Magical Girls Exposed!

Youyou threatened Fang Ming. While halfheartedly placating her with "Yes, yes, yes," Fang Ming picked up the receiver and dialed a number.

Beep—beep—

After two rings, the call connected.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"It's me, Fang Ming. I need a small favor."

"...Holy shit! The big star on the Sky Screen!"

An exaggerated shout came from the other end. Fang Ming had already moved the phone away from his ear before the other person could even finish yelling, avoiding the blast of noise.

Once he was sure the other person would not make any more noise, Fang Ming brought the receiver back and said,

"Stop joking around. I need to ask you for something serious."

"Oh? Weren't you already 'missing'? I saw the official notice. It seemed to say that ordinary people like us should keep an eye out... So what's going on with you now?"

"It's a long story, so I won't explain. Anyway, don't tell anyone about my situation. Also, buy me two phones, a tablet, and a laptop... Oh, right, prepare two unregistered communication cards too, along with ten thousand in cash..."

Fang Ming did not waste words and directly listed everything he needed.

The person on the other end fell silent after hearing such a long list. After a while, he asked in a hollow voice,

"...Want to make another wish? Like 'world peace' or something?"

"Can you do that?"

"My ass! Do you think I'm a wish-granting machine? You want so much stuff at once..."

"It's not like I'm not paying you."

The moment Fang Ming said that, the other person immediately changed his tune. "Hey, listen to you talking. Do I look like the kind of person who only cares about money? Give me the address, godfather!"

"...It's been nearly a year since graduation, and you haven't changed at all."

Fang Ming complained speechlessly, but still sent him the address.

The person on the other end was called Meng Chen.

He had been Fang Ming's college roommate. Over their four years in college, excluding the other two roommates who barely had any presence, Fang Ming had been closest to him.

But the reason they got along was not because they had good conversations or shared the same tastes.

They got along because... they had taken a liking to each other's abilities.

Meng Chen valued Fang Ming's fighting skills, as well as his wildly imaginative collection of novels—copied works.

Fang Ming valued Meng Chen's hacking skills.

Who would have thought that a guy who coasted through a third-rate university and constantly failed classes was actually a well-known hacker online?

He was not among the world's best, and could not even make the top hundred worldwide, but he was still a hacker.

Whenever Fang Ming needed to do something online without drawing official attention, he would ask Meng Chen to handle it.

So now that he was hiding from the authorities with Song Niandong, Meng Chen was the first person Fang Ming thought of.

Meng Chen could help erase Fang Ming and Song Niandong's traces online, delaying the authorities' search for them as much as possible.

Besides, it was inconvenient for Fang Ming to show himself to buy expensive items like phones, so having Meng Chen do it was perfect.

Only after confirming the method of exchange and the time for receiving the items did Fang Ming hang up.

But just as he ended the call and prepared to return to the noodle shop, he saw that two people had appeared beside Song Niandong at some point.

Both were adults, and they did not look like bad people, but... they were wearing patrol officer uniforms.

The sight of their uniforms made Fang Ming's heart sink slightly.

Damn it, something was going to happen!

What Did It Mean to 'Use Knowledge as Food'?

"Little girl, why are you here by yourself?"

"..."

"There aren't any schools nearby either..."

"..."

"Are you currently attending school? If so, which school? If not..."

The officers questioned Song Niandong in gentle voices, but judging from their wary, concerned expressions, they had clearly grown suspicious of her.

Song Niandong did not know how to answer, so she chose to remain silent.

She had always been like this. When facing strangers, or people she did not want to talk to, she responded with silence.

It was no different now.

But the more silent she remained, the more suspicious the two officers became.

Just as the officers were about to take out their radios and notify their superiors, Fang Ming and Black Rabbit returned in time.

"Sorry, my little sister caused you two trouble."

Fang Ming walked over and raised a finger to the bridge of his nose, pushing up the glasses enchanted with magic.

Light reflected off the lenses. Fang Ming wore a kind, gentle smile as he said to the two officers,

"My little sister cannot attend school for some rather private reasons. Today, she finally had a chance to come out for a walk, so I brought her here for a meal. Officers, there shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"

"No."

When the two officers met Fang Ming's enchanted glasses, their eyes went blank for an instant. But they quickly returned to normal and smiled at him.

"We only thought she was a student skipping class. You don't know, but our superiors have told us to look for a girl around the same age as those..." The officer pointed at the sky, then continued, "...girls. We're especially concerned about students who should be in school but aren't, which is why we came over to ask a few questions."

"I see. So does that mean a fifth magical girl has appeared?"

"We don't know about that." The officer shook his head, then added, "But since you aren't who we're looking for, we're relieved. Sorry for disturbing you."

The two officers turned to leave after saying that.

But Fang Ming called out to them.

"Sorry, officers, could I trouble you with something?"

"What is it?"

"This..." Fang Ming pointed at the body camera on the officer's chest and said helplessly, "My little sister... is very shy, and she doesn't like people recording her. So could you... delete this recording?"

