Chapter 132 – Headquarters’ Orders
After listening to Luo Shuangyue recount the entire incident from last night, Xia Mo finally set aside her doubts about her.
It was unexpected that Shuangxing would feel shy about something like this, which made one want to laugh.
“Do you think of me as your mom? Pfft…” Xia Mo covered her mouth and let out a light laugh.
In fact, in every way, Luo Shuangyue doesn’t align with the word ‘mom’; her figure is quite lacking, and her temperament is far from that of a nurturing type.
Who knows where Luo Shuangxing got the feeling of ‘mom’ from.
“Stop laughing. Who knows what that girl is thinking, maybe she just sees me as a substitute mom.”
Currently, Luo Shuangyue is the only female direct relative of Luo Shuangxing, so if she wants to find a mom, she can only look for her sister, Luo Shuangyue.
As for how much of a motherly shadow Luo Shuangyue possesses, that’s not very important.
The two were still considering discussing Luo Shuangxing when a familiar Blooming Level senior appeared outside the door, gently knocking on the doorframe, interrupting their conversation.
The Soul Guide stood outside with a smile, casting a mix of ambiguous and appreciative glances toward the two girls in the room.
She certainly knew about the close relationship between Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue, and to her, these two girls seemed like a natural pair.
Young people pursuing their own feelings is nothing wrong; the Soul Guide sincerely hoped they could be together till the end.
However, she wasn’t here just to witness the affections but to find Luo Shuangyue and inform her of the latest schedule.
“The headquarters has something for you; it seems they want you to assist them with something.”
“Eh? Me?” Luo Shuangyue was greatly surprised.
She was happily fighting monsters in the sky, so why did she have to go back down to work?
Besides, the situation in the sky wasn’t easy, and if she left…
“Don’t worry, the Magic Department is currently gradually relocating the Initial Bloom Level from the ground here, and they are also trying to construct some large battle weapons. It can still operate just fine without you,” the Soul Guide noticed Luo Shuangyue’s concerns and couldn’t help but chuckle.
This child has a strong sense of responsibility, which is a good thing, but it seems she exaggerates her importance and puts too much pressure on herself.
The Moon base wouldn’t stop functioning just because Luo Shuangyue wasn’t there. With two digits of Blooming Level warriors stationed there, she just needed to listen to the arrangements.
“True, but why specifically ask me to go?” Luo Shuangyue scratched her head.
“Who knows, maybe Monise recommended you,” the Soul Guide shrugged. As a mere messenger, she didn’t know much beyond that. “She’s been working herself to death these days; remember not to provoke her when you go down.”
Of course, that wouldn’t be a problem; Luo Shuangyue was a qualified worker and had spent some time with Monise, so how could she provoke Monise in any way?
Although she still didn’t understand why Monise would want her to come down when she was up fighting, since the Magic Department already agreed, Luo Shuangyue had no choice but to go.
Half an hour later, Luo Shuangyue set off alone on her journey back to the mother planet.
For other Initial Bloom Level Magical Girls, this distance was quite far, initially requiring escorts from Blooming Level Magical Girls, and now even needing companions to complete the trip.
However, for Luo Shuangyue, this distance was not too difficult to cross.
Though in the vicinity of the mother planet, her teleportation ability was directly disabled, her speed was significantly faster than that of ordinary magical girls.
It didn’t take her long to fly to the skies above the mother planet, where she saw the magnificent barrier encasing the entire planet.
“Wow, this is amazing. Is this the power of a Blooming Level Magical Girl?” Gazing at the wall that resembled a city wall, Luo Shuangyue couldn’t help but murmur with a sigh.
She had heard Fei Hongzhi mention this barrier; it was a miraculous wall crafted by several Blooming Level Magical Girls working together in a short amount of time.
With it in place, royal-class and below magical beasts could not cause substantial harm to the mother planet, only royal-class magical creatures could breach this barrier and threaten the planet it protected.
However, the barrier was not very intelligent and lacked the ability to recognize friend from foe, meaning those inside could not come out, and those outside could not come in.
Only at certain designated nodes could human intervention open a few gates for passage.
“You’re from the Dark Butterfly?” The luxurious lineup of one Blooming and four Initial Bloom stood guard at the nodes; as soon as the Blooming Level Magical Girl saw Luo Shuangyue, she immediately stated her name.
“I need to check your identity; is that okay?”
She asked.
In fact, this was somewhat unnecessary, as currently, only magical girls could fly freely in space, and they all counted as comrades.
But rules are rules; who knew whether an odd royal-class creature would try to masquerade as a magical girl to sneak in and cause trouble?
“No problem.” Luo Shuangyue nodded.
The senior opened her hands, and a pale blue magical light swept over Luo Shuangyue from head to toe, causing her protective magical power to activate under the overwhelming sense of being probed.
Watching Luo Shuangyue, who was almost turning into a black spiky ball, the senior let out a mischievous laugh, “So cute.”
As she said this, she waved to the four Initial Bloom Magical Girls behind her.
The four Magical Girls pressed their hands against the barrier simultaneously; with a surge of magical energy, a small gap was opened.
“Go on in; maintaining this channel will consume quite a bit of their energy,” the senior said with a smile to Luo Shuangyue after the passage formed.
“Okay.” With a small frown, Luo Shuangyue quickly passed through the channel.
Once she passed, the four magical girls maintaining the channel immediately withdrew their energy, their expressions showing that they were on the verge of being drained.
This made Luo Shuangyue curious, so she directly asked, “Does maintaining this channel consume that much energy?”
“Of course! Do you think this channel was created easily?” One of the younger magical girls, holding a lollipop-like weapon, said with a sad expression. “When designing the barrier, the seniors didn’t consider adding more entrances.”
