Dad, Let Me Be Your One-Pick!

Dreamweave has already been able to deduce the upper echelons' attitude towards Liang Xiaoxiao.

Research, detention, imprisonment, execution, with the best outcome being high surveillance.

This is not without reason.

The Combat Power of the Cult of Disaster Gods is very pure. They possess gifts originating from the will of the forbidden zone, enabling them to transplant limbs, organs, and genes of Calamity Beasts, and even actively carry out calamity transformation.

This is essentially about exchanging power for temporary stability by becoming a slave to calamity. The strongest among them is second only to the Captain-Class in terms of threat.

As for Liang Xiaoxiao? Roughly speaking, her current Combat Power is only between E-Class and D-Class, and she doesn't seem to pose much of a threat.

The key issue is that she doesn't manipulate the power of calamity by acting as its lackey, but by using the afterglow of the [Lighthouse] to establish the [Cocoon of the Heart] mechanism, a mechanism belonging to Magical Girl, and then forcibly binding and controlling it using soul and flesh as containers.

In other words, she is manipulating the power of calamity.

If that were the only reason, then the higher-ups wouldn't have harbored much ill will towards her.

But...

"It's too unstable."

In her objective assessment, Astrid believes that Liang Xiaoxiao is now a fusion of Magical Girl and Calamity Beasts, and she can still maintain her human form. This is because Chu Yuanqing is too special, and Liang Xiaoxiao is inferior to both of them, and is only half-baked.

If the Cult of Disaster Gods discovers Liang Xiaoxiao's existence, they could find an opportunity to let her devour more Calamity Beasts, or even simply kill her relatives and friends, completely breaking their mentality, and this fragile balance would spiral out of control.

If a special calamity remains are added, in the worst-case scenario, she could mutate into a deformed monster that combines the advantages of Magical Girl and Calamity Beasts, making her second only to the outbreak of a forbidden zone in terms of danger.

Moreover, the most troublesome thing is that Liang Xiaoxiao is also a contestant and a member of the <Flash Dance> project.

Imagine if she were to transform into such a terrifying monster during Public Performance—how devastating would that be for the plans to reveal Magical Girl later?

Liang Xiaoxiao is a ticking time bomb; her value is far from enough to warrant the authorities taking such a risk.

So...

After a brief moment of tender cuddling, Astrid and the Little Idol teleported to the ambulance, sat down, and looked down at the gray-haired girl and the innocent-smiling Lin Bao'er, saying directly:

"Liang Xiaoxiao, are you mentally prepared?"

"If things escalate to the worst, you'll be facing either imprisonment, a laboratory, or even worse, execution."

As soon as the words were spoken, the relaxed atmosphere froze abruptly.

Lin Bao'er was pale, and she accused him urgently and angrily:

"Why? Xiaoxiao and I were just victims of the attack. Even if Xiaoxiao turned into that state, it's all that monster's fault."

"Besides, hasn't she turned back to normal now? Why are you treating her like this!"

Chen Yining also looked up angrily. Just as she was about to say something, a hand grabbed her sleeve.

Liang Xiaoxiao stopped the Young Lady's impulsive act with a grateful yet slightly apologetic smile. She then grabbed Lin Bao'er's hand, pulled her behind her, and whispered:

"Thank you, Bao'er."

"But whatever the reason, I am indeed in great danger right now. That monster... must be the enemy that Magical Girl fight against, right?"

The girl's expression was calm, her beautiful face still stained with blood, her short hair, gray and white with a few black strands, fluttering in the wind. The atmosphere was deathly still and cold, with a sense of danger like that of a wild beast.

The Liang Xiaoxiao of today is completely different from the one she was just half a day ago.

This is not just about hair color and the fact that you just cut your long hair; it's more about the impact on your personal temperament after coexisting with misfortune, and also... the decisiveness after experiencing life and death and suffering.

Liang Xiaoxiao remained completely calm. From her perspective, she should have felt aggrieved and angry, perhaps even to the point of losing her temper and making irrational accusations.

But it was precisely because she had experienced the danger of the Calamity Beasts and personally possessed this power that she understood that the official attitude was justified.

On the other hand, she was also well aware of the dangerous situation she was in.

That gift is not without end.

This time, in the face of life and death, he remembered the song the other person sang, and with a dazzling display, he turned the tide. But what about next time? And the time after that?

I am like a spectacle built with the art of balancing; with just the slightest external force, I will collapse and crumble.

