Undoubtedly, a certain Mr. Jiang, having made an ill-advised remark, suffered the wrath of Miss Elysia, receiving a forceful and rather involuntary request for 'instruction'—although Fallen Elysia had already started this process.
But after devouring Fallen Elysia and reclaiming control of her body, there was clearly nothing stopping Elysia from continuing Fallen Elysia's educational (extractive) project.
Having liberated herself and eliminated her previous awkwardness, the now more open, direct, and unhesitant 55kg Miss, who could face her feelings head-on, had no psychological burden whatsoever about doing this kind of thing.
Her similarly inhuman constitution allowed her to receive everything he could produce, no matter how much.
Of course—perhaps because of this, the current 55kg Miss perfectly lived up to her title, even exceeding it... Based on the principle of rounding up, perhaps calling her 56kg Miss would be more appropriate?
Mr. Jiang Qiao could only sigh helplessly.
Being treated like a fresh, juicy, perpetually regenerating orange slice for relentless extraction, or perhaps like a dairy cow being ravaged by a milkman? Whether the former or the latter, it was clearly not a pleasant experience.
From a certain perspective, being caught by the current Elysia was hardly enjoyable... It was more like a form of 'torture.'
Although she didn't employ the combat techniques learned from him, techniques Mobius considered downright 'sadistic.'
But...
Instead of relying solely on 'physical variables,' she chose to use her 'heart,' her 'Elysia,' her burning 'love' as a substitute.
He could clearly feel the 'true self' belonging to Elysia.
This difficult-to-describe combat style Elysia inherited from Fallen Elysia.
Although seemingly gentle and ordinary, aside from the iron-like grip that made one suspect they had fused together, there was nothing unusual. However... if one relaxed even slightly, not just their bone marrow... but even their consciousness would be slurped up and swallowed whole by Miss Elysia, who had a surprising talent for robbery.
If one's consciousness wasn't firm enough, entering her mouth would be no different from Sun Wukong entering the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
In terms of sheer 'heat,' enough to melt another's will, Elysia's 'true self' was no less potent than the Samadhi True Fire in Lao Tzu's furnace.
Fortunately, Jiang Qiao, whose combat strength was rather abundant, didn't mind.
He would consider this his 'punishment.'
His current focus was still on resolving the current civilization's issues.
"Project Stigma, huh..."
Elysia held nothing back from Jiang Qiao—in fact, during this 'punishment' process, he could directly read the 'information' he needed from Elysia, the host, through his own hardware.
Therefore, he wasn't worried about this Elysia-created dreamscape. What gave him a headache was World Serpent's Project Stigma.
It wasn't that they couldn't stop it.
On the contrary, both he and the transformed Elysia could easily terminate the project—just destroy this dreamscape.
Without the dreamscape as a vessel, Project Stigma would be rootless, unable to continue.
However, just like the dilemma Kiana and the others faced in the original story, what was hindering Jiang Qiao wasn't the dreamscape itself, but the people immersed within it.
It wasn't that someone was stopping them from waking up, but that even without any obstacles, they didn't want to wake up from this beautiful dream.
After all... reality was so cruel.
In reality, they had to struggle for survival, many even living in constant fear amidst the chaos of war.
And the dream Elysia created—just like the dream she pursued her whole life—
This was humanity's flawless paradise.
No need to toil for food and shelter, no suffering from illness, everyone could find and pursue their dreams, living a 'happy' life.
If he wanted to destroy this beauty—then Jiang Qiao had to stand against them, personally crushing it all.
Elysia understood his dilemma and said with a smile:
"If you don't want to do it, you can leave it to me."
"After all, I gave them this beautiful dream; it's only right that I end it." She spoke softly, seemingly unconcerned.
Of course, Elysia cherished the paradise she created.
But for her, now fallen, she wouldn't hesitate like the Elysia of the past to destroy the paradise she built.
Because the current Elysia wouldn't remain stagnant.
Even if it meant facing resentment, it didn't matter.
After all, she's a Herrscher, right~?
Even if she does bad things, it doesn't matter~
As everyone knows, Herrschers are meant to cause destruction~
"No." "It's not necessary."
"Leave all this to them."
Facing Elysia's questioning gaze, Jiang Qiao slowly said:
"Everyone has the right to choose. You know, I've always respected humanity's free will."
"So, the only thing I can and will give them is a chance to make a 'fair' choice."
"Are you planning to...?"
Seeming to sense something, Elysia paused.
"Those who are awakened will find happiness—although I don't entirely agree with that saying, perhaps it's worth a try now."
"So, I'll leave the rest to you, Elysia."
"...Such a troublesome man."
"Can't be helped... Although I don't really want to agree, I'm here to help you this time, aren't I?"
The girl sighed helplessly, but her meaning was clear.
Jiang Qiao smiled.
The next moment—
His form began to dissipate.
Only Elysia remained in this Elysia-exclusive dreamscape.
She puffed out her cheeks with dissatisfaction, muttering:
"Honestly... I'm not full yet."
