Chapter 133: The Transaction

For anyone, death is a serious topic.

Lin Yun does not fear death, but he knows how to revere it. If possible, he does not wish for his life to end prematurely, even if the days originally remaining are not long.

Of course, he will not show such thoughts, so in Emerald's eyes, he still appears completely unmoved.

"Aren't you afraid? Young one, you will die."

The doll's face appropriately showed a look of confusion: "I specifically brought up the most extreme consequence, and if you still have no reaction, our transaction will be hard to proceed."

"You saying these words should not be to make me feel frightened."

Lin Yun crossed his arms: "You also said this is a transaction; let's first state your price."

"Young people these days don't know how to bargain anymore?"

The doll behind the desk sighed like an old person: "Never mind, I am indeed not good at such things; let's talk directly about the help I can provide."

"First, I must clearly tell you one thing: damage to the True Form caused by overextending power is irreversible. The lost Magic Armor and Magic Power have vanished forever, completely non-existent in concept, so I cannot help you retrieve that part."

"Just like a disabled person who lost limbs for some reason, the wounds left after losing limbs will scab and heal, but the limbs will never grow back. Your True Form is in such a state; you are now an injured disabled person, and now even the wounds have not healed."

"So?" Lin Yun countered.

"So, what I can do is, under these circumstances, allow you to recover your existing injuries and safely use your remaining power." Emerald's voice came from the doll.

"... Remaining power?"

Lin Yun frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with this answer: "This seems unable to meet my needs."

He knew very well what level his remaining Magic Power was at; in his view, such a small amount of power, even if usable safely, would not be enough to deal with truly dangerous enemies.

"Why do you think 'Leaf-level Magic' is all the power you have left?" the doll suddenly asked.

"The current Magic Power... is not all of it?"

This sentence made Lin Yun slightly surprised, so he loosened his crossed arms: "Is it not? The amount of Magic Power I feel myself cannot be wrong, the Mirage Realm is already unusable, and there seems to be no more residual power on my body."

"The Mirage Realm is the Mirage Realm, the Magic Armor is the Magic Armor."

Emerald's voice drifted: "Do not forget the essence of the Mirage Realm, young one. Magic Armor is born from Magic Power, the Mirage Realm is born from the soul; Magic Power and the soul correspond to each other, so Magic Armor and the Mirage Realm are two sides of the True Form. Although your Magic Armor is damaged, it still retains part of the threads, which means your Mirage Realm has not vanished, only fallen silent."

"But I cannot feel it at all." Lin Yun gently refuted.

"That is normal. Just as a person subconsciously blocks a bleeding wound by curling up or covering it, your True Form has its own protection mechanism. Your subconscious judges your True Form to be incomplete and fragile, so it does not want to expose its wounds."

Emerald explained: "If I am not mistaken, even before this battle, using the Mirage Realm was already extremely difficult for you, even very painful, right? That is the principle."

"In short, you are now a disabled person in terms of Magic Power. To reutilize your power, you need a complete rehabilitation process, even surgery."

"Using illness treatment as a metaphor, I can provide you with help in two aspects: first, help you heal the wounds, recover the injuries, make up for the True Form's damage, and allow you to stabilize your current state; second, provide you with a sufficiently useful prosthesis so that after rehabilitation you can move normally."

"Your existing power will become a new whole; as the injuries heal, you can stop the trend of Magic Power decline and be able to unfold your Mirage Realm again."

The doll's face showed a somewhat self-satisfied expression: "Of course, even more than the Mirage Realm, you very likely... will retrieve your Full Bloom."

Full Bloom.

Lin Yun silently repeated this word in his heart and slightly tightened his grip on the Heart Gem in his hand.

How long has it been since he thought of this concept?

As an ability obtained by a Magical Girl at the Flower Rank, Full Bloom is an existence of immense importance to every Flower Rank; indeed, the vast majority of their combat power is composed of Full Bloom.

As a trump card for Magical Girls, Full Bloom is a very special state; to describe it in more common language, the so-called Full Bloom is a Magical Girl's "second transformation."

Under the Full Bloom state, a Magical Girl's abilities will evolve, and both Magic Power and the strength of soul will receive unprecedented amplification; in the records of the Realm, the most exaggerated Full Bloom state can even reach ten times the Magic Power before Full Bloom.

