Elysia Is Unconscious (Continued)

Name a game we played at the amusement park back then!

Elysia looked at Liu Bai, who was completely bewildered, with great vigilance.

The first mistake is that this is Elysia's playground in her mental world.

The second mistake... Liu Bai also came in.

"Dream Adventure... Please, don't wake me up with embarrassing memories."

Liu Bai also looked around the amusement park with a puzzled expression... He really didn't expect that he would be able to come here and stroll around twice in the Previous Era...

"Hey! Liu Bai actually thinks that's an embarrassing memory?!" Elysia said, feigning dissatisfaction.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Where's the Eighth Herrscher?"

Liu Bai ignored Elysia, who believed him so easily... Well, in the mental world, Elysia was probably the only one who could directly distinguish between his own truth and falsehood.

—After all, in the spiritual world, Elysia can see the "anchor".

This guy asked that question on purpose just to flirt... Unfortunately, Liu Bai had absolutely no motivation to flirt this time.

Or rather, Aili's ability to flirt at this moment truly makes her the most resilient member of the Moth Chasers to Fire.

"And then again, how did I end up getting dragged into this... And isn't this your mental world?"

It was obvious that Elysia's mental world had been invaded by the Eighth Herrscher, but Liu Bai couldn't understand why, if you're going to invade, you're going to invade too, and drag him in as well.

The Herrscher's invasion of his consciousness and his being pulled into his mind are two separate things, right? They could even be said to be completely unrelated.

"Perhaps it's because the Eighth Herrscher could sense Liu Bai's mental fluctuations, but couldn't invade you? Plus, Liu Bai is currently attached to me, so it accidentally came in together?"

After thinking for a moment, Elysia gave an explanation that sounded reasonably plausible.

Although Liu Bai still felt something was off, the explanation was quite convincing for the time being.

So... the next question is where the Eighth Herrscher is hiding.

"Aili, can you sense the location of the Eighth Herrscher? Or any anomalies in her mental world?"

"Hmm... Sorry, I can't sense it. Although I feel that my mental world is still under my control, I haven't detected anything unusual."

Elysia fell into deep thought.

"Perhaps... the Eighth Herrscher has also realized the problem and is preparing for a protracted battle with the two of us?"

"We cannot rule out this possibility."

After some thought, Liu Bai agreed with Aili's guess.

If you think about it carefully, Fu Hua, who has the Feather of the Wind, can sense you even without a contract, so it's not surprising that the Eighth Herrscher can sense you.

If the Eighth Herrscher isn't mentally unstable, she would definitely realize that her "pulling" operation had malfunctioned. It would seem logical for her to then switch to a protracted battle.

However... if the Eighth Herrscher were to become a coward, that would be quite a problem.

"By the way, is it possible that the Eighth Herrscher trapped us and then attacked others?"

"Mei is no pushover." Elysia smiled confidently. "Mei wouldn't make such a mistake, and... if the Eighth Herrscher weren't here, she definitely couldn't hold us back."

"...Um."

Liu Bai glanced at everyone on the System Panel. Except for Aili, everyone's status was normal and they seemed to be able to transfer at any time.

I just don't know if I'll be able to return to this mental world after the transfer.

It probably won't work... After a brief moment of thought, Liu Bai gave up on the idea of trying to transfer.

If the Eighth Herrscher seizes the opportunity during the transfer, Aili could very well be in danger.

"Then... what do we do now?"

Liu Bai was also a little unsure for a moment.

"Waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump? Waiting for the Eighth Herrscher to reveal a weakness... Achoo!"

As Liu Bai was speaking, he suddenly sneezed.

"Wait, why did I sneeze?"

"Because Liu Bai in the spiritual world, you have a physical body, right?" Elysia laughed, hands on her hips. "How about it, isn't it still quite novel?"

If that's the case... it seems that's really true?

Liu Bai nodded, but then again, his real body had never sneezed, after all, that body was probably too "perfect".

Perhaps only the more physical body, directly connected to the mind, can produce this kind of reaction.

But isn't it a little strange that you sneeze in your mental world instead of in reality?

Liu Bai pondered in a rather strange way.

However, Aili did not let Liu Bai dwell on this issue too much.

"Since we've decided to wait and see, Mr. Liu Bai, would you like to continue our previous trip to the amusement park?"

"... provided you don't disturb other people's dreams." Liu Bai was already quite used to Elysia's relaxed attitude.

After all, it's unrealistic to expect Elysia to face crises in a tense state for an extended period. Moreover, being too tense might lead to a major opening, while being relaxed might prevent any unexpected incidents.

After all, both he and Aili are meticulous people who pay attention to details, and they won't completely relax even when they are immersed in happiness.

"No, the current environment is subtly different from back then. All the anchors I can see are people I know, and there's absolutely no way to cross them."

Elysia's expression fell. Those two dream journeys before were a dark history for her!

I've never suffered such a crushing defeat in my entire life.

Okay, let's leave aside that kind and honest Miss Rita. After all, Elysia never expected that she would be able to beat up the dream's owner.

In Elysia's opinion, that Miss Rita was honest to the extreme... but what the heck was that sister named Bronya that Liu Bai kissed later?!

