Chapter 214: Seeking Gold

“Regarding the battle and the gains from the old world this time, the viewers weren’t limited to just our Mirror Kingdom.”

Meaning: when she said “our Mirror Kingdom” she actually meant that only she, the Prince, was watching.

After signing the marriage contract, the Prince stopped asking about Azure Cloud Sect.

She settled back into her seat and began to explain the purpose of this visit.

“All of the events should have been noticed by the Disaster Control Bureau as well.”

Simo Tu stood beside her and watched, “I didn’t see their Magical Girls.”

As far as he knew, the Disaster Control Bureau’s Magical Girls had not yet been able to avoid his surveillance.

“The thing that makes the old world afraid isn’t the Magical Girls,”

the Prince said, looking cold and haughty at the water’s surface, “what the old world fears are the Bureau’s Incubators, didn’t you know that?”

“Incubators observe the world at all times and in all places. If you’re not careful, they will know everything.”

Jiang Si nodded.

He had guessed this to some extent: Incubator Xiao Qi had been captured because of its observations, and later Bingtang and Yueji had translated the files from inside the isolated space— in the old world, Mirror Kingdom’s language was as widespread as English.

The reason was simply that many spatial systems in the old world originated from the Mirror Kingdom.

From decoding the documents, they discovered that Incubators themselves possess space-crossing abilities, which is why they can observe everywhere.

Those analysts holed up at the Central Bureau might have abilities even stronger and more complex than Magical Girls.

“And that idiot Jade Fox never realized this, straightforwardly asking Ailin to transform. Everything was watched by the Incubators. Now the uses of the Dream Core have probably already been exposed.”

The Prince said casually, “From now on, the old world’s path is completely blocked. They have no choice left.”

“What do you mean?”

“Many old world factions are still waiting to see how our Mirror Kingdom’s Full Bloom plan will unfold because they want a safer, more covert route to Full Bloom.” The Prince’s tone contained some contempt, “Greedy, but extremely cowardly. Now that the Dream Core is in the Incubators’ hands, they don’t have any choice.”

Seeing that Jiang Si seemed a little indifferent, the Prince realized he wasn’t very interested and skipped ahead, “Their only choice now is our Mirror Kingdom’s Full Bloom plan. From then on, the Mirror Kingdom will be the undisputed ruler of the old world. As long as you can bring out Iris’s Miracle Seed.”

“The Central Bureau is hard to get into, right?”

“Don’t worry.”

The Prince put away her fishing rod. Despite waiting a long time, she had not caught a fish.

“I’ll arrange an identity for you so you can enter the Central Bureau legitimately.”

“Is the Mirror Kingdom really that terrifying?”

The Prince tilted her head slightly, red pupils revealing a trace of arrogance, “Naturally. Even the Disaster Control Bureau’s Central Bureau can’t escape the Mirror Kingdom’s Alice’s top-level probes.”

“How much intel do you have so far?”

“We only collected which city the Central Bureau is in.”

“A district.”

“Hm?” The Prince raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“You’re good.” Simo Tu adjusted his mask, “You actually managed to find that.”

“Hmph, not too bad.”

The Prince said lightly.

“So you don’t need to worry too much. Although many people from Azure Cloud Sect have gone recently, as long as you find Iris’s Miracle Seed and exit following the route I tell you, I guarantee you won’t be in any danger. Even Azure Cloud Sect can’t touch you.”

As she spoke, the Prince rolled up her sleeves and began to take off her shoes.

Her black stockings were already splashed and stuck to her calves, looking uncomfortable.

When she removed the over-the-knee black socks, it felt like peeling something away, revealing fair ankles and calves.

A few toes were particularly eye-catching, painted with pale-gold nail polish. She arched her instep and carefully tapped the river with her toes.

After confirming the water wasn’t very cold, she slowly stepped in.

The Prince glanced at Jiang Si and noticed he seemed to be looking at her feet, which made her heart stir.

Although she didn’t like to emphasize her femininity and generally scorned using her body to attract others, facing such a potential and crucial target, she wouldn’t care about that now.

As a political creature prioritizing absolute interests, how could she be picky about methods?

So she used her toes to flick water and show off in front of Jiang Si.

