Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

On the path to overcoming the Honkai—or rather, in their attitudes towards it—humanity has always been divided.

Unlike Fire Moth, who saw the Honkai as an enemy that must be eradicated, a new sect rising in Eastern Europe—the Apocalypse Church—believed that the Honkai was a trial for humanity, a means to help humans evolve. Just like Darwin's theory of evolution, they saw it as a force pushing humanity towards a new world.

This inevitably led to their suppression by Fire Moth and various nations.

However, even among the factions fighting the Honkai, there wasn't complete unity. Just as the Mu Continent faction had Dr. Mobius, who proposed combining human and Honkai beast DNA to create 'fusion warriors,' the European faction was similar.

Perhaps because the First Eruption occurred in Europe, after witnessing the power of the so-called 'Herrscher,' they had been attempting to steal this divine power through the First Herrscher's legacy—the Herrscher of Reason core.

But as mentioned before, where there's agreement, there's dissent.

Even if the European faction was more corrupt, it didn't prevent those who had witnessed the devastation caused by the Herrscher from opposing the attempt to 'artificially create Herrschers.'

Needless to say—they faced various forms of suppression.

Among them, Dr. Henry, the leader, was assassinated.

Using this as a deterrent, although they didn't dare to act openly due to the influence of Fire Moth headquarters,

"In secret, the Fifth Research Division has formed a partnership with the Apocalypse Church." In the prearranged cafe, the silver-haired girl wearing a magic hair ornament held a spoon, adding a scoop of cream and two sugar cubes, stirring evenly.

The classic coffee brewed from dark roasted beans, with distinct notes of caramel and chocolate, was a favorite among most residents of the British Isles. She spoke casually, "To be more precise—the so-called Apocalypse Church was actually a force supported by the European faction."

After the establishment of Fire Moth, the 'Fifth Research Division,' formed after joining it, naturally couldn't openly go against the headquarters' direction—therefore, many controversial experiments had to be carried out in secret.

For example—human experimentation.

Undoubtedly, the most effective way to research the Honkai was through human subjects. Coincidentally—the Eastern European region, where the Apocalypse Church was widespread, had no shortage of 'people.'

Religious belief could stabilize order to a certain extent and also provide a steady source of 'lab rats' in the form of 'believers.' What could be better than this?

"…"

Sakura didn't show much expression, only a glass of plain water in front of her—coming from the Japan, she couldn't get used to the Western-style coffee. Black tea or plain water were more to her liking.

She had more or less learned about this information from Marlene on the way here.

It wasn't anything worth paying too much attention to—but she could now confirm that the girl in front of her likely had something she desperately needed.

For example—

"This is a hidden base of the Apocalypse Church. You might find what you're looking for and some answers there."

"As for the specifics, I don't know~"

Looking at the address Marlene pushed towards her, Sakura didn't move, just asked, "What are your conditions?"

Although she could just take it and leave, and the other party couldn't do anything to her—whether it was for the sake of so-called integrity or simply out of curiosity, she was very interested in the girl's motives for seeking her out.

"The answer is—no conditions~"

"Well, if I say that, I guess you won't be at ease, right?"

"Let's just say—when it comes to being 'enemies' with certain people, we're friends."

"So, I wish you good luck."

The silver-haired girl, exuding an air of mystery, smiled, picked up her parrot magic wand, and slowly left.

Sakura, alone, glanced at the slip of paper.

—The location seemed to be somewhere in the suburbs.

Sakura didn't easily trust Marlene—after all, she had seen enough betrayal in her past life.

But since there was a lead, she couldn't just ignore it.

…Let Pardo check it out first.

Knowing how skilled her partner was in stealth, Sakura planned to let Pardo scout the address first.

If it were her—unless she intended to eliminate everyone… or rather, even if she did, it would easily alert the European faction and lead to countermeasures.

After all—the name 'Void Drifter,' hanging in the Cocoon, was quite famous.

Although she had mainly been active in the Far East before, the European faction still occupied a considerable portion of Fire Moth's upper echelon. It was hard to say that no one would notice her traces.

