Chapter 716 - 271: Heaven’s Net, Earthly Trap

Chapter 716: Chapter 271: Heaven’s Net, Earthly Trap

"Wow, Cornflower!"

Upon hearing such a thunderous name, Dogtail Grass wanted to shout it out loud, but reason made her choose to remain silent.

It wasn’t just reason, but also because Emerald Sparrow, after admitting her identity, preemptively raised her index finger, indicating a "hush" gesture.

However, even without shouting out loud, her astonished expression mixed with excitement, and excitement mingled with a bit of nervousness still revealed her feelings.

Undoubtedly, whether it’s the legendary story behind that code name or its symbolic meaning as the Candidate Gem Wand, both are enough to make an ordinary Magical Girl feel admiration. Thus, even if Emerald Sparrow plainly told the other, "I was lying to you before," the first emotion Dogtail Grass felt was the thrill of witnessing a "legendary figure," rather than blaming.

Emerald Sparrow wouldn’t necessarily think concealing her identity was right because of this.

"Can you calm down a bit?"

She didn’t gladly enjoy the other’s astonishment, nor did she deliberately pour cold water, but instead looked at her with a serene yet gentle expression, waiting for Dogtail Grass to digest the information before continuing, "I need to apologize to you again; I concealed my identity before, but the events that are about to unfold are of great importance, so I had to resort to this."

Although she was forced to participate in the exam with a group of kids mainly because of Emerald’s wicked humor, it didn’t prevent Emerald Sparrow from dressing up her motivation in a more noble way in front of juniors.

"No need to apologize!"

Dogtail Grass shook her head repeatedly, "Rather, Long Dan... no, the legendary Cornflower senior unexpectedly empathetically talked with me, teamed up with me, and even is a fan of Sweet Angel and Colorful Sky Angel... It’s simply like a dream for me!"

Clearly, she was now more convinced that Emerald Sparrow was a fan of Sweet Angel.

After all, no matter how you look at it, naming her fake identity Long Dan and even deliberately imitating the character from the anime with the same name seems hard to explain other than as a "tribute."

"Hmm... yeah, as long as you’re happy."

Emerald Sparrow admittedly didn’t know how to explain, so she casually brushed off the topic, "I also need to warn you, the upcoming enemy will be very tricky even for me, so please don’t let your guard down and be careful."

"Yes, definitely carrying out the mission well!" Dogtail Grass lowered her voice but with a loud tone.

Then, they both realized that one person at the scene seemed to have not spoken for a long time.

That was Tu Dinggui.

The Candidate Gem Wand executing a secret mission disguised herself within her own team, and she treated her like a little sister, rubbing her here and there?

Because there was no suitable opportunity to vent for too long, treating her like a tree trunk, pouring out piles of trivial matters from personal life?

Believing rumors without much basis, imagining a bunch of inexplicable stories internally, and even gossiping "Long Dan is Cornflower’s daughter" in front of the Gemstone Scepter?

What did she even do?

Just recalling what she did in the past few days, Tu Dinggui’s face was already as red as a tomato.

Although she hadn’t deliberately created any personas, Tu Dinggui more or less knew that in the eyes of others, she was the "model student," "good kid." Her daily requirements for herself were strict to avoid tarnishing the name of "Blue Star Disciple" and "Daughter of the Li Family." But this time she was slightly relaxed, thinking she was showing a not-so-well-behaved side within the small group, directly in front of a senior like Cornflower?

The peak of embarrassment made her curl her toes uncontrollably; rather, right now, she wanted to dig a hole with her foot and bury her face in it.

"Tu Dinggui." However, Emerald Sparrow still wanted to speak to her.

"Yes..." Tu Dinggui’s voice was as faint as a mosquito.

"You are an excellent Magical Girl."

"Huh?"

"Although compared to other Flower Cards, my time of real interaction isn’t that much, and the juniors I’ve seen aren’t that many, in my experience, you are outstanding."

Emerald Sparrow looked at her, speaking sincerely, "So, protect yourself, protect your companions, and I hope you grow well and fulfill your aspirations, becoming a remarkable person."

No pursuit of those past embarrassing matters, nor any high and mighty attitude.

These two sentences, even if said by an ordinary senior, wouldn’t seem out of place.

However, to Tu Dinggui, now it was the legendary Candidate Gem Wand, a senior even always compared to her mentor, saying this.

The shame brought by the embarrassing matters mixed with the joy of receiving affirmation and expectation, made Tu Dinggui feel a dizzy haze.

She herself couldn’t understand her emotions at this moment, but somehow, she could feel the sincerity in the other’s words.

"...Mm."

So, she seriously nodded.

...

...

"Now, I announce, the year 2000, Magic Kingdom’s Magical Girl Qualification Examination, the last practical item, Simulation Beast Calamity, starts now!"

Accompanied by the Examiner’s high-pitched announcement from the podium, the final test commenced.

Numerous candidates descended from the sky towards the forest below, where endless groups of Remnant Beasts awaited them, growing stronger over time.

Unlike the complex rules of the previous tests, the Simulation Beast Calamity had very straightforward scoring rules:

Egg Stage 1 point, Huo Stage 3 points, Pupa Stage 10 points, Half-Molt 30 points, Metamorphosis Stage 100 points.

The score is determined by the number of Remnant Beasts killed, and if multiple Magical Girls cooperate to subdue a Remnant Beast, the score is averaged.

