The Dimensional Tavern of the Mefilas Alien

Murphy laughed heartily, his smugness impossible to hide, and his cat ears twitched on either side of his head.

Denise felt a little itchy to pinch it, but seeing Murphy, she quickly suppressed the urge.

Murphy possessed no demonic power, so she couldn't sense his exact strength. But her intuition told her that crushing her would be no harder for Murphy than crushing an insect. Given this disparity in power, challenging the dignity of a stronger being was hardly a good thing.

The Mefilas aliens looked at the thriving bar and were filled with joy.

He knew that people wouldn't always be unlucky.

To talk about the changes in drinking culture, we need to go back a little bit.

Unlike Naruto and Teresa, who hadn't returned to the bar for a long time after leaving, Homura Akemi, who had signed a contract with Murphy and become his second subordinate, returned the very next day.

As soon as she entered the bar, she asked Murphy, "Manager, do you accept ingredients here?"

"what?"

Murphy was taken aback by the question.

Homura Akemi transformed into a magical girl and tilted her shield to the ground. Soon, a rabbit mountain made of Kyubey appeared in the shop.

"This is Cupid, which means incubator."

Homura Akemi ultimately failed to speedrun the main story in one night. It wasn't that Guts-chan's power was weak, but rather that the witches were hiding in too many scattered locations, making it impossible for her to even cover them all simply by running around the map.

More importantly, the final boss, the one who causes Madoka to become a magical girl in countless loops, had no idea where she was hiding before that final day.

Using Guts's power is not effortless. Even though she is a magical girl who has enhanced her body with magic, she can only maintain her transformation for a little longer than an ordinary person.

So, after eliminating a few witches, Homura Akemi stopped.

She changed her approach. Now that she had latched onto a powerful patron, why not make the most of that patron?

The lie she used to intimidate Kyubey could be legitimized. In Homura Akemi's view, making Earth Murphy's territory was far more desirable than letting Kyubey run rampant on Earth.

At the very least, Murphy could only turn Madoka into a monster girl and have her work as a mascot at a bar.

However, as a subordinate, it is clearly inappropriate for me to constantly demand things from others.

So she collected all the Kyubeys she had killed.

Even the corpses of aliens must have some value, right?

Murphy looked at the mountain of Cupid's corpses piled up in front of him and stroked his chin.

He hadn't initially planned to recruit customers from other universes, so his mind hadn't even considered this approach. But now, hearing Homura Akemi's words, his thoughts suddenly opened up.

Having been an alien for so long, he'd forgotten that many common plants and flowers found on Earth are actually quite valuable in space. Even some Earthly handicrafts are worth buying and collecting in space.

Moreover, the guests who come to the bar may not have a world as advanced as this universe, but they must have many unique local specialties. He could easily buy these specialties from the guests and then resell them to other guests.

Of course, Murphy's main purpose in opening the bar was to have fun. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to simply loosen the restrictions and let guests use the bar as a platform to freely trade with others.

The thought that he might one day see something like Ace transforming into Ultraman Ace during the Marineford War made Murphy's lips curl into a smile.

Of course, he figured he'd rarely see that scene. Because Ace's personality was even more straightforward than his brothers'. In some ways, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the embodiment of justice. If he went to the pirate world, he'd probably just cleave the Red Line in two with a single Eight-Point Light Wheel.

"Well……"

Murphy suddenly tapped his head. Why did he remember Ace not being like this? Could it be that he had confused one of his memories again?

But Murphy hasn't paid attention to such details for a long time.

The bar has always had a poor business, not only because of its remote location, but also because it lacks a signature product.

Now, thanks to Homura Akemi's reminder, he has finally found a way to improve his performance.

"Little Flame, you've done a great job!"

Murphy patted Homura Akemi's shoulder happily. Luckily, he remembered to hold back, otherwise he might have had to find a way to ask the Land of Light for a solidified life form.

"I'll take these Kyubeys! Tell me, what reward do you want? A new transformation form? Or physical modifications? As long as it's not too outrageous, I can agree to anything!"

In high spirits, Murphy acted very generously.

He despises bosses who make empty promises and exploit their subordinates. Therefore, when he becomes the boss himself, he would never do that.

Homura Akemi has done a great job, so I must reward her properly!

Homura Akemi was so surprised that she was stunned.

She had initially thought that after these Cupids made amends for her disruption of the bar, they would at most receive a small reward. But what had Murphy said now?

"What does 'physical modification' mean?"

Homura Akemi's power is still sufficient for now, so she doesn't have a strong desire for a new form. However, physical modification is something she's very concerned about.

"I can make your body stronger, just like Jamila's!"

Murphy answered proudly.

"The technology that can transform humans into monsters is extremely advanced, even in the universe! In a sense, this can be considered a leap in the level of life!"

Homura Akemi, who had been full of anticipation, instantly lost interest.

She's already inhuman enough. Her original body has become a puppet, and her real soul a jewel. If her body were to be transformed into a monster as well, what would she be? A monster pilot?

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I think I'm fine as I am, so I'd rather not make any changes!"

Murphy sensed her disdain: "You don't think my technology is the same as the Incubator's, do you? Your soul and body are currently separate. But I can modify them to reunite them!"

Homura Akemi was tempted this time.

"Really? Does that mean magical girls won't turn into witches anymore?"

"We'll have to do some research to know for sure," Murphy said, offering no guarantee.

Although he didn't take Kyubey's technology seriously, magical girl modification was something he had never encountered before. If anything went wrong, his hard-won mascot would be in danger.

"If you capture a few witches and let me study them, I might be able to find a way to prevent magical girls from turning into witches again."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Transformation in Progress

Homura Akemi was initially delighted, but then felt a little regretful.

