I am a former Flame Chasers

"Why did I fall asleep?"

The golden sunlight filtered through the window, and Mobius blinked her eyes open in confusion, sitting up quickly. She lifted the blanket off her body and noticed that her shirt was slightly disheveled, though the buttons were still intact. Her face turned red, and she clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, what a coward. What a gentleman, at this moment... no, he doesn't seem like a coward..."

Mobius lowered her head and thought for a moment, grinding her teeth.

Elysia, you ruined everything again!

It must have been her. I thought I felt someone following me when I went downstairs. It turns out she followed me all the way to Ryan's room.

No need to think too hard about her motives. She talks a lot, but her actions tell the truth. She just wants to get ahead of me. It turns out she's a formidable opponent.

"Okay, I'm coming for you. Don't think you'll have it easy next time. I'll stick to you like taffy," she muttered, jumping off the bed angrily. But just as she reached the door, something felt off. She turned back, spotting a short skirt draped over the chair beside the bed. The smirk on her face grew even wider.

Are you so afraid of being misunderstood? Tsk, if Elysia wasn't so difficult, I'd be blaming you today.

She didn't care much for morality, but she didn't want to lose her cold persona either. Reluctantly, she put on the skirt, tucked in the bottom of her shirt, and straightened her clothes. Then, she opened the door with her head held high.

I slept well and I'm feeling great today.

By 9 AM, everyone in the villa had already gotten up. The smell of food wafted from the kitchen. Mobius held onto the railing and looked down, seeing the table already full of people.

"Ahem," she coughed lightly, but no one reacted. Only Pardofeliss looked up.

"Sister Mobius, come down and have breakfast."

Why is everyone treating me like I don't exist? Not even curious about why I came out of his room?

It was a little odd, but it became even stranger as she went downstairs. Everyone was either eating or chatting, but no one asked any questions. She even noticed several people had dark circles under their eyes.

"You... didn't sleep well last night?"

"I was a bit tired after working all night," Ryan answered, glancing at Elysia and the others, muttering to himself, "Forget Elysia, but how come Hua and Sakura have insomnia too? And Aponia and Vil-V are yawning as well. You guys teamed up to steal cattle last night, didn't you?"

"Hua, you..." Ryan started, but Hua quickly stood up.

"Brother, I'm done eating, I'm going to shower first!" Hua grabbed her plate and left, as if a fire had been lit under her.

She didn't dare mention how she tossed and turned in bed last night, finally falling asleep at 5 AM. And even after that, she had a strange dream. When she woke up, she was covered in sweat and realized she'd only gotten an hour of sleep before the alarm went off. By the time she changed her clothes and sheets, it was already dawn.

This girl is strange. How can she take a shower so early in the morning, and what's with that weird smell?

"Sakura, why didn't you sleep well?"

"I was thinking about a serious problem, and it was dawn by the time I realized I hadn't come to a conclusion." Sakura answered honestly, with a serious expression, which made Ryan feel guilty and he didn't dare ask more.

"Ah, well, make sure to balance work and rest in the future. What about you two?" Ryan said, looking at Vil-V and Aponia, who were unusually silent.

They exchanged a glance before smiling strangely. "We were just discussing an interesting topic, and before we knew it, it was dawn."

Ryan could tell they were lying, especially Vil-V, who seemed completely different today. He was about to ask more when Elysia raised her hand.

"I didn't sleep well either. Ryan, why don't you care about me?" Elysia said while pouting.

"How dare you say that? You have the nerve to ask?" Ryan shot her a fierce look. "You got up in the middle of the night to eavesdrop. Then you drag Pardofeliss into it."

Pardofeliss looked furious, like a cat, her head down as she poked at the fried eggs. She didn't dare look up again.

Ryan vaguely felt like last night had been lively, but with so many things on his mind—like the Herrscher and handling the Fire Moth—he didn't have the energy to deal with them. Plus, there were things to do today.

"Has Kevin not come back yet?"

"Yeah, I asked last night. He said he's resting at the headquarters to prepare for today's challenge," Sakura answered, ever vigilant, monitoring everyone's movements.

"Haha, it seems like he takes it pretty seriously," Ryan said as he stood up with the help of the table. His eyes grew deeper, and the laziness faded away.

Staying up for a few nights isn't a big deal for him, but he'd gotten too comfortable recently, and his body was a bit sluggish. Now was a good time to get moving.

At the same time, he was eager to be infected by Kalpas. He had been bullied in Neon before, but things were different now.

Although Kevin wasn't crazy or sad and hadn't yet reached the heights of salvation, he was still one of the strongest fusion warriors—enough to fight Ryan.

