Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity Chapter 54
Until the Disaster Control Bureau's civil engineering team arrived, Iris finally managed to collect her thoughts.
Watching a strangely shaped large truck spray high-temperature mist that quickly dissolved the surrounding ice blocks, immediately followed by various super-sized construction vehicles transporting different soil materials.
Large numbers of engineering teams closely followed, filling and repairing the ground, buildings, then utility poles, and stringing electrical wires.
The speed was so fast it made Iris dizzy and dumbfounded.
"Although the local Disaster Control Bureau lacks strength, their civil engineering level is truly astonishing."
Iris sincerely praised, "Other city branches rarely have your level of efficiency."
Nonsense, the Disaster Control Bureau doesn't raise many Magical Girls here. To ensure efficiency, the former bureau head repeatedly cut funding from other departments, with some non-critical areas directly having Incubators do the work.
The two most expensive areas for the Disaster Control Bureau are the Magical Girl combat teams and the civil engineering teams.
And since most Disaster Beasts are actually handled by the Azure Cloud Sect, the Disaster Control Bureau's main task is really just repairing the city...
The spray that dissolved Winter's massive amounts of ice was prepared specifically for the fastest possible reconstruction, along with various materials and preparations to deal with impacts caused by other Azure Cloud Sect Magical Girls' abilities, avoiding reconstruction delays.
Thanks to the Disaster Control Bureau's strong support, Beihai's civil engineering industry has flourished over these three years, becoming a holy land for civil engineering,
even making civil engineering majors at Beihai University extremely popular for a time.
Of course, Susan didn't plan to tell her this now, lest the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau's evaluation drop again.
"Serving the citizens." Susan used bureaucratic language, "The Disaster Control Bureau's mission isn't just solving Disaster Beasts, but also ensuring citizens' daily life stability and the city's economic development, requiring speed, efficiency, quality, and economy..."
"Alright, alright, stop reciting. Hearing this makes me want to sleep."
Iris, who had canceled her transformation, walked to the small car Susan had called, glanced at it, "What a shabby car."
Susan snorted, "Well, I'm so sorry to inconvenience you."
"No inconvenience or not, shabby cars aren't necessarily slow."
"Then why mention it?"
Iris immediately covered Susan's mouth seriously, "Hey hey, Magical Girls shouldn't talk like that, it'll shatter the fans' dreams."
"None of my business." Susan opened the car door and got in, "I'm not a Magical Girl anymore, now."
"Well, you were once..."
When the car started moving, Susan suddenly thought: "By the way, you're not going to have some honor guard and band waiting when you return to the Disaster Control Bureau, are you?"
"Do I look that stupid?"
"......" Susan remained silent for a moment, then changed the subject, "Speaking of the previous honor guard and band, what do you plan to do with them? They ended up not being used anyway."
"Already paid in advance. Medical fees and compensation I'll handle myself. Anyway, it's not much money, don't worry."
Having money sure is nice.
Susan sighed inwardly.
Visiting the Jiang siblings today was originally an extra task. Peony, who got paid leave in advance, had already left early, and hadn't returned to the Disaster Control Bureau yet. Both Keke and Li Yi currently couldn't return to the Disaster Control Bureau.
One's brother is too deeply involved with the Azure Cloud Sect's leader, the other's sister is too deeply involved with the Witch Association.
And as someone who knows more, Susan couldn't help but marvel at the extraordinary siblings these two have - one brother is the Azure Cloud Sect leader, one sister is a core Witch Association member.
The Disaster Control Bureau's Magical Girls' family members are all uniquely skilled..
But actually, Susan's own family situation isn't that severe. Although her parents weren't model parents, they still raised her properly into adulthood. After she became a Magical Girl, her parents were proud of her.
After she joined the Disaster Control Bureau, they supported her too, not opposing even when she dropped out of school. After losing her transformation ability, both parents comforted her.
Both her mother and father love her. The only issue is that her parents have long since divorced, each having their own families now, with new children of their own.
