Under Fang Ming's gaze, Song Niandong guiltily lowered her head. She turned her face away so she wouldn't have to look at him, and spoke to him with a cold demeanor:
"...Con...considerin' you bought me food, I'll let you off the hook today. Get lost!"
Slap.
Black Rabbit slapped her own face again.
Fang Ming chuckled instead, and said, "Alright, so I suppose I've been kidnapped by Miss Song now?"
"?"
Song Niandong had a head full of question marks.
No, did you not hear me clearly? I'm letting you go!
Ignoring Song Niandong's utter bewilderment, Fang Ming continued:
"Since I've been kidnapped by Miss Song, it's only reasonable for me to pay Miss Song a ransom, right?"
Song Niandong nodded in a daze.
Fang Ming continued, "Then it's also completely reasonable for me to provide Miss Song with a place to stay, right?"
...It seemed like something was not quite right, but Song Niandong still subconsciously nodded.
"So does Miss Song still want to come with me? At least... I'll provide you with a place to live."
Hesitation... still hesitation.
Song Niandong pondered for quite a while, and was eventually persuaded by Fang Ming, following behind him toward the "place to stay" he mentioned.
Black Rabbit, floating beside Song Niandong, revealed a certain emotion through her eyes and expression.
That emotion was speechlessness.
Looking at the current positioning and the leader-follower relationship between Fang Ming and Song Niandong.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like Fang Ming had kidnapped Song Niandong.
So just who was kidnapping whom?!
For the very first time, Black Rabbit doubted whether making a contract with Song Niandong was a correct choice after all.
Chapter Forty-Nine: Infinite Tsukuyomi, Is It?
Fang Ming had gone missing.
When this matter was noticed, it was already close to the time of day when the Sky Screen broadcasted.
Fang Ming, who would appear punctually every morning and keep watch in front of the Sky Screen, had unexpectedly not left his room today. Upon noticing this, the bodyguards responsible for protecting Fang Ming immediately unlocked Fang Ming's room.
And then they discovered that Fang Ming, who should have been in the room, had vanished.
Furthermore, everyone found a letter on the desk in the room.
The contents of the letter were very simple, consisting of only a few sentences.
--If you don't want anything bad to happen to him, then don't do anything, and don't stop me!
The handwriting was neat and delicate, clearly written by a girl.
And based on handwriting comparison, the Investigation Department could confirm that this letter was indeed written by Song Niandong's hand.
"So... Big Brother Fang Ming... was kidnapped?"
Inside the Investigation Department, upon learning this news, Xiao Chun only felt darkness before her eyes, her mind completely blank.
Yu Muqiu looked at the contents of the letter, biting her lip hard. "Big Brother Fang Ming... he's because of us..."
"Bastard!!" Chen Xiaoxia couldn't help slamming her hand on the table, shouting aloud, "If you have the guts, come at us! What kind of heroics is it to kidnap an ordinary person?!"
Seeing the reactions of the several Magical Girls, He Xuan remained silent for a long time before speaking:
"Perhaps precisely because he is an ordinary person, he was kidnapped by Song Niandong."
Because Fang Ming was an ordinary person and had connections to all three Magical Girls, the cost-benefit ratio of kidnapping him alone was higher than kidnapping the relatives of the three Magical Girls.
Therefore, it wasn't strange that Song Niandong would make such a decision.
The only strange thing was, how did Song Niandong know Fang Ming's residence and accurately pinpoint his dwelling to kidnap him?
Could it be that when housing was being arranged for Fang Ming that day, Song Niandong had actually been following them?
As He Xuan pondered, Yu Muqiu suddenly stood up and said:
"I'm going to rescue Big Brother Fang Ming!"
"That's right! Since Big Brother Fang Ming was kidnapped because of us, then we have the obligation and responsibility to rescue him!"
Chen Xiaoxia also chimed in and said.
The magical runes on the back of her hand lit up, and she was already prepared to transform into a Magical Girl.
Yet He Xuan used only a single sentence to extinguish the flames that the two of them were about to ignite:
"Do you know where he and Song Niandong are?"
Unknown.
Yu Muqiu and Chen Xiaoxia exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat awkward.
When Song Niandong kidnapped Fang Ming, she had not left behind any clues or addresses; she had only issued a warning to the Magical Girls, telling them not to try and stop her.
Therefore, as long as they obediently listened and sat idly by while the events unfolded, Fang Ming would be safe.
Yet how could that possibly happen?
The Magical Girls would never sit by and watch Demons harm other people. They had to fight the Demons, and they had to rescue Fang Ming!
The problem now, however, was that they did not know where Fang Ming was.
"Perhaps..." Xiao Chun took a deep breath and said, "Perhaps I know where Big Brother Fang Ming is."
"?!" Chen Xiaoxia abruptly turned to look at Xiao Chun. "You know?! Then what are we waiting for? Let's go save him!"
Compared to Chen Xiaoxia's urgency, He Xuan was much calmer, and she asked Xiao Chun:
"...Miss Murong, why would you know Fang Ming's location?"
