Five million new followers! (Two-in-one)

After dinner.

"Bye, Sister Hell!"

Tang Xiaoyu waved reluctantly to Hell.

Hell said goodbye to them and returned home alone, yawning as she undid her transformation inside the Magic Curtain.

She climbed over the fence in the backyard and went inside.

She took a shower and went to bed.

The next day was Monday.

Mo Zhen turned off his alarm, then blearily pulled out his phone from under the covers and messaged Adam: "I have a bit of a fever, so I'm not going to school today. Could you ask for the day off for me?"

Adam replied instantly: "No problem. Hope you feel better soon."

Mo Zhen gave his family the same excuse.

Mo Chou didn't seem to suspect anything either. At breakfast, he simply brought him an extra egg without a word.

When he saw Mo Zhen's puzzled look, the father, a man of few words, shrugged. "Eat more eggs and you'll get better faster."

All right, then.

Mo Zhen peeled the egg, dipped it in some soy sauce, and finished it in three bites, bringing his breakfast to an end.

He saw Bai Xiaoxiao and Mo Xiaochuan off to school, followed by Mo Chou.

On the surface, Mo Chou still held his job as a professor of geology, diligently going to work every day and occasionally traveling on business.

Mo Chou tied the necktie his wife had given him years ago in the entryway, while Mo Zhen stood beside him and handed him his briefcase.

Before leaving, Mo Chou hesitated for a moment, then actually raised a hand of his own accord and ruffled Mo Zhen's hair.

"Get some rest at home. If anything happens, remember to call me."

Mo Zhen blinked softly, still unable to understand why his father had changed so much lately. Was it just because Mo Xiaochuan had awakened superpowers?

He had gone from leaving all three of them entirely to their own devices to taking the initiative to show concern for them.

After Mo Chou left.

Mo Zhen glanced at a Wall Street Express news flash:

"Reynolds Group premarket stock forecast: shares could plunge by as much as 40%. With the chairman's fate unknown, the resulting chain reaction could cause the entire power sector to crash."

"Experts say this could be the worst black swan event to hit the power sector in the history of Taiping Prefecture's stock market."

Poor Little Reynolds. Hope you can withstand the pressure.

Mo Zhen sighed inwardly, then rolled back under the covers to catch up on sleep.

Meanwhile, Moon Studio had already published a post: "Magical girl 'Hell': debut battle!"

It was a thirteen-minute video.

At the very beginning, Moon Studio used footage from Joker Man's livestream so viewers could understand what had happened.

They also took the opportunity to capitalize heavily on Uncle Joker Man's popularity.

Although Joker Man himself had ordinary strength and had displayed no superpowers other than immortality,

there was no denying that his fame was in a league of its own worldwide.

Carefree, free, and never stopping.

He was like a dying bonfire in the ruins: a single blow could put him out, yet he would always rise from the dead and come back again.

His actions were never driven by a purpose. He did whatever came to mind.

One day he might blow up a bank over some trivial matter; the next, he might rob a nursing home for a single dollar.

So this time, viewers began looking forward to seeing just how spectacular the fight between Joker Man's elite team and Hell would be.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, this was an evenly matched battle... right?

But after the explosion, the scrolling comments became less friendly:

"So Scarlet Spider was involved in this fight too. I knew it. How could Hell possibly beat Joker Man's elite team on her own?"

"What do you mean, Scarlet Spider was there too? Wasn't he there for the fight against Ripper last time? Hell was still the one who killed him."

"Hell fans, stop hyping her up. Scarlet Spider clearly crippled Ripper first last time, and then she came out and stole the kill, okay?"

"If you ask me, her actual combat ability is nothing special. Her fighting skills are practically nonexistent. In a fair one-on-one, she definitely couldn't beat Ripper. It's all just hype."

Some dark web viewers who had already seen what was coming struggled to keep straight faces as they watched the uninformed viewers argue in the comments.

After the Reynolds Group's fusion device exploded, Tang Wenjie switched to the ultra-high-definition footage he had obtained from the secretary-general.

