When it came to asking questions, Hibiscus first thought of why relic compatibility had resonated with the Ice Flower seed. But that was hard to explain—couldn't very well mention the system rewards, and she'd already suffered Knowledge Poison once with no need for a repeat.
So it was time for questions about Glacier Island construction, since it would serve as backup base next.
She asked: "Are there any further design blueprints for the Magical Girl Management Bureau, like the original Hermit Island designs? If detailed enough, they should save effort."
Actually Hibiscus didn't hold much hope, just mentioning it casually. Unexpectedly, the comments section quickly produced a series of detailed setting diagrams, including manga, games, anime and other multi-angle setting collections. As if they'd anticipated this question, or the optical experts had come prepared.
They could handle any problem.
【Actually different derivative works have some differences, just use as reference】
【Current Glacier Island hasn't reached complete form. You need fairy magic processing—that's a huge project. And you can't rely entirely on them, need your own people joining the project. Magical Girl Poppy is a suitable candidate. But she belongs to the second awakening wave, can't be active yet. Wait for now. No need to worry about successors' strength not keeping up with vanguard units—the strong never complain about circumstances】
【Thinking carefully, Management Bureau's home base really isn't as good as the Church's, though the Church also seized theirs from Eagle Company. Everyone's poor】
【In the original work's early-mid period, the wealthiest Magical Girl Organization was definitely Obelisk and Zodiac Palace. But now Salvation Church is undoubtedly a commercial empire, wealthy and not short of money】
【Landed gentry: Just nouveau riche, how can it compare to my 5 generations of accumulated family business】
【Time Priestess: So rich? Then you're the last generation】
【I want to see blood flowing like rivers】
【Haven't seen the original work. What does this segment mean? Don't tell me Time Priestess's organization operating method was simply collecting protection fees】
【Right. According to her own words, "selling you the right to purchase not being disturbed." If you don't bleed heavily spending money, you'll never have a chance to use money again in this lifetime. But this didn't last long—once Dandelion joined it went slightly from black to gray, at least had some legitimate business】
【Revenue methods too crude. Dropout Time Priestess doesn't work】
【Back to the point. Glacier Island renovation isn't something that can be done quickly. Timing isn't right. I suggest first building training base foundations, then entering proper track later】
【Arctic base's real meaning is rear support, letting everyone know such a thing exists. More clerical headquarters buildings can be chosen elsewhere】
These suggestions coincided perfectly with Hibiscus's current thinking. After all, from previously revealed intelligence, actual Management Bureau office activities weren't on Glacier Island—essentially more like a rear base camp.
Glacier Island's continuous drift was similar to strategic nuclear submarines hiding in oceans—existence itself had meaning.
Like current Hermit Island.
Magical Girls just needed to create a foothold. For the current Church it was surplus—no rush to advance island construction projects, since it indeed consumed energy.
Good news was she'd already received various design diagrams. Though things from setting collections couldn't be entirely trusted, the guiding philosophy was fine, saving considerable effort.
Looking back at the comments, Hibiscus found everyone had returned to combat power topics.
【Ice Flower sensing powerful magic power reactions also doubled its caution. If the original battle with Elsa involved carelessness getting picked off, this time was full effort, but unfortunately Boss Hibiscus was superior. Didn't play defensive warfare at all—directly used nuclear submarines as cannonballs. Didn't expect that corner-of-frame thing from the original video to be used again】
【Affiliated Disaster Beasts were also committed to battle from the start, couldn't afford any reserves. But who knew the Church brought 4 Growth Stage fighters, all strongest series】
【What rare Disaster Beast? Boss Hibiscus's galactic battleship frontally crushes you to death】
【Too many cards】
【Did you notice the pink-haired protagonist has already developed late-stage combat methods? Using close combat to maximize misfortune—clearly a long-range curse that became fist-to-face feeling in late game】
【Protagonists are like this. Though various works have imaginative settings, victory always uses the most impactful methods—fists are power】
【Imperial Flower's evolution speed is also ridiculous, always close behind, can still compete for strongest in new worldline. She's always been active, already sparred several times】
【Jin Yulu: Hey, Hibiscus, give me the strongest throne】
【Hyacinth: You know the rules. If you want it, come take it yourself】
【You can't just look at Church's Big Four. This time Hundred Demons Night Parade, Swift Thunder and Boxer all evolved. Compared to human rights cards, they're the real core strength】
【Not that T0 level is unusable, but T1 team composition has better cost-performance】
Hibiscus couldn't let netizens ramble off-topic endlessly. Since they'd reached this point, she shared her guidance for first and second awakening Magical Girls, hoping to get more early-stage training knowledge. Also asking about some people's magic development bottlenecks.