“How is it? Pretty?”

Her tone was full of pride.

The Mirror Kingdom’s royal family had absolute standards for foot shape, gait, and appearance, and among heirs the Prince ranked high—this was officially recognized by the system.

Simo Tu being attracted to it was natural.

If he liked it, she could show him more, and if he behaved well later, maybe even let him touch—she was aware some men liked being stepped on by girls.

“Not great. Slightly high-arched.”

Simo Tu said seriously, “Your footprint is narrow in the middle, poor at cushioning, impact concentrates on the knee. Compared to flat feet, this arch is better for running, but you need shoes with good shock absorption. The shoes you’re wearing aren’t suitable for exercise. Joint pressure will be high and it’s inconvenient.”

“...What are you staring at?”

“Obviously your athletic ability.”

Lu Ya had asked him to look before. Lu Ya had normal arches but always complained of sore feet after running and wanted him to check, so Jiang Si later gave her very stable running shoes and the pain never returned.

“Based on your foot shape, I can recommend a pair of running shoes...”

The smile at the corner of his mouth stiffened slightly, and then the Prince’s red eyes lost all amusement as she coldly looked at the youth seriously picking running shoes for her.

The Prince turned and stepped onto Jiang Si’s shoe with her wet foot, “I don’t need that!”

But before the Prince could gloat, the foot she had stepped on pushed back!

There was no time to feel pain. The Prince gaped, stunned to see the youth who actually dared to step on her foot.

She didn’t know whether to feel wronged or furious.

Simo Tu gave a cold smile:

“With that reaction speed, you dare to play stepping-foot with me?”

Who the hell is playing stepping-foot with you!

Crazy!

...

Somewhere in South China, inside an isolated mirror space.

Everyone watched in silence as they viewed how Ailin’s corruption of the old world had exploded within spatial chaos.

A chorus of sharp inhalations broke the quiet.

One girl with rabbit ears who was watching leaned over and looked seriously at Jialan.

“You should pay us to watch this horror movie.”

Jialan rolled her eyes, “Have you been in Chongxu too long and lost your mind? You should be paying me for intelligence. Without me, how would you know what Azure Cloud Sect and Shion actually did and what strength they possess?”

“You know, for our old world, this kind of footage is unbearable...”

A young man nearby spoke earnestly, “Everyone is already on edge. Showing this footage is basically wrecking our morale!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“How can we keep working if morale is destroyed?”

You couldn’t blame them. Jialan’s footage was almost entirely first-person—she had watched the magic hung on Ailin, directly facing that Bai Mei Magical Girl.

Every slice of sword energy had such force and sharpness that even watching on a screen stung the old world viewers’ eyes!

Not to mention Shion, who watched coldly from above.

It was like watching hell itself!

This scene was more terrifying than hell!

Just watching made one feel utterly hopeless. Nobody knew how Ailin had survived it.

Seeing the crowd visibly frightened, Jialan rubbed her head and glanced at Twins, half-asleep nearby.

Twins, awakened by the look from Jialan, snapped to attention with a slap and sneered at the rabbit-eared girl, “A bunch of cowards. You call yourselves world ghosts and you’re scared this easily? Go crawl back into your rabbit hole!”

The rabbit-eared girl scoffed, “Then how brave are you exactly?”

“I, Twins, watched Shion slaughter Jiang Ming and the Witch Association from dozens of kilometers away with no protective gear!”

When the old world people heard this, they respectfully quieted.

Twins raised her head further, “No dull moments the whole way through. I didn’t back down a half step!”

The rabbit-eared girl, who had been looking down on Twins, immediately led the applause.

“Miss Twins, could you teach us how to survive Azure Cloud Sect’s hands?”

“Run.”

Twins answered without hesitation, “Run with everything you’ve got. Admit defeat, kneel, scream, and most importantly, loudly tell a pitiful life story. Sell your misery as hard as possible, claim you had no choice and did nothing wrong. Treat the battle like a grand stage! When you meet them, it’s not combat, it’s performance. Cry until the sky goes dark to win the sympathy of Azure Cloud Sect’s Magical Girls!”

“Will that let us live?”

“That will let you die with dignity.”

A chorus of hisses followed.

