Chapter 328

Chapter 328: Episode Seven, the Final Sword, Enter Stage

Donghong Federation.

Daxia, Sea City.

While the Church of the Gods was gathered in the Ideal State, plotting the future of humanity, nearly a hundred million people had received the vaccine thanks to the arrival of advanced technology.

It was now five in the evening, and the end of summer seemed to be approaching. The sunset came faster than usual, and the breeze carried a slight chill as it blew high above.

The golden rays of dusk filtered through the Pearl Tower’s glass, casting wavy lights at the girl’s feet, giving the tips of her hair a bright shine, and revealing Golden Bowl’s face on the semi-transparent wall.

Ji Qianju’s outfit was very concealing—she wore headphones, a brightly colored trendy hoodie, and wide-leg pants.

This rebellious and gender-neutral style was completely different from her usual sweet and cool stage presence, and it was worlds apart from the magical girl known as Golden Bowl.

The girl looked at the city surrounded by the sunset, her youthful and beautiful features reflecting her strong will as she held her phone, smiling and talking to her family far away:

"Going home? Does Mom miss me?"

"Yes, I miss you all very much, but I still have a performance. The company has a tight schedule, but I should have time to come back in half a month. Don’t worry, it’s not too hard; I will bring you gifts."

On the other end of the phone, Mom said with worry:

"Little Orange, you are already a grown-up, but don’t push yourself too hard, okay? The last time I watched that talent show, there was a little girl who danced until she fainted because she didn’t rest well."

"Remember, even when you are outside, you can’t be picky with food. Don’t avoid vegetables like you used to."

"By the way, I saw on the news that [Heart Flow] is connected to magic, so please don’t do anything dangerous behind our backs."

Ji Qianju patiently listened to her mother’s ramblings and said without guilt:

"Mom, you are so grown-up and still believe in magical girls? Besides, even if what people say online is true, it doesn’t mean that all idols from [Heart Flow] are magical girls."

Laughter came from her father’s side of the phone:

"Hahaha, Little Orange, don’t listen to your mom’s worries. This morning, she finished watching the news and was so excited that she rewatched ‘Sakura Cardcaptor.’ She’s just recalling things."

"Well, I’m not worried about you becoming a magical girl to fight monsters, but the national policy has come out, so you need to get vaccinated soon, especially since you have a job that needs you to travel a lot."

The man paused in the middle of his words, turned back, and advised:

"And about this entertainment circle, which is a world of fame and fortune, don’t compromise yourself. If anything happens, talk to Dad. If you’re unhappy, just come back…"

Ji Qianju smiled, and after talking for a while, as the light by her feet faded and the sun completely set, she ended the call, revealing a touch of sadness.

I’m sorry, Mom and Dad, I told you another lie.

But just like you worry about me, the other magical girls are also cared for by their families, so… I have no reason to choose to run away.

In an ideal world, if humanity fully inherits that legacy, it could rapidly advance related technology, and only then can we address the shortage of magical girls and better protect the public.

At this stage, the Countermeasures Bureau has not found any way to increase resistance to disaster aura.

The vaccine given to the public is not some magical antibody, but a special kind of nanobot that can stay in the body for 6 to 9 months, and when it encounters disaster aura, it absorbs it.

If things get serious, it sacrifices local tissue to gather disaster aura in one place and creates a nanoprotective shield to seal the area, preventing multiple infections.

But even so, if you stay in a high concentration of disaster aura, it can only help humans live for an extra 1 to 3 hours.

"I want you to live in a safer world."

Ji Qianju’s goal was not to enter for training or to be an instructor, but to join the action team and carry out the tasks given by the Dreamweaver, finding the most needed cultural heritage as quickly as possible.

Unlike past archaeology, after the Ideal State was activated, the entire area of civilization, even the starry universe, returned to its original appearance. To seize precious technology and knowledge, one had to deal with the local powers.

After pondering for a while, the girl put away the spell that covered an area and left the Pearl Tower. She walked along the streets of the Bund, mingling with the vast sea of people illuminated by neon lights, looking at the peaceful street and silently wishing in her heart.

I hope everything goes smoothly.

…

…

At night, First People’s Hospital, Xu Ling sat beside the bed in the single room, holding a small dinosaur toy. She excitedly pinched her cousin sister’s big white leg and said,

"Wow, Honey Tong, look! Even the hospital’s TV is tuned to the channel for ‘Dazzling Stage’!"

