In a spacious, soundproof room, Elysia sat face-to-face with the person in charge of investigating this kidnapping case.
The interrogator, a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses, pointed at a photo on the table and asked:
"Is the person in this photo you?"
Elysia looked at the photo. It was a close-up of a girl making a peace sign at the camera.
Although she was wearing a mask, and her eye and hair color were different, based on her body measurements alone, Elysia could still recognize that this was a girl who looked 90% to 100% like her!
"This isn't me."
Elysia ran her fingers through the ends of her hair, signaling the interrogator to notice her pink locks.
"My hair is pink. The person in the photo has light purple hair."
Then she pointed to her own eyes.
"The eye color is different too. Although reddish-brown eyes are also very beautiful, mine are jewel-blue with flecks of romantic pink."
As if worried the interrogator wouldn't believe her, she leaned in closer on purpose.
"See? Completely different, right? Right?"
Looking at this overly familiar pink-haired girl leaning in, the interrogator wanted to remind her that this was a serious interrogation. Unfortunately, this pink-haired girl seemed to possess a magical charm that made it impossible to feel any aversion towards her.
"Miss Elysia, we are in the middle of an inquiry. Everything is being recorded."
As she spoke, she took out another photo. It was identical to the previous one, but the hair color had been changed to pink, the eyes replaced with Elysia's eye color, and even the mask had vanished.
She pushed this photo in front of Elysia.
"This is the suspect's appearance deduced by the technical department after collecting on-site data and running it through AI. The accuracy rate is over 90%."
"Miss Elysia, do you have anything else to say?"
Looking at the photo, Elysia puffed up her cheeks, looking extremely wronged.
"It really isn't me..."
"In that case, continue answering the questions, Miss Elysia." The interrogator put away the photo and asked, "Then, where were you at the exact time Eden was attacked?"
"I was on a mission in Australia, exterminating Honkai Beasts. I even saved quite a few people."
"Your mission was completed after Eden arrived in the Far East. Afterwards, your action recorder has no record of your itinerary. Where did you go after that?"
Elysia fell into recollection.
"Hmm... after the mission ended, I wandered around the area. You know, there are many places in Australia with no people, but lots of interesting animals."
"I ran across the plains with cassowaries, boxed with kangaroos, and fed platypuses in the wilderness lakes. Oh right... I also saw koalas. They're so slow and silly, really cute."
"So, Miss Elysia, do you have proof that you were in Australia at that time?"
"..."
Elysia realized she really had no way to prove it. The places she visited were basically uninhabited zones where there wasn't even a signal.
Seeing Elysia fall silent, the interrogator sighed inwardly.
She had a good impression of this girl. As Fire-MOTH's currently strongest warrior, a hero who had defeated a Herrscher, this girl was extremely famous within the organization.
Whether based on reason or emotion, she didn't want to make things difficult for her.
But the incident this time was too big.
"Miss Elysia, as you know, Miss Eden is not only the most influential person in this era but also one of Fire-MOTH's major sponsors."
"Someone captured your image and directed the fire towards Fire-MOTH. We are currently under immense public pressure."
"We know you are usually very close to Miss Eden. Perhaps you had some conflict?"
At this point, the interrogator's tone even carried a hint of pleading.
"But no matter what the conflict is, we can sit down and talk about it. There's no need to take such extreme measures..."
Hearing the interrogator's extremely sincere persuasion, Elysia felt even more wronged. After all, only someone who has been wrongly accused knows just how unjust it feels.
How could she ever tie up her dear Eden... okay, well, she might have 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. Really."
Looking at the pink girl's tearful, wronged face, the interrogator suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.
Could it be that Elysia really didn't do it?
Just as she was thinking this, a beeping sound came from the desk, indicating an incoming communication request.
Thinking it was a call from her superiors, the interrogator accepted it.
But once connected, both the interrogator and Elysia were surprised. The caller was none other than the kidnapped Eden herself.
"Ely, I heard Fire-MOTH is giving you some trouble?"