She feels somewhat out of place at either home.
But compared to Li Yi's abstract parents and Keke being orphaned, it's already much better. She just occasionally feels a bit of lonely displacement.
Since joining the Azure Cloud Sect, even that bit of loneliness has disappeared.
Wonder what this Iris's family situation is like? But with a personality like that, her family is probably fine, right?
When the two returned to the Disaster Control Bureau, the new bureau head had already arrived.
When they reached the conference room, Susan also saw the new bureau head.
A somewhat elderly Incubator.
"Um, I thought ordinary people can't see Incubators?" Susan suddenly remembered something, "How did it negotiate with the mayor?"
"As long as they have enough magic power, Incubators can even disguise themselves as humans."
Iris looked puzzled, "You didn't know this?"
"Never seen this kind of Incubator in Beihai."
So Iris showed an expression of looking at country bumpkins amazed by rare sights.
The conference room only had the Incubator and the two of them. Besides a central conference table, a large screen at the front, and two water dispensers in the corners, the conference room couldn't be more spartan.
When the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau was first established, the conference room was quite luxurious. Back then, various city government officials and business magnates would frequently come for meetings.
Later, the former bureau head found it purely a waste of time, solving no problems whatsoever, so they simply stopped holding meetings, selling off all the valuable items in the conference room.
Turning it into its current simple state.
"Thank you for your hard work, both of you. Iris, I heard reports that you made contact with the Azure Cloud Sect's Magical Girl?"
Iris sat opposite Susan, looking at the bureau head Incubator at the front who was questioning her, "Yes, Magical Girl Winter, assistant to Azure Cloud Sect leader Shion, also the second strongest Magical Girl in their organization."
"How was she?"
"Extremely strong."
The elderly Incubator seemed surprised, "Oh my, for you to say 'extremely strong,' she must be truly powerful?"
"Yes, her magic control precision is among the top even at headquarters. By headquarters classification, precision over ten. Her magic quantity is terrifying too - clearly not at Blooming level yet, but almost comparable to me, around eight. But most incomprehensible is her ability development."
Iris looked serious, "Low temperature and ice control aren't rare abilities - other places have Magical Girls with similar powers. But visual displacement, substitutes, freezing to slow magic operation speed... the branching abilities she's developed are numerous and powerful. The Azure Cloud Sect might have better ability development tutorials than headquarters."
Susan couldn't help but glance at Iris again.
She originally thought this person was arrogant, looking down on the Azure Cloud Sect.
If that were true, Susan wouldn't need to worry, but it seemed not to be the case.
The fight with Lady Winter stopped at just the right point, not pushing to a decisive outcome but allowing Lady Winter to leave. Calmly and accurately analyzing Lady Winter's abilities and where the Azure Cloud Sect differs from headquarters.
This Blooming-level Magical Girl might be quite troublesome.
"I saw in the report that she's only a Seedling-level Magical Girl." The Incubator seemed confused, "You didn't capture her?"
"That's the second matter I need to report."
Iris immediately looked at Susan, "At headquarters, Sprout-level means low magic quantity, can't fly. Seedling means can fly, magic increases. Blooming means huge magic increase, ability develops two to three branches... that's it. Let the local explain to the bureau head - the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau's more detailed classification of Magical Girls' strength."
"Not exactly the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau's classification." Susan corrected the ownership, "This is the Azure Cloud Sect's realm classification, not any secret either. They've repeatedly emphasized publicly that strength differences between Magical Girls of the same realm can be huge, can't generalize."
Iris nodded, then continued asking, "So what do Half-Step Blooming and Blooming Initial Peak mean?"
"Half-Step Blooming means magic quantity, magic control precision, and ability development match Blooming level, but for various reasons haven't advanced to Blooming. The main reason being mental state - that's the Azure Cloud Sect's term. Mental state means the intensity of the wish bursting forth when a Magical Girl is in desperate straits. The more firmly one believes in miracles, the stronger the power obtained."