But Pardo was different. With her uncanny infiltration abilities, she could investigate the situation without alerting the enemy—

Thinking of this, Sakura felt grateful for Elysia's arrangement of having Pardo accompany her.

This perfectly compensated for her weakness in stealth and investigation.

Elysia, was this also within your expectations?!

…

Pardo felt that this place must be cursed for her.

Otherwise, why would she be so unlucky?

Yesterday, she was inexplicably caught by a cop on the street. Fortunately, she didn't reveal any flaws and narrowly escaped. And today, while passing by, another accident happened!

Turning a corner, she was directly bumped into.

"Ow ow ow…"

Clutching her forehead, Pardo winced in pain. After struggling to get up, she saw the culprit who had bumped into her—a little girl with beautiful white hair, blue eyes, and a height of about 1.45 meters.

She looked very cute, exuding an aura of intelligence—but still far inferior to Elysia (sharp critique).

"Are you alright?"

Although she was a little annoyed at being bumped into for no reason, seeing that it was such a small child, Pardo naturally wouldn't hold it against her. She helped the girl up and asked with concern.

"I'm… I'm fine, I…"

Before she could finish, the girl fainted.

This change stunned Pardo. She looked at the girl, who still seemed to be breathing; she had just fainted… It shouldn't be her fault, right?

The catgirl felt a headache. If she was the one who caused this… Forget it, forget it, she should just take her to the hospital quickly!

Although she was worried about causing trouble, the kind-hearted Pardo, after encountering such a situation, didn't plan to just run away. She picked up the girl with a sigh, resigning herself to her bad luck, and headed to the nearest hospital.

The doctor was a man with grayish-white ombre hair. He looked quite handsome, Pardo thought after glancing at him—too bad she wasn't obsessed with looks and wasn't that interested in handsome guys.

"This is…"

Su had initially thought the patient had simply fainted, but after checking her with instruments, his expression immediately changed.

This girl seemed to have a genetic disease—he didn't know what it was, at least not within the scope of his knowledge.

And the consequences of this disease were unclear. But at least one thing was certain, her telomeres were significantly shorter than a normal person's.

Of course, this wasn't the main cause of the girl's decline—

Noticing some familiar traces, Su lifted the girl's clothes and immediately saw the snow-white—no, it should be called deathly pale—marks on her skin.

"It's Honkai Sickness."

His expression changed slightly.

Honkai Sickness had always been the target of Su's research and attempts to overcome. For this reason, he had even joined Fire Moth.

But before he could find a cure, another Honkai Sickness patient appeared before him.

And it was a little girl…

Su's face darkened, and he sighed.

He walked outside the ward. The girl who had brought the patient in—Pardo—was waiting by the chairs.

Seeing him, her eyes lit up, and she approached him, asking nervously, "She'll be alright, right?"

"Are you her family or a relative?"

"Not really, I was just bumped into by her." Pardo waved her hand, chuckling.

Although she wasn't related to the girl—and in a way, she was even the victim—the catgirl was still kind at heart.

Even during her time in Dusk Street, she wouldn't have ignored such a situation.

And now that she was a well-off quartermaster in Fire Moth, she couldn't just leave her to die.

If Elysia knew, she would be very disappointed.

Su's gaze softened at this.

Although he treated all patients equally and wouldn't treat their families differently—after learning and observing this girl's character, the ambitious Su developed a good impression of her.

"Her situation isn't optimistic…"

After hesitating for a moment, Su told the truth—logically, he shouldn't be telling Pardo this. After all, she was just a kind passerby. This kind of news should be told to the family.

Bringing the patient here was already extremely kind of her.

But because of his good impression, he chose to be honest.

"Eh—?"

Hearing the result, Pardo's eyes widened.

She didn't feel overly sad—she felt a little, even though they were strangers. Knowing that a girl not much younger than herself was in this situation, she couldn't be completely unmoved.

But since she wasn't a family member and knew nothing about the girl, besides a little sadness for a fellow human, she mostly felt a sense of 'loss' for not being able to help.

