Youyou threatened Fang Ming. While absentmindedly 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 cry came from the other end. Fang Ming had moved the phone away from his ear before the other party even shouted, avoiding being blasted by the voice.
Once he was sure the other person would not make any more noise, Fang Ming brought the receiver back and said,
"Quit 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 are you doing now...?"
"It's a long story, so I won't get into it. Just don't tell anyone about my situation. Also, help me buy two phones, a tablet, and a laptop... Oh, right, prepare two unregistered SIM cards too, along with ten thousand in cash..."
Fang Ming did not waste words and directly told him everything he needed.
The person on the other end fell silent after hearing that long list. After a while, he asked in a faint voice,
"...Want to make another wish while you're at it? Like 'world peace' or something?"
"Can you do that?"
"Do my ass! What do you take me for, a wish-granting machine? You're asking for so much all at once..."
"It's not like I'm not paying you."
The moment Fang Ming said that, the other party immediately changed his tune. "Hey, listen to you talking. Do I look like the kind of person who only cares about money? Send me the address, godfather!"
"...It's been almost a year since graduation, and you still haven't changed at all."
Fang Ming complained speechlessly, but still sent him the address.
The guy on the other end was named Meng Chen.
He had been Fang Ming's college roommate. Over their four years at university, excluding the other two roommates who barely had any presence, Fang Ming had been closest to him.
But they had not become close because they got along well or shared the same interests.
The reason they got along was simply because... they each valued the other's abilities.
Meng Chen valued Fang Ming's fighting skills, as well as his wildly imaginative variety of novels that he copied from elsewhere.
Fang Ming valued Meng Chen's hacking skills.
Who would have thought that a guy who coasted through a third-rate university while failing classes was actually a well-known hacker online?
He was not among the best in the world, and he could not even make the top hundred worldwide, but he was still a hacker nonetheless.
Whenever Fang Ming did anything online that he did not want the authorities noticing, he asked Meng Chen to handle it.
So now that he was hiding from the authorities with Song Niandong, Meng Chen had been the first person Fang Ming thought of.
Meng Chen could help erase Fang Ming and Song Niandong's tracks online, delaying the authorities from finding them for as long as possible.
Besides, Fang Ming was in no position to show his face and buy expensive items like phones. Having Meng Chen do it was perfect.
Only after confirming the method of payment and when the items would be delivered 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 neither seemed like bad people, but... they were wearing patrol officer uniforms.
The sight of their uniforms made Fang Ming's heart sink slightly.
This was bad. Something was about to happen!
What Did "Using Knowledge as Food" Mean?
"Little girl, why are you here by yourself?"
"..."
"There isn't even a school nearby..."
"..."
"Are you currently attending school? If so, which school? If not..."
The officers questioned Song Niandong gently, but judging from their wary and concerned expressions, they had clearly become suspicious of her.
Song Niandong did not know how to answer, so she chose silence.
She had always been like that. When facing strangers, or people she did not want to speak with, she responded with silence.
This time was no different.
But the more silent she remained, the more suspicious the two officers became.
Just as the two officers were about to take out their radios and notify their superiors, Fang Ming and Black Rabbit returned in time.
"Sorry, my little sister has caused you two trouble."
Fang Ming walked over and raised a hand to the bridge of his nose, adjusting the glasses enchanted with magic.
Light reflected off the lenses. Fang Ming wore a kind, gentle smile as he said to the two men,
"My little sister cannot attend school due to certain private reasons. Today, she finally had the chance to come out for a walk, so I brought her here to eat. Officers, there shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"
"No."
When the two officers met Fang Ming's enchanted gaze through his glasses, their eyes went blank for an instant. They quickly returned to normal, though, and smiled at Fang Ming.
"We only thought she was a student skipping school. You see, our superiors have recently told us to look for a girl, one around the same age as those..." The officer pointed at the sky, then continued, "...girls. We especially need to watch students who should be in school but are not, 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 before adding, "But since you aren't who we're looking for, we can rest easy. Sorry for disturbing you."
The two officers turned to leave after saying that.
But Fang Ming called out to stop them.
"Excuse me, officers. Could I trouble you with one thing?"
"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 does not like being recorded. Could you... delete this footage?"
"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 find out."
Fang Ming spoke to the officer with complete sincerity.