And such terrifying amplification carries no cost for a Magical Girl; it is merely a period of weakness after use.

This is also one of the reasons why the combat power of Flower Rank Magical Girls differs from that of Bud Rank by a chasm; even if the Magic Power is extremely weak, a Magical Girl who uses Full Bloom can easily surpass peers in Magic Power.

It can be confirmed that if Lin Yun could use Full Bloom in Magical Girl state, the amplification of combat power would be immense, far exceeding his previous self who could not use Full Bloom.

He also had enough confidence that if he could retrieve such an ability, he would fear no enemy in battle.

This condition made his heart stir.

"What should I do?"

So he looked at the doll before him and asked seriously: "Or rather, what will you do?"

"Heh heh, very simple. First, you need to stabilize the injury; then, come to our Research Institute, and I will personally perform a small surgery on you; finally, help you install the most advanced 'prosthesis'."

The doll said somewhat proudly: "Rest assured, this is my unique technique; it will not affect your source power, merely doing some small tricks at the damaged place."

"I cannot do it." Lin Yun was expressionless. "Don't tell me you don't know."

"You cannot do it? Oh, you indeed seem unable to do it."

The doll suddenly seemed to realize something: "Oh right, after all, you refused Your Majesty's favor to your face, so you were placed under a house arrest order, forbidden from entering the Magic Realm. Holding the codename 'Cornflower,' they probably won't even let you pass the border. I don't know whether to call you rebellious or what; this is troublesome... Ouch!"

Before its words finished, it turned into a small cry of pain. The reason was that Lin Yun directly reached out and pulled the chair from under it, causing it to fall to the ground on the spot.

"Stop pretending; dolls don't feel pain, right?"

Holding the back of the chair in one hand, Lin Yun leaned on the desk with the other: "Acting like our Dean is not suitable for you, Honorable Chief. Let's have less nonsense and make communication more efficient."

"Too rude... even so, you shouldn't pull the chair from under a lady's bottom, right? I am a staunch opponent of violence; treating me this way will lower my evaluation of you, junior."

The doll complained as it stood up from the ground, using its short paws to try hard to brush the dust off its bottom: "Sigh, the material world truly has declining morals these days; do young people nowadays not know how to respect the old and care for the young?"

— "Hey, Security Department? Come to my office and help me throw this large doll of unknown origin into the trash room."

"Hey, hey—"

Emerald's always leisurely and lazy tone suddenly rose several octaves: "Don't rush, wait a moment; I haven't finished yet; there is a way."

Lin Yun held the phone, glanced sideways at the doll on the ground, and said nothing.

"Ahem, in short, I can provide you with a method here. You should also know that there is still some time until the annual certification exam."

Emerald cleared her throat: "At that time, a large number of Newcomer magic users will flood into the Realm from all over the material world; you can blend in with the new examinees to infiltrate the Realm, then come find me in Runore."

"Blending into the crowd will not change my identity." Lin Yun reminded expressionlessly.

"Then you don't need your original identity; we can forge one."

The doll climbed back onto Lin Yun's office chair along the chair legs and lay down again: "Starting today, create a new Magical Girl file in the Magic Affairs Bureau, fabricate the existence of a Newcomer magic user; by next year, you can use this identity to register and take the exam."

"Does the Gem Scepter now have the authority to fabricate a magical girl that doesn't exist at all?"

Lin Yun raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, but upon careful thought, he found it unsurprising: "Has the infiltration of the Four Great Academies into the Bureau of Magical Affairs reached this extent? Does she know you are doing this?"

"Sigh, so-called power struggles and political games always require some things that everyone understands without speaking."

The doll on the recliner crossed its arms: "As long as everyone unifies their narrative and insists that a certain matter does not exist, then from a political standpoint, it does not exist."

"You seem to have included yourself in that criticism."

"Sitting in a position that is not your own, enjoying power that does not belong to you, you will inevitably end up doing things you dislike."

The doll looked up at Lin Yun: "The Gem Scepter is not an identity one can enjoy with a clear conscience, especially when your colleagues are all reaching out to gather their own power; to remain an observer is to wait for death."

Emerald's words were very obscure, but Lin Yun understood her meaning: There exists a balance of rights and struggles among the Gem Scepters, and in this struggle, there is a role that constantly pressures everyone else, forcing the Gems to expend more effort.

