Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 43, You Should Be a Little More Confident

"Hiroaki single-handedly dealt with all the demons inside the Tokyo Dome, without any other magical girls needing to appear. [Click to open video]"

"As expected of a former legend, both beautiful and strong."

Do you have a boyfriend?

"some."

How did you know????

"The magical girls outside are amazing too; they took down the monster in less than two minutes. [Image]"

"Hey, it's a really rare black color, what's it called?"

"Eiya seems to be a junior from the same company as Matsuri Ranran, but she hasn't officially debuted yet."

"We've broken into the top 200."

"I'm so envious of Yinfu Entertainment. They have so many magical girl idols. I want to work there too."

"They don't recruit from outside at all. Last time my friend and I went to the company, we were stopped by security. But we did get a cute little pin of Matsuri Ran as a souvenir."

"Can I get a souvenir? I want to go next time."

"The second half of the concert was absolutely amazing! Song Lanlan and Yuan Miaomiao's glamorous ball performance was absolutely stunning."

"I envy those of you who managed to snag tickets. By the way, hasn't anyone uploaded the live stream video yet?"

"The official website just uploaded it. [Video URL link]"

"..."

The online discussions are endless.

Cheng Chen stopped scrolling through his phone and glanced at the two girls sitting on the steps beside him.

Du Lingyi seemed to have gotten used to being with him, simply sitting obediently and nodding politely when her eyes met his.

Yan Xi kept her head down, her hands on her knees, and remained silent.

The phone screen lit up; it was a call from Jiang Fei.

She was with Liang Ziyi at the time, cleaning up the mess inside the Taipei Arena.

"Feed".

"I've sent Congcong to pick you up. There's an impromptu meeting coming up here, so you'll have to go back first."

"Is the situation bad?"

"It was better than expected. There were 3 seriously injured and 11 slightly injured. Almost all of them were fans gathered outside the venue, and half of the stampede was caused by people running around in the crowd. The incident happened quickly and ended quickly, and the impact has not yet had time to spread."

Jiang Fei's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding annoyed because she had to work overtime.

"There are six low-level demons in the inner arena responsible for creating chaos. They are all subordinates sent by the Lord of Cinder. The Lord of Cinder is the bait, the man in black you met is the real executor, whose purpose is to take Pine Orchid away in full view of everyone; and the calamity beast outside the arena is a 'fire corpse' that the Lord of Cinder resurrected with his magic."

"When you sent Bai Xing to kill Sha Quan, the magical girl Cang Qing who was fighting it was terrified, and no one stayed behind to guard the scene and wait for the handover. Before the city arrived, someone may have taken advantage of the situation and taken a part of Sha Quan's flesh and blood. The flesh and blood later flowed into the hands of Xin Zhu, who used it to make advanced puppets."

As Cheng Chen enjoyed the breeze, he casually asked, "So, they started planning this a month ago?"

"Maybe even earlier."

Jiang Fei said, "Zi Yi's schedule was arranged the month before last, and a private room was reserved for her at that time. The fact that Xin Zhu's men were able to accurately locate her private room at the same moment the riot was started suggests that there is a mole within the municipal government."

"And it seems like the Dream Dance Party side knew a long time ago that the host wanted to cause trouble at the concert, and they were just happy to see us make a fool of ourselves."

"A long time ago? Didn't the association receive any intelligence?"

Cheng Chen was puzzled.

"Although I'm very unwilling, the answer is: yes."

Jiang Fei patiently explained, "Yinfu Entertainment used to have a lot of influence within the association. Guwu's departure also caused factional divisions within the association, and things have been very chaotic recently. If the Municipal Magic Affairs Bureau can't find out about this information, we're blind."

"The Lord of the Heart is a genuine fifth-tier 'Demon Lord,' and with others helping him behind the scenes, hiding his whereabouts would be a piece of cake... As for why he kidnapped Ziyi, it was probably just a way to attract the attention of the security forces in the venue."

Cheng Chen sighed, "Are all the 'Demon Lords' these days just hiding in the gutter and scheming like this? I find it really unsatisfying."

"Ever since you disappeared and retired from the martial world, the fifth-tier demons around Yincheng have all liked to pat themselves on the back, calling themselves 'Lord So-and-so' and boasting that they have 'the courage of no less than that of an evil lord,' so it is entirely your fault."

Jiang Fei chuckled, then suddenly changed the subject.

"We can talk about Ziyi's matter properly when I'm done with what I'm doing here and come back."

Although his tone was light, Cheng Chen suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

She continued, "Six years ago, when I became active again, I carried out a major purge in Yin City. At that time, the Lord of Cinder was only a third-tier 'Destruction' at the peak, not yet a fourth-tier 'Evil God' demon. After seeing that things were not going well, he disappeared. When he reappeared three years ago, he had reached the fifth tier and recruited a large number of demons to establish some kind of 'Lord of Cinder Society,' which was incredibly powerful in Yin City for a time."

"Two years ago, the King of Cinnamon Society began to pose a serious threat. Ziyi came to me, and I led Baiguo in carrying out a second wave of purges in exchange for the city's full support for Yinfu Entertainment. This time, he got wind of it in advance and fled overseas."

