E.L.M's Big Secret

"This person was probably thrown out as a scapegoat by another personality. Put her back in her room, and she'll be back to normal tomorrow."

"All right."

After being hit twice in a row, Mobius finally showed a helpless expression on his face.

"In that case, let Sakura and her two maids carry it."

Mobius wanted to make an example of someone— Eden astutely understood this.

Even the least likely person to have an accident, Vil-V, has had one. As a normal person who has received great kindness from her, how could Sakura not have any thoughts now?

Okay, although this speculation makes it seem like they're hoping others will get involved, with the example of Vil-V before them, neither Mobius nor Eden dares to gamble!

If you lose the bet, your house will be raided!

"Okay... fine."

Looking at the two girls he had brought out, Liu Bai pondered for a moment and then gave in.

For the unity of ELM.

Moreover, Liu Bai did indeed sense that there seemed to be some kind of undercurrent flowing among these girls...

Is it really because of Elysia?

Although the system didn't include Elysia in the necessary requirements for this mission, it didn't seem to say that Aili couldn't be included either—although given the current situation, if I were to actually form a contract, ELM might explode...

Hmm, it could be a description, or it could be physics.

After reaching an agreement, Eden decisively made a phone call, shaking Sakura, who was already asleep, over in the middle of the night—Ring was out of the question, as that girl still had to go to school.

And a junior high school student... alright, if a junior high school student can steal from a house, those girls should just slit their own throats and not live anymore, they can't afford to lose face like that.

"I'm sorry, Miss Vil-V..."

Feeling the two piercing gazes behind her, Sakura awkwardly picked up the constantly whimpering Vil-V.

I have a feeling that something terrible has happened here... and what's even more terrifying is that I feel like I've been discovered.

—She hasn't done anything yet, and hasn't even made up her mind to become a mistress!

Sakura, a truly honest person, yet not entirely honest, silently ran away while carrying Vil-V.

"We really need to take some measures..."

Mobius stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I think our little group is pretty good, so no one should try to interfere." Eden glanced at Mobius.

Although the ELM circle is a bit chaotic now, Eden still likes it very much, and the expression on Mobius's face seems to say, "I have to get involved in this little group."

"Am I not an unofficial member of your little group?" Mobius asked with an innocent expression.

"Personal relationships are personal relationships."

Eden remained expressionless. She was no longer the naive young woman she once was. Three years as a singer had greatly improved Eden social skills—at least Mobius couldn't possibly fool Eden with feigned innocence.

"You can be boring sometimes—just like your noise." Mobius said with a displeased expression.

"That's because you don't understand art. Is it so difficult to admit your incompetence in a certain area?"

Without the "outsiders," the two continued their bickering as usual.

"Elysia mentioned you to me this morning. She said you might look good in a pink dress. What do you think?"

"... Compared to your barely tolerable noise, I simply cannot stand Elysia's endless stream of off-key ideas and suggestions."

"I second that."

Two weeks later.

After the Mobius incident, ELM enjoyed a stable and harmonious two weeks.

A large part of this can be attributed to the lingering influence of Mobius —but after half a month, it seems that Mobius's influence is about to wear off.

Yesterday, Eden saw a breakfast labeled "For Lord Liu Bai" at breakfast time. Eden couldn't figure out for a long time why the lover personality and the other Vil-V would want to cook for Liu Bai.

Incidentally, the taste was surprisingly good; Eden thought perhaps chef Vil-V could be fired.

Ling also started asking Liu Bai and her older sister to tutor her from time to time. They all knew exactly what she was thinking.

Then Eden, with a smile on her face, took the stage herself—although she had forgotten most of what she had learned in school over the years, teaching a junior high school girl was still no problem.

However, the counseling work proceeded smoothly, and everyone seemed quite happy, which made Eden feel rather strange.

As for Elysia, she lazily and casually carried out her idol training from Eden, occasionally sharing her love history or feelings about hugging and kissing with others—it was precisely because of this that Liu Bai was recently a little embarrassed and couldn't lift his head, and the atmosphere in ELM was once again filled with tension.

Oh, okay, there's also Pardo, but this girl just eats, sleeps, plays, and sunbathes all day. Liu Bai's recent awkward situation of squatting next to Pardo hasn't affected the little lazy cat's daily life at all—at most, she's gone from playing by herself to being teased by Liu Bai.

—This girl is becoming more and more like a pet.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem to have gained any weight; on the contrary, he looked quite healthy—something that Elysia talked about for quite a while.

In short, apart from Pardo, undercurrents were stirring up all over ELM again.

Who knows when this undercurrent will resurface...

"Excuse me, is this ELM?"

A young man with a somewhat gloomy expression and a bandage around his neck asked Sakura a question.

"Um...yes, may I ask who you are..." Sakura looked at the young man in front of her with a subtle expression.

Well, the fact that the other party was able to get here unharmed indicates something.

"... I'm a security guard recommended by Dr. Mobius. My name is Kosma." The young man, Kosma, took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Sakura.

"Who is it for?" Sakura asked cautiously as she took the letter.

"Anyone will do." Kosma looked uninterested.

"Let me take a look first..." Although the other party had Mobius's letter of recommendation, Sakura felt that she could not be careless, so she opened the letter and glanced at it briefly.

Then, the subtle expression on Sakura's face became even more subtle.

"You, a vigilante?"

"... He was before, but now he's just a criminal who was released after reluctantly accepting the deal."

The boy's eyes grew even more gloomy.

"That woman personally led a group to arrest me, and then personally released me, just to make me work as a security guard... She's sick."

Sakura shrugged, deciding it was best not to respond.

The boy in front of me seems to be in a bad mood because of this, but why did Mobius kidnap him? According to his description, this is clearly a blatant kidnapping, isn't it?

