Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

She realized that their arrival here was inextricably linked to the owner of this voice.

But... is this a dream?

When we talk about dreams and compare them with reality, the only difference is that one is illusory and the other is real.

“You’re right. Although your consciousness has been drawn into this dream realm, the witchification of your bodies is still underway in reality.”

"However, the duration of this process is stretched more than a hundred times compared to the sense of time in a dream."

"So much so that now, from the moment you regained your self-awareness, only a second has passed in the outside world."

The voice rang in my ears again, indistinguishable in gender, age, or gender, wavering and uncertain, making it impossible to discern the other person's emotions and attitude from the voice.

As the last word of the voice faded, the black domain suddenly exploded, and light poured into it.

The surrounding environment transformed back into the familiar hospital ward.

In the center of the ward, on the carpet, the three of them and Cupid stood motionless.

The fulfillment of a wish, a miracle capable of altering reality, is surrounded by a five-colored radiance.

However, amidst the dazzling colorful light, the gray hue representing filth could not be ignored.

All four of them focused their gazes on their own bodies.

The three little ones focused their attention on the Soul Gem, which was now completely black except for one corner that was not filled.

The incubator stared intently at the body, which had shrunk considerably and was nearly melting like rubber.

Satomi Touka turned her gaze away from her own body and looked around the rest of the ward.

Immediately, her expression turned serious.

The powerful energy released from the wish caused an invisible shockwave that impacted the ward, causing papers placed on the table to fly everywhere.

Of course, in Satomi Toka's eyes, these papers are now floating and still in the air.

However, if you look closely, you can still see that these papers are moving downwards at a very slow speed.

The voice was right; although the perception of time was stretched out, the events in reality continued unabated.

Satomi Touka seemed to hear the rustling sound of sand slipping through an hourglass beside her ear. It was the sound of sand in an hourglass, a symbol of impending death.

After a moment of silence, Satomi Touka took a deep breath and spoke to the unknown entity that was neither visible nor undeniably present:

"I want to know what's going on..."

"You'll tell us, won't you..."

Chapter 394 Understanding

Within this strange realm, thought is unrestricted. No, it should be said that the speed of thought is accelerated.

Satomi Touka's first reaction was astonishment, astonishment at being drawn into this realm, astonishment at the unexpected situation that occurred after making a wish.

But what followed was both relief and regret.

I'm glad I didn't turn into a witch immediately. At least I still have a little room to maneuver, and I'm glad I can still think things through.

Needless to say, I regretted it. The result was far different from what I had expected, and I realized that my initial thoughts were somewhat presumptuous.

After filtering through a multitude of emotions, what remains is calmness.

She calmly considered what had happened, what she should do, and whether there was any way to remedy the situation.

Her focus was entirely on the voices that brought them into this field.

Regardless of what's behind that voice, judging from the words just spoken, it's clear that the other party is capable of communication.

Moreover, delaying her own and her companions' transformation into witches in this way, whatever the purpose, ultimately helped them.

Or should I put it another way, what are the other party's intentions towards me?

“A sensitive child…” In the realm of consciousness, everything the other person was thinking was even more clearly visible to Kazama.

Although he inadvertently sabotaged himself by making a wish, his keen observation and thoughtful consideration in the details truly earned him the title of genius.

Kazama thought to himself, and then gently answered Satomi Touka's question.

Regarding what happened, the first thing to do is to resolve the doubts of the three little ones: why did they fail to cut off the incubator's functions by making a wish, and why did it turn out like this?

"Regarding the mechanics of the vast magical girl system, your deductions in general direction are not wrong."

"The incubator signs a magical girl, who then falls into witchhood. The incubator converts the witch's corrupt energy and uses it to begin a new cycle."

“Long ago, magical girls were cultivated from individual magical girls, and now they have evolved into a group.”

"In fact, this group continues to grow over time, until it becomes a massive cycle that cannot be broken."

"But in the three stages of wishing, magical girl, and witch, you have overlooked an important element."

Instead of giving the answer directly, Kazama guided the girls with great interest, offering hints:

"First, let's talk about the purpose of the incubators in creating this cycle of suffering."