If she had known witches could be so useful, she wouldn't have killed them so quickly last night. Although quite a few witches are still alive, they're hiding far away, so finding them will take some effort.

Although it shouldn't take too long for Homura Akemi now that she possesses the power of Guts, Homura, who has reincarnated countless times, always feels a sense of urgency: the window of opportunity to save Madoka is so short, and if she is even a little slow, she may face utter destruction.

Besides, not every witch is transformed from a magical girl. Witches often create familiars to assist them. These familiars, after consuming a certain number of humans, also grow into witches. Homura Akemi felt that witches like these were mostly useless.

Most importantly, Homura Akemi's anxiety wasn't for her own sake.

She had long since stopped caring so much about her body. Being human wasn't so bad, but being a monster girl offered even more freedom and possibilities.

What she really cared about was Xiaoyuan.

Although it seems her plan is beginning to show results:

She eliminated all the witches in the vicinity, and Kyubey was temporarily forced to retreat.

But no one can guarantee that some unexpected event won't occur again, causing Madoka to sign a contract once more and become a magical girl.

If Murphy could truly find the technology to return the magical girl's soul to her body, and even prevent her from turning into a witch again, that would be the real way to eliminate the threat forever.

"I'll go back and catch the witch right after I get off work!"

However, figuring out how to capture the witch stumped her.

Witches are not beings that can be communicated with. In fact, even if they are severely injured, they will not know how to submit.

Homura Akemi's eyes darted around, and she turned to Murphy for help: "Manager, do you have any good ideas on how to catch the witch?"

Murphy was prepared and tossed her a few red and white balls.

"After severely injuring the witches, throwing this at them will greatly increase the chances of subduing them."

"..." Homura Akemi paused for a moment.

Is this a Poké Ball? This is definitely a Poké Ball, right?

Their world also has Treasure Dreams!

Anyway, we finally found a way to subdue witches. Next, we need to capture those witches who were actually transformed magical girls.

Homura Akemi immediately thought of a target.

Charlotte the Snack Witch!

That's a witch lurking in the hospital. She was transformed from a magical girl named Nagisa Momoe.

Compared to other witches, the Snack Witch is not very aggressive. In the early stages of each cycle, she usually just stays quietly in the hospital and rarely attacks humans.

So last night, Homura Akemi let her go for the time being, and instead went to eliminate the more active ones. Now it seems that holding back was the right thing to do.

Just as Homura Akemi was planning her next move, Murphy extended an invitation to her: "Perfect timing, I'm about to modify Jamila. Would you like to come and watch?"

Homura Akemi then realized that Jamila was not at the bar.

"Modification?" Homura Akemi asked, puzzled. Did Jamila also have an enemy to deal with?

"He wants to turn back into a human."

Homura Akemi suddenly understood. That made sense. Even someone like her, who didn't care much about her body, felt a glimmer of hope when Murphy said it was possible to turn back into a human. Someone like Jamila, who had lost her human form, must have longed to return to humanity even more.

But shouldn't this process be called recovery? Is it just a difference in terminology between Earthlings and extraterrestrials?

Homura Akemi didn't ask, and Murphy didn't answer.

After a while, Jamila arrived.

After he got back, he followed Murphy's advice and got some rest. Although, in that terrible environment, it was actually quite difficult to get a proper rest.

"Manager!"

Jamila looked on with anticipation: "I'm ready, we can start anytime!"

Murphy nodded and led him to the kitchen, with Homura Akemi quickly following behind.

Looking at the neatly arranged cutting board and the various knives beside it, he would have broken out in a cold sweat if he hadn't been completely dehydrated.

"Manager..." Jamila called out to Murphy with a pitiful expression, hoping to bring back his humanity.

Surely it's not because they're losing money at drinking parties that they're planning to use themselves as food?

"I'm dry and tasteless..." Jamila would go through fire and water for Murphy, but being used as food was still a bit...

"What are you thinking about!" Murphy was speechless. He reached out and gently touched the door, opening a dreamlike doorway.

"follow me!"

Murphy walked straight in, followed closely by Jamila and Homura Akemi.

What came into view was a laboratory that looked somewhat simple, but was quite well-organized.

Jamila let out a long sigh and apologized sheepishly, "I'm sorry, manager. I misunderstood!"

Murphy waved his hand, not caring.

Since discovering that the bar could pull people from other dimensions, Murphy spent some time researching it to see which parameter caused this result.

While he couldn't find the parameters, he inadvertently developed a new function for the bar.

The originally limited space of the bar can now be expanded out of thin air.

However, since there are limited guests at the moment, Murphy has temporarily converted this part of the space into a laboratory.

"Go up!"

He had Jamila lie down on the research table and then attached several instruments that had just been manufactured to his body.

This was used to collect Jamila's physical data. Although the conditions were rudimentary, Murphy still made as many preparations as possible.

The renovation process wasn't slow, but it couldn't be completed in a day either.

Although Homura Akemi didn't quite understand it, seeing the dense data on the computer screen gave her a lot more confidence.

Although the conditions looked a bit rudimentary, Murphy's actions appeared very professional.

Murphy was willing to give her some guidance, but Homura Akemi's academic ability was only considered excellent among ordinary middle school students. She didn't understand a hundred out of ten things Murphy said: because she didn't understand the meaning of Murphy's explanations either.

In the end, Murphy could only sadly tell her to go back and catch her witch.

Jamila was slightly better off, but as the research subject, he couldn't offer much help and could only lie there obediently and cooperate.

Homura Akemi returned to the world of Madoka Magica full of confidence and went straight to the hospital.

To her surprise, she saw Mami Tomoe and her group near the hospital.