Susan coughed, carefully choosing words - most of this came from Beihai Disaster Control Bureau internal documents, "Of course, most Magical Girls' advancement comes from that momentary mental state elevation. Because the wish in that moment transcends their current realm, they advance to the next level. But the Azure Cloud Sect internally considers this advancement unstable, with flimsy foundations, just having power without substance."
Like you, Iris.
This viewpoint naturally came from Lady Shion, that is, Jiang Si...
A momentary mental state elevation brings greater power, but the Magical Girl doesn't actually obtain the mental state needed to properly control this power. So rushing advancement leads to unstable foundations - even after becoming Blooming, they have no advantage at the same level.
Therefore within the Azure Cloud Sect, the Sect Master requires disciples, especially true disciples, to solidify their foundations, only advancing after mental state is sufficient.
According to Azure Cloud Sect internal group chats, all true disciples can advance to Blooming without exception, but are held back due to lacking corresponding mental state.
Even Lady Winter has sufficient mental state, but for some unknown reason refuses to advance herself.
Azure Cloud Sect disciples speculate she wants to accumulate deeply then advance directly to Blooming Peak Great Perfection, matching the Sect Master.
"Blooming Initial Peak means just entered Blooming not long ago, mental state not solid yet, but basic abilities qualified." After finishing, Susan added, "Of course, this is just what I've heard."
Iris now ignored the bureau head Incubator, just continuing to ask, "Besides this, do you know the Azure Cloud Sect's more specific realm classifications?"
"Know a little." Susan replied, "On the original four major realms, they're further divided into four minor realms and four minor extremes. The four minor realms are Initial, Middle, Late, and Perfection stages."
"The four extremes are Initial Peak, Middle Peak, Late Peak, and Peak Great Perfection."
"More specifically, each minor realm is further divided into nine layers. The Azure Cloud Sect calls this the Magical Girl Nine Revolutions Ascension Method."
"Each revolution has strict magic quantity and control precision requirements. Newly advanced Magical Girls mostly only qualify for Initial First Revolution. After reaching Ninth Revolution, accumulating one more revolution's magic quantity to reach Tenth Revolution is called Minor Extreme Realm, which is Initial Peak."
"So that's how it is. Seems Winter's evaluation of me wasn't too low either."
Iris quickly grasped the key point, "But after Tenth Revolution, if continuing to accumulate magic quantity, would they still remain at the current minor realm?"
Susan nodded, inwardly admiring the other's intelligence and sharpness, "Our internal data shows that after Azure Cloud Sect Magical Girls reach Minor Extreme Realm, they're required to develop abilities. Only after creating new abilities can they advance to the next minor realm."
"The evaluation standards for new abilities seem to differ for each major realm, but what exactly the requirements are, the Azure Cloud Sect hasn't said. It's speculated that overall requirements increase as the major realm advances."
"Reportedly because the Azure Cloud Sect has strict requirements for ability development, many Azure Cloud Sect Magical Girls who struggle with developing abilities get stuck at extreme realms, accumulating revolution after revolution of magic power... some individuals' magic has long exceeded ten revolutions."
Iris listened captivated, "What about major realm advancement?"
Susan nodded, "Major realm advancement requires undergoing tribulation."
"What's undergoing tribulation?"
"That process where Magical Girls burst forth in despair." Susan wasn't entirely sure either, "Pretty much that."
"I see." Iris looked admiring, "Appropriate and professional."
The bureau head Incubator quickly got confused, "What's all this? What are these nine revolutions? What are minor and major realms? Why is there tribulation?"
Headquarters country bumpkins.
Susan scornfully criticized inwardly, "No problem, bureau head doesn't need to know anyway. It's just the Azure Cloud Sect's own realm classification - universality might be insufficient. Our Disaster Control Bureau's classification is already sufficient."
Just drown clinging to your garbage four major realms.
The bureau head indeed nodded, "Right, right, ours is enough..."
