Collapse, but Stand users

The research institute's medical pod emitted a soft blue light, enveloping Ellie's figure within it.

When the hatch slowly opened, Toulong and Qianjie were both stunned—the girl who originally only reached Toulong's chest was now only a head shorter than him, her long pink hair hanging down to her waist, and the childishness in her eyes had faded, replaced by a more delicate and beautiful girlishness.

What is most eye-catching are the folded crystal wings on her back, which shimmer with iridescent light like butterfly wings.

Then the wings vanished as if they had never existed.

"Transcendent Dragon!" Alicia's voice became even clearer, carrying the sweetness unique to young girls.

She suddenly appeared in front of Toulong and threw herself into his arms.

"Be careful." Toulong's voice sounded somewhat unnatural. His gaze lingered on her for a long time before slowly shifting away. "Your abilities aren't fully developed yet."

Alicia stuck out her tongue, her fingertips swirling with pink light: "But it's so much fun! Look—" Her figure flashed rapidly around the room, each teleportation leaving a faint pink afterimage, like a string of flowing pearls.

"Qianjie also thinks it looks good, right?"

Master Qianjie declined to comment.

On the display screen next to the medical pod, Mebius's face was as indifferent as ever: "Energy fluctuations are stable, cell activity has increased by 300%, which means that the core fragment of the Herrscher of the Void has been perfectly absorbed."

She pushed up her glasses. "However, the growth period started two years earlier than expected, which is a bit beyond my expectations."

"I've grown up!" Alicia twirled excitedly, her skirt billowing in a beautiful arc. "Does that mean I can do more things now?"

“For example?” Möbius raised an eyebrow.

"For example... help you organize experimental data?" Alicia's voice grew softer and softer; she actually wanted to try using teleportation to sneak a sip of Mebius's coffee.

Toulong stepped forward and gently touched her suddenly appearing wings. The cool touch felt like fine crystal: "Stop fooling around."

He could sense the spatial energy contained within the wings, which shared the same origin as the power of the Herrscher of the Void, but was gentler.

Just then, the communicator rang, and Blanca's voice was anxious: "Doctor, the council people are here. They say they want to see Miss Ellie and Mr. Qianjie."

Möbius's expression darkened: "Have them wait in the conference room."

She turned off the communication and said to Toulong, "A bunch of old fogies want to keep them as experimental subjects."

Toulong, his expression slightly somber, calmly let the miracle catch up with Möbius.

Inside the conference room, a dozen or so members of parliament dressed in black suits sat upright.

When Ellie followed Mebius in, their eyes immediately focused on the wings on her back, and some even showed greedy expressions.

Mebius sighed. Alicia made no attempt to hide anything, and Mebius couldn't persuade her otherwise.

“Dr. Mebius,” the leading white-haired senator pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, “according to the ‘Regulations for the Management of Individuals with Abnormal Abilities,’ these two are subject to the supervision of the council.”

“Oversight?” Mebius sneered, throwing a report on the table. “They eliminated the Herrscher of the Void and the Judgment-class Honkai Beasts in the Battle of the Valley, and now you want to lock up the heroes?”

"But the source of their abilities is unknown, posing a huge risk!"

Another councilor stood up excitedly, "That guy named Qianjie was completely out of control during the battle; he was a ticking time bomb!"

Qian Jie's eyes turned cold instantly, and the bone blade made a soft sound in his sleeve—it was made from the bones he had extracted from the dragon-shaped Honkai Beast. If these people didn't know what was good for them, he wouldn't mind letting this new bone blade be put to use.

Ellie instinctively stepped in front of him, her wings slightly spread, and pink light enveloped the two of them.

“Risk?” Möbius walked to the center of the conference room, his green eyes sweeping across the room. “The original purpose of the Firemoth was to research Honkai energy and control anomalous abilities. Now you have two perfect samples standing in front of you, and all you want to do is lock them in a cage?”

She brought up a holographic projection, displaying the combat data of Alicia and Qianjie: "Alicia can purify Honkai energy, and Qianjie can fight against Judgment-class Honkai Beasts. Their value is higher than all of you combined. Instead of discussing how to regulate them, let's think about how to utilize this power."

The lawmakers looked at each other, intimidated by her imposing presence.

The white-haired senator was about to say something when Mebius interrupted him: "Biology, isn't it amazing?" Her voice carried a hint of sarcasm. "Life always evolves in unexpected ways, and you old fogies who only sit in your offices will never understand."

