Pathway Puzzle

While Xia Liang's team had already gone through a battle, Lin Xiaolu and the others were still racking their brains over the puzzle in their hands.

"Bo Xue, have you sorted things out on your end?"

"Hmm... almost there!"

"Hurry up, I'll be there soon!"

"We've done it as fast as we can!"

"White Rose, what about you?"

"You're offering up magic! Go do your own thing! Don't ask any more questions!"

Yes, they successfully uncovered a mystery.

Or rather, it wasn't a "discovery," but rather a successful "snatching" of a puzzle.

Having discovered traps set by other teams in the passageway, they used a counter-strategy, confirming and identifying the number and types of traps the enemy had laid in the passageway, and then detonated the destructive items. In the end, they successfully blasted a crater in the maze passageway.

On Mint's advice, the three of them were very careful not to move the trap's location and minimized their use of magic when triggering it. Therefore, the "responsibility" for the Explosion was not attributed to them, but rather to the magical girls who set up the trap.

The reason they knew all this was because the shouts and curses coming from the other end of the passage after the Explosion were unmistakable.

After passing through the passage where the traps had been mostly cleared, just as Mint had guessed, Lin Xiaolu and her two companions discovered a puzzle that was only half-solved.

The passageways surrounding the puzzle contained chaotic remnants of magical energy and numerous traces of human activity, suggesting that a small team had recently been working on solving the puzzle here.

Perhaps due to excessive excitement upon discovering the puzzle, or perhaps due to misjudgment caused by the excessive time spent solving it, the team recklessly set up numerous traps in the passage they had come from in order to maintain their ownership of the puzzle. Ultimately, the traps were used by Lin Xiaolu and her group, and they were deemed unqualified for "damaging the passage" and "violating the Rule," and were ejected from the maze.

Of course, it can't be said that their actions were wrong, because Lin Xiaolu and the others' methods were indeed beyond the imagination of ordinary magical girls. "Checking out all the traps in the passage" is not something a normal Magical Girl Squad could do, but Bai Jingxuan's perception ability is just that extraordinary; "strictly controlling the amount of magic used while being able to concentrate the detonation of the props" sounds like a circus acrobatic act, but Lin Xiaolu, with her high reaction speed after the magic deflection, completed it as easily as eating and drinking.

They painstakingly set a trap, only to encounter a team that defied all logic; it was simply a matter of timing and fate. So much so that when the team members heard the examiner's notification of "Rule violation," their first thought was a misjudgment. Only after realizing what had happened did they let out a desperate curse.

Then, the puzzle they had only partially solved ended up in the possession of Lin Xiaolu and the others.

This was a puzzle without any minimap or hints; solving it from scratch would likely consume a significant amount of the team's time just in gathering information. Fortunately, traces of the previous team's partial solution were left at the scene, allowing Lin Xiaolu and the others to quickly piece together the puzzle:

A wide passageway has a device at each end, and between the devices, the ground is covered with a 10x200 grid of square tiles with sides of 0.6 meters.

By injecting magic into the device on one side, all the tiles on this grid will display one of three colors: red, yellow, or green. When a candidate steps on each tile, the tile itself, as well as the five tiles in front, behind, to the left, and to the right, will change color. The order of color change is: red to yellow, yellow to green, and green to red.

When the three discovered the puzzle, there was already a path on the grid that stretched for about 50 squares. It could be determined that the ultimate goal of the puzzle was to create a path of green tiles connecting the two devices.

After a brief division of labor and some initial calculations by Mint, the three decided that Lin Xiaolu would be responsible for transmitting magic power through one end of the device, while Mint and Bai Jingxuan would be responsible for scouting ahead.

Now, after a long period of effort, the green path they have connected finally covers more than half of the passage.

"... Um, where was I? Oh, I was talking about that old woman from Black Ash Dawn who turned into a giant moth."

Perhaps because the atmosphere was relatively relaxed during the process, under Mint's sudden and curious question, Lin Xiaolu began to selectively talk about the specific details of Black Ash Dawn's attack on Fangting City on the day of the Full Moon Festival last year.

Of course, she knew what she could and couldn't say, so she glossed over many things about Larkspur's identity and the Seeder. In her description, the new generation team in Fangting City consisted of five people: Captain Larkspur, rookie Little Brocade, Bo Xue, Gentian, and herself. Larkspur, in her description, was just an "ordinary senior" who was "experienced, powerful, and reliable."

Mint, who is always keen on gossip, could tell that Lin Xiaolu's story was somewhat concealed and that there were many logical inconsistencies. However, she was just listening to gossip for fun and had no intention of investigating further.

So the three of them chatted and solved the mystery at the same time. When Lin Xiaolu talked about the domineering Rule that Moss had after becoming Molt Stage Aberrant Beast, Mint would exclaim in surprise. When she talked about how the Larkspur used all its strength to counter Moss, Mint would also applaud. Bai Jingxuan listened carefully to Lin Xiaolu's description, and would occasionally chime in or correct her. In this rather leisurely atmosphere, Lin Xiaolu finished telling her story.

At this point, the connection of the passage was nearly 90% complete.

"Hmm, that sounds really dangerous. It's quite an achievement that you guys managed to escape unscathed from that situation."

Mint then chimed in with her own thoughts. "Also, your senior, is her name Larkspur? She seems to be a very strong magical girl."

"Of course, Larkspur is the best magical girl."

Lin Xiaolu breathed a sigh of satisfaction, feeling proud that she had been able to fully convey the remarkable qualities of the Larkspur to others. "In fact, words alone are completely insufficient to describe how amazing the Larkspur is!"

"That's right, that's right!" Bai Jingxuan chimed in immediately to lend support.

"Even more powerful than described? That's truly..."

Mint blinked, a slight smile playing on her lips. "It makes me want to meet you."

Her words made Lin Xiaolu pause for a moment. Seeing Mint's Mint demeanor and refreshingly handsome appearance, she inexplicably thought of the hand-kissing gesture that Asō Madoka had given to Larkspur, and then unconsciously replaced the image of Asō Madoka Mint front of her. Just thinking about that scene made her feel a little sour.

"Then you probably won't see it."

"Can't we see him?" Mint, somewhat confused. "Not even Fangting City?"

"If I can't see him, I can't see him."

Lin Xiaolu retorted firmly, "Besides, you're a magical girl from another city, right? Is it really appropriate for you to just run off to another city without any missions?"

"Well... at least judging from the map, my city isn't close to your Fangting, but it's definitely not far either."

Mint looked thoughtful, as if she were genuinely considering the possibility of "making a special trip to Fangting": "Hmm, at least it's closer than going to Heavenly City."

"Your city?"

This piqued Lin Xiaolu's interest, so she half-deliberately, half-naturally changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of which, haven't you told us what your city is like yet?"

"Indeed, no one came."

Mint, standing on the brick, turned back and smiled at Lin Xiaolu, "What, want to know more?"

"Tell me quickly, tell me! I've talked so much about Fang Ting, my mouth is dry."

Lin Xiaolu clapped the device beside her, making a "bang bang" sound, and urged, "Now it's your turn!"