Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 66, Calamity Beast

I don't know how much time passed.

When Yan Xi finally walked out of the attic with Cheng Chen, her head was spinning. His words and expressions were subtly probing, every move a confrontation… Aside from remembering the earliest deal Cheng Chen agreed to with Yan Nian, she could barely recall what they had talked about or how much they had discussed, even after just stepping outside.

The corridor was filled with an unknown, rich aroma of incense. Along the way, the maids who were all meek and obedient, serving tea and water, turned out to be magical girls.

Yan Xi's frustration intensified, and she just wanted to leave this awful place as soon as possible.

"Producer," she began, "was what Yan Nian said just now true?"

Cheng Chen glanced at her calmly: "Which part are you referring to?"

"Well... Yincheng is actually secretly controlled by demons, and there are many, many old demon monsters who have lived for hundreds of years hidden in this city..." Yan Xi gestured worriedly.

"Half and half."

Cheng Chen thought for a moment and gave an ambiguous answer.

Some of what Yan Nian said was indeed true.

Demons can preserve their magical power indefinitely, and magic grants them longer lifespans. Even though they fight each other and face the pursuit of magical girls, many survivors will emerge over the years, and these survivors are all cunning and ruthless old foxes who have been tempered by time.

If one wants to remain hidden in Yincheng, it is indeed difficult to be detected.

However, to elevate this to a conspiracy theory that "the demon controls everything" is utter nonsense.

Yan Nian didn't mention Fairy Demoness at all just now.

Xianmeng Group is also a company of the Southern Federation, and its headquarters are also in Yincheng. As a company founded by a magical girl, it is larger, more domineering, and more aggressive than Yinfu Entertainment at its peak. Why does he turn a blind eye to it?

Fairy Demoness rarely interferes in the struggle between demons and magical girls, but she is also a magical girl.

Therefore, as long as Xianmeng Group exists, Yan Nian's statement is invalid.

"oh."

Upon hearing Cheng Chen's answer, Yan Xi responded in a muffled voice, seemingly understanding but not quite, and then stopped talking.

Cheng Chen stopped: "What are you thinking about?"

"The producer?"

"What are you thinking?" he repeated. "There's no need to worry, just tell me."

Yan Xi bit her lip. "Since Yan Nian is lying..." she said in a low voice, "why did the producer agree to his request?"

"You mean you agreed to introduce him to the CEO?"

Cheng Chen stared at Yan Xi's face, then suddenly laughed.

The latter, not understanding what it meant, asked nervously, "The...the producer?"

"I am a demon."

Cheng Chen suddenly stopped smiling and abruptly uttered these words.

Yan Xi paused for a moment: "I know, but..."

"I'm a demon, just like Yan Nian." Cheng Chen emphasized this fact, opening his arms wide. "So, what do you think is the difference between him and me?"

Yan Xi froze completely.

She stared blankly at the man in front of her, her mind completely blank, utterly unsure of what expression to make or how to respond.

"How do you know that the way I am in front of you isn't an act? Maybe the person I am now is the real me, and that my cooperation with Yan Nian is genuine. As long as Jiang Fei disappears, I can take over the entire Yin Fu Entertainment, and with the help of the demons, I can reorganize the company, usurp its position, and expand the company's business even further."

He looked at Yan Xi's increasingly pale face with a mocking expression, "The outside world has no way of knowing about the changes inside the company. Those innocent and naive young magical girls who dream of becoming stage idols will still flock to Yinfu Entertainment like moths to a flame."

"And I, simply by sitting in my office, effortlessly receive a continuous supply of 'food' from the demons..."

You can't!

Yan Xi raised her head and interrupted him loudly.

Cheng Chen lowered her hand, her eyes regaining their usual calm: "Why do you feel that way?"

Although the silly magical girl was flustered and her eyes were red, she still shook her head firmly and forcefully: "You won't."

"Where does your confidence come from?" Cheng Chen wasn't going to let her off the hook. He pressed on relentlessly, "I chose you as the company's next idol without even asking for your opinion. I just imposed the responsibility on you. When you refused, I abandoned you without hesitation and chose Cang Qing as a replacement. At the same time, I changed my attitude towards you."

"He changes his mind faster than turning the pages of a book, his temperament is unpredictable, and he goes back on his word. Isn't that just a demon? Why should he trust me?"

"The producer..."

Yan Xi's eyes welled up with tears, and she bit her lip tightly. "I don't know, but... but I just know!"

"…Fool."

