A chat group where you switch bodies with Alicia at the start?

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"Hmph, I knew it." Alicia smiled after receiving an affirmation, looking like she was saying, "As expected of me." And judging from her eager little eyes, it was as if she was saying, "I'm so smart, praise me!"

Unfortunately, Mr. Jiang didn't seem to notice the longing look in his eyes, which made the pink-haired fat lady puff out her cheeks.

However, she then felt a little strange:

"If it's Wendy, why doesn't she contact the organization?"

Wendy belongs to the fourth squad stationed in Star City, and theoretically, she should report to headquarters if anything happens.

"She must be in some kind of trouble."

"Enough trouble to keep her busy." The girl said with a rather certain tone.

Indeed, things turned out exactly as Jiang Qiao had guessed—

Using her sense of the wind, Jiang Qiao quickly led the two Ai Li to the location of the unusual wind direction.

There, they saw a huge wind field.

The pitch-black wind field acted like a protective shield, making it impossible to see any details within, and even just getting close could cause a dull ache in the skin.

This is undoubtedly the effect of the Herrscher of Wind's authority.

The powerful winds prevented the black fog from encroaching, but at the same time, they made it impossible for anyone to enter.

Fortunately, Jiang Qiao herself also possessed the authority of the Wind Herald, and with a gentle wave of her hand, she opened an opening.

"So many people!" the fairy Ellie exclaimed.

Once inside the massive wind farm, one can see people everywhere, lying or sitting helplessly, their appearance quite shocking.

Her beautiful blue eyes swept over them one by one, and she could see the marks of 'time' on them, which were obvious without explanation to be the masterpiece of the withering black mist.

Among this group, Jiang Qiao and Alicia, a boy, a girl, and a child, were quite unusual and were quickly noticed by those who were interested.

"who!"

The voice was stern, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that the soldier belonged to the fourth squad. Jiang Qiao had already seen it when she looked at the information on the way here.

"...Alicia-senpai?!"

Although they didn't know Jiang Qiao, they certainly did recognize Alicia, the leader of the Fire Moth warriors who had made numerous contributions in battle. Therefore, when they saw Jiang Qiao, their voices instantly changed from serious to surprised.

"Yes, headquarters sent us here to provide support."

"Hey? This is great... We thought..." The soldiers of the fourth squad were overjoyed. With the terrifying wind and the sky-covering black fog, if they hadn't been professionally trained, they probably would have given up hope long ago.

"In short, tell me the details first."

Jiang Qiao, getting straight to the point, succinctly asked to understand the situation.

"Hmm...yes, yes! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!"

And so, while learning about the situation from the soldiers of the fourth squad, they made their way toward the fourth squad's base.

Perhaps because Jiang Qiao is currently using the body of 'Alissia', the soldiers of the Fourth Squad are extremely respectful and talk to her in various ways, their attitude is extremely enthusiastic.

Even the fairy Airi was treated like a rag doll by the other team members because she was so cute.

The only one left out was the real Miss Alicia... He was completely ignored.

This is not surprising, after all, compared to the 'Hero Chasing Fire', there's nothing to care about with this complete stranger, Jiang Qiao, right? In their eyes, he's probably just a decoration.

However, Miss Alicia was clearly not going to remain calm when faced with such differential treatment.

After all, being able to watch those cute girls chat so enthusiastically with the wicked Jiang Qiao—all because of my own physical condition, while I, the true master, could only stand by and watch... the feeling was indescribably bittersweet.

As expected, Miss Alicia was furious!

Ahhhhh!!! This is mine! Airi, mine!

That's my body, Alicia! I am the real Alicia!

You should have told me!

You wicked Jiang Qiao!!!

The angry pink-haired fat lady wished she could rush up and pin down the wicked Jiang Qiao who was chatting with the beautiful girls of the fourth squad, and then snatch her body back on the spot—but obviously the thin-skinned Miss Alicia didn't have that courage.

After all, there are so many people here... and if I really dared to 'teach' that bad guy a lesson in front of a bunch of younger Firemoth warriors... well, I'm inexplicably tempted, but doing so would obviously risk being ganged up on and beaten up by the warriors.

There was nothing Miss Alicia could do but grit her teeth and swallow it down—I'll bear it.

Jiang Qiao, however, was oblivious to Alicia's inner turmoil; he was focused on the situation at hand.

—This massive collapse occurred precisely when Jiang Qiao and Eden were having a great time.

However, because the way it erupted was different from the previous major collapses, the people of Star City, and even the stationed soldiers, did not react at all. By the time they noticed the strange black mist that began to appear on the streets, it was already too late.

