Chapter 225

—Green Tower.

With a total height of 1005 meters and as many as 197 floors, as the most famous tourist and commercial building in Fang Ting, the Green Tower's completion was already decades ago. At that time, the Green Tower was even once hailed as the "tallest building in the Eastern Hua Prefecture."

The original reason for the project is now untraceable; it is only known that the Fang Ting municipal government at the time, using the slogan of "boosting tourism," spent a huge sum of money, even cooperating with the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, and mobilized massive magic-side resources to finally complete this engineering miracle.

Unfortunately, this building ultimately failed to change Fang Ting's positioning as a border town; rather, given the skewed geographical location of Fang Ting itself, the Green Tower project ultimately degenerated into an internal self-indulgence of the city. At that time, there was even a negative reputation of "too high to be meaningful."

Not many external tourists were drawn in; only local citizens, out of a desire to join the fun, went to make up the numbers. Within a few years, as the locals' novelty faded, the Green Tower gradually became one of the common sights in Fang Ting.

Decades have passed, and as a landmark building of Fang Ting, the Green Tower continues to play its proper role. The bottom ten floors consist of a commercial complex made up of various shops; higher up, extending to the hundredth floor, are office areas mixed with a small amount of commercial space. As for above the hundredth floor, it is entirely positioned for sightseeing and tourism, used to accommodate locals as well as tourists from all over the world.

As for the very top floor of the Green Tower, a huge signal light is installed there. Every night, it emits a pale green neon glow, visible even as a green light point in the night sky from dozens of kilometers away.

It is worth mentioning that Fang Ting's largest stadium, named the "Green Tower" Stadium, is precisely because it is built in the suburban area, shining in the distance with the Green Tower. Whenever there is a major sporting event or a grand stage performance, the light from the top of the Green Tower shines exactly above the center of the stage. Even at certain times, it changes the color of the light at the tower top to match the performance inside the venue, which has become a beautiful story among the citizens.

And such a Green Tower welcomed two rather special guests today.

On the first floor of the Green Tower, there is a quiet elevator waiting hall, located in the northern part of the tower. Its interior decoration is quite luxurious: flashing crystals are embedded in the high ceilings, fountains and statues stand beside exquisite walls, and sunlight streams through floor-to-ceiling windows with blinds, casting gentle golden spots that flow across the marble floor.

However, such a beautiful scene did not seem to make the two guests inclined to stop and admire it; they passed the statues, stepped over the light spots, hurried along, and arrived at this unmanned elevator door.

"So amazing, no one stopped us on the way; we just walked in with our heads held high!"

Running to follow behind the long-striding Lin Yun, Mu Baihe looked around, slightly opening her mouth and sighing: "The decoration is so luxurious; it feels like I've become a rich person."

"If you wish, every Magical Girl can be a rich person in the common understanding."

Lin Yun pressed the button beside the elevator, his face expressionless: "If you really want to become rich, actually no one can stop you."

"You can say that, but I can't possibly exchange my Echo for money; I still understand that kind of logic."

Mu Baihe stopped in front of a potted plant beside the elevator and reached out to touch the green leaves: "As for asking the Anomaly Strategy Bureau for money, or robbing others, that's even more impossible. If Mu... Sister Yuanxiang knew, she would beat me."

"You actually considered going out to rob people?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Of course not... or was it?" Mu Baihe turned back, somewhat blankly: "Probably not."

"... Forget it, this matter isn't important."

Seeing the other person's eyes, clear yet revealing a hint of foolishness, Lin Yun sighed inwardly, gave up the idea of probing deeper into this issue, and subtly changed the subject: "Let's talk about that matter we discussed earlier instead. Are you sure the 'rumor' you mentioned can be trusted?"

"Does that even need to be said?"

Seeing Lin Yun mention this, Mu Baihe immediately nodded vigorously: "This is a secret known to everyone in our circle; the 'Gate of Ascending to Kingship' definitely exists!"

"Oh." Lin Yun, hearing this, remained noncommittal. "Then let's just assume that's the case."

"Don't take it lightly!"

Seeing that Lin Yun still looked uninterested, Mu Baihe immediately became indignant: "I've even told you my biggest secret; you must keep it confidential, okay? You absolutely cannot tell anyone else, okay?"

"I don't think everyone will unconditionally believe what you say is true..."

"I don't care; you are not allowed to tell anyone else, okay?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I definitely will not tell anyone else."

