Help Me, Mr. Sam!

Undoubtedly, Elysia wasn't a warrior known for her intellect. Although she occasionally displayed an elfin dexterity that led to accidental success, when faced with situations that couldn't be solved directly with force, she was completely lost.

And now, this was undoubtedly the kind of situation she was least adept at handling.

The entire city's population seemed immersed in a dream. This didn't look like something that could be solved with a bow and arrow!

"...Forget it. The priority now is to figure out what's actually happening." Eden, having already given up on trusting this unreliable [Elysia], sighed.

"At the very least, we need to determine if we're in a dream or reality."

"Ah, I have a way... Oof, ow! Yep, this is reality!"

"..."

Eden watched [Elysia]—who looked suspiciously like a humanoid pink piggy—pinch her own cheek until tears streamed down her face, feeling utterly exhausted.

This method, while theoretically sound... felt a bit unreliable.

"So, can you contact anyone in the organization? Like that Dr. MEI from before?" (Eden really wanted to say, 'You idiot [Elysia], bring out the real Ely!' But she wasn't sure if the real 'Elysia' could handle this situation either. Based on the principle of letting experts handle their fields, she could only pin her hopes on the Fire Moth leader she'd learned about when joining the organization.)

"Ah... Right! There's MEI!"

[Elysia] came to her senses and nodded in agreement.

Although Jiang Qiao had reservations about revealing himself, if it was MEI... hmm... admitting he wasn't as good as MEI wasn't shameful.

However...

"A dream? What are you talking about, Elysia?"

"Himeko already reported to me. Everything is normal in Sapphire City."

"...?"

"But..."

"Stop overthinking. Maybe you've just been under too much stress lately... Also, when you get back, we need to have a serious talk about you bringing a newcomer who just joined the organization on a mission."

"Ah..."

Beep beep.

"...Something feels... really strange."

[Elysia] put down the communicator, looking bewildered.

MEI on the other end of the communicator seemed normal, yet also seemed very wrong...

The people in the city too.

[Elysia] looked at the pedestrians, but in that instant, it was as if everything that happened before was an illusion. The pedestrians' expressions became normal, and even those office workers had unknowingly disappeared. The next moment... in the blink of an eye, she felt like she saw them again.

What made [Elysia]'s hair stand on end was that, at certain moments, those people seemed to be staring right at her.

Familiar faces...

Mother Celia, Uncle John... MEI, Mobius...

Among the pedestrians were countless familiar figures and faces.

And then...

[Elysia]'s eyes widened, and she took a few steps back.

Those people were all looking at [Elysia], displaying the side she feared seeing the most.

The side she didn't dare to face directly—disgust and anger towards the non-human.

[Elysia] couldn't stop trembling, her pupils shaking violently...

Taking all this in, the mastermind hidden in the shadows.

Sitting atop a tall building, the gray-haired, red-eyed girl watched [Elysia]'s suffering with great interest, her expression quite pleased.

She watched step-by-step as this fellow Herrscher foolishly and recklessly barged into her playground, into Sapphire City. Watching these two outsiders fumble around was as amusing as observing ants under a microscope.

"'Elysia, huh... Heh heh, seems pretty strong.' Half sighing, half mocking, the girl—the Previous Era's Herrscher of Sentience—watched this new toy with keen interest."

In a direct confrontation, she really wouldn't be this one's match. But... as the Herrscher of Sentience, why would I fight head-on?

Against an opponent with little resistance or experience like this, the Herrscher of Sentience, a specialist in mental attacks, could take them down easily every time.

However, there was something she didn't quite understand.

Although Elysia seemed mentally weak, making it easy for her to find the greatest mental vulnerability, for some reason, trying to 'delve deeper' into this person was incredibly difficult, as if hitting a layer of tempered glass.

This forced the Herrscher of Sentience to use more laborious methods to influence her target.

Intensely curious about this, the Herrscher of Sentience was eager to see what was hidden inside. While simultaneously weakening [Elysia]'s mental defenses with the things she feared most, she pushed her powers harder and finally made some progress.