"Then I'll go first. Sakura, keep an eye on Mei. The Honkai energy search results should be coming soon," Ryan said, knowing Mei had been quietly checking everyone's Honkai energy reaction.

There were only so many registered fusion warriors, and even if ordinary people suppressed their energy, they couldn't escape close-range detection. Of course, the data was too vast to be manually filtered.

But with Prometheus now, it shouldn't take long with the power of the central database.

"What about us? Can we watch the game? We'll all cheer for you. Will Kevin be upset?" Elysia licked the milk at the corner of her mouth.

"Well, Destobia and I can cheer for Kevin," Kosma weakly raised his hand.

Cheer? Does she think this is an exhibition match?

Ryan was furious and whispered, "If you're interested, help out. If not, stay out of the way. You won't have much time to be lazy anyway. Once the marshaling work is done, you'll all have to work hard for me!"

He turned around and left. He was clear about public and private matters. Playing was for playing, and work should be treated seriously. He couldn't let these slackers feel comfortable for too long.

Raising the banner of fighting for mankind and making the heroes work honestly, he felt secretly pleased about it.

"Do you think Ryan will be mad?"

"Heh, he's a serious man who carries the burden of humanity's survival," Mobius said, spreading butter on her bread, her tone tinged with sarcasm. "This is to remind you that a comfortable life is fleeting, and you can't afford to fall behind on what you should be doing."

Kosma, Pardofelis, and Hua all lowered their heads, feeling guilty. They really hadn't done much lately, and last night's attack had made everyone calm down a bit. Along with the shame, a strong resentment for having been distracted surged inside them.

Ryan's right. The only thing that's wrong is the Honkai. Isn't it nice to live comfortably? Why destroy civilization and disturb a peaceful life?

"I'm going to practice boxing. Don't wait for me for lunch." Hua clenched her fists, suddenly realizing her true enemy wasn't Mobius but those annoying Herrschers.

"I'll go with you. I hope you can teach me a few moves."

"And me, just be gentle with your hands."

Kosma and Pardofeliss followed, and Aponia and Himeko quietly stood up as well, apparently preparing to patrol the town.

The restaurant, which had been so lively just moments before, was now nearly empty, with only Blanca going to the lab to report and start work from that day on.

"Sakura, you go too. I'll take care of Griseo," Elysia said softly. Sakura nodded gently, grabbed her knife, and disappeared from the restaurant in an instant.

"You want to be lazy again?" Mobius glanced at Elysia and distanced herself. "I'll go to work after breakfast, and Vil-V will handle the transformation work. Don't compare us to you."

"Ah, dear Mobius, am I really that lazy?" Elysia grinned.

"Yes, very much so."

"This misunderstanding is really sad." Elysia stretched lazily. "I seem to be playing around lately, but in fact, I've been secretly thinking about some important information. It keeps flooding my mind, and I can only remember it at times like this."

Important information? What other information could she be thinking about?

Mobius watched her suspiciously. There didn't seem to be any issue with that smiling face, but she knew this woman well enough to know she wasn't making excuses.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but it's very important," Elysia said, still looking relaxed. She drank her milk comfortably and turned away like an elf. "I'll go zone out for a bit. Just throw the plate into the sink. By the way, I didn't mean to do it last night. It wasn't good for me to do that. Maybe one day, Ryan's happy life will be handed over to you ♪"

Mobius nodded blankly, watching Elysia's cheerful back walk away. She felt something was off, so she glanced at Vil-V, who was unusually quiet today.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Ellie doesn't like to pretend. This is her 'true self'." Vil-V's gradient eyes were deep, like an observer from a higher dimension. "Do you think she's been a bit strange lately?"

After being reminded, Mobius realized something was off. Though Elysia usually smiled, her enthusiasm had grown even hotter recently.

Can't wait to meet new friends and have fun with everyone, just like she's crazy pushing forward according to her wish list.

"Elysia's origin is unknown. I have a bad feeling about her."

"Well, Ryan likes her a lot, and as long as Elysia gives her consent, you're all losers. But why does she keep her distance?"

Vil-V sharp words made Mobius uneasy.

How could someone like me become a loser?

"It's because this fat woman is too philanthropic."

"Yes and no. I sense a trace of fear hidden deep within that happiness. Very interesting."

Fear?

Mobius didn't see it, but Vil-V, the great Master before her, seemed completely convinced.

"Then... should we try telling Ryan? Don't think too much. This fat woman is annoying, but if something really happens, I don't want to see everyone falling apart."

Vil-V grinned. This platypus is really interesting. She propped up her head and showed an indescribable expression.

"Do you think he knows nothing?"