Hostage

(Miluno)

I played the bad cop, and my mom gently played the good cop.

"The Proxy provide you with Crystal to exploit your discontent with society, using the power of magical girls to cause destruction, thereby inciting public panic, leading to the growth of darkness, and ultimately plunging the entire world into utter ruin, don't you? You don't want to be accomplices of 'the Other Side,' do you?"

After hearing his mother say that, Tiger Cub stopped eating his cake and retorted with his mouth full of cream:

"How could that be! I wish I could kill all those bastards and demons! Besides, I didn't cause any trouble! You have no reason to arrest me if I've been behaving properly, right?"

Dantai Xue muttered to herself:

"Hmph, if my dad hadn't stopped you, you probably would have smashed up the police station."

Tiger Cub immediately deflated and slumped onto the table, muttering to himself.

"That was just an impulse back then."

Mom clapped her hands.

"That's right! Most of the Contaminated Crystal are given to people who are already seriously dissatisfied with society. Once these people get the Crystal, they become bomb-thugs and basically use the Crystal to take revenge on society. As for whether these people live or die, the Proxy doesn't really care."

Basically, it was treated as a consumable item.

The Fake Magical Girl created from the Contaminated Crystal is relatively weak and is easily defeated by any real magical girl she encounters. Furthermore, the Contaminated Crystal cannot undo its transformation...

Ordinary prisons can't hold these Fake Magical Girl, and Nabu Island Prison isn't designed for them either. If they cause serious incidents, they'll basically be shot on the spot.

The only problem is that the magical girl in charge of doing this will suffer severe psychological trauma, since Fake Magical Girl are still human.

I have no qualms about hunting Monster, but killing...

Mom continued:

"The Proxy is using you as pawns, and the informant monitoring you and providing information to the Proxy is Gong Ling, so she may not have good intentions."

"It's just mutual exploitation; with that kind of power, everything becomes easier!"

Tiger Cub revealed a sly smile, which he thought was wicked, and clenched her fair, pink fist.

Dantai Xue, however, continued to undermine him.

"With this kind of influence, you don't have to worry about student recruitment? I heard that you used your resettlement allowance to open another training center? Business has been good lately? And you've recruited quite a few primary and secondary school students?"

"Hmm, let's not talk about that at a time like this..."

Before Tiger Cub became Fake Magical Girl, he seemed to be an uncle who taught Sanda (Chinese kickboxing). Because he looked fierce, he couldn't attract many students.

Judging from what Dantai Xue said, after turning into a catgirl and starting over, her Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) class is doing quite well?

"Hehe, that's not hard to understand, is it?"

The little thing even gave a very logical and insightful analysis.

"In Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) instruction, physical contact is unavoidable. If I were the father of such an adorable catgirl teacher, I would be willing to send my child to classes, and I even want to go myself!"

Are you going there to learn Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)?

Or was Wen's true intention not in the wine?

However, even if the Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) classes reopen, they won't be in the Old District anymore.

The Old District has been sealed off.

"Have you been staying at this restaurant recently?" I asked.

Although the government has set up temporary shelters, most people still use the resettlement allowance to find their own place to live. After all, the conditions at the shelters are not very good, and it is unknown how long it will take for the lockdown to be lifted, so having a stable place to live is more important.

Tiger Cub also replied:

"I rented a shop next to the restaurant, and I usually live in the classroom."

"Dad stays in this room."

Dantai Xue shrugged.

"It just means we'll earn less money from one private room. My dad lives at the hotel, so I can take care of him while I'm at work, which is actually more convenient than before."

That being said...

I glanced at the pink furnishings in the private room, wondering if Dantai Zhengchu could fall asleep on that girlish princess bed. I, for one, thought he'd have nightmares.

My mother asked, "Don't you own a house in the city? Over the years, you must have accumulated some capital, right?"

"That's it. A few years ago, the gang was in a bad situation, so we sold our house in the city... Fortunately, our ancestral home wasn't damaged much. Once the Dark Energy is purified, we can move back."

Whether land stained with Black Mud can decompose naturally is still a question...

Just then, my mom's laptop started ringing with a video call notification.

"Oh! Your dad finally got it done!"

After connecting the video call, Mom placed the computer horizontally on the dining table so everyone could see it, and said:

"Now, please Gong Zhenglong, the key witness of this discussion!"

When her father appeared in front of the camera with a sprightly, white-haired elderly man, Dantai Xue exclaimed in surprise:

"Grandpa Gong?!"

"Uncle Gong."

Even Dantai Zhengchu greeted them.

My mother continued, "Gong Ling was introduced to the Dantai Society by him, and under the name of his granddaughter, so he must know Gong Ling's identity, but he refuses to say. If possible, we don't want to resort to violence against an elderly person... so we have to ask you to help persuade him."

Although there was no threat in her tone, her mother's words still made Dantai Xue and Dantai Zhengchu frown.

"You actually mentioned violence?"

Mom raised one eyebrow.

"What's wrong? Our Prosecutorate is a department that values reason, but for those who don't listen to reason, we can be unreasonable too! I think you understand, right, you underworld family?"

Dantai Zhengchu frowned slightly as he looked at the old man in the video.

"Uncle Gong, you weren't hurt, were you?"

The old man in the video sighed.

"Zhengchu, I'm sorry, I've been kidnapped."

"Cough cough cough."

Dantai Zhengchu, somewhat agitated, questioned, "Does the Association really resort to such despicable tactics as kidnapping a retired elderly person?"

"Well, why don't you ask us how we took him hostage?"

When the mother said this, the elderly man in the video replied:

"I've lost quite a bit at cards... I even lost my house to this young man."

Puff--

Mono spat out a mouthful of juice.

"Gambling? Is that called kidnapping?"

My dad won Gong Zhenglong's house, leaving the old man homeless and forced to accept this video... That's roughly what happened.

Dantai Zhengchu, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief.

"... Uncle Gong, why don't you come back first?"

Mom asked, "Where are you going? You can't go back to Dantai Society. You don't want the old man to come to this shop, do you?"

"We can rent a place in the city, but things that Uncle Gong doesn't want to talk about are definitely things he can't let us know."

"That won't do!"

Mom took a slice of cake from the table and said as she ate it:

"As I just mentioned, we have plenty of ways to get information out of his head, but we don't want things to escalate to that point, which is why I called you all here for this meeting today."

"... Father, I actually want to know too."

Dantai Xue scratched her cheek.

"Aren't you curious about who A Ling really is?"

"Ah Xue, there are some things it's better not to know... cough cough."

Dantai Zhengchu's face remained pale.

"I never expected Mr. Dantai to be so out of touch with reality, Bai Zhi ~"

Mom conveyed a certain message to Dad.

In the video, the father uses restraint straps to tie the old man to a chair, then takes some things out of a metal briefcase...

Syringes, medicine, cotton swabs, and similar items.