Washington, D.C.
The New Allied Forces Staff Headquarters building had completed renovation and the settlement of various documents and personnel, officially beginning operations with a lively atmosphere.
Observant people would notice that Josh, Dorothy, and other theater commanders who should theoretically be bitter enemies appeared to be getting along quite well with Sid, Gallup, Pasha, and other mercenary leaders. Whatever they might curse each other in their hearts, they seemed harmonious enough on the surface—this outdoor barbecue party was quite peaceful.
The central figure Bull, however, positioned himself in the middle of the lawn, choosing to accompany an old friend and rival in the corner while drinking wine.
"Not going to sit down?" asked Croft in casual clothes.
"I get the feeling you want to tell me a lot of things—the kind I'd regret missing."
"I'm over seventy years old. When people get old, they think about what comes after. I really should retire, at least with dignity. If I had to say, I only accomplished two things: surviving two catastrophic invasions and driving most Disaster Beasts to Fallen Zones to wreak havoc as they please. The other thing was establishing the Allied Forces, reducing mutual military vigilance between nations and focusing their efforts outward against Disaster Beasts. We may have even expanded into space because of this. But both have too many imperfections. What would you do?"
Bull smiled, his tone cold: "Why should I tell you what to do? Continue your route? Wrong. I'm pioneering new methods, completely unrelated to the old era."
"Really?"
"I will destroy the political legacy you're proud of and sweep it all into the trash. Years from now, when people remember General Croft, how will they evaluate him? A good person. If asked about achievements, interviewees will scratch their heads embarrassingly in front of cameras. You're like you never existed—that's all."
"Tell me your reasons and specific measures. Don't make me think you're just venting spite, or you'll die."
Croft's expression remained gentle, with no trace of killing intent in his eyes, but no one could ignore that tone—behind it was the deterrence of an ancient Holy Relic.
He had retreated to the rear for years. Because he'd always been in a commander's position, it actually reduced the erosion from using relics, making him seem fine. But anyone with experience remembered the General's power.
Internal strife failure leading to retirement?
More like general trends plus his exhaustion created the current situation.
Many claimed "mercenaries wouldn't dare confront the General directly," "they were just given a way out," "it was benefit exchange"—such rumors made Bull quite angry.
The Mercenary Alliance's victory was shrouded in gloom, leaving everyone feeling quite displeased.
He took a deep breath: "The first thing you mentioned has become a new disaster. Those Disaster Beasts that took root in Fallen Zones, reproducing and devouring each other, are becoming increasingly bizarre. We've currently observed four high-tier Disaster Beast presences—higher than Aurora Catastrophe's high-tier holdings. Humanity can't wait anymore. This is a war destined to last long, and we must fight away games in an Australia-sized area."
"The second thing—suppressing various nations to free up strength for Allied Forces also led them to start supporting mercenary companies, cultivating us. Isn't this a downside?"
"Yes."
That simple one-word answer aged Croft several years. The white-haired, white-bearded man looked melancholy.
"Actually, I don't dislike you, Mr. Bull. You have military experience and rose from the ranks, very similar to my experience. Unfortunately, you're in more variable circumstances, facing game complexity far beyond the past. After all, there used to be no Magical Girl Organizations."
"Do you think I was wrong to support giving them benefits?"
"Very correct. If you ignored giving rewards to the largest force supporting you, you'd deserve to fall apart. I have no extra opinions about Magical Girl Organizations—I'm just reminding you there's not just the Church."
"Other forces?"
Bull rarely showed surprise. From the Mercenary Alliance's perspective, the Salvation Church was at its zenith, backed by vast, unfathomable resources.
So far, their actions were enough for a medium military power, not to mention magic's asymmetrical strategic deterrence requiring separate consideration. It even often made people forget this organization might consist of a group of young newcomers.
"Uncertain, just some excavated texts from East Asia describing so-called true immortals, celestial maidens, and such records different from relic adapter descriptions—worth noting."
Croft murmured: "Hidden forces aren't just one......"
He produced a thick stack of photos from his chest—very clear, probably using the latest photography technology.
Seeing this, Bull skipped over the completely incomprehensible square characters and carefully examined those richly colored ancient murals:
Even the most inexperienced person could clearly see they depicted various girls with gorgeous, distinguished Regalia styles that were indeed consistent yet out of place—extraordinary and refined. The civilian imagery often used bowing and prostrating poses. From his understanding, these were standard religious paintings, and the slight headache reminded him the information source was genuine—had special Magical Girls really existed before?
His worldview was shaken.
"Strange, that's not right. Previously, magical power abundance was worse—even decent Holy Relics couldn't be produced, let alone their advancement being linked to Disaster Beasts."
