Raising magical girls, and leave them with eternal regret?!

As YouYu’s words left his mouth, the room fell into a brief silence.

It was Liu Meng who recovered first. She furrowed her brows, deep in thought, before speaking.

“YouYu, are you saying that…”

“You want to fight them?”

YouYu paused at the question, then let out a quiet sigh.

“Well… I’m not sure how you jumped to that conclusion so quickly.”

“But yes, that is one of my objectives.”

He nodded slightly before explaining,

“After all, we can’t stay in this passive ‘defensive’ position forever. The longer this drags on… the more it puts us at a disadvantage. We’re out in the open, while they remain in the shadows.”

“That’s why… I believe we should take the initiative. We have to find a way to eliminate them.”

“…Putting aside how you plan to kill them, I can’t say I fully support this goal of yours.”

Liu Meng considered his words for a moment before shaking her head.

There was no doubt—YouYu was powerful now. That much was undeniable. And she had already made up her mind: if she ever transformed into a magical girl again, she would fight alongside him.

But… standing by his side in battle was something she was willing to do only if there was no other choice. If possible, she didn’t want YouYu to be dragged into the conflicts of magical girls at all.

Because… this wasn’t a burden he should bear.

To put it bluntly, the only reason he was in this situation now was because magical girls had lost.

Even if he seemed stable now, there was no telling what might happen in the future…

“Wait, wait, wait! What are you two talking about? I don’t get it at all!”

“…YouYu, what exactly happened between you and Liu Meng?”

WuYue and Bai Yu, clearly lost in their conversation, quickly pressed for answers.

“…Then let me and Liu Meng explain.”

“After all, this situation concerns you both as well.”

Meeting Liu Meng’s gaze, YouYu gave a small nod before they turned toward WuYue and Bai Yu and began recounting the events together.

…

Time passed, and soon, the explanation was complete—covering the appearance of Gray Shadow and the battle that followed.

Though summarized in just a few sentences, WuYue and Bai Yu still came away with a shocking revelation—

YouYu had somehow gained the ability to wield magical girl mana, fusing it with his own negative emotions to fight against the negative beasts?

And according to Liu Meng… YouYu had now become a unique existence, unlike anything before.

“…YouYu, you really went through something like that?”

After a moment of silence, WuYue finally spoke.

“Yeah.”

“…I see.”

Seeing him nod, WuYue was reminded of that past ‘misunderstanding.’ She instinctively glanced at Liu Meng.

After a brief hesitation, she let out a quiet sigh and, in a low voice, murmured,

“Sorry, Liu Meng. I misunderstood you back then, when we arrived at that place…”

“You… were actually the one who saved YouYu.”

“…It’s fine. I don’t know exactly what you misunderstood, but as long as it’s cleared up, that’s enough.”

Though her voice was quiet, with only the four of them present, Liu Meng heard it clearly.

And she didn’t hesitate to accept WuYue’s apology. There was no point dwelling on it. They had more pressing matters to focus on.

After a brief pause, YouYu spoke up again.

“Now that you understand the situation, let me share my thoughts.”

“But before that—”

Dragging out his words, he turned to Liu Meng and asked,

“Liu Meng, do you have any information on other magical girls? Contacts, intel, anything?”

“If we’re going to fight those so-called ‘evil cadres’… we can’t do it alone. We need a well-structured force.”

“So I want to know—do you have any way to reach out to other magical girls?”

“Hm… let me think.”

“Alright.”

Watching her fall into thought, YouYu exhaled and leaned back against his chair.

Though he had asked, he wasn’t expecting much.

Based on the data he had ‘borrowed’ from Gray Shadow, the number of magical girls had remained strangely constant, never fluctuating.

It wasn’t even clear if there were more than a thousand of them in total.

And from what he knew, magical girls never formed large-scale organizations. They usually fought their battles alone, with only the occasional cooperation between a few.

So in truth, this question wasn’t about forming an alliance.

It was a setup for the real proposal he was about to make.

“…No, I don’t.”

After a while, Liu Meng shook her head.

“I used to be in contact with a few… but they’re all gone now. I’ve told you before, YouYu, you should already know this.”

There was a hint of sadness in her expression as she spoke.

“…Sorry for bringing that up.”

Seeing her mood drop, YouYu quickly apologized. He gave her a moment to collect herself before continuing.

“…It’s unfortunate that this plan won’t work, but that’s fine. Everyone—there is another way.”

“But this method—”

Taking a deep breath, his tone turned solemn.

“—requires your full cooperation.”

“…What is it?”

Sensing the weight in his voice, the three of them straightened up.

YouYu, in response, reached into his pocket.

Then, under Liu Meng’s complicated gaze and WuYue and Bai Yu’s curious stares, he pulled out a golden card and held it up before them.

“This card… holds Liu Meng’s mana.”

“As we told you before, it was thanks to this card’s power that I was able to defeat that enemy.”

“So—”

He inhaled deeply, his voice steady, unwavering.

“I want your power.”