Though completely unaware of the intricacies of Mobius's inner struggles or certain events that had transpired in the Elysian Realm, with Elysia's help, Lynelle had managed to transition from her previous status of "stowing away into the Elysian Realm" to becoming an officially recognized member with a proper position.
The only issue was that this 'position' seemed to be… Elysia's pet (allegedly).
She had practically become the real-life version of 'Elysia's (pink little) puppy,' which was quite similar to Mem's nickname.
In any case, since Elysia could control whether Lynelle assumed Mem's form or her original form by supplying energy through Lynelle's Stigma, Lynelle usually just defaulted to using Mem's form when interacting with the other Flame-Chasers.
Only during training sessions, or when being 'fed' by Elysia, would she revert to her true form, Lynelle.
As for what this 'feeding' entailed… Well, isn't it perfectly normal for girls to feed each other little treats during afternoon tea?
And playing games like both taking a bite from opposite ends of a chocolate stick is totally ordinary too, right?
Although the process might have been a bit too saccharine, Elysia dutifully made sure the adorable Lynelle was thoroughly 'full.'
By the way, after this behavior—being able to recharge Lynelle anytime and summon her out for feeding—was witnessed by Snake Lady on one occasion, it drew strong dissatisfaction and protests from her.
Snake Lady was deeply envious—ahem, no—deeply condemned Elysia's actions, comparing it to 'nursing a baby.'
Strangely enough, after that comment, Lynelle felt that the process of Elysia recharging her seemed to carry a different, more intense vibe afterwards.
Setting aside the peculiar rivalry between Elysia and Snake Lady over her, Lynelle did learn quite a bit during her time in the Elysian Realm.
Snake Lady hadn't been perfunctory with her; after leaving that day, she immediately dug out all the previous experimental data on the Herrscher of Corruption, along with some theoretical conjectures about the corruption virus at the time.
She even specially borrowed Hua's Fenghuang Down to help Lynelle broaden her own abilities.
As for Elysia's side… she taught Lynelle two skills that were very characteristic of her.
One was Crystal Magic, and the other was archery techniques.
The former required the use of the Elysia Stigma on Lynelle's body, and even after learning various applications of Crystal Magic from Elysia, Lynelle still had no clue about its underlying principles.
Simply put, this ability to generate crystals out of thin air, shape them, and imbue them with properties was, to Lynelle, completely like a black box operating on set rules.
She just had to input a command into the Stigma, and it would produce the corresponding result.
As for the principles… It was probably along the lines of 'I don't get it either, take it up with my Origin Authority.'
The archery techniques, however, involved more training and experiential learning.
Apart from the heart-fluttering moments when Elysia held Lynelle's hands to correct her shooting posture, Elysia's teaching was quite responsible.
She even had Lynelle perform a full data scan of her personal bow, the 'Whisper of the Past.'
Now, even in reality, Lynelle could recreate this bow using the power of Corruption.
However, despite her fruitful gains in the Elysian Realm, even after being there for several days, Lynelle still had two lingering questions that remained unanswered.
One was regarding the 'Pink Detective Lady' operation Elysia had mentioned before, which seemed to have gone quiet.
Lynelle was certain that Elysia had conducted a detailed investigation into the matter, even going so far as to specifically ask Aponia about it.
But when it came to the results of that investigation, Elysia showed no intention of sharing them with Lynelle.
Incidentally, after that time Elysia returned from seeing Aponia, her expression seemed a bit strange, and even the way she looked at Lynelle felt odd.
However, Elysia quickly returned to normal soon after, though she did seem to become a bit more clingy and considerably more tolerant of Mobius's attempts to 'snatch Lynelle away.'
The other puzzle was… Lynelle noticed that the other Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm seemed exceptionally friendly towards her.
Setting aside Hua, Griseo, Kosma, and the cat girl, who were naturally friendly towards outsiders but not particularly attentive to recent developments, during these days of following Elysia around on her visits, Lynelle could clearly sense the goodwill from the other Flame-Chasers towards her.