"You're right. Researchers also believe that environment couldn't birth complete Magical Girls and doesn't really count. But it at least proves magic wasn't something that suddenly appeared overnight—they're equally ancient." Croft answered.
Bull agreed: "There's another piece of evidence. The Prophecy Book also acknowledges Hyacinth as this era's most ancient and powerful Magical Girl."
"Prophets wouldn't flatter themselves with gold plating. In a sense, her words being widely accepted created mystical causal connections, so this claim should be accurate. I'm just reminding you that perhaps even the Church is just a character pushed forward by a vast underground force—actually quite weak themselves."
"No, the latest evidence refutes this point."
He handed over a Five-Color Narcissus smartphone. The touchscreen played a video—the scene was the Los Angeles incident that had just made big news.
The camera focused on the hero who eliminated numerous Disaster Beasts, but the characteristics didn't match any known Magical Girl.
Clearly familiar yet impossible to remember—so the Church had dispatched a new unfamiliar face with strength powerful enough to easily sweep a medium-scale cluster event, proving the Church's combat reserves remained unfathomable, still not revealing everything to the public and numerous intelligence agencies.
Since this was the case, some think tank doubts about their true strength immediately crumbled.
Skeptics were already a minority. The vast majority just looked at battle records—definitely world-class player scale. Whether they hid much or revealed much didn't affect their reputation.
Croft concentrated on the video and discovered what appeared to be Magical Girls controlling storms and earthquakes.
Elemental magic?
As a former Allied Forces leader, Croft also knew considerable magical knowledge. He immediately recognized that earthquakes and storms belonged to some kind of magical power interference phenomenon, and couldn't help frowning with sharp eyes.
The Salvation Church's current Big Four each occupied one type of magic, their brilliant halos overshadowing other abilities' terrifying aspects—this was probably also within their calculations.
Humanity's most primitive fear came from nature's violent instability, so elemental magic was truly powerful.
High floor and ceiling ensured this type of Magical Girl, as long as their corresponding element wasn't too poor and their conceptual framework was adequate, would have incalculable destructive power. Even the most barren brain should imagine earthquakes' and storms' impact. Especially with Los Angeles near the Rocky Mountains and the North American Great Plains suffering tornado attacks year-round... People accustomed to natural disasters understood their might best—they hit social order's foundation hardest.
Like catastrophic events, they specialized in attacking your rear foundation. No matter how strong the front lines, they'd collapse completely.
......The route finally stopped at clouds clearing over the Rocky Mountains.
Finally over.
Croft murmured: "Could it be that our internal doubts were leaked? So the Salvation Church took this opportunity to show their hand—all unfamiliar ability faces, another complete new lineup. And this elemental magic's destructive power rivals nuclear warfare."
Bull answered: "Another possibility—they also want a piece of this Pacific Fallen Zone battle, so they did a military exercise in advance. The effect was quite good."
"Was it necessary? Just one probe mobilized such large-scale forces? I mean in terms of impact."
"I've met Hyacinth. She's the type who plans before acting—as a military officer, she pays great attention to daily training accumulation."
"Convenient to reveal some details?"
This was equivalent to asking for payment for the photo intelligence just shared. Seeing this, Bull no longer hesitated. After all, he wasn't the only one who talked on Glacier Island—information would leak eventually. Better exchange it before the expiration date.
Besides, they weren't children who'd ignore each other out of spite. They still had common interests at bottom—some lubricating small exchanges were better than confrontation.
Bull gave a detailed account of his brief stay on Glacier Island without any extra subjective opinions—only plain narration of objective descriptions, like an investigation report.
When he mentioned the Church possessing nuclear weapons equivalent to several nuclear submarines, Croft's mouth twitched, but he had no other reaction.
After hearing the detailed report, the General's expression grew even more stern.
After a long speech, Bull concluded: "If I refuse the Church, I'm allowing a nuclear-armed nation to remain outside world rules—that's more dangerous."
"I have to admit the situation you face is very complex. Today's young people really have it tough. When we started from scratch, we only had to think about fighting Disaster Beasts. Where did all this scheming and endless underground forces come from? Everyone's a troublemaker."
"You folks didn't have it easy either. Everything's difficult at the start—convincing those rotten people to form Allied Forces was impressive."
Both men laughed heartily in unison.
Though their mutual disgust wouldn't change, they at least gained some recognition—that was enough. They'd already gone separate ways and would each fare well.
"Have you two gentlemen finally finished talking? You know, your atmosphere earlier made people afraid to approach."
Sid approached while swirling his wine glass, easing the atmosphere.