Pei Xiaotong swatted away her cousin sister’s hand. She looked at Xu Ling with suspicion, feeling that Xu Ling was especially fond of her new big leg, which had already been quietly pinched seven or eight times today.

The little girl pinched back and complained,

"Now all we need is for the leader to make a speech calling on everyone to watch ‘Dazzling Stage.’ The fans of ‘Dazzling Stage’ contestants must have grown several times today, right?"

Xu Ling scrolled through Weibo and replied,

"It’s indeed exaggerated. Honey Qing’s Weibo fans have already soared to 87.95 million. It’s expected to break 100 million tomorrow, and in a few more days, it could double. Top contestants all follow this trend."

"But there’s nothing we can do. Now everyone realizes the problem. Before, they complained that there were too many divisions in ‘Dazzling Stage.’ Now they wish their own country could have seven or eight more."

It’s a very simple idea.

If "Dazzling Stage" was the platform for training magical girls, then the little idols who stepped out into the world from it were likely to be the future treasures of the nation, symbolizing the strength of the country’s ability to withstand disasters.

It’s like when you watch Marvel, where superheroes are always busy saving New York. Without local superheroes, you will fall behind, and falling behind means getting hit.

So, whether one liked idols or enjoyed the stage didn’t matter now; what mattered was that their own "Dazzling Stage" must not fall behind others.

Right now, netizens around the world were competing and comparing their own little idols, starting a new battle in the electronic arena.

Some even claimed, based on various information and guesses, that magical girls had secretly replaced nuclear weapons as the new standard for measuring international power and could become the cause of the fifth world war by disrupting the existing balance.

Soon after, the person promoting this idea was taken away for "tea," with the reason being the spread of reactionary forces and the disruption of international peace, and they received harsh ideological education, being detained for a day before being released.

It could only be said that the popularity of "Dazzling Stage" was based on reality and had been raised to an incredible height. Not only were the little idols at the center of the storm growing in fame, but also major bloggers and trending accounts, as well as fans, were rapidly increasing.

Of course, some now believed that magic was related to "Heart Flow," which did not mean that "Dazzling Stage" and magical girls had a direct connection; rather, some of the older world-class idols were more suspicious.

Pei Xiaotong curiously picked up her cousin sister’s phone and exclaimed,

"Honey Ling, your Weibo account has 4.67 million fans now, how fast it grew! I remember it was just a little over 2 million before, right? At this rate, you can support me and I won’t have to work hard!"

Xu Ling pinched the little girl’s face and said with a smile,

"Dream on! I’ll give you a little lucky money, but your salary can be doubled based on what you deserve."

"Never mind that, the show has started!"

On the TV, the logo for Dream Weaver Rabbit flashed by.

Theoretically, the beginning of the seventh episode should have continued the ending of the last episode’s storyline, but it seemed to deliberately keep everyone in suspense; the opening featured the other little idols carefully walking through a haunted house.

At first, everyone was complaining about Dream Weaver Rabbit’s broken storyline, but after 40 whole minutes of stage performances, bickering, and weight-defying scenes, even those shipping couples and fans who loved watching little idols in their daily lives were satisfied.

This made even the viewers who were eagerly waiting to see the magic unfold forget their original purpose and immerse themselves in the joy of watching.

I have to say, with a super AI like Dream Weaver Rabbit that could make the most out of every frame, the story’s richness and completeness surpassed any editing genius. Every little conflict and daily scene of each team could be perfectly refined and pieced together into a complete storyline.

This episode lasted a full 178 minutes, almost the length of two movies. The program group of "Dazzling Stage" only needed 120 minutes to show the daily lives and performances of ten teams.

The story finally picked up where the last episode left off.

When the Pure White Witch first met Charlotte, she was whisked away to the street, like a young couple in love, wandering under the sunshine of Vienna and radiating a playful pink bubble that made the fans express their excitement and pain.

However, the story quickly moved on to the "family gathering" at Twelve Apostles Winery, just when the audience thought a dramatic scene was about to unfold.

Charlotte gave everyone a great lesson, demonstrating what a social terror known as a succubus was. The little idols were like bowling pins, easily knocked over, causing the fans to feel heartbroken.

"Is that it? Is that it? Is that it?"

Because many secrets were revealed during the process, Charlotte did not let the program group record the conversations in the wine cellar, so that part of the scene went by quickly, and soon it moved to Salzburg.

Although they did not include the scene of buying locks on the bridge, a group of little idols walking on Lover Bridge still made some fans with "wrong thoughts" think differently.

"Haha, Honey Qing and the little idols have all been on Lover Bridge together ❤️❤️❤️."

