"How fascinating."
Staring at the stunningly beautiful girl in the mirror, Jiang Qiao chuckled in disbelief.
It had only been a few words, yet that perceptive girl had somehow sensed that he might hold the key to saving the city from its impending doom.
She had even sensed the reason for his hesitation.
So, instead of answering immediately, Jiang Qiao asked a question of his own:
"Why would you think that?"
"To be honest, I can't be certain. If I had to say, I'd call it a girl's intuition~"
On the other side, Elysia, currently inhabiting his body, chuckled and confessed her thoughts through the chat:
"I want to try and save this city, so... could you please tell me what you know?"
"Things have taken a turn I was hoping to avoid. This is exactly why I didn't want to say anything."
Jiang Qiao sighed.
He had known from the start that with Elysia's personality, she would never just run away after learning the truth about the Third Great Honkai Eruption.
And just as he'd feared, the perceptive girl had pieced things together from his brief comments and was now looking to him for answers.
Seriously, putting myself in danger... that completely goes against my personal creed.
But—
"Even if I don't tell you, you won't leave, will you?"
Elysia: Oh my~ you know me unexpectedly well, are you secretly paying attention to me? Of course, in Elysia's style, there's no way she'd run away from the scene~
Having learned that a Great Honkai Eruption was imminent in Nagazora, this girl who so deeply loved humanity would never choose to save her own skin.
"If you're going to say something cool, use your own body next time! Using someone else's body is way too selfish."
The pink-haired girl in the mirror pressed her temples, a hint of dissatisfaction and helplessness on her beautiful face.
In the chat, Elysia fell silent for a moment.
If it were the usual her, she would definitely reply with something like: "Being selfish is a beautiful girl's privilege!"
But she couldn't say that to Jiang Qiao.
After all, she was using his body, and the dangerous task she wanted to undertake would be done with his body.
—A girl's selfishness has its limits. If you are too selfish, you will be hated!
If she tried to frame this dangerous gamble as a beautiful girl's privilege, Elysia wouldn't even be able to convince herself.
She wasn't that kind of shameless girl!
"I'm sorry."
Elysia could only reply with those simple words.
She couldn't change her decision.
As much as she hated doing something so shameless, her love for humanity made it impossible for her to stand by and watch the people of Nagazora suffer.
The thought of it was truly painful.
"If we fail, then I'll just have to ask you to be a girl forever. But I'm quite confident in my looks, so, sorry~"
Reading Elysia's reply, Jiang Qiao felt his fists clenching.
After she said something like that, what choice did he have but to help?!
Unfortunately, he had absolutely no interest in living as a girl forever!
That damn Pink fatty!
In the mirror, the pink-haired girl's expression turned fierce and menacing.
Even if it was just to protect his own body, saving Nagazora was now the only path left.
If he allowed Elysia, who knew nothing about the situation, to go and try to save Nagazora City with his ordinary body and a slight brain damage buff from a certain Tuna, it would just be suicide!
Whether it was out of his desire not to stay a girl forever, or some special feeling he had for the infuriatingly foolish Pink fatty, Jiang Qiao simply couldn't stand by and do nothing.
"Alright, alright, I get it! I'll help you! I have no desire to be a girl forever!"
Elysia: Ehe~ As expected, Jiang Qiao is a very kind boy!
"How did you even come to that conclusion? We haven't even properly met in person yet!"
Elysia: It's intuition~
She was using her usual get-out-of-jail-free excuse, but then again, that was the Pink fatty's style.
In front of the mirror, Jiang Qiao irritably ran his fingers through his hair. Elysia's hair was remarkably nice, incredibly silky. Under normal circumstances, he would have taken a moment to appreciate it, but with her decision to save Nagazora hanging over them, he had no time for such leisurely thoughts.
The mastermind behind the Third Eruption was the Anti-Entropy Executive, the god of civil war, Cocolia.
Because of her selfish desire to control the Third Herrscher through her own means and further expand her power within the organization, that crazy woman's schemes ultimately led to the occurrence of this man-made disaster.
But the most critical issue right now wasn't how to deal with the mastermind, Cocolia, but how to handle the central figure of the disaster—Raiden Mei.
In Raiden Mei's mind, her father, Raiden Ryoma, was a magnificent and righteous figure whom she deeply revered.
When that idol was shattered because of Cocolia's schemes, Raiden Mei's entire world turned dark.
Added to the surrounding despair, there was no doubt that the cook was on a one-way trip straight to rock bottom.
The moment Raiden Mei's psyche completely shattered would be the start of the Third Great Honkai Eruption.
The reason why this place was so dangerous was that Nagazora City's lifeline was directly linked to Raiden Mei's mental state. Who knew when that cook would explode?
Don't even talk about the "rooftop scene." Jiang Qiao might have trusted it in the game, but now that this was reality, he would never bet on Mei's sanity holding out until that specific plot point.
After all, even before that, that cook's state was already at the breaking point. The rooftop scene was just the point where she hit rock bottom.
Besides, who knew when she would have her rooftop breakdown? What if it was right now?
Jiang Qiao hadn't considered saving the cook precisely because of this reason. If the timing was off, and he rushed over, it would be suicide. He would just be sent off by the exploding Honkai on the way.
Instead of betting on the cook's mental state, and risking it all in an attempt to turn the tides, the right choice was to just run.
But now, he had no choice but to risk life and limb to go along with this crazy girl's plan.
Elysia: So, you're saying that to save Nagazora, we first have to save the girl named Raiden Mei?
Elysia: No problem, I'm on my way~ When it comes to saving beautiful girls, this beautiful elf is quite confident, you know~
Seeing this message, Jiang Qiao barely suppressed a facepalm.
You're more than just 'confident' at it. Forget just saving beautiful girls; thinking about it, you basically charmed all the Flame-Chasers later on, men and women alike!
This was a showdown between early pink fatty and early red electro-dragon. All he could say was—
Raiden Mei: Don't come any closer!!! (THE Cook's scream)
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