a Glamoth Iron Calvary allowed Firefly to quickly spot a figure that looked somewhat familiar.
"Is that... Lynelle?"
Firefly's interest immediately ignited.
After all, Elio's script only said she shouldn't meet Stelle directly before Penacony, but it never said she couldn't go see Lynelle!
Besides, she was using Silver Wolf's appearance right now, and this disguise from a Masked Fool wasn't based on electronics.
Lynelle's abilities probably couldn't detect anything.
And although she didn't know Silver Wolf's hacking skills, her own gaming skills were actually better than Silver Wolf's.
In short... relying on her understanding of her companion, Firefly believed she could cosplay as Silver Wolf convincingly, at least for a short while.
So, driven by curiosity about Lynelle herself, Firefly started walking towards Lynelle's location.
Back to Lynelle's perspective.
"Huh? Is that... Silver Wolf?"
Just as "Silver Wolf" was walking towards her, Lynelle also spotted this unexpected visitor at the same time.
However, compared to Firefly's excitement, Lynelle's heart was mostly filled with confusion.
After all, strictly speaking, she had just parted ways with Silver Wolf a few hours ago. And judging by the girl's attitude then, it didn't seem like she was planning to return to Jarilo-VI immediately.
She'd probably stay at the space station a while longer to trade a few blows with Herta.
So, the identity of this Silver Wolf appearing here was pretty obvious...
"Hehe..." Lynelle chuckled softly. "Looks like the last 'punishment game' didn't leave enough of an impression on Sparkle... She's actually back to challenge me again?"
"But it's fine, I've already thoroughly studied her body last time and found her weak spots... Hehe, just wait until she lets her guard down later..."
Just thinking about the scene about to unfold, Lynelle couldn't help but want to smirk.
"Hey, Lynelle, long time no see?" Firefly chewed on the bubble gum she'd just bought to help her cosplay as Silver Wolf, trying to recall Silver Wolf's mannerisms as she greeted Lynelle.
"Seeing you dressed like that... are you here for the Aetherium Wars festival too?"
Oh, she's quite prepared... A thought flashed through Lynelle's mind, and she immediately smiled. "Yeah, wanna have a match? I just collected a new Aetherium Wars badge today."
"This... As you can see, I didn't bring any Aether Coins today." Firefly shrugged helplessly. "How about I treat you to something to eat?"
"No, no, no..." Lynelle shook her head repeatedly. Yeah, right, like I'd dare eat anything from Sparkle.
After all she did to Sparkle yesterday—that kind of "play"—if she dared eat anything now, she'd probably wake up as a human fountain.
"I just ate, I can't fit anything else right now..." Lynelle's eyes darted.
"Hey, I heard someone recently discovered a cute creature called a Plains Bear Cub in the outskirts of Belobog. How about we go try to find it?"
"Sure, I don't have anything else to do anyway..." Firefly nodded happily. After all, her main goal in finding Lynelle was just to chat.
On one hand, after seeing the story of Honkai Impact 3rd, she was genuinely interested in this resilient girl.
On the other hand, she also wanted to check out just how reliable this new "good friend" of Stelle's really was.
And so, amidst 'harmonious' conversation along the way, the figures of the two gradually arrived at the snowy plains on the outskirts of Belobog.
There shouldn't be anyone here now...
Lynelle looked around, her mental energy spreading outwards.
This was the main reason she wanted to lure Sparkle out. If a fight broke out in the city center, the commotion would definitely be huge.
She couldn't count on Sparkle to disperse any bystanders, and asking Bronya to handle the aftermath for something like this felt a bit too embarrassing.
So, bringing Sparkle to a deserted place before making a move was naturally the best choice.
It was just a bit puzzling why this "Sparkle" seemed so... dumb, just following her all the way out here...
Lynelle glanced thoughtfully at "Silver Wolf".
"Silver Wolf, look over here!"
Before long, Lynelle quickly found traces of a Plains Bear and immediately called out.
"Eh? Did you find a Plains Bear Cub? Let me see..."
Seeing "Silver Wolf" walking towards her without any caution, Lynelle smiled slightly.
Then, she swiftly reached out and grabbed towards Silver Wolf's head.
As everyone knew, masks were a crucial source of power for Masked Fools. And based on Lynelle's... sensitivity tests on Sparkle the other day, she found that this was especially true for Sparkle.
Many of her abilities required the mask on her head to activate.
This time, Sparkle's transformation target, Silver Wolf, had a body proportion almost identical to Sparkle's own.
Therefore, under Sparkle's illusion, the mask's placement was probably similar too, on one side of the head.
So...
"Got it!"
Caught completely off guard, Firefly had no defense against Lynelle's sudden move. And Lynelle successfully grabbed hold of something soft on "Silver Wolf's" head that looked like a mask.
"Hehe, you little Sparkle, I knew it was you trying to trick... me?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.