Throughout the entire ordeal, she never truly felt like she had survived. The happiness and vibrant emotions she felt before were all thanks to the captain's unquestioning help and the rescue of Bao'er, whom she thought was dead.

Therefore, Astrid's words had become somewhat meaningless to her, much like telling a dying person that they have another type of cancer.

Astrid appreciated this attitude.

If Liang Xiaoxiao reacts strongly or becomes distraught, then she is truly beyond redemption.

It's cruel, but the truth is that, given the other person's current state, being unable to calmly face the fear of death and deal with their situation is tantamount to courting death.

Miss Dreamweave frankly introduced:

"The Calamity Beasts is the cancer of the world, the enemy of humanity."

"Magical Girl have many enemies, but the true source of their power is all Calamity Beasts."

Astrid looked at the silent Little Idol and said seriously:

"From a moral standpoint, you held off the Calamity Beasts, protected the civilians, and successfully killed it. I should commend you as a hero."

"But the reality is that there have been more than one case in the past where people were lucky enough to control the power of the Calamity Beasts. When they were first calamified, they may have still retained their human mindset, but they would often go completely berserk and mutate within minutes."

"Liang Xiaoxiao, you are an exception among exceptions, and I think you understand the reason why you are so special."

"But precisely because of this, if you succumb to depravity and go berserk, you will transform into an even more terrifying calamity."

"Under these circumstances, if you were in the official position, what would you do?"

--Execute on the spot.

This rational, even cold-blooded, decision appeared in the minds of the three of them almost simultaneously.

Lin Bao'er's mind went blank, her fingertips trembled. Her experiences over the past ten years had never taught her how to cope with such irrationality and cruelty.

The girl didn't understand. She didn't understand why, after finally escaping such misfortune, Xiaoxiao still had to face such difficulties and grievances.

Lin Bao'er couldn't help but ask herself, if someone wanted to kill Xiaoxiao right now, would she be able to protect them?

The answer is no.

Even if she paid the price with her life, her frail body couldn't possibly withstand many bullets.

Lin Bao'er suddenly understood Xiaoxiao's sense of powerlessness at that time, and also understood why the other party chose such a tragic method to gain the power to fight against the Calamity Beasts.

Often, having a choice at all is already a blessing.

Chen Yining loathed this feeling of being powerless to help. She could understand the official stance, but she also wanted to protect her friends.

Even after becoming Magical Girl, this power was still too weak, so weak that she had no right to say that she should be responsible for ensuring that Xiaoxiao wouldn't lose control.

The Young Lady lowered her eyes in a daze. This was the first time she had personally experienced this feeling. The little money and power she held in the secular world had no right to influence such matters in the slightest.

Liang Xiaoxiao didn't know how to comfort her two teammates, so she could only avoid their gazes and look at Astrid, calmly assessing the situation:

"Detention, imprisonment, surveillance, and the last one you mentioned—execution."

"But the first thing to do should be to get me Withdraw from Competition."

No matter how lenient the authorities are, there is no reason to allow her to appear in public.

Moreover...

The source that prompted her to devour the Calamity Beasts was a gift from the [Flow State] Development Lab. Coupled with the fact that the captain became Magical Girl, the <Flash Dance> project doesn't seem very simple no matter how you look at it.

Furthermore, considering the recent controversies, Flash Dance may have been a talent show project from the very beginning, designed to train Magical Girl.

Under such circumstances, how could the authorities possibly drop a bomb among a large group of Magical Girl trainees?

Astrid remained silent for a long time. If she were still the Primal Witch she once was, perhaps she could have taken a gamble based on her intuition and her recklessness.

But now, she is Super AI Dream Weaver implanted with rules, and a [Planetary Projector] used by the Countermeasures Bureau to observe the direction of civilization.

Liang Xiaoxiao's fate is not in her own hands.

Astrid's thoughts raced, and she said softly:

You're right.

"So, unsurprisingly, this might be the last half-day you spend with your teammates."

In fact, if Chen Yining Lighting Up n't just become Magical Girl and could control the other party to some extent, her internal rules and mechanisms would have made the decision to imprison Liang Xiaoxiao in the underground base for safety reasons.

On the other hand, the Cult of Disaster Gods has clearly seen through the official plot to proactively expose the Magical Girl and undermine their own panic-creating scheme, so they launched a large-scale counterattack today.

The result is that even today, [Calamity Species] are still hatching around the world and launching attacks.

