"In that case, I will be sure to make very good use of them."
Unlike the previous text messages, this response came as a voice message, undoubtedly carrying more information worth pondering. Although the sweet voice sounded perfectly normal, revealing little emotion...
...who was Elysia? She instantly detected the slight tremble and panting mixed within the sugary tone, along with a watery sound, like some kind of liquid interaction— "Hehe, Mobius is still so dishonest with herself~"
Her pretty face beamed with secret delight. Based on her understanding of Mobius, although Mobius's voice sounded normal when she said that... these subtle details were proof enough. That adorable snake doctor must have been trembling with anger while speaking, right? Like a puffed-up pufferfish, fuming—she must have looked incredibly cute~
It was just a shame she couldn't see Mobius's expression at that moment. Elysia muttered regretfully, "A bit disappointing."
Too bad Bad Jiang Qiao definitely wasn't with Mobius anymore. Otherwise, he might have been able to snap a picture of Mobius looking adorable and furious in her pink little dress.
Although... if he were there, that rascal would probably be in trouble, wouldn't he?
After all, Bad Jiang Qiao was the one who shared all those embarrassing photos of Mobius with her. If Mobius found out—and if Bad Jiang Qiao was still nearby—she would definitely give him a vicious 'belly-full' of revenge, right?
Taking more pictures would be out of the question... Of course, Elysia would actually quite enjoy seeing that rascal suffer. Who told him to bully her all the time?
As for that strange sound, like a little yellow duck being squished in water... guji... Hmm, Mobius was probably taking a bath?
After getting so drunk and making such a mess, she'd be very uncomfortable if she didn't take a good bath~
Having perfectly rationalized everything in her mind, Elysia finally remembered the certain Mr. Jiang she had left hanging.
"...Ah, sorry, sorry! Dr. Mobius in her pink little dress was just too cute, I got a bit carried away looking..."
"...It's fine."
After a brief silence, Jiang Qiao's slightly trembling, helpless voice came through the communicator.
"Is something wrong on your end?" Elysia found it strange. For some reason, she could faintly hear odd sounds like gasping or slurping, which made her ask with concern, puzzled.
"Nothing... Just got bitten by a mosquito..."
"A mosquito? Ah... right, there are so many mosquitoes here at HQ, and their bites really hurt." Hearing this excuse, Elysia didn't suspect a thing. In fact, she strongly agreed, muttering a complaint:
"I heard they're a new breed cultivated by the scientists in the east wing. Big, poisonous, and incredibly resilient, always targeting people... Honestly, why research such weird things?"
"I need to talk to Dr. MEI about this... Oh wait, this is biology, shouldn't I talk to Dr. Mobius instead? She'd be better suited for this, right?"
"Mm..."
The tone on the other end of the communicator seemed hesitant.
"...Wait, wait, no, that's not what I called you for... Where are you now? Bad Jiang Qiao?"
"Probably... dealing with some things?"
"...Probably?"
"Never mind... If you're busy... then forget it."
"Actually, it's not that urgent... Mmph..."
Jiang Qiao started to say on the other end, but before he could finish, he seemed to suffer some kind of retribution—of course, Elysia paid no mind to this. She was simply in a very good mood.
After all, didn't Jiang Qiao saying that completely prove that Elysia held a place in his heart?
Although she really wanted to drag Bad Jiang Qiao out to play, since he was busy right now, Elysia felt there was no need to delay his matters for her own sake.
Listening to his ragged breathing, she could imagine he must be quite occupied at the moment.
Well then, no need to make Bad Jiang Qiao drop everything to accompany her.
Of course—the main reason was probably that she had obtained the pictures of Mobius in the little dress. Miss Elysia was now exceptionally motivated to share this 'unexpected delight' with others.
Even without Bad Jiang Qiao around, she wouldn't be bored.
"Alright, you carry on with your work~"
The understanding pink elf magnanimously said into the communicator—then silently added this incident to the mental notebook titled 'Bad Things Bad Jiang Qiao Did to Elysia.'