Facts proved the optical expert think tank remained all-powerful, indeed possessing experience setting collections, more convenient than imagined.
But regarding specific Magical Girl development, paths diverged. For example, what about someone like Miyuki who had no late-stage performance at all?
【Fists are enough】
【Since Regalia and magic combination produced spatial pulling shockwaves, couldn't she have Tremor-Tremor Fruit user-like performance shattering space? Please definitely try it】
【No need to go roundabout. Magical Girl Butterfly Orchid has sufficient talent—let her comprehend it herself】
【@Hyacinth, just take Red Cedar Company's materials. According to projections they should've inherited Eagle Company research results, plus their own considerable amount】
【Magic development is dangerous—easily loses control, even leaving irreversible damage. Don't think the strongest series smooth sailing—"stability and plastability" are also evaluation criteria. If you want Magical Girls to have regret medicine, must recruit Flowering Crabapple who's cooperating with Red Cedar Company, plus her sister Dieffenbachia】
【What abilities do they have?】
Some netizens voiced Hibiscus's inner question.
But she immediately remembered someone once evaluating original Imperial Flower's reinforcement of the attacked Management Bureau headquarters, saying "fortunately arrived in time... otherwise even save points plus equivalent exchange couldn't save lives"—already gave the answer.
I see.
【Can't say much, but is the "Spacetime Twins" title enough? Certain attributes basically lock you into T0.5 as long as you're the corresponding magic type】
【Actually, no rush. They belong to the Management Bureau friendly faction and should also welcome the Church now. Will find us themselves eventually. Don't underestimate Great Leader Hyacinth's appeal—all under heaven return to the heart, worthy talents gather】
Though Hibiscus wasn't interested in flattery, hearing that time and space magic users would join also greatly improved her mood. She and Anri finally wouldn't have to research alone.
Seems Red Cedar Company was indeed key—should reassess interaction methods.
For safety, Hibiscus asked netizens about Red Cedar Company intelligence in the original work.
Many people's favorability wasn't high, since they'd sent assassination squads attacking Director Chrysanthemum and caused many Magical Girl casualties. But speaking of who was more scum, still Eagle Company and Quincy—the latter especially sinful, becoming early-stage big bad, single-handedly uniting Magical Girls and Mercenary Alliance.
Quite the opposite, Red Cedar Company helmsman General Sid always understood circumstances, cooperating with Alliance President Bull to execute this interest group's development without indiscriminate killing.
This ancient Holy Relic was powerful and calculating, could be called non-stick in chaotic situations, offending no strong parties.
He indeed recruited some Magical Girls.
But methods were sophisticated—high salary, high treatment, fierce recruitment, giving full respect. Of course, intelligence generated from this gave Red Cedar Company advantages in wars against first-generation Management Bureau.
No wonder netizens once said "beware General Sid"—because this guy always targeted you defensively. But as long as relations weren't torn, he was actually easy to deal with, worth attention.
Mature politicians don't do things absolutely. Precisely because of this, he even got a good ending in the original work.
Can interact.
Hibiscus defined it mentally. So-called original work grievances had nothing to do with her—should instead grasp every potential collaborator. Military forces hijacked by hardliners grew increasingly extreme. The previous infection leak still bothered her—that counted as new worldline grudges. If mercenary sides had more rational factions, should communicate. As for Red Cedar Company's wariness? As long as I'm strong enough it won't happen. No one wants additional enemies. Since Sid combined military iron-bloodedness with political flexibility, he knew advance and retreat.
Communication could happen anytime. Didn't even need Hibiscus extending olive branches—mercenaries should act first, since the currently high-profile Management Bureau would definitely attract attention from all sides.
Coincidentally, responsible party Elsa was determined to stay here training magic—nice move hanging people out to dry. Anyway Salvation Church was most secure—watch your performance. Moreover, during this period Magical Girls would join successively, further increasing organizational influence.
"Speaking of finding new Magical Girls, I have intelligence here about Antarctic expeditions..."
Hibiscus detailed the news Elsa brought.
"Does everyone know what Magical Girl performance involves graffiti painting on walls then seemingly the person entering it? Is this space-type or causality-type? If everyone doesn't know that's fine too—at least represents she's not some powerhouse, so I won't focus on Antarctica."
Silence.
Across screens, one could almost feel slight confusion on the other side. What situation? Many active optical expert accounts hadn't responded for long—probably typing until keyboards smoked.
