In a spacious, soundproof room, Elysia sat face-to-face with the person in charge of the kidnapping investigation.
The interrogator, a woman wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, pointed to a photograph on the table.
“Is the person in this photo you?” Elysia looked at the photo and saw a close-up shot of a girl flashing a ‘peace’ sign at the camera.
Although she was wearing a mask and her hair and eye colors were different from her own, based on the figure alone, Elysia could still recognize that this was a girl who was a nine, if not ten, out of ten match for her!
“That’s not me.” Elysia twirled a lock of her hair, motioning for the interrogator to take note of its pink color.
“My hair is pink.
The person in the photo’s is light purple.” She then pointed to her own eyes.
“And the color of our eyes is different, too!
Brownish-red eyes are very pretty, of course, but mine are a jewel blue, dotted with a romantic pink.” As if worried the interrogator wouldn’t believe her, she even leaned in closer.
“See?
Completely different, right?
Right?” Looking at this overly familiar pink-haired girl leaning toward her, the interrogator wanted to remind her that this was a serious interrogation.
But unfortunately, this pink-haired girl seemed to possess a magical charm that made it impossible for anyone to dislike her.
“Miss Elysia, this is a formal interrogation, and it is being recorded.” As she spoke, she produced another photo.
It was identical to the last one, but the hair had been changed to pink, the eyes replaced with Elysia’s own, and even the original mask had been removed.
She pushed this photo in front of Elysia.
“This is a rendering of the suspect’s appearance generated by our technical department after feeding field data into an A.I.
The accuracy rate is over ninety percent.” “Miss Elysia, do you have anything else to say?” Looking at the photo, Elysia’s cheeks puffed out, looking extremely wronged.
“That’s really not me…” “In that case, let’s continue with the questions, Miss Elysia.” The interrogator put the photo away.
“So, at the time of Eden’s abduction, where were you?” “I was on a mission in Australia, eliminating Honkai Beasts.
I even saved quite a few people.” “Your mission was completed after Eden arrived in the Far East.
After that, the action recorder did not log your movements.
Where did you go?” Elysia fell into reminiscence.
“Hmm…
after the mission ended, I wandered around the area for a bit.
You know, many parts of Australia are uninhabited, but there are so many interesting animals.” “I ran with cassowaries across the great plains, boxed with kangaroos, and fed platypuses and silly geese by a large lake in the wilderness.
Oh, right…
I also saw koalas.
They’re so dazed and cute.” “So, Miss Elysia, do you have any proof that you were in Australia at the time?” “…” Elysia realized she actually had no way to prove it.
The places she had traveled were all basically uninhabited wilderness, areas without even a signal.
Seeing Elysia fall silent, the interrogator sighed inwardly.
She had a very good impression of this young woman.
As the Fire Moth’s strongest current warrior and a hero who had defeated a Herrscher, she was extremely well-known within the organization.
On both a rational and emotional level, she had no desire to make things difficult for her.
But the incident this time was simply too big.
“Miss Elysia, you know that Miss Eden is not only the most influential person of this era but also one of the Fire Moth’s biggest financial backers.” “Someone captured your information and has turned the public’s ire on the Fire Moth.
We are currently under immense pressure from public opinion.” “We know you are usually very close with Miss Eden.
Perhaps the two of you had some sort of falling out.” At this point, the interrogator’s tone even carried a hint of pleading.
“But no matter the conflict, you can always sit down and talk it over.
There’s no need to take things to such an extreme…” After listening to the interrogator’s sincere plea, Elysia only felt even more wronged.
After all, only someone who has been falsely accused can truly know the depth of that injustice.
How could she possibly tie up her dear Eden…
well, okay, she had thought about it sometimes, but she hadn’t actually done it yet, had she?!
“But I really didn’t do it~” Elysia’s expression was the picture of grievance.
“I really didn’t kidnap Eden.
I really didn’t.” Seeing the pink-haired girl’s wronged, on-the-verge-of-tears look, the interrogator suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Could it be…
that Elysia really didn’t do it?
Just as she was thinking this, the device on her desk beeped, signaling an incoming communication request.
The interrogator assumed it was a call from her superior and answered it.
But when the call connected, both the interrogator and Elysia were stunned, because the person on the other end was the kidnap victim herself, Eden.
