“Eh?” Golden eyes swept over the surroundings, and the petite Dragon Girl made a strange sound.
She scratched her own head with her claw, her face full of confusion.
According to Xia Mo’s irresponsible guess, she figured that right now, this girl was probably thinking, “What on earth is this place?”
“This place looks kind of strange,” Luo Shuangyue glanced around and muttered softly.
Unlike that dim space from before, the colors here were much richer, as if a black-and-white TV had suddenly turned into color.
The air was filled with an odd scent, a mix of burning and floral fragrance—both sweet and foul, very peculiar.
Looking around, it seemed the three of them were standing in a Sea of Flowers dyed purple, but this sea of flowers gave off no sense of beauty at all.
On the contrary, there was a chilling eeriness everywhere.
The blooming flowers were covered with black specks, and most of the blossoms drooped listlessly.
Only the flowers without any black specks looked as lively as the ones in Luo Xiangyue’s memories.
Almost instinctively, Luo Xiangyue reached out, plucked a small purple flower, and popped it into her mouth for a few chews.
There were no black specks on this little flower, and eating it felt quite similar to the taste of a Magical Girl’s Magic Power.
But that one bite only made her stomach hurt even more.
“These flowers all contain Magic Power, and not a small amount either.” Rubbing her aching belly pitifully, Luo Xiangyue shared her discovery with Xia Mo.
On their homeworld, there was nothing like this. Items with Magic Power were either related to monsters or Magical Girls; there was no way something like this could grow naturally.
And these flowers, no matter how you looked at them, just didn’t seem related to Magical Girls or monsters.
“The Magic Power density here is so high, and… it seems extremely compatible with mine.” Xia Mo had also noticed the strangeness of this Sea of Flowers.
If her recovery speed for Magic Power in that Grey Wasteland was five, then here in this Sea of Flowers, her recovery was at least several times faster, easily reaching twenty or more.
She stretched out her hand and summoned the purple gemstone she used for Transformation. Xia Mo could see, with her naked eyes, little specks of purple light drifting from the air around the gemstone, quickly gathering into the dull, cracked gem.
With the continuous influx of Magic Power, the cracks on the gem slowly disappeared, and its dull color gradually grew brighter.
This meant Xia Mo’s gemstone was recovering rapidly—soon, she would regain the ability to Transform.
“This place is basically paradise for a Magical Girl. With this much Magic Power, a Magical Girl’s combat power would be insane here.”
Luo Shuangyue spread her hand, summoning Phantom Scythe from within her body.
As soon as she appeared, Phantom Scythe felt the surrounding surge of Magic Power and started absorbing it excitedly to restore her strength.
The Dragon Girl, meanwhile, squatted beside the two, watching them with curious eyes.
What she stared at most was the purple gemstone in Xia Mo’s hand.
Judging by the light shining in those big eyes, Luo Xiangyue figured this little girl must be scheming something not very innocent.
But the three still couldn’t communicate directly yet—they would have to wait until Xia Mo’s gem finished absorbing Magic Power.
Seeing Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo settling in as if they weren’t planning to leave, the Dragon Girl didn’t leave either.
Instead, she plopped down next to them, dug out two black objects from her own pouch, and handed one each to Luo Xiangyue and Xia Mo.
Luo Shuangyue took the black thing, then watched as the Dragon Girl opened her mouth and took a bite of her own.
Crunch, crunch—it did seem like it was edible.
Is she sharing food with us? Luo Shuangyue looked at this mysterious snack and decided it was better not to eat it for now.
Who knew if it was poisonous or not?
Ahem, it wasn’t that Luo Shuangyue doubted the Dragon Girl’s intentions, but they came from different worlds—what the Dragon Girl could eat, Xia Mo might not be able to.
After all, the Dragon Girl was obviously not human; she might be someone who could drink poison like water, while Xia Mo was just a delicate, frail eighteen-year-old girl.
“Do you want to try it?” Luo Shuangyue held up the black stick and asked Xia Mo.
Xia Mo shook her head immediately.
What a joke—with how this thing looked, there was no way she’d eat it.
Who knew what it was made of?
It wasn’t as if she’d die if she didn’t eat; as long as she had enough Magic Power, she could live without food.
And now, with Magic Power everywhere, she’d much rather feed herself with Magic Power than with that weird black thing.
“You eat it. I’m not hungry.”
“My stomach’s about to burst; I have no appetite.” Luo Shuangyue placed a hand on her own belly, looking helpless.
If one looked closely, they would see a flickering white light on Luo Shuangyue’s lower abdomen—that was the White Night Mana orb she had eaten.
With this orb, Luo Shuangyue wouldn’t need to eat for days.
The Dragon Girl, happily munching, sneaked over again, her curious eyes fixed on Luo Shuangyue’s glowing belly.
She reached out with her claw and poked at it, and, seeing no danger, pressed her whole paw against Luo Shuangyue’s stomach, as if she enjoyed the feeling.
This made Xia Mo’s face darken instantly.
She glared at the Dragon Girl with murderous intent.
Even though they couldn’t speak the same language, Xia Mo’s killing intent came through loud and clear.
The Dragon Girl quickly retracted her little claw, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at Xia Mo, as if wondering why Xia Mo had suddenly gone from friendly to hostile.
She started gesturing and babbling, wanting to ask about it.
“Why am I even jealous…” Watching the Dragon Girl’s innocent face, Xia Mo realized she might’ve been a little too sensitive.
This little otherworldly creature probably had no idea about any of this, and it’s not like Xiangyue was so charming she could instantly win over a Dragon Girl from another world.
With these thoughts, Xia Mo reined in her negative emotions, put on a gentle smile, and tried her best to communicate with the Dragon Girl.
After a lot of gestures and guesswork, they finally managed to communicate… more or less.
