I'm a magical girl in the future

Chapter 157 The Price of Reconciliation

Seeing her mother's astonishment, Li Mengling guessed the reason behind her confusion.

"Would you like to know the whole story?"

Wang Tingshi snapped out of her daze and quickly nodded.

My future—I must be able to connect with my daughter heart-to-heart before I can support her, right? So, bringing forward their reconciliation process isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Li Mengling nodded slightly, but then asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Mom, you've always wanted to know about my psychic abilities, right?"

After her daughter became a magical girl, although she strongly opposed it, out of a researcher's instinct, she also wanted to find out about her daughter's mental abilities.

However, every time she asked her, her daughter avoided the question with various excuses.

"Yes." Wang Tingshi's tone relaxed a bit. "You want to—tell me what's on your mind?"

"Yes, the change in our future relationship will begin with my inner thoughts."

Li Mengling closed her eyes and finally told her mother the truth she had been unwilling to reveal: "My inner vision is actually about sacrificing myself and then triggering a self-destruction."

Wang Tingshi was completely stunned. A few seconds later, after understanding everything, Wang Tingshi stood up abruptly from her chair.

"No—no! Absolutely not! Mengling! Listen to your mother! Magical girl stuff—we're not doing it anymore! This kind of ability—how can this kind of ability be—"

The dangers of becoming a magical girl had already made Wang Tingshi strongly opposed to the path her daughter had chosen. Now that she knew her daughter's ability was a one-way ticket to destruction, she, as a mother, was naturally unable to remain calm.

"Mom, please sit down."

Li Mengling's voice remained calm. She gestured for her agitated mother to sit down, then continued slowly, "This is also why I haven't told you my true feelings. Originally, your attitude towards me now was that although you didn't support me becoming a magical girl, at least you didn't directly oppose it outwardly."

"So, why do you think I'm willing to tell you this now?"

Wang Tingshi suddenly tensed up; she had a pretty good idea of ​​the reason.

"Because in the future, I will have already used it."

Li Mengling smiled.

It was a smile of relief, the smile of someone who had protected someone important.

That time—it was to protect you.

Wang Tingshi was completely stunned.

To protect me?

"The specifics of the battle are no longer important. What matters is that in that future, I died. To protect you, I activated my mental projection and perished together with the enemy."

"I don't regret it. To die protecting my mother—I think that was the best thing I could do as a daughter."

Wang Tingshi felt her eyes well up with tears. She hadn't realized that she held such an important place in her daughter's heart.

I am not a good mother, but I have such an outstanding daughter.

"After I died—you basically—went insane, didn't you?"

Li Mengling continued her narration, but her tone had turned to one of pain and sorrow.

"You couldn't accept my death. So, you used all your connections and knowledge to frantically search for a way to resurrect me. You resigned from your job as director of the Civil Defense Bureau and returned to the research institute you had long since left."

"At that time, Captain Noah and others were also cooperating with your research. She had a very special Mystic Code of mine, and this Mystic Code became the key to my resurrection."

"Actually, at first, I didn't know what this Mystic Code was for. It can copy my memories and seal them inside, but if you want to export them, you can only export them to someone whose DNA information is exactly the same as yours. In other words, it can only be imported into yourself."

"At the time, this was a completely meaningless ceremonial attire. However, you used it to conceive of another way to revive my clone."

Wang Tingshi felt her body trembling slightly.

"You succeeded. In the research institute, you created a clone with the exact same DNA as me. Then, you implanted the memories from that costume into the clone's body."

"And so, I," I opened my eyes once more.

"In the end, you succeeded in bringing me back to life. That 'me' possesses all of Li Mengling's memories and all of her feelings for you, her mother. To any outsider, I am your daughter, without any difference."

"But you know better than anyone else—"

Li Mengling closed her eyes, her voice filled with profound sorrow.

That wasn't a real resurrection at all.

"That was just a vessel containing Li Mengling's memories. Her soul and essence were no longer the original me. I was just a substitute."

"7

"From that moment on, you changed."

"Look at that me," she said, her eyes losing the tenderness and concern of a mother, gradually transforming into the seriousness of a researcher looking at a test subject.

"You no longer object to me continuing to be a magical girl, and even began to fully support me. You help me record data during battles, and also help me make suitable Mystic Codes and cultivate backup bodies for clones."

"Later, when I activated the telepathic connection again, you were no longer sad. After all, all I needed to do was implant the memories back into the clone, and our daughter would be resurrected."

At that time, I felt an unprecedented joy at your support. I thought you finally understood my dream and were finally willing to stand with me.

Li Mengling slowly stood up, walked to the window, and turned her back to her mother.

"We have indeed 'reconciled'."

"You no longer bind me as a mother, and I have opened my heart to you because you no longer oppose me."

"There are no more arguments or misunderstandings between us. Instead, we have a cooperative relationship based on mutual understanding."

""

"However, the bond between us, mother and daughter, vanished. Our reconciliation came at the cost of losing our 'mother-daughter relationship.'"

Then, Li Mengling turned around and looked at Wang Tingshi, who was about to burst into tears.

"Actually, at first, I didn't cherish this body very much. It was just a discardable shell, and I was always ready to activate my mental powers."

"But to be honest, the 'me' speaking to you now is essentially an outsider residing in Li Mengling's body. The mother-daughter bond between the original Li Mengling and you has not been severed."

"It is incredibly selfish of me, an outsider, to want to make decisions in place of who I truly am."

"So, Mom."

Li Mengling revealed a gentle smile that Wang Tingshi had never seen before.

"I" will absolutely not let you follow the same path as "me."