I'm a magical girl in the future

Chapter 171 The End of Duckweed

As long as I'm here, I will always protect you.

Noah's vow acted like a shot of adrenaline, dispelling Fu Ping's fear of death.

However, she sometimes has wild thoughts.

What if—what if the captain sacrificed himself to protect me?

What's the difference between living like that and dying? You could even say that if that's the case, it's better to die.

It's best not to think about these things. All she can do is study even harder and strive to reach the "Eternal Radiance" realm as soon as possible. Because only by reaching that realm can she personally verify the truth of Dr. Wang Tingshi's three conjectures.

And so, she celebrated her sixteenth birthday.

Another piece of exciting news is that she also successfully "opened the door to eternal youth" on this day.

"Floating Duckweed! You did it!" Noah excitedly grasped Floating Duckweed's hand.

To celebrate the moment, Noah called the cake shop: "Hey? I ordered an 8-inch cake this morning, right? Could you please change it to a 12-inch one? Hmm? It's already started? Then redo it, I'll pay extra."

Unlike Noah's joy, Floating stood there dumbfounded, her mind blank. The joy had come too suddenly, leaving her completely at a loss for how to react.

During these three years, Noah accompanied her on every mission, but they never encountered any life-threatening crisis.

All of this has been too uneventful, without any excitement whatsoever.

If there's anything special about it, it's that I've put in exceptionally hard work in my training.

Unexpectedly, without any danger, he suddenly arrived at "Yongshao" on this day.

It's like a dream.

In short, the facts are clear.

Since she was able to safely travel from Hua to "Yongshao", then Dr. Wang Tingshi's most desperate conjecture among her three conjectures—that all the duckweed in the future will die before "Yongshao" awakens—is completely invalid.

"That's amazing, Floating Blossom." Noah finished her call, walked over to Floating Blossom, and hugged her tightly, gently stroking her hair. "From becoming a magical girl to the blossoming of 'Eternal Radiance,' you only took four years. That speed—even faster than mine. You are the most talented magical girl I've ever seen."

"I----"

Nestled in Noah's arms, Fu Ping belatedly came to understand everything. Then, her eyes welled up with tears.

"That's great—Captain—I—I still—"

"Yes, you're alive." Noah hugged her tightly. "We'll stay together forever, won't we?"

The gloom that had gripped her heart has dissipated, and the road ahead is bright. Fu Ping, as an "Eternal Radiance" level magical girl, will fight alongside her captain and all her comrades to protect this hard-won world.

Yes, happiness will continue forever.

However, in that very year, the disaster struck Yuehua City—

This event is known to later generations as the "empty box incident".

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Everything around it clearly showed signs of multiple fierce battles. Otherwise, the surrounding environment wouldn't have been damaged to such an extent.

Darkness, fire, and despair—

Fu Ping lowered her head and looked at the scarred, silver-haired girl in her arms.

"Why—Captain—"

As long as I'm here, I will always protect you.

She did it.

She kept her promise and protected herself with her own life.

But—if she could, she would rather be the one collapsing right now.

"Why—why did this happen—"

"No—don't die—Captain—"

She burst into tears, uttering her most desperate plea to this world that no longer responded.

Just then, a figure silently walked up from behind her.

The duckweed suddenly raised its head.

"—Yotsuba—senpai?"

Four Leaf lowered her head and quietly looked at her. Unlike Noah and Floating Duckweed, Four Leaf had no marks on her body.

She didn't speak, but slowly squatted down and placed her hand on Noah's forehead.

A soft, bluish-green light emanated from her palm, and Noah's wounds healed almost instantly.

"—Senior Yotsuba—If you use your Heart Image on someone else—you can't use it on yourself for the next two days!"

"Your fighting style relies entirely on the infinite self-healing of your mind—if you lose this ability—"

The duckweed didn't finish its sentence, but its meaning was self-evident.

For a berserker whose fighting creed is "trading injury for life," losing "immortality" is no different from suicide.

In the battles to come, she will have nothing left to rely on.

"I know."

Yotsuba's voice was as calm as still water.

She didn't look at the duckweed; her gaze remained fixed on Noah's face the entire time.

"My life—is indebted to her—and to Xiaoling."

"Now, it's just a matter of giving it back."

Fu Ping stared blankly at everything. She knew that the captain was saved.

Yotsuba slowly stood up, then turned around and looked at the several huge black figures that were gradually approaching from not far away.

"Senior Ji Xia, are you still able to move?"

Fu Ping then realized that Senior Ji Xia had also arrived behind her. However, her current physical condition was not optimistic either.

"Well, so-so, at least he's still alive."

Senior Ji Xia swayed unsteadily. It seemed she was nearing her limit as well.

"Take Noah and Floating and go." Clover's eyes were fixed on the dark figures. "We're doomed to lose. At least, you have to live."

Without hesitation, she took a step forward.

"Noah is still unconscious. You should take her and leave first. If she wakes up, there's absolutely no way she'll be able to leave."

""

Watching Four Leaves' resolute departure, Floating Duckweed made up her mind.

Although it was only for a short while, I truly experienced the fear of "losing Sister Noah".

This made her understand that this was something she could never accept.

Without Captain Noah, I cannot survive in this world.

Fu Ping carefully laid Noah flat on the ground, then stood up and wiped away her tears.

"Senior Ji Xia, I'm entrusting Captain Noah to you."

"Yotsuba-senpai can't hold out for long by herself—I want to go with her."

She gripped the scythe tightly and followed Yotsuba's footsteps.

Ji Xia walked to Noah's side, watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance. She bit her lip, picked up Noah, and flew away into the distance.

This is Fu Ping's memory of her final battle.

In the end, she didn't even have a chance to say "thank you" to the captain.

However, she did not regret her choice. To be able to leave this world in such a way, Fu Ping felt she had no regrets in her life.

However, fate granted her a second chance, allowing her to reunite with Noah and start over.

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