Chapter 446
No, doesn't that prove your superpower is completely useless? What are you so happy about?!
Xu Ling also realized the problem. She coughed and said in a serious tone:
"Whether I have superpowers or not doesn't matter, being safe and sound is the most important thing, safety first!"
Xu Ling had already made up her mind and decided to put this useless [Wish Technique] aside, and continued:
"Besides, superhero movies always say that with great power comes great responsibility. If your sister really had some amazing superpowers, would she still be able to sleep in late, slack off, and play games happily every day?"
Pei Xiaotong seemed to be deep in thought.
Indeed, although everyone envies the dazzling Magical Girl, just like the contestants who gave up advancing to debut in that second Public Performance, not everyone can accept the price behind this brilliance.
The same applies to superpowers. If someone awakens a particularly useful ability and is summoned by their country during wartime, how could they refuse?
The little girl sighed:
"Ling Bao, you are truly wise in your apparent foolishness."
Xu Ling: "?"
The girl sneered, happily dialed her aunt's number, and immediately tattled on Pei Xiaotong, who had just cheered "Yay!", making her go back to do her homework obediently with a long face.
But not long after, things took an unexpected turn, and Pei's mother said on the other end of the phone:
"Xiaotong, the news is calling on everyone to watch the live stream of the <Flash Dance> Donghuang Competition Zone. Let's all cheer for the Magical Girl from the Great Xia team!"
Pei's mother, clearly possessing a strong sense of national pride, continued:
"Put your homework aside and go watch it with your sister. While you're at it, introduce these Magical Girl to your dad and me. We're busy with work and haven't watched many episodes of <Flashdance> yet."
Pei Xiaotong felt that today was her lucky day. She immediately cheered, said "Mom is so good," put down her pen, put all her homework aside, put out sparkling water and snacks, and skillfully turned on the TV to change the channel.
The girl completely forgot her anger at being betrayed by her cousin, pulled her to sit down, and excitedly started watching the live stream that hadn't started yet.
Meanwhile, similar things are happening all over the country and even the world. After the ongoing gestation of forbidden zones, the human leadership has already regarded the competition to determine the champions of the Donghuang Competition Zone and the Sacred Zone as the final promotional video.
Currently, Flash Dance and governments around the world have announced that a global stage extravaganza will be held in seven days to use Shine Magic to cleanse the world of hidden Calamity Beasts and evil spirits, restoring a clean and safe home for human civilization.
At the same time, previous accounts of various tragedies caused by attacks by Calamity Beasts, as well as the on-site impacts that were previously prohibited from being disseminated, were allowed to be broadcast with tacit approval, seemingly with the intention of strengthening public awareness.
To increase awareness, various countries have adopted mandatory measures, requiring people to attend the event on the designated day unless they are seriously ill, elderly, mentally ill, or otherwise unable to attend due to force majeure.
Now, stadiums, stages, squares, parks, cinemas, theaters, stargazing venues, school playgrounds and classrooms, and even the space under the stage in Happy Valley reserved for circuses in various cities have been reserved, cleared out, and filled with seats and Obsidian Base, to provide a dazzling spectacle for the public to watch.
All this regional data is compiled on the official website of <FlashDance>. You can click on the website, enter your ID number, and reserve a spot a week later based on your location.
After receiving a text message on her phone yesterday, Xu Ling tried to make a reservation and was lucky enough to get a seat at a nearby stadium.
Pei Xiaotong went to bed early yesterday and only made an appointment after getting up, so she was assigned to a park near her community and sat with the elderly.
If you're even less lucky, you might be assigned to a location outside Sea Capital, where the government will reimburse your airfare and train tickets, and you'll have to travel there a day in advance to wait and watch.
With such a massive mobilization, a full ten billion people in the Great Xia Nation could be seated in the audience that day, making it an extremely grand event.
It's worth mentioning that those who reserved seats but weren't assigned seats also had to sit in front of their TVs at home and record what they were watching in real time, which they would then have to upload afterwards.
This strict approach naturally drew a lot of criticism, but it was all dismissed by saying it was "equivalent to wartime".
In fact, if it weren't for the desire to avoid panic and riots, and the failure to announce that civilization is on the verge of extinction, all current opposition would be considered crimes against humanity.
However, there are also advantages to making it public.
The current atmosphere is certainly strict, but in the context of Great Xia, it also has a nostalgic charm of returning to the era of the "iron rice bowl," where everyone farmed during the day and sat in rows to watch movies at night. It's not that tense, and there's a subtle Proud in being able to contribute to the country and the world just by sitting there.
Xu Ling placed a plate of sunflower seeds on the table and said excitedly:
"The live stream has started."
Pei Xiaotong sighed contentedly:
"So many beautiful girls! It feels like I could collect all the cute elements of anime just by glancing at them. It's so wonderful."