Hmm, it's a man... A man? Eh...?

Looking at the partial 'memories' of this man named Jiang Qiao that she had painstakingly unearthed, the Herrscher of Sentience was somewhat stunned.

Why is there information about a woman in here too?

What surprised her even more was that when she tried to explore these memories further, this part of the memory seemed to notice her and looked back at the Herrscher of Sentience.

And then...

"Aah!"

Excruciating pain erupted from the depths of her consciousness. Hit by a flash of sword light, the Herrscher of Sentience felt her head was about to split open. She clutched her head, scrambling away and rolling on the ground.

Seriously, why does this idiot Herrscher's mental domain have such bizarre protection?!

It even has a built-in counterattack!

Caught completely off guard and having suffered a setback, a flash of annoyance crossed the girl's red eyes.

Fine! I'd like to see just who the hell you are!

In the mental domain, I, the Herrscher of Sentience, am Number One!

Even though I only saw a little bit, I already know Elysia definitely has a deep connection with this guy... In that case, let me use this connection to further weaken this pathetic Herrscher's mental defenses and take her down in one fell swoop!

Having decided on her plan, the Herrscher of Sentience instantly added the image of Jiang Qiao, extracted from those fragmented memories, to the 'Let's Bully Miss Pink Fatty' family bucket.

However...

"Huh? Bad Jiang Qiao?!"

Seeing that face among the crowd of figures—so familiar she'd recognize it even if it were ashes—[Elysia], who had been terrified and panicked, felt her beautiful eyes widen. Whoosh! A surge of 'anger' spontaneously arose.

Because of this, she instantly snapped back to reality.

As most people know, dreams are fragile.

Even the Herrscher of Sentience's dreamscape was no exception. Without further expanding her mental domain, limited only to the level of a 'dream,' even her powerful authority could only make the dream incredibly realistic.

But once something appeared in the dream that was so incongruous the dreamer absolutely couldn't believe it, a huge flaw would appear in the dream.

Of course, seeing Mobius and Dr. MEI was also highly incongruous, but thanks to the preceding steps, the Herrscher of Sentience had already successfully muddled [Elysia]'s mind, leaving her unable to distinguish reality.

Until this moment.

All her efforts were undone at the last moment.

"Damn it, how dare you mess with me like this!" Snapped back to her senses, [Elysia] looked around, furious. "I'm getting really angry now!"

Hearing this, the Herrscher of Sentience felt nothing but scorn.

Hilarious. So what if you're angry?

Although she couldn't understand why [Elysia] had instantly snapped back to reality after she launched an even stronger attack, she was confident that with a little more effort, she could still easily take down this pink fat woman who only had brute strength.

However...

Chat Group.

Kyoko: Gimme one of those Bubble Oranges you sent last time.

Furina: OK

While the group members were chatting casually.

Elysia: @Jiang Qiao @Jiang Qiao @Jiang Qiao, someone's bullying me! Come help!

Elysia: If you don't come soon, you'll never see me again!

A few seconds later

Jiang Qiao: Roger.

Watching [Elysia] standing with her hands on her hips, looking smug, the somewhat bewildered Herrscher of Sentience bit her lip in annoyance.

Hmph! This is my turf!

Furious, she prepared to unleash her power again, intending to drag her opponent back into a state of 'pig brain overload'.

However, the moment her power activated.

BOOM

A deafening roar echoed across the land.

Like a bomb with a massive yield had detonated.

And in that instant, everything around them trembled.

When the dust settled, standing in the spot was a two-meter-tall mecha knight clad in silver armor, looking completely sci-fi.

"'I'm here.'"

A distinctly mechanical voice sounded in [Elysia]'s ears. The 'Miss Pink Fatty', somewhat dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, stared blankly at the towering mech before her. Only after processing did she manage to utter:

"Eh?"

"'You know my situation. There was a slight mishap.'"