Combat between candidates is not prohibited, but defeating another candidate does not add any points.

Finally, the mechanism for awarding points is the same as in the previous exams.

All of the above are the rules, summarized in one sentence: eliminate Remnant Beasts, the more you kill, the better, the stronger, the better.

Although the rules do not prohibit attacks between candidates, in reality, "no points" is the same as prohibition. Because the entire exam duration is limited, it means candidates can only call upon a limited amount of magic power. Even considering recovery along the way makes no difference. During this fixed time, their magic power can either be used to attack Remnant Beasts — to earn points — or used to attack competitors — but this earns no points. This means all magic power used for internal consumption and internal fighting is wasted.

Any candidate with common sense can understand: while others are using all their magic power to attack Remnant Beasts, you using part of it for internal fighting only reduces your total score.

And even the less savvy candidates, in these two days after the rules were announced, have learned the intention behind the rules through various channels.

So this time, candidates’ actions are surprisingly consistent. In the air, they continuously accelerate, striving to race against time.

Emerald Sparrow mingled in the crowd but deliberately chose to land on the sparsely populated edge of the Remnant Beasts territory. After landing and confirming there were no other candidates around, she turned and headed straight to the rendezvous point agreed upon with the employees of the Magical Affairs Institute.

"What’s the situation?"

"No anomalies discovered yet, my lord."

At this time, the forest exam venue inside and out can be described as a closely woven net. Almost all routes that lead into the forest are monitored by staff from the Magical Affairs Institute or the Research Institute.

As for the Beast Children lurking among the candidates, aside from the venue surveillance cameras that can monitor their movements at any time, there is also a specialized emergency defense team handling internal candidate situations. The Exam Institute originally only planned to deploy Bud Level employees to allocate limited Flower Level combat power for external defense. But under Emerald Sparrow’s strong recommendation, a Flower Level captain was eventually included, just in case.

While keeping in contact with the guard team at key nodes through the Magic Mirror, Emerald Sparrow patrolled the examination venue. During the first half-day, there were no indications of enemy appearances, so peaceful it felt like an illusion. Yet even so, this vast team cobbled together by two main-level institutions and one subsidiary institution was still filled with various surprises:

"Guards at several nodes in zones C and E are chatting idly and messing around, some even secretly dozing off."

Zhe Helan reported to Emerald Sparrow via the Magic Mirror: "Employees from the Research Institute and Exam Institute appear noticeably less motivated, rather lax."

Emerald Sparrow was busy cross-checking intelligence at other nodes, and responded without second thought: "Increase pay, notify all guards, overtime pay doubled, bonus for spotting enemy thrice increased."

Zhe Helan acknowledged and left, but soon more unexpected events unfolded.

"My lord, Remnant Beasts are escaping the exam venue. Our area’s guards took action to eliminate them, but were seen by candidates!"

"Don’t we have a plan for this? Just say you are preventing Remnant Beasts from escaping!"

"My lord, a candidate dropped their number tag after battle over here!"

"That’s her own carelessness. Just place the tag in a visible spot for her to come back and find it herself, and do not expose yourself. Also, report such matters to the Exam Institute deputy dean next time, no need to consult me."

"My lord..."

The sudden situations faced by guards, unforeseen circumstances encountered by candidates, as well as incidents involving both candidates and guards simultaneously bombarded Emerald Sparrow’s eardrums. She anticipated complex situations on-site but had never imagined them to be so convoluted.

"My lord, we have detected enemy presence!"

"Please hold for a moment, let me think... Hmm, enemy presence?"

After being overwhelmed by the barrage of chaos, finally an effective information report reached Emerald Sparrow, promptly bringing her to alertness: "Where?"

"In the southwest of the exam venue... point 7 in Zone F. It’s Claw Mark’s people."

The reporting employee sent a photo to Emerald Sparrow, showing a young girl with brown curly hair making her way forward under the shade of trees, appearing sneaky.

Undoubtedly, this person was He Ti.

Having parted ways with her teammates since dawn, He Ti had been lurking beside the exam venue, originally intending to rush directly into the venue. However, with too many people patrolling the perimeter, she had to bide her time until a patrol gap appeared, then hurriedly slipped into the exam venue.

But she hadn’t expected even the patrol "gaps" to be intentionally designed by the Kingdom side, aiming to influence enemy invasion paths inversely for better ambush setups.

"I’ve truly been trapped by Sister Cat now, I did say that patrols in the city were so strict, the exam venue patrols would only be more daunting."

He Ti complained to herself as she hid in the tree crown: "She had to disclose everything to her old flame, making my task so troublesome."

"But now, I’ve infiltrated near the center of the exam venue, heh, Kingdom fools, let me show you what real terror looks like..."

Muttering thus, He Ti slowly manifested her Magic Armor, preparing to unfold her Miracle Realm...

Whoosh.

A sound echoed behind her.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Immediately following were several, even over a dozen similar sounds.

Sounding as if something dropped from the sky.

"Someone’s interfering?"

Perceiving the magical power fluctuation behind her, He Ti turned around warily: "Who dares be so reckless..."

She halted mid-sentence.

Simply because, in her line of sight stood over a dozen Magical Girls, all gazing sternly at her, with even the weakest magical power fluctuation among them likely above Bud Level.

Leading the group was none other than the one she was just sneakily maligning — the "old flame" of the Black Cat.