A chat group where you switch bodies with Alicia at the start?

MEI sighed:

"By the way, when I learned of this decision, I heard that Dr. Möbius stormed out of the meeting."

Given such disrespectful behavior at a high-level meeting, she estimated that Mebius's laboratory would likely face further funding cuts as punishment.

The girl smiled knowingly and gently covered her mouth:

"That's something Dr. Mebius could definitely do. I can almost picture her angry little face when she gets back to the lab."

"But those people up there really are a lot of trouble for us."

With a soft sigh, the pink-clad girl's words didn't reveal any negative emotions like anger, but rather helplessness and speechlessness. However, MEI could still sense the dissatisfaction in the girl's words.

She also exclaimed in admiration:

"We need to find a way to solve this problem. The damage from teammates like this is just too great."

Not long ago, MEI was still a naive young girl. After experiencing the weight of the higher-ups at Zhu Huo, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

Working with these insects is really unbearable.

Even the extremely rational MEI had to admit the necessity of the measures Jiang Qiao had mentioned to deal with these bad apples later.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about those upsetting things. Mei, try to smile and cheer up. Getting angry can really damage a girl's skin."

"...How can you expect me to laugh in this situation?"

Mei glanced at him irritably and sighed.

Although they had done everything they could in the end, this third major collapse had only just begun.

"Alright, alright~ I sense a very strong Honkai energy reaction in downtown Changkong City~ I'll go check it out."

The girl chuckled softly, a slight smile playing at the corners of her lips.

—He's not Alicia.

Chapter Ninety-Three: The Lovely Mebius

The city of Changkong, with its towering buildings, was deserted at this moment.

But what you can see amidst the heavy stomping sounds are terrifying, enormous Honkai beasts.

There were tank-class Honkai Beasts as big as Maus tanks, knight-class Honkai Beasts as tall as half a building, and scattered rush-class Honkai Beasts as big as a person.

For the warriors of the Fire Moth now, these are enemies they must risk their lives to eliminate.

Himiko's invitation, though sincere, was in fact a pact with Jiang Qiao to survive the Great Collapse.

In this perilous place, the girl strolled leisurely, just as she had in the Siberian snowfield.

Compared to before, with less thick snow, the road feels much easier to walk on.

As a Herrscher, the Honkai Beasts would regard him as one of their own.

but--

"I'm not one of your companions."

The pink-clad girl chuckled as she gently brushed her palm across the Honkai Emperor, which was several stories in size. Particles of Honkai energy flowed between her fingers.

Behind her, a giant ray flapped its wings and attacked the bewildered Honkai Beasts with savage abandon.

—In this way, the other squads of the Fire Moth will also be under less pressure.

The smooth progress of the project finally came to an end at a certain point.

"What? I thought it was the Third Herrscher, but it turns out to be a Honkai Beast?"

Arishia, who had stopped, looked at the enormous thing perched on the building not far away and couldn't help but sigh.

Its bloated body was covered in a completely indistinct black substance, but its seemingly thick color made one wonder if certain countries in North America would be overjoyed if they saw it.

But more concerning than the ominous ink was the grotesque, twisted snake head, and the pair of snake heads that exuded brutality and destructiveness.

Unlike the previous low-level Honkai Beasts, they treated Alicia, who was a Herrscher, differently.

The giant creature showed no sign of ignoring her; instead, it suddenly let out a sharp roar and howl at the pink-clad girl.

The powerful sound waves, mixed with wisps of electricity and vortexes, caused his pink hair on his forehead and the low ponytail tied with flower hair clips at the back to fly up in all directions.

"Well, I understand it's understandable to be excited to see a beautiful girl like me, but this kind of novel greeting is a bit too intense for a girl~"

Smiling, Alicia gently brushed the hair from her forehead, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction and helplessness as she complained:

"Look, my hairstyle is all messed up."

"Alicia, what happened to you?"

MEI, on the other end of the portable communicator, noticed the unusual situation on Jiang Qiao's end and took the initiative to ask her a question.

"It's nothing, it's just that a big guy reacted a little too enthusiastically after seeing the cute girl."

