Chapter 444
(Was this specially left for Xiao Qiu and the others by my cousin?)
(Of course, the combination lock wasn't locked.)
(If Xiao Qiu had cleaned the secret room beforehand, she probably would have discovered it, right?)
(Huh? My cousin's suicide note was kept separate from these things?)
(Was the suicide note in the drawer? These things seem to be in an inconspicuous corner under the table...)
(Xiao Qiu and the others were probably too heartbroken last time to notice these details.)
"Brother Fang Ming..."
Xiao Qiu's soft voice suddenly came from behind her. She leaned close to Xiao Bai's ear and whispered:
"... I just remembered, those MP3s... I suddenly want to listen to them too."
"Ah! I want to hear it too!! Or rather, I'm the one who wants to hear it the most right now!!!" Chen Xiaoxia jumped out, pointing at Xiao Bai and saying, "You're the one who made me addicted, so you have to take responsibility for me! If you don't call me 'sister' a hundred times tonight, I absolutely won't let you go!"
Seeing Chen Xiaoxia's self-righteous demeanor, Xiao Bai was shocked:
"This hobby... you were hiding it before, weren't you?! Why are you admitting it now!?"
"Nonsense! I'm not a tsundere like Aurora!"
Aurora, standing nearby. "?"
Who's being arrogant? Who are you calling arrogant?! When have I ever been arrogant?!
Ignoring Aurora's piercing glare, Chen Xiaoxia said to Xiao Bai again, "In short! You can't go back on your word!"
"..."
I didn't intend to renege on my promise.
I believe in keeping my promises; I have that principle, okay?
Xiao Bai thought to himself, while a wicked idea also formed in his mind.
Alright, you wanted to hear it? Then let me show you... my LV3 Voice-Acting Technique!
I guarantee... I guarantee you'll never forget this!
[After turning on the computer and entering the password, Yu Muqiu opened the USB drive and viewed its contents.]
"These... seem to be the files on the Demons we defeated before..."
Yu Muqiu moved the mouse and clicked on one of the folders.
Inside were all sorts of files, including files on various Demons, as well as files on Xiao Qiu and the others.
These files record the reasons for the appearance of the Demons general abilities, Demons weaknesses, and how to deal with and eliminate them.
These files even contain information on the Paranoid Demon and the Blood Demon who appeared last!
In addition to the information on Demons, Fang Ming also compiled information on Magical Girls.
The book clearly explains Xiao Qiu and the others' growth experiences, their abilities, estimated magic power levels, and their respective magic power level conversions.
"Magic level..."
Xiao Qiu opened the file on the magic level and began to carefully read through it.
Fang Ming actually quantified magic using some unknown standard.
He divided magical power from 1 to 100 into Initial Rank.
Magic power levels between 101 and 1000 are classified as Lower Rank.
Magic power levels between 1001 and 10000 are classified as Middle Rank.
10,001 to 100,000 is the Upper Rank.
A power of 100,000 or more constitutes the magical power of Pillar-Tier Demon.
According to Fang Ming's calculations, Yu Muqiu's normal magic power in March should be close to 10,000, his magic power in Shining Form should be over 30,000, and his magic power in Shining 2 should be over 60,000.
Of course, this was the amount of magic power available when the Magic Network was connected.
This value will fluctuate and is uncertain, but it can roughly help people judge their respective strength levels.
Correspondingly, Fang Ming estimated that the Blood Demon's magical power was over 60,000, which is why Xiao Qiu was at a disadvantage in the battle against the Blood Demon when she was not connected to the Magic Network.
After reviewing all the materials, Yu Muqiu finally mustered the courage to open the last folder.
That's a folder labeled 'Diary Videos'.
This must be Fang Ming's... last message to them.
Volume 4 <Magic Autumn> Theatrical Edition and Season 3: Chapter 477 The Last Words
[Click on the first video.]
The image presented in the video was not Fang Ming himself, but Xiao Bai rather pale face.
It's clear that this video was filmed after Xiao Bai returned from the Americas District.
