"Didn't tear off the mask?"
Reading the report, Hibiscus couldn't help showing a trace of disappointment. Couldn't underestimate political tacit understanding between high levels—warning shots to express protest was about enough, better not cause casualties first.
She immediately turned on the TV, flipping through several channels. Media reports on the Los Angeles shooting incident were limited to "unexplained gunfire," "case under continued investigation," "calling for public calm"—essentially vague evasions.
If both sides really fought, mainstream media should have stirred up sentiment to smear one side.
Settling matters peacefully represented interest exchanges under the table—obviously each got what they wanted. Specifically what?
Next news: "Gallup officially succeeds as Eagle Company Chief Executive Officer, enterprise national shareholding ratio increases to 20%"
Yesterday's gunfire, today's settlement.
Hibiscus mentally praised both sides' swift action. After all, Catastrophic Disaster Beast aftershocks hadn't subsided, with disturbances everywhere—mutual undermining and warfare easily led to mutual destruction. A group of stable high-level officials was good news for her, who hoped for basic order. Fighting without breaking was best.
But opening the first precedent made it hard to guarantee the next backlash wouldn't be fiercer.
Jin Ruochu's brother, basically background in the original, worked in North American pharmaceutical logistics, and thanks to his insider information, the Church gained new perspectives:
State Senator Miller mainly orchestrated this airdropped executive event, apparently at the request of the governor who'd always been at odds with Burr. After all, both representing local interests harbored hostility toward the increasingly poorly-reviewed and troublemaking Eagle Company. Their covert interference also represented brief confrontation between official factions and Mercenary Alliances—obviously the latter held advantage.
Regarding "who controls North America's second-largest mercenary company," the alliance actually won—preventing the other side from achieving goals was strong enough.
Interesting.
Hibiscus couldn't help recalling killing that congressman before Pasha, who not only didn't blame but was quite excited. Probably had controlled him long ago—when subordinates momentarily disobeyed and got killed, it was deserved. Thanks to Hyacinth for helping clean house.
So she'd already witnessed mercenaries' certain degree of control over state machinery, just that veteran Pasha better understood hiding—no one would suspect a tech geek.
No wonder she got along well with Jin Changfeng—compared to officials, they both trusted themselves more.
Jin Ruochu, influenced by such environment, inevitably developed "whoever's strong, we control" ideas, making state machinery seem quite weak.
Netizens' words and actions based on otherworld environments always gave Hibiscus feelings of coming from stable, safe societies—they wouldn't understand Planet Gaia precarious conditions. Even with god's perspective, they could hardly comprehend everyone's hearts. Facing frequent Disaster Beasts, delayed rescue, and constant mercenary scandals, people leaned more toward individualism, resulting in limited public power entrusted to the state.
Planet Gaia governance logic was similar yet not entirely the same as otherworlds—the former had high organization when fighting, but once peaceful, preferred controlling their own rights.
Where did the government come from?
Crudely speaking: a group too lazy to learn needed supervision, so education departments emerged. A group unable to protect themselves, so violent institutions emerged. A group unwilling to die helplessly, so medical associations emerged... Billions surrendered "public power taxes" creating government—a Leviathan beast was born.
Hibiscus suspected many otherworld netizens had probably never even touched guns.
Her Ningfeng Harbor was indeed strictly controlled, but actually had fierce folk customs—everywhere was like this, quite rebellious potential. Officials had it rough.
Holy Relic dominance was inevitable.
Anri Sakagami, previously responsible for the Thousand-Li Viewing Mirror operation, reported relics were easier to control than before with stronger output—others were definitely strengthening significantly too.
Magical Girl Rose, spatial magic user, T1 tier in her category with growth potential to compete for second rank. Judgments from her deserved attention, proving magic power revival's increasingly strong influence.
Hibiscus put away thoughts, focusing on the next message: "Newly discovered infectious disease severe complications with extremely high disability rates"—medical associations hoped to develop new drugs.
Here it comes!
How could she forget the original culprit that left Magical Girl Dandelion disabled, forced to accompany wheelchairs? Then she was already hospitalized for recovery when complications struck, causing complete disability that even magical girl constitution couldn't restore. Even by original's end, no methods for dealing with severe complications appeared—quite troublesome.
