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

Page 171

26. Eden, who was cheated out of 218 million while chasing fire, presented a banner to the police, only to be cheated out of another 6 million by a conman impersonating Ellie.

Chapter 158 Don't you want to say something when you see me?

A sweet, energetic voice rang in her ears, and looking at the girl who seemed like a fairy from a fairy tale come to life, Fu Hua's mouth gaped open slightly.

The cost of repeatedly using Feather Dust at its rated power almost completely erased her memories of the past—she could only recall a few thanks to Otto's use of the most advanced medical equipment in Destiny to treat her later. Even so, some of her memories were permanently lost.

Before being told 'Old friend, I'm not lying,' she shouldn't have any memories of the girl in front of her.

but--

'Alicia' is a miracle in itself.

Although in essence, the [Alicia] at this moment is not the original owner, just seeing that face, that familiar action, smile, and even the tone of voice, Fu Hua's mixed memories were revived in a throbbing.

That was her first encounter with him—she joined the Fusion Warriors' unit after becoming a Fusion Warrior through the Super Mutant Factor, and the person she was dealing with at that time was the famous 'Fire Chaser'. She was incredibly nervous and reserved at the time, but Alicia's attitude was somewhat unexpected—their first conversation wasn't about anything heavy, but rather...the topic of girls' clothing and appearance.

Then, fragmented images of getting to know and spending time with the other person surfaced in my mind.

Finally, the fragments of the crystal that I first saw, whose name I had never been able to obtain no matter how hard I tried, were all pieced together.

Fu Hua clutched her forehead, staring at the pink-clad girl sitting on the sofa with a pained and incredulous expression, and gritted her teeth as she said:

“Aili...Xia?!”

"Hmm, it seems you recognize this face~ That's great, it saves me a lot of trouble... The side effects of Feather Dust? I don't know if it will work, but maybe this can help alleviate it for you."

With her hands clasped together, the girl showed a relieved expression. Then, looking at the clearly pained man, she raised her hand and touched his smooth forehead. After a faint pink light flashed, the pain on Fu Hua's face was significantly relieved.

"Hmm, it seems the effect is indeed very good."

"..."

"What's wrong? Don't you want to say something to me now that you've seen me, Hua?"

Facing the gaze cast by 'Alicia', Fu Hua shook her head, remembering the other's identity, and then said with considerable difficulty:

"No... Alicia, you should already be..."

"already dead?"

The pink-clad girl tilted her head and smiled as she finished speaking. He nodded.

"Well, that makes sense—I'm actually just using this body."

For Fu Hua, this wasn't something difficult to understand. Manipulating other people's bodies was one of the methods of a fusion warrior with a psycho-sensory nature. Although it seemed strange to her, who only had partial memories, that Alicia, a fusion warrior of "unknown type," could use such a technique, wasn't it more intriguing that Alicia, who was supposed to be deceased, was now standing alive in front of her 50,000 years later?

The only problem is that Fu Hua misunderstood the probability of 'borrowing' mentioned by Jiang Qiao, but that's not a big deal.

"..."

Unable to understand why Alicia would appear before her, Fu Hua, whose mind had become incredibly resilient through the long years, felt a rare sting in her eyes as she looked at that familiar face.

She lost so many memories that Fu Hua couldn't even recall how much she had lost—although thanks to this, Fu Hua was able to start countless lives, it seemed that in each 'new life,' she would end up alone.

This inescapable loneliness, even though the memories themselves are fragmented, still lingers in the heart of Fu Hua, the former fire-chasing hero and the Crimson Kite Immortal.

When Alicia, a companion who was extremely important to her, reappeared in front of her, she was filled with mixed feelings, but the most overwhelming feeling was joy—which made her instinctively hug her.

The pink-clad girl being hugged showed a hint of helplessness—there wasn't even any perk coming her way! It seemed like she was the one giving the perk. Putting those thoughts aside, she could sense Miss Shenzhou's excitement. 'Alicia' took the initiative to gently pat the latter's back and softly said:

"Yes, Hua, I know... these past 50,000 years must have been very hard for you, right?"

Although it's not the real person, remembering the pitiful state of the mother hen in the animated short film, since I happen to be using this body, it would be nice to send some comfort along the way.

Of course, after offering comfort, it's time to 'explode gold coins'.

His special trip back to the present era wasn't just for 'Alicia' and Hua to catch up.

"Hua... um, it would be more appropriate to call you Fu Hua now, wouldn't it?"

"I need to borrow your Feather Dust."

The girl in pink smiled and revealed her purpose.

The original purpose of Project Avalon was to link and monitor the consciousness of all mankind. Therefore, the most suitable entity to serve as the core of the Avalon system is undoubtedly the core of the Eighth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Consciousness.

Unfortunately, neither the eighth Herrscher of the previous civilization nor the current civilization has appeared yet, and Jiang Qiao also needs the power of a living Herrscher to help him anchor the cocoon's position, so he can only set his sights on the already completed eighth Divine Key, Feather Dust.

Disassembling a Divine Key and using it to create the core of another device is not unusual. Velvi once transformed the Fifth Divine Key, which was considered a devastating weapon, into a hibernation pod to help people from the old era be sealed in the present civilization.

"Feather Crossing the Dust?...Alright."

Upon hearing Alicia's request, Fu Hua was somewhat puzzled but did not suspect anything. After a slight hesitation, she removed an extremely exquisite-looking hair ornament—this was the true form of Feather Dust. Although it often appeared in the form of feathers, that was merely a sign of its use.

