Chapter 134: There’s Still Hope!

Aurora’s voice was neither sharp nor intense; she simply raised her volume.

It wasn’t enough to be deafening.

But both Sha Chong and Jiang Yao felt as if that voice was still reverberating in their hearts.

“I… I…”

Sha Chong’s eyes brightened for a moment, making Jiang Lingwei think it might have worked.

But immediately after, she lowered her eyes again.

“I can’t do it.

Jiang Lingwei was silent for a few seconds, then nodded and said:

“All right, I’ll try to think of a way to help you with your problem.”

Now, even Lord Aurora had no way out.

In the end, she and her former companions had always had steadfast hearts.

—Because they had to be steadfast.

This wasn’t one of those popular jobs where if you didn’t do it, someone else would.

If they didn’t do it, then no one in this world could.

Besides, there was still the even stronger North Wind holding everything up above them.

In the past, even when Corona sacrificed herself, North Wind never spent a moment relieving her sorrow.

She just silently formulated the battle plan.

It was only after they had killed that demon and the fairy behind him that Jiang Lingwei found her crying and drinking in the base’s storage room.

By the way, the next day, when Tian Pin found a huge chunk of her collection missing, North Wind—having already recovered and returned to her usual self—tricked her by saying, “That was what you drank while you were drunk yesterday.”

Jiang Lingwei happened to witness that scene and, that very night, received a handmade matcha chocolate cake from a certain someone as a “bribe.”

That was the kind of life magical girls lived—over time, their work only grew heavier and more burdensome.

There were no flowers or applause, because no one knew of their accomplishments.

There was no salary or generous treatment either; before Wen Yachuan arrived, the team funds were always tight.

The only thing they could rely on was their sense of mission.

In that kind of environment, even if the girls faced setbacks and doubts, they kept moving forward.

It had nothing to do with personality, talent, or any other ability; it was purely a sense of responsibility.

Other than Jiang Lingwei, the girl who became a magical girl halfway through, and Wen Yachuan, who left home to become something even crazier than a magical girl without actually being one—a woman Jiang Lingwei thought she’d never meet again in this life—the others were just ordinary girls.

They liked to dress up, liked trendy things, liked eating delicious desserts, and didn’t like doing homework.

It was precisely the responsibility of being magical girls that drove them to carefully maintain their increasingly precious daily lives, to seize every moment to relax and feel, even turning studying into a pastime as they continued marching forward against the demon army in the dark.

But Sha Chong was different.

Sha Chong’s heart was already dead.

To come this far and still be like this meant she was truly beyond saving.

No matter what methods you used, she just wouldn’t budge; her will was already gone. Jiang Lingwei finally gave up. The pink-haired magical girl stood up and walked over to Sha Chong:

“Should I take you back to the shop now, or send you straight home?”

“I…”

As Sha Chong hesitated, Jiang Lingwei suddenly stomped her foot and called out loudly, “Crystal! Help me hold her!”

“?!”

Standing behind her in armor, Jiang Yao was stunned for just half a second before unhesitatingly shoved aside the tables and chairs blocking her way and sprang into action.

Since Aurora told her to do it, there must be a reason!

Could Aurora possibly harm me?

Compared to Sha Chong, she didn’t react as quickly as Jiang Yao. Already emotionally shaken and defenseless, it was too late when she tried to escape:

“Ah우~”

Jiang Yao nimbly circled behind her, grabbed her arm, spread her legs apart with her own, and with a “ka-~” pinned her down, making Sha Chong let out a strange sound.

The girl asked loudly,

“What now, Aurora?”

“No matter what happens next, don’t let go of her!”

Leaving those instructions, Jiang Lingwei stepped forward and pressed her index finger to Sha Chong’s forehead.

Some kind of invisible current even blew off the hat that was part of Sha Chong’s magical attire.

No such thing as being truly beyond saving—if Sha Chong was really beyond saving, then at that noon, she would never have looked so confident.

There was still hope in her heart.

That fleeting domain, that midday bullet, was her call for help!

(Fu Lan, let me try your move.)

Silently reciting her comrade’s name, Jiang Lingwei connected her spirit with Sha Chong’s.

The next moment—

“Yo.”

An evil voice sounded:

“So my curse is still here, just broken through by this magical girl herself.”

“Kekekekeke… And you, who got unexpectedly caught—who are you?”

At the same time, elsewhere.

“Mom? What are you talking about?”

Lin Yu looked curiously at Wen Yachuan.

“It’s nothing, just some work stuff.”

Only after transmitting the information and a bit of her own words did Wen Yachuan put away the tablet.

Too bad the computer wasn’t here—using the tablet to hack into the Bureau’s system was much more troublesome.

Still, she didn’t disgrace her mission.

If this were a magical girl anime, Wen Yachuan would be the doctor in the base, and her promise was that magical girls only needed to save the world, and she’d handle everything else.

Even now, Wen Yachuan was still like that.

“Work stuff, huh…”

Sitting in the last row, Lin Yu didn’t catch what Wen Yachuan said.

But she felt it probably wasn’t about work.

Because at times like that, her mother always had a cold face, like a robot, issuing commands with a frosty tone.

But just now, although Wen Yachuan controlled her volume well and Lin Yu couldn’t catch the details, her tone was clearly not businesslike.

Instead, there was a hint of worry.

As a creature like a boss program, Wen Yachuan would never exploit her staff, but she also wouldn’t care about them. (Was it Aunt Jiang?)

When she came back, Jiang Lingwei was gone too.

Wen Yachuan and Jiang Cheng explained that she had gone out to find Jiang Yao and told them to return to the manor first.

Jiang Yao left with Sha Chong after transforming, so Lin Yu had no idea where she went. Aunt Jiang was just an ordinary person—where could she possibly look?

Too bad, even when they barely knew each other before, Wen Yachuan kept warning her never to become a magical girl.

Now that she actually was one, she absolutely couldn’t let it be discovered. If Wen Yachuan ever found out…

Lin Yu didn’t even dare imagine.

Otherwise, since Wen Yachuan already knew Aurora, maybe she could use that connection to ask Aurora for help.

“We’re here.”

After driving for a while, Old Liu in the driver’s seat hit the brakes, kept his eyes forward, and spoke concisely.

Not talking unnecessarily, not eavesdropping, those were his virtues.

“Oh, okay.”

Wen Yachuan nodded, then turned to Jiang Cheng in the middle row and Lin Yu in the back row:

“Get out, let’s wait at home for a bit.”

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Lin Yu agreed, but at this moment, she noticed something.

“Uncle Jiang?”

Jiang Cheng had his eyes tightly closed, leaning against the seat, completely still.

“This… Mom! Come quick, Uncle Jiang looks like he passed out!”

“What?!”