The officer looked at Fang Ming, then at Song Niandong hiding behind him. Finally, beneath the reflected gleam of Fang Ming's glasses, he reached for his body camera...
A few minutes later.
Watching the two officers' retreating backs, Fang Ming let out a breath and said to Black Rabbit beside him, "We'll probably need to relocate."
"...That's terrifying. You can even deceive law enforcement officers in your world. You aren't some hidden fugitive, are you?"
Black Rabbit looked at Fang Ming strangely.
Fang Ming's use of Suggestion Magic just now, combined with his verbal deception, had been far too practiced. It was hard not to wonder whether he did this sort of thing often.
But Black Rabbit Youyou had only added the Suggestion Magic moments ago, so she could not understand why Fang Ming was so skilled at using it.
"If I were a fugitive, the Sky Screen would have exposed it already. Anyway, you and Youyou eat first. I'm going to make another call."
Fang Ming sighed. Thinking about the footage that had already been uploaded to the cloud, he helplessly returned to the phone booth.
He had never learned hacking. Learning things took time, after all, and Fang Ming had limited energy. Even with the cheat that let him retain everything he learned, he could only choose what to study.
If he tried to learn everything, he would know a little about everything but master nothing.
So professional matters should be left to professionals. This time, though, he would probably have to bleed money.
Fortunately, money was not something he lacked now.
"Huh!? Xiao Bai is on the Demons' side!?"
Inside the Investigation Department's break room, Chen Xiaoxia cried out in surprise.
With Fang Ming and Song Niandong currently nowhere to be found, Nino took advantage of the time after lunch to explain to the others, after watching the newest episode, that Xiao Bai's source of magic might come from the Demons.
Then came Chen Xiaoxia's shocked outcry.
Nino nodded seriously and said,
"If that's the case, it explains why she became a Magical Girl. Most likely... she absorbed a fragment of the Nightmare Seed."
"Wait, absorbing a Nightmare Seed fragment can also turn someone into a Magical Girl?"
Xiao Chun suddenly asked.
Nino shook her head. "No. Under normal circumstances, absorbing a Nightmare Seed fragment would only turn someone into a Demon..."
"But Xiao Bai didn't become a Demon! She became a Magical Girl like us!"
Yu Muqiu said.
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'm not too sure either."
After thinking hard for a long time, Nino could only say helplessly, "Normally, she definitely should not have become a Magical Girl, but now... Anyway, let's pay closer attention to her from now on."
Nino did not intend 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 the nature of her magic shared the same origin as the Demons.
If the authorities did something stupid and drove Xiao Bai to the Demons' side, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Nino might not be great at studying, but she still understood basic social etiquette!
Well... she understood a little...
So afterward, Nino told Yu Muqiu and the others not to tell the authorities about this. It was enough for them to know.
Besides, up to now, Xiao Bai had not shown any clear hostility toward Yu Muqiu and the others.
Her constantly urging them to leave the battlefield at the beginning did not count. She had meant well and wanted to protect them. 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 their final battle against the Sixth-Level Demon, the Songstress Witch, Xiao Bai's strength had suddenly improved by leaps and bounds.
And at the time, the Songstress Witch had said, "Using knowledge as food to increase your strength... have you gone mad?" Something like that.
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?
And what exactly did "using knowledge as food" mean?
"I don't know!" Nino said, giving up. "Using a Demon's power to become a Witch is impossible to begin with. Who knows what price she has to pay!"
"Tch, that girl is so stubborn! She keeps saying we're putting ourselves in danger, but isn't she doing the same thing? And she's stubborn as hell. She could just ask us for help with this kind of thing! Aren't we comrades? Yet she insists on carrying it all alone, like some child!"
Chen Xiaoxia complained from the side.
After their final battle against the Sixth-Level Demon, Chen Xiaoxia had long regarded Xiao Bai as a comrade. They still bickered when they met, but that was simply a habit.
A habit was a habit, but in a real fight, Chen Xiaoxia would still trust Xiao Bai with her back. That was trust.
Therefore, Chen Xiaoxia was extremely dissatisfied that Xiao Bai carried everything alone and refused to tell them anything.
She was always calling them children, yet she herself acted like one, never telling anyone else anything.
She really was... stubborn to death.
Your Final Payment Is Gone
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