I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

"Are you saying these things have already happened?"

"more or less."

"Can you tell me about it?"

"...I became the Herrscher who destroyed the world, and then I killed you all. It's that simple."

"...You seem to have omitted a lot of things."

"that's not important."

"...Perhaps we need more evidence. To be precise, how can you prove what you're saying?"

"Although I really want to share this memory with you, it would be really unfair if I were the only one to suffer the pain."

Xi Wang said with a helpless expression, his fingertips twitching slightly, and several small, blood-red fish quietly appeared, swimming around his fingertips... These suddenly appearing fish naturally attracted the attention of the other two, especially Mebius, whose pupils gleamed with an excited light called "desire for research".

"But... unfortunately."

Xi Wang sighed, reached out, and lightly touched Mei's brow with his fingertips. The few bright red "fish" swam around and tried to touch Mei... However, after gently touching Mei's skin a few times, the "fish" quietly dispersed and stopped touching her, as if they were rejecting her.

“You are not children of the ocean, so the seawater will naturally not be willing to provide you with information... There is nothing I can do about this.”

"A child of the ocean? How interesting... Little mouse, would you be interested in researching a topic with me?"

"That's possible, but... Dr. Möbius, this experiment isn't the kind I'm thinking of, is it..."

"It's what you think!"

Möbius suddenly became excited.

"Genetics and cloning are topics that biology has been exploring and researching for a long time. How could I let such interesting research subjects pass me by?!"

"Okay, I'll cooperate with your research from now on..."

"Great job! I'm really growing to like you more and more, little guinea pig! Oh, and of course, in exchange, you can always let me know if you need any help!"

Mebius licked his lips with his tongue, the slender, delicate tip of his tongue like a snake, possessing a unique allure.

"...Dr. Mebius, I hope you can be more serious. We are currently talking to someone who is suspected to be a Herrscher. Isn't it a bit too hasty to agree to their request so casually?"

Mei rubbed her temples in exasperation... Although she knew that Möbius was somewhat biased towards Xiwang, it was a bit much that he ignored Xiwang's abnormality at this time and directly agreed to help Xiwang without even asking what kind of help Xiwang needed...

"What does it matter, Mei? Didn't you already plan to agree? After all, you know very well that the guinea pig won't make any unreasonable requests, right?"

"……Ugh."

Mei took off her glasses and covered her eyes in distress... After hesitating for a while, she sighed, looked at Xi Wang, and asked.

"I need to know what you plan to do, the potential impact, who it's targeting, and what the impact on you will be. Also... you said all of this has already happened, so I want to know what happened next for reference, especially what might happen next... [Herrscher]."

"Okay~"

Xi Wang nodded knowingly and did not refuse.

To be honest, this was somewhat unexpected for Mei... After all, she and Mebius had previously speculated that after the [Eighth Herrscher Incident], Xiwang lost the ability to refuse, but after Xiwang became a [suspected Herrscher], this effect still existed...?

Or is it that Xi Wang simply doesn't want to refuse? Or perhaps, the Xi Wang of the past was just...

Mei quickly stopped thinking, otherwise how chilling would her words telling Xi Wang to die have been... Even if she said it was a test, what if Xi Wang at the time wasn't unable to refuse, but simply didn't want to refuse... No, she couldn't think about it anymore.

Mei composed herself and focused her attention on Xi Wang.

"I want to hold a concert, so... I need your help as much as possible."

"...Little white mouse, is this an idea you heard from Alicia?"

"No, I was just thinking that it's been a while since I've held a proper concert, which is a bit of a shame... Besides, my strength comes from songs, so naturally I should use this most widely disseminated method~"

Xi Wang shook her head and spoke in a cheerful tone.

"And what I'm targeting is naturally those who might become [Herrschers] in the future... The impact will be good, I promise~ Ah, of course, I can't tell you the specific candidates right now, otherwise it might cause some... um, unnecessary misunderstandings."

"...You don't seem to trust us, Xiwang."

Mei frowned, not having received a detailed answer... She sensed the evasiveness in Xi Wang's words.

"Do you trust me, Dr. May?"

Xi Wang countered with a question.

"...Logically speaking, I'm willing to believe you. After all, you've done so much for us, and your contributions to humanity's fight against the Honkai are absolutely crucial."

"But... realistically, I can't trust you."

Mei's words carried a hint of helplessness... She was currently conversing with someone who was suspected to be a Herrscher, so she had to remain vigilant and skeptical to avoid falling into any potential traps.

After all, it's all for...

"Yes, I know, it's all for humanity."

