Chapter 149

To put it more bluntly, it's money that could go into Vill-V's personal pocket.

"Can you interfere with projects undertaken by Shenzhou people themselves?"

Ai Yue thought for a moment and realized there was indeed one more thing, "They use data from virtual Honkai Beast, and if possible, I'd like a copy."

"Oh, that's easy,"

Vill-V nodded, then seemed to remember something, "They seem to have some issues with the technology regarding virtual Honkai Beast that need to be resolved. If you're willing to help, I think Shenzhou wouldn't be stingy with some data."

In fact, Vill-V didn't quite understand. Given Ai Yue's current status, and as the inventor of the "Virtual Honkai Beast Technology," he wouldn't need to ask anyone for permission to obtain this data. After all, Vill-V didn't believe that Ai Yue wouldn't have installed a backdoor in this technology and simply used special commands.

However, she was too lazy to talk about such things, since it was a good thing that Ai Yue was willing to follow the rules.

While pondering, Vill-V found the summary report of issues submitted by Shenzhou and handed it to Ai Yue. Ai Yue waved his hand without any politeness, indicating that Vill-V should give up his desk.

Considering the extra funds that would be in her hands soon, Vill-V naturally did not resist and obediently gave up her spot.

Therefore, when Elysia arrived in New Canghai City, what she saw was Ai Yue sitting in the seat that belonged to Vill-V, reading a report, while Vill-V was hunched over the coffee table used for guests, revising blueprints.

"How did our great magician get kicked off the stage?"

Elysia wasn't surprised by this, because from the beginning, Vill-V had always been completely under Ai Yue's control, with no power to resist. "But you didn't need to be lying on the coffee table, did you?"

Elysia knew very well that the seemingly retro fanny pack on Vill-V's back actually contained a lot of random things. Even if she couldn't use the desk, she would definitely have something else to replace it. There was no need to make such a gesture.

"Isn't this an attempt to morally condemn someone?"

Vill-V sat up with a grumble and glanced at the unmoved Ai Yue. "But it seems that someone has absolutely no morals."

"I paid for it, okay?"

Ai Yue scoffed, "You think you can condemn me for this little bit of playing the victim? It's not like I just met you yesterday."

From the moment he met Vill-V, 95% of the things she did in front of him were related to "asking for money." By now, Ai Yue had long since become immune to it.

Incidentally, the remaining 5% of the operation is just to transition to the 95% of the spellcasting pre-cast animation.

He put down the documents in his hand and looked at Elysia: "But what brings you here?"

"Of course, it's because we heard that distinguished guests have arrived!"

Elysia said with a smile, "After all, I am the branch manager of the Shenzhou branch, how could I not come to meet you?"

When Ai Yue and his group transferred from the Moth to Fire's Shenzhou branch to a plane, Elysia happened to be out on patrol. Otherwise, Elysia might have come along with them.

"You've come at the perfect time,"

Ai Yue stood up. "We're planning a barbecue by the sea tonight. Do you want to come?"

"Of course!"

Elysia agreed without hesitation, her smile growing even brighter. "A beach party, what a great idea! I was just thinking about what kind of welcome ceremony to hold tonight."

"There's no need to go to such an exaggeration, there are no outsiders here."

Ai Yue glanced out the window and saw that it was already dusk. He nodded and said, "Perfect, let's go over now. I wonder if Mobius has made any arrangements for the scene."

"I bet she didn't."

Vill-V interjected, putting away the blueprints in her hand, "But it's alright, I can help you solve this problem!"

Ai Yue looked at her with some surprise. "Oh, you're going too?"

Elysia paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.

"Wow, what do you mean by that!"

Even Vill-V was taken aback by Ai Yue's words, before she reacted with an exaggerated expression, "This is my territory! You're having a party and you didn't invite me? Believe me or not, I'll bring the fire department to cause you trouble!"

"It's because I see you have a lot of work to do, Ms. Chief Engineer Vill-V."

