dmims Chapter 376 Foreign Visitors
Chapter 376 Foreign Visitors
Chapter 376 Foreign Visitors
Upon hearing this, Tang Zijun spoke up. "I just came from Shi Yao's place. With Trova there, her life was saved. I reconstructed a body for her, and once she gets used to it, there shouldn't be any problems."
"That's good." Chang Lei breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile returned to his face. "With her here, our actions against the Shadow Clan will be much easier, since they are all beings like her."
Tang Zijun raised an eyebrow. "From what you're saying, you're planning to get her a position in the bureau?"
"I have indeed thought about it, but it's probably not that easy to actually do," Chang Lei said with a smile, waving his hand. "Just disguising myself is troublesome enough; adding another person would create too many variables. Besides, you have no idea how prestigious Shi Yao's name is in the eyes of the higher-ups in the bureau."
Seeing Tang Zijun's somewhat puzzled expression, Chang Lei paused for a moment before continuing.
"Shi Yao started being active very early, even earlier than you. Moreover, she, Tan Zhixin, and several other teammates were known as the 'five most likely to become purple-level magical girls,' and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were the number one magical girl team."
"Let me put it this way, all the magical girls registered in the bureau now, those with more than seven years of experience, have heard of Shi Yao's name. Moreover, many fire-elemental magical girls are still learning the magic she created back then; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them her students."
"Furthermore, you also know Deputy Director Qiu. As one of the four top combat forces in the country, three of the four Blue-level personnel are Shi Yao's juniors, and the other was from the same generation as Shi Yao, belonging to the second tier back then."
"Tell me, with her fame, how am I supposed to hide her? It's one thing if she's a regular magical girl or a detective, but if Deputy Director Qiu catches her, that would be terrible. She fought Shi Yao during the Shadow Disaster."
Listening to Chang Lei's long-winded explanation, Tang Zijun understood his caution regarding this matter. "You're right, Shi Yao's situation is indeed a bit special, but you don't need to worry too much, I'll handle the arrangements."
"You have a plan?" Chang Lei raised his head.
"I plan to have Qingnang and Shiyao work together. They used to be teammates, and although so many years have passed, their basic teamwork is still there. Plus, with Qingnang around, she can help keep an eye on her."
Hearing this, Chang Lei nodded thoughtfully. "...That's true. That girl, Shi Yao, is obsessed with Consultant Tan. If we let Consultant Tan direct her, she won't disobey. Plus, you can keep her on our side this way...Brilliant! Your plan is truly brilliant!"
"Why do you make such a filthy statement about a perfectly normal operation?" Tang Zijun stared directly at Chang Lei.
"Maybe I'm a rather despicable person, haha."
"Go away, go away..." Tang Zijun took a sip of tea, then continued, "By the way, what's the third thing?"
"Oh, the third thing is quite interesting." Chang Lei, holding his cup, slightly faded his smile and said in a deep voice, "Director Shangguan said she received an application that a magical girl from abroad will be visiting our country soon."
"A magical girl from abroad?" Tang Zijun was taken aback.
Chang Lei shrugged. "Well, generally speaking, working magical girls don't leave their cities, and even fewer go abroad. The fact that they're making such a formal appearance suggests they're not just here for fun."
To be honest, Tang Zijun is really curious about magical girls from abroad.
After learning about the many magical girls in China, he became curious about magical girls abroad. Sometimes Tang Zijun would wonder if magical girls abroad possessed more special powers or magic, and whether they had formed organized teams like those in China.
However, despite her thoughts, Tang Zijun never tried to contact them.
Magic knows no borders, but magical girls do.
Since the magical girl phenomenon was introduced, these girls with supernatural powers have been protected as treasures by various countries. Making contact with them rashly could very likely cause international disputes.
Moreover, he's been too busy lately to travel abroad.
Given this situation and the prevailing environment, it is clearly not normal for a strange magical girl from abroad to suddenly leave her country and visit Tokyo University.
Thinking of this, Tang Zijun casually asked, "What country is she from?"
"Great Britain," Chang Lei answered truthfully.
"Ying." Tang Zijun narrowed his eyes slightly, then paused, slowly raising his head. "Wait..."
Could this guy be here to cause trouble because of the Shadow City incident?
"Shadow City?"
Chang Lei didn't realize it at first, but he quickly understood what Tang Zijun meant.