Xi Wang nodded and softly read out what Dr. Mei was thinking.

"........."

“I know, Dr. Mei, it’s all for humanity… That’s why, no matter how much you trust me… you won’t truly trust me, at least not completely.”

"That's why I won't completely trust you either."

Xi Wang smiled calmly, as if she didn't care at all.

“Especially when facing someone who has broken their promise to me, it is even less likely that I can completely trust them.”

"........."

Mei paused for a moment, then fell into silence and thought.

"...Ha, Dr. Mei, you are always so rational, which I admire to some extent, so...I assure you, the impact this time will definitely be good, and it will definitely be what you want to see and what you expect."

Xi Wang smiled wryly... and then changed the subject to another matter.

"Oh, right... Dr. Mei, you proposed a plan called 'Shelter,' right? Hmm... Could I get involved a little?"

"...Of course, since its core is composed of your [song], it's understandable that you'd participate. As for the 'Moths of Flame'... I'll handle it. Make sure they don't interfere with you as much as possible. However, you should also try your best not to let them discover your involvement, otherwise... this plan might be abandoned, and you should know why."

"thanks for your trust."

Xi Wang thanked him solemnly... As for the reason why this plan might be abandoned, it's not hard to guess. It's simply that his existence as a [suspected Herrscher] was involved, so some people might worry that there are hidden dangers, such as him leaving a "backdoor" or something.

Therefore, it is essential to keep his involvement in the plan a secret from the higher-ups at "Moths of Fire".

"........."

Mei remained silent... She had originally intended to abandon the plan, since a plan as a "fallback" couldn't afford to go wrong; if there were any hidden dangers, it wouldn't be a "fallback" anymore... But since Xi Wang had brought it up, she would use the plan to conduct a simple test, to see if Xi Wang was trustworthy at this moment.

This is necessary, after all... everything is for the sake of humanity.

...Ha...that's such a high-sounding reason, even Mei herself is getting a little...tired of using it.

"After that, I might need... um... Gretchen's help."

"...Why are you looking at me, little white mouse? If you want Greta's help, go find Blanca and Hen!"

“Your opinion is also important, Dr. Möbius.”

"Hmph... I have no objection, but... I'd like to observe and study this from the sidelines."

Mebius gave a soft hum, tinged with a hint of joy, then narrowed his eyes and spoke meaningfully.

"Okay~"

Xi Wang simply nodded and did not refuse.

"As for this plan... the name 'Shelter' is terrible, let's choose a better one~"

"...What name would you like to change it to?"

Mei raised an eyebrow. She always felt that Xi Wang's real purpose was to change his name... Why did she always have a hallucination of Alicia?

"Of course, it's 'Utopia'!"

"...I thought you would name it 'Eden'."

"Although I did think about it... I later felt that the name should be reserved for Eden."

"Hiss... I have a feeling you did this on purpose."

"Don't worry about feeling it, I did it on purpose, hehe~"

"...Don't be like Alicia! You're giving me a headache!"

Mebius said, somewhat annoyed.

"No, not anymore~ Um... Also, actually it's because the name 'Eden' has already been reserved, so... I have to change the name~"

Xi Wang shook his head and said quite happily.

"Alright~ Now, let's go back to the question we started with... I want to hold a [concert], and I might need your help, so... would you be willing?"

"...You still haven't told me what impact this [concert] will have on you."

Mei remained silent for a while before speaking... As for other issues, Mei did not mention them, seemingly no longer caring.

It seems she is inclined to help Xiwang.

Clearly, she... still wanted to believe in Xi Wang, until he showed more obvious signs of becoming a [Herrscher].

"Thank you for your trust~ As for me... well, I guess it will just make you more convinced of your ideas."

Xi Wang smiled upon receiving a response, and while replying to Mei with a vague answer, she turned to leave.

"Don't worry, everything will be answered in time."

"…………"x2

"...Really, he's even copying Aponia, answering us with those strange, mystical words... Is being a riddle-maker fun?"

Mebius, somewhat helplessly, propped his face up with one hand, twirled a strand of his hair around his fingertip, and then looked at Mebius.

"So? Mei, do you want to help?"

"...No, Dr. Möbius, I have discovered a very serious problem."

"Well?"

"Xi Wang... doesn't seem to have told us exactly what kind of help he wants to provide."

Thinking about it carefully, Xi Wang is going to hold a concert... why should she come to these two? You know, although they have a lot of connections, those are all researchers, how can they be of any help? Instead of going to them, she should just go to Alicia for help.