【Damn, how do I tell you. This person actually doesn't count as a Magical Girl yet does, so related information triggers stronger Knowledge Poison than investigating causality-type Elsa. She's stacked more anti-reconnaissance buffs on herself—better not investigate casually】
【Isn't Artist Miss a "quasi-extra character" outside the main storyline? How did she get involved?】
【You forgot—she's looking for holy medicine】
【@Hyacinth, actually this person's always been mysterious, somewhat like easter egg settings. Can trigger or not trigger—anyway remember she's beautiful, kind-hearted and powerful】
【No need to be so on guard. So-called "powerful" is because she's among Magical Girls who grew to final late-stage. Now at most doesn't exceed Growth Stage, and current form has too many weaknesses—advantage with Hyacinth】
Hibiscus watched the discussion getting more confused throughout.
She asked: "Can't even reveal a Regalia name?"
【Really can't, because she doesn't count as a Magical Girl yet directly relates to the strongest magic series' core mysteries. Others grow in normal sequence, but she grows in reverse sequence, so that product is very bizarre】
Hearing this, Hibiscus immediately frowned. This netizen seemed casual but chose every word carefully.
Even so she felt a headache—indeed dangerous, and sufficient information. Eight strongest magics total—using elimination could guess it, bypassing the curse.
Artist Miss should count as neutral.
As long as deeply trapped in pros-and-cons contradictions, that spoiler-filled discussion should've had her presence long ago. So Hibiscus relaxed slightly.
【Our tension isn't about Artist Miss but the meaning behind it】
【Magic Girl of Light fans think carefully—the original work's main storyline was actually relatively brief. To broaden, many small side stories were made, but from spreading too wide produced some bugs. Originally wanting to link main storyline required doubled effort cutting, so many people produced main story/extra distinctions. Among them, some extras' true recreation's good reviews actually came from derivative games, novels, manga etc. Speaking of which, what does characters from inside appearing in new worldlines represent?】
【Got it】
【All-star battle royale? No, demons dancing wildly. Some true Magical Girl maniacs will stir up trouble—this is fun now】
【So what if non-main story characters? Our super-enhanced Salvation Church isn't vegetarian either】
【Thinking so much is useless. Even now you can't completely confirm if it's all-star battle royale, because Artist Miss originally had crossover small plots—hard to say. Important thing is we should derive new suggestions through current status】
【Right. If Artist goes to Antarctica, definitely stimulates Relic Treasury @Hyacinth. Must send people to watch more, or just directly use force to hold down the treasury】
【Helping crazy higher-ups' blind command consequences clean up messes】
Hibiscus kept this in mind—seems couldn't ignore Antarctic changes. Perhaps when necessary must keep watch.
She personally had to sit at Hermit Island headquarters, and several relic excavation sites could become focal points. After all, mercenaries and military mutually coveted each other—anything could happen, might suddenly start fighting. Especially the latter's nerves were taut while urging theaters worldwide to stay active—hysterical appearance. Obviously various local military heads were forcibly hijacking trends. Coalition force headquarters' control was worrying.
Organizations lacking execution had no trading value.
"Thanks everyone, I understand. Will update if there's follow-up news."
The silver-haired girl closed the system and rubbed her temples. The Knowledge Poison curse from earlier wasn't over, and the system had already generated a series of related suggestions. Though mostly marginal reward-level, undoubtedly leaned toward entering the game. So where was the key point?
Hibiscus actually had no leadership over this incident, nor interest in leading, but could slightly push things along from a more convenient outside perspective.
Like the Management Bureau.
What if using it as fulcrum to contact the Mercenary Alliance and give them reassurance? At this moment Hibiscus already had answers—should make some choices.
......
Europe, Mercenary Alliance Headquarters, top floor office.
Actual mercenary helmsman Bull sat at his desk lightly tapping a pen, falling with heartbeat rhythm. This often made him calmer, facing mountains of search warrants, tax audit reports and court summons on his desk without anger. Law?
You talking law to me makes me want to laugh. These waste papers were just pretexts for big shots' games—world's underlying logic was violence.
He displayed these things purely to complain to capable subordinates coming to report work.
Bull spread his hands with exaggerated sighs: "Respected Miss Pasha, General Sid, you two judge—these baseless accusations against mercenary groups and their unions, do they still respect tacit understanding? Simply absurd."
Both shrugged without responding.
Sure enough, the next moment their superior answered himself: "Short-sighted people are destroying private military contractor systems painstakingly built over half a century. Without us charging ahead, should pampered young master soldiers take the field? The kind where one or two deaths cause media condemnation? We absorb expendables from underdeveloped regions to protect developed ones, doing all dirty dangerous work. Want to kill the donkey after grinding? Some unclear-headed people should change heads."
The initially complaining tone turned sinister by the end, killing intent arising. Even battle-hardened Sid and Pasha took notice.
The Chairman was very angry. His long-term goal was creating more lobby groups influencing officials, unexpectedly this counterattack was quite strong—almost open fighting.
