yasinovel Chapter 552 Former Teammates Reunite
Chapter 552 Former Teammates Reunite
"Boss, five skewers of pork kidney, five skewers of pork belly, and two more skewers of chives."
"Another plate of roasted eggplant, please, but with less chili."
Late at night, a petite girl walked into a barbecue restaurant and spoke to the owner who was busy working by the grill.
"Coming, coming! How many? Mild or very mild? You..."
The proprietress immediately stepped forward to take the order, sizing up the girl in front of her. She thought this was a big sale, but when she peeked out of the shop, the street was empty and quiet. Apart from a few customers in the shop and the girl, she didn't see anyone else.
"...Are you alone?" The proprietress pulled her head back, showing a hint of curiosity.
The girl walked very skillfully to the freezer, examined the dishes, and said casually:
"Yeah. And dried tofu too, let's grill another skewer of dried tofu, and I'll grab a can of Coke too."
Then she casually opened the freezer door, took out a can of Coke, and waved it lightly at the proprietress who was unsure whether she should serve her.
Seeing that she had found an empty private room to sit down, the proprietress looked back again to check the empty street, her expression becoming much more helpless. But how could she not take the business that was already in her hands? So she could only complain to the waiter who was skewering the food while keeping accounts.
"Sigh, these days, she doesn't even look like she graduated from X Middle School. She's out alone late at night. I wonder if anyone at home is keeping an eye on her..."
"That girl from earlier?"
"Yeah, it's about the same size as mine, but it looks clean and tidy, unlike those messy ones on the street—two bottles of Snow Beer, right? Okay."
Before she could finish speaking, the customers at the next table, who were enjoying themselves, started clamoring for a beer. The proprietress quickly slammed the menu in front of the waiter, grabbed a bottle opener, and rushed over.
Whoever she is, business is the priority.
.
"Pfft—"
The sound of carbonated bubbles being opened from a can of cola could be heard from inside the private room.
"Glug glug... Pfft!"
After taking two gulps of carbonated beverage, the girl smiled happily, casually placed the can on the table, leaned back in her chair, and revealed a long-lost satisfied smile.
"Thank goodness I didn't believe Red Rose's nonsense. Can tea really be as potent as cola?"
The girl muttered something to herself, and an invisible magic naturally created a cognitive barrier in the private room, so no one heard her muttering.
Hongxing—the true form of the magical girl Akayuki, but almost no one knows her real name. Whether it's her former companions or her current juniors, almost everyone calls her Little Hong.
Tonight is a rare moment of rest. After masking her exhaustion from the whole day with a can of cola, Akashi thought to herself.
During the day, he ran around contacting old acquaintances, issuing warnings to hero associations in various places about the appearance of the astral behemoth, trying to get magical girls to come to Chengdu to provide support, and even using his connections as a senior magical girl—he managed to get almost everyone he could to come.
Needless to say, experienced veterans like Hailan Shiqiugui are also involved. Bai Lili, a long-time colleague, has also agreed to come to Rongcheng tomorrow morning. Even the two elusive and extremely old-timers, Mercury and Red Rose, are paying attention to the situation in Rongcheng.
Although the two old men are unlikely to arrive early, if it really comes to a critical moment, Xin Yuehu will still have to use teleportation magic to bring them over to hold the line.
As for Inari... she also agreed to participate in the operation.
As a key figure in planning the campaign to subdue Jormungandr, Inari's involvement will undoubtedly play a crucial role in this resistance against Garuda.
Not to mention, she is a typical academic, and her formulaic reasoning can lead her to the conclusion that "Garuda has already descended to the present world ahead of schedule" in just five minutes, completely overturning the results of her month-long contemplation in the world of mental images.
I'm definitely better suited for fighting; I'll leave things like deduction to the albatross...
Oh, she died a long time ago.
If Albatross hadn't died back then... she might be...
"Glug."
The girl suddenly wilted, grabbed a can of cola and gulped it down, the carbonation making her mouth feel sore and swollen.
The dejected mood was quickly dispelled by the delicious aroma:
"Here comes the pork kidney, please enjoy." Before the girl's thoughts could wander too far, the proprietress carried a plate of fragrant pork kidney into the private room and gently placed it on the table.
Forget it, eating is the most important thing. Why think about all this nonsense?
A string of pork kidneys, a sip of cola—the feeling of fullness as the food gradually filled Chi Xue's empty stomach helped her recover quite a bit.
But just as she was about to take out her phone to check if the romance novel she was following had been updated, the Divine Stone Communication suddenly rang:
Contact person: [Heart Moon Fox]
Just as she was about to put the second skewer of pork kidneys into her mouth, Chi Xue paused, then suspiciously checked the contact's name again. Her expression turned strange as she hesitated for a long time, wondering whether to answer the Divine Stone's call at this hour.
A phone call in the middle of the night is definitely not a good sign; it usually means you're either at work or working overtime.