While perfunctorily responding to Mu Baihe, Lin Yun's gaze turned to the nearby elevator. Watching the floor indicator number slowly change to 1, he took a white card out of his chest pocket and pressed it against the elevator button. After a short while, accompanied by a "beep" prompt sound, the elevator doors slowly opened for the two of them.

This is the internal staff elevator of the Green Tower, and the only elevator in the entire Green Tower that can go directly to the top floor. Lin Yun obtained the pass in his hand in the name of Anomaly Strategy Bureau affairs, which led to the current situation.

And next, the two people's goal was the very top floor of this landmark building of Fang Ting.

As for why they had to come here, and why Lin Yun was the only one accompanying her, the reason was naturally the word Mu Baihe had just spoken—

Gate of Ascending to Kingship.

This is a rumor that has existed among Magical Girls for a long time; the exact time it started is also untraceable. However, as far as Lin Yun himself knows, when he was still a student, this rumor was already circulating among Magical Girls.

The rumor specifically states: It is said that there is a door in this world named the "Gate of Ascending to Kingship"; walking through that door, the person who receives its approval can become a "King."

A short sentence constitutes the entirety of the rumor's content; as for what a "King" actually is, why one should become a "King," and whether this rumor is truly disrespectful to Her Majesty the Queen, these are not problems that ordinary Magical Girls need to think about.

Without beginning or end, vague and unclear, with no witnesses; even describing this rumor as boring is too gentle. Therefore, although the existence of the "Gate of Ascending to Kingship" has circulated among Magical Girls for many years, no one has ever truly taken it seriously.

Furthermore, with the changing of generations, and because the content of the rumor was too boring, many new-generation Magical Girls have never even heard of this term. Even Lin Yun himself had tossed it into some random corner of his memory; if not for Mu Baihe bringing it up, he probably would never have actively recalled it.

Precisely because of this, previously within the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, when Mu Baihe repeatedly emphasized "I can say it, but you must not tell a third party," and "I don't believe verbal promises; you must sign a written statement," yet then spoke out such a term, even though Lin Yun tried very hard to control his facial expression, he could not prevent the look of suspicion from overflowing.

"Are you saying that this so-called 'Gate of Ascending to Kingship' currently exists in Fang Ting?"

After reorganizing Mu Baihe's fragmented expression, Lin Yun at that time tried hard to understand the intent in her words and patiently wrote two strokes in the notebook before him: "Who told you?"

"Of course, it was my friend." Mu Baihe's answer was straightforward and confident.

"And who is your friend?"

"Other Magical Girls I met online; what's wrong with that?"

"Why are you so certain that what they said is true?"

"Because my friend told me that her friend's friend's sister's father's colleague knows a Great Fairy in the Garden..."

To be honest, if Mu Baihe were not a member of Margaret's team, but some random stranger Magical Girl from nowhere, Lin Yun probably would have turned and left, waiting for her teammates to come and claim her.

According to Mu Baihe herself, during the two months she came to Fang Ting, she spent all her funds on this nonsensical, unverified rumor, conducting a carpet search, yet gained not a shred of result. And as if the roof leaked just as it rained all night, her teammate suddenly decided to leave Fang Ting yesterday and insisted on dragging her along, so she, with a sudden surge of boldness, made up her mind to come to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau to look for relevant data.

And because Mu Baihe conducted this matter entirely in private, determined to monopolize the "Gate of Ascending to Kingship" and not wanting others to know the truth, she ultimately chose the worst possible decision: "infiltrating the Anomaly Strategy Bureau alone."

And then, she was caught red-handed by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau's Security Department after being photographed by cameras, and was brought here because she almost destroyed a large amount of important data while attempting to use her Magic Armor to escape.

The entire process makes one want to sigh just hearing about it.

"So, why do you think that since this rumor has circulated for so long, no one else has found your so-called 'Gate of Ascending to Kingship' in Fang Ting?" Lin Yun asked Mu Baihe with some helplessness.

"That is naturally because I am a Magical Girl; I am more powerful than ordinary Magicians!" Mu Baihe answered confidently.

As for whether she was truly more powerful than ordinary Magicians, considering she could be arrested by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau's Security Department, Lin Yun had to put a big question mark next to this conclusion in his heart.

"Then what about your so-called 'friends'? Didn't you say they were also Magical Girls? Why didn't they come to look for it themselves?" Lin Yun continued to press.

"You don't even understand this? Of course, it's because I was passing through Fang Ting, so they entrusted this important mission to me." Mu Baihe answered by curling her hair with her finger: "They even specially gathered a sum of funds for me."

