Hermione had never seen Elena like this before.

She hovered weightlessly in mid-air, the streamlined blue and white armor outlining her slender waist and straight legs. Blade-like tail fins unfurled behind her like a skirt, and extensions from the headpiece resembled elven ears. Her waterfall of silver hair was divided into pigtails down her back.

But most importantly... there was a pure white breastplate with a beautiful curve covering her chest.

(Image for reference only [→Click to view])

"As you can see," Elena weaved nimbly through the hangar, "Valkyria I is far more agile than an ordinary broom."

In fact, the development of this mecha wasn't as easy as it looked to Hermione and the others.

Due to the lack of CNC systems and AI adjustment, Valkyria I relied heavily on magical support.

Whether it was armor attachment, shape-shifting, or flight conversion... all these burdens were borne by Elena as the operator.

Not to mention, a precious Philosopher's Stone was used in the initial modeling and overall spellcasting stages.

"Don't you think it looks a little strange?"

Hermione scrutinized Elena, her gaze sweeping over the girl's beautiful curves, and asked suspiciously.

"If you're focusing on streamlining, Elena's upper body armor is obviously somewhat uncoordinated, right?"

"Eh, what?" Luna and Hannah tilted their heads simultaneously, asking curiously.

"It's, it's that—"

Hermione's cheeks flushed slightly, and she gestured awkwardly in front of her.

She had clearly seen it just last night in the bathroom, and she should be slightly better than Elena... but why did the white-haired ball of fluff seem to have a figure that crushed her by several streets from the current armor? Hermione refused to believe that she was the bottom one among the four of them.

There was no doubt that this hypocritical white-haired ball of fluff was cheating!

"Oh, it shouldn't affect flight, look at how freely Elena is flying."

Hannah glanced at Elena, her eyes filled with envy. "This armor is really beautiful, I want one too—"

Just then, Elena landed back beside the three little ones. She was a little tired from flying for a while.

However, this wasn't physical fatigue, but rather the mental pressure she endured in calculating and controlling the "mecha" during flight.

For example, when flying, she had to consciously control at least eight pieces of armor on her legs and two pieces on her waist. And when she started to change direction or make more complex and difficult flying maneuvers, the mental load on the operation increased geometrically.

"No, not yet, this is much harder than a flying broom."

Elena breathed softly, hovered next to Hannah, and reached out to poke the憨憨(hān hān, silly/憨厚) girl's cheek.

"There are many reasons—as you just saw, the 'key' to activate it is my wand—well, I know you have one, Miss Lovegood. However, size is also an issue. You are in your developmental stage and cannot have armor tailored to your body types. If we solve the variable parameters, we might consider it, but until then, only I can activate this Valkyria I..."

Hearing Elena's words, Hannah's hopeful little face collapsed almost instantly.

Perhaps Hermione and Irina could try, but the difference in figure between her and Elena was too great.

Not to mention custom armor made of steel, even the relatively loose-fitting Hogwarts robes, Elena's style was too...

Wait—

Something's not right!

Hannah suddenly blinked, her eyes darting towards Elena's 'ample' chest.

Elena obviously noticed this too. She shrugged calmly and subtly changed the subject.

"That's the end of the demonstration! Now I'll take you to see something else. There might be weapons testing the day after tomorrow. At that time, I'll fly well in the open space outside. I'll have them get a few good brooms. If you really want to fly..."

"You're lying! The size here is clearly wrong!"

Hannah said quickly, flicking her finger in front of the fake white breastplate.

However, unexpectedly, there was no hollow sound inside. Instead, there was a muffled thud.

"Eh... how is that possible..."

Hannah paused for half a second, looking at Hermione with confusion.

Just as she and Hermione were trying to recall what Elena looked like in the bathroom last night, a fluttering voice suddenly came to their ears.

"I guess... that inside... should be Elena's clothes from before, right?"

Luna said leisurely, her pale silver eyes lingering on [Elena · Mecha Girl Mode] for a few seconds.

"When, um, you put on that flying broom, you didn't take off the clothes inside—you just rolled up your robe and piled it all in the chest area, right? So that's why it looks like this. Elena, aren't you uncomfortable?"

"...This, um—"

The smile on Elena's face gradually disappeared, and her gaze swept fiercely among the surrounding researchers.

"These involve the structure of the mecha. The electrical control and energy are here. I was just being rigorous and filling in some things to simulate the actual effect, and it's not out of envy or vanity... Let's go see the bedroom! Valkyria, deactivate—"

Elena snapped her fingers quickly, and the blue and white armor covering her torso and limbs disintegrated one by one.

