Chapter 1853: Chapter 1851: Guiding Faith (Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction)
The nightmare seemed endless.
Alisa curled up in the closet, trembling and crying incessantly. The screams of her parents before their death seemed to echo in her ears, and the enormous shadow lingered before her eyes, pushing Alisa to the brink of breakdown.
However, just at that moment... a ray of light suddenly appeared.
Alisa raised her head in surprise, only to see a dazzling beam of light like sunshine shooting through the cracks in the closet. Accompanied by the emergence of this light, the terrifying shadow outside the closet quietly tore apart and vanished. Then, the closet door slowly opened, and the warm light shone upon Alisa’s frail body inside the closet.
... So warm.
Feeling the radiance and warmth enveloping her, Alisa slowly closed her eyes. At this moment, it seemed that she was no longer in that cold, terrifying closet, but rather on a verdant meadow, under the blue sky and white clouds, with the warm sunlight and gentle breeze dispelling all darkness...
At this moment, Alisa finally relaxed her tense nerves and entered a deep sleep.
And when she woke up again, what she saw... was naturally an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Hey, you’re awake?"
Immediately after, Fang Zheng’s voice came from beside her. Alisa turned her head, finding Fang Zheng sitting nearby with a book in hand, smiling at her.
"Where am I...?"
Alisa tried to sit up but fell back down as dizziness overcame her.
"Don’t rush, after all, you have been asleep for a whole day and night. First, eat something... Feli, please bring the dinner over."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Alisa noticed Feli sitting on her other side. Hearing Fang Zheng, Feli glared at Fang Zheng and then got up, hobbling out of the room.
"What happened to Miss Feli?"
Watching Feli’s back, Alisa was puzzled, while Fang Zheng chuckled.
"Nothing much, just fell victim to her own bad habits."
The reason for Feli’s current state naturally stemmed from that candlelit dinner, where Fang Zheng tricked her into eating tomatoes, which displeased Feli greatly. She expressed her dissatisfaction by kicking Fang Zheng’s calf.
The result... goes without saying.
Feli’s foot wasn’t broken; she simply didn’t have enough strength.
"... Sorry."
Lying back on the bed, Alisa seemed to recall all that had happened before. She then closed her eyes, apologizing softly.
"It’s nothing. Accidents can happen at any time. Besides, your actions didn’t cause any severe consequences, so I’m not planning to say more this time."
Just at that moment, Feli entered with the dinner, and Fang Zheng also stood up.
"Well then, you take a good rest, and we’ll discuss the rest tomorrow."
"Ah, alright..."
Watching Fang Zheng leave, Alisa felt somewhat uneasy, but she nodded without saying more. Fang Zheng waved at her, then walked out of the room.
"Phew, finally part of the trouble is resolved."
Stepping out of the room, Fang Zheng sighed and stretched. He had thought of various ways to soothe Alisa’s mind, but ultimately opted for the most ’traditional’ method of a deity.
That being "God’s guidance."
This kind of occurrence is common in many fantasy novels, where a protagonist, initially in distress due to conspiracy, betrayal, or other reasons, finds themselves destitute and despondent. At their most hopeless moment, a beam of light or a deer or something else appears, guiding them out of their predicament, leading them to a path of radiance under divine guidance.
Fang Zheng used this method and, fortunately, since Alisa had been injected with Oracle Cells, she fit within the concept of a "Magical Girl." Therefore, Fang Zheng easily provided her with divine guidance.
As for why Fang Zheng didn’t appear in person to guide her, the reason is simple: deities must remain aloof to be revered. Haven’t you seen the Goddess of Order hiding her true identity when walking the world, opting for a Pope’s guise instead? Why? Because once a deity becomes tangible, they lose the reverence. Moreover, their every word and action would affect those around them.
It’s like an emperor asking his ministers if they’re loyal to him.
Who could dare to say no? That would surely cost them their heads!
Moreover, as a deity of a race, Fang Zheng doesn’t require temple worship; the existence of Magical Girls is enough...
To be honest, nobody knows Fang Zheng is the God of Magical Girls. Indeed, Fang Zheng hasn’t mentioned it, and others are unaware. Even when he signed a new contract with Mami Tomoe and others from the Magical Girl World, he only subtly mentioned something vaguely. That world has no deities, so Mami Tomoe and other Magical Girls aren’t very knowledgeable — maybe only Akemi Homura is an exception.
Louise learned of the existence of the God of Magical Girls through Red Ponytail’s "preaching," but she doesn’t know who this deity truly is.
And Fang Zheng doesn’t plan to tell her.
At that moment, Misaka Mikoto and others returned.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, how is Miss Alisa’s condition?"
Seeing Fang Zheng, Misaka Mikoto immediately asked. Although they only knew Alisa for a few days, they fought alongside her, so naturally, they were very concerned. Fang Zheng gestured for them to relax before speaking.
"She woke up earlier, is relatively normal. Let her calm down, Feli is inside keeping her company."
"I see..."
Hearing this, the girls collectively breathed a sigh of relief, and at this moment, Saten Reiko curiously spoke up.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, when can we take Miss Alisa and Miss Feli to visit our world? I’d love to introduce them to our Academy City."