Even though she didn't mind, and even got something interesting out of Bad Jiang Qiao, well... accounts still needed to be kept. That way, when it was time to settle the score with that rascal later, Bad Jiang Qiao would 'die' completely convinced!
First—her sharing target was her very best friend, Eden!
Elysia felt that sharing this prize with her good sister Eden would help strengthen their bond—of course, more importantly, when Bad Jiang Qiao and Eden went drinking before, they didn't bring her... Although that was actually Dr. MEI's fault, Miss Elysia, who only got that one drink in the end, was naturally very, very unwilling to accept it!
I am Eden's best sister! That Bad Jiang Qiao guy just took advantage of my absence to sneak in!
Now, Bad Jiang Qiao was out there struggling█ while she happily went to find Eden for drinks~ deepening their relationship~
Just thinking about the difference in their situations made Miss Elysia chuckle aloud.
Ding dong~
"...Elysia?"
After some time, the drunk Eden seemed to have woken up. She appeared to have just showered, wearing a noble silk pajama set. Still looking a bit dazed, she saw Elysia outside the door and seemed to remember something, her heart tightening involuntarily—after all, while drunk, she seemed to have done some very foolish things that wronged the person before her... For Eden, who truly considered Elysia her best friend, this wasn't something to be proud of and made her feel rather guilty.
However, the experienced Eden could tell at a glance the joy on the former's face... So, it probably wasn't that her own ridiculous actions had been exposed. Thinking this, her expression returned to normal, calm and composed.
This was especially true when she didn't spot the figure of a certain 'victim'.
"What is it? Ely... You look so happy, did something good happen?"
"Mhmhm, that's right! I got something really interesting... Eh... Wait... Eden, what did you just call me?" Elysia, beaming brightly, suddenly paused mid-sentence. Realizing what she'd heard, she stared at Eden, half cautious, half uncertain.
The latter avoided her gaze guiltily, "Ely... Is there a problem?"
Although Eden's own intention was to reserve the intimate nickname 'Ely' forever for 'Jiang Ely,' who could she blame for getting drunk and doing something foolish earlier?
Feeling somewhat indebted and guilty towards Elysia, Miss Eden, after some internal struggle, subconsciously relaxed this boundary, considering it a form of compensation for Elysia.
Of course, Elysia didn't know about this.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, her heart instantly bloomed with joy.
"Of course, there's no problem, my dear Eden~"
Hehe... Elysia has been waiting for you to call me that!
Although, coming from Eden, the difference between 'Ely' and 'Elysia' might not be as significant as imagined, even so—comparing the two names, no matter how you look at it, the former is clearly more intimate, right?
It was one thing when that rascal wasn't around, but then he showed up... You call him 'Ely' and call me 'Elysia'? When Bad Jiang Qiao wasn't here, I didn't care if you called me Elysia, but now that he's here, what should you call me?
The pink elf, quite obsessed with her legitimate right to the name [Elysia], had always been dedicated to dropping the last two syllables of her name, hoping to become the one and only 'Ely' in Eden's heart.
Unfortunately, she hadn't had much success—so she'd planned to just slowly wear Eden down over time.
She never expected such a delightful change to happen just by turning around like this.
"Haha, Bad Jiang Qiao, you didn't expect this, did you? The 'Ely' on Eden's lips is Elysia now! There's no place left for you, the 'Fake Ely,' in Eden's heart!"
The voice in her heart sounded like a little devil. Transforming into the arrogant Elysia, the 55kg Miss was overcome with ecstasy, wishing she could immediately flaunt the results of her hard work to a certain Mr. Jiang.
However, to maintain her image in front of Eden, she could only suppress this joy, struggling hard to hold back her laughter.
Operation Best Friend! Huge success!
