Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

"Awooo—!"

With a scream, Xia Zhaozhao sprang up from the sofa, nearly hitting the ceiling.

She hopped around the room like a mad frog, waving her arms and legs wildly, shaking off all the cool ice cubes from inside her T-shirt.

"Little Green—!" Xia Zhaozhao looked at Little Green with resentment in her eyes, "Was it necessary to be so cruel to wake me up? That's too vicious!"

In order to wake Xia Zhaozhao from her sleep on the sofa, Zhao Jia simply transformed into his green form.

"I called you for almost ten minutes, and you just sat there like a dead pig! Who told you to stay up so late reading comics? We're going to the bank today..." Little Green said, hands on her hips, her voice full of helplessness.

However, seeing Xia Zhaozhao's expression that said, "I'm very, very unhappy, come and comfort me or I'll bite you," Xiao Lü sighed and went over to try to soothe her.

"Ha! We've fallen for your trap!" Xia Zhaozhao's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and she suddenly sprang up, about to stuff the ice cubes she hadn't finished throwing into the neckline of Xiao Lü's dress.

"ah--"

However, the ice cube veered off her hand in a strange arc, precisely guided, and mercilessly flew back into her own T-shirt.

"Hmm? Trying to teach a fish to swim?" Little Green scoffed leisurely.

While Xia Zhaozhao was taking a basin of water into the bathroom to wash up, Xiao Lü had already put on the raincoat that had been hastily made for her in this form.

During the previous operation, Xiao Lü discovered that the size difference between her two forms was too great. Zhao Jia's large raincoat was seriously hindering Xiao Lü's movements.

Xia Zhaozhao pushed open the bathroom door with a creak, and walked out, letting out a big yawn.

"Put on your raincoats, we're leaving," Xiao Lü reminded them. "Oh, and on your way downstairs, please find some styrofoam to take with you."

"Hmm? I remember seeing a lot of those things on the seventh floor when we were looting the spoils," Xia Zhaozhao said lazily, rubbing her eyes. "But what do we need those things for? Firewood? Or to grow mushrooms?"

"I don't know." Xiao Lü shook her head. "Didn't Bai Shuyuan ask us to test the interference of shortwave signals at different frequencies? While you were sleeping like a log, the radio was already receiving her signal intermittently."

"However, in shortwave mode, no matter how the frequency is tuned, the test information received is always the same: 'Collecting styrofoam'."

"...That's really her style," Xia Zhaozhao remarked.

-----------------

"Ah, you've come!" Old Qian, the gatekeeper, greeted the two men who were carrying a lot of styrofoam boxes and looked like they were collecting scrap.

Over the past three days, Bai Shuyuan and the five survivors have transformed this place into a reasonably decent shelter.

On their way there, the two had already noticed that the previously damaged windows had been completely boarded up, and simple fortifications had been built at the entrance, along with a rudimentary alarm system—though it was just a bunch of aluminum cans connected by thin thread at the door.

Old Qian and the two of them carried the styrofoam up to the second floor. As soon as they got upstairs, Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed in surprise. The place was completely different from when they left.

The expensive furniture was now piled up haphazardly in the corner, and a large open space in the center of the room had been transformed into a simple arsenal.

Tools and weapons such as crowbars and simple spears were neatly piled up on one side, while on the other side there were many bottles and jars, and the smell of gasoline could be smelled.

"Ms. Bai said it was safer upstairs, so we all moved up there. Now, this place is used specifically for storing and making tools."

Then, Old Qian added, "By the way, Miss Bai asked you to get this foam to make simple napalm bombs!"

"The more widely known name is the Motolov cocktail," the veteran explained. Sometime later, all the survivors had gathered there.

Xiao Lü noticed that although only three days had passed, the group's mental state had greatly improved. The previous despair and exhaustion had almost completely dissipated, replaced by a resilience born of surviving a disaster.

Old Qian and Old Wang, along with the others, had already begun working quickly on the styrofoam. They broke the foam into smaller pieces, carefully placed them into a metal bucket containing gasoline, and started stirring with a wooden stick. Xia Zhaozhao watched curiously from the side.

