On Yuewang

"Let me think... If I were to go through everything in detail, it would be too long-winded. What would you like to hear?"

Hearing Lin Xiaolu say this, Mint played along quite well. "About the city itself? About our Magical Girl Squad? Or about me personally?"

"Speak up, everyone. We're just killing time anyway."

Lin Xiaolu, with only her left foot on the ground and her right foot on tiptoe, leaned her upper body on the magic device and looked at Mint: "I learned something about this in a book before, that the city center of Yuewang City is a mountain?"

"Since you're interested in listening, I don't mind. Just don't complain that what I'm saying is boring later."

Mint turned around, lowered her head, took two more steps forward, and changed the color of a few bricks at her feet to green. "Let's talk about Yuewang City itself first—you were right, Yuewang City is a city built around a mountain. In the very center of our city, there is a mountain a thousand meters high..."

"Wuheng Mountain," Lin Xiaolu answered quickly.

"... That's right, it's Wuheng Mountain."

Mint was slightly taken aback by her words, but quickly continued, "A thousand years ago, during the Ancient Beast Calamity, a group of refugees sought refuge in the mountains to escape the Aberrant Beast and survive in the wilderness. These people originally did not intend to stay on the mountain for long, but after staying here for a while, they unexpectedly discovered that as long as they lived in this Wuheng Mountain, it seemed that no Aberrant Beast would come looking for them because of the gathering of humans."

"Back then, technology was underdeveloped, or rather, there was no technology at all, and no theory could verify this conjecture. But for these refugees, surviving the jaws of the Aberrant Beast was already a great blessing, so they simply settled here."

"And as they expected, almost no Aberrant Beast would actively approach Wuheng Mountain. Even if a few occasionally appeared here, Aberrant Beast would leave as long as people didn't actively expose themselves."

"With such a uniquely favorable environment, the people who settled on Wuheng Mountain naturally multiplied and thrived very quickly. In addition, the mountain was quite conspicuous in the surrounding Wasteland, and more and more refugees from all directions poured in. Later, it became one of the largest human settlements in Donghua Prefecture."

"The existence of Wuheng Mountain was passed down by word of mouth among the people at that time, and it was easy for outsiders to find it and join the community. There was only one mountain within a radius of dozens of miles, so 'seeing the only mountain meant finding Wuheng,' which is also the origin of the name 'Yuewang City.'"

Mint shoved one hand into her coat pocket, gestured with the other towards Bai Jingxuan in the distance, and continued walking forward, "Later, people from the Kingdom came to the Material Realm and helped us build cities. And since there are so many people living on Wuheng Mountain, it was natural that this place was designated as one of the Central City."

"A mountain that can drive away Aberrant Beast?" Lin Xiaolu blinked. "Is there really such a magical thing? It sounds just like City Barrier Network."

"Because, in fact, a crucial material for the City Barrier Network comes from Wuheng Mountain."

Mint shrugged. "There's a very special mineral inside Mount Wuheng Mountain that can disrupt the surrounding magical fluctuations, causing confusion in the senses of the Aberrant Beast. The older generation calls this mineral 'Ghost-Driving Stone,' while the people of the Kingdom call it 'Variegated Jade.' In short, it was thanks to this mineral that the refugees were able to survive by relying on Wuheng Mountain."

"So your Yuewang City doesn't even need City Barrier Network?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu suddenly clapped her hands. "We can come and go as we please? We can even see what the outside of the city looks like?"

"Ha, how could that be? You're overthinking it."

Mint chuckled, "There are no more Ghost-Driving Stone- Ghost-Driving Stone stones in Wuheng Mountain now. They've all been dug out and used as protective netting material for other cities in Donghua Prefecture. After all, compared to piling up a bunch of Ghost-Driving Stone, using their own properties to drive away Aberrant Beast is much more efficient than making them into protective netting."

"That wouldn't be interesting." Lin Xiaolu immediately lost interest.

"All the Ghost-Driving Stone have been completely mined out, turning Wuheng Mountain itself into a large mine. The Kingdom has reinforced the remaining parts of the mountain, so nowadays, even the interior of Wuheng Mountain is part of Yuewang City's residential area."

Mint didn't seem to mind and continued, "Imagine walking into a cave, looking up, and seeing bright lights shining through the hollow mountainside. All around you, there are houses, bridges, and even a platform elevator that can carry hundreds of people... Isn't that cool? This is the kind of scenery we see all the time in our cities."

"Hmm... this seems... really?" Lin Xiaolu briefly imagined the scenery described by Mint and found that it did indeed seem quite unique.

"That's not all. At the top of the largest cave, behind the rock wall, lies the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau of Yuewang City."

Mint extended a finger and shook it slightly. "Because our city is Central City, there are many magical girls, more than twenty of whom are currently registered. Therefore, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau has special dormitories for magical girls. Although not everyone lives there every day, they are generally not vacant. There are always a few magical girls who live in the dormitories for various reasons."

"So?" Lin Xiaolu had already leaned half her body against the device, resting her chin on her hand.