Xu Ling searched diligently for Little Sakura's figure. As an extremely enthusiastic supporter, she had Fiery Eyes Golden Gaze and soon found Kiriwake Yayoi in the "family photo." She began to admire the other's new stage outfit and revealed a happy, maternal smile.
Yayoi! So cute! Let's stick them together!
At this moment, the WeChat call on her phone had turned into a family group voice message. She and Pei Xiaotong could hear the voices of their aunts, uncles, and other relatives asking which teams belonged to Great Xia.
So the two girls worked together to deal with the relatives' chatter, like patient and devout missionaries, taking photos, zooming in, taking screenshots, and sending them to the group chat, while also providing explanations and introductions using images and text from Baidu Encyclopedia.
After all the fuss, Dream Weaver Rabbit had explained the general rules and moved on to the lottery, where the first idol team to appear soon took the stage.
Pei Xiaotong glanced at the audience seats piled high with [Calamity Species] and mannequins in front of the camera, and groaned as she touched her pale legs, which were covered in goosebumps. She muttered under her breath:
"Wow, are all [Calamity Species] so bizarre? As soon as they were removed from the metal and liquid nitrogen, they all started writhing and twisting on the seats. That's terrifying."
Xu Ling also found it rather eerie. She suddenly wished that the [Wish Technique] could actually work. If she really encountered a [Calamity Species] in reality, she would definitely be like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, screaming and running away.
Just kidding, I can't even imagine what would happen if I were caught by such a monster.
Right now, beneath the stage, there are a thousand Calamity Beasts eggs about to hatch.
"This competition format is terrifying. If I were the Little Idol on stage, my legs would be shaking with fear."
Pei Xiaotong complained:
"Indeed, but compared to the last attack on Sea Capital, the <Flash Dance> competition was indeed much gentler."
"Thinking about it that way, there's really nothing to compete in the Holy Zone next door, right? Charlotte could just declare herself the winner."
Xu Ling said earnestly:
"You can't say that. The results and rankings in this competition will determine a lot of things."
"Although the first-place winner will be able to perform on the world-class stages of the Donghuang Federation and the Holy United States, which are the largest and most watched and broadcast globally, the others will also go to stages around the world to perform simultaneously, according to their rankings."
"In other words, the higher the ranking, the better the stage you can perform on, and the larger the audience you'll have. For an idol, this is the most worthwhile reward to strive for."
The girl's voice faltered as she spoke. She frowned slightly, a sharp pain shot through her head, and the blessed mark in her Sea of Consciousness slowly shattered. A blazing white light washed over her limbs and body, then vanished in an instant.
Xu Ling felt a strange sense of loss. Following the guidance of her heart, she looked up at her bedroom.
Then, my gaze traveled through the wall and settled on the figurines on the bedside table.
That's Madoka Kaname, the Magical Girl.
The next second, the bowstring in her hand loosened, and the arrow transformed into a dazzling arc of light, instantly piercing her pupil!
P. S.: It's on the big bookshelf now! This is the last recommendation slot I can get, so I hope subscriptions will be better. It'll probably be finished in about a week. Waaaaah, someone please give me some popcorn to support me!
Volume 1: 422. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sea Ticket, The End of the World.
The arrow pierced the iris, reached the brain, and then melted into the Sea of Consciousness, decomposing into a strange string of characters resembling gibberish, after which it ceased to move.
Xu Ling snapped back to her senses, no longer able to see through the walls. She hurriedly ran back to her room and looked at the Magical Girl figurine. The arrow nocked on the bowstring had indeed disappeared.
--It's not an illusion.
So, it's because of the [Wish Technique]? But even if it were to grant the dozens of wishes she made in the bathroom, would it really be enough to bring Madoka's figure to life and have it shoot an arrow at her?
Xu Ling sensed something was wrong. She tried to make a wish again, but unlike before, she could no longer sense the blessing mark implanted deep in her soul.
Instead, she received a vague message that helped her understand the function and mechanism of the [Wish Technique].
This is not a superpower, but a mysterious gift called a blessing.
The [Wish Technique] can listen to the holder's deepest desires and grant them.
However, it is not a panacea and has many limitations.
First, the [Wish Technique] will only grant the holder's wish once, after which it will remain dormant forever; it is a one-time blessing.
Secondly, there is a limit to how powerful the "Wish Technique" can be. If your deepest wish is for the whole world to be free from famine, it might only give a truckload of bread to all the poorest areas, and it won't really solve the problem.
Finally, the form, method, and process by which the [Wish Technique] fulfills the holder's wish cannot transcend the holder's own perception.
So...
"The wish I have deep in my heart is so difficult to fulfill that, in my subconscious mind, only a bug-level power like the Law of Cycles, which only exists in the world of anime, could possibly be achieved?"