Cheng Chen suddenly sighed, patted her head, and said, "If I were to suddenly sell you one day, you'd probably still be counting the money for me."

Yan Xi lowered her eyelids, feeling the gentle pressure on her head, and her fear vanished.

"Let's go."

Cheng Chen lowered his hand and continued walking forward.

Yan Xi followed closely behind, like a little tail.

"He kept touching that ring while he was talking to me," Cheng Chen said casually.

"ring?"

Yan Xi paused for a moment, then quickly racked her brains, "You mean his wedding ring?"

"That's a crafted magical artifact." Cheng Chen stared ahead. "The ring concealed his aura; in reality, he's just an ordinary person without any magical power."

"How could this be!?"

Yan Xi exclaimed in surprise at just the right moment.

Cheng Chen thought she was especially cute at times like this, and when teased, she would make sounds like a cat echoing her imagination.

Although cats are useless, they provide a lot of emotional value!

"Do you think the person who manipulated Yan Nian behind the scenes is the same mastermind behind the previous concert attack?" Cheng Chen asked again.

This time, Yan Xi suddenly became serious.

She stopped in her tracks, her whole body suddenly tensing: "Producer, you mean...?"

"Near Yincheng, you can count the number of demon lords with names on two hands. The vast majority of them have maintained a tacit understanding with us and have no reason to act as pawns for others or attack us," Cheng Chen said slowly. "Where did the people who attacked the concert come from?"

"Could it be that Yan Nian... no, that the person behind him arranged this?"

Yan Xi's simple mind raced. "That person has the ability to organize such a large trade fair and is in contact with other demons hiding in the shadows. Maybe, as he just said, these demons want to get rid of you, the producer?"

"Slogans can be shouted loudly, but none of the demons who can live for hundreds of years are fools."

Cheng Chen shook his head. He could just shout indignantly during the meeting, but who would actually be so foolish as to rush up and fight him?

They lack the courage to actually suppress bandits, but they are incredibly audacious in using the guise of bandit suppression to amass wealth.

Yan Nian spoke on behalf of his master, saying a lot of irrelevant things, but only one sentence was definitely true.

—He's a businessman.

"But he definitely knows some inside information," Cheng Chen continued to comment. "Even if the concert attack had nothing to do with him, the attackers would need the help of local bigwigs to hide quietly in Yincheng afterwards. When we met today, he used Yan Nian's name to ramble on about so many random things, which was to hint at this point to me, asking how much I could ask for to buy the attackers' lives from him."

"Then what do we do?" Yan Xi nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Proof," Cheng Chen said succinctly.

"prove?"

"To prove that we are qualified to do business with him."

Cheng Chen stopped a second before he was about to step out of the attic. Following his gaze, Yan Xi looked into the distance.

Dark red mist was boiling and churning, thick clouds covered the entire sky, and several crimson arcs of electricity seemed to intertwine and leap between the clouds and mist.

Beneath the billowing mist, one could vaguely glimpse a colossal creature beyond description. Its sky-covering, sun-obscuring beast head was raised high, accompanied by countless crimson sparks flying across the sky. Its eyes burned with a ghostly golden light, looking down upon those below with a ferocious and terrifying aura.

She stood there, stunned.

"That's... a calamity beast!?"

It's an incredibly powerful monster, many times stronger than the "Sarquan" from the concert, and stronger than any monster she's ever encountered.

A mist filled with fiery red sparks is raging, engulfing the streets and buildings within the barrier.

Yan Xi unconsciously swallowed and looked around.

Where are those two nasty kids?

Where did Azure and Rose go? And where did this calamity beast come from?

At this point, the once bustling trade fair had completely descended into chaos.

The demons all shed their previous refined and gentle masks, revealing their most primal and ferocious true forms under the threat of death.

Countless calamity magics of various colors intertwined wildly above the barrier, but even so, their best efforts to block it could not stop the fog from spreading.

"Producer, what should we do now?"

Almost instinctively, Yan Xi turned to the man beside her who seemed to always be in control of everything for help.

Cheng Chen didn't look at her.

He frowned slightly, looking up at the figure of the calamity beast in the mist.

His assessment of the sudden turn of events was—

"There should be a limit to farces."

"Wait for me here."

After saying this, Yan Xi's vision blurred.

Cheng Chen took only one step forward before disappearing from his original spot and disappearing into the increasingly dense fog.

"Producer!"

Yan Xi shouted, and the echo rippled far and wide, but no one responded to her.

……