Today marked the seventh day since Elysia had left the town.
She rose from her bed at the inn, picked up her phone, and sent a greeting to everyone back home.
After stretching beneath the morning sun, she stared at the sky outside the window.
The puppet strings here had already grown extremely faint.
If she stayed a few more days, they would probably be severed completely.
The moment she stepped beyond the town, Elysia had discovered that, unless she burned through her lifespan, she could currently sever only the strings within her field of vision.
The advantage was that she could cut them instantly.
The disadvantage was that the range was far too small.
By the time she traveled across the entire world, Finality would probably have already descended.
Therefore, she further developed her authority and devised a more efficient method.
She could cause the Pelagic Primaevality to precipitate into reality, forming a passive purification field.
Its principles were similar to the Elysion Pedion, but it was completely harmless to humans.
As long as she remained in a city for a certain length of time, she could completely erase the puppet strings binding everyone in the central city and its surrounding settlements.
Furthermore, the purification field would continue expanding as more of the Pelagic Primaevality precipitated.
This was the power of Origin’s invisible hand.
After washing up, Elysia admired her beauty in the mirror.
“Elysia is as adorable as ever today~” She began her daily bout of narcissistic madness, striking several cute poses and taking selfies while she was at it.
After saving the photos to the appropriate album, Elysia went downstairs and headed to the park to begin today’s morning lesson: martial arts training.
There were relatively few people in the park that early, so Elysia easily found an open space where she would not disturb anyone.
She propped her phone up nearby, opened a video, and began following the instructions onscreen.
There was quite a story behind these tutorials.
The moment she received her phone, she had immediately downloaded all kinds of apps.
Unfortunately, entertainment in the Previous Era was every bit as developed as it had been in her former world, so there was no hope of becoming a plagiarist and crushing the competition with works from another dimension.
All she could do was scroll through videos.
However, she understood none of the culture or memes, so most entertainment videos left her utterly bewildered.
Then, while Elysia was listlessly scrolling through her phone, she came across a promotional video for a martial arts school.
In the video, a lean and muscular middle-aged man first cupped his fist in greeting to the audience.
Then he assumed a stance and launched into a martial arts form, every movement fierce and powerful.
The video had barely any views, but Elysia’s eyes went wide as she watched.
That stance, that method of exerting force, that structure…
This is absolutely an authentic lineage!
Her combat skills consisted entirely of imitating the original Elysia, supplemented by some of her own understanding.
She was completely self-taught and sorely lacked systematic instruction.
Now that she had found this master, she was like a fish returning to water!
By the time she came back to her senses, she had already sent him a substantial donation.
The man then messaged her privately to ask whether she was interested in learning martial arts.
Elysia immediately sat upright.
Adopting the solemn attitude she had used when meeting her academic advisor in her previous life, she typed a single word with utmost gravity and sent it.
“Yes.” “All right.
Your donation is already enough to purchase every online course I offer.
I’ll send them to you.
Follow the lessons, and you should gain a basic understanding.
Afterward, if you truly wish to enter the martial path, come find me at the Hua Dojo in Southvale County.” “Thank you, Master.
May I ask your esteemed name?” “Just one word: Fu.” “Understood.” The other party then sent over a compressed file.
Following the videos inside became part of Elysia’s morning lessons.
Only later did she realize something.
“Fu?
Hua?
Could he be Hua’s father?” Of course, the story she remembered from her previous life had never mentioned Hua’s father’s name.
She would have to go there and confirm it in person.
Elysia practiced until noon.
Once she had become familiar with the techniques being taught, she put away her phone and walked around the city to ensure that her field covered every blind spot.
At dusk, she left the city for her evening lesson.
By the time she returned, it was already midnight.
That night, after washing up and lying in bed, Elysia reflected on everything she had encountered in this world.
It all felt so vivid and alive.
The influence of the puppet strings seemed almost negligible.
How could that possibly be true?
Their time simply hasn’t come yet.
She smiled bitterly at herself.
In her previous life, some people had discussed this very subject.
They believed that severing the puppet strings was what allowed the Herrschers of the next era to retain their humanity.
In Elysia’s view, however, that was not the case.
The Herrschers possessed humanity because the original Elysia had sacrificed herself and returned to the Cocoon, using Origin’s “symmetry breaking” to inject the bloom of humanity into them.