Among those most targeted were the contestants of "Flash Dance". The attacks on Lin Bao'er and Liang Xiaoxiao were not isolated incidents. Some contestants from the Tokyo Region have even been killed.

The higher-ups are all overwhelmed with this, racking their brains for countermeasures and directing the counterattack, and have no time to deal with Liang Xiaoxiao's matter for the time being, which is why they were able to squeeze out a half-day buffer period.

Unfortunately, the Little Idol don't seem to think they're that lucky.

On the contrary, this specific number gave them a heavy sense of suffocation.

Astrid said no more and simply vanished from the spot.

The Super AI left no warning words, but everyone knew that Liang Xiaoxiao had nowhere to escape.

Any electronic device on East Flow Island could be monitoring them, and if any unusual activity is detected, armed forces will be immediately dispatched to suppress and contain them.

Furthermore, while it might be manageable for Great Xia like China, Island Nation is only so big, and under official control, it's truly impossible for it to escape.

Moreover...

Deep down, everyone still held onto hope, hoping for a turnaround.

If they try to escape, they will be permanently labeled as unstable elements, going directly from criminal reserve to wanted criminals, with no chance of ever recovering.

This is a truly heavy and cruel reality for three girls whose average age is not even that of an adult.

Liang Xiaoxiao was the first to break the silence. She brushed aside her gray hair, looked up at the two of them, and said with a bright smile:

"Let's inform Wutong and Xiaozhu first."

"It's still afternoon, let's wander around a bit, then have dinner together, and that will serve as our farewell dinner."

Hearing her best friend's nonchalant tone, Lin Bao'er's eyes immediately reddened, and tears streamed down her face. She sniffled and couldn't help but hug her friend, crying as she said okay.

Chen Yining felt her throat was extremely dry. She nodded in agreement and crossed the yellow police tape with the two of them. Under the watchful eyes of the armed forces, they boarded a special vehicle and left the blocked street.

Sapporo, as the administrative center of Hokkaido, is a rare large inland city on the East Flow Island, and it is also the most populous city among them, so its area is naturally quite large.

The blockade of this street, whether it was a staged performance or a fire, did not cause any panic among the public. After driving for a few kilometers, the scene outside the window was one of ordinary harmony and bustling activity.

Liang Xiaoxiao looked up at the scene she had seen so often before, and her whole body was once again filled with the phantom pain of being corroded and melted by sulfuric acid, and the cruel image of the Calamity Beasts overturning the tram and tearing apart Lin Bao'er's limbs. She whispered:

"Bao'er, Xiao Ning, I understand what we'll face later. That's how things are when it comes to things involving Calamity Beasts, right? If not handled properly, it can easily ruin the happiness of many people."

"I don't want to end up like that, and I certainly don't want to be the culprit."

"So, before I die, being able to save my good friend and experience what it's like to be a hero is enough for me."

"Promise me that even if you become amazing Magical Girl in the future, you will never forget our dream and will continue to stand on the stage."

As she finished speaking, tears dripped down her thighs, leaving a dark shadow.

Chen Yining didn't want to cry, but looking at the girl's silent profile and the silently falling tears, she couldn't help but feel her eyes well up with tears.

Lin Bao'er wiped away her tears while forcing a smile and comforting her:

"Dreams have no meaning if you don't achieve them yourself, right?"

"Astrid's willingness to give us this time to get to know each other means there's still room for maneuver. Cheer up, I believe Xiaoxiao will be able to control the Calamity Beasts and perfectly wield its power."

Liang Xiaoxiao, patted Lin Bao'er's hair, and whispered "Okay."

Then, she silently lowered her eyes and looked out the window, forcefully tearing off the scales growing on the inside of her wrist with her fingertips, letting the dark red mixed with purple spread out, using the pain to suppress the increasingly inhuman invasion of thought, olfactory modification, and organ alienation.

The girl tried her best to control herself, suppressing the saliva rolling in her throat. Her pupils spun several times, then quietly reversed their rotation and returned to normal. The calamity within her soul surged, stimulating an unbearable, itchy desire.

Only when they can no longer bear it will they seek help from the white light to suppress or block this anomaly.

As a price, the white light within the [Cocoon of the Heart] thinned slightly, making the darkness within even more intense.

Astrid is right; she is a monster who deserves to be executed. Half a day is just right. Even if she were given a few more days, she would not want to stay with her friends any longer.

Because...

The true nature of that desire is naked appetite.