Chapter 264: Making Too Many Enemies

“Like hell it’s a coincidence! I can’t even convince myself with that kind of nonsense.”

Su Mu had not groomed her hair at all lately, and it now reached down to her waist. 

‘Did she take Tang Yuan in just to figure out how to torment me?’

The tips of her hair brushed against her fair thighs, lightly tickling her skin. 

Su Mu clutched her long pink hair in a fit of frustration. 

Now that she thought about it, lately…

‘No, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I’ll face retaliation. And speaking of which…’

The possibility was not only non-zero, it was nearly 100%.

“Argh!”

‘I put Tang Yuan through the wringer, and that group of women is also interested in me. Although those two witches don’t have a direct grudge against me, there’s no guarantee they didn’t memorize my face… No, I have to find a way.’

Su Mu stood up, intending to find a certain gray-haired loli next door. 

The moment she lifted her foot, her body froze as she suddenly recalled the other girl’s words.

“I won’t help you this time.”

Su Mu felt a headache coming on. 

Since things had already reached this point, she decided to first absorb the Magic Power she had earned from blocking the bridge.

“Sss…”

With the Monster Core, she could utilize this chaotic and cluttered Magic Power to a significant degree, whereas a Magical Girl would have much more to worry about. 

It had to be said that whether one became a monster or a Magical Girl, there were pros and cons to both.

Neither was completely terrible. 

While it was difficult for a monster to survive, once they developed, they were free and unfettered. 

On the other hand, there was no such thing as an absolute benefit. 

Magical Girls faced too many restrictions in their early stages of growth, and the stronger they became, the easier it was for them to fall.

In a sense, perhaps Su Ya’s ideas were not wrong; living an ordinary life was also quite nice.

But Su Mu did not like that kind of life.

Before she knew it, sweat began to seep from her back. 

Her thin pajamas became damp and clung to her body, outlining her enticing, slender curves. 

Glistening sweat surfaced unconsciously as a steady stream of iridescent Magic Power poured into Su Mu’s body.

The current Su Mu’s development was already close to her future level, and her face even looked more mature than before. 

Her exquisite features, which were originally a carbon copy of Su Ya’s, were now more three-dimensional. 

She no longer looked as soft and easily bullied as she once did.

However, the changes occurring in the Dream World were even more earth-shattering than those in reality. 

Previously, only a single, incomplete figure of a girl existed across the five Memory Points. 

Now, under Su Mu’s guidance, the Magic Power gathered toward the second Memory Point, gradually condensing into another flickering Phantom Dragon.

She was not in a hurry to worry about quality yet; her priority was to stack up the conceptual bodies first.

According to Tang Nai, as the number of conceptual bodies increased, she would gradually sense the connection between herself and her authority. 

Once all five conceptual bodies were fully formed, she would be able to resonate with that authority and officially step into B-rank.

As for why Su Mu was in such a hurry, it was not only because of her desire to promote as quickly as possible, but also because in the world of Magical Girls, quantity seemed to have a much more obvious impact than quality.

First of all, there was almost no such thing as a genius “fighting above their rank” like in fantasy novels. 

Otherwise, following that logic, the Magical Girl genius Irina should have been able to blow away D-rank enemies who had mastered abilities when she was still E Level and knew nothing. 

Then, D-ranks would beat C-ranks… 

In that case, wouldn’t a B-rank Irina be able to topple Tang Nai?

That was clearly impossible. 

To put it more cruelly, a hundred Irinas might not even be a match for Tang Nai in a single exchange—assuming the latter acted without regard for the consequences.

Tang Nai was currently a pure mascot. 

Everyone knew she was powerful, and everyone also understood that she could not just make a move whenever she wanted; otherwise, everyone would likely be finished.

This laughable situation had led to the current atmosphere of polite communication. 

Although the several giants of the Combat Division each had their own hidden agendas, they unconditionally met all of Tang Nai’s demands. 

They usually did not dare provoke this ancestor to avoid any extreme situations.

It was only her two younger sisters who spent every day thinking of ways to mess with her.

Returning to the matter at hand, before long, Su Mu’s second conceptual body was finally shaped. 

However, even with herself as the blueprint, it was clear that Su Mu had a terrible talent for sculpting faces.

At first glance, the body curves were fine—flat where they should be flat, and curvy where they should be curvy. 

But upon closer inspection, one would realize: ‘Wait, why is this a 2D cutout?’

Looking straight at the sketch-like face was fine, but a side profile was unbearable. 

It was a complete “shoehorn face”—flat, like a low-budget animation where the funds had run out. 

The level of distortion was comparable to Naruto vs. Six Paths of Pain fight.

When Su Mu turned the figure and noticed this, her pretty face immediately darkened. 

She spent a long time repeatedly reshaping the face. 

This process was like making pottery; if her hand slipped even a little, the nose would go crooked. 

Magic Power was much harder to handle than clay; it would go out of control or stop working at the slightest provocation, making Su Mu flush with frustration.

After spending about two hours, Su Mu finally finished the face. 

She woke up from the Dream World only to find that she was no longer sitting cross-legged on the bed as she had been when she entered. 

Instead, she was lying down properly with a thick, comfortable cushion behind her. 