Ultimately, Mebius's eloquent debate led to the rejection of the regulatory proposal.

As Mebius led them out of the conference room, Ellie quietly gave him a thumbs up: "Doctor was so cool just now!"

Möbius snorted and handed Ellie a small communicator: "Contact me in case of emergency."

He then tossed Qianjie a metal box, saying, "Inside is an inhibitor that suits your abilities. Stop fighting like a mad dog."

Qianjie opened the box, which contained several vials of blue potion labeled "Sedative".

He glanced up at Mebius, then silently put the item into his backpack.

......

Parting is inevitable, just as every story must have its own ending.

With their journey still unfinished, the group rested and prepared to set off again.

On the day of their departure, Sakura and Rei came to see them off.

Ling hugged Aili's waist, her eyes brimming with tears: "You must come back and play with me!"

"Pinky promise!" Ellie hooked her fingers with hers, and the crystal wings lightly swept across the ground. "When I learn even more fun abilities, I'll teach you teleportation."

Sakura handed a cloth bag to Toru: "Inside is information on the remnants of the Poison Chrysalis force; it might be useful to you."

She still has scars on her arms, but she can already move them flexibly.

Mebius stood at the edge of the tarmac, not approaching.

But Ellie noticed her and teleported in front of Mebius, grabbing him in a hug.

"Mebius is really not being honest. I know you must be very reluctant to part with me. It's okay, I will come to find you as soon as the trip is over."

After saying that, Alicia rubbed against Mebius.

Mebius had never been in such close contact with anyone before. He tried to push Alicia away, but how could a researcher possibly resist the tyranny of a Herrscher?

"Goodbye, Mebius, remember to miss me!" Ellie waved and boarded the plane.

Seeing Alicia board the plane, Mebius secretly waved, but then noticed a pink figure watching from the plane window. So she put her hand on the back of her head and pretended to scratch it.

"Haha, Möbius is so cute~"

......

The supply depot south of the Red Canyon is built on a stretch of Gobi Desert, with yellow tents fluttering in the wind.

When Toulong said he wanted to pick up his car, the manager was stunned for a long time before he remembered the dark green SUV: "The one from the Reinhardt family? It's been kept in the garage for maintenance."

The SUV in the garage was spotless, its gas tank was full, and its tires had been replaced with new ones.

Ellie excitedly jumped into the passenger seat, her wings almost knocking over the rearview mirror in the cramped space before she folded them back up: "Our car is so much more comfortable!"

The engine started, and the vehicle smoothly drove away from the supply station.

Qianjie sat in the back seat, wiping the newly acquired bone blade.

"Where to next?" Ellie flipped through the map, her finger tracing a small town marked "Twilight Street." "That sounds interesting!"

Toulong stared at the sign for Twilight Street on the map for a moment, then nodded: "Let's go there then."

And so, the off-road vehicle traveled on the Gobi Desert highway for three days.

"Beep beep, Alicia's little radar has detected that someone needs help."

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Alicia sensed something and then pointed ahead, "There's a car over there, let's go take a look."

A strange car was parked by the roadside. Its body looked like it was pieced together from various parts. The front of the car had an old-fashioned steam engine, but the wheels were equipped with modern shock absorbers.

A girl in overalls was squatting under the car, holding a wrench in her hand and muttering to herself.

"She seems to be in trouble." Ellie tugged at Toulong's sleeve. "Shall we help her?"

Toulong parked the car next to him, and Qianjie got out first to stand guard.

The girl crawled out from under the car, revealing a pretty face. Her short, brownish-yellow hair was stained with oil, but her eyes shone like stars.

"Oh dear, a car cobbled together from various sources is definitely unreliable."

She dusted off her hands and smiled brightly, "It's good that I ran into you guys. Can I hitch a ride?"

Ellie immediately opened the car door: "Come on in! We're heading to the town ahead!"

The girl introduced herself as Vilvie, a wandering mechanic.

As soon as she got in the car, she started chatting with Ellie, talking about everything from the sandstorms of the Gobi Desert to the rainforests of the South, occasionally throwing out some novel terms.

"Look at this!" Velvi pulled a brass gear from her backpack, twisted it gently, and it transformed into a mechanical bird, which fluttered to Ellie's shoulder. "This is a magic prop I invented. Isn't it fun?"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Ellie's eyes sparkled. "Can you teach me?"

“Of course, but…” Wilvi deliberately dragged out her words, her fingertips tracing along Ellie’s wing, “it will cost you a feather in exchange.”