"Gathered funds for you? Oh, then you said you used up all your funds; specifically, where were they used?" Lin Yun held a pen and paper, glanced up at her.

"Uncle, you are so annoying; you insist on asking a girl like me this and that, and you always ask personal questions; do you really have feelings for me?"

"What do you mean..."

Lin Yun was nearly driven to laughter by her: "This is a routine investigation. I have a wife and children; I have no interest in a little girl like you."

"Hmph? Then I'll just take it as such."

Mu Baihe wore an expression of "I see through the truth, but I won't say," propping her cheek: "You asked for money, so naturally it's for buying snacks and clothes. Where else could it be used?"

Lin Yun couldn't tell if her mission was important, but he did notice that her group of little friends had clearly been played for fools.

At the end of the inquiry, out of respect for her bold act of breaking into the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, Lin Yun decided to help her out by checking the records regarding the "Gate of Kings" in Fang Ting City.

Whether the rumors were true or false, and whether useful information could be found, at least they could obtain a relatively definite answer, allowing this little girl Mu Baihe to go home with her teammates with peace of mind.

Regarding whether this action would yield results, Lin Yun's attitude was originally pessimistic, as he did not believe at all that the information source Mu Baihe mentioned had any credibility; it was highly likely just children spreading rumors among themselves.

But the facts greatly exceeded his expectations.

Using the Director's authority to unlock the entire Anomaly Strategy Bureau database, he flipped through the contents continuously. After reaching records from several decades ago, Lin Yun actually found some entries that were somewhat ambiguous yet plausible.

The source of the records was the file archive for the 【Fang Ting City Green Tower Observation Deck Project】. In these files, Lin Yun discovered that the Anomaly Strategy Bureau had undertaken part of the construction work for this project back then, and one of its main purposes seemed to be searching for the existence of "something." A significant portion of the file content pointed towards a connection with the Magic Kingdoms, suggesting that the Green Tower itself had limited participation from the Kingdoms back then, and even that something had been left on the top floor of the Green Tower.

As for that "something," because of the Kingdoms' involvement, the Anomaly Strategy Bureau at the time did not leave overly detailed descriptions in the files, nor even the true name, using only a code name.

This code name was "The Gate."

Thus, the two of them made this trip to the Green Tower.

Such matters were normally not something for the Director Lin Yun to handle personally, but considering Mu Baihe was ultimately a City magic girl from another city, there was no liaison within the Fang Ting City Anomaly Strategy Bureau capable of normal communication with her. Only he, the Director, possessed temporary authority to interface with City magic girls, which is why it became a two-person outing for him and Mu Baihe.

Apart from that, the fact that this matter had actually involved the Kingdoms back then made Lin Yun quite interested, feeling it necessary to see it with his own eyes.

Although it was a tourist attraction open to the public, the top floor of the Green Tower was actually not open to visitors. Because the top floor housed many important pieces of equipment, as well as the city-famous searchlight, the stairs leading to the very top were usually kept locked to the outside, and only one staff elevator within the entire Green Tower could reach the top floor.

Of course, for Lin Yun, the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, such a lock held no meaning. With a single phone call, someone would hand him an access pass for the interior of the Green Tower upon his arrival.

And then, the two of them stood inside this elevator leading to the top floor.

"Ah!" In the silent elevator, Mu Baihe suddenly let out a short gasp of surprise.

Lin Yun turned to look at the sound and saw her covering her ears, leaning against the inner wall of the elevator, with a terrified expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, simultaneously reaching into his pocket to touch the Heart Gem, trying to sense if there was any abnormal magical fluctuation in the surroundings.

"Ears... ears!"

However, Mu Baihe pointed at her ears in some panic: "My ears exploded!"

"Ears?"

Lin Yun frowned, pondered slightly, and then understood what the other person was actually talking about, letting out a sigh of relief: "Oh, you mean this? It's air pressure. There's nothing wrong with your ears."

"Air pressure? But my ears hurt so much."

Mu Baihe covered her head: "Could it be that? Is the Gate of Kings rejecting my approach..."

"Pinch your nose, close your mouth, and blow."

Interrupting her words, Lin Yun demonstrated by pinching his own nose, tilting his head, and signaling Mu Baihe to follow his example: "Like this, exhale slowly."

"Mm? Mm."

Mu Baihe copied him, keeping her mouth closed and staying quiet for a long while before finally releasing her hands:

"Eh, really, it doesn't hurt anymore! You're so amazing, old man!"

