Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 662 The Plan Has Changed

Deep within Black City Castle, in a room temporarily requisitioned and filled with various detection instruments emitting chaotic energy fluctuations and scattered maps, the atmosphere was oppressive and tense.

Chang Lei was irritably grabbing at his already messy black hair. Beneath his tattered white tailcoat, a scarlet power of greed lurked beneath his skin like a restless venomous snake.

Several three-dimensional star charts made of pure dark red energy floated in front of him, constantly twisting and changing. They were marked with countless flashing points of light and broken trajectories. The air was filled with an eerie atmosphere that smelled like a mixture of burnt circuit boards and blood.

"Damn it, damn it, it still doesn't work..." Chang Lei suddenly waved his hand, shattering a star map into a dissipated energy stream, his crimson pupils filled with a violent sense of defeat. "The laws here are as chaotic as a ball of yarn that's been scratched by a cat. The interference is too strong; I can't track any stable signals at all."

He tried to use the properties of the power of greed to find clues about his mother, but the Ragnarok atmosphere permeating the dream world, the aftershocks of the fallen star god, and the omens of the awakening of the Great Old Ones stirred up all his perceptions into a chaotic mess.

He saw the cold stardust falling outside the window, and he felt the soul-stirring aftershocks of sorrow.

But so what? Chang Lei’s lips curled into a cold and indifferent smile. The fall of the Star God, Ragnarok—what did he care? In his world, there was only one thing: finding his mother. Everything else, whether it was the destruction of the world or the wailing of the gods, was just damn background noise that hindered him from achieving his goal.

Just then, the door to the room was silently pushed open.

Tang Zijun appeared at the doorway, her deep gaze sweeping over the mess inside the room and the almost out-of-control crimson energy on Chang Lei's body, her brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Busy?" Tang Zijun's voice was calm, revealing no emotion.

Chang Lei didn't even turn his head, letting out an annoyed snort. "Nonsense, the laws of this godforsaken place are a complete mess. Finding anything here is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. You have no idea how troublesome it is for me to get things done."

His crimson pupils remained fixed on the star map projection before him, which had reformed but remained chaotic.

"Look at the mess this thing is in."

"The plan has changed." Tang Zijun cut to the chase. "The Lord of the Deep Sea has awakened, and the troubles in the Ghost Mist Forest are escalating. The Dream World won't last much longer. I need your power to find the key to unlock the power of the ocean."

Chang Lei turned his head slightly. "So, your girlfriends and sisters can go with you, why are you asking me? I have no interest in going into the sex industry."

"We need to return to the real world." Tang Zijun's gaze was calm and composed. "To find the lost fragments of Poseidon's divine realm and retrieve his trident."

"Poseidon's Trident?" Chang Lei's brows furrowed instantly, his crimson pupils flashing with astonishment and intense resistance. "Are you kidding me? Aren't those guys all dead already? And I just left the real world, and you're telling me to go back?"

Tang Zijun shrugged, a rare, somewhat helpless composure on her face. "Plans can't keep up with changes. The Old Ones are breaking free, the Star Gods are falling, and this place is quickly becoming a true graveyard of the gods. Without the power of that trident to suppress the things in the sea, once the dream world collapses..."

"...Your mother and that stuttering girl are completely finished."

Upon hearing this, Chang Lei's expression froze instantly, replaced by an extremely complex and twisted look.

Tang Zijun met his gaze, her eyes unwavering, reflecting only the heavy weight of reality.

"Preserving the dream world, stabilizing this ark," means preserving your mother's last remaining hope. If this place is devoured by the Great Old Ones, or completely corrupted by nightmares, then all clues will be severed. You and I both know this.

Chang Lei's chest heaved violently, and crimson energy surged wildly within him, as if engaged in a silent and fierce battle.

Finally, the boiling violence subsided like the receding tide, replaced by a deeper, colder resolve. The crimson in his eyes did not fade; instead, it settled like solidified lava.

"Day after day..." Chang Lei squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth, his tone filled with deep frustration, but also with an undeniable agreement. "You're the boss, you call the shots."

He suddenly waved his hand, roughly sweeping aside all the chaotic energy projections and detection instruments in front of him, making a ping-pong sound.

"Tell me, when are you leaving?"

"immediately."

Tang Zijun turned and walked towards the door.

"Meet in the lobby; we need to contact our superiors first."

Headquarters of the Demon Surveillance Bureau, Director's Office.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the neon-lit cityscape of a bustling metropolis stands in stark contrast to the dark red, oppressive sky of the dream world. Yet, the atmosphere inside the office is like a frozen lake.