A pile of people cursed—who wants to die with dignity? Once you’re dead, who cares about dignity! And crying and selling pity is embarrassing!

Twins straightened her neck and snorted, “There’s even a 0.1% chance of surviving. What’s wrong with selling your misery? It’s a viable battle strategy!”

Jialan rubbed her forehead and glanced at Twins again.

“Twins.”

“Speak up, Vice President.”

“Every time you speak, it feels like species evolution progressing and collapsing at once.”

“What does that mean?”

“From the district-level beginning to becoming a proud dragon, then smoothly devolving back into district-level diarrhea—there’s a mesmerizing, natural evolutionary chain feeling to it.”

Twins looked confused, “Is that a compliment?”

“Yes. Your kind of resolve—born as district-level, accidentally evolving into human, then decisively reverting back to district-level—is truly admirable.”

“Where’s the praise?”

Twins ground her teeth bitterly. If she weren’t still undercover, she’d love to go over and bite the speaker!

She had just been made district-level by Simo Tu, and now they mocked her!

Shameless!

Big district!

Jialan didn’t pursue Twins further. She stood from her seat and looked at the old world crowd muttering among themselves, “Now that the Dream Core’s usage method is known to the Disaster Control Bureau, that path is probably closed.”

The old world crowd fell silent.

After all, everyone had gathered for this so-called Full Bloom plan.

If that couldn’t succeed, nothing else mattered.

“There’s only one path left.”

Jialan tapped the table leisurely, “The Mirror Kingdom’s Full Bloom plan. I know most of you don’t want to become vassals of the Mirror Kingdom, but besides this, there’s no way out.”

“What do you think?”

......

Mingxin City, within the rapid-flow mirror-space river.

The Prince’s eyes and the whites around them were a little red as she slowly put on her shoes.

Simo Tu’s foot had stomped her hard.

It took a while before she recovered, and putting on socks and shoes hurt her.

This barbarian…

[Suggestion: Simo Tu likely has a risk of domestic violence. Regarding the engagement, Prince-sama should reconsider and not be led by him.]

“What do you know?” the Prince snorted, “How could I be led by the nose? I have my own rhythm. Relax, it’s all part of my plan. When he brings back the Miracle Seed you’ll see.”

[...]

The Prince ignored the silent system and watched Simo Tu retrieving fish from the water.

Because he had nearly made her cry—well, she hadn’t actually cried, only a bit watery around the eyes.

Simo Tu apologetically said sorry and went into the river to fetch fish.

After all, Jiang Si believed any angler would feel better after catching fish.

He came up with a whole basketful.

“Enough, enough. I don’t need more fish.”

Hearing she seemed mollified, Simo Tu climbed out and stuffed two or three big fish into her bucket.

“Do you want me to help roast them?”

The Prince turned her face to the side stiffly, pouting, “No.”

Simo Tu wouldn’t accept that.

Reluctantly he brought another foot-bucket of fish out—fish that flapped and splashed.

Then the Prince discovered that the foot that had stepped on what she carried was Simo Tu’s foot.

She bit her lip hard from the pain.

Seeing Simo Tu looking like he was staring at a fool, the Prince finally straightened, keeping up her dignity, “Anyway, I called you here to tell you about the Mirror Kingdom’s plan.”

“We will unify all old world people who intend to seize Full Bloom power so that at the same time they all obtain Full Bloom power. We’ll use numbers to confront the Disaster Control Bureau’s Incubators and Azure Cloud Sect’s Magical Girls!”

“Oh, sounds good.”

Strength in numbers—Disaster Control Bureau couldn’t handle that many at once. Even if many reached Full Bloom by unconventional means, Azure Cloud Sect would have trouble dealing with the mass.

Jiang Si approved of the plan.

After speaking, the Prince sat down and stretched her legs, “But the first step of this plan hasn’t started yet. We need the Miracle Seed of Magical Girl Iris. All hope rests on you...”

After the Prince talked so long, Jiang Si suddenly spoke, “Does this plan have a name?”

The Prince nodded, “For now it’s called the Full Bloom Plan.”

“Can I rename it?”

“What?”

Jiang Si paused and then said slowly:

“Prove the Heavenly Fire.”