"Ah, this was my idea." Liu Bai appeared from the side, casually tossing a contract to the boy in front of him. "Although her methods seem a bit strange... Anyway, welcome, Kosma."

Besides Kalpas, the last Wild Flame-Chasers is now available!

Chapter 357, ELM's Big Secret

"You're the one I'm looking for?" Sakura looked at Liu Bai with a strange expression.

Would our own territory lack security? Strictly speaking, the entire area around ELM is under the protection of the Moth Chasers to Fire, okay?

Speaking of which, not to mention myself, there's also Elysia, a formidable figure who delivered the decisive blow in the Second Honkai. And this boy in front of me... this young man looks like he's still in school, right?

"Back then, the contract you signed was an idol contract."

Liu Bai glanced at Ying, and Ying immediately fell silent.

She really can't be an idol. If she were to follow the idol contract from back then, she would have been fired long ago, even though she's still receiving a salary—or rather, a monthly allowance—without really understanding what's going on.

So this young man in front of me is similar to myself back then. Was he brought here under some pretext?

But wasn't Mobius's approach a bit too brutal?

Liu Bai's reason for looking for someone was actually quite simple—by the time he calculated Kosma should have started making moves.

After all, there aren't many people who dare to play vigilante games these days, and Kosma really mastered it. He had Mobius use the power of the Moth Chasers to Fire, and then... well, there's not much more to say, just arrest them.

"Besides, Kosma, this counts as being recruited—working here is safer than you playing vigilante games."

Kosma moved his lips, looking hesitant, but finally lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

"Say whatever you want to say." Liu Bai floated in the air. "By the way, let's get acquainted. I am the head of this place, which is ELM. My name is Liu Bai, and I am a ghost. This is Sakura."

When Liu Bai revealed that he was a ghost, Kosma's eyelids twitched noticeably twice.

"... What is your relationship with Dr. Mobius?"

After a brief silence, Kosma asked in a soft voice.

"Mobius... it's a rather complicated relationship, isn't it? Hmm, it can't be explained in just a few words."

"Do you know what that guy did?" Kosma's tone gradually turned angry.

"Arrest you? Cough, I actually wanted her to use a gentler approach."

"That's not all!" Kosma finally exploded. "That woman actually told my parents directly, 'Your son got into trouble while playing vigilante games, and I'm going to arrest him now. Please cooperate.'—that woman brought a bunch of people and blocked my front door!"

"That's really efficient and decisive..." Sakura muttered, feeling that this was definitely Mobius's style of doing things.

No matter how skilled you are, I'll bring my men to block your doorstep, with all the necessary paperwork and documents, and arrest you. You think you can escape? You dare to flee in front of your parents?

So Kosma didn't run away, after all, he couldn't just abandon his parents and run away—and on the other hand, although Kosma admitted that his use of violence as a vigilante was against the law, breaking the law is not the same as dying.

"What the hell? "Kosma thought. "Although I was wrong, I also had some merit!" He felt that using violence to fight violence was problematic, but it wasn't entirely untenable. At that moment, Kosma was even prepared to use his passion to persuade and influence the woman who had come to arrest him, and then go back to his room to continue doing the homework he had half-finished.

Then, well, Kosma's kneeling posture was quite artistic, and he hadn't finished his homework either.

Talking to Mobius about passion is pointless. Mobius had no intention of talking to a kid. He handcuffed him, threw him in jail, and put him through the wringer for a couple of days. Once he was in the mood, they could talk about anything else.

"I haven't finished my homework! I've even skipped a week of school!"

Kosma became increasingly agitated as he spoke, and his initial gloomy demeanor completely disappeared, replaced by the behavior of a clueless high school student.

"Does this kid not realize the seriousness of the problem?"

Liu Bai stroked his chin, looking at Kosma, who was going crazy because of homework and skipping classes.

"Hey kid, what happened to your neck?"

"... Trying to escape, I got rubbed against twice," Kosma replied with a sour face.

"Do you know how to pick locks?"

"...Won't."

"Then why are you even trying to escape from prison?" Liu Bai sighed.

"Because I have to go back to do my homework! And go to school! And explain everything that happened to my parents!" Kosma's face grew darker and darker.

"And then you escaped from prison? Don't you know that will make things worse?"

"Is it any more serious than death?!" Kosma's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. "If I don't go back, I really will die! — And if this were really serious, that woman would have killed me already! I think that guy is the most vicious villain I've ever met in my life!"

"I think you have a slight misunderstanding about Mobius —but try to look on the bright side, maybe your parents have already arranged for you to take a leave of absence from school?"

Liu Bai roughly understood the kid's thinking. He was still a pure chuunibyou (delusional teenager) – well, if he weren't chuunibyou, he wouldn't have the wild idea of becoming a vigilante at this age. If Kosma wasn't also exceptionally talented, he would have been beaten down to the point of facing reality long ago.

However, the problem is that no one can beat him. According to the original timeline, this guy served as a vigilante until the Fourth Honkai Eruption before being recruited by Kevin. His combat strength is therefore questionable.

Furthermore, since most people haven't yet witnessed the brutal side of the Honkai, Kosma is mentally a hot-blooded, immature teenager.

For a hot-blooded, immature teenager, besides his goals, the most important thing is his own face. He is not very perceptive about things like the law—even though he has realized that Mobius is somewhat terrifying.

"I don't think this is what it means to be open-minded at all..." Kosma muttered.

"Then you can think more positively—for example, if you're already dead, there's no way to save you."

"... Thank you so much!"

Kosma practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.

Well, after hearing that, Kosma did have a sense of relief, like "what's the use of trying"—though this kind of thing is anything but happy.

"So now I'm a security guard here?"

"Oh no, we don't actually need more security guards here. You can go back to school."

"...?"