Mm, It's Just Candy (Continued)

"Ah, I'll have your door fixed soon~ Don't worry~"

Then she closed the door and hurried away.

After walking some distance, Elysia quietly tightened her sleeves again. Her steps paused slightly before she immediately turned toward Dr. Mobius's laboratory.

"Dr. Mobius, please open the door."

"...You actually gave me advance notice? What is it? Did you cause trouble again, or are you just here to make a mess of my lab?"

Mobius's voice came through the intercom beside the door.

"I won't open the door unless you explain yourself."

"...I need your help."

"...Ha, how rare."

Though she wanted to tease Elysia for actually asking her for help, she could tell Elysia was speaking about something serious. Thus, she merely chuckled in surprise before letting Elysia in.

"Go on, then. If the help you need is something trivial like trying on clothes, Elysia, I guarantee you'll be in trouble."

"I hope you can analyze this for me."

Elysia took out a small candy box.

"Isn't this that guy's? How did it end up with you?"

Mobius had been trying to get Xi Wang onto her operating table, so naturally she had seen this candy box before. Although Xi Wang had never allowed anyone else to touch it—not even Sakura—it was now in Elysia's hands... But on second thought, if it was Elysia, that was not so strange.

"Please, can you analyze what's inside? This is very important."

"...Wait a moment."

Seeing that Elysia had gone so long without using her usual light, joking tone, Mobius clearly understood how seriously she regarded this matter. She immediately took the candy box, called over her new assistant Klein, and had her pause her work to help analyze the item before them.

Very soon, Mobius returned to Elysia, frowned, and said to her,

"Elysia, go find Mei now... No, I'll inform Mei. You go tell Kevin to stay close to Mei for the next few days. Make up any excuse... protection, a date, or even if he suddenly feels like reproducing. Just make him stay by Mei's side."

"...What?"

"Someone intends to assassinate Mei."

Mobius took out a small slip of paper. The cipher on it seemed familiar to Elysia, and it was dusted with a little sugar powder. Clearly, it had been taken from that candy box.

"The cipher was written using that joke-like code you came up with. The message I just deciphered was this. Considering Moth to Fire's recent circumstances... there shouldn't be any problem with the accuracy of this information. Tell Kevin and Mei so they can prepare themselves."

Elysia remembered. It had been a gathering organized by her, where she had made a decoding game for everyone to play. That cipher had been from that game.

"...What about the other things inside?"

Elysia froze. She did not even question why Mobius could decipher the code she had created as a game, when Mobius had clearly said she was not interested in it... Yet this was all Elysia asked.

"The other things?"

Mobius looked somewhat confused.

"The candy."

"It was just candy?"

"What else would it be? Wait... You didn't come to deliver this message?"

Mobius quickly realized what Elysia was confused about. She had initially assumed Elysia had forgotten the cipher from that game and had therefore come to her. But now, it seemed...

"...Never mind. I'm going to find Kevin first."

Though Elysia still had something she wanted to say, she kept quiet when she considered the message on the slip of paper, then quickly left.

There were priorities, and what mattered more now was informing Dr. Mei that someone was preparing to use methods "Outside of rules."

But Wang... Are you... really okay?

Were those really just candy...?

Elysia worried silently.

"Ha... ha..."

Only after Elysia's footsteps had completely faded away did Xi Wang finally relax. Panting, he rushed into the room with frantic, hurried steps, rummaged through a cabinet for a small box of candy, and poured it into his palm.

At first, he wanted to carefully count the candies in his hand, but in the end, he could not hold back. He shoved them all into his mouth at once and swallowed with all his strength.

"Phew..."

Only then did Xi Wang finally relax completely. His body slowly slid down as he sat in the corner of the bedroom, leaning against the wall.

"Sorry... I lied to you..."

Xi Wang murmured softly. Then, he gently rubbed the small, slightly rough Candy Bag in his hand, took out a pink candy shaped like a cherry blossom, and slowly put it into his mouth.

The sweetness, carrying a distinctive floral fragrance, slowly spread through his mouth. The monotonous sweetness in his mouth was gradually tinged with that faint floral scent.

