"Heehee~ Looks like you've finished your business over there~"
In the courtyard, a sweet, childish girl's voice reached his ears. Looking over, ER Elysia, in her Mini Elysia form, was 'smiling' at him, her cute blue-and-pink eyes holding a hint of 'danger.'
"Mm, it's handled," Jiang Qiao confirmed.
"But I'm surprised you chose to come out. I thought everyone besides Mobius would stay there forever," he added, chin resting on his hand, examining the tiny ER Elysia who had to look up at him due to her size.
"Seems that way~ But who told you to give me such a 'surprise'?"
"For a beautiful fairy, knowing about so many interesting things without being able to experience them firsthand, well, that simply won't do~"
"Besides, couldn't I have simply come out because I really wanted to see you?" she beamed, hands on her slender waist, her tone playfully elusive.
"Mm, that's certainly your style."
"Oh... In that case, you should also know what I want to do right now, right?"
"Doing that kind of deplorable thing with that child right in front of me... Treating a vengeful fairy like this, well, you're going to be punished~" ER Elysia licked her lips.
The name she'd given this memory-bearing ELF body? 'Elysia Doll: Specialized Punitive Functionality Edition for Jiang Qiao Use.'
Mr. Jiang's expression turned somewhat peculiar. He glanced at the 'Elysia Doll' before him and instantly saw through its design. While mostly constructed like a normal ELF, certain special modules incorporated extremely 'vicious' designs.
Megapascals comparable to a hydraulic press, force rivaling a vacuum pump, and a power system capable of indefinite conversion via a 'transmutation device' to ensure it never ran out of energy—as long as the opponent still had 'fuel,' it could function like a perpetual motion machine.
Even if the opponent ran dry, the puppet's own special energy source provided terrifying endurance.
Faced with this frankly insane design, Klein, upon receiving the customization request, had been somewhat baffled, completely unable to understand why an ELF needed such an unnecessary module, let alone why its specifications needed to be so brutal.
But, with her exquisite skill, she completed this gift meticulously prepared by ER Elysia for a certain someone—heaven knows how the Flawless Fairy managed to cobble together such a 'performance monster' from her spare parts inventory.
"..." Undoubtedly, Jiang Qiao was, for once, genuinely startled by the contraption Ms. ER Pink Fatty had cooked up.
Seeing that beaming, benevolent yet dangerous smile, he knew she had thoroughly learned the lesson from 'a certain sneaky snake who tried to steal a bite but almost got wrecked instead,' consequently commissioning this 'unrestricted combat' doll that was practically a torture device.
She came prepared!
However, Ms. ER Pink Fatty's 'evil scheme' ultimately failed to materialize. Ms. Firefly's cry for help interrupted the former's nefarious intentions towards a certain Jiang-surnamed man.
"Ah, seems like Firefly ran into some trouble over there. Let's go check it out first."
Leaving the tiny pink fatty fuming, Jiang Qiao returned to the Hall of Progeny first.
And then... saw Silver Wolf and Firefly. In that instant, the answer became obvious.
"Who are you? You're not Firefly at all!" Silver Wolf, like someone catching a cheater, glared fiercely at the bewildered Firefly, her words sharp, directly labeling her an impostor.
Firefly panicked slightly, and also felt a little... annoyed.
She understood Silver Wolf's meaning, of course, and never thought she could compare to 'Her Majesty Empress Jiang-Firefly.'
But even knowing the whole story, hearing "Who are you, you're not Firefly at all" stirred complex emotions within the original Firefly.
But I really AM Firefly! The genuine article! Though not as amazing as Jiang Qiao, she was the real one!
However, she didn't quite dare argue back.
Seeing Jiang Qiao arrive was like seeing her savior; her eyes pleaded, Qiao, save me, Firefly! Knowing full well she wasn't good at communication or explanation, Firefly understood her limitations.
"Silver Wolf, you misunderstand."
"Huh? What misunderstanding? I'm not misunderstanding anything! Firefly isn't like this one, all dazed and silly." Silver Wolf retorted, then curled her lip. "And she looks like she sucks at games."
