Vill-V woke up beside the plotter in the Helix Workshop, rubbed her messy hair, looked at the empty workshop, and felt a bit lonely.
Elysia had been gone for almost three years.
Over these three years, she had taken over most of Elysia’s affairs and also had to help her manufacture Soulium.
Every day was either looking at blueprints or reports; she hadn’t even finished her studies before being thrust directly into the life of a corporate slave, which was just ridiculous.
“Sigh…” She let out a sigh.
When she first agreed to Elysia’s terms, she actually had her own little ulterior motives.
In her view, for the great genius Vill-V, handling these minor affairs was a piece of cake.
The framework was already in place, and as for public speaking, she could just have the “Lecturer” get on stage and shout “Did you understand?
Applause!” and be done with it.
Then, she would have plenty of spare time to build her own Helix Workshop.
The key point was that all the funding was provided by Elysia; wasn’t this just a classic case of getting something for nothing?
Oh, Elysia, Elysia, you still underestimate the value of a genius.
Then, reality taught her a harsh lesson.
Elysia was responsible for expansion, while Vill-V was responsible for governance; this was quite reasonable.
That was what she thought at first, and she even felt a secret sense of delight.
If they were back in Shenzhou, Elysia would be the Great General Conquering the North, while she would be the Crown Prince Regent; wouldn’t the world be hers sooner or later?
However, she couldn’t laugh for long, because Elysia was conquering things way too fast.
The underworld in the cities she passed through couldn’t exactly be said to have surrendered at the mere sight of her, but they certainly crumbled at the slightest touch.
The weapon of criticism could never replace the criticism of weapons, and she had experienced for the first time what kind of dimensional strike Elysia’s inhuman combat prowess was to others.
Of course, if it were just simple destruction, Elysia would have long since been targeted and attacked by both the light and dark sides of the European Union.
But she proved with her actions that compared to those things addicted to cults and meat grinders, the faction she represented was always more stable, more reliable, and more legitimate.
She destroyed the original dark side, and at the same time, built a better ecosystem upon the ruins.
Besides banning all inhumane gang practices, she used the investment given by the Godfather to build a complete vocational training system from scratch, periodically supplying skilled workers to society and revitalizing local industries.
Even if some of those local officials had shady habits, in the face of tangible political achievements, they had to hold their noses and accept it.
Meanwhile, a bunch of European Union reporters followed Elysia around like moths to a flame, with explosive news stories coming one after another.
These past two years, the constant headlines had left Vill-V feeling almost numb.
“Pink-Hued Angel,” that was the nickname they gave Elysia.
However, she believed that Elysia was truly worthy of the title.
Wherever she went, crime rates dropped significantly.
In the past, citizens outside the wealthy districts didn’t dare to go out at night, but after Elysia’s arrival, the night economy began to flourish, and naturally, most of the profits went to Elysia, who had laid the groundwork in advance.
What was even rarer was that she didn’t take the route of legal tax avoidance; instead, she faithfully complied with the tax laws established by each country, paying high amounts of capital, and incidentally established numerous industries to help solve unemployment, so the local governments were happy to see it happen.
Those local tyrants who had painstakingly operated their black markets for years were, without exception, dealt a devastating blow, with human trafficking being the most prominent; most of the participants had their limbs crippled before they even entered prison.
As for the ringleaders, they mostly evaporated into thin air, turning into the surging river waters.
Of course, they hadn’t failed to think about fighting back.
As far as Vill-V knew, they initially tried to smear Elysia as a power-hungry usurper, but those major newspapers indicated that the information they provided was nowhere near as good as what Elysia had dug up from their own strongholds, so they politely refused, implying in no uncertain terms that they should go back and wait to die quietly.
Some smaller newspapers that tried to take extreme measures had their windows smashed by angry citizens and dared not cross the line again.
Later, they tried physical elimination; Elysia’s head remained at the top of the bounty list year-round, but the assassins sent after her were, without exception, completely defeated.
Vill-V had once watched a surveillance video; it looked plain and unremarkable, but only those who observed carefully would realize how absurd the content actually was.
In the video, during her visits, Elysia effortlessly dodged at least eight sniper attacks, avoided four car bombs, and three pre-arranged car accidents, finally returning safely after a long detour.
What the video didn’t record was how she later easily captured all the assassins who were hastily retreating and then casually threw them into prison.
In short, in the underworld and the dark zones, the name Elysia was enough to stop children from crying at night.
A series of righteous deeds and legendary experiences brought Elysia extremely high popularity.
And then, it was Vill-V who suffered.
Every morning, upon waking up, she had to look at the expanded territory with a sense of hopelessness, and then she needed to spend effort integrating various new industries into the supply chain.
Not only that, she also had to arrange employment, reconcile accounts with branches, send people from the headquarters to mentor newcomers, and deal with the many companies that extended olive branches for cooperation after they went legitimate.
She had originally thought she could spend 90% of her time on her hobbies, but now it was almost 70/30 in favor of work.
Falco, look at what kind of monster you’ve unleashed.
Fortunately, Elysia approved unlimited funding for her, so she could consider herself suffering and happy at the same time.
She looked up, surveying the workshop she had poured so much effort into building.
Countless dark gold gears of various sizes interlocked on the complex drive shafts spanning the ceiling, rotating slowly and emitting a low, rhythmic meshing sound.
Countless dark pipes wound and coiled, clinging to the surrounding walls and support pillars, occasionally puffing out white steam.
Wires embedded in the floor were intertwined, with high-density energy streams flowing through them, powering the pedestals and instruments scattered everywhere.
Several precision robotic arms were hidden in the shadows, waiting for Vill-V’s instructions.
The entire workshop was a massive mechanical lathe; only in this way could it support the manufacturing of Soulium.
She had built dozens of similar workshops distributed throughout the European Union.
The roaring sound gradually ceased.
She walked to the finished product area, took out a small bottle of viscous black liquid, and poured it into the tester.
Under the stimulation of the electric arc, the black liquid seemed to be infused with life, changing its form freely.
Vill-V adjusted the trigger mode, and the black liquid instantly condensed into a long brick.
She pressed the button, and several sensor probes inserted into the pre-made gaps.
Then, she turned the knob, heating the air until it glowed red.
She glanced at the monitoring panel to the side; the property data displayed on it remained very stable.
Later, she also tested various extreme environments.
To simulate a highly corrosive environment, she even triggered a small nuclear explosion, and the results all met the design expectations.
It was finally made; she breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her temples.
“As expected of me,” she said, lifting her head and placing her hands on her hips.
It had taken her two years on and off, plus a massive amount of funding, and in the end, only this small bottle was produced.
Moreover, due to the extremely high precision required, not only did manufacturing need to be paired with a giant factory, but production volume couldn’t be increased either.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a thankless design, but Elysia’s emphasis on it was definitely not fake, and she wasn’t the type of person to indulge in fantasy.
Was Honkai Energy really just a type of high-density energy?
After Elysia left, she spent some effort investigating, and she really managed to find some clues.
Secretly hidden access records, some events that officials were tight-lipped about, and, a research institute built in the suburbs.
She sent a few worker bee drones inside, but other than seeing a green-haired lady, she gained nothing.
But she was not discouraged; instead, her curiosity grew even stronger.
Just you wait, give me some more time.
The questions you left behind won’t be able to stump the genius Vill-V!