"Just a bit of common sense. Even if I didn't tell you, you would have learned it from somewhere else one day." Lin Yun stared fixedly at the electronic screen above the buttons: "If we're talking about being 'amazing,' the predecessors who summarized these methods were even more amazing."

"Is that so?" Mu Baihe blinked her eyes, her hands held up near her cheeks slightly clenching: "But the person who invented this method can't save me right now. For me, you, the old man who happened to help me, are the more amazing one. You can be a bit more proud of yourself, you know."

"... Where did you learn such twisted logic?" Lin Yun looked away again, glancing at her with some helplessness.

"Original work by me. Plagiarism will be prosecuted." Mu Baihe said proudly.

The elevator rose to the top floor amidst this rather inexplicable atmosphere.

Lin Yun stepped out of the elevator and looked around. Externally, it was an elevator lobby much smaller than the first floor. Perhaps because there was no need to receive visitors, the interior decoration appeared much plainer compared to the grand and luxurious style of the first floor. He could even see mottled rust on the doorframe leading to the rooftop terrace; it seemed that since the Green Tower was built several decades ago, this place had received no further maintenance.

With one hand holding the Heart Gem in his pocket, Lin Yun walked slowly out of the elevator lobby, feeling the sun here was particularly glaring and the cold wind particularly bone-piercing. At the thousand-meter-high tower top, even the temperature was much lower than on the ground; even through a thick coat, he could feel that cold penetrating his body.

"Wow, so beautiful!"

Before he could even make out the surroundings, he heard Mu Baihe's exclamation. He saw that the girl had somehow run to the outer edge of the terrace and was standing by the railing, looking down: "From here, you can see the whole city!"

"Be careful."

Subconsciously warning the other person, Lin Yun walked over to her side, squinting his eyes, and looked down from the same angle, immediately feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The entire Fang Ting City was now within his sight. Because it was truly so high, the buildings on the ground had become clusters of structures clustered together, embedded between dense roads, resembling a chessboard. As his gaze continued forward, he could even see the city's protective net in the distant horizon from here, and beyond that, a vast expanse of gray-yellow wasteland.

Truly worthy of being called an "Observation Tower."

He thought silently in his heart. Standing still in the cold wind, quietly gazing down at the city beneath his feet, for a long time, he finally patted Mu Baihe's shoulder, turned around, and said: "If you've seen enough, let's move. We didn't come here just to see the scenery."

On the rooftop terrace of the Green Tower, the searchlight that guided half the city stood right behind the two of them, mounted on a steel support frame over ten meters high.

Just now, Lin Yun had felt a fleeting magical fluctuation, and the source of the fluctuation seemed to be that searchlight.

He secretly used a technique to search the entire rooftop of the Green Tower, finding that everywhere else was utterly ordinary, and only the searchlight carried that faint magical fluctuation.

Without a doubt, the thing left behind by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau and the Kingdoms several decades ago to search for the "Gate" was right there.

Climbing up the support frame on steps that creaked slightly, Lin Yun held onto a nearby iron pole, using both hands and feet to climb up carefully. Before long, he felt his progress become slightly sluggish.

It was a barrier.

He keenly realized this.

And this barrier's function did not seem to be to block others' steps, because the magic within it did not produce any repulsion towards the outside, and its nature was quite gentle, seeming merely to maintain a certain magical balance.

Realizing the answer might be right before his eyes, Lin Yun quickened his movements, climbing up three steps at a time, then followed the magical fluctuation around the searchlight and found the thing he had sensed earlier behind it.

— A white paper, slightly yellowed, pasted on the back of the searchlight. Black Favo runes were written on the four corners of the white paper, and certain text was also printed on the paper surface.

Lin Yun recognized this white paper.

It was a Kingdom product called an "Auto-Scribe." The product itself was such white paper, but according to instructions given by the user, the Auto-Scribe could autonomously write the content the user desired onto the paper surface.

This product was not particularly rare, nor was it expensive; its value was roughly comparable to a paper book in the Material World. If one were to regard this as the "treasure" of this treasure hunt, it was clearly not up to the task.

Perhaps the only thing of value was what was currently recorded on this paper.