When Hell appeared, the screen was already filled with excited and disparaging comments, representing the two most extreme groups of magical girl fans at the moment.

Hell had only announced her debut a few days ago and was already mired in controversy because of the "killing" and "being investigated by the Ministry of Magic for witchification."

Yet because of that very public discourse, she had gained a group of exceptionally fervent fans from the traffic across major social media platforms.

The voices on those platforms had also begun to grow more evenly contested, rather than being dominated by the suppression and abuse from supporters of the Ministry of Magic and orthodox magical girls.

For amid the attacks from fans of orthodox magical girls, people noticed that Hell's fervent fans weren't decreasing in number. Instead, there were more of them with each passing day.

The reason was that the Ministry of Magic's personal involvement, along with the criticism and suppression from major media outlets, had directly stirred up a rebellious reaction among today's netizens.

At the end of the day, the person Hell had killed was a criminal, and the notorious Ripper at that.

It was one thing not to reward her for ridding the people of a menace.

But who did a mere Ministry of Magic think it was, opening an investigation into her when she hadn't violated any Superhuman Law?

Just because she didn't follow your rules? She isn't even your employee! Why are you sticking your nose into everything?

Taiping Prefecture's domineering netizens had always treated everyone equally: superhumans deserved criticism, companies deserved criticism, and the United Government's Ministry of Magic? That deserved even more.

Only that could be called healthy!

And as Hell's battle with Joker Man's group reached its climax, she cut through them all with fluid ease, slicing them down like melons and vegetables until she reached Joker Man.

Her fans went completely wild.

"Bark? Come on, haters, bark some more?"

"Fuck, where are those people who wouldn't stop yapping earlier? Do you know how powerful your Lord Hell is now? Huh?"

"Two slashes to kill Power King, one move to cut Flamethrower in half, then she flashed over and instantly killed Bomb Boy. Oh my god... this is Lord Hell!"

"Haters, do you like your Lord Hell's head-pat kill? Huh? Answer me! Look in my eyes!"

"Oh, give me a break. Didn't she just take advantage of them not knowing about her underworld Cursed Technique? If Flamethrower and Power King had been prepared, how could she have won so easily?"

"By that logic, Bald Eagle was already prepared, wasn't he? And he still got instantly killed by one head pat. You haters' mouths are harder than diamonds!"

"You ridiculous haters, could you stop pressing your heads against the sole of your Lord Hell's shoe?"

"Holy crap, am I the only one who can't stop laughing? It's the first time I've seen the fearless Joker Man actually beg for mercy, hahahaha!"

"One quarter of Joker Man's demonic balls: kids, this isn't funny."

"Joker Man's dignity: kids, I escaped by the skin of my teeth."

"I'm Joker Man. Could you stop making this hell joke? You cold, heartless people, don't you have hearts? I'm going to send you a lawyer's letter!"

"666, Uncle Joker Man won the resurrection round that quickly this time?"

After the video was released, Miss Hell's fervent fans gradually gained the upper hand in the comment sections across major social media platforms.

So when Mo Zhen woke from his extra sleep and picked up his phone under the covers to browse, he noticed that his reputation had risen for a second time.

[Miss Witch, your reputation is rising significantly...]

[Current reputation: "Rising to fame" → "Widely renowned"!]

[Definition of effective reputation: people who respect and love, admire, or fear you from the bottom of their hearts will provide you with effective reputation.]

He then opened his personal social media accounts.

On the platform where he had the most followers, the international version of TikTok, even though he hadn't posted any videos and had only been tagged by Moon Studio,

his total follower count had still surpassed five million. On other platforms such as Instagram and Bilibili, his followers had also surpassed one million each.

These were all real people who had actively sought her out and followed her, a far cry from bot followers.

Fortunately, Xiaobaihe had helped her turn off direct messages in advance. Otherwise, her inbox would definitely have been flooded with messages from fans by now.

After the livestream of the press conference ended, Moon Studio promptly announced across major social media platforms that they would release magical girl "Hell's" first Q&A interview video at midnight that night.

The people in the comments were crawling all over the place with impatience:

"I can't wait, I can't wait! Why do we have to wait until midnight?!"