"So, you can imagine that if something happens in the living area inside the cave, all you have to do is notify the magical girl in the dormitory, and then she can jump off the mountaintop—"

Mint spreads her arms wide. "We'll land at our destination in ten seconds at most. Magical Girl, make your dazzling entrance!"

"Ah, it really is."

Lin Xiaolu slightly opened her mouth. "He's kind of handsome."

She was telling the truth, because even Bai Jingxuan, who was not far away, was drawn to Mint's description and revealed a somewhat lustful expression.

"I've done this more than once."

Mint proudly shook her jacket. "Then every time I land, I'll lift my jacket up and do this cool move. If I do that, my online followers will skyrocket in a few days!"

"Online fans?"

Lin Xiaolu was even more surprised. "You guys would register an account using a magical girl's identity?"

"Is that even a question?"

Mint looked at her, somewhat puzzled. "Haven't you ever followed Blue Star's blog? Even if we're not in the same city, you should still be able to see the text messages, right?"

"Yes, there are..."

Lin Xiaolu looked away. "But that's something only very famous seniors do, right? If newcomers like us register accounts, won't it seem arrogant?"

She actually lied here.

Because she had never followed any Blue Star blogs.

Rather, in Lin Xiaolu's mind, the title of "Strong Flower" used to belong to her mother, while now, Larkspur is the most amazing magical girl in the world. Therefore, she has a strange sense of rejection towards this universally recognized "strongest".

"Come on, we're magical girls! We fight on the front lines every day, risking our lives. Can't we find some recognition online?"

Mint sighed, "If you don't publicize your achievements, they'll be attributed to other magical girls, needlessly boosting their reputations. Then, when people mention your codename, they won't remember what you've done; they'll just think, 'Oh, there's such a magical girl. She doesn't seem to have any particularly impressive achievements, so she's not worth mentioning.' It's so pathetic that you've done so many good deeds, yet no one cares in the end!"

"Ah... really?"

Lin Xiaolu stared blankly at Mint: "I don't think I've ever considered something like this before?"

"... That's true, after all, there are only five magical girls in your entire city."

Mint turned around and looked at her for a moment, then suddenly slumped her shoulders, saying somewhat dejectedly, "Because there are so few people, we'll always be the center of attention. How nice, a small city."

"Uh, really?"

Lin Xiaolu asked herself this question with some confusion. After recalling the comments she had seen online, it seemed that this was indeed the case.

Although she rarely searches for information on herself, usually only watching news reports on TV or looking for comments about herself online when she thinks she looks cool after defeating a crippled Aberrant Beast, it is clear that in the past six months, the people of Fangting City have actually had a pretty good opinion of her.

Some praised her for being very active as a newcomer, some said she had made great progress, and some simply said she was very cute. In short, even though she didn't deliberately promote herself, the people of Fangting City were paying attention to her actions.

Although this attention is insignificant compared to that of the Larkspur.

As the previous magical girl who saved Fangting City twenty years ago, the name "Cornflower" was already legendary in the hearts of the older generation of Fangting City. And on the night of last year's Full Moon Festival, after defeating the enormous, seemingly sky-covering Aberrant Beast in front of everyone in the city, everyone knew that "Cornflower had returned." Even the young people of today are no longer unfamiliar with Cornflower.

Undeniably, in the eyes of the general public, the most attractive quality for a magical girl is her "power."

If a magical girl is powerful enough to easily defeat enemies and trample all the Aberrant Beast that show up, then no matter how wicked her personality or how fierce her appearance, she will still gain countless fans.

Cornflower of Fangting City, a magical girl who "saved the city twice," undoubtedly provides people with the greatest sense of security.

In addition, although Larkspur is somewhat indifferent to outsiders, she is not mean or malicious, and is generally quite "approachable". She is also very cute and can be liked by both men and women. As a result, in Fangting City's online public opinion, the evaluation of Cornflower is overwhelmingly positive, and any dissenting voices are quickly drowned out by the sea of praise.

Lin Xiaolu naturally didn't feel jealous or anything like that. In fact, in her view, "Larkspur is amazing" was a matter of course, and it wasn't surprising that others could recognize this. Although she would occasionally feel envious and longing, imagining whether she could have such a day, she also knew that she was still far from it.

Given this, it's natural that she finds it difficult to truly appreciate her current "reputation."

Mint quickly noticed Lin Xiaolu's thoughts, so she tactfully changed the subject and started chatting about random things.

Time passed slowly until Mint finished gossiping about her team and was about to talk about herself when Bai Jingxuan, who had been listening the whole time, suddenly shouted, "It's done!"

The other two then noticed that the green bricks in the passageway had continued all the way, connecting the devices at both ends. This signified that the puzzle had finally reached its final stage in their hands.

"... Looks like this isn't the time for idle chatter."

Mint stepped out of the grid, circled the device in front of her, and after confirming that it was activated, gave Lin Xiaolu a smile that was still refreshing but somewhat sly:

"Sorry, let's talk about my personal matters another time."

There was construction work downstairs, and the noise was so loud that I made almost no progress by evening. I only managed to finish this chapter when I felt a bit better in the evening. Sorry for being late, meow.