Fans always brought excitement, and the weeks in Salzburg quickly came to an end, passing over comments about Honey Qing’s yoga outfit for dancing, leading us to the story in Sankt Wolfgang.

Actually, this part should have been about joking how quickly they met the parents.

But due to the wish to keep Charlotte’s hometown and family private, all related parts were cut out to prevent fans from making inappropriate comments about Sister Ellie.

So, the only remaining scenes were training, local customs, sweet moments, and the important business performances.

"Hey, that’s strange, why did Ning Bao and Little Shuzhu’s team come here to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday?"

"Wait, is that Liang Xiaoxiao? She looks completely different with her new gray and black short hair; it’s like she has transformed into someone else. Her style and aura are nothing like before."

Well, even though some fans still enjoyed discussing everything, many were more focused on the performances. Chen Yining’s team showed great improvement, and the recorded shows allowed the audience to feel the charm of the "Heart Flow" stage.

In the past, people only talked about idols, but now discussions easily drifted towards magical girls, unintentionally analyzing whether this group of young idols could become, or already were, magical girls.

I must say, even though it wasn’t clearly stated, the official promotion and control of public opinion had almost tied the term "magical girl" to "Dazzling Stage."

And amidst the eager anticipation of the crowd,

The Pure White Witch finally made her grand entrance in the show.

Although there was a live broadcast on Weibo, it lasted less than five minutes, and before the show aired, clips could not pass the review, so most viewers had never seen it.

Therefore, the excitement in the bullet comments was very high, as they watched the performance with nearly 100% freshness.

Xu Ling’s eyes sparkled with little stars; she remembered very well that when Honey Qing sang "No one can be just like me any way," that monster disappeared into thin air.

Pei Xiaotong also remembered clearly; as soon as she was pushed in front of Honey Ling, she spotted the Pure White Witch’s live broadcast. After hearing that line, the beast, almost like a beastman, vanished.

It was as if the other person heard the wishes of her fan, immediately reaching out to help at that moment, completely like an angel! No, more like a deity!

Even a person who did not follow stars would remember such an experience for a lifetime; let alone that the two were already fans.

It could be said that the wishes of the two little girls were so immense they could "hold back a thousand foes," enough to make them fervent followers in a religion.

There is no unique pair; all over the world, many people have experienced similar coincidences, adding a double-digit number of devoted fans to the Pure White Witch.

Coincidentally, today’s viewing audience for "Dazzling Stage" reached one billion, almost one-tenth of the population of Daxia, breaking the previous highest record without limits.

The newly played "Pure White Ode," enhanced by the four additional "Heart Flow" melodies, surprised old fans while attracting countless new fans.

This transcended beauty and sound, like angel wings, touching the depths of the soul, making even elderly people who only enjoyed square dancing completely captivated by the stage’s charm, enchanted by the young idol, likened to an online opiate.

Thus, a huge wave of wishes surged over Daxia, creating a thick yet empty tidal force that caused strong magic energy reactions, making the Countermeasures Bureau’s detectors light up constantly, as if colorful clouds illuminated the night, spreading across millions of miles.

That was a sight unseen by ordinary eyes.

Joy, emotion, love, dedication, gratitude, happiness…

These abstract and fleeting feelings transformed into a hurricane that engulfed the atmosphere, crossing a vast distance to reach Sankt Wolfgang at five in the morning.

Chu Yuanqing’s hair swayed in the wind as she lifted her golden eyes to gaze at the illuminated Lake Wolfgangsee, resonating with the magnificent aurora that blessed Charlotte. Her lips curled up as she whispered softly:

"It came at just the right time."

The words faded away.

The sky looked like a crumpled canvas, trembling as it opened a few cracks, through which the light from the Intracastral Sea fell, colliding with the overwhelming power of wishes, creating waves of thunder.

—[End of Utopia].

The ownership of both belonged to one person.

Thus, with the declaration of will, the shining hurricane flowed back to Ideal Homeland, causing this dimension that recorded the end of the world to shake violently, activating the function to forge wishes, gathering enough power to cut through the continent with a sword.

Of course, rather than simply waving it, she preferred to try to break through the lantern’s limits and reach a level she had never reached before—10%.

Chu Yuanqing gathered her thoughts and looked back at the ten little idols who were already ready to go, accepting the strange scene as a prelude to entering the Ideal State.

The Pure White Witch’s mind-controlled key officially opened the portal to the Intracastral Sea under the tense yet expectant gazes of everyone.

Then, light filled the vision…