At that time, in order to save her energy, she chose to use a wheelchair for transportation. During normal times, she would use the clone made by Dongdong to go out and maintain the image in the eyes of outsiders.
"Cough cough... Today is... the sixty-fourth day since I was Erosive Power of corruption... Actually, it's been a bit longer, but according to the Erosive Power I've sensed, it's sixty-four days..."
Xiao Bai coughed a few times, then suppressed the cough and continued speaking to the camera:
"Through my research with Youyou, we've Erosive Power... is essentially the negative emotions of Demons invading the Emotion Seed of Magical Girls, transforming those Emotion Seed into the power of Nightmare Seed..."
"Normally... cough cough cough... once the Emotion Seed is corrupted by the Erosive Power, it will enter an irreversible Demonization state... but... obviously there are exceptions..."
"This exception isn't me, it's Magical Girls senior who once activated her Shining Form, a member of that First Magical Girl team... It's said that she reversed the process of Demonization and restored her to her original state..."
"But I don't think it's that simple. The Shining Form might be able to suppress the Erosive Power, but completely expelling it won't be so easy. Perhaps I've overlooked something..."
The first short video has ended.
The Magical Girls exchanged glances, then clicked on the second video.
The protagonist of the video is still Xiao Bai, but this time her expression has become much more serious, and her eyes have a lot more light in them, as if she has found some hope.
"I see... she's Witch!" Xiao Bai said, "When Magical Girls activates her Shining Form, if she receives help from outsiders or if her willpower is extremely strong, she may become Witch!"
"Stella... the one who stole my clone is the Witch! I... I want to try and see if I can become Witch... otherwise... I'm afraid..."
Xiao Bai shook her head again. "... But I don't know what I'll become after becoming Witch. If I become completely like Demons, then this will be pointless... so we need to think about it carefully..."
The third video is playing.
"Damn it! Damn it!!! Why doesn't it work!!" Xiao Bai displayed a very agitated state in the video. She struggled to get up and swept everything on the table to the floor, including the camera that was recording.
The camera fell to the ground, angled to film the silver-haired girl who had already exhausted all means.
After venting her anger, the silver-haired girl took a few steps back and sat back in her wheelchair, letting out a few helpless and self-deprecating laughs.
"I really am special... so special that... none of the Magical Girls's methods work on me... I can't become Witch, Stella... and Lesos, their methods don't work on me... I'm really doomed now, heh..."
She chuckled self-deprecatingly a few times, remained silent for a moment, then went back to the camera, positioned it to film herself, and whispered:
"... I've tried everything I could, and it seems... without awakening the Shining Form, I don't even qualify to be Witch... The Shining Form might be the true form of Magical Girls... Only by awakening the Shine can one truly call themselves a Magical Girls..."
"Forget it, none of this concerns me anymore... cough cough... my health is getting worse and worse, I don't know how much longer I can hold on..."
The third video ended as Xiao Bai muttered to himself.
Then the fourth video was played.
This time, the video isn't taken from the bedroom, but from a secret room. Xiao Bai, leaning against the wall in the secret room, weakly covers his forehead, glances sideways at the camera, and then says:
"... Xiao Qiu found out, hehe, she's really grown up... she actually guessed my identity. But then again... I have too many flaws now, anyone who knows me should be able to figure it out..."
"I wonder if Xiao Qiu will tell anyone... But never mind, it's not important."
"The Upper Demon have invaded this world, which proves that time is running out. I need to leave behind something useful for Xiao Qiu and the others as soon as possible... Right, the Erosive Power... and research on magic..."
Xiao Bai talked on and on, recounting her research and speculations on the Erosive Power and the Emotional Force during this period.
The camera was finally turned off, and the video ended.
Looking at all this, Yu Muqiu took a deep breath and mustered his courage to click on the last video.
Compared to the previous videos, this last one is much brighter.
The previous videos were somewhat dark, and even with the lights on, they gave off a somber and oppressive feeling.
Like the records of researchers in an apocalyptic world, it offers no hope.
But the last video was very bright.
Even though it's Night Demon outside, the whole video looks warm and cozy.
