Chapter 49: The Name of Wu Wang Wo (Part 2)

When she woke again from the chaos, her consciousness was heavy and hazy, a dull tearing pain spreading through every limb and bone.

The first thing to enter her ears was a soft, slightly delighted girl’s voice: “Ah, you’re awake, awake! How do you feel? Does your chest still hurt? Anywhere else uncomfortable?”

Her vision slowly focused, gradually outlining the person in front of her from a blur of white light.

Soft pink-white hair fell to her shoulders.

Her features were clean and gentle, her eyes holding pure worry and warmth.

That pink-white color.

It was the last color she saw before her consciousness faded.

It was the figure she had seen countless times on the honor wall of the Magical Girl Association—Lark.

The core member of the legendary first all S-Rank magical girl squad.

An existence standing at the pinnacle of all magical girls.

The hero protecting the city.

A light so dazzling, so clean, not stained by a single speck of dust.

For Chu Lingyan, who was only B-Rank, burdened with the Power of Collapse, and destined to become a self-destruct weapon, that light was too dazzling.

So dazzling that she instinctively wanted to avoid it.

So dazzling that it made her feel this rescue was itself a kind of irony.

Chu Lingyan silently lowered her head.

Her long lashes drooped heavily, covering all the surging emotions in her eyes.

The corners of her mouth uncontrollably turned downward, twisting into a cold, self-mocking arc.

Why save her?

Did they think she still had some use?

Did they think this bomb branded with the mark of sacrifice could still be traded for an S-Rank Witch’s life?

Did they think this ultimate weapon could be sharpened a little more?

Grandfather was already dead.

Died before her eyes.

She had lost everything she had, lost her only family, lost every reason to live on as Chu Lingyan.

Grandfather’s final roar kept pounding into her mind like a cold hammer, never fading—

“You are the last hope! You can’t die to trash like this!”

Hope…

So the so-called hope was to make her into an ultimate weapon with no feelings, no self, that could only detonate itself at the critical moment?

The last bit of light in her eyes slowly, completely extinguished, leaving not even a spark.

Since everyone saw her as a weapon, she would obediently live on as a weapon.

At least, that was Grandfather’s wish, wasn’t it?

Lark seemed to keenly sense her resistance and deathly stillness.

She didn’t ask more, didn’t force her to communicate.

Instead, she reached out and gently ruffled her hair.

“Since you don’t want to talk, just rest well. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, remember to press the call button by the bed. I’ll be right outside the door. I won’t go far.”

The gentle words fell.

The door was softly closed.

The room instantly fell into deathly silence, leaving only the weak beeping of instruments, cold and empty.

Chu Lingyan sat alone on the hospital bed, her back ramrod straight.

She didn’t know how long passed, but suddenly a suppressed argument came from outside the door.

The voices weren’t loud, but they clearly drilled through the crack in the door.

“…That is her mission as Wu Wang Wo… From the very first inheritor, a magical girl bearing that name must bear that responsibility… Our training plan can turn her into the sharpest blade against Witches, the most effective trump card. That is her value!”

A man’s voice, cold, harsh, without any warmth.

As if discussing an object.

“No… You absolutely cannot just do this arbitrarily… She has her own… She is not something you can casually… You can’t do this to her!”

Another voice, urgent and angry. It was Lark’s voice.

Chu Lingyan listened expressionlessly, not a ripple in her heart.

She didn’t deliberately try to hear what Lark said.

The wounds on her body still ached faintly, but her mana had mostly recovered.

She silently lifted the cold blanket, stepped barefoot onto the cold floor.

The chill spread from the soles of her feet up through her entire body, making her even more clear-headed.

She walked step by step to the door and pulled it open.

Both people outside froze at the same time.

The argument stopped abruptly.

Lark was startled, her eyes instantly flustered.

She quickly stepped forward, her tone full of apology: “Ah… did we disturb you? Sorry, I didn’t mean to, we…”

Chu Lingyan gently shook her head.

Her gaze passed over Lark and went straight to the man standing to the side.

She recognized him.

The highest-ranking official of the military’s special magic operations division.

The man’s face was hard and cold as if carved from stone.

His brow bones were sharp, his eyes deeply set, his pupils like icy blades, without any warmth.

His mouth was always pressed into a tight line, and his whole body exuded a cold, oppressive aura.

In his eyes, there were never any lives, only resources that could be consumed, only tools to achieve goals.

Chu Lingyan lifted her head and gave him a faint laugh.

That smile was hollow, cold, filled with extreme self-mockery and despair, devoid of any vitality.

“I am willing to participate in your plan,” she said calmly, her voice as light as a feather.

“After all… I am your ultimate weapon, aren’t I?”

“No, Miss Chu Lingyan, you misunderstand. We don’t see you as a weapon. We just…”

Lark hurriedly spoke, wanting to explain.

But Chu Lingyan had already fully raised her head.

At that moment, Lark finally saw her eyes clearly.