Seeing Eden on the screen, Elysia was also extremely surprised and hurriedly asked, "Eden? My dear Eden, where are you?"
"Me? Naturally, I am at my residence in the Far East."
Learning that Eden was safe, Elysia finally breathed a sigh of relief, but she quickly puffed up her cheeks again.
"My good Eden, who kidnapped you?" Elysia raised her fist. "I'll teach them a lesson for you."
"It was Elysia~"
"?"
"I mean, I was kidnapped by Ely."
"..."
The atmosphere suddenly went quiet.
The interrogator looked at the stunned Pink Elf, then at Miss Eden on the screen, and hurriedly lowered her head, pretending she hadn't heard anything.
She had long heard strange rumors about these two. Could they be engaging in some weird roleplay?
For secretive information involving such big shots, it was best for a small fry like her to pretend she was deaf.
Ignoring the interrogator who was trying to minimize her presence, Elysia expressed her confusion.
"My good Eden, don't joke around at a time like this. How could I have kidnapped you?"
Eden shook her head.
"It really was Ely who kidnapped me. But not you... no, wait, it was you."
She looked extremely troubled.
"The situation is a bit complicated. I can't explain it clearly here. Anyway, I'll tell you in detail when I get back."
...
And so, time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
Although it was only a month, Nagazora City had been livelier in these thirty days than in the past ten years combined.
A company whose main business was engineering machinery manufacturing, and was on the verge of bankruptcy, was fully acquired and then reopened under the name MEI Corp.
Initially, the citizens of Nagazora thought this was just some sucker who got tricked into taking over a failing business. But soon, they discovered that the financial backing behind the acquiring party was terrifyingly abundant.
If they didn't have factory grounds, they bought them directly, or simply acquired companies that had the relevant facilities.
Short on workers, engineers, and researchers? They poached them from other companies with higher salaries.
If there were policy hurdles, they smashed through them with money.
Facts proved that 99% of problems in this world could be solved with money, and the remaining 0.9% could be solved with more money.
Just like that, in a short month, MEI Corp had set up its framework.
They even launched MEI Corp's first product—an engineering mech named "Icarus."
It was said that this mech could do the work of ten men in civil engineering.
Its efficiency was terrifying. As long as there was enough energy, a team of engineering mechs could raise a high-rise building in half a day.
"But Father, why choose an engineering mech as MEI Corp's first product?"
Li Mu had now rented the top floor of the tallest building in Nagazora. Standing on the highest level, through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, one could even overlook the distant Chiba Academy campus.
Li Mu had chosen this place as the CEO's office.
At this moment, MEI, holding a book, expressed her confusion to her father.
"Father, if we want to generate higher revenue, we could get involved in military mech projects."
"The United Government has relaxed the entry threshold for many military industry sectors this year. It wouldn't actually be difficult for us to obtain the relevant qualifications."
Li Mu naturally knew that with the increasing intensity of the Honkai, the United Government would gradually shift towards militarization.
Therefore, entering the military industry now was the most profitable path. And with his military technology from Fire-MOTH ten years in the future, he could definitely make a killing.
But unfortunately, his identity was always just a director, not a lamppost decoration (capitalist). MEI Corp was merely a tool for him to complete his script. Whether it made money or not didn't really matter, as long as it achieved his goal.
This was also why he chose the future Fire-MOTH engineering mech as the first product. Because its primary purpose wasn't for sale or profit.
So, in response to MEI's question, Li Mu pulled her over to a huge table.
Spread out on the table was a map, covering Nagazora City and the surrounding sea.
Under MEI's puzzled gaze, Li Mu took a pen from his chest pocket and drew a circle on the sea area just outside Nagazora City on the map.
Looking at MEI, Li Mu said seriously:
"I intend to use MEI Corp's resources and power to reclaim land from the sea right here, and raise a city within a year."
"A cluster of academy cities encompassing research, education, industry, and commerce. A Second New Nagazora."
"I name it—St. Freya Academy City."