Even Xiao Bai, the main character in the video, looked much better. She even got rid of her wheelchair and sat in the chair opposite the camera after setting it up properly.
She looked at the camera, hesitated several times before finally smiling helplessly and saying to the camera:
"I don't have much time left, no... that's probably an understatement, I probably don't even have a week left."
"I had already left a suicide note, but in the end I suddenly wanted to say something, something to you who are watching the video."
"If you have seen this video, it proves that I am gone. I may have died a glorious death, or I may have become Demons and been defeated by you, who are allies of justice. But in any case, I am definitely no longer here."
"Perhaps by then I'll still have a lot to say but won't be able to say it, so before that happens, I plan to leave something behind, to say what I couldn't say, so that... I won't have any regrets when I leave."
Xiao Bai paused for a moment, taking several deep breaths before continuing:
"Let's get down to business first."
"The USB drive I left behind contains various information I've compiled about Demons and Magical Girls, as well as my speculations about the source of their power."
"If you watched the video last, you should have already seen the gist of it. But if you clicked on the video directly, don't forget to look up the relevant materials after watching the video."
"Besides the data, I've established approximate magical power levels based on my own standards. If possible, you could also develop an instrument to test these magical power levels; this might be helpful for you in the future..."
"The rest includes some of my manuscripts and character design drafts. If you have time, you can help send them out. If not, it's fine; they're all unimportant things anyway."
"I've also left you maps of your bank cards, private accounts, and some properties and safe houses around the world. You might find them useful in the future."
Xiao Bai rambled on and on.
She stopped the video when it was almost halfway through, and said helplessly:
"Oh no, I've suddenly become long-winded. Well... that's all for now. The rest... is what I wanted to say to you."
Xiao Bai took another deep breath and looked intently at the camera, her gaze seemingly able to penetrate the lens and fall upon everyone present.
After a few seconds of silence, Xiao Bai slowly spoke:
First of all, I want to apologize.
"Xiao Qiu, Xiaoxia, Xiao Chun Dongdong, Aurora, Luna... and... Stella... I don't know who's watching this video right now, but whoever it is, please give this video to any one of them and tell them..."
"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for deceiving you all for so long under the guise of being Xiao Bai. I'm sorry for leaving you when you needed me most. I'm sorry... I can't continue walking with you."
"Perhaps I was wrong from the very beginning. After becoming Magical Girls, I shouldn't have hidden things from you, nor should I have hidden my physical condition. If that were the case, the outcome would probably be completely different now."
"But there's no going back in this world. Whether it's me or you, once you've made your choice, you have to bear the consequences."
"So... I won't say any more about the past."
Xiao Bai paused, looked straight ahead, and said to the Magical Girls:
"... From now on, I won't be able to accompany you any further, so you'll only have yourselves to rely on."
"Dongdong, the person I'm most sorry for is you. I promised to raise you, but I ran away first."
"I don't expect you to forgive me, but I hope you won't be sad, won't dwell on the pain and Pain of the past, and will live well with your sisters and grow up healthy..."
"Xiao Chun, I can roughly guess now that you... like me? I thought I was just overthinking things... Hehe, I didn't expect I'm so popular..."
"But I'm sorry, I can't be with you. After all, I don't have much time left. So, try to forget me and live your own life well."
"You're the smartest of all the Magical Girls. I believe you understand what I'm saying, and I also believe you can help everyone overcome one difficulty after another in the future. After all, you are 'Mama Xiaochun'."
Xiao Bai made a joke at this point.
Meanwhile, Xiao Chun, watching from outside the screen, had already begun to cry silently.
"Xiaoxia," Xiao Bai said to Xiaoxia again, "You are the bravest of all, but also the most easily hurt. In the past, when I transformed into Xiao Bai, I always caused you trouble, also to make you realize this as soon as possible..."
"But you never seem to realize this. Now that you've seen the video, you should understand what's going on."
"So I hope you will listen to me carefully. In the future, you must think things through carefully before fighting, and don't rush forward recklessly, otherwise you will suffer a great loss sooner or later."