"Let me think, if I were to tell you everything in detail, it would be a bit too lengthy, what would you like to hear?"
Upon hearing Lin Xiaolu say this, Mint cooperated quite well: "About the city itself? About our Magic Girl Team over there? Or about myself?"
"Tell me everything, after all, we've got time to kill."
Lin Xiaolu kept her left foot on the ground, her right foot tiptoeing, as she leaned against the Magic Power Device, watching Mint: "I learned from books before, it says that the city center of Yue Wang City is a mountain?"
"Since you're interested in listening, I don't mind, just don't find it boring later."
Mint turned around, lowered her head, took two more steps forward, and turned a few tiles underfoot to green: "Then let's start with Yue Wang City itself — you were right just now, Yue Wang City is a city built around a mountain. At the center of our city, there's a mountain a thousand meters high..."
"Wuheng Mountain," Lin Xiaolu answered quickly.
"...That's right, it's Wuheng Mountain."
Mint was slightly taken aback by her, but quickly continued: "A thousand years ago, during the ancient beast disaster period, a group of refugees hid in the mountain to escape from the Remnant Beasts and survive in the wilderness. These people didn't originally plan to stay on the mountain for long, but after living here for a while, they unexpectedly discovered that as long as they lived in Wuheng Mountain, it seemed no Remnant Beasts would come searching due to human gatherings."
"At that time, technology was not advanced, or rather, there wasn't much technology at all, and there was no theory to verify this guess. However, for these refugees, surviving the Remnant Beasts was already a great blessing, so they simply decided to settle here."
"And as they thought, nearly no Remnant Beasts came close to Wuheng Mountain on their own. Even if a few appeared occasionally, as long as people didn't expose themselves, these Remnant Beasts would leave."
"With such a naturally blessed environment, the people who settled on Wuheng Mountain naturally quickly multiplied and thrived. Plus, this mountain is quite prominent in the surrounding wilderness, constantly attracting more refugees from all directions, and later on, it became one of the largest human settlements in Donghua State."
"The existence of Wuheng Mountain was passed down by word of mouth among the people at that time, and it was very easy for outsiders to find and join here. In a radius of dozens of li, there was only this one mountain, so 'when you see the only mountain, you've found Wuheng,' and that's how the name 'Yue Wang City' came about."
Mint put one hand in her coat pocket, gestured to Bai Jingxuan in the distance with the other, and continued to move forward: "Later on, people from the Kingdom came to the Material Realm and helped us build the city. With so many people living on Wuheng Mountain, it naturally became one of the Central City's places."
"A mountain that can drive away Remnant Beasts?" Lin Xiaolu blinked: "Is there really such magical stuff? It sounds like a city defense net."
"Because in reality, an important material for the city defense net comes from Wuheng Mountain."
Mint shrugged: "There's a very special mineral within Wuheng Mountain's body that can disturb the surrounding magical power fluctuation, making Remnant Beasts' perception chaotic. The old folks call this mineral 'Ghost-Driving Stone,' while the people from the Kingdom call it 'miscellaneous jade.' In short, thanks to this mineral, the refugees of that time managed to survive by depending on Wuheng Mountain."
"So you in Yue Wang City don't even need a city defense net?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu suddenly clapped her hands: "Can you come and go as you please? Even see the city from the outside?"
"Ha, how could that be? You're overthinking it."
Mint laughed heartily: "Nowadays, there are no Ghost-Driving Stones left in Wuheng Mountain; they've all been extracted and used as materials for defense nets in other cities of Donghua State. After all, compared to stacking a pile of Ghost-Driving Stones and relying on their inherent properties to repel Remnant Beasts, making them into a defense net has a much higher utilization rate."
"Well, that's no fun," Lin Xiaolu immediately lost interest.
"All the Ghost-Driving Stones have been completely mined out, and Wuheng Mountain itself has become a big mine, with the Kingdom helping to reinforce the remaining mountain body, so even the interior of Wuheng Mountain is now a residential area of Yue Wang City."
Mint didn't think much of it either and continued: "You can imagine walking into a cave, looking up, and seeing the hollow mountain lit up brightly. Going along the mountain walls, all the way up are houses, bridges, and even a platform-style elevator that can carry over a hundred people at a time... isn't it cool? That's the usual scenery in our city."
"Hmm... it seems like it really is?" Lin Xiaolu imagined the scene Mint described and found it actually quite distinctive.
"And that's not all, behind the rock wall at the top of the largest cave is our Yue Wang City's Abnormal Strategy Bureau."
