Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 251 Realm Gate
The next day, in the afternoon, the weather was sunny.

After a night of rest, most passengers regained their energy and left their carriages in twos and threes to wander around the huge train. The sightseeing carriage, which has no entry restrictions and can accommodate a large number of people, has become a popular area.

When the train left the human settlements in the major states, crossed the wilderness, and broke out of the border line of the human cognitive map, the scene that had already become boring finally changed a little.

"Wow - what a big wave! So beautiful!"

Lying on the window of the observation car, looking at the blue sea and sky outside, Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but utter such an exclamation.

Beside her, Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan were also crowded at the window. One of them was constantly taking pictures, while the other was staring intently at the sea horizon. They were obviously immersed in this rare scenery.

The reason why several people gathered here was because Cuiqiao told them at noon that it would be best to go to the observation car at the end of the journey. When they really came to the observation car, they understood Cuiqiao's intention: just as Lin Xiaolu just shouted, the current train is traveling above a vast ocean.

For most people in the material world, the ocean is a scene that can only be seen on TV and the Internet. Most cities will not be located near the ocean. Because compared to the wilderness, the mysterious threats in the ocean are not much less, and being adjacent to the ocean and the wilderness at the same time means that the city defense system has to bear higher city defense pressure. In addition, it is difficult to build a long-term road protection network in the ocean, making it impossible for people to use the ocean as a means of inter-city transportation, and naturally there is no need to build a city by the sea. Over time, the concept of "sea" has become a very alienated existence for ordinary people.

Nowadays, the trains people take not only allow them to enjoy the sea view up close, but they actually travel on the sea. No wonder the girls are so excited.

The translucent track suspended above the sea surface is vaguely visible in the waves, as if it is made of some kind of crystal-like material, refracting colorful light under the sunlight. Every few meters there is a drainage trough to drain the excess seawater, which collides with the waves rushing towards the track, stirring up tiny drops of water, like scattered diamonds.

The overly clear sea water makes people wonder if they are in a dream. Through the sea surface, one can vaguely see schools of fish swimming under the track, sometimes gathering together, sometimes dispersing, chasing the shadow of the train and moving forward together.

Inside the carriage was a sea of ​​colorful flowers, and outside the carriage was a clear sky, white clouds, clear water that was almost blue, and golden waves. The magnificent scenery made the passengers in the observation car admire it again and again, and the shutter sounds of taking pictures were continuous.

Kuija stood behind several juniors, silently looking out the window at the scenery, her deep blue eyes reflecting the waves. The sea breeze blowing in from the window fluttered her scarf, so she put the extra part of the scarf on her shoulders and exhaled slightly.

Although this is not the first time I have seen it, such a strange scenery always makes people feel happy.

[The train is arriving at Lunnore. The train is arriving at Lunnore. Passengers who are about to get off please check your personal belongings...]

The announcement voice with a thick fairy accent sounded in the car at the right time, bringing the thoughts of many passengers who were still immersed in the scenery back to reality.

Although the routes in the material world are the same, once entering the kingdom, the national trains will have different routes. Most of the time, the mainstream route is to enter the kingdom from one of the five major cities and then go to other cities.

At this time of year, due to the impact of the national examination, the train operators would adjust the route arrangement and increase the number of routes passing through the examination site that year. This year, there were many more routes entering the country from Luennore.

"Young senior, let's take a photo before we get off the bus?"

As the train approached the station, many passengers in the observation car chose to take photos at this time, and the younger generations from Fangting City were not to be outdone. After a brief discussion, Lin Xiaolu went to find someone to help take photos, while Xia Liang was responsible for helping them choose the location and angle for the photos.

Cuiqiao, who was called over, had no objection and let Xia Liang choose there. At the same time, he also pulled her and Bai Jingxuan around. In the end, the location for taking pictures was chosen in the middle of the carriage.

According to Xia Liang's request, several people sat side by side on a bench, and the camera was shot from the side at a 45-degree angle, just enough to capture the scenery inside the car and outside the window at the same time. The person closest to the camera, that is, Kuei-chan, needed to lean as close to the backrest as possible, while the person farthest from the camera, that is, Xia Liang himself, leaned forward, so that all four people could appear completely in the picture. After arranging the positions, everyone stretched out their hands together and made a gesture they liked, and the composition of this group photo was completed.

The photo was taken and the train arrived at the station.

A few minutes later, the group got off the train dragging their luggage.

——"Ah, come on, young senior, everyone is obviously making their favorite gestures, why are you the only one who doesn't make any movements?"