“Elysia, I heard the Fire Moth is giving you some trouble?” Seeing Eden on the screen, Elysia was just as surprised and hurriedly asked, “Eden?
My dear Eden, where are you?” “Me?
I’m at my residence in the Far East, of course.” After learning that Eden was safe, Elysia finally breathed a sigh of relief, but she quickly puffed her cheeks out in anger again.
“My dear Eden, who on earth kidnapped you?” Elysia raised a fist.
“I’ll teach them a lesson for you.” “It was Elysia, of course~” “?” “I’m saying, I was kidnapped by Elysia.” “…” The room suddenly fell silent.
The interrogator glanced at the stunned pink-haired elf, then at Miss Eden on the screen, and quickly lowered her head, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing.
She had long heard strange rumors about the two of them.
They weren’t engaging in some kind of strange…
play, were they?
It was best for a small fry like her to pretend she hadn’t heard any of these secrets of the great and powerful.
Ignoring the interrogator who was trying to reduce her own presence, Elysia expressed her confusion.
“My dear Eden, this is no time for jokes.
How could I possibly have kidnapped you?” Eden shook her head.
“It’s true that an ‘Elysia’ kidnapped me, but not you…
no, wait, it was you too.” Her face was a picture of vexation.
“It’s…
complicated.
I can’t explain it clearly here.
In any case, I’ll tell you all the details when I get back.” —o— And so, time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.
Though it was only one month, Nagazora City probably hadn’t been this lively in the past decade.
A nearly bankrupt enterprise that specialized in manufacturing engineering machinery was acquired outright and reopened under the name MEI Corp.
At first, the citizens of Nagazora City thought it was just some sucker who had been tricked into taking over a failing business, but they soon discovered that the financial backing behind the acquiring party was terrifyingly vast.
If they lacked a factory, they just bought one, or simply acquired a company that had one.
If they lacked workers, engineers, and researchers, they just poached them from other companies with higher salaries.
If policies stood in their way, they just threw money at the problem.
It turned out that 99% of the world’s problems could be solved with money, and the remaining 0.9% could be solved with more money.
Just like that, in a short month, the framework of MEI Corp was established.
They even launched their first product—an engineering mech named ‘Icarus’.
It was said that a single one of these mechs could do the work of ten men in civil engineering projects.
Its efficiency was even more terrifying.
As long as it had enough power, a squad of engineering mechs could erect a skyscraper in half a day.
“But Father, why choose an engineering mech as MEI Corp’s first product?” Li Mu had now acquired the tallest skyscraper in Nagazora City.
Standing on the top floor, one could even see the distant campus of Senba Academy through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows.
He had chosen this as his CEO’s office.
At this moment, Mei was holding a book, expressing her confusion to her father.
“Father, if we want to generate higher profits, we could get involved in military mech projects.” “The Unified Government has lowered the entry barriers for many military-industrial fields this year.
It wouldn’t be difficult for us to obtain the relevant qualifications.” Li Mu naturally knew that as the intensity of the Honkai increased, the Unified Government would gradually shift its focus toward militarization.
Therefore, entering the military-industrial complex now was the fastest way to make money, and the military technology he possessed from ten years in the Fire Moth’s future would absolutely make him a fortune.
But unfortunately, his role had only ever been that of a director, and not a capitalist destined for a lamppost.
MEI Corp was merely a tool to complete his script.
Whether it made a profit was irrelevant, as long as it achieved his goals.
This was why he had chosen a future Fire Moth engineering mech as the first product; its primary purpose was not for sales or profit.
So, in response to Mei’s question, Li Mu led her to a massive table.
Spread across the table was a map, one that included Nagazora City and its surrounding sea.
Under Mei’s puzzled gaze, Li Mu took a pen from his breast pocket and drew a circle on the map in the sea area just off the coast of Nagazora City.
Looking at Mei, Li Mu said with the utmost seriousness: “I am going to use the resources and power of MEI Corp to reclaim land from the sea here and, within one year, raise a city.” “An academy city cluster encompassing research, education, industry, and commerce.
A Second New Nagazora.” “And I will name it—the St.
Freya Academy City Cluster.” —o— CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Aleph_02 show some support!