"Hiss..." Chang Lei gasped, his gaze somewhat strange. "It's very possible. Before Shi Yao crashed Shadow City into the Shadow World, Shadow City descended into reality first. Although it only lasted a few minutes, the energy reaction at that level was enough to scare nine spirit beasts like Little Gray to death."
Tang Zijun rubbed her temples and pursed her lips. "Right after this happened, our country held a press conference to warn other countries about the threat of the Shadow Clan. Now... it's like admitting guilt without being asked."
"The key is that very few people know about this; even Director Shangguan and Deputy Director Qiu are kept in the dark..." Chang Lei pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked, "How about I make a trip and try to contact that guy?"
"Don't!"
Upon hearing this, Tang Zijun quickly shook her head.
"We don't know the specifics of the other party yet. To be able to quickly detect the arrival of Shadow City and to dare to come to our country alone, that guy is probably not simple. What if he has some trump card up his sleeve?"
"Let it go. As long as it's not a blue-level enemy, I'm confident I can get away unscathed."
"I'm not worried about her hurting you, I'm worried about her seeing you. If you're exposed, the Bureau of Demon Surveillance will be in big trouble. What kind of good person would hire a greedy person as their deputy director?"
"Uh..." Chang Lei opened his mouth. "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Tang Zijun pondered for a moment, then said, "Ignore her."
"Ignore her?" Chang Lei was dumbfounded.
Then Tang Zijun continued, "Let her come if she wants. Anyway, she's not coming to our jurisdiction. Even if we're responsible for receiving her, that's Deputy Director Qiu's and the others' job. What does it have to do with us?"
"Besides, you know that the higher-ups in the bureau are completely in the dark about the Shadow World. Whether that foreign friend came to demand answers or to gather intelligence, nobody in the bureau knows anything about it, so how can you expect her to investigate?"
"What you said makes sense..." Chang Lei thought about it carefully, then looked at Tang Zijun speechlessly. "But have you forgotten that the first report on the Shadow Clan was 'submitted' by me, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' press conference was also 'held based on my suggestion'?"
"That's right." Tang Zijun stroked her chin.
"What do you mean, 'right'?!" Chang Lei couldn't help but shout. "Aren't you just going around in circles trying to get me to take the blame in the end?!"
"Relax, relax, I didn't mean for you to take the blame. What I meant was, you don't have to avoid her. She's a magical girl from abroad; she's surrounded by countless agents wherever she goes. She's such a big target, why would you go and join the fun?"
With that, Tang Zijun placed the teacup on the table and continued speaking.
"Perfect timing. Things have come to an end in the Shadow World. Help me prepare the food and supplies for the Dream World trade, and then come with me there. I need to get my hands on that AI head as soon as possible."
Sensing something was off about Tang Zijun's tone, Chang Lei frowned. "Why are you suddenly in such a hurry? Is that head something special?"
Tang Zijun had briefly described the strange mechanical head to Chang Lei before, but Chang Lei wasn't particularly interested in these things, and since he didn't see anything important at the time, he didn't pay much attention to it.
Now that Chang Lei noticed Tang Zijun's expression wasn't very good, he also became much more serious.
Tang Zijun looked at Chang Lei and shook her head slightly. "That thing is much more special than you think. Weren't you curious about what I experienced on Katie's train? Let me tell you, I still haven't figured out the details..."
Afterwards, Tang Zijun told Chang Lei everything about how she and Grelando had inexplicably appeared in a wasteland.
His description was very detailed, and he filled in some details that he didn't realize at the time but noticed later, including the strange androids there, the robot wielding two high-tech weapons, and the little girl who stuttered a bit.
Chang Lei listened very attentively. At first, he thought that Tang Zijun's spirit had entered another dimension, like a dream, but gradually he also realized that something was wrong.
Although he didn't know much about the dream world, based on his understanding of that dimension, it didn't seem like it could have technology more advanced than the real world.
Only after Tang Zijun finished recounting everything and shared her guesses did Chang Lei straighten up as if waking from a dream, leaning back in his chair.
"So you mean that after the mechanical head was activated in the dream world, it sent a 'distress message' to your and Gloriand's brains, but since you were in the dream world and your mind hadn't returned to your body, the 'message' wasn't activated until your mind returned to your body?"
"More or less," Tang Zijun said with a somewhat forced smile. "So, any thoughts?"
Chang Lei, somewhat dazed, raised his head and looked at Tang Zijun with annoyance.
"What do you expect me to think? I've never heard of anything so bizarre in my life..."