"Bang!"
A dull metallic closing sound came from behind, making Cyrene's heart jump.
She whirled around to find the heavy laboratory door tightly shut, the sound of it automatically locking clearly audible.
When she turned back, the sight before her made her azure eyes widen abruptly.
By the console, the innocent and delicate expression on Mobius's face receded like a tide.
She reached out and effortlessly took a pristine white lab coat from a nearby hanger, fluidly putting it on.
The white coat was slightly too large on her current petite body, yet it accentuated an inhuman aura.
She tilted her head slightly, her light green snake-like eyes locking onto Cyrene, a sweet smile on her lips that was utterly incongruous with her current appearance.
"Well, my cute little pink-haired one,"
Mobius began, her voice still sweet, but tinged with undisguised interest, "Let's begin. Tell me everything you know—about where you came from, about the 'outside,' about the 'Path'... everything. 'Inform' me."
Cyrene instantly felt a chill run up her spine.
She instinctively took a step back, her back hitting the cold wall, with nowhere left to retreat.
"Mobius... what do you want to do?"
"Do what?"
Mobius chuckled softly, taking a small step forward, yet an invisible pressure spread with her. "Of course, we're going to have a friendly exchange. You are the first true 'outsider' I've met here, an excellent sample walking the Path of Remembrance..."
Black Herta was on the sofa, her fingertips gliding across a floating light screen, simultaneously watching two scenes: on one side, Fu Hua was somewhat stiffly introducing Kalpas to Li Sushang in the Paradise hall; on the other, it was the tense scene in Mobius's laboratory, where the pink-haired girl was being targeted by the "snake," retreating step by step.
"Tsk."
Black Herta's lips twitched as she watched Mobius's almost materialized gaze.
Her gaze shifted between the two screens, finally settling on Elysia's face, which was strikingly similar to Cyrene's.
"Only the one who tied the bell can untie it..."
She murmured to herself, with a hint of playful amusement.
With a light tap of her finger, a photo was captured—the image was a candid side profile of Cyrene as she looked around blankly, her pink hair slightly disheveled, her eyes clear yet lost, making her appear utterly "piteous."
A short caption was attached below:
[Paradise Express: A lost pink-haired guest is currently visiting Dr. Mobius's laboratory. (Coordinates located)]
Click, send.
Target: Elysia.
At this very moment, a holographic image popped up in the center of Elysia's vision without warning.
"—!"
All of Elysia's words ceased abruptly.
The expression on her face instantly froze; through her sunglasses, she stared intently at Cyrene's face in the image.
That face, strikingly similar to her own yet appearing more youthful and innocent, now showing a helpless expression, struck the softest and most fervent corner of her heart—her unreserved love for all things "beautiful"—like a supernova explosion, without any buffer.
"Hiss—!"
She even unconsciously drew in a slight, cold breath.
This wasn't due to fear or anger, but a physiological reaction caused by an instant overload from an extreme cuteness shockwave.
"Elysia?"
Eden, sitting nearby, was the first to notice her best friend's abnormality. She put down her wine glass and called out softly, a little puzzled.
However, Eden's words had not fully faded—
"Bang!"
A soft sound: the chair where Elysia had been sitting was pushed back.
Immediately after, before anyone had fully processed what happened, only a rapidly fading pink afterimage remained where Elysia had been, and her rarely urgent lingering voice echoed in the air:
"I'll be right back—!"
Her voice still lingered in the hall, but she herself had already shot off like a pink lightning bolt tearing through space, heading towards the direction indicated in the message, so fast that she only left a fleeting streak of light on everyone's retinas.
A few seconds of silence fell over the hall.
Li Sushang blinked blankly: "That pink... fairy senior, did she... escape with a light beam?"
Eden rubbed her slightly aching forehead, seemingly a little helpless at this scene, yet not entirely surprised.
Fu Hua, on the other hand, looked in the direction Elysia disappeared, remained silent for two seconds, then slowly raised her hand and helplessly pressed it to her forehead.
She glanced at Su and Kevin, who were also somewhat stunned, then at Li Sushang, whose face was full of reverence. She took a deep breath and decided to ignore this sudden interlude.
"...No matter."
Fu Hua said in her usual steady tone, trying to bring everyone's attention back. "Let's continue. Li Sushang, this is Kevin, he is..."
Before she could finish, Kevin, sitting in the corner, pushed up his starry-sky sunglasses on his nose and, in his flat voice, added the conclusion to the interrupted topic for Su: "So, if that penguin dyes its back black, it can camouflage as the sky from above and the seabed from below. Its survival efficiency, theoretically, increases by one hundred percent."
Su: "..."
Fu Hua: "..."
(Her hand pressed harder against her forehead.)
Li Sushang, however, listened with shining eyes, secretly pondering:
(Could what Senior Kevin said be a profound immortal technique for shapeshifting to ward off enemies? Indeed mysterious!)
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