The Gem Scepter who cared so much about playing politics could naturally be no one else, but the Director of the Investigation Bureau.

"It seems you truly dislike our Director," Lin Yun mused.

"I said we could skip some inauspicious topics."

The doll spread its paws: "And the power to help you secretly enter the Kingdom is indispensable; at least now it has become our ally."

"Undeniable."

Lin Yun nodded: "Although I do not wish to accept your beautification of such behavior."

"Oh? Do you mean to say 'those were originally my things'? How cute."

Emerald's voice dragged out once more, sounding full of implication: "If you really want to say that, I won't deny it."

"I am not that naive."

Lin Yun shook his head: "The power of the Magical Kingdom is built upon corresponding strength. Even if I had accepted that invitation back then, I would not have had the confidence to successfully reclaim and manage so many people."

"That is not necessarily true."

A somewhat strange smile suddenly appeared on the doll's face: "But speaking of which, if you agree to our deal, once you come to Runore to finish the surgery, I will hand over this portion of the Bureau of Magical Affairs' power to you. How about that?"

Silence fell over the office for a moment.

Lin Yun gazed at the doll on the chair; the smile on that furry face was utterly genuine. Its lazy and comfortable expression seemed to truly not care about the "those powers" it had mentioned, as if it did not know how shocking its words were.

Before today, if someone had told Lin Yun that someone would so casually treat the power of the Kingdom's agency as a bargaining chip, he would have absolutely thought that person was joking.

He did not believe it was simply favoritism toward himself; the other party must have had other reasons to propose such conditions.

"... What exactly is the Source of Beasts? What secret lies within it?"

And this was the only reason Lin Yun could think of.

Emerald's goal in the transaction was the Source of Beasts, and the fact that she could offer such conditions must be because, in her view, the Source of Beasts held corresponding value.

Then, what kind of value could equal a quarter of the Bureau of Magical Affairs? Lin Yun did not know, but he could vaguely imagine.

"Do you agree to this deal? If you agree, I can tell you." The doll still leaned lazily against the back of the chair.

"... If you don't tell me, I might find it very difficult to agree." Lin Yun slowly shook his head.

"Really? I have put on the table the ability to restore the Flourishing Bloom, your remaining lifespan, and even a quarter of the Bureau of Magical Affairs! You aren't even tempted by this?"

"A deal that appears to be a guaranteed win must hide risks and costs in the shadows. I do not wish to make a grave mistake by coveting momentary pleasure."

"'Make a grave mistake'? I cannot pretend not to hear such a harsh word. Does it mean that in your mind, once I obtain the Source of Beasts, I am destined to do evil? What image of me do you hold in your mind?"

"Gem Scepter."

"Hmph! Using a term that should symbolize honor as a synonym for a vicious critique is too despicable, young one!"

Emerald seemed very dissatisfied with such a description, but Lin Yun said nothing more; he calmly stared back at the doll before him.

He did not believe a pie would fall from the sky; he needed the other party to provide a reason that would put his mind at ease.

After a brief silence, Emerald finally opened the topic once more: "But that is fine; we still have plenty of time. There are five months until next year's certification exam. You have ample time to understand my character and then consider whether to conclude this deal. Believe me, my personal charm will convince you; you will accept my conditions after feeling my sincerity."

"What do you mean?" Lin Yun asked, puzzled.

"The meaning is that, for the time to come, I will leave this doll avatar in Fang Ting City and set up a private small research institute here."

Emerald said leisurely: "If you encounter something you are curious about, or have something you wish to know, you may come to find me."

"A research institute? When?"

"It hasn't been built yet; the location is undecided."

"... Is this also the reason you came to find me?"

"Yes, this is also the reason I came today. I imagine the Special Strategy Bureau should not lack such resources."

As if it had rested enough on the recliner, the round fairy doll finally straightened its body again, even if it looked like just a ball rolling on the chair. Its deep dark-green pupils fixed on Lin Yun once more, carrying a barely perceptible teasing note amidst the laziness:

"Then, I entrust you to find a feng shui treasure land for my research institute, young one... no, I should say, Mr. Director."

Meetings were held both in the morning and at noon, so the update is late!

(End of this chapter)