"Since you're not a family member, you can leave now. We'll notify her family to take care of her…"

As he spoke, a blonde, blue-eyed man in British-style clothing approached.

Although he looked very gentlemanly and handsome, making one feel a sense of goodwill, Su didn't have a good impression of him—his intuition told him that this was the type of person he wouldn't get along with.

But as a competent doctor, he calmly asked, "Are you…"

"Oh, hello—my name is Otto." The man who called himself Otto spoke politely, then said, "I'm Theresa's relative—well, Theresa is a girl with white hair and blue eyes. You should have met her."

This made Su raise an eyebrow.

Although he had joined Fire Moth, he hadn't learned about the 'Apocalypse Church.' Or rather, globally, the name 'Apocalypse Church' was only known within the underground circles of Eastern Europe. Naturally, he couldn't have known that the man before him was the founder of the Apocalypse Church.

But he instinctively sensed that this man was unusual.

However, Su wasn't interested in investigating—since the other party claimed to be the patient's family, his most important task as a doctor was to inform him of the situation:

"Since you're Theresa's relative, please allow me to explain her condition…"

"Haha, no need. I'm here to discharge her."

Otto waved his hand, saying something that made Su raise his eyebrows. He was a little confused—

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you."

"It's alright, I don't mind repeating myself. I'm here to discharge her." As if afraid that Su had misheard, Otto slowed down his speech and enunciated clearly.

"…"

Su fell into a brief silence, then his eyes sharpened:

"Are you serious?"

"Do you know the patient's…"

Even with Su's personality, his voice couldn't help but raise a few decibels, attracting the attention of others.

But before he could finish, the blonde man raised a hand to stop him, then said with a smile, "No need to be so agitated. I'm very clear about Theresa's condition. After all, she's my child."

"You know?!"

Hearing this, Su was a little angry.

If the other party had said they didn't know, he might not be so angry—after all, if this man didn't know, he wouldn't understand the consequences of taking the girl out.

Even if Honkai Sickness was indeed incurable and the genetic disease was a mystery, the hospital's life support equipment could at least prolong Theresa's life to a certain extent.

But taking her out—that was basically letting the child die.

Seeming to see the anger in his eyes, Otto continued to smile, only his expression turned a bit more serious.

"No one knows Theresa's condition better than I do, and no one understands better than I do—staying in this hospital will definitely not save her life."

"Or do you, Dr. Su, have the confidence to cure her illness?"

"…"

This slightly dissatisfied tone didn't anger Su at all—he wanted to say that given some time, with Fire Moth's resources and equipment, he could definitely find a way to cure Honkai Sickness.

But now, he couldn't give a definite answer with any confidence.

If he couldn't do it, it would be too cruel to the patient—after all, the cruelest thing wasn't having no hope from the start, but being given hope and then having it taken away.

"Then, do you have the confidence after leaving here?"

"Of course."

The man named Otto faced the question with a calm and composed expression.

—You're lying.

Su wanted to retort—as far as he knew, there hadn't been a single case of Honkai Sickness being cured.

But the man was so confident, as if Honkai Sickness was insignificant in his eyes.

He might indeed have his reasons—Su was curious about this confidence.

But besides curiosity, he mostly felt distrust.

His intuition told him—this man before him was not trustworthy at all.

The look in his eyes was something only a person who disregarded the lives of others could possess.

Su, calming down, stared at Otto, paused for a moment, and said, "I'm sorry, if you want to take her away, you have to show proof—also, patients with 'Honkai Sickness' cannot be discharged from the hospital casually."

Just claiming to be a relative verbally wasn't enough to establish that identity—he didn't doubt the man's identity, but he doubted his motives.

Therefore, Su chose to obstruct him in his own way.

And 'Honkai Sickness' was his trump card.

After all, Honkai Sickness was a 'contagious' disease.

Once a patient was diagnosed, they would be forcibly hospitalized. After their death, their body would be cremated using special methods. Fire Moth had always been responsible for this task.