The only comfort was that it once caused death—now medication at least saved lives.
Magical girls could use various methods so that while bodies didn't recover, they maintained function without affecting combat. But daily life remained inconvenient. Thinking of Nan Zhiyi's near-miss made Hibiscus's heart skip. Unfortunately, special medicines were currently powerless—could only shelve it for now. Definitely solutions in the future.
She could only honestly reply there was temporarily no solution.
From another angle, don't expect relying on pharmaceutical field dividends to sit idle in the future—after all, infectious diseases were also iterating. Creating new profit points was crucial.
Hibiscus found no further healing spell-related rewards in the system—indeed could only wait for now.
Besides this were series of "Subsidiary Expansion Plans" and other proposals. Taking advantage of Catastrophic Disaster Beast rampage aftershocks causing surging drug demand, a series of expansion plans were submitted—not only Nan Zhiyi and Jin Ruochu's opinions but many representing other company executives' views. Seeing this, Hibiscus carefully reviewed and screened. For example, what did opening subsidiaries in the Arctic mean?
Denied.
After strict oversight, she only approved establishment of 12 subsidiaries.
Hibiscus was no longer the same—after industry exposure and netizen guidance, she knew many subsidiary proposals were just some people hoping to expand performance. Couldn't be too aggressive—with unclear situations, take it slow. Couldn't be led by private considerations.
Anyway, Five-Color Narcissus Company wasn't public—completely a one-voice system without bothersome board troubles.
Next was "Special Employee Benefits Plan" targeting magical girl employees. According to the legal department's carefully designed contracts, most underage girls used part-time work—neither counting as child labor while maintaining high salaries.
Seemingly the Salvation Church's vigorous recruitment was actually Hibiscus exploring institutional frameworks for magical girls—after all, without rules, nothing could be accomplished. Early exploration was good.
Adequate systems could also win official trust—nobody wanted dealings with completely unrestrained groups.
Wait.
After Hibiscus came to her senses, when establishing the Management Bureau or Church going more mainstream, she could just ask netizens—anyway, original successful experiences were referenceable, not even requiring her brainpower for new regulations...
Suddenly knocking interrupted the desk-bound silver-haired girl's thoughts.
Jin Yulu reported: "Already docked at Fireworks Island, ready for major resupply anytime."
Hibiscus nodded.
This resupply was quite crucial since they also needed to send some hunted Disaster Beast remains to land—after all, island processing capacity was insufficient.
Jin Yulu continued: "Coincidentally it's nighttime with sea fog—very normal. Scheduled transport ships are also in position, but note that coastal defense forces increased troops. Many eyes and mixed people require caution."
"Don't worry, after this island's control core strengthening, concealment abilities can handle general detection methods."
Speaking, Hibiscus unlocked her crystal necklace—threads drifting from silver hair grasped in hand, surging magic power flowing in, making entire Hermit Island's fog denser.
She hadn't expected working from day to deep night, but perfect timing for handover.
Resupply was crucial for mobile military fortresses, especially with 500 people often partying with delicacies and high-intensity training. Pre-war container supplies were already half-consumed. Excluding strategic reserves needing stockpiling and renewal, supplies were essentially depleted. So new materials were necessary—otherwise unsustainable. Moreover, had to rely on containers and other bulk cargo supply.
Thousand-Li Viewing Mirror currently accommodated at most one small car—sufficient for moving furniture. Expecting bulk cargo division and individual transport was too time-consuming and accident-prone.
Spatial relic operation was difficult—avoid if possible.
Creak!
After door-pushing sounds, Nan Zhiyi entered. The usually familiar girl needed no knocking, directly handing over a list.
She explained cleanly: "Already contacted transport companies. All cargo scheduled to arrive at designated positions. Just sent people to investigate—no surveillance, safe for handover. Plus prepared hypnosis spells to erase some memories—can guarantee safety."
Jin Yulu replied: "I greeted dock gangs in advance. Surrounding ports already cleared—all our people, trustworthy."
Hibiscus answered: "I've opened the barrier edges—transport in directly."