"Because... I once gave Big Brother Fang Ming a pair of glasses. My magic is on them, so as long as I can sense the magical power upon them..."
Xiao Chun said hesitatingly.
She actually did not want to bring this matter up.
Placing tracking magic on a gift given to someone else made Xiao Chun feel as though she were some kind of pervert.
Yet now that Fang Ming's safety was involved, Xiao Chun had no choice but to bring it up.
Fortunately, the people present did not care why Xiao Chun had installed tracking magic on Fang Ming's glasses; they were simply grateful that she had kept a backup plan, otherwise they truly would have had zero clues right now.
As expected of Xiao Chun, the reliable one of the three.
However, despite breathing a sigh of relief, He Xuan asked just in case:
"Can you sense Fang Ming's location right now?"
"I'll try..."
Xiao Chun closed her eyes, the runes on the back of her hand lighting up, and magical fluctuations that only Magical Girls could perceive rippled outward.
Magical Girls could still use a certain amount of magic without transforming, it was simply not as strong as their transformed state.
Thus, Xiao Chun could perceive Fang Ming's direction right now without transforming.
Yet to everyone's surprise, after only a dozen seconds, Xiao Chun blankly opened her eyes and said:
"...I can't... I can't sense it anymore... The magic on them... has been erased!"
Hearing this, the atmosphere that had just grown slightly more relaxed once again turned heavy.
Well, sometimes the reliable one... might not be quite so reliable after all.
Having thrown the glasses carrying magical power to Black Rabbit for disposal, Fang Ming sat in a chair at the Anonymous Hotel at the moment, turning his head to look at Song Niandong fast asleep beside him.
At this very moment, Fang Ming had been "kidnapped" by Song Niandong.
Of course, while she called it that, Fang Ming definitely wouldn't be able to be stopped by Song Niandong if he actually wanted to leave.
Yet Fang Ming had no need to leave, for after all, Song Niandong truly needed a guardian by her side right now.
Black Rabbit could hardly be considered a qualified guardian; she usually had no way of appearing in front of other people, and even if she did appear, others wouldn't think a pet could pose any threat.
If someone genuinely wanted to do Song Niandong harm, she could do nothing other than use magic.
Therefore, even for Song Niandong's safety, Fang Ming had to go along with her.
Besides, he also needed to figure out what Song Niandong was setting out to do.
"What on earth are you planning?"
Fang Ming asked Black Rabbit... Youyou.
Youyou was Black Rabbit's real name. According to her, she had been a rather outstanding student at the previous Magical Creature Academy, capable of forming magical contracts with five girls simultaneously.
Yet due to certain unspeakable reasons, the current Black Rabbit could only contract with a single person, and that person was Song Niandong.
A Magical Girl possessing the Heart of Resolve.
Fang Ming could not ask about the unspeakable reasons, for even if he asked, Youyou would never answer.
However, he absolutely had to ask clearly about Song Niandong's plan.
Song Niandong was a good kid; after a day of contact, Fang Ming could confirm this.
He certainly did not want a good kid to go astray.
"You really are showing no restraint for a hostage."
Youyou sat on the table in front of Fang Ming, looking up at him as she spoke.
Fang Ming said in a very soft voice:
"Even though I'm a hostage, I came with you of my own free will, didn't I? So we should barely count as 'accomplices'. When facing an accomplice, is there really anything you can't say?"
"'Accomplice'... You certainly have nerve. I don't think having an ordinary person like you around can help us with anything, but since you want to know, there's nothing I can't tell you."
Perhaps feeling that Fang Ming posed no threat, Black Rabbit Youyou grinned and said:
"Our plan is very simple. It is to create a world where no one will ever get hurt again and everyone will smile."
"..."
Nonsense!
This was Fang Ming's very first reaction.
This plan sounded wonderful, but anyone with even a slight understanding of anime would know that people with such ideals often executed plans that ran completely counter to their own wishes.
Take someone like Madara, for instance, or someone like Kiritsugu.
Black Rabbit claimed she wanted to create a world where no one got hurt and everyone smiled... The only things Fang Ming could think of were putting everyone into a dream, or simply killing everyone off.
After all, once people were dead, they naturally wouldn't get hurt. As for "smiles"... with no one crying or wailing, that wasn't any different from "smiling."
Fang Ming also knew his thoughts might be a bit dark, but he genuinely did not believe Black Rabbit was sincere about this plan.
"...Dongdong believed that?" Fang Ming asked, looking deeply at Youyou.
Youyou nodded. "Mhm. She wanted to see her grandmother, and she wanted to see her parents, so she believed it."
"..."
"Don't look at me like that, it's terrifying... What, you don't believe it?"
"...Then how are you going to carry out this plan?"
Fang Ming averted his gaze and asked Youyou calmly.
Youyou smiled and said: "It's very simple. The Nightmare Seed."
As she spoke, she took out a Nightmare Seed from her hand—acquired through unknown means—and said with a beaming smile:
"As long as we use the Nightmare Seed to thoroughly stimulate the magic power inside, this world will change according to Dongdong's wishes. How about that? Isn't it convenient?"
Before you continue