“Now the channel is just us breaking through the weakest point of the barrier and using magical energy to prevent its self-repair.”
“Such a simple and crude method?!”
Yes, it’s that simple and crude. It is well-known that the more complex something is, the more likely it is to encounter problems. The Magic Department also wanted to create a powerful, intelligent barrier, but time simply wasn’t enough.
Pursuing those extra functions would inevitably affect the overall strength of the barrier, which felt like throwing away the watermelon for the sesame seeds.
Now, with the barrier having only the functions of protection and self-repair, the probability of issues was nearly zero.
Sure, opening the door to let their own people in took a bit of energy, but that was a minor issue. These days, not many people needed to pass through the barrier.
Every day, a Blooming Level would escort Luo Shuangxing back and forth, and occasionally, there would be magical girls changing shifts up in the sky, so those working at the barrier were relatively relaxed.
It was definitely easier than the magical girls battling magical beasts all over the universe, right?
After a brief chat with the few magical girls there, Luo Shuangyue bid them farewell and flew straight towards the Magic Department headquarters.
Getting accustomed to high-speed flight in space, returning to the mother planet made Luo Shuangyue feel slightly out of place.
I’m flying so slowly, it’s like a turtle crawling, was the thought in Luo Shuangyue’s mind.
The resistance on the ground was indeed much greater than in the vacuum of space.
After quite a while, Luo Shuangyue finally reached the skies above the Magic Department headquarters. After confirming her identity with the incoming drone, she was guided to a location resembling a military airport.
The Magic Department headquarters, though it sounded like a mere government organization, was far from it.
Compared to a department, the headquarters of the Magic Department resembled a city—a small yet immensely powerful city.
This is what differentiates the Magic Department from other world-class government departments.
For instance, the parliamentary organization that nominally leads all humanity is essentially a facade; it has no significant power to intervene in the strength of the cities below it and only exists as a coordinator.
In fact, its headquarters is situated within a large city, failing to ensure absolute impartiality or gain the trust of all cities.
Other so-called world-level departments are the same; they seem like hollowed-out idols, only able to make grandiose statements while their subordinate cities do as they please without interference.
However, there is one exception.
That’s the Magic Department.
This department genuinely wields power, able to influence the decisions and actions of other cities, and each city’s own Magic Department will accept commands and directives from the headquarters.
This has led some schemers harboring dark intentions to feel displeased, often spreading rumors that the Magic Department is the true ruler of the world.
The Magic Department has not sought trouble with those conspirators; after all, what they say isn’t entirely wrong.
For example, right now, upon discovering a real threat to the mother planet, the Magic Department immediately began mobilizing all available resources to construct a planetary defense.
The resources expended in this process would be an astronomical figure; normally, it could take years for various cities to come to any sort of conclusion.
Yet when the Magic Department takes action, all cities cooperate obediently without daring to voice complaints.
After all, at such times, the Magic Department can’t be bullied; they are like a war machine, crushing any obstacles that dare to impede their path without hesitation.
Magical girls are kind-hearted, and most want to resolve matters sensibly.
But the leaders of the Magic Department are not necessarily that benevolent.
In order to unify the strength of humanity and ensure the survival of the entire race, they act without too many scruples.
During these days, there have been quite a few politicians who have seemingly evaporated from the face of the Earth.
“Is this Miss Dark Butterfly? I’m your guide to the headquarters.” A handsome girl in a dark uniform approached Luo Shuangyue, saluting stiffly.
Luo Shuangyue sensed a somewhat unstable magical power from her; it was quite different from that of magical girls and leaned more towards the side of transformed individuals.
As for strength, Luo Shuangyue felt that this girl could hold her own against soldier-level magical beasts.
This wasn’t intended as a jab; it’s worth noting that even soldier-level magical beasts are not extraordinary beings that can just be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Now, with a transformed girl able to single-handedly take down soldier-level magical beasts, that was definitely a big improvement.
“Yes, are you a transformed person?” Luo Shuangyue nodded.
This question caused the military-clad girl’s expression to stiffen, and then her cheeks flushed as she nodded, “Yes, I completed my transformation three days ago.”
As she spoke, she led Luo Shuangyue to the side, where there was an object resembling a jetpack.
The girl fixed the pack onto herself, pressed a few buttons on her arm, and a pair of plastic-like black wings extended from the pack. As the four nozzles on the wings emitted a bluish light, she slowly ascended into the air.
“Magical equipment?” Luo Shuangyue immediately recognized the origin of the pack.
“Yes, it’s equipment newly developed and produced by the headquarters. There are also magical bullets and magical weapons, all prepared for us transformed warriors,” the girl nodded, awkwardly operating the pack as it began to carry her forward.
Luo Shuangyue lightly tapped her toes and flew up to match the girl’s height, curiously examining the pack on her back.
The magical output was very low; even a girl of her level as a transformed individual could use it for several hours.
However, it was a bit slow, feeling like a speed of about forty to fifty kilometers per hour, which seemed almost like a snail’s pace to Luo Shuangyue.
But for transformed individuals who were previously ordinary people, the increase in combat capability with such equipment was more than just multiples.
Previously, they could only run on the ground with weapons that had almost no lethality against magical beasts.
Now they could fly and use weapons that could actually kill magical beasts, allowing what an entire squad couldn’t handle, to be taken down single-handedly by a transformed soldier.
This progress was truly enormous, so much so that these transformed individuals selectively forgot some important matters.
“What’s your name, big sis?”
“Bo Qing.”
“Oh, it sounds quite boyish, but it suits your vibe, big sis…” Luo Shuangyue quietly muttered, then noticed the transformed girl’s expression turn even more shy and angry.
Uh-oh, did I say something wrong?