"He's a cautious enough demon to have survived until now. Even the one who came here today was just an avatar."

"Oh, don't worry about that."

Cheng Chen casually replied, "You know me. I never leave anyone alive when I make a move. I already killed the main body along with the clone."

"Leaving no survivors is precisely the problem, isn't it?"

You can imagine Jiang Fei's eye-rolling expression just from her tone.

"He seems to be doing quite well outside, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to reach the fifth rank. This rank would make him a powerful demon anywhere, and with that troublesome resurrection magic, very few magical girls could be his match."

"But he just couldn't understand why he had to go back to Yincheng to die. Not only did he come back, but he was also just a pawn covering for someone else. But because you killed him, we will never know why he came back, who he worked for, or why he had to choose the concert as the time to make his move."

If the goal was simply to capture Song Lan, then they should have chosen a suitable time when neither Cheng Chen nor Jiang Fei were present.

If the intention is to commercially damage Yinfu Entertainment and ruin the company's reputation, then this is going too far.

Since last weekend, three demon lords have appeared in front of Cheng Chen.

The sudden appearance of important figures, rarely seen in normal times, is more common than stray dogs on the street. This could be a sign of a collapse in stats and combat power, or it could indicate that someone is planning something earth-shattering.

"...The only clue we can think of right now is that both the Lord of the Heart and the Roaring Dragon were once affiliated with the Holy Temple's Disaster Relief Institute." Jiang Fei's voice interrupted Cheng Chen's thoughts. "Before the Disaster Relief Institute was destroyed, they were considered mid-level members. Later, they each sought their own way out."

"You mean, it's related to the Disaster Relief Center?"

"A powerful figure from the Disaster Relief Institute who survived the tragedy has returned, wanting to rebuild the sanctuary. Or perhaps the Disaster Relief Institute is just a front, someone trying to mislead us with that name, while actually harboring other motives."

Jiang Fei's tone gradually became irritated, "In short, the municipal government has started mobilizing to organize a thorough investigation, hoping to find some clues. Otherwise, we'll always have to wait for the demons to cause trouble first before we can react."

"Aren't there still fairies and demonesses? With demonesses beyond reason in charge, what can they do even if they want to make a move?"

"Ordinary people can't fathom the thoughts of the Fairy Demoness. She doesn't care about anything outside of the 'Dream Ball.' She doesn't care how many demons and monsters appear. Otherwise, you would have been killed by her six years ago."

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Fei sighed dismissively, "Alright, let's stop talking now. We'll talk when I get back."

She hung up the phone, and Cheng Chen also put down his phone.

Du Lingyi sat obediently beside her, pretending to admire the scenery.

Yan Xi remained in the same position as before, curled up in the corner of the cold steps, her sideburns looking somewhat messy. She lowered her head, her entire face almost buried in her collar, revealing a section of her pale and fragile nape.

Compared to wild magical girls, Cheng Chen is naturally more concerned about his own trainees.

He came to her side and knelt down.

Give me your hand.

Yan Xi didn't react, so he forcibly pulled her hand and infused it with magic.

"After transforming, you are protected by magic and will not get hurt. However, being subjected to impact can still cause blood vessels in the body to rupture, leaving symptoms such as hematomas, so you can't let your guard down after each battle."

The magic flowed through the girl's body, slowly seeping into her and healing those minute injuries that were invisible to the naked eye.

Yan Xi was like a dazed puppet, left to his own devices.

How are you feeling today?

The treatment process caused some slight stinging, so Cheng Chen casually chatted with Yan Xi to distract himself.

A voice responded from inside the collar: "What do you mean, producer?"

"Battles, concerts, and cheers." Cheng Chen sat beside her, about two fists' width apart. "When the people you saved gathered together and called your name, I saw you smile."

Yan Xi suddenly raised her head and stared at him angrily with wide eyes.

This was the first time she had shown such an expression in front of Cheng Chen since the incident of impersonating the disaster relief hospital came to an end.

"That's enough..."

"Everyone likes you, even if they don't know you, your personality, or your preferences. It might not be because you saved them, but simply because they felt a liking for you from the moment they saw you. And what you've done is enough for them to cheer for you."

"Enough!" she shouted.

Cheng Chen stopped and looked over.

His trembling lips were covered in bite marks, almost tearing his own lips apart.

After a moment, the anger and hostility subsided, and she lowered her head again, speaking in a low voice: "Enough... Producer, you know perfectly well that I am not capable of defeating Sha Quan... It was you..."

"You defeated Sha Quan, broke through its defenses, and then gave me the credit for the final blow... because you wanted to groom me, to make me an idol, and you needed people to like me; because you wanted me to debut, and you needed to create popularity..."

In fact, this approach has been very effective. The name "Eiya" is currently trending on social media along with tags related to the concert, and search volume is steadily increasing.

Unlike last time when more people focused on the criminal groups and the victims' experiences, this time more people are focused on her personally and want to know who she is.

Cheng Chen reached out and placed his hand on Yan Xi's head, gently rubbing her hair.

"You should be more confident."

The girl did not resist; she simply lowered her head in avoidance.

……