At this thought, Lin Yun reached out directly, peeled off the white paper, and upon fixing his gaze, discovered that the densely packed text on it seemed to be some kind of record:

【Queen's Era 1955, detected fluctuations 0 times, oscillations 0 times, resonances 0 times, fluctuation frequency is...】

【Queen's Era 1956, detected fluctuations 0 times, oscillations 0 times, resonances 0 times, fluctuation frequency is...】

【Queen's Era 1963, detected fluctuations 1 time, oscillations 0 times, resonances 1 time, fluctuation frequency is...】

【Queen's Era 1964, detected fluctuations 0 times, oscillations 0 times, resonances 1 time, fluctuation frequency is...】

【Queen's Era 1978, detected fluctuations 0 times, oscillations 1 time, resonances 1 time, fluctuation frequency is...】

【Queen's Era 1979, detected fluctuations 0 times, oscillations 0 times, resonances 1 time, fluctuation frequency is...】

All the records above ultimately stopped at "Queen's Era 1980".

According to the kingdom's calendar, the year Lin Yun currently finds himself in is Queen's Era 2000; in other words, this Automatic Scribe lost its utility twenty years ago.

As for the things recorded above, Lin Yun had not studied them, so he did not understand them, but he also did not care, because he knew someone else could understand them.

After stepping down from the stand, Lin Yun examined the white paper in his hands, turning it over and over, confirming that its material truly had nothing special, nor did it contain any other hidden content; even the magic circuits within the paper had long since failed, so he handed it over to Mu Baihe without any reluctance.

He had already memorized the things recorded on the paper; as for the paper itself, he did not care much.

This behavior instead made Mu Baihe's eyes widen.

"What do you mean, giving it to me?" she asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Mm, giving it to you." Lin Yun shook the white paper: "I investigated; it's just an ordinary piece of paper, not a dangerous item. You can take it."

"No, isn't it a matter of whether it's a dangerous item?"

Mu Baihe blankly accepted the Automatic Scribe from Lin Yun's hand: "This is a clue to the Gate of Ascension, you know? It's very valuable, you know?"

"I know, so I wrote down what was written on it." Lin Yun nodded.

"Then what about this paper? It might be some treasure, you know?"

Mu Baihe also shook the paper in her hand: "What if there's a treasure map inside, a lost spell formula, a随身 old lady..."

"That's your problem then."

Lin Yun remained noncommittal: "After all, you also said this is your encounter."

"I did say that... no, that's not right? How would you, Uncle, know I said such a thing?"

Mu Baihe was even more surprised: "I never told you that!"

"Who knows? Then I probably just mixed it up."

Lin Yun tightened his coat and walked toward the elevator hall not far away: "Let's go; it's too cold outside."

"No, no, no, you must have found out from somewhere! You really were secretly stalking me, Uncle?"

Mu Baihe finally realized, clutching the paper, and ran after Lin Yun: "It's not too late to confess now; it's fine, after all, for a cute girl like me, having some improper thoughts is quite normal."

"I already said, don't imagine things."

"But you're making it impossible for me not to imagine things! You treat me so well; do you really want nothing at all?"

"... I don't feel I treated you well anywhere; stop deluding yourself."

Lin Yun sighed: "I am a member of the Yi Ce Bureau, and you are a Magical Girl; what I do is originally my job."

"But I clearly am not from Fang Ting City?"

"Whatever, it makes no difference."

"The tsundere attribute doesn't make you cute, Uncle." Mu Baihe ran a few steps forward, bent down, and raised her head to look Lin Yun in the eyes.

"Stop talking nonsense." Lin Yun clicked his tongue.

"So it seems my previous view was truly wrong? You really are a good person, Uncle." Mu Baihe straightened up again.

"I already told you, I'm just a passerby." Lin Yun sighed.

"Then, as an apology, I'll treat you, Uncle, to lunch!"

"Do you have money?"

"No."

"Then how do you plan to treat me?"

"Come to our Magical Girl base; I'll have our captain cook for you."

"... That's truly thanks to you."

"How about it? Are you coming?"

"No."

"How can that be... this is lunch made by the beautiful Magical Girl herself, and our captain is single, beautiful, and even a big star; you will definitely like it, Uncle."

"Forget it; I still have work to do."

"So the Yi Ce Bureau's matters are actually this busy."

"Yes, the Yi Ce Bureau's matters are too busy."

"So I can only go back alone?"

"I'll see you off; walking back is too cold."

"Oh! Heartwarming words! My favorability toward you has increased again, Uncle! But I am still a minor, so even if favorability increases, some things are still not allowed."

"Oh."

"Uncle."

"Mm?"

"Thank you; for the matter in Bai'an City before, I'm sorry."

Mm.