Figures like Eden and Su went without saying; they basically answered any question Lynelle had. As for Aponia, Lynelle still hadn't met her yet. And then there was Vill-V…
A couple of days ago, when Lynelle wandered near the Spiral Workshop, Vill-V happened to have 'Chef' at the helm.
She promptly whipped up an impressively delicious meal for Lynelle.
After hearing Lynelle's complaints about the Void Archives, Chef immediately called out 'Conductor,' who then gave Lynelle a mysterious little button.
According to the Conductor, the function of this little button was simple, just two words.
Shutdown (reusable).
Of course, if Vill-V's case could be chalked up to Lynelle just happening to encounter a personality more friendly to outsiders, then another incident convinced Lynelle that the Flame-Chasers truly were being very kind to her.
That was when she encountered Kalpas once in the Elysian Realm's reception hall.
Lynelle hadn't even noticed Kalpas there at first, as he was usually silently crouching in another corner.
But just as Lynelle was fluttering her ear feathers, trying to figure out a way to help Elysia retrieve the fine wine Eden had placed on top of the cabinet, Kalpas proactively walked over and helped her take the bottle down from the high place.
It completely short-circuited Lynelle's brain at that moment.
While this friendly attitude could be attributed to her striking resemblance to Elysia, or her being Elysia's friend, etc.… Lynelle still felt something was a bit off.
She didn't know if it was because she hadn't been sleeping well lately, but she seemed to… inexplicably have the illusion that she was the Elysian Realm's collective pet?
No, no, no, that line of thinking was probably a bit too presumptuous.
Although she had read many little stories about the Flame-Chasers, like those about the Golden Courtyard, in her past life, Lynelle wasn't arrogant enough to think she could gain the recognition of all the Flame-Chasers the moment she entered the Elysian Realm.
Moreover, the attitude some of them held towards her now could even be described as 'doting.'
For example, Eden directly gave Lynelle the location of her collection room, telling her to feel free to take anything she liked. And as for Mobius… now she was on a whole other level.
After hearing that Lynelle was currently engaged in a 'dangerous (allegedly)' undercover mission, Snake Lady, without a second word, directly bestowed her own Signet upon Lynelle.
Yep, that's right, the very same thing that gave Mei quite a hard time in the original story.
The [Infinity] Signet could enhance Lynelle's endurance in various aspects, whether it was her physical recovery ability or the stability of her data-projection creations.
It felt somewhat similar to the summon-enhancing function it had in the game.
However, Lynelle could sense that Mobius seemed to have tucked quite a few things inside the Signet she gave her.
For instance, the almost overflowing compressed corruption virus within the Signet, and that highly suspicious, strange green speck of light emanating with Snake Lady's aura.
Still, after spending these days together, Lynelle didn't believe Mobius had any ulterior motives towards her, like attempting possession or such.
While there was no concrete evidence, judging from Lynelle's own feelings, Snake Lady was already someone she could trust completely.
Hmm, that's right, Lynelle was just that easy to win over. Even Snake Lady, after learning from Elysia about the changes in Lynelle's favorability towards her, complained with a look of disdain that Lynelle was too trusting.
Of course, according to Elysia's later account, although Snake Lady kept going on about how Lynelle lacked vigilance and such, the corners of her mouth at the time were practically curving up to the sky.
In short, after things stabilized in the Elysian Realm, Lynelle settled into a very fulfilling daily routine.
--+--
On the Honkai: Star Rail side, things were straightforward. Thanks to their previous 'contributions,' the group was practically 'enshrined' in Belobog with the highest diplomatic treatment, enjoying green lights all the way in both the Overworld and Underworld.
During this time, Lynelle and Stelle also participated in many activities that left a deep impression back in the game, such as rebuilding the museum.
Over on the Honkai Impact side, since Wendy's regular training usually only took up the mornings, Lynelle would typically spend the mornings with Wendy on marksmanship training and developing their respective abilities.
This, of course, meant Ragna drew the short end of the stick, as the difficulty of sneaking a little drink skyrocketed after Lynelle's arrival.