The black fog expanded at an extremely rapid speed, causing enormous damage to Star City. Vehicles on the road were worn down faster due to the destructive force, resulting in numerous accidents, and the same was true for communications.

Fortunately, the fourth squad at the base made a timely decision and designated a safe area via broadcast, thus completing the evacuation before the black fog completely spread.

After completing all this, the fourth squad originally wanted to seek support from headquarters, but as mentioned earlier, communications were also blocked by the power of the Wither.

Just as the black fog was about to engulf the entire designated refuge area, Wendy appeared.

Because she had once been one with Jiang Qiao, she used a technique that Jiang Qiao had used when she was in another Wendy's body—compressing the wind into a single area.

The terrifying gale swept the black fog that had invaded the shelter back out, forming a huge fluid protective layer that blocked the black fog from entering.

As for Wendy...

On the rooftop of a building in the center of the evacuation zone, they saw him—leaning against the wall, his eyes tightly shut.

Alicia's eyes widened in disbelief:

"What is she doing...?"

A slender, onion-like index finger touched her lips. The pink-haired girl shook her head, then leaned down and gently touched the body of the girl who seemed to be dead.

Wendy couldn't possibly just die like that, otherwise the wind field outside wouldn't have been able to continue.

Using the power of Origin to probe Wendy's condition, Jiang Qiao quickly made a judgment—the child was overdrawn.

The reason is probably because of this huge wind field.

The Herrscher of Wind's authority is inherently a type that consumes a great deal of energy. When he uses it, he replenishes it through various means and carefully calculates every bit of Honkai energy he uses.

Even so, maintaining such a large wind farm is no easy task.

In a chaotic environment, Herrschers can utilize the Honkai energy within the environment.

Just as the withering black mist effectively restrained the power of the Origin, the same result would occur for any ordinary Herrscher. In this environment, the only way for them to restore Honkai energy is through the Imaginary Singularity.

However—in order to conceal her identity, Wendy, as the Herrscher of Wind, does not actually have a core at present.

Sculpting it with bare hands is fine, but the problem is... to sculpt something like that requires consuming a lot of Honkai energy.

Wendy happens to lack Honkai energy the most.

If she tries to manipulate the core, there won't be enough Honkai energy to create this wind field.

However, without controlling the core, Wendy's own Honkai energy would be insufficient to maintain such a massive wind field.

However, in reality, even simply wanting to create a wind field is beyond Wendy's current capabilities.

So Wendy made a choice.

While using the meticulous techniques for applying Herrscher powers that she learned when she merged with Jiang Qiao—she dismantled her own body.

...Yes, I learned that from Jiang Qiao.

—In terms of how to 'exploit the body,' it must be admitted that Jiang Qiao is indeed incredibly professional.

He poured all the remaining Honkai energy in the refuge area, his own Honkai energy, and the Honkai energy that Jiang Qiao had poured into creating this 'Black Wendy' into it.

Finally, Wendy managed to cobble together the huge thing outside.

However, because of the excessive dismantling of her body, Wendy, who had no Honkai energy left, was unable to continue maintaining her body's functions and could only stubbornly hold on with the strength of her Herrscher body.

"That was quite risky."

Jiang Qiao, who had gotten up, looked at 'Black Wendy', who seemed to be fast asleep, and sighed helplessly.

Even the Herrscher's body is not omnipotent; once the Honkai energy is exhausted, it is not much stronger than an ordinary person.

Theoretically speaking, it is impossible for a Herrscher to be exhausted, because the core is linked to the imaginary singularity, and a normal Herrscher would not use a technique with an extremely high risk factor like Jiang Qiao's.

but--

If Wendy's body is completely drained before a core is formed... once she's exhausted, that sense of having nowhere to go will truly dissipate.

The world allows consciousness to match new containers, but does not allow containers to collect dissipated consciousness.

Under the ironclad rule of the Honkai world, Wendy's actions were a gamble with her life—gambling on the fact that the Firemoth headquarters would react quickly enough.

No... this is entirely a gamble that Jiang Qiao will come.

Because the only people who can truly save Wendy in this state are the two moths chasing the flame—MEI and Jiang Qiao.

"What should we do, Jiang Qiao?!"

After learning about Wendy's perilous situation, Alicia panicked a little—although they hadn't known each other for long and Wendy had a history of 'stealing her things,' she truly considered the child her friend and comrade-in-arms.

However, given the abilities of the pink-haired fat lady, she clearly had no idea how to save Wendy in this state. Helpless... the panicked Miss Alicia could only look at Jiang Qiao with the expectant gaze one would give a magical mechanical cat—help Wendy! Mr. Jiang Qiao!

Jiang Qiao remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.