Chapter 34: Black Dumpling

“Where should it be?”

Wen Yaquan rolled her eyes. “You’re a magical girl. Don’t you feel something’s off?”

“Yeah… I’m not that dumb.” Jiang Lingwei nodded. “Normally, I’d have magic in my body.”

“Exactly.” Wen Yaquan smiled, seeing her get it. “In my Theory on the Biological Morphology of Magical Girls, I argue magical girls aren’t fully human.”

“Huh?” Jiang Lingwei froze. “If not human, then what?”

“Sorry, I was too broad.” Wen Yaquan tapped her phone, lowering a lab screen displaying a human body diagram. “Physiologically, you’re human—no reproductive isolation. I used to rely on the old fairy’s words, but you’ve confirmed it.”

She grabbed Jiang Lingwei’s head to stop her protest, continuing, “But magical girls’ nature differs from humans. I call it ‘upward dimension.’”

“The fairy contract is a dimensional link, giving you traits from another plane. Look at the screen’s standard values…” Seeing Jiang Lingwei’s confused “What’s she on about?” look, Wen Yaquan sighed. “Simple version: magical girls are naturally different. Like humans breathe or birds fly, magic is your baseline. Transformation just optimizes it.”

“You could stay transformed indefinitely without effort, as long as you don’t burn mana. That’s the principle.”

“But you? Your normal state’s like an ordinary person’s. You’re only a magical girl when transformed. That’s wrong—likely tied to your broken magic core. How’d it break?”

“You showed me Corona’s core after she died. It was intact, just empty, like a regular crystal. Yours is shattered but works temporarily.”

Pointing at Jiang Lingwei’s necklace, she said, “I can’t research transformation devices. Even the old fairy didn’t know where contracted magic cores come from, so don’t count on me.”

“I have two theories. First, unverified: your body ‘solidified.’” Wen Yaquan raised one finger. “Maybe it happens naturally post-solidification.”

“But I’ve got no data on magical girls giving birth. My list is filtered—recognition barriers block me from identifying them without fairy magic, even face-to-face.”

“Second theory, less solid.” She raised another finger. “The truth lies in your lost memories, which is tricky since amnesia’s just my guess. If both theories hold, it explains one thing.”

Her tone grew heavy. “Before you had a child and became ‘ordinary,’ your memories weren’t touched.”

“Wait.” Jiang Lingwei cut in. “You’re saying—”

“Yeah.” Wen Yaquan looked troubled. “You were likely still ‘you’ back then.”

“Meaning… you probably chose to have a child willingly.”

“What?!”

While Jiang Lingwei reeled in the lab, in a hidden corner no one could find…

In a dark dimensional rift, a twisted black ball sat on a grand throne, clutching a paper report. It muttered, puzzled, “Tch, a small city with one magical girl, and she’s this strong?”

“Magical girl… [Crystal]. Killed two demons back-to-back? An intelligent summoner and a physical one, both dead? Plus my dark wizard? She’s barely a magical girl!”

“Damn, she’s OP. If you don’t mind, I’ll just eat her.”

“Sixty-six, this girl’s a cheat. Open the console.”

The black ball’s voice was dark, distorted, its face veiled in black mist.

If Xiaobai were here, it’d scream “dark fairy” or “heretic enemy,” but it wasn’t.

Miss Jiang Yao, off to hang with classmates, forgot Xiaobai at the Magical Girls Administration.

Dropping the report, Heituanzi sank into doubt.

Reinforcements for ancient weapons?

The Bright Side shouldn’t know about them. Heituanzi only recently confirmed energy fluctuations here.

A few days ago, another spike cemented its plan to act.

Though the fluctuation vanished fast, intelligence reported explosives of unknown origin on the black market simultaneously.

‘Humans wouldn’t blow up ancient weapons for fun… Too dull.’

Heituanzi shook its head. Unlikely.

If humans knew, they’d act big, not sell explosives. Who’d turn ancient weapons into bombs?

The weapons were a dark fairy secret, only recently confirmed. The Bright Side knowing made no sense.

Pushing it aside, Heituanzi pulled a parchment from the darkness, munching potato chips. “Let’s see… news from home…”

Unfolding it, an illusory light projected a mid-air image.

It read the top text, then leapt, kicking over its chips. “What the hell?! Pink lace panties of Dark Mentor Dakan Sakula… Death Realm, Evil Leader Tom! The seal’s failing?”

“What happened days ago?!”

It squinted at the shaky projection—nervous or scared, the caster’s eyes trembled.

“Ugh, no tripod? Eye-based projection magic is trash.”

Grumbling, Heituanzi studied the screen.

Under a dark red sky, black fog blanketed the ground, calf-high.

Filming fairies flew to avoid the pure dark magic fog—bad even for dark fairies.

The fog enveloped a distant wasteland, forming an oppressive force.

The ground layer seemed an extension of the flowing mist.

“Huh…”

A figure advanced through the fog, undeterred by its drag, moving steadily.

“This guy hasn’t moved in a thousand years. Who woke him?”

Heituanzi grinned, reaching for chips, then recalled kicking them over.

“Xiao Xie? …Oh.” Its wizard servant was dead.

“Damn it.” Heituanzi rolled its round body off the throne, grabbing the chips. “Why’s the Bright Side so evil?”

The fog parted briefly, revealing the figure’s hand gripping a glowing kunai, resonating with something distant.

“…Wei… Yao…”

A faint murmur pierced the fog.

“What’s that?” Heituanzi, missing it, jumped back to the throne.

The projection ended, the parchment self-combusting into sparks.

“…”

Furious, Heituanzi swelled, tossing the chips again. “Disposable parchment in this day and age? Ridiculous!”

Sighing at the spilled chips, it climbed down again.

Ding-ling-ling~

Lin Yu entered Yaoguang Coffee, petting Hei Dou.

She trudged upstairs, expecting her mom’s anime binge.

At the third-floor door, key in hand, she froze.

Voices.

Her mom, excited: “Let’s see if you’re developing normally!”

“No way!”

“Be good! (Shock) Put this on!”

“No! Sister Quan, no spicy stuff! Sister Quan, don’t…”

Lin Yu: “????”

Her key hovered, hand frozen.