"Isn't this a symbol of the progress in our friendship~"
"I'm glad you think so, but I still feel a bit apologetic... about drinking with Qiao earlier..." Elysia, not quite grasping Eden's underlying meaning, waved her hand magnanimously before the latter could finish. "Oh, it's fine~ Aren't we best sisters? No matter what happens, it won't shake the friendship between us, so promise me, don't say sorry, okay~"
Isn't it just about drinking with Bad Jiang Qiao without bringing Elysia along? Elysia thought. Although I was really mad at the time, since Operation Best Friend has succeeded and I've managed to drop the last two syllables of my name, there's nothing to worry about anymore.
Eden, really... it was such a small thing, and she was technically a victim dragged into it by that Bad Jiang Qiao, yet she's still dwelling on it... But this is good too. Doesn't it make Elysia look very generous and forgiving?~
Thinking this way, Elysia suddenly felt that Jiang Qiao drinking with Eden wasn't such a bad thing after all.
If it weren't for this incident, how could dear Eden have started calling her 'Ely' so quickly?
...Hmm, no, maybe Eden wanted to call me that for a long time already, just hadn't gotten around to changing it—it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing!
So, most of this is still due to Elysia's own efforts!
Of course, Bad Jiang Qiao contributed too... So, let's put this achievement down in Bad Jiang Qiao's account~
"...Alright."
Eden, who had felt it was a bit unfair and wanted to be honest about her drunken foolishness, could only silently give up the idea of full disclosure after being told this.
Besides—Elysia looked so happy... She probably didn't mind that much, right?
"Okay, let's not talk about that anymore. Eden, quick, look what I got~ I bet you've absolutely, absolutely never seen anything like it. You'll be shocked when you see it~"
"Oh?"
Elysia's words piqued Eden's curiosity.
The former didn't keep her in suspense, directly showing her personal terminal with its pink crystal exterior—'Mobius CG Images'.
"This is... Dr. Mobius?!"
Seeing the 'drunk' green-haired woman in the picture, she was stunned.
"Right? Right~ You've definitely never seen Dr. Mobius wearing a pink little dress. Isn't she cute?"
"...Indeed, this is the first time I've seen it. Does Dr. Mobius actually have such... tastes?" Eden recalled the rumors she had heard about Mobius after joining the Fire Moth, feeling rather impressed.
"Not exactly~ Although I did secretly give Dr. Mobius that carefully selected pink little dress, she was never really willing to wear it~ Which was quite frustrating for me."
"Luckily, that Bad Jiang Qiao actually dragged Mobius off for drinks~ Hehe... and this is the result~"
Hearing the word 'drinks,' Eden's expression turned slightly unnatural.
Watching the excitedly chattering Elysia, she examined the pictures her friend was sharing.
...Drinking?
Considering the flush on Mobius's face, which didn't quite look like drunkenness, and the messy state of everything...
This... didn't really look like the result of just drinking, did it?
As a veteran wine connoisseur—and someone who had very recently committed a similar blunder—Miss Eden looked at the photos Elysia shared, her expression becoming somewhat strange, subtle.
Dr. Mobius and Qiao... between them...
Without needing any bold assumptions, Eden's mind already arrived at certain conclusions.
There wasn't much anger—after all, she had done it too... Her relationship with Qiao wasn't connected in the conventional sense either; they were just confidants who had experienced a certain 'misunderstanding.'
The one who should truly care would be Elysia...
However, looking at Elysia happily sharing these pictures, looking utterly delighted, Eden silently decided against bursting her bubble about this 'misunderstanding.'
After all, she was so happy right now. If she knew the truth... things would become very awkward, wouldn't they?
Of course, besides that, perhaps it was also because she herself was involved?
Therefore, after seeing these pictures, although her mood was a bit complicated, the anxiety that had been troubling her earlier could now finally be released with a long sigh of relief.
If she were the only one who had done this, it might have been awkward, and she wouldn't know what to do.
But knowing she wasn't the only one who had misbehaved...
Anyway—
It was Mobius who did it first!