Shangguan Su, the usually composed and wise director of the Demon Supervision Bureau, was now resting one hand on her large mahogany desk while pressing her throbbing temple with the other.

On her well-maintained face, her meticulously drawn willow-leaf eyebrows were tightly furrowed together. Her eyes, which always seemed to see through everything, were now filled with utter absurdity, shock, and a hint of dizziness from being overwhelmed by a massive amount of information.

Her gaze was fixed on the opposite side of the desk—Tang Zijun's figure appeared even more solid in the light of the real world, with Chang Lei beside her looking somewhat bored.

"Searching for Poseidon's Trident?!"

Shangguan Su practically squeezed each word out from between her teeth, her voice distorted and even cracking from shock. She felt as if what she had just heard wasn't a mission request, but a fantasy.

Tang Zijun did not reveal the suffocating truth of the dream world in its entirety—Ragnarok, the fall of the Star God, the imminent release of the Great Old Ones... information that would drive anyone in the real world mad. He simply told Shangguan Su that an unprecedented and fundamental catastrophe had occurred in the dream world, and that its core threat was related to the ocean. They needed to use the power of the trident, a symbol of authority left behind by the legendary sea god Poseidon, to try to suppress or resist it.

But the mere fact that the cataclysm required the power of the sea god was enough to make Shangguan Su, the highest-ranking person in charge of the magical girl squad fighting against the heretical demons, feel a chill run from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, almost causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood.

What she usually deals with are giant monsters that suddenly appear in the city, out-of-control rampages of heretical demons, and attempts by certain cult groups to summon monsters... Although these incidents are dangerous, they are all within the understanding and response capabilities of the Demon Surveillance Bureau.

But Poseidon's trident, that divine weapon that exists only in the oldest myths and legends, symbolizing control of the seven seas and the ability to tear apart continents—is such a thing real? And it even became a key tool in resolving an unknown catastrophe?!

This feels like a police station chief suddenly being asked to intercept a meteorite about to hit the Earth, and the only tool he has is the legendary Hou Yi's bow that shot down the sun—it's as absurd as that.

"Tang Zijun..." Shangguan Su took several deep breaths to barely suppress the churning, metallic taste in her throat and the intense urge to complain. She rubbed her throbbing temples, feeling a splitting headache. "Are you sure you're not joking with me? Poseidon, that's the chief god in Greek mythology, His trident... this..."

"I'm absolutely certain, Director Shangguan," Tang Zijun said. "The situation in the dream world is far more critical than we've described. That divine artifact is the only solution we can think of right now."

Shangguan Su's gaze fell on the coordinates of the vast high seas area marked on the screen. This was the location information provided by Scáthach. Her brows furrowed even deeper, and an extremely troublesome expression appeared on her face.

"This coordinate range is too large, and the location..." She pointed to several nearby national border markers on the screen. "This is deep in international waters, but it's adjacent to the borders of some countries and not too far from their naval bases."

Shangguan Su's tone was filled with practical concerns. "While the Demon Surveillance Bureau has certain privileges, we have neither the authority nor the capability to blatantly dispatch fleets or large-scale supernatural forces to conduct treasure hunting activities on the high seas, especially near sensitive areas of other countries. This would cause international disputes and could even be seen as a military provocation."

She looked at Tang Zijun, her eyes filled with helplessness. "The coordinates provided by Ms. Scáthach cover such a vast area that you'll need to conduct a long-term, large-scale search. The paperwork for that isn't easy to obtain."

A brief silence fell over the office.

Chang Lei raised his eyebrows slightly, seemingly thinking that it would be easier to just seize a ship than to argue here.

Tang Zijun remained silent, calmly observing Shangguan Su and awaiting her response. He knew that the bureau chief was not shirking responsibility but stating a stark reality.

Shangguan Su looked at Tang Zijun, then glanced at Chang Lei beside her. She sighed heavily again. The common sense and rules of dealing with the situation that the Demon Supervision Bureau had accumulated seemed so pale and powerless in the face of this group of people and the crisis they faced.

"Alright..." Shangguan Su finally spoke, her voice filled with deep weariness and a sense of helplessness at being forced out of her comfort zone. "I received the coordinates. As for the practical difficulties, I'll try to find a solution, but I'm not sure what the outcome will be."

She hesitated for a moment, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.

"Go back and wait for my news. I know you're anxious. I'll make a few calls and get back to you in two hours at most. But to be honest, you'd better not have too high hopes. These things aren't that easy in the current international situation."

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