Upon hearing this, Qianjie slightly turned his head and stared at Vervi through the rearview mirror.

Tou Long, on the other hand, was focused on driving. Would Wilvie really harm them?

Vilvi, seemingly oblivious to their wariness, laughed and withdrew her hand: "Just kidding."

She took out an exquisite tea set from her backpack and brewed steaming hot tea in the bumpy carriage. "Try it? It's made with the nectar of desert cactus flowers, it's very special."

Ellie took the teacup, took a sip, and her eyes lit up: "Sweet! So delicious!"

"In exchange, I'll give you this."

As Ellie spoke, she grabbed one of Wilvi's hands and placed her own hand in Wilvi's palm.

A pink crystal flower appeared out of thin air in Vervi's hand.

"Oh? Then I'll gladly accept."

......

As evening fell, the sunset painted the sky orange-red. Vilvi pointed to the town ahead: "That's Twilight Street, named for its exceptionally beautiful sunsets every day."

"However, the Twilight Street itself is not as beautiful as its name implies."

Let's part ways here.

Velvi packed her backpack and winked at Ellie, "Thank you for the ride, cute little wings."

"Where are you going?" Ellie asked, a little reluctant to let her go.

“It’s a secret.” Velvi smiled and teleported off the car—yes, teleported! Her figure flashed at the street corner and disappeared, leaving only a brass gear on the seat.

Ellie picked up the gear, her mouth agape in surprise: "She can teleport too!"

Toulong pinched the gear, and a faint spatial fluctuation came from his fingertips: "It's not teleportation, it's high-speed movement combined with optical camouflage."

As he spoke, he put the gear into his storage bag.

Qianjie got out of the car to investigate, and when he returned, he shook his head, indicating that there was no danger.

The three of them found a clean-looking hotel. The landlady was a plump middle-aged woman who just blinked in surprise when she saw Ellie's wings and didn't ask any questions.

On Dusk Street, it's not a good habit to pry into other people's secrets.

"Would you like three rooms?" the landlady asked, wiping the table.

"Two rooms will do." Ellie pulled Touryu's arm. "Touryu and I will share a room, and Senju will share a room!"

At dinner, Ellie ordered a table full of dishes, most of which were local specialties she had never seen before.

The roasted lamb chops were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the cactus fruit salad was sweet and sour, and the most special dish was a dessert called "Sunset Pudding," whose layered colors resembled the sunset.

"Shall we go shopping tomorrow?" Ellie mumbled, her mouth full of pudding. "Vilvie said there's a mechanical market here with lots of fun things."

Toulong nodded and placed the deboned mutton in her bowl: "Don't run around."

Qianjie suddenly pointed out the window and saw that Wilvi was standing on the opposite rooftop, waving at them, and then leaping onto another house like a night owl and disappearing into the night.

"She hasn't left yet." Ellie's eyes lit up. "Does she want to play with us?"

Toulong didn't say anything, but simply pushed a piece of pudding in front of her.

"This is still the outer area, not yet into Twilight Street. Be prepared."

Afterwards, Toulong gave the two of them a brief explanation of the situation in Twilight Street.

"Once you enter Twilight Street, you'd better keep your wings tucked away. I know you're excited about your new things, but it's best to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"Well, okay, but I look really good with these wings. It's a pity that everyone in Twilight Street won't be able to see them."

As Ellie spoke, she folded her wings back.

As night deepened, the twilight street fell into darkness, with only the hotel windows still lit.

Ellie was already asleep, her crystal wings gently resting on the dragon's arm, like a cool blanket.

"Anyway, there are no outsiders here, so I'll let my wings out and sneak some fresh air." Unable to dissuade Ai Li, Tou Long had no choice but to agree.

Toulong leaned against the headboard, looking at the moonlight outside the window, his silicon-based core beating steadily in his chest.

He recalled Möbius's parting look, and Vervier's mysterious smile, and glanced at Ellie beside him.

The closer the relationship between Airi and the others, the more advantageous it will be for Tou Ryu.

If they come out with this simulation, maybe they can give Ellie some face and maintain peace on the surface.

The wind outside the window swept through the valley, carrying the scent of distant lands.

Toulong gently touched Ai Li's wings, and the warmth from his fingertips made him feel at ease.

As the last rays of sunset faded on the horizon, the twilight street was completely enveloped in night, leaving only a few stars twinkling in the sky, like afterimages left behind by Ellie's teleportation.

Silent all night.