Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Heavy rain prevents us from going out.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the chairman's office, everything was completely covered by the torrential rain.

Neither the oppressive clouds in the sky nor the fragmented outline of the city could be clearly seen at this moment.

However, the scene inside is quite different.

The diesel generator, located on a floor of the bank building, was steadily churning out power. This electricity ultimately manifested as the vibrations of the controller and the images on the screen.

Four people, four laptops, four headphones—these formed a small Eden isolated from the outside world.

Little Green believes that she is better off here in her current form.

She felt that suddenly revealing Zhao Jia's identity would cause unnecessary fright to Taozi and Shi Yao.

The four of them were playing an online FPS game that Xia Zhaozhao had found on her hard drive.

"Bang!"

Xiao Lü controlled the game character and took down the distant enemy with a precise headshot, demonstrating considerable skill.

Wow.

Beside Xiao Lü came Xia Zhaozhao's insincere, monotonous exclamation.

"Little Green, your aim in this game is pretty good, your headshot rate is quite high."

"Completely different from that Zhao Jia. That guy was holding Xiao Bai's revolver, aiming at a person weighing two or three hundred pounds from more than ten meters away, and he didn't hit him once..."

She started making sarcastic remarks like a primary school student.

"That guy is practically a master of human anatomy... just a nobody~"

Xiao Lü's eyes twitched, but she ultimately did not refute them.

After all, if he doesn't respond, Xia Zhaozhao's one-sided sarcastic remarks will quickly become boring due to the lack of feedback.

"Wow!"

However, things changed much faster than she expected.

The moment Xia Zhaozhao was distracted, she was quickly blown off her head by Taozi on the other side.

"Hmph~" Peach mocked, "You're not much better yourself, little sister Zhao Zhao~"

"Huh?" Xia Zhaozhao immediately turned her gun on you. "What was your reaction when I shoved a shotgun in your face last round?"

"That's because you cheated!"

"All's fair in war! A bad dish is a bad dish!"

It started again, and their voices grew louder and louder, even drowning out the sound of the torrential rain outside, leaving Xiao Lü and Shi Yao feeling somewhat helpless.

However, the content of their argument was no different from the various flame wars that took place on game forums before the apocalypse.

Listening to this argument, it seems that the old routine hasn't gone away, and the red rain outside is just a wallpaper that was pasted incorrectly.

This thought made Xiao Lü sigh.

In the end, after the game was over, Shi Yao was the first to put down the controller.

She took off her headphones, stretched, but her gaze involuntarily drifted out the window.

"Um..." Shi Yao's voice was very soft, "Although it's raining heavily and we can't go out, playing games like this all the time just doesn't feel a bit... good?"

She seemed to be carefully choosing her words.

"Feeling a little guilty?" Xia Zhaozhao immediately replied.

"I understand, I understand! Even though there's still plenty of diesel, it's like playing a game. Watching the resource bar keep dropping, even if it's slow, still makes you a little panicked."

"Yes!" Shi Yao nodded.

"I think, for the sake of sustainable development, perhaps we should consider... whether there are other ways to generate electricity?"

"Other ways to generate electricity?" Xia Zhaozhao became interested and leaned closer, her mind starting to fill with all sorts of far-fetched ideas.

"First of all, we definitely have to rule out solar energy," she said.

"The wind is obviously not strong either," Xiao Lü said. The continuous heavy rain has leveled the temperature difference in the world, so it is foreseeable that there will not be any strong winds in the future.

"What about water power?"

"That's even more impossible now. Mainly because of those monsters."

"That's true."

Just when Xiao Lü thought the discussion was about to end inconclusively, Tao Zi next to her seemed to suddenly have an idea.

"I've got it! Don't we have one of those? That...the one you use at the gym! Yes, the stationary bike!"

She gestured wildly to indicate the name.

"We can modify that thing a lot! We can connect a generator and a battery to it! That way we'll have electricity!"