Mint raised a finger and wavered it slightly: "Since our city is Central, there are many Magical Girls, with over twenty currently registered, so the Abnormal Strategy Bureau even has a dedicated Magical Girl dormitory. Although not everyone stays there every day, it's generally not left unoccupied, and there's usually a few Magical Girls staying in the dorm for various tasks."
"So?" Lin Xiaolu already had half her body leaning on the device, resting her chin in her hand.
"So, you can imagine if something happened in the living area inside the cave, you just need to notify the Magical Girls in the dormitory, and she can jump straight down from the top—"
Mint spread her arms: "Dropping down to the destination in at most ten seconds, the Magical Girl makes a dazzling entrance."
"Ah, really."
Lin Xiaolu slightly opened her mouth: "That's kind of cool."
She was telling the truth because even Bai Jingxuan, not far away, was drawn in by Mint's description and showed a somewhat fanciful expression.
"I've done that more than once."
Mint shook her coat with glee: "And every time I land, I pull up my coat and do such a cool move. Just by doing that, my online followers skyrocket after a few days!"
"Online followers?"
Lin Xiaolu was even more surprised: "Do you guys also register accounts under your Magical Girl identities?"
"Isn't that a given?"
Mint looked at her somewhat inexplicably: "Haven't you followed Blue Star's blog? Even if we're not in the same city, you should at least see the messages, right?"
"I guess..."
Lin Xiaolu averted her eyes: "But isn't that something only well-known veterans do? Wouldn't it seem a bit arrogant for newbies like us to register accounts too?"
She was actually lying here.
Lin Xiaolu stared blankly at Mint: "I don't think I ever considered that?"
"... Well, you're from a city with only five magical girls."
Mint turned back to look at her, then suddenly dropped her shoulders dejectedly: "Because there are so few of you, you naturally become the focus of the citizens' attention. Small cities are nice, aren't they?"
"Uh, really?"
Lin Xiaolu asked herself, a bit confused. After recalling the comments she usually saw online, it seemed that was indeed the case.
Though she rarely searched for herself intentionally, she would typically only check news reports on TV or look for online comments about herself after taking down a Remnant Beast in style, but it was clear to the naked eye that, over the past half-year, the citizens of Fangting City actually had a pretty good opinion of her.
Some praised her as an active newcomer, others said she had improved a lot, and some even bluntly stated she was adorable. In short, even without intentionally promoting herself, the citizens of Fangting City were aware of her actions.
Though, this attention was a drop in the ocean compared to Emerald Sparrow.
As a former generation Magical Girl who saved Fangting City twenty years ago, the name "Cornflower" was already legendary among the older generation in Fangting City. And on last year's Full Moon Festival night, when she defeated that enormous Remnant Beast that seemed to block out the sky before the entire city, everyone knew "Cornflower had returned." Now, even the young people were no strangers to Cornflower.
It's undeniable that in the eyes of the general public, the most appealing trait of a Magical Girl is "strength."
As long as a Magical Girl is strong enough to effortlessly repel enemies and trample any Remnant Beast she faces, no matter how bad her personality or fierce her appearance, she will still garner countless followers.
Fangting City's Cornflower, being a Magical Girl who "saved the city twice," undoubtedly provides people with the greatest sense of security.
Moreover, although Emerald Sparrow is somewhat aloof towards outsiders, she's not harsh or hostile, and overall quite "approachable." Her appearance is also very cute, appealing to both men and women, so much so that in Fangting City's online discussions, Cornflower receives overwhelming praise, and any slight discordant note is quickly drowned out by a sea of admiration.
Naturally, Lin Xiaolu felt no jealousy over this. Instead, she thought it was only logical that "Emerald Sparrow is amazing," and it wasn't surprising that others recognized it too. While she occasionally admired and aspired, wondering if she would have such a day, she knew she still had a long way to go.
Given this, it was naturally difficult for her to feel any real sense of her current "reputation."
Mint quickly noticed Lin Xiaolu's mindset, so she tactfully changed the subject and started chatting about this and that.
Time passed slowly like this, until Mint finished gossiping about her team, and just when she was about to talk about herself, Bai Jingxuan, who had been quietly listening the whole time, suddenly exclaimed: "Got it!"
Only then did the other two notice that the green bricks in the passageway had extended all the way, connecting the devices at both ends, marking that this puzzle had finally reached its final stage in their hands.
"... Seems like it's not chat time anymore, huh."
Mint stepped out of the grid, circled around the device in front of her, and after confirming it was activated, she gave Lin Xiaolu a still-refreshing, albeit slightly sly, smile:
"Sorry, I'll have to talk about myself next time."