Opponent Croft realized Bull was a threat requiring elimination.
His surroundings were investigated thoroughly. Next should be his turn—congressional hearings meant near-certain death.
Sid said quietly: "Chairman, actually many military moderates plus large numbers of influential retired officers lean toward us. This is isolated others' death struggle—don't mind it. You absolutely cannot leave headquarters control zone, or Jimmy Hoffa's case will repeat."
"I'm not stupid."
"Urgent priority is finding weak points to punch military's most elite parts hard. Observing local theaters below won't react much."
Bull held his forehead sighing: "Easy to say, but treasury deterrence hasn't been eliminated. We all know what's stored inside isn't just cursed relics. Moreover, excavation sites they control keep unearthing powerful cards. If the Mercenary Alliance can't suppress key strategic points, actually no one truly defects to us—just performance."
"Antarctic expedition found traces—that's good news."
"But we lack troops. Can you imagine leading elite forces including Holy Relic Snow Maiden in Antarctica? That's absolute home field, plus treasury might even stop Catastrophe Disaster Beasts."
"Send assassin squads?"
"Not worth it. If too big a scene, Sacred City Society gets awakened—I dislike those sinister old guys."
Discussion reached an impasse. Actually both hadn't spoken to the final step but pushed each other step by step. If truly unworkable, even nuclear bombs counted as victory plans.
After silent moments, Pasha who'd been quiet suddenly spoke: "Recently indeed someone suffered Justice Department's full siege yet conversely sent twenty-plus people to crematoriums. For handling legal offensives, they actually have rich experience. Perhaps I could consult."
She used a seemingly unimportant topic to leverage the unavoidable key choice:
Alliance?
This meant victory fruits would inevitably be divided.
Of course, current victory was nowhere near achievable. So alliance leadership truly considered whether to establish connections with the Salvation Church. More teammates meant more layers of entanglement danger. Besides, everyone lacked understanding of Magical Girls—lack of understanding bred rejection. Fighting alongside an organization whose methods were mysterious, even origins secretive? Difficult.
Hearing this, both solemnly considered possibilities from all angles. Though theoretically both sides' interests aligned, they were very wary of Magical Girls.
They vaguely represented an evolutionary direction, brand new posture. Future would definitely replace many things—hearts always felt they shouldn't open Pandora's box too early.
Bull hesitated momentarily then asked back: "So Miss Pasha has contacted the Church?"
"This is precisely one thing I must report. The Management Bureau hopes some Magical Girls controlled by mercenaries can be arranged for trial employment."
Both looked at Sid together. The latter coughed lightly.
If Eagle Company represented forceful arrest and detention, Red Cedar Company was much smarter—politely visiting then presenting conditions for recruitment. When Pasha initially contacted Minase Kaori, she also used this logic. Though Sid recruited very few Magical Girls, this matter's importance lay in attitude.
The Management Bureau was actually demanding overt personnel conscription rights, hoping other forces would withdraw from this area.
Also known as conditions.
Only very few powerful mercenary giants could leisurely find people then persuasively employ them. Every link was troublesome and easily encountered loss of control. So forces actually dealing with scattered wild Magical Girls were few.
In a sense, Pasha's Winter Company recently also counted as half, but she completely abandoned this level for deep Management Bureau cooperation.
Sid proactively said: "Don't misunderstand—I took no coercive measures, even contracts were highest-level mercenary treatment. Of course they could leave anytime. Perhaps just lacking opportunity. From my interests naturally don't want people poached, but rationally speaking, even if they don't leave I'd proactively introduce the Management Bureau then persuade Magical Girls to quit."
"Why?" Most lacking understanding, Bull was also most surprised.
"Already caused two loss-of-control incidents, easily attracts Disaster Beasts, slightly releasing intimidation knocks people unconscious... very troublesome, no efficiency."
"You sound like complaining about a bunch of difficult new employees." Hearing this, Pasha laughed.
"I thought carefully—neither Eagle Company nor Red Cedar Company solutions actually suit. Teaching according to aptitude is best, letting them go where they should. If this could establish Church alliance contact, that's good too."
Bull lay back in a leather chair with closed eyes. Subordinates familiar with him knew the Chairman was brainstorming decisions.
After a long time he slowly stood, turning the desktop globe while gazing out windows. Sunny day, Atlantic cold winds gradually dispersing.
"...Can agree, but these are just prerequisite conditions. Still doesn't rule out Church non-participation possibility."
"Please rest assured."
Sid's confident statement puzzled both colleagues.
"Two Magical Girls are already heading to Central American excavation sites, targeting the compass. Regardless of success, the military will view us and the Church as an unified front."