Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"What's your position? I'm speaking from Earth's perspective to you outsiders. I represent all of H-country and even Earth's 8 billion humans! You're speaking up for this Number 14 spy now. Does that mean you dare to go against all of humanity? I've recorded everything on my phone. Just based on what you said, there's enough reason to think you're also working with World 14!"

At this point, Number 12 Feliciana seemed to have forgotten she was also an "outsider." She pulled out a phone from her pocket, waving it arrogantly in front of us. Then, switching to a serious tone, she turned to General Lee and requested respectfully:

"General, I have good reason to suspect your world's Adrian has secretly turned traitor. Please arrest him along with the people from World 14 as a warning to others!"

"That's enough!"

I couldn't stand it anymore and shouted to stop her. My blood pressure was rising rapidly.

Number 14 Feliciana was one thing, but going after my Adrian? That's not okay!

I really couldn't believe that in some parallel world, I could have such an annoying personality. Did everyone here have to let her ramble on?

"Speaking of evidence... perfect timing!"

But just as I was about to scold her, Number 14 Feliciana suddenly stepped forward. She went straight to General Lee's desk and put down a USB drive, calmly explaining: "All her crimes have been clearly recorded here."

"Ridiculous! How is that possible? I'm very careful..."

Number 12 Feliciana burst out laughing, as if she'd heard the biggest joke. She responded disdainfully: "I strictly follow all the base's rules. You couldn't possibly catch me doing anything wrong! General Lee, this is slander, blatant slander! I'm speaking for Earth now. World 14 likely has bad intentions for Earth. You can't trust her, you must punish her immediately!"

"I'm sorry, but even if an Earthling committed such crimes, it can't be tolerated! As the commander in the base, I must get to the bottom of this!"

General Lee was clear-headed and didn't just believe one side of the story. He quickly plugged the USB drive into his laptop. Soon, a video appeared on the screen.

"It must be boring always being with your world's Feliciana, right? It seemed that you and your Feliciana weren't getting along well. Why don't we go sit in the restroom for a bit? It happens to be our world's turn to use it. Maybe we can have a deep discussion about the differences between Felicianas from different worlds?"

Surprisingly, the first thing we saw was a Feliciana and Adrian from some world greeting each other.

The numbers on their chests showed they were Number 7 Feliciana and Number 12 Adrian. In the video, this Feliciana was clearly making a seductive move, and Adrian quickly fell for it.

"Really? That topic sounds interesting. But shouldn't all the people from your world be in the rest room now? Wouldn't we be interrupting?"

"Don't worry, I've already found a reason to make them all leave. This time, the rest room will be just for the two of us!"

We saw Number 7 Feliciana putting her arm around Adrian, acting very intimate. The two of them slowly walked away, disappearing around a corner.

"Damn it! How dare she go behind my back and steal my man! And looking so cheap, it makes me sick. Just wait, I'll teach her a lesson!"

Next, two girls walked into the frame. The one speaking was Number 12 Feliciana, and the other was the Cyra from her world.

Number 12 Feliciana's face turned pale when she saw this video, but she still tried to act calm, laughing coldly without caring.

"Ridiculous, this must all be acted! We all look exactly the same. It seems real, but can this be evidence? It's insulting our intelligence!"

"Please stay quiet and keep watching. You're not allowed to leave without my permission!"

However, General Lee wasn't buying her act. He loudly reminded everyone present. Number 12 Feliciana had no choice but to shut up, so everyone's attention quickly returned to the computer screen.

"This Number 7 has six wings, so she's much stronger than you. If we try to fight her directly, we might both lose. Not to mention she has her own world's allies!"

Number 12 Cyra looked at Number 12 Feliciana, who was about to rush over, and reminded her not to act recklessly.

"It's okay, if we can't use force, we'll use our brains! She's only got six wings, there are plenty of people stronger than her here. We just need to find the right reason to ruin her reputation, then take the chance to let others do our dirty work!"

I couldn't believe that one day, such an ugly expression would appear on my own face! In the video, Number 12 Feliciana's whole face was almost twisted into a knot as she said viciously, "Even though we were once the same person, anyone who dares to touch my Adrian must die!"

"That's right! Even if we can't directly go after Number 7, her friends and allies could be a good starting point!"

Number 12 Cyra agreed.

What followed were scenes of the two of them spreading rumors about Number 7 throughout the base. Their targets included many people, like Number 5 Feliciana and Number 13 Cyra.

The later part of the video froze on a dark corner, where we saw Number 12 Feliciana secretly remove her own number tag, use correction fluid on a stolen Number 7 tag to change it to Number 11, then put it on her own chest. She then turned and went to the rest room that World 11 was using, where Number 11 Adrian happened to be...

Of course, I already knew what happened next. When we questioned Number 11 Adrian, he had already told us almost everything in detail. The content on the USB drive undoubtedly recorded almost the entire "crime" process of Number 12 Feliciana. The end even included her walking out of the rest room, pretending to be Number 15 Feliciana and greeting Number 11 Feliciana warmly.

"Such a carefully planned conspiracy. If not for this USB drive as evidence, I might not have been able to convict you!"

After watching the whole thing, General Lee couldn't help but take a deep breath.

However, by this time, Number 12 had unconsciously backed up to the office door, which was already quietly open!

Luckily, the guards outside had already received orders not to let anyone leave without permission. They immediately pointed their guns at her and forced her back into the office.

"Take Number 12 Feliciana and all the visitors from World 12 to the detention room. Guard them strictly and wait for further instructions!"

Now that the true mastermind was finally revealed, General Lee immediately gave this order. To prevent any accidents along the way, Adrian volunteered to go along with the guards as extra security.

"Actually, I've already used a special binding technique on her. Now she can't do anything except walk and talk!"

Number 14 Feliciana kindly reminded us. If she hadn't mentioned it, we wouldn't have noticed at all. At some point, Number 12 Feliciana had been affected by some mysterious force, becoming bound by invisible ropes. But she didn't seem surprised at all, just muttering non-stop about how the other person had used some despicable, shameless magic.

Perhaps this was how Number 14 Feliciana had forced her to come to the office earlier...

"This looks familiar. So I guess you were also the one who subdued Number 11 Feliciana?"

Combining this with the earlier report about the base officials arresting Number 11, Adrian easily connected the dots. Even General Lee only realized at this point that it was thanks to Number 14 Feliciana's secret help that they had successfully maintained order and safety in the base.

"But this girl is too cunning. Even with your technique, I don't think it's safe enough. It would be a shame if she escaped!"

As a victim of Number 12 Feliciana's groundless accusations, Adrian had been holding in a lot of frustration. Since she was so scheming, he didn't feel comfortable letting just a few H-country soldiers handle the escort.

Regarding Adrian's insistence, Number 14 Feliciana seemed to have expected this situation. She just shrugged, showing no objection.

"What kind of technique is it really? Does such a thing exist? I feel like the spell you put on Number 12 has a water element aura?"

After Adrian left, I couldn't help but look at Number 14 Feliciana with some confusion.

"Although I don't know what this magic is, I need you to understand one thing. My choice to believe you instead of Number 12 Feliciana this time actually involved some risk!"

However, General Lee also had a lot to say. He interrupted my question and looked at Number 14 Feliciana very seriously, reminding her:

"So can you tell me how you got the video on this USB drive? After all, if you were really hiding at the scene recording all this, it doesn't make sense without predicting the future. How you knew she would appear at that place at that time. I need a reasonable explanation to make sense of all this!"