He carefully savored this special flavor, as if he wanted to carve that unique sweetness, along with the feelings contained within it, into his heart.

But in the end, he lowered his eyes slightly and murmured with a hint of disappointment.

"Sorry..."

Several days later, in the dead of night, a small boat drifted quietly across a lake in a tranquil park.

"...She's here."

Kevin lightly sniffed the air and spoke softly.

"As expected, she's very punctual."

Soon, the girl protected behind him—Mei—also caught that faint floral scent.

But what followed was bone-piercing cold. Kevin hooked up the greatsword hidden along the side of the boat with one foot. With one hand shielding Mei behind him, he used the other to block toward a dim direction with his sword.

Clang—

A crisp sound rang out as the two weapons collided. The immense force caused the small boat beneath them to sway, sending ripples across the water, but the rapidly freezing lake soon stabilized it.

After a momentary deadlock, the other party swiftly withdrew. Yet this allowed the two of them to see the weapon she wielded.

Prototype Honkai Energy Weapon—Ice Lotus Sky. It should have been a weapon meant for Honkai Beasts, yet it was now aimed at humans.

"..."

Clearly, after failing her first strike, the other party had no intention of letting them go. After a brief silence, she attacked once again, but Kevin blocked every strike.

The lake around the boat froze over, and then the rocking boat cracked the ice. Yet the cold quickly froze it solid again. The ice repeatedly shattered and congealed, growing thicker and thicker.

"This should be far enough, shouldn't it?"

Mei spoke at the right moment.

"I think this is enough to prove that you cannot kill me in front of Kevin, and naturally cannot complete your mission either."

"Perhaps we should discuss business now, shouldn't we? Miss Forget-me-not of Poison Chrysalis."

"...Your intelligence network is larger than I imagined, Dr. Mei."

The icy blade no longer came at them. A pink figure lightly landed on the ice beside the boat.

"Sure enough, you are an excellent choice."

Sakura slowly sheathed her sword and sighed softly.

"You used your own methods to pass news of the assassination to us. You wanted to make a deal with us, correct?"

Mei adjusted her glasses and spoke.

"Yes, though afterward, you may need to speak with my superior... Even if everything happening now is my own decision."

"However, I believe you would be interested. After all, you would rather devote your energy to fighting Honkai than to internal struggles for power, wouldn't you?"

"...You're right, but what do we get?"

"A blade named Forget-me-not, and an ally with sufficient deterrence... Though you will need to negotiate with the latter yourself."

Sakura spoke softly.

"In return, I hope you can use your power to protect someone."

"If you mean your younger sister, Ling..."

Before Mei could finish, that bone-piercing cold came again, cutting an icy blue trail through the dim night before stopping in front of Mei, unable to advance another inch.

Kevin blocked the swift strike.

"Ha..."

After holding the deadlock for a while, Sakura finally sighed and withdrew her attack.

"As expected of you, Dr. Mei. By all rights, the information on Ling and me should have been very well protected."

As long as there were no signs of defection, Poison Chrysalis would keep her and Ling's records under the highest level of secrecy. That had been part of their agreement.

"You should have more confidence in the people you chose."

Mei adjusted her glasses, seemingly unfazed by the earlier attack.

"Back to what we were discussing: if you mean your younger sister Ling, then you can make another request. She is currently at Moth to Fire's base, being looked after by one of my colleagues. I can guarantee that your sister will receive the same protection as a Moth to Fire Warrior Family Member in the future. If necessary, you can also request better protection from Dr. Mobius in my name."

"Like you said, our attention should be focused on resisting Honkai, not on these struggles for power. We truly need a stable enough environment to ensure our research, and such a peaceful environment requires sufficient deterrence to maintain it... I will speak with your superior about what comes next."

"However, to ensure things proceed smoothly afterward, you may need to stay in prison for a few days."

"That is fine. And... thank you."

Clearly, Mei had agreed, which made Sakura relax slightly.

"Then do you have any other requests? Depending on the circumstances, I may agree."

"...No."

A certain person's figure flashed through Sakura's mind. Then she shook her head and smiled softly.