"Even if we delete the local recording, we're connected to the network the entire time. The data has already been uploaded..."

"That's fine. As long as my little sister doesn't know."

Fang Ming spoke to the officer with utmost sincerity.

The officer looked at Fang Ming, then at Song Niandong hiding behind him. Finally, beneath the reflection of Fang Ming's glasses, he reached toward his body camera...

A few minutes later.

Fang Ming watched the two officers walk away, then let out a breath and said to Black Rabbit beside him, "We'll probably have to relocate."

"...You're terrifying. You even trick the law enforcement officers in your world. You're not some hidden fugitive, are you?"

Black Rabbit looked strangely at Fang Ming.

The way Fang Ming had used Suggestion Magic and deceived them with his words just now was far too practiced. It was hard not to suspect that he did this often.

But Black Rabbit had only added Suggestion Magic to his glasses moments ago, so Youyou could not understand why Fang Ming was so skilled at it.

"If I were a fugitive, the Sky Screen would have exposed it. Fine, you and Youyou eat first. I'm going to make another call."

Fang Ming sighed. Thinking of the footage that had already been uploaded to the cloud, he helplessly headed back toward the phone booth.

He had never learned hacking. After all, learning took time, and Fang Ming's energy was limited. Even with his ability that kept him from regressing, he could only choose what to study.

If he tried to learn everything, he would know a bit of everything but excel at nothing.

So professional matters should be left to professionals. This time, though, he would probably have to spend a fortune.

Thankfully, he was not short on money now.

"Huh!? Xiao Bai is on the Demons' side!?"

In the Investigation Department's lounge, Chen Xiaoxia let out a startled cry.

With Fang Ming and Song Niandong currently nowhere to be found, Nino took the chance after lunch to explain that Xiao Bai's Magic Source most likely came from the Demons after watching the latest episode.

Then came Chen Xiaoxia's cry of surprise.

Nino nodded seriously and said,

"If that's the case, it explains why she became a magical girl. She probably... absorbed a fragment of the Nightmare Seed."

"Wait, absorbing a fragment of the Nightmare Seed can make someone into a magical girl too?"

Xiao Chun suddenly asked.

Nino shook her head. "No. Normally, absorbing a fragment of the Nightmare Seed would only turn someone into a Demon..."

"But Xiao Bai didn't turn into a Demon! She became a magical girl like us!"

Yu Muqiu spoke up.

Although Xiao Bai's magic came from the Demons, she herself had not transformed into one. Instead, she had become a magical girl just like Yu Muqiu and the others.

How was Nino supposed to explain that?

"...I don't really know either."

After thinking hard for a long time, Nino said helplessly, "Normally, she definitely shouldn't have become a magical girl. But now... anyway, we should keep a closer eye on her from now on."

Nino did not plan to tell this world's official organization that Xiao Bai's magic came from the Demons.

Xiao Bai was already a neutral force outside the official organization, and her magical nature shared the same origin as the Demons.

If the authorities did something stupid and pushed Xiao Bai to the Demons' side, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Nino might not be very good at studying, but she still understood the basics of dealing with people!

Well... a little bit, anyway...

So afterward, Nino told Yu Muqiu and the others not to tell the authorities about this. It was enough for them to know.

Besides, Xiao Bai had not shown any clear hostility toward Yu Muqiu and the others so far.

The fact that she had always urged them to leave the battlefield did not count. Her intentions had been for their own good. Overall, Xiao Bai was an ally, and Nino was very tolerant toward allies.

But Yu Muqiu had a different concern. "Xiao Bai became a magical girl using a Demon's magic. Could that... have some kind of side effect?"

Yu Muqiu suddenly recalled that during the final battle against the Sixth-Level Demon, the Songstress Witch, Xiao Bai's strength had suddenly increased by leaps and bounds.

And at the time, the Songstress Witch had said, "Using knowledge as food to increase your power... Have you gone mad?"

Yu Muqiu had not understood what that meant at the time.

But thinking about it now... perhaps that was the price Xiao Bai had to pay?

The price of becoming a magical girl?

Then what did "using knowledge as food" mean?

"I don't know!" Nino gave up and said, "Turning into a witch with a Demon's power is impossible in the first place. Who knows what price she has to pay!"

"Tch, that girl is so stubborn! She keeps saying we're walking into danger, but isn't she doing the same thing herself? And she's stubborn as hell. She could just ask us for help with this sort of thing! Aren't we comrades? But she insists on carrying everything alone, like a child!"

Chen Xiaoxia complained from the side.

After their final battle against the Sixth-Level Demon, Chen Xiaoxia had long since regarded Xiao Bai as a comrade. They still bickered whenever they met, but that was simply a habit.

A habit was a habit. When it came to real combat, Chen Xiaoxia would still trust Xiao Bai with her back. That was trust.

That was why Chen Xiaoxia was especially dissatisfied that Xiao Bai carried everything alone and did not tell them anything.

She was always calling them children, yet she acted like a child herself, refusing to tell anyone anything.

Seriously... she was stubborn to the point of irritation.

Your Final Payment Is Gone