"Not like this at all! Bureau Head."
Iris suddenly called out, interrupting the bureau head. She looked completely serious, "I've long thought the bureau's realm classification is too crude. When I was Seedling, many Seedling-period Magical Girls couldn't beat me at all, but they were still classified as Seedling Magical Girls like me, performing the same tasks."
"Now at Blooming, Kingfisher differs greatly from most Blooming abilities too, but they're still same-level Blooming. Is this really reasonable?"
Iris took a deep breath, touching her chest, "The fight with Azure Cloud Sect's Winter shocked me greatly. I've never seen a Seedling-period Magical Girl achieve this level. This shows they have better training methods than headquarters, and more reasonable realm classification than ours."
The bureau head stared dumbfounded at this Magical Girl.
"You weren't like this before, Iris. This kind of backwater regional village rule-level classification, you'd actually value it so much?"
"Because judging by results, their realm classification indeed produced a Seedling-level Magical Girl who can compete with Blooming." Iris shook her head, "Absolutely can't underestimate. The Azure Cloud Sect is probably much more formidable than we imagined."
The bureau head sighed, "Really doesn't sound like something you'd say. But since even Iris says so, the Azure Cloud Sect indeed seems much stronger than we estimated. Should I request another Blooming Magical Girl from headquarters for support earlier?"
Susan immediately interjected, "Deploying one Blooming-level Magical Girl is dangerous enough, right? North China's A-level Disaster Beasts have always been severe? Deploying another might cause problems, right?"
"Unrelated to these."
Iris raised her head, proudly saying, "No support needed. I am Blooming Magical Girl Iris! Moreover, although I recognize their realm classification, I don't recognize the realm they assigned me. I'll make them know I'm not some Blooming Initial Peak, but Blooming Super Great Full."
"It's Peak Great Perfection."
Iris nodded, "Oh, right, Blooming Peak Great Perfection! Or even higher level - Super Peak Great Perfection!"
"But according to ability differences, some are classified as Half-Step Blooming Peak Great Perfection too."
"How is that divided?"
"Anyway Half-Step Blooming Peak Great Perfection means almost there, but not quite..."
Susan didn't really understand either. Even Lady Winter doesn't fully understand - only Lady Shion herself knows this classification.
But no need to explain clearly to these headquarters country bumpkins anyway - spouting some nonsense and they can't tell the difference.
Although Susan feels the measly Disaster Control Bureau isn't worthy of using their Azure Cloud Sect's realm classification, this Iris's seeking heart is acceptable, so explaining a bit is fine.
The Azure Cloud Sect always opens the path of seeking to everyone, strictly prohibiting disciples from obstructing or ignoring others' seeking.
From this perspective, the Sect Master, that is, Jiang Si, has quite broad-mindedness.
Meanwhile Iris listened earnestly, finally nodding deeply in agreement, "Excellent theory, enough to become the new cornerstone for Magical Girls' future. After I capture Shion, I'll make her provide more detailed specific classifications and reasoning."
Susan glanced at her: "Even Winter was so difficult to deal with. Will Shion really be no problem?"
"Even if both come together, I still won't lose." Iris lifted her chin, proudly saying, "You can rest ten thousand hearts."
Then looked toward the bureau head:
"Bureau Head, after we clarify the detailed principles of this realm classification system, I want to apply to headquarters, requiring all Disaster Control Bureaus to jointly use this realm classification system!"
The Incubator covered its forehead.
"Are you sure? This classification system has been used for many years - ancestral methods shouldn't be changed. We'll probably encounter much resistance. Internal changes at headquarters are very difficult."
"Time for change. If others can't do it, then I will." Iris smiled slightly, "I'm tired of being classified in the same realm as Magical Girls inferior to me. It's also unfair to other stronger Magical Girls. Detailed classification can also help with more precise task distribution, preventing Magical Girls from receiving tasks beyond their capabilities."
"Most importantly, I want to obtain the Blooming Peak Great Perfection title!"