With one hand dragging the big suitcase, Xia Liang flipped through the photos on his phone with the other hand. When he saw that the other people in the photos were posing, but only Delphinium was sticking on the seat like a stake, he couldn't help but say dissatisfiedly: "Obviously this photo could have been taken a little cuter!"

"Is it."

Delphinium looked around the platform and responded casually, "That's a pity."

"Right? What a pity, right? So next time, I must be more careful when taking other photos after entering the country..."

Xia Liang frivolously criticized the "crimes" of the jacaranda, and followed the jacaranda onto the platform. When she saw the scenery around the platform clearly, she couldn't help but slow down her speech:
"...but you have to keep in line with the main force."

After she said this, she couldn't help swallowing, and even forgot what she originally wanted to say.

"Hey, wow, what is this!" Lin Xiaolu, who got off the car behind Xia Liang, immediately exclaimed in surprise after seeing everything in front of her.

"How spectacular..." Bai Jingxuan, who was walking at the end of the team, was the last person to exclaim.

The platform where the train stops is a pure white platform built entirely on the sea. The platform is surrounded by sea water, like a pure white island.

Behind this isolated platform, there is a path extending to the sea not far away. At the end of the path, there stands a door.

It was an extremely huge door, roughly estimated to be tens of meters high. Just standing there, anyone who saw it could not help but feel an invisible pressure.

There was seawater below the door, sky above it, and nothing in front, behind, left, or right. There were no houses or passages, just a single door. This was why its presence seemed so abrupt.

"This door is the node that connects the material world and the magical kingdom. We generally call it the 'boundary gate'."

Seeing that everyone had noticed the door not far away, Kuei-Chi explained, "There are only five such doors in the entire material world, and each one leads to a different city. Because behind the door is the boundary bridge connecting the kingdoms, they used some special materials when they built it. It will make people who see this door feel fearful and dare not move rashly."

Hearing her words, the younger generations had different expressions on their faces, some were thoughtful, and some were still confused. However, Kuizi didn't mean to explain more, just dragged the suitcase forward and said, "Don't think too much, just follow me."

Several of the younger generations belatedly took steps and followed her forward. They crossed the huge and empty white platform and stepped onto the white stone path leading to the gate.

It was called a path, but it was only relative to the huge door. In fact, the width of this "path" was five to six meters, wide enough for ten people to walk side by side. The passengers who got off the train walked slowly along the path in groups of three or five. Everyone tried to reduce any noise they might make, as if they were afraid of disturbing something.

"Remember this. From now on, my code name will be 'Gentian'. Do not call me by any other name."

Cuiqiao also lowered her voice and said, "Especially you, Baimei. There was no big problem in the car before, but you must not make the wrong call next time, because the mission I have to perform is very important, and your slip of the tongue may make my mission go to waste."

Lin Xiaolu covered her mouth with one hand and nodded awkwardly.

"When passing through the gate, try not to make eye contact with the guards on both sides of the gate. Even if you do make eye contact, do not talk to them. If you do talk to them, do not go too deep and do not attract their attention."

As she continued to move forward, Delphinium instructed, "If they stop you, they will usually explain the reason to you. The reason is nothing more than a luggage check or identity verification. No matter what the reason is, just cooperate with them honestly, don't ask too many questions, and try to stay calm."

"It sounds just like one of those ghost stories with rules." Xia Liang whistled.

"What ghost story?" Delphinium looked back at her.

"Ah...anyway, it's an urban legend that's popular among us young people, something like 'breaking certain rules will lead to danger'." Xia Liang explained with a dry laugh.

"…If you can take what I just said as a rule, that would be great, because what I said is not a joke."

Without delving into the new term Xia Liang said, Kuiqi looked forward again: "When we go a little further, we can prepare to transform. Passing through the gate as a magical girl can save us some trouble."

"Is it okay? There are many other passengers around... and many of them are not magical girls."

Lin Xiaolu pointed at the pedestrians around on the road.

"Can you see their faces?" asked Delphinium.

"Face? I didn't notice it, but if I wanted to see it... I couldn't see it?"

Lin Xiaolu blinked, looked around, and subconsciously opened her mouth to raise the tone, but finally lowered her voice and asked, "Why?"

"Because we are not the only magical girls present."

Delphinium kept walking: "We are not the only ones who don't want others to associate our appearance before and after the transformation."

"That does seem to be the truth, but when exactly?"

Lin Xiaolu raised her eyebrows: "I remember it wasn't like this when I got off the bus..."