"Hehe, it generates electricity, exercises the body, and even helps little Zhao Zhao lose weight! Killing three birds with one stone, it's a genius idea!"

"Huh?! Who said I want to lose weight?" Xia Zhaozhao roared, angrily showing off her arms and legs.

"...Just say you've been consuming a lot of high-calorie snacks lately, and ask if you've gained weight or not," Xiao Lü said.

Xia Zhaozhao immediately deflated, and a cheerful atmosphere immediately filled the office.

"However, I don't think a stationary bike would be suitable; the gear ratio... might not be enough," Shi Yao said.

"Yes," Little Green nodded in agreement.

"Eh—?" Peach let out a disappointed sigh.

"A regular bicycle should be fine, right?" Xia Zhaozhao suddenly asked. "I remember there's a drop handlebar bike in the stairwell...?"

……

The group brought up the bicycle, which looked quite expensive.

"The employees at this bank... they really have it easy." Xiao Lü looked at the car, a complex emotion on her face.

Then, the group roughly removed the rear wheels, prepared to remove the expensive desk to fix the car body, and also took many parts from various places. After a long time of tinkering, they finally managed to put together a shaky prototype.

It seems these two also have a knack for being green-skinned, Little Green sighed.

"Wait! Let me calculate the power generation efficiency of this thing first, otherwise we'll work for so long and still not be able to light a light bulb."

"Let me calculate!" Xia Zhaozhao volunteered, and in order to show off her status as a top student of Xinmao University, she began to calculate with great seriousness.

Xiao Lü glanced at it and knew it was another large-scale performance art piece. She simply leaned against the window and watched the rain, too lazy to expose it.

"Okay! I've figured it out!"

About ten minutes later, Xia Zhaozhao excitedly raised the draft paper in her hand, beaming with pride.

Peach curiously went over, and after just one glance, she burst into a thunderous laugh.

"700% power generation efficiency? Did you invent a perpetual motion machine?"

"ha?"

……

In the end, the hamster wheel, which embodies the wisdom and hard work of everyone (mainly Bai Shuyuan, who was forcibly brought in as an outside helper), was successfully manufactured.

"I'll give it a try!"

Xia Zhaozhao took the lead, her face filled with the determination to "avenge my humiliation".

She started stomping wildly.

However, after only five minutes, she was exhausted and panting heavily.

"Huff...huff...no...I can't take it anymore..."

"...The peak power is less than 100 watts, and the average is 60 or 70 watts. Multiply that by the conversion efficiency, and it's even difficult to charge a mobile phone." Shi Yao glanced at the power meter and shook her head helplessly.

"What?! I'm exhausted like a dog, and this is it?" Xia Zhaozhao was greatly shocked, and a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes.

"I refuse to believe it!"

The next second, she switched into the magical girl Shrike's form.

Next, the generator emitted a roar like a fighter jet engine.

Shi Yao stared incredulously at the wildly soaring number on the power meter.

It took a full half hour for Xia Zhaozhao to slowly stop and deactivate her transformation.

"1,500 watts... even after accounting for losses, that's more than enough to power a laptop," Shi Yao said incredulously, her voice filled with awe.

"...Is this the power of magical girls?" Momoko was also stunned.

"No, only her," Little Green retorted.

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

The rain finally subsided a bit the next morning.

Zhao Jia gently knocked on the chairman's office that Xia Zhaozhao had forcibly requisitioned.

"Knock knock knock".

No response.

He patiently knocked a few more times.

"Who is it... so early in the morning..."

"It's me. The rain has lessened. Miss Bai has some clues; we can go out and look for other survivors."

There was a moment of silence inside the door, then a mournful wail of grief and indignation rang out.

"I can't go! My butt hurts!"

Zhao Jia was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

He tried to recall everything that had happened yesterday, attempting to understand the logic behind that statement.

"...Didn't you ride the bicycle in your magical girl form yesterday?"

"It was those first five minutes! We managed to grind them out!"

"...So crispy?" Zhao Jia exclaimed in disbelief.