"How clear is the shortwave signal at five kilometers?" Bai Shuyuan asked calmly.

"It's not ideal," Xiao Lü replied. "The signal distortion is severe at both high and low frequencies. However, there seem to be a few specific frequency windows where a relatively clear signal can be received occasionally, but it's very unstable."

Upon hearing this, Bai Shuyuan simply nodded slightly, not surprised by the result.

"By the way, we found another survivor hideout earlier, and there was a doctor there. Although... he had almost no clinical experience."

"Hmm," Bai Shuyuan responded. "However, there's no rush. That person is very lucky; the liver disease is in a fairly early stage, and there won't be any danger in the short term."

"Indeed. Moreover, one doctor alone cannot solve the problem."

"That's right. We need anesthetic drugs, a sterile environment, suction and hemostasis equipment, good lighting, and so on. We don't have any of these."

"Speaking of which, Xiaobai is really knowledgeable." Xia Zhaozhao came over at some point, her tone full of surprise.

Bai Shuyuan glanced at her and nodded slightly in response.

"And look, Little Green, Little Green!" Xia Zhaozhao excitedly held up the sticky mess in her hand, showing it to Little Green. "This is the napalm they made! It's bouncy and chewy, and it even stretches!"

As you can see, after the gasoline dissolved the foam plastic, it turned into a semi-transparent, viscous gel-like substance that was difficult to shake off.

"Oh? You can turn gasoline into this using foam plastic?" Little Green was also a little curious.

"Yes. Foam plastic or soap can both be used as thickeners. Pure gasoline is too fluid, so adding these things creates a gel-like substance that adheres better to the monster's surface and burns longer," the veteran explained.

"And another thing, has the power problem been solved?" Xia Zhaozhao asked, thinking that if it was solved, she could come here to use the electricity to play games.

"It's temporary, and can only be used in critical moments for now," Bai Shuyuan replied, pointing to a machine covered with a canvas in the corner of the room. "Electricity and the research on that 'deformed fetus' can be put on hold for a while."

She paused, a rare hint of caution in her amber eyes, and then glanced at Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao: "Right now, I'd prefer that you two accompany me to Xinmao University."

"Oh! Are we going to find that edible algae?" Xia Zhaozhao's eyes lit up.

"Yes. That's a very important strategic resource," Bai Shuyuan affirmed, but her next words carried a hint of seriousness.

"In fact, I have already conducted a preliminary investigation of Xinmao University on my own. The situation there... is very unusual."

"What? Did my college application fail?" Xia Zhaozhao asked curiously.

"No. However, there is some kind of force within the university that can interfere with visual perception."

"In other words, when we enter that university, we shouldn't easily trust our eyes. Because what we see is almost certainly fake."

"What does this mean? Could you... be more specific?" Xiao Lü seemed a little confused.

Bai Shuyuan half-closed her eyes, furrowed her brows slightly, and rubbed her temples, as if recalling something that made her quite uncomfortable.

An expression appeared on her face—a troubled and bewildered look. This surprised both Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao.

"I suspect that when other people enter that university, they will only see an unstable and deceptive world that is a jumbled mess of different scenes."

"But you know, my eyes can see more than most people, which has become a burden for me."

"When I entered that world, every blade of grass and every tree poured out a massive amount of data that should not belong to it. The illusory entity, the mixed information, the colors I had never seen before, the more metaphysical chaotic structure, supplemented by a small amount of crushed reality, all poured into my mind from my retina like a burst dam."

"I can't understand what I'm seeing at all. Behind every brick and tile, there seems to be countless fragments of memory and crazy logic. It's like... when I look at a leaf, images of bison and angels from Europe and Shakespeare's sonnets suddenly flood my mind."

"Under the onslaught of that information flood, I couldn't even discern a safe path. When I tried to use reason to analyze the truth deep within those structures, I experienced a brief period of blindness."

"Moreover... ever since I stepped into that area, I've been constantly feeling a cold gaze. It doesn't seem hostile, but it makes me quite uncomfortable."