Compared to the light and shadow effects and smooth visuals of the "transformation," the deactivation of the "battle maiden" state was clearly a different style.

As Elena actively "disconnected," the various metal modules that had been floating under the magic's activation instantly collapsed, scattering all over the floor with a crash, looking as if they were a pile of building blocks that had fallen apart because the last load-bearing beam had been suddenly pulled out.

Of course, along with the blue and white mecha, the pile of clothes pushed into Elena's chest also fell.

"Oh, right, I forgot one thing, the pilot's pressure-resistant combat suit—remember to mention this project, as well as the electrical control and energy system. If there are any problems or areas that need to be broken through and resolved, remember to update them at any time... You are the chief research team of the Hyperion, with so many resources and special rights, don't have too many concerns... Let's call it a day."

Elena said, organizing her clothes expressionlessly.

Wait...

When her Animagus and advanced Transfiguration are accomplished, solving her own growth cycle and development problems, she will definitely become the cutest invincible magical girl in the world. As for these dark histories, they are just a sacrifice for science and magic.

Elena looked murderous.

The surrounding researchers obviously noticed it too.

So, the previous wizard supervisor quickly stood up. He cleared his throat.

"Cough cough, oh, right—there are still some problems with Valkyria I. We will complete the implementation of the electrical control and energy system as soon as possible."

They quickly drew their wands, guiding the pile of metal armor on the ground back to its original point.

As Elena had introduced before, this "prototype" still had a long way to go before it officially became an independent piece of equipment, besides being able to move—magic could make the mecha float up illogically, but the CNC system had to have a normal connection.

The biggest problem now is that Valkyria I, or rather the magical world today, does not have a mature intelligent system.

In other words, the deployment of the current "magical battle maiden" is completely a one-time thing, similar to the oldest muskets, each time it is activated, it must be cleaned and reloaded before it can continue to be used, which is also one of the main factors restricting the progress of the entire project.

The surrounding people looked at each other and then dispersed in an orderly manner, returning to their respective positions and continuing the work they had been doing before.

Undoubtedly, each of Elena's test flights would provide valuable flight data.

In addition to restoring the "flying broomstick form," they also had to test the wear and tear of each module, as well as a series of parameters such as the coordination of each part after the full module reconfiguration. The difficulty of developing a "magic mecha" was about the same as developing a new generation of fighter jets.

Elena led Hermione, Hannah, and Luna through the crowd, introducing them to the work of each project team in the hangar.

However, compared to those complex and cumbersome processes, they were obviously more concerned about what they had just seen.

"So, that's the Hyperion's future secret weapon?"

Hermione looked back and said thoughtfully.

"Elena, but I remember you also have a broom company, called Sugoi, um—"

She frowned, trying to recall the conversation she had overheard in the stands before.

"'Sugoi', in the Eastern island country, the meaning of this word is 'amazing'." Elena said, shrugging. "If you really can't remember the pronunciation, you can also call it [Super Amazing Brooms Co., Ltd.]. One of the industries under the Mandate of Heaven Group, Hannah should be in contact with it later."

"Most industrial products are divided into military, civilian, and scientific research grades."

Elena glanced at Luna, who hesitated to speak, and explained with a serious face, counting her fingers.

"However, since the magic world doesn't have a true army, there are only the latter two divisions for the time being."

"The Hyperion belongs to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in terms of usage rights. In the absence of fishing missions, it usually undertakes part of the school's scientific research work. And when the technology here matures, some safe secondary technologies will be distributed to the society for application..."

"But this still doesn't answer my question, and—"

Hermione frowned in confusion. "Why are you suddenly talking about this?"

"Eh, I think, isn't it obvious?"

Elena blinked, shaking her fingers meaningfully.

"Authority, authority—Miss Granger, don't forget your new identity. This is not a Hogwarts classroom. If you want to know any secrets, it's best to find a way to figure it out yourself, instead of waiting for others to tell you."

"This is the Hyperion, which condenses the balance and intersection of the three forces... You have to start learning to move on your own."

As she said that, Elena walked to the end of Hangar 1, and gently touched the small display screen next to the wall with her fingertip.

The familiar mobile door opened again.

"In everyone's bedroom, there is a simple query machine... According to your permissions, you can see a lot of good things哦 (ō, a sentence-final particle used to express entreaty, warning, etc.)—"

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好耶 (Hǎo yé)! (Yay!)