: Clues

After saying goodbye, Wu An began to worry about what to do with the wonderful tools left behind by Zhu Huan.

Zhu Huan's gift to Jin Yu doesn't seem to be out of kindness.

Although Jin Yu gives the impression of being lazy, she is ultimately a woman of great importance who is concerned with the safety of the city.

A-level calamity beast has appeared; we're counting on her.

Wu An stared at the gift box in confusion. He was afraid that throwing it away directly would cause problems, but keeping it by his side was like a ticking time bomb.

Fortunately, the box was an independent object without any magical connection, so Zhu Huan should be unable to confirm its condition.

When she gave it to herself, she didn't say that it had to be delivered to Jin Yu.

That can be considered "reasonable".

"Let's find a place to hide first..."

Wu An found a ruin near her home, dug through several layers of rubble, threw the small gift box Zhu Huan had given her into it, and then covered it with rubble again.

Unless a magical girl notices this place, no one or animal can dig out the gift box.

She also thoughtfully covered the gift box with a layer of magic, completely isolating it from the outside world.

After doing everything, Wu An groped his way into the house in the dark.

After drawing the curtains, turn on the lights and deactivate the transformation.

However, when the black liquid on his body retreated back into the Seed of the Heart, it also rolled back the coin that Nan Shiyu had given him.

Special Item: Good Luck

[Effect: All the misfortunes you have suffered will be transferred to "Nan Shiyu".]

Status: Enabled

"Huh?"

Mu Ming frowned as he looked at the item's effect.

"closure."

Follow the leader's wishes

Status: Closed

If it simply brought good luck, that would be one thing, but to directly transfer bad luck onto someone with whom you have no grudge is a bit much...

"I'm already an unlucky person, why would I want to help others avoid disaster..."

Nan Shiyu said that the coin appeared at the same time as her Seed of the Heart, and that although her Seed of the Heart clearly had magic power, it could not transform.

It seems her strange luck all along is also related to magical girls.

It was quite an eye-opening experience—there are still many areas to explore in the realm of magical girls.

Mu Ming then checked the night's harvest.

[Accumulated Corrupted Magic Power: 301 points (D-rank Disaster Beast) / 145 points (C-rank Disaster Beast)]

He immediately prepared to absorb the corrupted magic, but the pop-up notification stopped him.

[The corrupted magic of a C-rank calamity beast has been detected. It is recommended to increase the "Efficiency Boost" to 100% before absorbing it, otherwise it will be a waste.]

This efficiency is not the efficiency of [devouring], but the one related to [cultivation].

My current efficiency is only 21%.

It seems that taking down a C-level calamity beast is a bit ahead of his current stage.

21%?

Where did the extra 1% come from?

He looked through the panel and found the reason under [Leader]:

[Nan Shiyu: Tier 1 (Efficiency Bonus 1%)]

And so it happened again. Even though no bond event was triggered and no special CG was shown, the [companion relationship] was still established.

Nan Shiyu didn't even know him in person.

Could it be that the strategies summarized by AI are actually unsuitable for magical girls?

Never mind, I'll just ignore it.

[Conversion Complete]

[Magic Power +51]

Mu Ming did not convert all the corrupted magic power; he kept half of it, intending to use it later to test the method for finding the calamity beast.

He then took out the small round box that he had hidden earlier.

Under bright light, the transparent liquid inside the box became even more translucent, still resembling water.

Mu Ming used magic to partially seal the box, then slightly unscrewed it, and nothing unusual happened.

Even after fully unscrewing the cap, the air remained unchanged; no pink smoke appeared, and there wasn't even a smell.

The lid was about an inch thick, and there was something hidden inside. After opening it, it was found that it contained ordinary volatile agents.

The key is that drop of liquid.

Mu Ming leaned closer to smell it; there was no smell, only an unpleasant feeling.

He pointed at it with his finger, but still didn't feel anything.

Observe, listen, inquire, and taste.

Since the first two have been done, there's no way to ask anymore, so all that's left is to try it.

Mu Ming stuck out his tongue and touched it to his fingertip.

It has a slightly salty taste, and also carries a very small amount of unclean magic.

[Mental attack detected; mental energy countermeasure initiated]

How could a single drop of liquid be used for a psychological attack?