He said: "As the protagonists of this party, how can you keep drinking glumly here? The main course is already served. Come on, General Croft, Chairman Bull—we should let go of the past and celebrate the future."
Since the atmosphere was harmonious, the two simply joined the party. For a time, glasses clinked and conversation flowed freely. Rather than conflicts, everyone was more concerned about jointly resisting humanity's common enemy.
Perhaps the Mercenary Alliance should thank the Disaster Beast attack for perfectly blocking the post-power-seizure transition period, leaving all sides no time for internal strife.
Of course, tracing further back, Bull had ordered four nuclear bombs thrown into Fallen Zones, setting off a big firecracker that caused Disaster Beasts to swarm out, dragging down the strongest Eastern and Western Pacific theaters, once nearly awakening sleeping ancient Holy Relics. So fundamentally, the current situation was inseparable from him, but everyone tactfully didn't blame the new Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces Staff Headquarters.
Having a war to fight was enough.
From this perspective, both sides had aligned interests.
"Congratulations, General Josh. I heard you've completed deep fusion." A veiled nun slowly raised her glass to her. "How does regaining sight feel?"
Hearing this, the uniformed woman turned to reveal bright ruby eyes, completely different from her previous hazy state. The blood pupil relic's fusion in her was approaching completion—from the surface, no object was visible, representing a new level for Holy Relics.
"I can't feel it anymore, but it's everywhere. Magic power, life force, and mental strength have all greatly improved."
"Can you still control Knowledge Poison? You should be able to use it to some extent now."
"I'm self-studying and training, but progress is slow." Josh spoke frankly: "Controlling Knowledge Poison would qualify as Holy Relic level, but most people of the same level in the theater are on external missions and don't have time to teach me. I'm relatively slow, so progress is sluggish. Perhaps I'll have to trouble Pharmacist later, but I don't want to embarrass myself in front of her—thanks to the commotion your organization caused."
"Holy Relic level!"
Pasha's single sentence revealed her identity, or former identity, making Josh slightly stunned.
The Mercenary Alliance was relatively new, but its most senior member was from Croft's era, having shouldered heavy burdens.
Thinking about it, Pasha had always used clone bodies for operations—her true body had never appeared, and the relic Faceless One was the same. So the person who completely fused with it remained hidden and unfathomable, no wonder she had special status in the Mercenary Alliance, even qualified to handle projects interfacing with the Management Bureau.
"Then I won't be polite—thank you in advance."
"Just a small favor. We're comrades-in-arms anyway—mutual assistance is expected." After speaking, the two clinked glasses.
Just then, Bull and Croft toasted each other in the center of the party lawn, appearing to have reconciled. Seeing this, Sid called for photographers to commemorate everyone, using this as an excuse to gather everyone together.
Since the atmosphere had reached this point, he maintained it to prevent any fights from breaking out later and causing embarrassment.
Though each had ulterior motives, this New Staff Headquarters completion banquet left all parties relatively satisfied, with Allied Forces leadership forming consensus on launching strategic offensive operations.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
Ningfeng Harbor International Airport.
Even private jet-level comfort made trans-Pacific flights uncomfortable. Walking down from the cabin, Hibiscus stretched before feeling better.
Behind her was a large Boeing aircraft, brand new, with all procedures expedited—as long as you had money, nothing was troublesome. The Five-Color Narcissus Company livery was quite luxurious, no wonder the airport surroundings frequently looked over. Even those who'd seen private jets rarely saw such large models.
All in all, it had a certain desert tycoon aesthetic—big and luxurious was good. Little did they know large space was needed for error tolerance in case magical power went out of control.
For this operation, Hibiscus had spent a large sum extra.
If teleportation arrays could be used, who would want to fly? But everyone had participated high-profile in the press conference, becoming tech circle newcomers with countless eyes watching. Fewer flaws were better, especially with slightly more fellow travelers this time.
Jin Ruochu laughed as she slid down the stair handrail, carrying bags full of so-called local specialties.
Then twelve newly joined Magical Girls set foot on foreign soil.
Though they were in an unfamiliar place, they weren't worried—even curious. For Magical Girls, affinity with their kind surpassed everything. Where wasn't home when traveling as a group?
After ideological work and promotion by Senior Hyacinth, everyone had let down their guard. A thousand words, ten thousand reasons—Five-Color Narcissus Company was genuinely a Fortune 500-level enterprise, so why not connect with them? Actually, they'd already learned to maintain Presence Reduction techniques while adding Universal Eraser concealment, since they nominally counted as corporate tourism and couldn't be linked to the Management Bureau.
This work was left to Elsa, so she, Miyuki, the research group, and others didn't board the plane.
