'Damn you, Jing Yuan!'
So that's why he wouldn't tell me how much the reward was in person and instead told me to go ask Yanqing for it rather than him or the Diviner.
'He was planning to exploit my labor all along!'
'If I went to him and found out how much the reward was, there was no telling whether Levi would draw his sword and start fighting right there on the spot.'
'But if I went to Yanqing, Levi might not resort to violence.'
'After all, Yanqing wasn't the one who had started this whole thing. He was just following orders. They were both wage slaves, so why make things difficult for each other?'
'By then, Jing Yuan would simply shut the doors of the Divine Foresight Office and insist that no outsiders were allowed in unless they had urgent business.'
"As a law-abiding, rule-following citizen, Levi couldn't exactly force his way inside, could he?'
With the two thousand Credits he'd received from Guinaifen in hand, Levi left the Divination Commission with a dark expression. As the Divination Commission hadn't finished work for the day, Qingque was kept behind by her colleagues to continue working.
Watching Levi's retreating figure from where she stood, she cried out in dismay at having been tricked.
She might as well stop by the mahjong parlor on the way and play a few rounds.
"Strange..."
After learning that the heliobus inside Fu Xuan had been removed, Jing Yuan received word that Yanqing couldn't get in touch with Levi to pay him his reward. His expression turned a little odd.
He'd completed the mission but didn't want the reward?
Had he developed a conscience during the process and decided to do more good deeds for the Luofu?
That didn't seem very likely.
"General, what should we do now? Do you need me to go to Mr. Levi's residence and look for him?"
"No need."
Hearing Yanqing's question, Jing Yuan shook his head. "Contact Qingque and transfer the Credits to her."
Given their current relationship, transferring the Credits to Qingque was no different from transferring them directly to Levi.
Besides, there were still plenty of matters on the Luofu that Yanqing needed to handle.
He couldn't spare the time.
After hearing this, Yanqing obediently did as Jing Yuan instructed.
"Huh?"
An exclamation of surprise rang out from the Divination Commission. Qingque, who was at her workstation, suddenly noticed that Yanqing, Jing Yuan's little sidekick, had contacted her. On top of that, several tens of thousands of Credits had appeared in her company account.
"Has the Xianzhou Alliance started handing out postwar compensation?!"
Qingque's eyes widened as she held her jade abacus and read the message word by word.
Then she discovered that this wasn't postwar compensation from the Xianzhou Alliance at all. It was the reward the General had promised Levi for completing the heliobus removal mission.
It was just that Yanqing, who was responsible for paying out the reward, couldn't get in touch with Levi, so he'd transferred the Credits to her instead.
She was supposed to pass them on to Levi.
"Then I'll just... ahem, ahem, ahem! Keep them safe for him!"
Qingque put away her jade abacus. Her mood, which had been sour because of the mountain of work piled up before her, improved considerably.
Credits really were a miracle cure.
They practically cured the illness the moment they were administered.
Although Guinaifen had felt a little pained handing over some Credits to Levi, she'd been recording a video the entire time Levi was taking action.
Once she uploaded it to her account, the traffic she'd gain would make the expense worthwhile.
She'd also captured two heliobi that had escaped, advancing the progress of her ghost-catching mission.
Overall, the Ghostbusters Squad wasn't losing out either.
So who was the one losing out?
"Dammit! Give me a discount! I'll come again next time."
Outside the Divination Commission, Levi was using his usual haggling techniques to negotiate with a street vendor. In the end, he used the Credits Guinaifen had given him to buy a cup of Immortal's Delight Tea.
It helped soothe his irritation.
Some time later, Mobius contacted Levi through the group chat.
"How are my body and the laboratory coming along?", She asked.
Even though her emotions weren't visible through text, Levi could still guess how impatient Mobius was feeling.
Unfortunately...
"The body has been ready for a long time."
A ready-made little Herta doll, equipped with the most advanced technology in Honkai: Star Rail.
Herta's consciousness could move freely between her puppets, inhabiting each one at will. That meant these puppets definitely had the ability to accommodate souls.
He just wasn't sure whether her research had reached the level of manipulating souls, or whether she'd left her own mental imprint on the puppets.
If she had, that would prevent any consciousness other than her own from controlling them.
"It's just that the laboratory isn't ready yet... Of course, I've already bought the place. I just haven't gotten the experimental equipment ready."
Whether she'd placed any restrictions on the puppets would become clear once Mobius came over and tried them.
If she had, he could simply remove them himself when the time came.
"So only the experimental equipment is left...", Little Snake murmured to herself.
The fact that everything wasn't ready yet was within her expectations. On the contrary, if everything had already been prepared, she would have to take a closer look at this fellow Levi.
Had he already planned everything out in advance to trick her into coming over?
Still, with only the experimental equipment left to prepare, the efficiency was impressive enough to surprise Mobius.
It seemed this guy held a fairly high position in his world.
At the very least, he held a high position in that place called the Luofu.
As she thought about this, Mobius typed into the group chat, "Easy. I've already contacted Grey Serpent and told him to purchase everything. It should all be ready by this afternoon. You can go pick it up then."
"(Pom-Pom OK.jpg)"
"Now, I want to try out my body. That's fine, right?"
Mobius's eyes flickered. She was extremely eager to see the brand-new body Levi had prepared for her.
"Of course."
Levi replied in the group chat.
Immediately afterward, he received a request from Mobius.
The next second, the petite figure of Little Snake appeared in front of Levi.
Mobius was the first to look around. The two of them were standing on the shore, with an endless ocean stretching out beside them.
Mobius remembered Levi mentioning it before.
"It's called the Ancient Sea, right?"
A withered giant tree stood in the Ancient Sea.
Shifting her gaze to Levi, who was looking out at the sea, Mobius didn't ask what he was doing here. Instead, she asked where her new body was.
Levi shifted his gaze away from the black speck in the Ancient Sea and jokingly patted his own chest.
Watching his movement, Mobius immediately narrowed her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing through them.
"Are you sure?"
Although she asked this with her mouth, her body was already in motion.
She slowly moved closer until her chest was almost pressed against Levi's. Looking up at him, she said, "I'm very curious about your body."
Although the fact that he was male made Mobius feel a little uncomfortable, given how special Levi was and how curious she was about him, she didn't mind if her new body was male.
At most, she'd just need some time to get used to it.
Feeling Mobius's fingers wandering over his body, Levi's expression changed. He took two steps back and looked at her as though she were a pervert.
She seemed to be taking her perversion a little too far.
"Just kidding."
After saying this, Levi keenly noticed the disappointment in Mobius's eyes.
'Come on, girl.'
'I'm providing you with an experimental site and a new body. Are you seriously planning to take over my body too?!'
'Take my advice. My body is too powerful for you to handle.'
Noticing Mobius's disappointment, Levi hurriedly changed the subject. He pulled a little Herta doll out of his crotch and held it in front of himself, blocking Mobius's view.
Mobius gave it a couple of looks and was stunned by the exquisite craftsmanship of the little Herta doll.
Ten thousand times better than Vill-V's.
If it weren't for the obvious mechanical structures at its joints, no one would be able to tell that the doll in front of them was a robot.
However...
Her gaze shifted to Levi's lower body.
"Where did you just pull that out from?"
"..."