As it turned out, it wasn't just the suffering masses immersed in this beautiful dream.
—At least, Miss Bronya, the Herrscher of Reason, didn't fit that description.
...How should one put it? Initially, upon entering the dream, the duck duck, fully aware that she had fallen for the enemy's trick, really wanted to resist.
But...
"Bronya, is something wrong?" A familiar yet unfamiliar, elegant woman entered her sight, making Bronya pause.
She shouldn't know her—after all, this silver-haired woman with the same hair whorl as her had died long before she could remember.
Yet, the woman's name surfaced in her mind... Alexandra.
Her mother.
And the stern-faced, middle-aged man beside her...
...Her father?
Two incredibly unfamiliar faces—although Bronya didn't feel much towards them, and knew they were likely just products of the dream, seeing them, feeling the presence of family, still made the duck duck, who had been racking her brains to escape this dream, relax.
And then, she experienced an ordinary, yet incredibly warm day.
Bronya had always thought the warmest time of her life was in Cocolia Mama's orphanage.
Accompanied by Seele... Well, in this dream, she actually wanted to pull a certain someone in as well—after all, Seele struggled to understand this kind of fun. Although she often laughed along, Bronya knew Seele didn't really enjoy these things. But that person was different. He not only had good skills but also genuinely accompanied her, enjoying the fun together.
Unfortunately, Cocolia's orphanage didn't exist in this dream.
And the reason was simple—
The root of Bronya's difficult beginning, that great nation, hadn't collapsed in this dream.
In fact, it had experienced a 'rebound' of sorts.
Due to unknown changes, the lofty ideals that had become increasingly distant from the nation since the Ilyich era were resurrected.
And the result went without saying.
Under the waving red flag, the great nation embarked on an unknown path.
Because of this, Alexei, a rather competent officer who was forced to go with the flow—Bronya's makeshift father—naturally led the duck duck towards a different future.
Of course, Bronya initially didn't have many thoughts about this.
After all, starting as a child soldier, even inheriting the Herrscher of Reason's legacy didn't change much—ultimately, even the first Herrscher of Reason was a complete novice, not concerned with such matters.
Lofty ideals... who understands those?
Only after being infused with positive energy did Bronya gain some direction.
But to say she understood it all—barely.
But now...
She had been thinking about finding a way out of this dream, or at least finding Jiang Qiao and Seele, hadn't she? What's the point of a dream without Jiang Qiao and Seele?
As a result—
Bronya was undoubtedly thoroughly indoctrinated with lofty ideals by her makeshift father.
A youngster like the duck duck had never encountered anything like this.
You talk about battlefields, you talk about orphanages... and you're telling me this?
Then I'll just surrender!
—Bronya, initially focused on escaping or at least finding some fun, had completely turned into a dreamy state, playing GGO.
Seele? What Seele?
Please, she hadn't even thought about it.
Miss Bronya, wearing a somewhat tacky hat, stood excitedly in front of the Kremlin office.
Just as dreams tend to develop towards one's ideals, the duck duck's expectations changed along with the dream.
For instance, the initial Bronya only wanted a happy life with Seele, but later, she felt that while Seele was nice, she preferred having her own space to play games, with Seele being there to spice things up occasionally.
And now...
Influenced by Alexei, she wanted to meet the leader of the new nation, who had supposedly changed the outcome of the sunset, preventing the collapse of the great edifice.
Even though... because of the dream, Bronya had no idea who this person was, their name a blur in her mind.
But she had gained a new ideal—to become their secretary.
"This... Excuse me, who are you?"
As Bronya stood nervously at the door, thinking that opening it would lead her to the crystallization of her lofty ideals, a soft, familiar voice came from the side.
She turned instinctively, meeting the gaze of an incredibly familiar figure.
A girl with bobbed, dark blue hair, dressed in a smart secretary outfit, held a stack of documents, looking at her with confusion.
"...Seele?"
This familiar appearance made Bronya blurt out the name subconsciously.
And as the door opened, another figure emerged, making her eyes widen in surprise.
"...Jiang Qiao?"
That person... is Jiang Qiao?!
An utterly shocking development for Bronya—Seele, who she hadn't seen, was the leader's secretary, and the leader... was Jiang Qiao...
—He was equally surprised.
"What's with this script?" Accepting this dream belonging to Bronya, Jiang Qiao was astonished.
He had assumed Bronya's dream would be simple, but... after seeing it, he found it incredibly complex.
Such a strange dream certainly wasn't his doing.
In reality, he was here to pull everyone out of the dream.
For this, Jiang Qiao divided his consciousness into billions of parts, corresponding to the number of humans trapped in the dream, planning to achieve his goal through subtle manipulation of the dreamscape—as a result... upon merging with Bronya's dream, he encountered this bizarre scenario.
The great nation hadn't fallen, saved by him, and a duck duck thoroughly indoctrinated with lofty ideals?
And then there was this...
—Within the dream belonging to Raiden Mei—
A short, young-faced boy looked at the purple-haired woman clinging to him, his expression becoming subtly complex.
Why was there someone refining him too...?