She was covered with a small quilt, and a wet towel was placed on her forehead, cooling her and making her feel exceptionally comfortable.

Su Mu sat up abruptly, and the towel fell into her lap. 

She was still a bit dazed, wondering who had done all this.

It was then that she noticed the soft warmth pressing against her right arm. 

Looking back, her azure eyes immediately reflected a pink-haired silhouette that was seventy to eighty percent similar to herself.

Su Ya was looking at her tenderly while helping her pick up the towel.

“Little Mu, you’re awake?”

Her voice was thin and light, like a lullaby, yet it lacked its former exhaustion and frailty. 

It was more out of a desire not to disturb the silence of the room. 

Looking into those similar azure eyes, Su Mu felt a wave of warmth.

Without thinking much and following her heart’s intent, she pulled Su Ya into an embrace. 

It felt different from hugging other girls; her small hands rested obediently on the back of Su Ya’s neck as she simply felt the other woman’s warmth.

It was just like that night.

Su Ya froze for a moment but did not say much, only awkwardly reciprocating her daughter’s hug. 

For a brief second, she actually felt unaccustomed to Su Mu’s intimacy. 

It was as if, despite having lived under the same roof with her daughter for more than ten years, she had no memory of this kind of affection. 

In her memories, her daughter was still a tiny thing, but the girl before her was already a young woman as beautiful as a lotus in the sun.

‘It’s a pity I’ve never seen her wear a dress… speaking of which, does Little Mu even have a dress? I don’t think I’ve ever bought her one. Why is that…?’

Su Mu was unaware of these thoughts. 

She was simply indulging in this reassuring embrace.

Su Ya might not be able to help her with what came next, but her mere presence was enough to give Su Mu support.

‘I love you, Mom.’

“I saw that your face was very flushed. I thought you had a fever…”

Hearing this, Su Mu’s face turned slightly red. 

She realized her face had become so flushed from her frustration while sculpting that she had been misunderstood.

Ever since Su Ya no longer needed to work late nights or toil all day, she had kept the house in perfect order. 

She would also occasionally walk past Su Mu’s room, stopping at the door to gaze inside for a moment, unsure of what to say. 

Sometimes she would ask what Su Mu wanted to eat, but more often than not, she was just hesitating.

Like a child afraid of saying the wrong thing, this behavior usually only appeared in parents when they were elderly and forgetful. 

Coincidentally, Su Ya was just as forgetful.

She had forgotten many things, but she knew her existence might cause trouble for her daughter, so she often hesitated to speak.

She didn’t remember exactly what she owed Su Mu, but she understood that her daughter had once resented her. 

So, she probed carefully, trying to make amends. 

In the end, Su Mu didn’t need any compensation at all; she only wanted Su Ya to be well.

A lack of love often makes a person cold, but Su Mu had simply become strong earlier. 

After all, she had an “externalized” personality.

Or to put it more accurately, she was an optimist.

“I’m fine. Let’s go. Is it time to eat?”

Su Mu finally allowed this brief moment of tenderness to end and released her hold on Su Ya, only to see a confused expression on the other woman’s face.

“What are you saying, Little Mu? Didn’t we just have lunch?”

Su Mu blinked and checked the time.

Su Mu was amused by her own mistake, her playful smile like a blooming flower. 

“Oh, I must have slept until I was muddled. Hehe…”

She looked so radiant that it made Su Ya feel happy.

“It’s okay. If you’re still tired, just sleep a little longer.”

Su Mu waved her hand.

“No, it’s time to get up. Although sleeping is quite relaxing, you always have to wake up and do something.”

According to her current progress, if she blocked the bridge with Ye Wanqing three more times, she would reach the threshold of B-rank. 

But that was the ideal scenario. 

If she predicted the worst-case scenario, it was very likely that Sun Chuan’s side was already making a move.

Su Mu recalled the woman in the center of the photograph. 

Her azure eyes glazed over slightly, and for a moment, she couldn’t remember the woman’s face.

She vaguely remembered a tall woman with dark-green hair and a full, sturdy figure—so much so that her waist seemed excessively thin by comparison, as if struggling to support her bountiful upper body.

The face was blurry, likely due to the low resolution of the photo, but there was no point in obsessing over it. 

She was most likely the master of Yanyu Tower. 

A witch who could grow so powerful at the Dream World Border was bound to be at least B-rank. 

If she were allowed to grow further, there was no telling if she might eventually reach the level of a Great Witch.

But the past was the past, and the present was the present. 

The era of the Great Witch had passed. 

Now that the value of ability users had depreciated, there was no shortage of those with the potential to become a Great Witch, but none of them dared to stick their heads out. 

The reason was simple: the Combat Division had several giants specifically tasked with handling dangerous elements.

Those transcendent beings had a lot of witch blood on their hands, not to mention those two women from the Tang family. 

The “True Meaning” of the strongest Mutant was one, and there was another transcendent who was unreasonably strong. 

It didn’t matter how strong Sun Chuan was; she wouldn’t dare attack Su Mu directly in the real world. 

In fact, if Su Mu used these factors well, she could even plot a fine case of “killing with a borrowed sword.”

Su Mu pondered silently as a plan gradually took shape.

Or should it be called a scheme?