Ai Yue walked over and patted her on the shoulder, handing her the document as he did so. "How could we let such a trivial matter disturb your important work of building the New Canghai City?"

Vill-V glanced at the documents and immediately looked astonished. "You've already solved it? How long has it been?"

When she first tried to solve this problem, it probably took her longer just to read through it once.

"After all, these are just questions that don't involve much technical skill."

Ai Yue said casually, "The rest is up to you. Don't let me down."

As he spoke, he waved to Elysia and turned to leave Vill-V's office.

"Oh dear, that guy always has a sharp tongue, but he'll definitely make room for you."

Elysia then approached, "But work is indeed more important. Would you be better off finishing what you're doing first?"

As she spoke, she followed Ai Yue's figure and left Vill-V's office. "By the way, Ai Yue, shall we go fishing first?"

Only Vill-V remained, staring at the pile of documents on her desk, a look of utter despair on her face.

"Damn it, when will all this be finished!"

11

Chapter 11 finally revealed the truth.

As it turned out, Mobius hadn't set up the site properly. When Ai Yue and Elysia arrived at her chosen location, there was only a simple, self-assembly house.

This self-assembling house was developed by Vill-V and can temporarily create a shelter in special circumstances. If used on a large scale, it could play a significant role in disaster relief operations. However, Mobius's reason for bringing it along was clearly just to be able to set up a laboratory anytime, anywhere.

Right now, she's busy working on the experimental equipment inside, clearly having completely forgotten about the barbecue party that evening.

Ai Yue and Elysia exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

"The fact that Mobius is willing to come out with you is already a remarkable step forward,"

Elysia laughed and said, "When you said you were going to take her on a trip, I thought I misheard you."

"That's truly remarkable progress,"

Ai Yue nodded. "You have no idea how hard it was to convince her to go out... Forget it, let's figure out the venue ourselves."

"Isn't this actually better?"

Elysia's face showed a subtle expression. "After all, Mobius's aesthetic sense... well, sometimes it's really hard to compliment him."

Ai Yue recalled that the other person had chosen a whole set of green clothes for him before leaving the house, almost making him look like a corn cob, and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Of course, he soon realized that leaving everything to Elysia wasn't a good option either—because she really liked pink a lot.

The parasols are pink, the lounge chairs are pink, the colorful flags are pink, the string lights are pink, and even the barbecue skewers are pink!

When Ai Yue saw Elysia take a pink barbecue grill out of her storage item, he finally couldn't help but say, "Um, isn't this a bit unnecessary?"

He pointed to the large grill in front of him and said tactfully, "It's more convenient to use this."

If he didn't stop her, Ai Yue really doubted whether Elysia would be able to pull out pink charcoal.

"Yeah, that's true, after all, this is still a bit too small."

Elysia didn't object. Instead, she looked around and nodded in satisfaction. "That seems about right!"

As she spoke, she pulled out a small pink camera and began taking pictures of the scene in front of her.

"You've recently taken a liking to photography again?"

Ai Yue lit the charcoal and turned it over with tongs, casually remarking, "I don't think I've ever seen you use a camera much before."

"Actually, it's always been like this, it's just been happening more and more frequently lately."

Elysia casually remarked, "After all, I want to preserve as much of what I see as possible."

Ai Yue stopped poking at the charcoal. Although it was just a casual remark from Elysia, and sounded no different from her usual words, it had a different feel to him, who was familiar with the plot.

In the original storyline, Elysia chose to change her predetermined fate in her own way in order to leave humanity with the last hope, but the price was her life.

"There's still a long time ahead."

Ai Yue hesitated for a moment, then said casually, "Sooner or later, you'll get tired of seeing scenes like this."

In the end, he still chose to express his thoughts in this indirect way. On the one hand, the two of them had an unspoken understanding about Elysia's identity. On the other hand, Ai Yue was not used to making any promises before he was absolutely certain about the matter.

This world cannot be changed by shouting a few slogans, and fate will not yield to human will. If we want to change the world into the way we want it, what we are doing now is far from enough.