But recently everyone has been facing a huge threat from Garuda. Perhaps Xin Yuehu's phone call means she has found some important clue? Chi Xue didn't dare to be negligent. She put the pork kidney in her mouth and answered Xin Yuehu's call.
"Hey? Calling so late, have you found any important clues?"
"Garuda has set its sights on the iris; we have just escaped from the illusion it created."
The hand holding the barbecue skewer paused in mid-air.
Chi Xue stared intently at the three remaining skewers of barbecue on the plate in front of her, swallowed the pork kidney she was chewing, and said softly:
"...What did you say?"
"The iris was dragged into my mental world by Garuda, and the little bird was dragged in with it. Fortunately, I retained most of my control over the mental world, otherwise they would have been in danger."
Chi Xue remained silent for a moment, unsure of what expression to make.
Nervous? Surprised? Doubtful?
There seems to be no expression that can describe my feelings at this moment. It's like being on my way home from get off work, about to eat, when I suddenly hear a colleague call to say that there's a fire at the company and my workstation has been completely burned down.
After a long silence, Chi Xue finally snapped out of her daze when the proprietress brought in the chives and pork belly together. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she exclaimed:
"Drag it into the world of mental images? How is that possible? The essence of mental images is a sub-plane fabricated out of thin air based on the material plane of the present world. Garuda, no matter what..."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either, just like you."
Xin Yuehu's voice, contrary to its usual playful and soft tone, became very serious.
"They were drawn into my mental image, the city street scene where you took the dandelion to escape last time. When I entered it to rescue them, I found that the rules of the mental image were quite different from what I originally designed. I suspect it was the influence of Garuda."
Seemingly sensing Chi Xue's shock or confusion, Xin Yuehu didn't rush to continue. She waited until Chi Xue took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking:
"Garuda can invade the world of mental images. You have used mental images longer than I have, so you should know very well what this means."
Chi Xue squinted and thought for a long time. He grabbed a can of cola and poured two mouthfuls into his mouth. Then he took a big bite of two skewers of pork belly and used the carbonated bubbles and the taste of chili and cumin to keep himself awake.
I really made the right choice with this barbecue—if I were at home right now, I probably would have already grabbed a beer from the fridge and started chugging it down.
The Mindscape is the strongest magic that magical girls can use, a fact unanimously agreed upon by both Stargazer and other veteran magical girls.
Once the mental image is fully unfolded, unless the caster agrees or uses some unique techniques, even the shadows of stars cannot escape the mental image. At most, magic can be used to neutralize the "world rules" within the mental image.
If even mental imagery can't stop Garuda, then even the strongest magic will be twisted by the astral behemoth into a part of its dangerous illusion...
"...Where are you now?" Chi Xue asked.
"The villain's rooftop. I'll send you the address. When the witches stop you, tell them you were sent by me, and they'll let you in."
"call……"
The girl exhaled a breath of stale air, then popped the last few skewers of pork belly into her mouth. While savoring the fresh, spicy, and numbing flavor of the barbecue, she stared blankly at the dazzling chandelier on the ceiling of the private room.
Before she could finish speaking, the door to the private room suddenly opened, and two familiar faces peeked in.
"Hi! Little Red, long time no see!"
"It really is you. They all said you haven't changed at all, and it's true."
Two girls who looked no older than Hyacinth and the others stood at the door, waving and greeting Hongxing, who was inside the private room.
Before the two could even enter the private room, the petite girl called Little Red suddenly walked to the door, grabbed them and pulled them into the room, locked the door behind her, and released the sound-blocking magic cloth.
"Little Red? What's this...?"
The slightly taller girl, dressed in a casual dress, asked with a wisp of her long, dyed turquoise hair falling across her face, looking puzzled.
The bespectacled girl, whose face was expressionless, didn't rush to ask a question. After carefully examining Little Red for a moment, she spoke:
"You look so nervous, what big trouble have you encountered?"
"You really can hide anything from me."
Chi Xue nodded gently, without hiding anything, and took out a takeout box to pack the barbecue, leaving the two people she had just pulled in to sit down stunned.
"Huh? Why are you packing up? We haven't even ordered yet, are you in such a hurry to leave?" The girl in casual clothes was clearly taken aback by Hongxing's actions and asked in confusion.
"I need to go and meet with Xin Yuehu."
The words they were about to say were swallowed back, and they looked at each other, finding the same surprised expression on each other's faces.
"Are you going to meet with Xin Yuehu?"
"Hmm." Chi Xue nodded.
"...You haven't been confused by the concept of the Heart Moon Fox, have you? Are you planning to return as the strongest villain after retiring?"
"Then Mercury can physically traverse the astral plane, so why don't you just call her the strongest villain?" Chi Xue retorted irritably, rolling her eyes.
"Don't worry, we're talking about serious matters. Something really big is about to happen in Rongcheng."
After saying that, Chi Xue packed all the barbecue on the table into her pocket, carried it in her hand, and walked towards the door of the private room, glancing back at her former companions.
Then he gestured towards the door with his lip.
"Aren't you two coming together?"
"Autumn poplars, lilacs."