Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 363 Inference
Besides these matters stemming from the assessment results, Xia Liang did not forget that she had other things to tell Cui Que.

Its content, of course, is her encounter with the examiner Yueji after escaping the maze, and the things Yueji said to her.

These were all problems that she couldn't handle or make up her mind about at this stage, so Xia Liang naturally didn't hide anything and described everything she saw and heard at the time in great detail.

--"I see."

Xia Liang's description, especially the information that "something might have happened on the viewing platform," made Cui Que think of many things. She could easily guess that perhaps the people from the Civil Affairs Institute and the Finance Institute wanted to take advantage of the situation, or even that the power-hungry new Diamond wanted to extort something from the Magic Affairs Institute and the Research Institute. But these things weren't suitable to explain to the children; she could only discuss them later with the people from the Magic Affairs Institute.

Aside from the undercurrents behind this, perhaps what Xia Liang needs most right now is Cui Que's opinion on Yue Ji's invitation.

"If the other party is from the research institute, we can actually trust her for the time being. Her invitation is most likely sincere and genuine."

With her hands clasped in her arms, Cui Que pondered for a moment: "Having professionals help research the principles of magical armor would probably be a good thing for you, Xiao Jin, but it also means that your magical armor abilities will become completely transparent to the research institute... Do you have any preferences?"

"Ah, me?"

Xia Liang was surprised that the ball she had kicked out was thrown back by Cui Que. After blinking twice, she said honestly, "If you think they can be trusted, then this kind of thing should be more beneficial to me, right?"

She stretched out her hand, counting on her fingers as if analyzing something: "After all, the better you understand your magical armor, the closer you can get to the core of its power, and maybe you can develop more uses for it, making yourself even more powerful..."

"indeed."

Cui Que nodded in agreement: "The researchers at the institute are all the most outstanding scientific scholars. In terms of knowledge and achievements in their respective academic fields, they are actually much better than me and Asagao. You also have a strong learning ability. If you study with them, you will definitely make progress."

"So, should I go?" Xia Liang put down her hand, her expression slightly tense as she waited for Cui Que's decision.

Without a doubt, she wanted to go.

Xia Liang no longer hides her desire to become stronger. She is never satisfied with being ahead of the team in terms of progress in opening up new paths, so she is determined to seize this opportunity.

Lark could see this and understand it, but when it came to actually making the decision, she still hesitated for a moment.

She knew that once she accepted Rose's invitation, her interests would be further intertwined with those of the research institute and the Magic Academy.

Although at this point it would be utterly impossible to back down, Cui Que was faced with only two possible outcomes: either completing the mission with Emerald and the others, or being exposed and becoming a wanted criminal for illegal entry. However, sending Xia Liang to the research institute meant that the children would also be involved in this matter to some extent.

If the matter is eventually exposed and Wang Ting discovers this connection...

Lark knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help having such thoughts.

So, she didn't say it aloud, but instead said it in a different way: "After the assessment is over, I will take you all to the research institute."

If things go smoothly, I will naturally have time to take Xia Liang to find Yueji after the assessment.

If things don't go smoothly, both he and Yueji will likely be waiting for their verdict in court, so naturally he won't let Xia Liang get involved in the research institute's relationship. As long as no overt evidence is found, even if he is the captain of the Fangting City team, if the captain is arrested, the team members won't be implicated, leaving them some leeway.

Of course, she also knew that when the Queen was involved, all rules in the magical kingdom could be disregarded, and the Queen had the power to ignore all laws and regulations. If the Queen really intended to punish everyone involved, then no matter how justified she was or how she tried to exonerate herself, it would be to no avail. But it was always better to be prepared than to be completely unprepared.

Xia Liang had no way of knowing what she was thinking. Even though she could sense some subtleties from the atmosphere, she couldn't possibly guess anything out of thin air about things that the kingfisher hadn't revealed at all.

After discussing the issues related to Xia Liang, Lin Xiaolu was the next to speak up.

"Speaking of which, I've also run into some trouble..."

Lin Xiaolu described her new teammate, Mint, whom she met when she formed a team, as well as the peculiar examinee, Arrowroot, whom she encountered in the maze. She recounted the strange conflict between these two and Bai Jingxuan, and also mentioned the "promise" she had with Mint. After finishing this long explanation, she eagerly asked, "Cuique, what do you think we should do next?"

If the news brought by Xia Liang made Cui Que realize that she might be facing internal conflicts within the country, then what Lin Xiaolu said was undoubtedly the trigger for some kind of event related to a foreign enemy.

"A magical girl who can devour remnants of beasts, and Bai Xue can also sense a beast-like aura emanating from her?"

She summarized the series of events Lin Xiaolu had recounted, her brow furrowing slightly: "You mean, that child might be the one with the claw marks?"

"Even more annoying than claw marks!"

Bai Jingxuan, who was standing nearby, corrected her: "Or rather, it smells a lot like that bad bureau chief!"

"A bad bureau chief? Who?"

"The one on the night of the full moon!"

Now Cuique understood; Bai Jingxuan was talking about mousse.

When the clues pointed in this direction, and combined with Lin Xiaolu's description, the answer became obvious.

"...Dawn of the Black Ashes?" Not only Cui Que, but Xia Liang also came to this conclusion at almost the same time.

As far as everyone knows, the only organizations that have mastered the use of the Broken Beast's magic are Black Dawn and Claw Mark. Compared to Claw Mark, Black Dawn's "beastification" is undoubtedly more thorough, which is consistent with what Bai Jingxuan said, "more like a Broken Beast."

Although Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu are unaware of this, Cui Que is very clear about the source of Bai Jingxuan's remnant beast magic.

The so-called "Holy Son Project" of Black Dawn, as well as the existence of terms like Sacrifice Son, Beast Son, and Holy Son, undoubtedly indicate that children like Bai Jingxuan are probably not isolated cases in this world.

If Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan's descriptions are true, then Cui Que would have to offer an even more startling, even horrifying, conclusion:

"Are there actually members of Black Dawn among the magical girls?"

(End of this chapter)