—During the conversation, the girl's original spot was replaced by a pit more than a meter deep, filled with charred marks, and you could still faintly see static electricity crackling in the air.

"Sorry, I've run into a tough one. I might have to be more serious. Let's talk later, MEI."

Lightly touching the communication device beside her ear, the pink-haired girl, standing atop the Primordial Spirit and looking down at the giant serpent below, her azure eyes reflecting the roaring lightning, pouted and began to criticize:

"To suddenly attack someone while they're chatting is really mean!"

Of course, the giant snake clearly couldn't appreciate the taste and fun of this "Alicia" acting drama; it just let out sharp roars, destroyed the surrounding buildings with bursts of thunder, and tried to attack Jiang Qiao in the air.

The latter looked at the large snake, which was full of aggressive desire, and showed a mixture of helplessness and amusement:

"Look at how impatient you are~ Hmm, perhaps Dr. Möbius would have a lot in common with you? Hmm~ I've decided, I'll call you Möbius from now on?"

—The Judgment-class Honkai Beast [Shesa], the companion beast of the Third Herrscher, and also the material later used by Mebius as a Fusion Warrior.

As the companion beast of the Herrscher of Thunder, although not perfectly healthy, it still possesses the ability to control lightning. Coupled with its tenacious vitality and unique black mud, its strength ranks among the best in the tier excluding the end-of-life Honkai Beasts, even without considering its special abilities.

Unfortunately--

"You're not the only one who can use lightning!"

Her pinkish eyes reflected the oncoming lightning, and the rhomboid divine runes representing the Herrscher of Origin aligned with the curve of the girl's lips, forming a somewhat mocking smile.

The battle lasted for an unknown period of time, until the pink-clad girl's bare jade foot stepped on the head of the fallen "Mebius," signaling the end of the battle.

With little expression, Alicia glanced sideways at the charred and mangled snake body, the purple crystal in her palm glowing faintly.

"This is the best that a dead Herrscher core can do."

With a hint of regret in her voice, the pink-clad girl, who had put away her core, gradually lost the splendor of her dress.

A living Herrscher core can freely wield its powers, but a Herrscher core that has been processed and is now dead no longer possesses the freedom and strength it had when it was alive.

Just like the rated power of the Divine Key, even if all the accumulated Honkai energy is squeezed out, it can only achieve a full-force attack that is set in a certain way.

This is also a limitation of the Divine Key.

Even so, a full-force attack from the Herrscher of Thunder, used by the Origin Herrscher, was enough to kill Shesa.

However, Shesa, who possesses special resurrection abilities, still has the opportunity to regenerate. For example, right now, this adorable "Dr. Mebius" is working very hard to absorb the surrounding Honkai energy, trying to complete his rebirth.

Unfortunately, the person it encountered was the Herald of Origin.

—By being branded with the mark of the [Origin], the mouth that "Mebius" used for eating was sealed shut.

The pink-clad girl smiled sweetly:

"After this, Dr. Möbius will probably be very interested in this, right? Hmm~ If she knew that this was material I specially left for her, would Dr. Möbius be moved to tears?"

Just then, MEI's voice rang out from the portable communicator beside his ear:

"Given Möbius's personality, it's impossible for him to show that kind of expression, but you can try. I'd love to see Möbius make that kind of face."

“Of course—more important than that is that you probably need to get back to camp soon, Alicia.”

"I...I'm starting to feel the strain."

Chapter 94: What's it like to become a Herrscher?

Although MEI was appointed as the frontline commander, the higher-ups of the Firemoth organization were clearly not entirely at ease with the inexperienced MEI, who had been recommended to the organization by [Alicia].

For example, right now—

MEI adopted a laissez-faire attitude in restraining Jiang Qiao.

Perhaps anticipating this situation, the leadership of Moth of Fire will naturally dispatch another commander to replace MEI.

Of course, that's not the point.

"Although I had this suspicion from the beginning, I never expected it to actually happen to you."

Looking at MEI, whose complexion was not good and whose neck had shocking purple cracks, her sweet and energetic girlish voice revealed helplessness and surprise.

Jiang Qiao looked at the other person, and at this moment he could clearly feel that the other person was transforming into his "kind".