Delphinium pointed forward.

The direction her finger was pointing was the gate that was already right in front of her.

"Get ready, it's almost time to transform."

As she said this, she took out the fake gem belonging to "Gentian" from her bosom. After chanting a spell, her coat was covered with blue magic power. After a while, the blue magic power dissipated, and she had completely changed her clothes.

Several younger generations followed suit and completed their transformations before reaching the boundary gate.

When you look at the gate from a close distance, you will find that there is no decoration on the closed door, only the rough white surface like weathered marble and the potholes that seem to have been weathered. Compared with the aesthetic trend of the magic kingdom where people have Favor runes tattooed everywhere and even want to have two Favor runes on the soles of their shoes, this door is really too plain.

It was in the center of this door that a pair of neatly dressed blond twins stood, smiling at the travelers in front of them. They were undoubtedly the "guards" mentioned by Delphinium.

One of the twins has long hair and a capable temperament, while the other has short hair and looks gentle. However, because their facial features are androgynous, their height is neither tall nor short, and their body is neither fat nor thin, it is impossible to tell their gender from their appearance.

However, these things are not actually the most important.

The most important thing is that they have a pair of long antennae on their heads, and behind them are wings that are as transparent as cicada wings, but refract colorful light.

Is it a decoration? Or some kind of ritual?
Lin Xiaolu had such doubts in her mind, but she kept Cuiqiao's instructions in mind, kept her mouth shut and did not ask.

"Dear travelers, welcome to the gate." said the twins standing on the left.

"Please maintain order, line up, avoid crowding, and pass through in order." The twins standing on the right took over.

After they finished speaking, they shut their mouths, without any more unnecessary movements or words.

Don't you need to open the door?

Lin Xiaolu thought so, and then, before she could think about it, a magical girl walking in the front of the team answered her doubts with practical actions: the magical girl walked straight forward, put her palm on the door of the boundary gate, and then the whole person suddenly passed through the door.

This process is so simple that it does not need any explanation. Once you have seen it, you can repeat it. So the passengers behind you, whether it is their first time or not, followed suit and imitated the magical girl to pass through the gate.

The whole process was very simple. The twins standing on both sides stood there like sculptures, with no intention of interfering at all.

The team moved forward steadily like this until Delphinium and his group arrived at the door.

Without saying a word, Delphinium took the initiative to stand at the back and signaled several juniors to pass first.

Lin Xiaolu, who was standing at the front, didn't think much about it. She walked to the door with a nervous and stiff step and put her hand on it. With a flash of light, her figure disappeared.

The next one was Xia Liang. Judging from her appearance, she seemed much more natural than Lin Xiaolu, but she was no longer as mischievous as usual. Instead, she walked forward with small steps and put her hand on the door. Soon, her figure disappeared from in front of the door.

The third person was Bai Jingxuan. Compared with the first two people, her condition was not so good. She only walked three steps forward and looked back at Cuique twice. In this regard, Cuique could only use her eyes to signal her to stay calm, and there was nothing else she could do.

After all, they both knew what Bai Jingxuan was worried about. Compared with the frank Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan actually had the magic power of a remnant beast. If the guards noticed something, it would be difficult to end.

Because of this psychological pressure, even though Bai Jingxuan had tried her best to calm herself down, she still felt her legs were a little weak. She could only try to cheer herself up, follow Cuique's instructions, and walk to the door with the calmest attitude she could show.

Then, put your hand towards the boundary gate.

--"Wait a mininute".

At this moment, one of the twins suddenly spoke:
"I'm very sorry to take up a little of your time, passenger. Would you be willing to cooperate with us and conduct a simple routine inspection?"

Bai Jingxuan's hands suddenly froze.

How to do?
These three words were the only ones left in her mind, and because she was too nervous, her thinking was at a standstill and she couldn't think of any effective solution.

She only remembered what Cuiqiao had said just now. If she encountered these guards making requests, she should cooperate with them as much as possible and not react too strongly. But if she really cooperated with them in the inspection, what if she was found out?
The passengers in front of her all passed smoothly, but when it was her turn, they suddenly asked for inspection. No matter how you think about it, this couldn't be a coincidence. The two guards must have noticed something unusual and stopped her.

But Bai Jingxuan also knew that she couldn't hesitate for too long at this time, because hesitating for too long would make her look more suspicious, so she could only suppress her panic, raise her head, and speak -

——"We are together."

Cuiqiao's voice came from behind her, interrupting Bai Jingxuan's words.