Just after successfully defeating the enemy, another pop-up window appeared:

[I have obtained the bodily fluid of "■■"]

"?"

Mu Ming's face darkened.

I should have known; it wasn't anything good.

Ultimately, it is indeed strange to try something with unknown ingredients, as even a small amount of dangerous chemicals can be fatal.

However, a single drop is too small, and since it has magical protection for the body, there shouldn't be any major problems.

I'm just a little annoyed that I licked someone else's bodily fluids, but I don't know where those fluids came from...

It's not even clear whether the liquid originated from a human or a monster.

"Does ■■ refer to a witch?"

Mu Ming asked the system, "These are words I only heard tonight."

You can try piecing together facts about ■■.

The system's answer was irrelevant; it seems there's no way to get away with it.

[Currently collected: bodily fluids]

Is the truth pieced together or not?

【Yes】

[Piece assembly failed. Please collect more materials and try again.]

It seems unlikely that it will succeed.

However, this did point Mu Ming in a direction:

[Tip 4: The "???" module will unlock after you recognize "■■".]

Although the [???] module and the [Countdown] are together, the [Countdown] and unlocking the [???] module are not directly related.

Even if the countdown ends, the [? ? ?] module will not unlock if Mu Ming does nothing.

He still needs to take the initiative to explore the truth about this.

The only clue at present is the Genko Association.

But that organization was far more dangerous than I had imagined. It would be one thing if they just bullied ordinary girls, but they actually had the ability to raise monsters.

Looking back now, Zhu Huan must also be connected to that organization; she might even be the witch they were talking about.

Even setting aside the witch issue, Zhu Huan herself is full of suspicious points, almost like someone with a split personality.

As a teammate, Biao Zhuhuan, although I am very grateful for her support, this cannot cover up the fact that Zhuhuan's plainclothes skills are poor and her combat ability is also questionable.

The enemy is Jie Zhuhuan, who is both mysterious and terrifying, and can even summon calamity beasts; he is clearly not a kind person.

It's possible that Zhu Huan was a performance by Jie Zhu Huan, but the difference in their mental energy is too great, something Mu Ming can directly sense.

It's hard to say it's the same person.

From a conspiracy theory perspective, or to put it in hindsight, given Zhu Huan's stealth skills, it's impossible that Mu Ming didn't notice when he was tracking the human traffickers tonight.

Besides, it was an open grassland.

But Zhu Huan seemed to suddenly appear over there, or perhaps... she only started moving after seeing him.

Knowing too little, Mu Ming was also confused about the situation.

Trying to extract some information, Jin Yu didn't even bother with riddles, instead becoming a wooden puppet.

There's definitely a huge trap on the Huanzi Society's side.

He searched his body and found a note containing Zhu Huan's contact information.

The note itself has no magic power, so you can open it without worry.

The top part is a string of numbers, and the bottom part is a symbol that looks like a butterfly or an eye.

The logo of the Genko-kai.

It can be considered a token of introduction.

The number provided was not a private number, but a public number.

Mu Ming checked it out.

It turned out to be the number of Qishan City, a satellite city of Changming City, a city built against the mountain.

More specifically, it's the order number for a restaurant in Qishan City called "Laojia Chicken," which sells chicken hot pot.

If Jin Yu wasn't lying, there really isn't a branch of the Phantom Society in Changming City.

The two human traffickers said they were just here to capture some potential magical girls so they could go back to become officials—presumably back to Qishan City.

"I'll postpone the trip for now."

Mu Ming wrote down the number and put the slip of paper away.

If he were a sixth-tier magical girl, she would definitely teleport right in front of him, but unfortunately he's only a second-tier one.

"yawn--"

Although it's still early, I'm already sleepy because I've been through so much tonight.

Mu Ming sent Li Huanhuan "Goodnight" as usual, but remembering how she had pinned him to the ground tonight, the word "Mom" that he typed looked awkward no matter how he looked at it.

It was clearly just a way of addressing someone to please them.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to change his address to "Miss Jin Yu".

What magical girls seek is the freedom of thought.

When faced with a situation where one has the right to choose but goes against their own wishes, it inevitably has a negative impact on their future growth.