The three consulted and decided not to stay in office areas—for safety, check the beachhead. Since decided, they teleported to Fireworks Island. Here night was hazy with sea fog, containers being unloaded into docks section by section.
Old routine maintaining hypnosis.
Magical girls maintained minimum power operation techniques, making dock workers avoid stepping on Fireworks Island while ignoring why half the island was shrouded in thick fog. Surroundings didn't even show lights—moon yellow, dead silent, only heavy container unloading sounds echoing. Meanwhile, fog continuously showed new containers sent to transport ships, filled with Disaster Beast remains needing tight processing. Both sides' large-scale exchanges were quite loud—if during daytime would definitely attract attention.
Distant garrison searchlights occasionally swept over. Seeing everything normal, they continued patrolling. Naval forces most guarded against Disaster Beasts, uninterested in private islands.
They'd never imagine the famous Salvation Church conducting transactions under their noses.
Hibiscus extended her hand into thick fog, lighting magic power glimmers.
But nearby Jin Yulu and Nan Zhiyi similarly used magic power to offset, avoiding creating flash grenades. Three coordinated to anchor Hermit Island's position.
Magical girls received signals to drive container loads into fog. Right—currently Hermit Island and Fireworks Island were adjacent, incredibly close distance. Direct driving solved everything—convenient and safe.
Only flaw was always creating thick fog with "demonic aura here" feelings—weird.
Concealed, but not low-key.
"Hey!"
Suddenly a greeting made Hibiscus, Nan Zhiyi, and Jin Yulu frown slightly, wondering if they'd attracted garrison attention. Result: saw pink-haired figure waving while approaching. Jin Ruochu returning from business trips, carrying large and small bags of souvenirs for friends.
The three each received women's wristwatches—mechanical, obviously expensive. Now they were well-traveled enough to recognize luxury goods.
"I wanted local specialties but seemed nothing suitable, so went to Fifth Avenue." Jin Ruochu said proudly: "We're professional teams, famous in those circles. Must have accessories matching our status—this is etiquette."
"Good to have you back safely." Hibiscus patted the girl's head.
For some reason, the pink-haired protagonist always liked making herself seem like a husky pet—sometimes cute, sometimes crazy.
"...Speaking of which, just now teleporting from Los Angeles to Hermit Island, then from island here, I saw many patrol boats. Offshore defense is stricter than before. Unless encountering such coincidental foggy weather, let me add fortune blessings to transportation in advance."
"Always hiding is meaningless—we'll eventually step onto the stage."
"You have ideas?" Nan Zhiyi asked.
"Church should promote establishing a management bureau as middle ground. Superficially two organizations but operationally complementary—personnel also have prospects."
Jin Yulu suggested: "Before this, must manage those guys everywhere using Church flags for activities."
"Dealing with opportunists is simple, but now isn't time discussing them. Relax well—from special training onward, continuous rotation definitely exhausted bodies." Hibiscus smiled faintly: "Time for vacation. After all, many Church members need Christmas home visits. Before then, settle various matters. We should also celebrate New Year's for this difficult yet exciting year."
Her words made the girls suddenly realize it was already December 21st—unknowingly, even life-or-death catastrophic battles had passed.
Resupply actually became this year's final work task.
Hibiscus continued controlling Hermit Island carefully receiving container cargo. Others returned to positions, becoming increasingly busy as more supplies arrived.
Fortunately everything went smoothly—no accidents causing military attention or exposure.
Late night.
Hibiscus announced "vacation officially begins," causing magical girls to cheer. Nerves taut since Arctic trips finally relaxed. During this period, information about magical girls once captured by Eagle Company was also processed—they could safely go home.
Actually, complete information erasure was impossible—traces always remained. So one consideration was coordinating with Nan Zhiyi's active flaw exposure.
Magical girls disappearing temporarily then returning to familiar social circles would inevitably leak information, especially with Eagle Company reorganization possibly reopening related files. Might as well use vacations as verification periods. You're having lively internal conflicts? Perfect timing for me to test reactions.
Thus the Salvation Church's final collective task ended. For them, anxiety-filled days finally concluded.
Next day at sunrise, dawn welcomed Hermit Island entering new periods.