As for the afternoons and evenings, Lynelle would transfer her consciousness to the Elysian Realm to see whether Elysia or Snake Lady had won the tug-of-war for her that day, and then undergo the corresponding training.
This peaceful daily life continued for nearly a week… and then, the first place to break the routine was Belobog.
To be precise, while the timing did coincide with the day before the Astral Express was scheduled to depart, the incident that disrupted the routine actually had nothing to do with the Express.
"My apologies for arriving 3 minutes and 56 seconds earlier than our agreed time. I hope it has not caused you any inconvenience or trouble."
"Not at all. If anything, the fact that you, Lord Screwllum, have actually accepted the invitation to come here has me feeling quite honored."
Lynelle, mimicking what Herta had taught her back at the space station, performed a practiced, graceful curtsy.
"There is no need for such formality, Lynelle. In her correspondence, Herta mentioned that you are quite lively and your thoughts are full of creativity. Therefore, let us not stifle the honor of me witnessing those ingenious ideas of yours with excessive etiquette."
Screwllum slightly bowed, returning the courtesy with an equivalent gesture, and spoke in a gentle tone.
That's right, this 'VIP' who had quietly arrived in Belobog was the monarch of Planet Screwlum, Lord Screwllum himself.
As for why Lynelle thought of inviting him to take a look at Belobog… that traces back to her recent comb of the timeline.
As everyone knows, unlike Honkai Impact 3rd, which had largely concluded its main storyline, the timeline of Honkai: Star Rail was still quite ambiguous at the time of Lynelle's transmigration, with various events often inserted into the timeline in the form of recollections or other means.
While staying in Belobog and being dragged off by Stelle to manage the museum together, Lynelle suddenly remembered a problem.
That is, the timeline of in-game events doesn't necessarily align perfectly with the main story of the current version.
For example, Silver Wolf's companion mission, 'Punklorde Mentality,' was a version 1.1 mission, but judging from its plot, its events should take place after the Express crew finished their exploration of Belobog and before they headed for the Xianzhou.
After all, the background of that classic scene where Silver Wolf had 76 accounts banned mentioned that Kafka was about to depart for the Xianzhou to carry out Elio's script, which would be the subsequent main story.
This realization immediately piqued Lynelle's interest.
As everyone knows, Screwllum made his first NPC appearance in Silver Wolf's companion mission and continued to have standout moments in the story afterwards, even leaving behind a legend in the community: 'Rumored to become playable since version 1.6, yet still not implemented by 3.6.'
Previously, when Herta mentioned Screwllum to Lynelle, she also said he was currently tied up with various trivial matters; otherwise, he might have come to the space station to see Lynelle immediately.
So, Lynelle started wondering: since, in theory, Screwllum would visit Herta Space Station in a few days, did that mean he had already finished handling his affairs by now?
Lynelle was quite keen on meeting this genius known as the Mechanical Aristocrat.
After all, from the perspective of a being like Screwllum, an automaton, he might be able to provide a clearer explanation of the essence of the Corruption authority.
And also… Belobog did possess some things that could capture Screwllum's interest.
So, after consulting the Herta puppet staying on the Express, Lynelle packaged up information on the current status of Svarog and Pascal, along with Belobog's history and environment, and sent it all to Screwllum.
And as it turned out, just as mentioned in the storyline, Screwllum was indeed very interested in the situation in Belobog where automations had developed self-emotion.
Almost the moment Lynelle sent the information, Screwllum received the data and sent a positive reply within minutes.
"Alright, Screwllum, I'm still here, and there are only three of us. No need to make it as formal as some diplomatic occasion."
Herta, who had been watching the two go through their polite exchanges, couldn't help but purse her lips.
"Lynelle, since Screwllum is already here, take us to see that mechanical settlement. To be honest, I'm quite curious too. How could a place with technology lagging centuries behind the Company's civilian models possibly give rise to a 'spark of silicon-based civilization' as you described."
"If it's interesting enough, I feel like we could make it a separate research topic and plug it into the Simulated Universe to see what happens."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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