If she did not return, then even if the strings were severed, the Herrschers would still be nothing more than a collection of mimics wearing human faces.
The greatest achievement of severing the puppet strings was actually allowing civilization to break free from the script entirely.
Because of Parallel Truth—that is, the distortion created when a unified consciousness looked down upon a lower dimension from a higher one—the so-called Embrace was always riddled with errors.
Finality would therefore destroy the world and restart it again and again.
Each time civilization restarted, it would be given a different script.
The possibilities would be tested endlessly until a unified consciousness—a being of the same kind as Parallel Truth—was finally born.
That was the true meaning of Seeking Its Own Kind.
The corpses of the lives sacrificed throughout that process could probably have carpeted the entire surface of the planet.
This cycle’s script was actually painfully obvious: Would Genius Scientists and Warriors Dream of Insectoid Superiors?
Even the darkest and most ignorant periods of the Middle Ages had produced several brilliant and ambitious rulers.
Yet the upper ranks of MOTH remained useless vermin from beginning to end, as though they had been forcibly locked into that role.
It made absolutely no sense.
Severing the puppet strings should allow them to act somewhat normally.
Elysia had also considered whether cutting the strings and making the higher-ups behave more like real people might likewise rob the future Flame-Chasers of their heaven-defying talent.
The answer was no.
She had specifically confirmed it.
The Cocoon of Finality functioned essentially like Greek fate.
The emotions, wills, and talents of the actors onstage were not false.
It was merely that every choice they made at crucial moments had already been predetermined, and all their effort and struggles led straight to hell.
Damn Cocoon of Finality.
Damn Parallel Truth.
In her previous life, she had also encountered an argument claiming that without the Cocoon of Finality, humanity would be forced to confront countless extraterrestrials possessing Alien Keys1 and would have no hope of resisting them.
Therefore, the Cocoon of Finality was actually protecting humanity.
Protecting humanity means imprisoning it within the Earth-Moon system and repeatedly wiping it out?
Fascinating.
Besides, the Sky People could not even defeat humanity during the depleted age depicted in A Post-Honkai Odyssey.
Against the Previous Era, they would probably have been steamrolled.
Elysia rolled over.
These matters were still far too distant.
The First Honkai Eruption had not even occurred yet.
“So could someone please give me an external brain?
Otto or someone like him.
I want Origin to connect directly to a brain too, so my authority can do all the thinking for me.” Elysia’s mournful wail lingered endlessly in the room.
Several more weeks passed.
After Elysia had traversed the entire region and confirmed that she had missed nothing, she boarded a ship bound for her next destination.
Lamington County was the most developed and populous region in the European Union.
Barring any unexpected developments, she would remain there for a long time.
The sea breeze caressed her face beneath the pleasant sunlight.
Wearing a broad-brimmed hat woven from papyrus, she leaned against the railing and gazed into the distance.
White foam rose from the waves as though someone were painting freely across a sea-blue canvas, while several gulls drifted along the horizon, their sharp calls carried by the ocean breeze.
As she enjoyed the scenery before her, she felt much of the exhaustion accumulated from working without rest over the past several days fade away.
However, after disembarking, Elysia encountered an extremely awkward situation.
She had run out of money.
She had no idea how the original Elysia had supported herself.
Child labor was illegal, so she certainly would not do that.
Had the original simply given up and survived on air?
Actually, a Herrscher truly could live on nothing but air.
She would not fall ill, either, and could use the sky as her blanket and the earth as her bed.
However, Elysia did not consider herself an immortal capable of fasting indefinitely.
She still needed to satisfy her appetite.
As everyone knew, the fastest ways to make money were all written into the criminal code.
Of course, Elysia had no intention of breaking the law.
She simply chose an exceptionally bright and righteous path whose effectiveness had been proven by countless predecessors—robbing street thugs.
Elysia’s breathtaking beauty and frail appearance were simply too deceptive.
Walking alone at night made her shine like a lantern in the deep sea.
Oh, and incidentally, the thing carrying a lantern in the deep sea was an anglerfish.
“Little girl, why are you out alone so late?
Are you lost?
Do you need Uncle to take care of you?
Hand over your money, and Uncle will send you home.” See?
The fish had taken the bait.
“Sure, sure.” Elysia nodded enthusiastically.