"Then, because the Law of Cycles exceeded the limits of [Wish Technique], it simply brought the figure to life, letting Madoka shoot an arrow, going through the motions, and that was considered the wish fulfilled?"
Xu Ling deduced the whole story and was momentarily unsure whether to criticize the [Wish Technique] for being utterly useless, or to be ashamed that she actually harbored such grand ambitions deep within her heart.
The girl pondered the jumbled code in her head, and for a moment she was both amused and exasperated by this blessing and her own wish.
Alright, alright, I'd like to see what use this remaining thing can be.
Annoyed, Xu Ling pulled out a chair, sat down at the table, and copied it out with paper and pen.
But just as the pen tip was about to leave the paper, the entire sheet seemed to be twisted and crumpled, a whooshing roar exploded in my ears, and the reality before my eyes was corrected and evaporated.
The notebook, from which a page had just been torn, was now perfectly intact, except for the handwritten words that had vanished without a trace.
"... No, this?"
Xu Ling's pupils dilated in shock. She felt as if she had become the female lead in some horror movie and had done something suicidal. She immediately dropped her pen in a panic and got up to get away from the table.
However, a silent terror had already crept into their hearts.
The indescribable mist enveloped the soul, cleansing memories and the self, and in an instant, it carried away the information of the [Wish Technique].
Xu Ling slid to her knees. She choked for a long time before finally surfacing like a drowning person. She breathed heavily and uncontrollably until she coughed, tears streaming down her face. It took her a long time to come to her senses, and she looked completely bewildered.
Hey, what's going on? What happened?
Before her thoughts could wander to strange places and she could even suspect she was being hypnotized, the door opened, and her little cousin's confused question reached her ears.
"Ling Bao, what are you looking for on the ground with your butt sticking out?"
Xu Ling got up dejectedly, shaking her head and replying groggily:
"I don't know, maybe it's looking for my lost youth."
Pei Xiaotong bit into a piece of crushed ice, thought for a moment, and then pronounced her verdict:
"Stop dreaming. You won't find anyone. Even if your skin improves and you become prettier, you'll still be a student at Zhongdeng High School. You won't have the chance to date male high school students in school."
The girl muttered under her breath, "Actually, I prefer JK," while wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. Confused, she returned to the Living room to continue watching the program.
At this moment, deep within the soul, a scrambled arrow, composed of gibberish, black borders, and mysterious characters, sometimes forming an arrow, sometimes transforming into a stream of light, finally slowly sinks into silence, lurking at the bottom of the Sea of Consciousness, motionless.
Great Xia, Shunchang County.
At the foot of Lingfeng Peak lies Fulong Town.
This quaint town outside the city is steeped in a long history and culture. Along the winding mountainside, one can find sacrificial tombs, altars, palaces, temples, and government offices everywhere.
In the afternoon, along the rugged mountain path, a tall figure walked amidst the interplay of light and shadow. Her black hair was tied into a low ponytail with a red ribbon, a simple white shirt accentuated her mature figure, and pure black suit trousers hugged her long legs.
The woman's reddish-brown eyes met the scorching afternoon sun, and her beautiful face was outlined by the halo of light, revealing the calm and weariness of a working professional.
Wu Zhenyi stepped through the tangled grass, lit the three incense sticks in her hand with a gleaming silver lighter, and quietly traversed the mountain path. Her eyes would sometimes droop as she looked nostalgically at the nearby tombstones, which had been wiped clean year after year, yet remained spotless, her expression both devout and sorrowful.
Wu Zhenyi, 28 years old, retired [Witch], formerly known as [Red Lotus].
Six years ago, she and 17 other Witch participated in the campaign to suppress the Three Pure Ones uprising.
The result was 10 deaths, 3 injuries, 1 person's lantern deterioration, and 4 serious injuries. As one of the seriously injured, her lantern was covered in dust afterward, her magical energy declined, her constructed Magic Armor became unstable, and [Full Bloom] could no longer be used.
Therefore, the artificial lantern had to be sealed away and was ordered to be retired by the Countermeasures Bureau.
Subsequently, at her request, she was assigned to Fulong Town, not far from the Sanqing Forbidden Zone, to work in the department promoting local culture, holding the nominal position of supervisor.
There was no other reason than that those people were buried on Lingfeng Mountain.
Every wisp of the Disaster God's aura is a virus, carrying the meme tentacles of its race. The corpses of those who died in battle became excellent nourishment, and even after being burned to ashes, they still left behind hidden dangers that could not be eliminated.
It was buried too close, too near the restricted area.
Burying them far away could easily harm ordinary people.
Therefore, these comrades-in-arms from all over the country could only be buried in Lingfeng, a place affected by that war and located some distance from the towns and villages.