Of course, Jiang Qiao knew [Elysia] was well aware of how troublesome his ability was—she held plenty of resentment over all the various beautiful girls from other worlds he met because of it!

'Miss Pink Fatty', somewhat used to it by now, looked at the silver armor and the unfamiliar mechanical voice, sighing:

"...Forget it."

Before, it was always various beautiful girls, now it's actually a mech... But from Elysia's perspective, this might actually be a good thing. A mech is non-human, and Elysia wouldn't be interested in interacting with it anyway. But if Jiang Qiao swapped with a mech, wouldn't that mean he'd interact with one less girl?

"Your ability is way too random."

[Elysia] couldn't help but make a snarky comment. In response, [Sam] didn't explain anything, instead glancing at the surroundings.

"...An illusion?"

The crisp, mechanical voice spoke, processed through the mech's audio systems.

He easily determined the nature of the situation.

It wasn't entirely a primitive and simple thing like a 'dream'.

"'Not just an ordinary illusion... but a product combining the virtual and the real?'"

Having grasped the essence, [Sam] was somewhat surprised and astonished.

According to the original storyline, the Previous Era's Herrscher of Sentience should have manifested as a kind of memetic virus, with the ability to make all individuals affected by the meme fall asleep. It could also take over bodies to some extent. Su's teacher, SPACY, was killed by the Herrscher of Sentience after it took over the body of a Fire Moth soldier.

The process of defeating her was also extremely difficult—after all, the Herrscher of Sentience's true self existed in the mental domain. This meant that even the Previous Era's strongest MANTIS, Kevin, had little way to contribute during this turmoil... and neither did Elysia, of course. Aponia and Su were the main force in the battle to defeat her.

But this current environment... this feeling was undoubtedly the power of the Herrscher of Sentience.

[Sam] possessed Fenghuang Down, so he was familiar with this.

It was just somewhat different from the original Previous Era Herrscher of Sentience... The original HoS was relatively weak in terms of physical interference, but judging from the current environment, she had clearly undergone further changes. The environment, originally limited to the mental plane, could now be projected into reality... achieving this fusion of virtual and real.

Those pedestrians were both real and fake.

They were immersed in their individual illusions and sweet dreams, collectively forming a grand illusion...

Well now... isn't this just the effect of Project Stigma?

Figuring out what was going on, [Sam] was rather speechless.

Of course, this 'Project Stigma' wasn't intended to save civilization or humanity.

It was merely a method of 'extinction'.

Like a pitcher plant using sweet nectar to lure prey, letting them become intoxicated and unable to escape, then converting them into reality as 'toys,' 'puppets' doomed to a slow death.

If I tried to break this environment, those people would immediately side with the Herrscher of Sentience and become my enemies.

"Ah... If that's the case, what should we do?"

After hearing [Sam]'s explanation of the illusion's true nature, [Elysia], who had been hoping he could change the situation, instantly panicked.

If they didn't break the illusion, they'd never find the Herrscher of Sentience.

Even if they found her, they might not be able to win.

But if breaking the illusion was the prerequisite, they would have to hold back because of the people immersed within it—hesitate to act for fear of collateral damage.

Seriously, why don't any of these Herrschers dare to fight head-on! Always resorting to dirty tricks, right?

Of course, there was even worse news:

If they didn't deal with the Herrscher of Sentience quickly, the illusion's capture range would probably expand... It seemed she had somewhat sacrificed the memetic virus's transmissibility to further enhance its 'moral blackmail' capability. After that, it would snowball, growing larger and harder to defeat.

At that point, even sending in the original mentally perceptive MANTIS for a direct mental confrontation would be absolutely futile against a Herrscher of Sentience boosted by a crowd of people—perfectly circumventing the risk of being mentally shattered.

The Herrscher of Sentience hidden in the shadows was satisfied, yet also intensely mocking as she stared at the idiot Herrscher and the suddenly appeared mech.

So, what will you do?

In response, within the tall mecha knight standing still—

Hidden beneath the helmet, [Firefly]'s lips curled into a slight smile.