“But I don’t have any money.
That alley over there looks quite nice, though.
Shall we go?” The thug froze the moment he heard her.
The vicious look on his face actually vanished instantly.
He put away his weapon, hesitated, and began earnestly lecturing her.
“You’re so young.
How did you end up like this?
A girl needs to cherish herself.” Then his expression turned furious.
“Tell me who did this to you.
Uncle will teach him a lesson!” What the hell?
This isn’t right!
How did I become a fallen girl while you turned into a paragon of virtue?
To preserve her reputation, Elysia hurriedly explained, “Uncle, I was only joking.
I’ve never done anything like that.” He became even angrier.
“Is that something you should joke about?
You’re a young girl.
Of all the things you could learn, why would you learn this nonsense?” “?” Elysia’s CPU has overheated.
What followed was a string of incomprehensible complaints about “the decline of public morals,” “young people having no respect for the rules,” and similar matters, leaving Elysia completely numb.
“How about this?
Here.” After finishing his lengthy lecture, he pulled out a scattered pile of money and pressed it into her hands, including both coins and banknotes.
“Walk two streets ahead, and you’ll find a school.
It’s public, so the tuition is cheap.
Classes begin in a few days.
Go pay the fees.
A girl should learn something decent.” He then turned and strode back toward the city like a victorious general returning from campaign.
Clutching the money, Elysia stood frozen in the evening breeze.
It took her a long time to recover.
Apparently, she had actually made money?
The entire process had gone wrong, but at least the result was correct, wasn’t it?
That was fine.
She merely needed to make a technical adjustment.
Behold, the second tale of Elysia fishing for prey.
“Boss, are we really going to rob a little girl for the first job of our lives?
Isn’t that kind of embarrassing?” Behold, a lackey.
“It’s not robbery.
We’re collecting protection money!
Little girl, you look new around here and don’t know the area.
Hand over your money, and we’ll look after you.” Behold, the boss.
Elysia was speechless.
She could genuinely sense that these two thugs simply wanted her money, but also genuinely intended to protect her afterward.
The local thugs’ moral standards seemed suspiciously high.
How was she supposed to claim self-defense against people like this?
Therefore, she decided to adapt to local conditions, follow the customs of the region, and keep pace with contemporary trends.
She extended her hand.
“Hand over your money.
From now on, I’ll protect you.” She was so speechless that she even forgot to add her usual lilting tone.
“Hey, Boss, look at this little girl trying to turn the tables on us!” The lackey doubled over laughing.
“Whose crew are you with, acting this arrogant?” The boss was no better.
“Let’s fight in that alley.” Elysia walked into it on her own.
“If I lose, I’ll pay protection money.
If I win, you’ll pay me.” The two of them followed with swaggering steps, acting as though they owned the road.
“Should I hold back a little, girl?
Otherwise, I’ll have to take you to the hospital afterward.” The boss planted his hands on his hips, brimming with confidence.
“Come at me together.” Elysia crooked a finger.
“I’m in a hurry.” “Fine!
Don’t say we bullied a child!” They attacked.
They fell.
It took two slaps.
“Why…
do I feel like I can see the night sky?” The boss lay on the ground.
One slap had left all four of his limbs powerless, and he had already begun questioning his entire life.
“Me too, Boss.
But you’re really heavy.” The lackey was trapped beneath him and could barely breathe.
“Oh my.
That’s what happens when you try to rob a beautiful maiden~” Elysia flashed a victory sign.
After being bombarded by one unexpected event after another, she had finally regained her usual rhythm.
“Mm-hmm~ Now it’s time to hand over the protection money~” The boss rolled over and struggled to his feet while pulling his lackey up with him.
“May I ask…
the esteemed name of this great warrior?” “I never change my name whether standing or sitting.
I am Elysia~” Elysia replied in kind.
“Little Sis Elysia—no, Big Sis Elysia.
From now on, we’ll follow you.
Here is today’s tribute.” They surrendered their wallets.
Elysia opened the wallets, took half the money, and returned the rest.
Looking at the two men who had submitted wholeheartedly, she seemed to have found a new source of income.
In Chapter 14 of Alien Space, Murata Ryusuke states that the Keys were created by an alien race known as the Sugars.
Their functions are quite similar to those of the Divine Keys.