The Management Bureau handling Magical Girl affairs through enterprises naturally increased the risk of exposing relationship networks, but Magical Girls no longer needed to hide like before. As the situation quietly changed, the main contradiction shifted to the Pacific Fallen Zones.
Moreover, Angela's addition supplemented the gap Jin Ruochu and Elsa had in "counter-reconnaissance functions," with both sides complementing each other to actually make the Church's cover more solid.
The immediate priority was accommodation.
The group had just arrived at the terminal when Nan Zhiyi, Minase Kaori, and Anri Sakagami could be seen waving from afar, the latter holding a tour guide flag:
Red background with white characters clearly reading "Mizuanri Tour Group #1."
The second-in-command Magical Girl Dandelion arriving was natural, and bringing two junior members was to cultivate them. After all, in the original storyline, one of the Church's Seven Apostles and the third Director had sufficient talent and management ability. Executives weren't born—they still needed training and cultivation.
They received the group that disembarked, and both sides got along well with smooth integration.
Setting aside the Salvation Church's famous reputation and halo effect, just their well-traveled experience was enough to make the young Magical Girls feel at home, ensuring good hospitality.
Since they could choose to first idle in company sinecure departments or volunteer to join the Church—if the latter, then Jin Yulu's training of new members would give rookies a good lesson in how dangerous the combat world was.
Hibiscus instructed:
"Everyone go meet up at the laboratory complex first and settle in early. I'll return to company headquarters—many documents need organizing......"
"Thanks for holding down the fort at headquarters."
She lifted her briefcase and shook it, then gave Nan Zhiyi a big hug.
The housekeeper had wanted to scold her for being too busy but felt warmth surround her—incredibly warm. Breathing against her cheek made heartstrings resonate with lasting melody.
Nan Zhiyi returned the hug and nodded: "Good, just finish things there quickly. We're already gathering all personnel with external operation capability. What approach to take in this offensive war needs your guidance and final decision."
"Don't worry, I have it planned out, and it's a long-term process—no need to rush."
Hibiscus remembered the South Pacific recapture war was quite difficult, continuing even after fairy descent, with several phase plans—rushing was useless.
Moreover, netizens could actually provide limited help in this area. The general direction had long diverged from the original work, let alone specific tactical deployment and combat execution.
The opticians could at most reveal intelligence information and point out areas needing attention. Once actual hostilities began, rapid changes left no time for suggestions or planning—it was very testing of the Salvation Church's overall military competence. In warfare, one must be vigilant. So as overall commander, Hibiscus was actually quite restrained, with one principle: if the enemy doesn't move, I don't move. If allies don't move, I don't move either.
Detailed plans would be discussed later based on situation observation, since this was different from previous special operations.
Both sides gave each other instructions before separating.
She returned to Five-Color Narcissus Company headquarters in the evening. Even so, many people were still busy. When employees saw the Chairman return, instead of being cautious, they applauded and cheered:
"Amazing, you've created a new technological era!"
"The world will remember Five-Color Narcissus Company's contribution—no, it already has. My dividends are going crazy!"
"Long live the boss!"
Unable to refuse such enthusiasm, Hibiscus put down documents and simply announced without cleaning up: "We did make a fortune this time. Tonight's dinner is on me—eat and drink to your heart's content, plus red envelopes for everyone!" The cheers rose another level.
The floor seemed to tremble slightly, drawing surprised looks from another office building.
For ordinary employees who had nothing to do with magic yet constantly encountered various hypnosis spells, cognitive barriers, or presence reduction techniques, it was quite hard work. So she was generous with rewards—actually, the busier company headquarters got, the better hidden in plain sight it became.
After finishing all this and returning to the company late at night, Hibiscus organized documents alone, bored enough to turn on the television.
Since chatting more with netizens, she seemed to develop "information insufficiency anxiety"—discomfort without massive data input to her brain.
Perhaps Hyacinth was already adapting to the major internet era in advance.
Beep!
The TV screen showed Croft and Bull smiling and shaking hands, taking photos together. What work could bring these two mortal enemies together? Even harmoniously holding press conferences? There must have been complex benefit exchanges—some black, some white, not for outsiders to know.
Just as Hibiscus was puzzled, the reporter's voiceover came: "Latest news: the New Allied Forces Staff Headquarters has completed reorganization, and Disaster Beast spillover to the Indian Ocean is confirmed."
Then the camera zoomed in on Bull: "We are planning a war to recapture the Pacific Fallen Zones......"
Mediocre—nothing but morale-boosting rhetoric.
Hibiscus had just looked away when she suddenly heard him say: "We will sincerely invite the Magical Girl Management Bureau to participate in this joint operation."