Yes, I did all of this!

"I really can't understand your hobby..." Duanmu Mo said, supporting her shoulder, feeling a headache coming on.

"Breathing after a slight breath-hold helps improve cardiopulmonary function," Shen Wuling boasted, showing off some dubious theory. "And it helps with dopamine secretion, which is scientifically proven."

"Okay, hurry up and get dressed for school. You can't be late on the first day of school."

Duanmu Mo shook his head, deciding to ignore her "strange" hobby, patted her head, and let go of her shoulder.

Chapter 522: Walking into a Trap

Soon, Shenwu Ling changed her clothes, had breakfast with Yuzhi, and then left home.

Duanmu Mo and Shen Wuyin sat in the driver's seat and the passenger seat, respectively. The former drove the car towards Yu Zhi's school.

It was still snowing, and there were few people on the streets. This was partly because Shinmu Rin had to report for duty first, so everyone got up a little earlier.

"Going to school..." Shen Wuling looked out the window, tugged at her school uniform, and looked a little uncomfortable.

"Don't you like it?" Duanmu Mo glanced at her through the rearview mirror and asked.

"Hmm..."

"More contact with society is good for physical and mental health, and only by experiencing people's lives firsthand can one understand what one is fighting for."

Shenwuyin said earnestly, and Yuzhi, sitting next to Ling, nodded in agreement.

"Why......"

"Besides, with Zero's power, it's quite fun to pretend to be profound in front of those ordinary people," Duanmu Mo said with a smile.

"Do you think everyone is like you, Mr. Duanmu?" Shen Wuling said with a helpless smile.

However, after Duanmu Mo said those words, Shen Wuling did relax a lot and looked out the window indifferently.

As a "patient," she had too many privileges. Even if she took leave for several days after the start of the semester until graduation, no one cared. So for her, going to school was just a different place to play.

"—Alright, we've arrived."

Soon, Duanmu Mo drove to Yuzhi's school, where there were still very few students.

After helping Shen Wuling into the wheelchair, Duanmu Mo and Shen Wuyin got back into the car.

"Well then, good luck at school!" Duanmu Mo smiled, waved goodbye, and left.

"...It feels just like parents sending their children to school," Shen Wuling said calmly as she watched the two leave.

"...Is there...?" Yu Zhi's face stiffened as she asked.

"Although my sister is still of college age, she has already skipped a grade and graduated thanks to my parents' arrangements, and Mr. Duanmu is already an uncle... It's hard to describe this feeling, isn't it?"

"..."

"Alright, it's up to you, Yuzhi."

"Um......"

Yu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and pushed her away from there.

. . . . . .

Meanwhile, Duanmu Mo and Shen Wuyin had finished buying the ingredients and were heading home.

"School's starting..." After buying the ingredients, there were more students on the street. Looking at the people outside the window, Shen Wuyin said with some emotion, "It looks like our dessert shop will be opening soon."

"Perfect timing, Ling and Xia Yan have almost finished all the snacks at home." The snacks at home were all brought by Shen Wuyin from the dessert shop. Normally, she could eat as much as she wanted, but during the holiday, there was no restocking, so Xia Yan and the other girl ate much less.

"Speaking of which, does Mr. Duanmu's office need some more food? After all, you often stay there," Shen Wuyin suddenly thought of something and asked with a smile.

“It’s not impossible.” Duanmu Mo nodded and changed direction, heading towards the agency.

"Any requests lately?" Shen Wuyin asked with a smile, looking at Duanmu Mo's face as he drove.

"It's alright... There's a rich guy who's quite generous." Duanmu Mo chuckled as he drove towards the firm.

"Then we have to thank that client."

"I have already expressed my gratitude by fulfilling the request."

The client he was referring to was naturally Leviathan. Since it was so generous, Duanmu Mo wouldn't mind helping it out—provided, of course, that it had helped him countless times before.

"Really? That's good."

Shen Wuyin smiled, and Duanmu Mo drove towards the agency in a relaxed and cheerful manner.

—But when they were still a few blocks from the agency, Duanmu Mo suddenly stopped the car. The car jolted, surprising Shen Wuyin: "Ah—Mr. Duanmu, what's wrong?"

"Hmm... I suddenly remembered I have some things to do." Duanmu Mo casually parked the car on the side of the road and said, "You can drive the car home yourself. You don't need to go to the office. I'll be back soon."

"What's wrong?" Shen Wuyin asked, puzzled, looking at Duanmu Mo's unusual behavior.

"...So I'll leave it to you, Oto."

"...Okay, but don't do anything too dangerous, okay?"

Shen Wuyin looked around but didn't find anything suspicious. However, something seemed off. After Duanmu Mo got out, he got into the driver's seat and drove away.

After she was gone, Duanmu Mo breathed a sigh of relief, straightened his trench coat, put his hands in his pockets, and walked towards the firm.

Even if Shen Wuyin had any doubts, she would never have imagined that Duanmu Mo's keen senses had already heard the commotion inside the agency from several streets away.

That guy Leviathan actually broke into his office without permission.

It's not difficult for a cyborg to have hearing at this distance. After transforming into Rider form, they can even hear the entire city of Kamishiro clearly. However, at this point, the Final System is needed to help analyze the information in the sound.

In his human form, before even transforming into his monster form, this distance would normally be ignored even if he heard it. However, Duanmu Mo was too familiar with his agency and would react to even the slightest sound of a door opening.

