Cyrene stood at a fork in the labyrinthine corridors of the Paradise, feeling a familiar sense of confusion.
Every passage here looked exactly the same.
She had already circled similar corners three times, and her pink hair tips drooped slightly from anxiety.
"Is this... another dead end?" she muttered softly, just about to turn back.
"Oh dear!"
A soft exclamation came from behind her.
Cyrene turned her head and saw a small figure sitting on the ground not far away.
It was a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old, with soft, slightly curly green hair, wearing a simple white dress.
She was rubbing her knees, her small face slightly furrowed, and a thin layer of moisture was misty in her light green eyes, making her look utterly pitiful.
Anyone who saw her would think she was a fragile child who had accidentally fallen and needed help.
Cyrene's heart softened immediately, and she quickly ran over.
"Are you okay?" she squatted down and asked with concern.
The little girl
—Mobius
—lifted her moist eyes, looked at the face before her that was strikingly similar to Elysia's but looked younger, sneered internally, yet forced a slightly strained but determined smile, her voice soft and sweet: "I'm fine, Sister. I just tripped accidentally."
(Pink hair, blue eyes, the exact same voice... but the feeling is completely wrong.)
Mobius quickly made her assessment.
If that pink-haired fat woman were role-playing, she could never possess this kind of innocence radiating from her core, nor would Mobius's intuition lack the annoyance of being fooled.
The girl before her was like a sheet of overly clean white paper.
"Are you really okay? Do you want me to help you up?"
Cyrene extended her hand. Although a strange trace of wariness—like being brushed by cold scales—flashed through her heart, her inherent kindness made her attribute this feeling to uneasiness in an unfamiliar environment.
"Thank you, Sister."
Mobius used the leverage to stand up, patted her skirt, and looked up at Cyrene with innocent, curious eyes. "You're so pretty, Sister, you look like another pink-haired Sister I know. My name is Mobius, and I live here. What's your name, Sister? How did you get in? I don't think I've seen you before."
"My name is Cyrene."
Facing such an innocent and adorable "child," Cyrene lowered most of her guard. "I... I'm not quite sure either. I saw a very large device outside, touched it, and suddenly I was here."
(A very large device? The entrance to the Paradise? Outside is the pure white space... It must be that'System' domain.)
Mobius's mind raced, but she timely showed surprise and sympathy on her face. "Ah, then you must be lost, Sister! This place is called the Elysian Realm, and sometimes it's quite easy to get confused."
Continuing her role as the harmless guide, she began to casually fish for information: "Cyrene Sister, where are you originally from? Is your home very far away?"
"I am from... Amphoreus."
Cyrene hesitated for a moment but still spoke the name.
She vaguely felt that saying this to a "child" might be inappropriate, but the other party's clear eyes made it hard for her to refuse.
(Amphoreus? A name I've never heard of.)
Mobius slightly narrowed her eyes, and a hint of probing light flashed deep within her light green pupils.
(In that case, only one possibility remains
—she is from a world in the wider Star Sea revealed by the Black Herta.)
This conclusion caused her inner interest to spike dramatically.
"Amphoreus... that sounds like a very beautiful place."
Mobius said this in an admiring tone, then, like a child discovering a new toy, asked with a mix of excitement and anticipation: "Cyrene Sister, do you know about the 'Path'? I've heard the adults mention it lately; it sounds really amazing!"
"The Path?"
Cyrene nodded. "Mm, I know a little."
(She knows about it!)
Mobius almost couldn't suppress the rising curve of her lips. She forcefully pushed it down, making her eyes appear even brighter. "That's so cool! Which Path are you following, Sister? Can you tell me? I'm so curious!"
"I..."
Cyrene subconsciously recalled, "It seems to be... 'Remembrance'?"
(The Path of Remembrance!)
Mobius immediately called up the description of Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance, from Universal Knowledge for Dummies
—the Aeon who governs memory, whose Pathstriders are mostly related to the preservation and retrieval of information, and can even manipulate memories, with everyone possessing a Fenghuang Down.
Almost instantly, a cold thought flashed through her mind:
(Could she have already 'read' my current thoughts?)
She quickly and discreetly glanced at Cyrene's face out of the corner of her eye.
The pink-haired girl's face showed only honesty, without any sign of having uncovered a secret.
(Is she lying, or... is her current state such that she cannot actively use this power? Or is she completely unaware of it?)
Either way, it made Mobius feel she had found something of even greater research value.
A sample from another world, walking the Path of Remembrance, and highly homologous with Elysia
—this was an unprecedented experimental subject delivered right to her doorstep!
"The Path of Remembrance!"
Mobius outwardly expressed a childlike awe. "That sounds so mysterious and amazing! Just like the feeling you give off, Sister!"
Cyrene felt a little embarrassed by the praise and smiled. Then she remembered her priority: "Mobius, do you know how to get out of here and return to that pure white space I came from? I still have things to do..."
(Leave? How could I let this little fly that crashed into my net escape?)
Mobius sneered internally, but immediately put on a troubled and apologetic expression, nervously wringing her skirt with her small hands: "I'm sorry, Cyrene Sister... I don't know all the Paths here either. But!"
Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had an excellent idea. "I know a few people who might know! They know so much! I can take you to them to ask! That way you can find your way back, Sister!"
The suggestion was reasonable and full of goodwill.
Although that faint, inexplicable chill seemed to surface again in Cyrene's heart, looking at the "little girl's" enthusiastic and slightly flattering smile, she simply couldn't associate the other party with "danger."
"Really? Thank you so much, Mobius!" Cyrene said gratefully.
"You're welcome! I'm happy to help a pretty Sister too!"
Mobius smiled even more sweetly. She actively took Cyrene's hand; her palm was soft and slightly warm. "Then come with me, Sister. We'll go this way. Watch your step."
She pulled Cyrene and turned toward a corridor where the light was slightly dim and secluded.
That Path led to her personal laboratory.
Cyrene was led by that warm little hand and followed, the subtle anxiety in her heart ultimately suppressed by the hope of finding a way out.
Meanwhile, Mobius, walking ahead with her back to Cyrene, gradually let her innocent smile turn meaningful, and her light green eyes glittered with the light of a predator.
(Come, my precious 'Remembrance' sample... let's have a good 'chat.' About your world, your Path, and all the secrets hidden within you...)
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