"How could I get tired of it? I love this world so much that I would never get tired of it, even if I watched it for a hundred or two hundred years."

Elysia laughed and said, seemingly oblivious to the meaning behind Ai Yue's words, yet also as if in response, "Come on, smile~"

As she spoke, she pointed the camera at Ai Yue, Ai Yue paused for a moment, then subconsciously made a peace sign. "Uh, cheese?"

"What? You look so dazed,"

Elysia was amused by Ai Yue's reaction and smiled broadly. She then moved closer to him and made a peace sign, "But it's pretty cute, isn't it? Let's take another one!"

Ai Yue had no choice but to maintain this pose and look at the camera with Elysia.

"Wait a minute, why did you suddenly take a picture of me?"

When Elysia started looking through the photos she had taken, Ai Yue suddenly realized, "Maybe we should delete them. I feel like they'll look really ugly."

"No way! These are all very precious treasures, okay?"

Elysia completely ignored Ai Yue's words, "Besides, where is she ugly? She's obviously very cute!"

"In short, this must not be told to anyone outside the circle,"

Ai Yue sighed, "It will affect my shining image in everyone's hearts."

"Oh, don't worry, I can help you edit the photos,"

Elysia smiled and said, then suddenly looked at the house next door, "Don't tell anyone, but as long as it's not an outsider, it's fine, right?"

Ai Yue immediately sensed something was wrong, while Elysia was already rushing towards the house where Mobius was. "Mobius, I got some good stuff, do you want to see it?"

Unable to stop it all in time, Ai Yue could only watch helplessly as Elysia rushed into Mobius's makeshift laboratory, and a moment later came out with Mobius, who had a strange expression on his face.

Ai Yue sighed, "Just laugh if you want to."

"I didn't expect you to be so... stiff in front of the camera."

Mobius tried his best to control the corners of his mouth, but he couldn't help but smile. "You're not actually a very introverted guy, are you? I've come to know you in a new light."

Before Ai Yue could speak, a lively voice came from behind. "Wow, so pink! Is that Sister Ai Li?"

No, did it have to happen by such a coincidence?

"Little Pardo, you've come at the perfect time!"

Sure enough, the moment the thought crossed Ai Yue's mind, Elysia started waving at him from behind, "Come on, there's something really interesting here!"

"Is it really Sister Ai Li?"

Pardofelis rushed over to Elysia and asked curiously, "What's so interesting... Hey, is this Brother Yue?"

With just one glance, Pardofelis's expression immediately contorted, as if she were trying to control her facial expressions.

Ai Yue sighed again, "Just laugh if you want to."

He had a feeling that he would have to say this several more times tonight.

12

Chapter Twelve: I can protect other people's dreams.

As it turns out, Ai Yue's guess was not without merit.

Because Elysia was so eager to share the photo with everyone she knew, Aponia and Hua, who returned later, and finally Vill-V arrived late, all saw the photo immediately.

If Ai Yue hadn't firmly stopped him, even at the cost of using up the number of times Elysia had promised him, his photo would probably have already been sent to even more people online.

Fortunately, Elysia was a very sensible person. She knew exactly what Ai Yue could bear about this, so in the end she only shared it with a few people present.

Of course, Ai Yue doesn't necessarily have to strictly control the release of photos, but at least he shouldn't do such things in front of him, right? If he doesn't stop him from doing this, wouldn't that make Ai Yue seem like a very promiscuous person?

As for Elysia secretly sharing the photo later, that was beyond Ai Yue's control— Prometheus may be omnipotent on the internet, but he wouldn't go so far as to hack into the firewalls of major internet companies for something like this.

Fortunately, apart from this little incident, the barbecue party tonight was quite successful. Although everyone was just chatting together, with Elysia there, at least no one was bored.

However, the next morning, when everyone packed their things and prepared to leave New Canghai City for their next destination, one person quietly approached Ai Yue and expressed a different opinion.

"You want to stay?"

Ai Yue looked at the girl in front of him, a hint of surprise on his face. "What's wrong, Hua?"