The voice from the depths of the sky spoke these words, causing Satomi Touka to subconsciously look towards the incubator.

The little white beast has temporarily escaped the fate of being 'dismembered' by the three little ones, but it feels no joy. It just stands there quietly, motionless.

Behind this posture, Toka Satomi discerned a unique flavor.

Is the other person afraid?

As for whom they are afraid, the answer is obvious.

Trying to clear her mind of these conflicting thoughts, Satomi Touka spoke:

"I also asked Kyubey about the purpose of the magical girl he contracted."

"It says it's to save the world. But magical girls keep turning into witches, so I think that's probably a lie."

"Besides this, the other party must be able to gain something from this cycle..."

Satomi Touka lowered her head, and after a moment asked uncertainly:

"Could it be energy?"

In her previous analysis of Kyubey's main functions, Touka Satomi discovered that these functions are all closely related to magic.

"That's right, your guess is right, and the incubator's statement is also correct in a sense."

Kazama's voice echoed in Satomi Touka's ears:

"Incubators cannot lie. For a civilization, the presence of lies in communication is extremely inefficient. In addition, given the Gestalt consciousness of the Incubator race, individual Incubators do not possess the ability to lie through their language modules."

"Its so-called saving the world is not the human race as you understand it, or even the Earth, but the entire universe."

"The three laws of thermodynamics are: the first law is the conservation of energy, and the second law is the increase of entropy."

"Regarding the second law, a simple example is that a clean and tidy room will always become messy, and to get the room back to its original state, it will inevitably require more effort. The effort and reward are not commensurate..."

Satomi Touka nodded. As a science genius, she was naturally very clear about these laws.

Things always go from order to disorder, and to bring things back to order requires more energy, but energy is conserved.

Therefore, this also means that the boundless universe will eventually perish due to the increase in entropy.

But what do these two laws have to do with incubators?

Even if the incubator wants to obtain energy through magical girls, this only means that the magical girl system obtains energy more efficiently, and it has absolutely no connection with the so-called saving the world.

"unless...."

Satomi Touka's pupils contracted slightly, as if she had thought of something.

She looked at Cupid and slowly voiced her guess:

"Unless, the energy obtained from this system violates the first law of thermodynamics, namely the conservation of energy."

"Energy completely independent of the thermal entropy system can prevent the birth of entropy without consumption, thus postponing heat death. If there is enough of this energy, it can completely reverse entropy, and even prevent the end of existence..."

Is that the reason?

The voice from the unseen realm did not appear this time, seemingly acknowledging her statement.

After receiving confirmation, Satomi Touka stared intently at the incubator.

The incubator, which had been silent for some time and seemed to be in a state of stasis, finally spoke:

"Our actions are for a great cause..."

"A great undertaking?" Satomi Touka's emotions became excited:

"Is it acceptable to recklessly sacrifice young girls and toy with our emotions for the sake of this great cause?"

"This is a necessary sacrifice, and if one is rational enough, one will understand that such a sacrifice is not only necessary but also very worthwhile."

“Sacrificing the few to save the many—according to you humans, this is absolutely just. Moreover, even from the perspective of the human population, it is well worth it compared to the very few qualified girls who make up the majority of the population.”

"Perhaps it is justice for the majority. But for us, the group that has been harmed, it is utter injustice."

"What qualifications do you have to judge our value from this perspective?"

The incubator shook his head and said:

"No. Actually, in this whole matter, Satomi Toka, you who harbored such a wish, are the one who should understand us the most."

Chapter 395 Bearing the Weight of Cause and Effect

"Understand you?"

Satomi Touka, enraged, laughed instead.

"You mean, we become the victims, and we still have to understand you, the one who is the sacrifice?"

"Isn't that so?" The incubator's voice remained calm and composed.

"Your wish, your wish is to save all magical girls by seizing my abilities, isn't it? Whether they're born now or in the future..."

“I can see your path clearly. Even if you have the qualifications to fulfill this wish, it will be a long process to achieve this result.”

"To achieve this grand ambition, we need a massive amount of energy, and the only way to obtain energy is to continuously purify witches."

"And the number of witches in the world that you can capture with your current abilities is destined to be insufficient to meet the energy requirements."