However, Fang Zheng’s answer was entirely unexpected.
"For now, I’m afraid it’s not possible."
"Why, why not?!"
Hearing this, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Reiko were dumbfounded, while Kuroko Shirai frowned slightly but said nothing.
"Can’t Lei come with us to Academy City? Why can’t Miss Feli and Miss Alisa?"
"Lei’s situation is different."
Fang Zheng glanced at Lei, who was snuggling next to Ruiko—over the past few days, Lei had almost become Ruiko’s little wife.
"Lei lived five to six hundred years ago, and it’s very likely that she’s the last of the Holy War Angels. That’s why I didn’t oppose her going over there. However, Alisa and Feli are people of this era, so I have to think this through carefully before making a decision."
"Why? Is there a difference?"
"Of course."
At this point, Fang Zheng pointed out the window.
"Think about it. If you had always lived in this world, where you and your companions, friends, and family constantly suffer from material shortages and creature attacks, and people die every day, and suddenly one day, you discover you can go to a new world where there are no terrifying creatures, and there’s fertile land and a comfortable environment, what would you think?"
"Uh..."
"This..."
"Didn’t I just tell you about a world that nearly invaded yours?"
"But, but this time it’s different, and I believe that Miss Feli and Miss Alisa aren’t like that..."
"So you think they can just watch others struggle to survive in an apocalyptic world while they live a pleasant and happy life in a new one?"
"..."
At this, Saten Ruiko had nothing to say, and Misaka Mikoto furrowed her brow.
"But in that case, can’t they take them all there with them?"
"Mass immigration? That’s not a problem. I’ll give you a globe right now, and you can show me a place. Let’s see which country is willing to accept billions or even more refugees appearing out of nowhere?"
"This..."
Misaka Mikoto finally fell silent. Although she didn’t understand international politics well, she knew very clearly that this wasn’t feasible at all.
"And don’t think of the humanity of the apocalyptic world as so beautiful. I can assure you, if you do this, there will definitely be people attempting to control and conquer that world. At that time, one or more wars will be inevitable."
This is why Fang Zheng did not choose to take these people to Lina Inverse’s world. Although it’s sparsely populated, the technological gap is too large. One can imagine that after people from this world immigrate there, they would definitely engage in significant conflicts with neighboring countries over resources and land. While that world generally only reached the Middle Ages in civilization, this world, although experiencing an apocalypse, has a technological civilization that’s much more advanced.
In the end, it would end up an incomprehensible mess.
Fang Zheng didn’t want to get involved in such matters.
"Moreover, aren’t you worried that the problems of this world could spread to yours?"
Seeing that the two little girls were still uneasy, Fang Zheng added another sentence, which finally scared Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko. They had also heard from Feli and Alisa about the reason why this world became an apocalypse—caused by some kind of out-of-control contamination, and it wasn’t some ordinary pollution but an unknown material.
If that material happened to end up in their world...
At this point, the two finally stopped talking, but wait a moment...
"We’ve been going back and forth between these two worlds every day, and we’ve also fought against those creatures. Could we also be infected with that material?"
At this time, Kuroko Shirai spoke up, and upon hearing this, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko’s expressions turned pale too. But Fang Zheng waved his hand.
"Don’t worry. The problem in this world primarily stems from the large-scale mining and pollution of alchemic ores. Your Earth does not have this material, so there won’t be such problems. Besides, do you remember that big room when you entered the Teleportation Gate? That’s actually a large-scale detection and disinfection device. If you brought anything harmful to the Earth’s world, we would detect it at the first instance."
"Hoo..."
Hearing this, the girls collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, if there’s nothing else, go ahead and rest."
"Good night, Mr. Fang Zheng."
With their concerns eased, Misaka Mikoto, Saten Ruiko, and Lei turned to leave, each heading back to their rooms. Only Kuroko Shirai pretended to wander around, then sneaked back to Fang Zheng’s room door. Her figure flashed, and she entered.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, I have something I would like to consult you about."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"In today’s ability test, my ability’s strength increased significantly..."
While speaking, Kuroko Shirai recounted the matter to Fang Zheng, then she looked at Fang Zheng.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, do you know what’s going on?"
However, in response to Kuroko Shirai, Fang Zheng slightly smiled and stepped towards her.
"Oh? So if you’re asking me, you must already know the answer, right?"
"No, that’s not what I meant..."
Upon hearing this, Kuroko Shirai’s cheeks immediately flushed, and she lowered her head.
"I just feel... Is it really like this? Why would..."
"It’s too complicated to explain with words."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached out, wrapped his arm around Kuroko Shirai’s slender waist, and pulled her into his embrace. At the same time, his right hand moved down along the girl’s elegant curves, soon slipping underneath her skirt.
"It’s better to let you experience it firsthand."
"Mr. Fang Zheng... no, please... mm..."
Before Kuroko Shirai could finish speaking, Fang Zheng had already silenced her with a kiss. Soon, low panting and moaning sounds emerged, followed by the fluttering of shirts and uniforms. Everything gradually heated up like water coming to a boil under flames...
