Chapter 304: Someone Who Gradually Gets Used to It Without Realizing

No one in the room objected.

— Compared to that unbelievable girl, a superhuman at the peak of the second Energy Level was indeed somewhat insignificant.

Yan Jing pushed up the round-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose and spoke as well.

"The investigation report on the TV station is mostly summarized. It's not fully written yet, but the conclusions are basically there."

Meeting Qin Shengshi's gaze, Yan Jing said, "Although we don't know who it is, there are indeed traces of other factions' involvement. It's within expectations, I suppose."

The Pollution Demon had replaced that research institute director named Wu Lan at least five years ago. As for what it had been doing all this time and how many factions it had contacted, assuming the worst was certainly the safe bet.

Even though it appeared to have been completely erased, if Wind Capital started experiencing all sorts of chaos again in the future, its deeds would most likely be the root of all evil.

"And regarding that hired sorcerer 'Black Feather'..."

"Interrogation hasn't managed to pry anything valuable out of her mouth yet. That woman is very slippery."

"If not for that mysterious girl using methods we don't understand to subdue her directly across space, she definitely would have escaped again this time."

"However, the tech department found several secret overseas bank accounts from the phone and computer she carried. We've already coordinated with the financial department to freeze them all."

"There were tens of millions of Ying Nation currency in there. That money has been transferred into our accounts, which counts as a nice boost to this quarter's operational budget."

Yan Jing pushed up his glasses and continued.

"Additionally, over the past few days we've received quite a few threatening letters from anonymous superhumans, demanding the Sixth Division immediately release 'Black Feather.'"

"Some sorcerers at the mid second Energy Level have even posted statements on the dark web to pressure us."

"Expected. Over the past few years, Black Feather used her spell to collect dirt on many figures from both the underworld and legitimate society that no one wants made public. Naturally, various factions don't want to see her in our hands."

Qin Shengshi's expression was calm.

But her golden eyes seemed to ripple with concentric circles, carrying a soul-stirring pressure.

"But this time she crossed the line, actually participating in such an extremely dangerous ritual and cooperating with a Root Demon. There's no longer any possibility of releasing her."

"The only reason I haven't refined her into an artifact is out of consideration for the intelligence she knows, which is still somewhat useful."

Yan Jing nodded, a flash of satisfaction passing through his eyes.

Black Feather was now imprisoned in the highest-level cell at the deepest underground level. Unless someone could raze this place to the ground and behead Qin Shengshi, there was no possibility of her escaping.

But as the Chief of the Sixth Division, aside from not being able to deploy freely, Qin Shengshi's strength was also...

She smiled. "Wu Nuo's injuries have mostly healed."

"Once he's dealt with the side effects of the Transcendent Means and has his hands free, he'll think of a way to deal with those loudmouths."

— The Sixth Division had never had a good relationship with many of the old-established factions, and this time during the P Incidents, they had been vaguely targeted and kept in the dark.

By ordinary societal logic, the Sixth Division, as an official force, should lower its head and swallow this grievance, then pretend nothing happened while continuing to maintain tacit understanding with other factions.

After all, the larger a faction is, the more it needs to cooperate with other factions, requiring many exchanges of interests. It's impossible to exist independently.

But clearly, the Sixth Division's style was not like that.

For those who abide by social order, the Sixth Division would respond with methods within the same rules, without overstepping. If you can beat the Sixth Division within the rules, then there's nothing to say.

But since certain people chose to disrespect the current social order and wanted to create something new...

Of course they could.

Then let them experience the most primal logic of the survival of the fittest.

No evidence needed, only likes and dislikes. The strong need only do as they please.

If they couldn't kill the Pollution Demon, could they not kill those who were jumping around so happily?

Hearing this, Chen Yujie couldn't help but smile.

"Speaking of which, the Deputy Chief's artifact... its side effect is quite interesting. These past few days I've noticed he seems to have been soaking in some Pachinko parlor the whole time."

"It seems he has to play for a certain amount of time before it's done."

"..."

The briefing didn't last much longer before it ended. The group chatted for a while more, then rose to prepare to leave.

But for some reason, throughout the entire briefing, the golden-haired girl had been somewhat distracted and hadn't said much, as if she'd been reminded of something by the topics just discussed.