"Moon Studio, do you people have hearts? Can't you just release it all at once?"

"A world without Miss Hell has no meaning..."

"I want to see Hell kitty's Q&A!"

Compared with the harmony in Moon Studio's own comment section, reports from other third-party media outlets sparked a new round of debate and dissemination.

The Ministry of Magic released a statement on its official social media account, once again emphasizing:

Magical girl "Hell's" interference in nonmagical affairs and her act of killing had seriously violated the moral and behavioral codes for magical girls.

The Ministry of Magic then stated that it would conduct a second investigation into the Reynolds Group incident.

This investigation would be combined with the ongoing investigation into magical girl "Hell's" witchification.

Taiping Prefecture Ministry of Magic:

In a meticulously organized office, Hu Xueting stroked the Siamese cat she kept at the Ministry of Magic.

She entered a voice channel and asked:

"How is Xiaohong progressing?"

Someone soon replied:

"Miss Hu, Xiaohong has arranged to meet Hell for the first time at the Colossus Company."

Hu Xueting frowned slightly, displeased that Lin Xiaohong was outwardly complying while secretly acting against her wishes. She had clearly told her to arrest Hell, yet Lin Xiaohong was plainly going to disobey.

At the thought, Hu Xueting wanted nothing more than to transfer the person in charge of Jinghai District to some remote corner to play in the mud.

Tsk, it's all that old bastard Merlin's fault. Otherwise, how could an idiot like Xiaohong possibly dare use an arrest warrant to defy my orders?

Hu Xueting knew better than anyone that once she signed the arrest warrant, she would be responsible for the arrest operation.

Her original plan had been to have Lin Xiaohong arrest Hell first, throw her into the witch correctional facility for three months, and then destroy her magic circuits.

Once the deed was done, it wouldn't matter how the Colossus Company protested. With a few methods, even the most stubborn person would confess, let alone a girl.

As long as Hell admitted she was a witch, Hu Xueting could fill in the arrest warrant afterward and achieve justice in terms of procedure.

But as things stood, Hu Xueting's old plan, which she had put into practice many times, was no longer useful.

That was because Hell was not only extremely wary of the Ministry of Magic, but also had the Colossus Company's support behind her.

The Colossus Company had paid no attention to the Ministry of Magic's repeated invitations to talks, simply telling them unilaterally to liaise with Moon Studio themselves.

When had Hu Xueting ever suffered such humiliation? She was the head of the Ministry of Magic in Tianhe City, yet they actually wanted her to deal with a studio?

Ridiculous!

So Hu Xueting questioned her secretary again: "What about the investigation into the Reynolds Group?"

She couldn't wait to get something on Hell, so she could sign a witch arrest warrant with legitimate grounds.

The secretary replied, "Sorry, we haven't found any evidence in that regard yet."

A bunch of useless idiots!

Hu Xueting gradually stroked the cat harder, then finally tossed the Siamese cat from her arms into its bed to play by itself.

"Meow..." The kitten was confused and at a loss.

Hu Xueting couldn't be bothered with it. She took out her phone and dialed a number.

"Golden Feather? Go to the meeting this afternoon and sound her out."

At two thirty in the afternoon.

Colossus Company, 72nd floor, Moon Studio.

Miss Hell sat in the lounge, drinking black tea and eating the little bear cookies Xiaobaihe had baked.

After Hell praised them yesterday, Xiaobaihe had prepared another bag.

Richard suddenly pushed open the door. "Miss Hell, the people from the Ministry of Magic are here. They're in the conference room with the boss."

Hell nodded, pulled out a tissue to wipe her fingertips clean, then got up and headed to the conference room.

Tang Wenjie was already waiting there. He wore a gray suit today, his hair slicked back sharply, and had switched to a pair of black-framed glasses.

He looked a little like the male lead in "American Psycho."

Besides him, there were two unfamiliar girls.

The girl in front was about 165 centimeters tall and wore a loose Ministry of Magic uniform: a pointed hat and a long black robe.

She was Lin Xiaohong, the person in charge of Jinghai District. A star was attached to her cuff, the symbol of a Ministry of Magic district head.