Xia Mo told the Dragon Girl she had to wait for her gemstone to recover, and the Dragon Girl expressed that she understood what Xia Mo was trying to say.
At least, judging from how obediently she sat in place, she seemed to get it.
This world did have a Night and Day Cycle.
Although there was no sun or moon in the sky, when night fell, dazzling stars would fill the heavens, giving the two girls from another world a small taste of otherworldly awe.
“Such beautiful stars…” Lying on her back in the Sea of Flowers, Luo Shuangyue gazed at the Star River above and couldn’t help but sigh.
She could never see stars like this in her own world.
City lights drowned out the stars’ original beauty, and when she left the city, she never had the mood to appreciate them anyway.
Only now, when everything was more or less settled, did she finally have the time and desire to enjoy this ocean of stars.
Gudu.
“The stars here have different colors, too. How magical.” Xia Mo entwined her fingers with Luo Shuangyue’s, whispering softly at the sky.
Unlike the stars in their world, the stars here each had their own color, and these colorful stars crowded the sky, like a grand masterpiece painted by a master.
The Dragon Girl, unlike the two bumpkins, simply sat quietly, looking up and spacing out.
That was to be expected.
For her, as a Native, this starry sky was something she saw every day—nothing to get excited about.
After zoning out for a bit, the Dragon Girl unwrapped the tattered cloth from her body and bundled herself in it like a blanket.
Soon, her low, rumbling snores drifted over.
This unsentimental sound easily broke the faintly ambiguous atmosphere between Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo.
Maybe the Dragon Girl did it on purpose to put a stop to this pair of lovebirds’ flirting.
“Xia Mo, you sleep first. I’ll keep watch.”
“Your health isn’t good, let me do it…” Xia Mo instinctively refused.
She was in much better shape now than Luo Shuangyue, who was delicate and frail, while she herself at least had some self-protection.
If anything happened, she could use Explosion Transformation.
Yes, she’d regained her ability to Transform.
She just didn’t have much combat strength back, so if real danger came, she could only act as a bomb and take the enemy with her.
Whether the enemy died or not, she knew she’d at least lose her Transformation ability completely.
“You should be the one resting. Recover your strength well, so you can protect me better.” Luo Shuangyue pressed her index finger against Xia Mo’s lips, cutting off her protest.
“I can stay awake without sleeping now, but you can’t. So it’s best if I keep watch.”
Without her Transformation, Xia Mo was just an ordinary girl, maybe a bit stronger physically.
She still needed to eat and drink—she could replace that with Magic Power, but sleep and rest couldn’t be replaced so easily.
Xia Mo’s current goal was to recover Magic Power quickly, not waste it on keeping herself awake.
Luo Shuangyue was different.
Now that she was a Monster Girl, she’d never heard of monsters needing to rest.
As long as she had Magic Power inside her, she’d never feel tired.
With surprising firmness, Luo Shuangyue pressed Xia Mo onto her own thigh, her silver-red eyes full of the intent not to let Xia Mo refuse again.
Under that gaze, Xia Mo only struggled for a moment before giving up and lying on Luo Shuangyue’s lap.
But… when did Shuangyue’s eyes turn this color?
Xia Mo remembered that Luo Xiangyue’s eyes had never looked like this.
Her natural color was silvery white, and after Transformation, they turned bright red, not this silver-red mix.
Now it was as if her pre- and post-Transformation eye colors had been swirled together.
Still beautiful, but it gave Xia Mo a faint feeling of unfamiliarity.
Luo Shuangyue looked puzzled by Xia Mo’s strange expression.
She knew Xia Mo was looking at her eyes, but didn’t know why.
“Is there something wrong with my eyes?”
“The color changed.”
Her eye color changed?
That was the first time Luo Shuangyue had heard of that.
With nothing like a mirror around, she couldn’t see the change herself.
But she didn’t feel any discomfort, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Maybe it’s just a side effect of breaking through imperfectly. I don’t feel anything.”
“Isn’t this the first time I’ve slept with your thigh as a pillow? It feels pretty comfortable.”
“As long as you don’t mind. By the way, do you want me to take my socks off first?”
“No need, that’s too much trouble. Besides, I don’t mind this feeling.”
Xia Mo turned her head a bit.
The socks on Luo Shuangyue’s legs were very different from ordinary long socks; these were magical creations, and their texture was nothing like normal socks.
Not rough or scratchy at all—lying on them was almost no different from resting directly on Shuangyue’s skin.
And anyway, if she took them off now, wouldn’t she have to put them back on tomorrow? How troublesome.
“I’m more curious about how you walked so far without shoes and never got tired.” In her Soul Butterfly form, Luo Shuangyue’s feet were bare.
On her little feet were only a few dark, thorny decorations, but even those weren’t on Luo Shuangyue’s feet right now.
“I’m a Monster Girl now, of course I don’t get tired. You can’t treat me like a human anymore—think of me as a machine. As long as I have Magic Power, I won’t feel tired.” Luo Shuangyue shook her head, declaring she was no longer a fragile human.
“Think about it—when we trekked through the wasteland, if my socks were made of normal material, they would’ve been shredded, and my feet would be a mess. But I don’t have a single scratch.” Don’t be fooled by appearances—these socks were a disguise.
“It’s been so long since we’ve taken care of ourselves, you can smell it if you try—your body has a faint scent now. But I don’t.”
Xia Mo’s face turned bright red. If she understood right, Luo Shuangyue was saying she smelled bad?
Yeah, after surviving in the wasteland for days, she probably did, but Luo Shuangyue didn’t have to be so blunt!
Give a girl’s tiny dignity a little respect, will you!
“If you don’t believe me, sniff me—I’m still fragrant!” “Enough, I’m going to sleep now! Idiot!”