However, facing this obstacle, Otto still smiled calmly.

He didn't care at all.

Ring ring ring~

His phone rang. "Excuse me, I need to take this call." Saying this, Su stepped aside.

"Su, let him take the person."

The moment he heard the male voice, Su frowned—he knew who this was.

A member of Fire Moth's Fifth Base—Boron. He was also the person in charge of retrieving the bodies of Honkai Sickness victims in this area.

"Is he from Fire Moth?"

Receiving a call from Boron, Su felt a little uncomfortable, but still asked with a hint of expectation.

If the man named Otto was from Fire Moth, even if he wasn't trustworthy, it at least meant that what he said referred to Fire Moth's medical treatment.

Boron didn't answer, just coldly said, "That's none of your concern."

"…"

Su instinctively sensed something was wrong. He wanted to refuse—but since Boron had already called him, it seemed he couldn't continue to persist.

Helpless, he could only say sullenly, "I'll report this to my teacher later."

Having just joined Fire Moth with no connections and still a newbie, Su could only place his hopes on his teacher.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be of no use.

"Do as you please."

Beep beep beep~

The call ended. Su sighed.

He could vaguely sense that there were serious problems within Fire Moth, so serious that even Dr. SPACY, the head of the Fifth Research Division, struggled to handle them. No wonder his teacher told him not to rush into Fire Moth officially.

But no matter what, as a newcomer to the organization, it seemed he couldn't intervene in this matter.

Otto was still there, calmly smiling at Su—as if he had already anticipated Su's reaction.

"Please, go ahead."

Su didn't give him a good look, waving his hand, not wanting to deal with this man.

Pardo, who had been watching from the side, was a little dumbfounded.

Although she wasn't a family member and had intended to leave after Su's advice, seeing their interaction, out of curiosity, she pretended to be a 'passerby' and watched the whole thing unfold, ending up witnessing quite a dramatic scene.

After the blonde man carried Theresa away, the catgirl walked into the ward dejectedly.

"Sorry to have made you watch that."

Su didn't mind, just sighed, his smile a little forced.

He went to the water dispenser and poured two cups of water, handing one to Pardo. But the latter waved her hand, "I have this!" Then she took out the 'small bottle' from her bag.

Because she hadn't felt anything unusual after drinking it before, and nothing happened after bumping into Kevin, thinking that Elysia might be teasing her again, the catgirl had started using the small bottle as her personal 'water bottle.' She filled it up with plain water after spilling some earlier, and it was now full again.

It all tasted the same anyway.

And you know what? The water tasted better from this bottle, and it was quite sturdy, not easy to break.

—Compared to the steaming tea in Su's hand, Pardo clearly preferred the 'plain water mixture' she brought with her.

Su didn't mind and put the other cup down.

It didn't matter if she didn't drink it—I'll drink both!

Then, he asked Pardo about the circumstances of her encounter with the girl, hoping to glean some information.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to gain. Pardo had been completely dazed at the time and couldn't recall the specific details.

Ding ding ding~

Her phone buzzed with a message. The catgirl, planning to take a break, took a sip of her 'plain water mixture' and casually looked at the message—it was from Sakura.

Sakura: Pardo, go investigate this address.

Sakura: [Address sent]

Yay! A mission!

Pardo was instantly excited. Having been on standby, she almost jumped up, but she seemed to have forgotten that she was still drinking water—so she choked and subconsciously sprayed it out.

"Cough cough cough…"

Clutching her throat, the girl choked on the water, tears welling up in her eyes.

But the next moment, she realized something even more awkward—

Su, not far away, was sprayed directly in the face.

"…"

The innocent Su blinked, feeling a bit depressed.

This was a pure case of undeserved misfortune.

He was already annoyed that the patient had been taken away by someone who was clearly not a good person.

And now he had been sprayed in the face by Pardo…

"Sigh."

Wiping his face with a tissue while comforting the girl, Su watched the awkward 'culprit' flee the scene and sighed.

Returning to his workstation.

Is Mercury in retrograde today or something?