On a whim, Velve added this effect to Feather Dust, and the reason was probably quite simple—as a key of consciousness, Feather Dust's main attack direction is to be silent and stealthy. If it doesn't have some cool special effects, wouldn't it be impossible to directly appreciate the power of this 'consciousness weapon'?

Fu Hua felt some attachment to the Feather Dust because she had worn it too many times, but she had no attachment to the powerful Divine Key—it was simply a weapon assigned to her by the Moth of the previous civilization.

Although she was worried about the consequences of Yu Duchen falling into the hands of evil people, she wasn't worried about 'Alicia'. Well... she seemed a little worried.

"You're not going to use Feather Dust to prank someone again, are you?"

Looking at the pink-clad girl in front of her, Fu Hua wore a helpless expression.

The person in front of me is the type who 'abuses Feather Dust'.

—Not only in the paradise of her past lives that she doesn't remember, but also in the memories of the previous civilization that she recalls, the Feather Dust assigned to her was borrowed by Alicia countless times, and its use was almost entirely for pranks. Although it was mostly just a hobby, the hen mother, whose personality became more conservative with her experiences, still had some worries.

"Don't worry, why would I do that?"

Jiang Qiao smiled as he examined Yu Duchen's 'Alicia'. Although the influence of this body on him did amuse him, and he himself found it amusing, he was still quite serious compared to the fat lady.

Rather than worrying that he took the Feather of Dust for fun, I'd rather worry about when it will be returned to Jiang... well, probably?

The reasonable Jiang, considering his reputation, decided to only remove the Herrscher core, and as for the remaining Soul Steel... he would simply create a fake one using the complete Power of Truth to replace it.

The effect is the same, but the core created by the Herrscher of Reason is of much lower quality than the real Herrscher core and cannot be reused at all. Otherwise, he would not have needed to borrow Feather Dust. He could have just analyzed Feather Dust and then used the Authority of Truth to create an identical one.

Unaware of Alicia's thoughts, Fu Hua sensed her intention to leave and took the initiative to ask:

Are you getting ready to leave?

"Well, I still have some things to take care of."

【Alice】 smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

Besides obtaining the Feather of Dust, he also wanted to acquire some additional items during his trip to the present era. For his own purposes and to add something to MEI's Avalon system, he felt it necessary to make a trip to Paradise.

"What's wrong? Are you reluctant to part with me?"

"..."

Fu Hua remained silent for a moment; she truly felt reluctant to part ways.

It was a rare reunion with an old friend, but they had to part ways before they could even exchange a few words... Fortunately, she was already used to farewells.

Noticing that subtle look in her eyes, 'Alicia' smiled.

"I understand, I understand~"

"Don't worry, I brought you some small gifts on the way here. I'm sure you'll like them, Fu Hua?"

After saying that, the pink-clad girl got up from the sofa, gently patted the buttocks of the 'drunkard' lying on the sofa, and said helplessly, "Although I can understand the necessity of using alcohol to numb the pain, you should also take care of your health, Ms. Himeko."

"I've already dealt with your problem casually, but please be more careful next time."

—The Valkyries of Destiny are all short-lived due to the side effects of artificial stigmata. Even if they survive on the battlefield, their bodies, eroded by Honkai, are riddled with holes, like an anthill.

The Valkyrie named Himeko Murata is in the worst physical condition among them. The hidden injuries left by years of battle and the corrosive damage from Honkai have made Himeko's life as fragile as a candle in the wind.

Although alcoholism was a habit she developed, Himeko was actually using alcohol to numb her nerves and alleviate various pains.

As originally planned, Himeko intended to solve this problem by finding Ji Lin's Stigmata in the Nine Netherworlds, but unfortunately the result was not ideal.

Jiang Qiao happened to be in St. Freya and bumped into them, so she took the opportunity to help deal with it.

Unfortunately, Himeko, who was completely drunk, probably couldn't hear these words.

After 'Alicia' left, Fu Hua, who had helped Himeko back to her room, returned to her own room and saw the gift the other had left for her—an exquisite gift box, entirely pink with a bow on it and the symbol of the Red Falcon.

"...A small gift?"

Looking at the gift box, Fu Hua wondered what was inside.

Given Alicia's personality, perhaps it would be... a pretty little dress?

Recalling the 'her' in her memory, Fu Hua made this guess, somewhat dismissively.

Although Alicia has good taste, it's a pity that she's not the kind of 'girl' who's enthusiastic about dressing up. She's the type who, if she opens her closet, would be questioned by other girls—"Are you really a girl?"

However, since it was a gift from an old friend, she was still very happy.

Fu Hua casually opened the gift box, but after seeing what was inside, she froze.

...

The chubby lady, abandoned by Möbius, didn't care. Instead, she left Möbius's territory and walked into the public relations area of ​​Paradise, grinning as she looked at the picture of herself in the 'Möbius' pink dress that she had taken using the chat area's photo function. She chuckled to herself and muttered:

"Little Möbius is quite cute, isn't he? Hmm~ If Dr. Möbius saw these photos, his expression would be quite something, wouldn't it?"

Unaware of the truth about 'Mebius,' Alicia simply mistook 'Mebius' for someone who looked remarkably like Dr. Mebius. Even so, Alicia had a great time.

Unbeknownst to her, she entered the trial area of ​​Paradise—unlike the surface area where the heroes usually resided, the trial area was specially set up for visitors, where the memories of the thirteen heroes' past enemies were stored.

Besides conversation, this is also the most important way for the heroes to examine whether visitors are qualified to obtain the seals they hold.