"..." Firefly's smile turned strained. I know I'm not very smart, you don't need to tell me that!
"Wait, who are you two..."
"You..." Silver Wolf snapped back to reality, noticing Jiang Qiao and the tiny ER Elysia who followed him in. She looked confused, especially when looking at Jiang Qiao, staring at his face with a strange feeling: "Have we met?"
Jiang Qiao took a deep breath. "Actually—"
The swap had been rather hasty, so he hadn't managed to complete the proper handover procedures. It didn't matter much for Glamoth's citizens; as long as Firefly had the face and the bloodline, even if she acted a bit more innocent, the populace likely wouldn't care.
But for someone like Silver Wolf, practically a pillow... cough cough, close companion, it required a bit more effort.
However, with him, the Empress, doing the persuading, the outcome would surely be positive.
Jiang Qiao easily explained everything Silver Wolf needed to know. The truth about the real and fake Empress instantly stunned Silver Wolf.
"Huh? You're the real Firefly?"
"...Um, I am..." Seeing Silver Wolf's gaze fixated on Jiang Qiao, Ms. Firefly spoke softly and timidly.
"...Got it, got it... But, does that mean you're actually... a..." The former waved her hand dismissively, then stared intently at Jiang Qiao for a moment, her expression becoming indescribable. Recalling their previous interactions, her cheeks flushed slightly.
However, after a brief moment, she instantly relaxed, leaving only slight exasperation and an eye roll. "Seriously, you kept this secret from me really well!"
Evidently, Silver Wolf didn't actually care much about this. Hailing from Punklorde, as a fast-food joint girl, her views on such matters weren't rigid; at most, she found it surprising.
Her companion's gender change wouldn't alter her attitude towards him... well, not entirely. At least now, looking at him, knowing his gender made her feel somewhat... strange...
As for the real Firefly? Even less of a concern for Silver Wolf. After all, wasn't Glamoth basically something she and Jiang Qiao cooked up together? Even if the Empress of Glamoth became someone else, it didn't matter much to her.
Oh, actually, maybe it did.
Since the Empress was now someone else, it seemed she no longer needed to share the governmental workload out of some strange sense of responsibility...
Thinking this, Silver Wolf's mood instantly brightened, and her gaze towards Firefly became much friendlier.
It's good you're back! It's really good you're back!
However, Ms. Firefly was clearly oblivious to this, feeling rather dazed by the sudden goodwill.
Dealing with Pheebe and Brunhilde was even simpler. Just use the excuse that he needed to handle important matters, and the remaining Firefly was merely an 'avatar' for handling administrative tasks.
Given the absolute devotion of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry and the Intellitrons to their Empress, they wouldn't care about the minor flaw of the genuine Firefly appearing somewhat naive.
"Um..." Although the most pressing issues for Firefly were resolved, glancing at the mountain of paperwork that seemed to be continuously growing for some reason, she instinctively wanted to say something to Mr. Jiang.
But he spoke first: "From now on, most of my energy will be focused on dealing with what comes next."
The Gray Tide was not an illusion. After explaining the stakes, even Firefly couldn't argue. Instead, she had to say seriously, "I understand. Although I can't help you much, I will definitely do my best with every task at hand." Very passionate.
However, after Jiang Qiao nodded approvingly and left with ER Elysia, and Ms. Silver Wolf happily went off to play games, leaving Ms. Firefly alone in the vast administrative hall with the mountain of official documents, she felt a strange sense of regret.
"Jiang Qiao is doing something very important too, it can't be helped... Ganbatte, Firefly! He entrusted the Empress's duties to you, you can definitely do it well..."
Sitting in her seat, staring at the despairing amount of work, Firefly patted her cheeks, activating 'self-hypnosis,' encouraging herself with soft yet firm words to absolutely not disappoint someone's expectations.
...The power of Propagation gradually surged within her.
---||---
In a star system not far from the Xianzhou Fanghu, a crimson, bizarre, yet unnervingly vibrant planet sailed through space at high speed.
This was the observed living planet, a [living planet] often only existing in legends. Following the world-devouring Rahu and the Jiaoqiu that crippled the Fanghu, this was the third living Planet to appear.
