Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Xiao Lü's mind is completely blank right now.

After breaking free from the momentum of the battle, she was surprised to find herself, for some reason, trapped inside the body of a little girl.

She wears a white dress, has beautiful but troublesome long green hair, and also has... the ability to make ice?

Even more deadly, she felt a strange power surging within her body, a fighting instinct that made her charge forward relentlessly, utterly crushing these monsters.

What puzzled her even more was that the person standing next to her was Xia Zhaozhao—the neighbor she remembered who only stayed up all night playing games and always had dark circles under her eyes.

However, at this moment, this guy is following him around, fighting with him against these rather strange-looking things.

However, the Xia Zhaozhao before her was somewhat different from the one she remembered.

Although her face was still the same familiar face, her long, white hair stood out strikingly in the dim light.

Her height and build seemed unchanged, but upon closer inspection, her eyes and brows appeared more... youthful? As if she had become a few years younger.

"Xia Zhaozhao?" she asked tentatively, a voice both unfamiliar and familiar emanating from her lips once again.

"Huh?" Xia Zhaozhao turned around abruptly upon hearing the address. "How do you know my real name? Have we... met before?"

In the few previous records of magical girl joint operations, she and the other magical girls always addressed each other by code names.

Seeing the unfamiliar look in Xia Zhaozhao's eyes, Xiao Lü's sense of unease reached its peak. She instinctively wanted to revert to her familiar form, and then a flash of light—

The raincoat ripped with a tearing sound.

In an instant, her figure underwent a tremendous change, her body suddenly elongated, and she transformed into Zhao Jia's form before Xia Zhaozhao's eyes.

Xia Zhaozhao was so frightened by the sight of the green-clad girl suddenly appearing alive that she jumped up and almost dropped her greatsword.

"Zhao Zhao Zhao Zhao Zhao Zhao Jia? What's going on? You...you're a magical girl too?" Xia Zhao Zhao's eyes widened, as if she had discovered some rare species.

After a brief moment of shock, she seemed to have figured something out and suddenly burst into a thunderous laugh, laughing so hard she almost cried.

"Pfft—hahaha—I can't take it anymore, Zhao Jia, you actually...you can actually become a magical girl too!"

"She's one of those adorable little girls! Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter, it's more exciting than playing video games!"

Zhao Jia was a little annoyed by her laughter and wanted to punch her, but at this moment, he felt more uneasy about the current situation.

He tried to recall, but found that his memory of "why he came here" and "why he has the ability to transform" was completely blank.

"Stop! Stop laughing!" Zhao Jia forcefully interrupted Xia Zhaozhao's maniacal laughter. "I can't remember anything right now!"

He took a deep breath: "And you, do you know... exactly what's going on right now?"

"Huh? Me? I clearly remember being happily playing games at home yesterday, and when I opened my eyes I was in this godforsaken place, and I even inexplicably felt like I'd gotten a lot stronger."

"You... really can't remember anything? Then, how come you're still so comfortable using that ability you have after transforming?" Xia Zhaozhao asked.

After saying that, as if to verify something, Zhao Jia subconsciously focused his mind and tried to mobilize the unfamiliar power in his body.

The light flashed again, and he transformed back into the little girl with emerald green pigtails.

She tried it again and felt that this form seemed to have a lot of combat experience, and every move she made was quite familiar.

The two looked at each other, both seeing the same confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes.

"Strange..." Xia Zhaozhao scratched her head, but suddenly saw something on the fragments of Xiao Lü's raincoat.

She picked up a piece of paper that was carefully wrapped in a transparent sealed bag from there.

Xiao Lü also leaned closer and looked at the paper in Xia Zhaozhao's hand. It was the paper with the simple map drawn on it.

"The target is the hospital... amnesia... mutual trust... what on earth is going on?" Xia Zhaozhao read it out with a strange expression.

"...Did we really write this? I have absolutely no recollection of it!" she continued blankly.

Zhao Jia looked at the familiar, scribbled handwriting, remained silent for a moment, and then confirmed, "Judging from the handwriting... it was definitely written by me."

"This experience... is just too strange. If you ask me if I believe it... I really don't quite believe it."

"Speaking of which..." Xia Zhaozhao pointed to the red circle on the note, a hint of curiosity on her face, "The hospital circled on this note... is that where we're going?"

"...We're in the hospital now," Xiao Lü reminded us.

"Ah, right... But what exactly is it here that would make two magical girls like us make a special trip here?"

Moreover, she couldn't recall ever hearing of any monster that could cause such widespread and prolonged amnesia. The more Xia Zhaozhao thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.

"I don't know," Xiao Lü shook her head. "But since the handwriting on the note is mine, there must be a reason for it, right?"

"However, it seems that the above only mentions going to the hospital, without any more precise information."

"Okay, okay, whatever you say." Xia Zhaozhao shrugged indifferently. "And also, this isn't a big deal. Based on my experience playing games..."

"The road with the most monsters is definitely the right road!"

"..." Xiao Lü glanced at her helplessly.

Although still somewhat uneasy, for some reason, after hearing Xia Zhaozhao's strange and bold words, that anxiety seemed to dissipate considerably.

Perhaps... even though the memories are blurred, the tacit understanding built up from fighting side by side several times has not completely disappeared.

Without further hesitation, the two quickly tidied up and prepared to explore deeper into the hospital.

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

Bank branches.

"...Even if we could control this small steel mill, producing qualified 14.5mm caliber ammunition independently would be far beyond our current capabilities, both in terms of materials and processes," Bai Shuyuan explained to Lao Qian.

"In this situation, I'd prefer to make a simple shotgun," the veteran said. "This weapon, and the ammunition, are easy to make."

"Moreover, this weapon is sufficient to solve most problems," Bai Shuyuan added.

With her abilities, no matter what weapon she uses, as long as she can accurately hit the core nodes of those monsters, she can inflict enough damage to kill them.

Unless it's a special individual like the one encountered at Xinmao University.

However, just as the group was discussing weapons, a strange, subtle sense of unease crept into her heart.

Sasha, who was sitting next to her, suddenly raised her notebook. It had a stick figure with long hair and a stick figure with pigtails drawn on it, with a question mark next to it.

"Oh, right," Old Qian said, as if suddenly remembering something, looking at Bai Shuyuan, "Why haven't Mayfly and Shrike come back yet? It's been quite a while, did they... go back to their own place first?"

"No, it doesn't look like it." Bai Shuyuan shook her head.

Based on the mayfly's nature, after conducting an initial exploration of a new area, it would likely be more inclined to contact me and report the situation.

The shrike seemed to have an unusual fondness for the chairman's office on the top floor of the bank, and probably had no reason to leave immediately.

"I'll go take a look," she said.