— Was she too tired?

The division had originally awarded her a special first-grade sorcerer certification for her outstanding performance in this incident. Once her curse power met the standard, she could become a first-grade sorcerer immediately without review.

But Luo Xi, who had always been so persistent about this, seemed to have little reaction.

Qin Shengshi watched her departing figure and once again confirmed that it wasn't caused by any negative emotion.

Then... she wouldn't ask.

If she didn't want to say, there was no need to press.

It was normal for a girl to have some secrets of her own.

Now then... perhaps there was something more critical and more important to do.

The next moment, Qin Shengshi moved the mouse and clicked open a file on her desktop.

........

Haiyue Residential Complex, Room 201.

Despite it being nearly November, Wind Capital's weather still carried a stuffy heat like midsummer.

A sliver of breeze slipped through the half-open window, making the curtains flutter gently.

Afternoon sunlight spilled onto the single bed covered with soft, pure white sheets, illuminating the figure of the slender girl who had just gotten up.

That head of cherry hair, long enough to reach her waist, trailed across the bed, spreading softly, seeming to glow in the sunlight.

The girl wore an exceptionally loose cotton-white nightgown, her sweet, pretty face still carrying a trace of sleepiness as she stared blankly out the window.

Her slender right hand, painted with orange nail polish, gently grasped the red gem pendant at her chest, as if feeling the steady, reassuring breathing within.

The girl sat on the bed for a while, and finally, as if her low blood pressure had passed, she wobbled to her feet, dragging sleeves and pant legs clearly a size too long as she walked into the bathroom and began to wash up.

— Showing off really did feel good, and continuously showing off continuously felt really good.

But that battle hadn't come without cost for her.

At the very least, the consumption was very real.

Winning had been simple enough, but the other operations were what accounted for the bulk of the consumption.

Whether it was breaking through the Energy Level ceiling to briefly advance to C-Rank, or dominating that sorcerer named Black Feather, altering the live broadcast feed, tracing all the clones to completely pin down the Pollution Demon, or restoring the battle site and reversing the ritual, all of it had been a considerable drain on the existence force within the Pride Mark.

Lin Guang chose to use magic power to recharge it, converting it into existence force. After all, a trump card should recover as quickly as possible.

And as everyone knew, her magic power recovery speed was fastest when maintaining the Mengmengxiang form.

Therefore.

Aside from leaving a sliver of energy to operate the Stand-in Body for school and normal activities, and to observe Xia Yao, as well as that silly pixie trapped by the later trick she'd left in the gem, Lin Guang's main body had spent the past few days basically recovering magic power at maximum speed, then pouring magic power into the embryonic Domain, and after magic power was exhausted, falling unconscious again...

She was practically in the same state as Mengmengxiang re-entering deep sleep.

Every day she woke up dizzy, like low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and she even got her period...

And this groggy existence was estimated to last about another week before the Pride Mark's consumption could be fully replenished.

Honestly, it felt a bit slow.

Even though the Pollution Demon had used fragments of its own True Transformation Element as materials, taken five years to produce two transcendent memory devices, plotted the ritual, and they were still single-use consumables.

By that calculation, her recovery speed was at least seventy times faster than its.

But she still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

Forget seventy times, even a hundred times was still too few.

A true powerhouse's mana pool and recovery speed should be thousands or tens of thousands of times that of others.

This matter is also recorded in "Devouring the ○ky."

However...

Lin Guang could clearly feel that the Pride Mark's recovery speed was getting faster and faster.

Whether it was the faintly rising magic power concentration in the air day by day after that battle, or the gradually decreasing suppression force across the world, both seemed to herald one thing.

From this angle, the mysterious tide was indeed accelerating its pace of revival.

After finishing her wash, she walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, casually grabbing one from the freezer drawer full of all kinds of ice cream.

Returning to the bedroom, she sat back down on the bed. The cherry-haired girl tore open the wrapper, then extended her pink little tongue and began slowly licking and savoring this slender, light-blue popsicle.

Don't ask whether eating on an empty stomach would cause a stomachache. Magical girl matters don't need to be thought through so clearly.

Buzz— Buzz—