It's completely nonsensical, and even Aili, who is also a free spirit, is exhausted both physically and mentally.

"That's good."

Liu Bai was clearly relieved.

"How about an escape room?" Elysia asked with great interest.

"A locked room...?"

Liu Bai pondered for a moment, then his expression became subtle.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: I refuse to be in a humiliating, secret room where we have to kiss for more than three minutes before a meeting or when the door is opened."

"Ugh— Liu Bai is so boring!"

"... I knew it."

Based on the level of embarrassment in the previous games, Liu Bai easily guessed this situation.

"Can't we play something normal?"

"But this is just the two of us! A time for us to have fun and do whatever we want! It's a super rare opportunity! If we miss it, we might never have another chance!"

"Play something normal."

Liu Bai continued to emphasize, remaining completely unmoved.

"Hmm... This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win over Liu Bai, are you really going to give it up!" Elysia puffed out her cheeks.

"Give up!"

"Are you really, really giving up?"

"Really, really."

"Please provide a 300-word explanation!"

"Aili, please don't follow the example of malware." Liu Bai pushed away Aili's head that was leaning towards him. "There will be opportunities in the future."

"The future... well, the future it is."

Seeing that Liu Bai remained unmoved, Elysia finally raised her hands in surrender.

"In that case, how about we play the cookie game?"

That game where you eat cookie sticks mouth-to-mouth...?

"Captain Desstobia, please report the situation!"

Mei's calm voice came through the communicator to the blonde girl in her team uniform.

"Here! That... a body suspected to be the Eighth Herrscher has been found."

Desstobia looked at the Honkai Energy -filled entity before her and answered nervously.

This was the first time she had come into such close contact with Herrscher.

"Then please confirm as soon as possible." Mei's voice was as calm as ever. "Do I need to repeat how to confirm the Herrscher's body?"

"... dissect the body to check for the presence of a core."

Taking a deep breath, Desstobia calmly picked up her longsword and plunged it into the corpse before her.

Before long, a hint of joy appeared in Desstobia's voice.

"Report! The Herrscher Core has been located, confirming the Eighth Herrscher is out of danger!"

"Disarm... I understand. Retrieve the core immediately."

Mei gave a brief reply and then cut off the communication, switching the call to another channel.

"Mobius, is Aili still not awake? Are her symptoms the same as those of Sleeping Sickness?"

"... not quite the same."

Seeing Elysia sleeping so peacefully, even with a hint of happiness in her eyes, Mobius wore an expression of utter incomprehension.

"This guy's suffering in his sleep is completely different from other patients'; he seems... he seems quite happy."

"..." Mei paused for a moment, seemingly imagining Elysia sleeping peacefully. "Then we don't need to worry about her for now. The Eighth Herrscher has been eliminated, and she seems to be alright. Have you found any trace of the teacher?"

"No."

When this was mentioned, Mobius's expression darkened.

"That guy has disappeared again. Did he leave on his own, or did something go wrong during his fight with the Eighth Herrscher?"

"... I don't know." Mei's expression turned somewhat unpleasant when she brought up the topic.

Losing your own teacher for the sake of the Eighth Herrscher... What kind of nonsense is this!

"Is it possible that the teacher entered Elysia's mental world?" Mei proposed a conjecture.

Although it was somewhat malicious towards Elysia, it was still better than her actually being lost.

"It's unlikely. Even if the Eighth Herrscher can discover Liu Bai and include Liu Bai in the attack range, these two things are not on the same thread."

After thinking seriously for a moment, Mobius shook his head.

When engaging in a mental battle with Herrscher of the same level, is it necessary to also include the mental battles of those around you?

If the battlefield were to take place in the Eighth Herrscher's mental world, it would be somewhat plausible. However, the Eighth Herrscher is now dead, Elysia has not made a move. It is clearly unrealistic for the mental battlefield to be in the Eighth Herrscher's mind. Moreover, what kind of fool would choose to set the battlefield in their own world when given a choice?

In your own world, a crash would mean certain death, but in an invasion, with a bit of luck, a crash might allow you to escape.

The normal way to play this game is to invade the opponent's mind and then defeat them one by one or in separate ways.

Should we stuff Liu Bai into Elysia's mental world and then capture them all at once?

Is someone mentally ill?

Okay, there are quite a few Herrscher are mentally unstable, but the Eighth Herrscher is obviously not one of those mentally unstable people, so Mobius doesn't quite believe that Liu Bai would be in Elysia's mind.

"... No matter what, we still need to wake Elysia up first and ask her what's going on."

After a brief silence, Mei cut to the chase—what could these back-office staff possibly know? The only one who knew was Aili. In any case, they had to wake her up first!

"... On another note, why would the Eighth Herrscher is related to the mind, make the teacher disappear?" Mei noticed another question.

Upon hearing this, Mobius also fell into thought, unconsciously kicking Elysia, who was sleeping at his feet, twice. "Perhaps... the essence of Liu Bai's ghost form is a kind of consciousness?"

Although these scientists all admitted that Liu Bai had nothing to do with science, they were all studying the nature of Liu Bai's ghostly state—after all, it was related to their future happiness.

"For example, possession... in layman's terms, isn't it just consciousness attaching itself to an object?"