Don't get too carried away before gaining a magical girl's true power. After all, modern weapons are far more powerful than ordinary people imagine—without direct combat ability, you could be defeated instantly. If I can't handle Disaster Beasts, can't I handle you?
Hibiscus asked several more questions about the Storm Gang, and sure enough, quality answerers flocked over to share everything they knew, gradually sketching out detailed intelligence.
The gang boss probably never imagined he'd be seen through before their meeting even began.
Following guidance, she first went to the Storm Gang's bar stronghold to exchange code words and communicate with contacts in advance. Due to her reputation from "Soloing the Black Dock Dungeon" plus sufficient weapons down payment, she easily made connections. Though she couldn't meet the leader yet, contact was established—progress was smooth.
Actually, there were some minor hiccups.
The Storm Gang wouldn't allow a masked customer to deal with them casually, even showing considerable hostility, but after she beat up one of their strongholds, they were willing to talk.
Hibiscus had expected to experience scheming, tracking and counter-killing, axe-wielding ambushes and such tactics, but none of it happened.
All that vigilance for nothing. On the contrary, the Storm Gang didn't mention the face-losing incident at all, directly shaking hands and making peace while buying weapons at high cash prices. Even knowing the goods originally belonged to the Dock Gang, they didn't care—they were very satisfied with the "legendary masked hero."
Facts proved that strength was always the first passport. A person's reputation precedes them. A collection of thugs, even with real financial backers behind them, didn't want to stir up trouble.
Was it going too smoothly? Could there be other schemes?
She sought help from her advisors for this.
The netizens' answer was quite realistic: "Black Fiend is magnanimous and strategic-minded. What are a few subordinates' losses? What's losing face? Do you think gangs should fight to the end because losing face affects protection fee collection? Their real money source is serving big shots—taking good care of one big shot is worth a thousand people's protection fees. You're already worth befriending, plus you have connections to Changfeng Financial Group. They don't dare slight you. That simple." It sounded harsh but reasonable.
This was Hibiscus's first encounter with such logic—indeed, making it in the underworld required understanding human relations and worldly wisdom. Bullying men and women couldn't make it to the big stage; not offending people was real skill.
But she didn't completely believe it. After all, "keyboard commanders" faced completely different situations from frontline personnel.
Rather than thinking the Storm Gang's service was considerate, she assumed they were harboring ill intentions—otherwise they shouldn't have brushed her off with "see you in a week."
Better to rely on yourself than others—only strength was reliable.
While wandering streets and alleys pondering gray business, Hibiscus didn't forget to continue her magical girl fitness routine. After all, using her ample chest to think, she knew that getting involved with the Storm Gang would attract much attention, like from police.
She had no intention of opposing the state apparatus, but being cautious was never wrong. Who knew how officials would treat magical girls when they emerged like bamboo shoots after rain?
Worrying was useless—no matter how smart you were, could you be smarter than national think tanks? The key was remembering one truth: when you truly possessed weapons of mass destruction, many "difficulties" would automatically disappear.
Hibiscus had an intuition that she was in a period of rapid strength growth before awakening, like young children's skills constantly climbing—an opportunity not to be missed.
Dawn of the 6th day.
The girl got up early as usual to exercise, but halfway through, she heard an explosion in her mind, her head splitting with pain, her whole body weak, vision spinning. Power continuously surged out, impacting her internal organs. She felt like she could swallow a cow and tug-of-war with a dump truck. Her thoughts were chaotic, only knowing the world was so illusory and small...
These symptoms were identical to those before the college entrance exam but passed in an instant.
Immediately after, burning sensations flowed through her limbs and bones. Hibiscus curled up unconsciously from the unbearable pain. When she crawled up after slight relief, her bones cracked as if she'd grown much taller.
After recovering, she went to the full-length mirror and sure enough, her already tall 170cm frame had grown another 5cm to model level. Fair skin, smooth long hair, slender and well-proportioned limbs without losing graceful lines, giving an impression not of frailty but coordination. Her originally slightly curved spine straightened, bearing distinguished and spirited eyes full of vigor. Her temperament was completely different from a rookie's atmosphere—steady yet full of youthful vitality.
Not studying naturally improved her spirits.
Hibiscus attributed this to "everything's perfect when not preparing for exams" and glanced at her panel attributes. As expected, Strength had broken a hundred.
Focusing on strength training was indeed correct—all attributes had now broken a hundred, stepping onto a new level.
Crack!
Suddenly the mirror surface was covered with fine cracks. The more she concentrated on observing, the more the cracks spread, then shattered to the ground before her eyes. What was happening? Was it broken by ugliness or beauty?
Hibiscus opened the system to report this strange phenomenon in the main thread, surely some experts would know.
【Obviously role-playing but don't understand magic power release. Though since the setting is Hyacinth before the plot begins, indeed wouldn't understand】
【You can simply understand it as intimidation or such. The strong naturally have presence—unconscious magic power leakage affects reality. One wave released clears all small monsters on the map】
【Magic power release represents a magical girl's origin manifestation, including spiritual power, endurance, regeneration and other factors. It guarantees the lower limit—the unrivaled method for defeating enemies and breaking deadlocks. It becomes more useful in late stages. When you encounter flashy, mechanically complex, even instant-kill magic, only origin is worth relying on. This proves you qualify for first awakening, because the 3 elements of magical girls in order are Origin, Magic, Regalia, corresponding to first, second, third awakenings respectively】
【Origin equals mana bar】
【Much more convenient than mana bars—can erase or resist magic effects. Remember, the stronger you are, the more terrifying your origin. When the gap is too large, all mechanisms become useless】
【When the strongest time magic duels the strongest causality magic, the two mechanism monsters' death match ultimately comes down to pure numbers. Hyacinth, don't lose the Lunar Battle again due to neglecting origin training】
Hibiscus raised an eyebrow, thinking why drag herself into this again? Setting aside that history had already changed, such distant future events weren't worth fretting over.
That said, she still planned to inquire a bit, but the next moment the main thread information exploded:
【Who lost? Blame Manjusaka for cheating】
【Clearly Hyacinth showed mercy and didn't go all out, otherwise several lives wouldn't be enough. Still had strength left after fighting, went to prison voluntarily】
【Hyacinth fans, that's enough. Your great villain used dirty tricks and cheats, otherwise wouldn't have passed the Imperial Flower stage first】
【Feels inferior to the forum's Undergraduate High Priestess—she'd instantly kill everyone】
【Imperial Flower is what version's abandoned character? Called the strongest magical girl but has terrible battle records. Even as a BOSS, everyone can step on her first. She accomplished nothing, never saved anyone. Her greatest contribution was wasting Hyacinth's time before the final battle】
【Didn't mourn even a moment for "Golden Dragon Emperor's" death, immediately rushed to the battlefield was "Sky-Full Cherry Blossoms" Manjusaka】
【Power level enthusiasts came sniffing around】
【What's the point of arguing who's stronger? Don't we all come here to see beautiful girls being affectionate?】
【Comparing power levels through stacking is an indispensable part of our battle manga. If you don't like it, don't participate. Get out of the Magical Girl of Light topic, blocking you】
【I ***】
Hibiscus sighed and silently closed the system interface, no longer paying attention to the quarreling. Though the netizens were quite helpful, they always ended up exchanging family greetings from strange angles—time to keep respectful distance.