Since this was purely Duanmu Mo's own senses, without any power enhancement, the Leviathan possessing the human was completely unable to sense his condition.

With his hands in his pockets, Duanmu Mo walked straight toward the agency, drawing the attention of the cyborgs.

Leviathan is probably searching for the secrets of "Duanmu Mo," and it probably naively believes that it has something related to Cangyuan hidden here.

Unfortunately, after awakening during the battle against the Wild Poison Vine, Duanmu Mo had already hidden those confidential things in his shadow and carried them with him, so nothing could be found in the agency.

—Only after Duanmu Mo approached the entrance of the agency did the figure inside seem to sense his arrival and quickly leave the room.

He acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, walked up the stairs, looked at the old man waiting at the office entrance, and smiled.

“It’s been a while, Longka.”

. . . . . .

Chapter 523: Fan Club

—Before Duanmu Mo, Longka, still wearing that suit, leaning on his cane and wearing a hat, stood obediently at the door, nodding to him:

"You too, Duanmu Mo."

"Don't just stand there, come on in." Duanmu Mo warmly invited him inside, then poured him a cup of hot water.

"It's been a while. How's your news agency doing?"

"Your men are all a bunch of stupid fools, you're better than Duanmu Mo."

"Haha, don't say that about me. I'm a very honest person," Duanmu Mo said with a smile, seemingly in a very good mood.

"Really? In my mind, people who run firms are hardly associated with 'being honest'."

“I am indeed very honest,” Duanmu Mo said, sitting opposite him.

"I'll accept whatever money you give me, and I won't deny your compliments."

"..."

Leviathan's smile remained unchanged upon hearing this, though she inwardly cursed the shamelessness of the man before her.

Perhaps from this perspective, Duanmu Mo and Neville do have a lot to talk about.

After Duanmu Mo made a joke to himself, He Longka also started talking about the topic:

"Based on my professional intuition, this visit isn't just a simple invitation to dinner as a client, is it?" Duanmu Mo took a sip of water and said, "--But even if that's what you really think, I won't agree, okay? I'm not interested in dinner parties or the like."

"Don't worry, Duanmu Mo has a straightforward personality and gets straight to the point."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Mo nodded, unsurprised: "Another request related to magical girls?"

"That's right. Although the reaction last time was somewhat negative, both good and bad things are considered newsworthy. Moreover, these are special times, and magical girls are bound to receive a lot of attention."

Longka took a sip of hot water and said calmly, "So, Duanmu Mo, do you intend to continue taking it on?"

Duanmu Mo did not answer immediately, but pondered for a moment: "What are the contents of the commission?"

"How about continuing to focus on the issue of lifespan?"

"I won't do anything that doesn't get a good response and could affect the magical girls," Duanmu Mo shook his head.

"Since that's the case..." Leviathan didn't intend to discuss this matter further. Ultimately, its true purpose was simply to uncover the magical girls' real identities. Lifespan, something that slightly undermines people's trust in magical girls, was far too inefficient. Its main objective was to manipulate Duanmu Mo.

"—Let's talk about something pleasant. You know about magical girl fan clubs, right?"

“I know.” Duanmu Mo nodded, a knowing look on his face: “Hiss… It’s a group made up of magical girl enthusiasts, right? They’re all over the world, but they mainly operate in the cities where magical girls are active. For example, in our Kamishiro City, there are more characters like Tsubasa, Yuhi, Rin, and Fuurin.”

He paused, as if remembering something, and looked at Longka with a smile, adding, "However, after the strange man's instigation, there are far fewer people in those fan groups."

Leviathan's seduction dealt a significant blow to the fans of magical girls. After all, no matter how fervent they are, these fans are still ordinary people, and most of them will feel ashamed after they come to their senses.

These fan clubs primarily support magical girls, such as doing charity work in areas destroyed after their battles, while their profit comes from selling unauthorized merchandise featuring magical girls.

However, these people's activities were too extensive, encompassing all professions, men, women, and children. In this world view where magical girls and strange people were active, it seemed to have become a common occurrence. Therefore, apart from Duanmu Mo, no one questioned these people's activities.

"You seem to know those people quite well. Are you a fan of theirs?" Longka said casually.

"Yes and no." Duanmu Mo shook his head, picked up a cookie from the table and said, "I only support them psychologically, and I don't have the time to join any fan club."

While riding his motorcycle around the entire city of Kamishiro, Duanmu Mo visited these fan clubs several times, listened to their conversations, and joined the forums of each magical girl fan.

In this, Duanmu Mo saw something about himself—of course, this "himself" refers to Neville.

As someone who tormented them for a whole year, Neville was cursed by these fans in all sorts of ways, from verbal abuse to supernatural curses like pinning voodoo dolls on people. You could say they went through every single one of them.

Duanmu Mo was not annoyed by these fan activities; on the contrary, he participated in them for a few days with great interest and even bought a Neville figurine, though unfortunately the quality was appalling.

He ate the biscuit in his hand and said indistinctly, "After all, I have a job too, and I'm extremely busy."

—It's not just about running the agency; it's also about being a psychologist for those magical girls... This is much closer than what fans get to see.

"In that case, how about we release news aimed at attracting fans for this commission?" Leviathan said. "That way, you might also receive thanks from those people."

"Forget about it. Most of the things fans send are homemade magical girl merchandise and stuff, the quality is just too poor. I might as well just give them money." Duanmu Mo grumbled.