The two guards' attention was immediately drawn to the Delphinium. One of the guards said, "I'm very sorry, traveler. Even if you are traveling with us, please don't interfere with our duties. I hope you can wait where you are. We will give you a reply as soon as possible..."

"Sorry, we are in a hurry."

Delphinium did not stop because of their dissuasion, but walked forward calmly and handed over a prepared document: "Please do me a favor."

The two twins looked at each other, and finally one of them took the document from Kuei-Jia. After reading the contents of the document and confirming its authenticity, they looked at each other again.

"please."

This time, they did not block her, but cleared the way and let Bai Jingxuan pass.

Meanwhile, Delphinium put away the documents, nodded to the two guards, and walked through the gate together.

There is nothing much to say about the content of the document. It is just a task document specially approved by Emerald. It describes in detail how she assigned the magical girl from Fangting City to transport some special experimental materials for her. It has everything from personnel to specifications to indicators, and it also has all the necessary official seals and file numbers. If you ignore the content written on it, this is a completely real document.

Considering Bai Jingxuan's special physique, she may encounter various special issues on the way to the country. Delphinium has already worked with Emerald to prepare various "true" proofs. Not only for Bai Jingxuan, but also for Lin Xiaolu's unique magic costume, Delphinium has also prepared many proofs to cover up its specialness when needed. Even for Xia Liang, a magical girl with a good family background and no problems in theory, Delphinium has prepared a series of certificates to prevent accidents.

Such complicated preparations and a large number of documents were one of the reasons why Delphinium had to check her luggage repeatedly before leaving. In fact, because it took so much effort to prepare these things, she didn't even have the time to check what was written on each document one by one. She could only trust Emerald and her "friends" to get things done, which was why she was tricked by Emerald on the age of the admission ticket.

Without hesitation, she walked through the gate, and what appeared before her eyes was a rather dim corridor.

The corridor was dark and the view was very limited. Only the ceiling light above illuminated a path leading forward. The surroundings were completely dark and no one could see what was in the darkness.

This is the "Boundary Bridge" that Cuiqiao and Lin Xiaolu and others mentioned just now.

The so-called boundary bridge, as the name suggests, is a bridge built between the material world and the magic kingdom, a channel connecting the two worlds. Its greatest role is not only to provide a stable passage between the two worlds, but also to provide an adaptation process for all those who pass through the boundary bridge, to avoid physical rejection reactions after travelers cross the world.

Especially for ordinary people who travel back and forth between the kingdom and the material world, and magicians who do not have a deep control over magic power, for these people, if there is no boundary bridge to provide them with a transformation and adaptation process, they are likely to develop physical diseases while traveling through the world, thus endangering their lives. In the most serious cases, it may even cause part of the body to become magical, thus causing permanent organ dysfunction.

Of course, for the magical girls, this tiny difference in the world does not make them feel uncomfortable. Crossing the world bridge is just following the rules and taking the regular channel.

Without intending to stay here any longer, Delphinium took a deep breath and walked forward dragging her suitcase.

Shadows formed ripples where her footsteps fell, and the empty darkness flowed in silence. A lonely figure walked through the corridor, slowly moving towards the only exit.

"Don't come back."

There seemed to be a voice whispering in the darkness.

It sounds like a whisper right beside your ear, or like an echo far away in the sky, making you doubt whether your ears can really hear the sound.

【Don’t come back】.

Scattered shadows swayed in the gray corridor, shattered and reassembled under the dim light, like words that were torn and barely pieced together, baring their fangs and claws.

Don't come back.

Broken and chaotic emotions buzzed deep in the mind, and old memories surged up in the mind uncontrollably, like turbid bubbles that surfaced, rolling out old thoughts.

"Don't come back."

【Don’t come back】.

Don't come back.

The whispers from the darkness grew louder and louder until they turned into a heavy noise; more and more words appeared from the shadows until they covered the road and exit ahead; the memories floating from the thoughts became more and more chaotic until the road turned into a mud puddle, as if a thousand-pound weight was hung on Delphinium, pulling her down and gradually sinking.

Delphinium showed no reaction.

She just kept moving forward, forward and forward.

Even though the noise has turned into screams, the words have turned into layers of seals, and the thoughts have become shackles, they cannot slow her pace down even a little bit.

She tore into pieces the layers of words made up of shadows and placed her hands on the door at the end of the corridor.

This was the last door before she entered the kingdom.

"I am back."

She said this expressionlessly.

Then he pushed the door in front of him open and walked in without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)