Comrades

(Miluno)

Aldebaran reluctantly wiped away the bloodstains, and I quietly followed Fomalhaut to the bedroom she had mentioned.

The room wasn't large, and following the world's usual iron coffin style, the cold metal walls had no windows, making it resemble a large prison. However, this bedroom was filled with various animal-shaped plush toys, decorated with an overwhelming sense of girlish charm...

This naturally makes one curious: what kind of young girl lives in this bedroom?

Fomalhaut carefully placed the still unconscious Sun Ji on the bed, as if afraid of hurting him, then turned and went into the bathroom to get a basin and a hot towel.

"A-Ji, rest here for a while."

Tsk, so this is her own bedroom. Her aloof and arrogant war goddess persona is impossible to salvage!

She knelt on the bed, reached out and unbuttoned Sun Ji's shirt, trying to take off the blood-stained shirt, and then used a hot towel to wipe his chest... Although he was a middle-aged man who often socialized, this cheap father-in-law was in pretty good shape. Although he didn't have six-pack abs, he didn't have a big belly, and his arm muscles were quite firm.

Yeah, it's only slightly worse than before.

Suddenly, Fomalhaut's hand, which was holding a hot towel, was grasped.

A middle-aged man, shirtless with a hexagonal pink metal pin in his chest, weakly sat up, supporting himself on the bed.

He squinted and rubbed his forehead.

Where is this?

Fomalhaut replied:

"It's my room."

Even the usually composed Sun Ji showed surprise at this answer.

He glanced at the toys around the bed, then looked down at the pink Artificial Crystal (a metal object) on his chest, and then closed his eyes.

A serious-looking middle-aged man transformed into a magical girl with long, straight, smooth pink hair in a burst of light.

I'd seen it once before, but the contrast is still too great.

But this time I wasn't wearing anything...

A brand-new Artificial Crystal wouldn't be equipped with any clothing. Aldebaran wouldn't be so considerate; as a male, he's shirtless, and even as a female, he still has a pair of large headlights shining through, making no attempt to hide anything, just sitting there so openly.

Tsk, is this something I should be watching?

But it's hard to look away; the pink Artificial Crystal on her chest is definitely eye-catching.

Fortunately, Fomalhaut also felt he shouldn't have looked, but since he didn't have any clothes that fit, he simply found a large coat and wrapped it around Sun Ji. However, the khaki coat looked like a raincoat or a trench coat, and after being wrapped around him, it only fueled the imagination...

I couldn't tell before, but isn't this bigger than Ceruno's?

But it must be said that Aldebaran's Artificial Crystal are truly remarkable.

The Star Crystal requires the will of a celestial body to produce miracles, but Artificial Crystal are essentially a new type of Simulacrum Factor. How exactly do they work?

Once this thing is mass-produced, cannon fodder Monster can all be upgraded into magical girls. Even if their strength is not as good as the real Star Crystal, their sheer numbers will still put a lot of pressure on us, not to mention there's also the path of Witchification...

Sun Ji got up from the bed.

The wide belt of his trousers slid down to his legs with a whoosh, and Fomalhaut hurriedly pulled out a skirt...

Fomalhaut asked:

"A-Ji, are you planning to attend a high-level meeting looking like this?"

Sun Ji nodded and replied:

"Hmm, I didn't expect Aldebaran to actually be made."

"Although her personality is a bit problematic, her technical skills as a researcher are commendable."

Fomalhaut rarely praised Aldebaran, but Sun Ji shook his head.

"But this Artificial Crystal was research she snatched from the former head of the development department; she used someone else's work to benefit others... I even suspect that the former head's downfall was directly related to her... Aldebaran is no longer the Golden Consort we know; she's not someone we can confide in now."

It sounds nice, but it's definitely just rhetoric to win over Fomalhaut. She abandoned Anjie without batting an eye, and given her reputation as a traitor, she's clearly a hypocrite who's not worth confiding in.

Fomalhaut simply replied:

"A-Ji, I am no longer the Fomalhaut you know... I am her replacement."

"That kind of thing is irrelevant; we are still comrades who share the same ideals."

Sun Ji's words deeply moved Fomalhaut. This honest, white-haired, red-eyed woman was so easy to manipulate! I'm even considering having a private chat with her; she seems so easy to fool, just look at my handsome Bai Ziye...

Um, okay.

I'm no longer qualified.

Sun Ji paced back and forth in the bedroom with his hands behind his back.

"Aurora, I think I know how to get the council to accept you, and to accept the existence of the witch."

Why does she go for walks all the time? Several times she's gotten really close to me, so I have to carefully move to the corner of the wall to avoid being bumped into...

"You want those elders to become witches too?"

"Well, since their fear of you stems from a fear of power, then let's grant them power that doesn't make them afraid of you. They'll consider my suggestion... Besides, this will also help us achieve our ideals."

Broken.

My cheap father-in-law is actually planning to mass-produce witches.

Fomalhaut nodded and said:

"Indeed, perhaps this opportunity can help them understand that our path is the right prescription for saving the world..."

After all that talk, what exactly are their ideals?

It sounds like they're about to start a revolution...

Listening to the two riddle-solving idiots chat was exhausting, especially since I was waiting to kick Sun Ji back to the Other Side. With the half-hour deadline fast approaching, I was starting to get anxious, having accomplished nothing.

My batteries are fully charged, can't they just be alone for a while? Why do they have to stick together like this?

If that doesn't work, could you open the door and let me go and mess up the stuff on the assembly line?

Sun Ji stopped pacing in circles.

"Aurora, I have something else to attend to..."

Yay, she's finally leaving.

Then they asked, "... What about your Witchification Process?"

Sun Ji shook his head and said, "Let's leave that for next time. I need to convince those old fogies to accept this Artificial Crystal first."

Fomalhaut followed him toward the door.

"Then I'll open the door for you."

Why do I need to go to a hotel to open the bedroom door? Are you a doorman at some hotel?

As a result, she raised her hand, channeling her magic to gather in front of her...

So "opening the door" meant sending Sun Ji back using teleportation magic?!

I immediately sped up the flow of time to give myself time to think.

This is an opportunity.

I have two choices right now.

The first option is to follow Sun Ji to the other end of this passage, and then kick her into my wormhole from there.

This approach is relatively safer, since I assume that Fomalhaut is the strongest force on the "The Other Side," and as long as she's not present, everyone else is just a lackey.

But this means I won't have the chance to go to the equipment on the assembly line again.

The second method involved layering my own teleportation magic on top of Fomalhaut's magic. Except for Ceruno's pink portal, everyone else's portals were red vortexes; at least, I couldn't tell the difference.

If I succeed, I can make my cheap father-in-law go home on his own. She's just a magical girl, she'll only get a good beating from Sirius. Then, before Fomalhaut can react, I can steal that device...

If I fail, I'll have to confront Fomalhaut in this cramped bedroom, which is a very unfavorable situation. I can only demonstrate my advantage in an open space with room to move around.

So, how do you choose?