Officially, she was also the Ministry of Magic's magical girl "Red Sparrow," with a danger rating of B+.

The girl behind her was slightly taller, with long blond hair and no star on her cuff.

She was also an official magical girl of the Ministry of Magic, codenamed "Golden Feather."

She was slightly weaker, but her Ministry of Magic danger rating was still B.

As Hell observed them, they were observing her too.

When Lin Xiaohong saw the magical girl with long gray hair and dark red eyes, she blinked softly. Her first thought was:

Such a young child. She can't be more than sixteen, can she? Yet she has such powerful magic.

And she's even cuter in person than in the photos on my phone. Is this the cold-faced cuteness her fans are always talking about? No wonder she's gaining followers so quickly!

Hell was always in the habit of putting on a cold face around strangers and never looked friendly toward anyone, but that only made her delicate little face look even cuter.

Golden Feather, however, quietly rolled her eyes beside Lin Xiaohong.

Isn't she just a newly debuted magical girl? What's she so arrogant about?

In the past, which junior magical girl hadn't been utterly respectful when meeting them? How could anyone be so dismissive of others!

Golden Feather was a year older than Lin Xiaohong, eighteen years old, an older magical girl who was about to "retire."

She was the secretary Hu Xueting had specifically assigned to Lin Xiaohong.

Of course, anyone with eyes could see that Golden Feather was actually a pawn Hu Xueting was using to undermine Lin Xiaohong's authority.

"Hello, Miss Hell."

Lin Xiaohong stood up, took the initiative to step forward, and extended her hand to Hell.

"My name is Lin Xiaohong. I'm the head of the Ministry of Magic in Jinghai District, and also the magical girl 'Red Sparrow.' It's a pleasure to meet you."

Though Hell was cold toward outsiders, one didn't strike a smiling face. Since Lin Xiaohong was being pleasant, she wouldn't embarrass her.

"Hello, Miss Red Sparrow. I'm Hell."

The two girls shook hands gently.

Lin Xiaohong felt a little more at ease.

Although people online said Hell was an arrogant magical girl, she seemed quite easy to talk to now that they had met.

Magical girls who were truly hard to approach would not even shake hands with them.

Tang Wenjie spoke up from beside them. "Everyone, please take a seat."

"Okay."

Both sides took their seats.

Tang Wenjie said, "Ms. Xiaohong, at this meeting, I will represent the chairperson of the Hell Kingdom with full authority and conduct discussions and negotiations with you in my capacity as general manager and agent."

"We will record the meeting for our records. Of course, you may make an equivalent recording for your own records. That's only fair."

Beside him, Hell picked up her black tea and took a small sip.

She had to admit, having Tang Wenjie as her agent really saved her a lot of trouble. She hardly had to worry about anything herself.

She only needed to focus on completing her system tasks and growing stronger along the way. Tang Wenjie would naturally handle everything else in an orderly fashion.

Perhaps this is the charm of a sigma male?

His orderly, mature, and steady way of handling affairs was worth learning from.

"A recording?"

As soon as Tang Wenjie finished speaking, Golden Feather, who was beside Lin Xiaohong, frowned in displeasure and looked at the camera in the conference room.

Without even looking at her, Tang Wenjie continued speaking to Lin Xiaohong.

"Please rest assured, Ms. Xiaohong. We can guarantee that there will be no malicious misrepresentation or editing of the audio and video recordings of this meeting."

Lin Xiaohong seemed a little surprised and quickly nodded. "It's fine, it's fine. We don't mind."

Tang Wenjie nodded. "Thank you for your understanding."

Seeing this, Golden Feather, who was beside them, clicked her tongue inwardly in displeasure.

Her strength was clearly about the same as Lin Xiaohong's, and she had more seniority, yet Lin Xiaohong had become the person in charge while she was still a front-line worker.

If they really fought, she might not necessarily lose.

But what bothered her even more was how Tang Wenjie and Hell ignored her.

Ms. Hu was right. Those two who were in cahoots didn't take the Ministry of Magic's existence seriously at all.