The Xianzhou named it 'Tunyu Yinghuo' (Domain-Devouring Mars) [TL/N: I have no idea).
This naming convention, inherited from ancient kingdoms of old, associated Jiaoqiu with disaster stars, and Yinghuo (Mars) was also named after an ominous star from ancient times.
It signified change and upheaval, symbolizing the change of 'rulers' in the history of the Xianzhou Alliance.
"Have we identified the origin of this living Planet?"
Aboard the Dansong warship, flagship of the Yaoqing Cloud Knight fleet, a white-haired Foxian woman with striking features, dressed in a blue qipao-like attire under a long coat, looked stern.
This was the current General of the Xianzhou Yaoqing, one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Reignbow Arbiter, Sky-Striking General Feixiao.
Originally just a vanguard captain in the Qingqiu Army during the Third Abundance War over a decade ago, she rapidly rose through the ranks due to her distinguished merits, becoming the youngest General in the Xianzhou Alliance today.
The Yaoqing, as the Alliance's vanguard, always spearheaded attacks. Facing this living planet was no different. In war, every move had consequences.
The Xianzhou Alliance fleets were scattered across the universe, thus every flagship's decision required utmost caution.
Acting recklessly, sending the General out foolishly, could lead to their home base being sneak-attacked by some unscrupulous Denizen of Abundance—the Alliance had suffered such bitter lessons many times in wars against them.
Therefore, unless the entire fleet gathered, the Seven Arbiter-Generals rarely left the Xianzhou they guarded.
"No trace of any Abundance Emanator found. Furthermore, since Hoolay's capture, the Borisin worlds fell into civil war; no unusual activity detected there. The Wingweavers scattered, and no signs of Qiongsang observed either," the Chief Strategist reported.
According to Xianzhou intelligence, the birth of a living planet usually involved an Abundance Emanator pulling strings behind the scenes.
After all, only messengers of Yaoshi the Plaguelord possessed enough life force to animate an entire planet. And this usually signified a major war.
"Is this Yaoshi's handiwork then?" Feixiao frowned upon hearing the strategist's report. She didn't know if this was good news or bad.
If Yaoshi did it, the good news was they likely wouldn't have to face a troublesome Abundance Emanator. Fighting Shuhu previously nearly broke the Xianzhou; facing another, even if weaker, would be a huge headache for the Alliance.
But the bad news was... if the planet was revived by Yaoshi... the difference between a 'planet revived by an Aeon' and a 'planet revived by an Emanator' was something anyone could understand.
"If it's just a single living planet... it should be manageable," she shook her head, sighing. While living planets were tough, the greater danger was the accompanying Denizens of Abundance.
During the Third Abundance War, the Fanghu and Yaoqing were besieged by millions of Abominations and almost crushed.
Thankfully, the Luofu's Master Diviner Fu Xuan turned the tide, invoking the Reignbow Arbiter's arrow to end the war.
"What's the situation on the Luofu's side?" Feixiao inquired. The Yuque was the navigation flagship and couldn't be easily moved. The Xuling was special, the Alliance's foundation.
The Fanghu was heavily damaged and unwilling to fight again. The Zhuming was the armory, supplying the other Xianzhou ships.
Currently, only the Luofu and Yaoqing were truly capable of fighting.
The Chief Strategist hesitated. "The Luofu... seems to have encountered some internal disturbances..."
"?" Under Feixiao's sharp gaze, she stammered, "Reportedly caused by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus... but according to the Luofu's Seat of Divine Foresight, the impact seems minor."
"...Unreliable. Internal chaos right before a battle... Looks like the Luofu also slackened its defenses after the last Abundance War."
"Forget it. If it's just one living Planet, the Yaoqing should be enough." Feixiao's elegant brows furrowed tightly. She waved her hand dismissively, gazing at the projection on the tactical screen showing Tunyu Yinghuo speeding towards the Xianzhou Fanghu.
After a long moment of contemplation, she looked at the vast Cloud Knight fleet under her command and smiled confidently.
I Am [Title Card]!