Those eyes—once holding the greenness of youth, hiding fear, hiding reluctance, hiding a faint desire to live—were now completely dead.

No light.

No warmth.

No emotion.

Like a pool of thoroughly frozen stagnant water, not even a single ripple, leaving only boundless numbness and emptiness.

She looked quietly at Lark, word by word, calm to the point of terror.

Each word seemed to be personally burying her former self: “Senior Lark, from now on, please call me Wu Wang Wo.”

“Chu Lingyan… is already dead.”

“Just forget her.”

A cold sneer of triumph appeared on the man’s face.

The corners of his mouth curled into an arrogant arc.

He turned his head to look at Lark, his tone carrying the victor’s gloat and coldness: “See? She volunteered. No one forced her. This is the most correct choice for her as Wu Wang Wo.”

Lark bit her lip fiercely, her teeth almost embedding into the flesh of her lower lip.

Her nails dug deeply into her palms, leaving deep red marks, but she felt no pain at all.

She could only watch helplessly as the man raised his hand, signaling Wu Wang Wo to follow, and then watched the already soulless girl turn expressionlessly and follow the man step by step, her back thin and cold, never looking back again.

The training targeted at her was crueler than imagination.

Every second, every minute was draining her life.

The military demanded she continuously use herself as a cost, lightly activate the Power of Collapse, allowing collapse to fully merge with her body, so she could control this power of destruction at will.

But the Power of Collapse was a forbidden power that used life itself as fuel.

Every activation tore at her own meridians, corroded her internal organs, making her body endure the pain of a thousand cuts.

Her body became bruised and battered over and over, new wounds piled on old ones, never a moment of being whole.

Her skin was covered with scars of varying depths—the marks left by the Power of Collapse.

Pain had long become routine.

From the initial unbearable agony to the later numbness, she no longer even felt pain.

She only knew to follow orders, to activate collapse over and over, to push herself to the brink of collapse again and again.

She began to go on missions.

As a Lone Star Class magical girl, she always acted alone.

No teammates, no support, no retreat.

In every battle, she activated her collapse ability without regard for cost, even if her body couldn’t bear it, even if her mana went berserk—she never cared.

Her talent was astonishingly high.

Under this kind of self-mutilating training and combat, her strength skyrocketed, all the way from B-Rank to the threshold of A-Rank, just one step away from entering a higher realm.

But she didn’t care.

Didn’t care about strength, didn’t care about honor, didn’t care about life or death.

She only knew she was a weapon, had to complete missions, and when necessary, detonate herself.

On the mission just before she was about to break through to A-Rank, she was sent to a remote Space Rift to clean up a lurking Witch.

But once again, she fell into a carefully planned ambush.

Four A-Rank Witches surrounded her.

Black mana shrouded the entire area, killing intent overwhelming.

Looking at the Witches surrounding her, she not only showed no fear but slowly raised her head, revealing a mad and hollow smile.

“This number… will do,” she murmured to herself, her voice so soft only she could hear.

“You’ll be the ones.”

The Witches’ attacks came instantly.

Sharp black mana pierced through her body like blades.

Blood gushed out, staining her combat suit, dripping along the hem of her clothes, blooming into scarlet flowers on the ground.

One of the Witches laughed coldly, reached out, and grabbed her throat tightly, lifting her entire body.

The force of the fingers grew stronger and stronger, almost crushing her bones.

“Heh, the legendary Wu Wang Wo? Not so impressive.”

The Witch’s voice was full of contempt and mockery.

But the next second, the Witch’s pupils constricted sharply.

The smile on her face instantly froze.

She saw that the girl whose throat was being gripped, covered in blood, and barely breathing was showing an excited smile on her face, a frantic light flickering in her eyes.

“I am… the ultimate weapon after all,” Wu Wang Wo said softly, her voice weak yet clear, carrying a desperate recklessness.

“Trading for all four of you… barely acceptable.”

Her body began to show dense black cracks.

The Power of Collapse surged wildly.

Twisted destructive energy went berserk inside her.

Self-destruct could no longer be stopped.

A terrifying pressure instantly swept through the entire area.

“Not good! She’s going to self-destruct! Fall back!”

The Witches were greatly alarmed and immediately tried to retreat.

At that critical moment—

A sharp, urgent voice tore through the sky.

“Blood Butterfly! Sword Saint! Hurry! Stop them!”

It was Lark’s voice!

The next second, a sky full of blood arrows rained down like a storm, instantly piercing through all the Witches’ bodies.

In the distance, a silver-white sword light flashed and vanished, too fast for the naked eye to catch, extremely sharp.

The four A-Rank Witches didn’t even have time to scream before they were split in two on the spot.

The dust settled.

The crisis was resolved.

A warm, trembling hand gently pressed down on her shoulder.

The familiar pink-white hair fell before her eyes.

That pink-white figure again.

Wu Wang Wo looked at her, her eyes filled with nothing but numbness and annoyance.

‘…This woman is so annoying.’

That was her last thought before losing consciousness.