Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

“It’s up to you.” Hailing looked into Xiangzi’s eyes, placed her hands over Xiangzi’s hands, and hugged the black box with her. “Whether to use it or not is up to you, and we will go with you.”

"To succeed together, or to perish together at sea?" Xiangzi looked away, unable to meet Hailing's gaze. "This is cutting off our own escape route..."

“If we take the black box away,” Hailing paused, “you will have no worries. Without worries, you will have no reason to succeed. Without a reason to succeed, you will have no indomitable spirit. Without indomitable spirit, the miracle you crave will be even less likely to happen.”

"Do you believe that if you do this, a miracle will definitely happen?" Xiangzi murmured.

“I’ve never believed in miracles,” Hailing said. “I believe in you, that you can do anything, that you are omnipotent, and that you can become my ‘god.’”

Beyond the Tale: Stars and Us: Chapter 815 Mutsu, I've Come to Find You

There was a silence for about five or six seconds, followed by a round of applause.

"That's beautifully said." Miaomeng clapped her hands. "Haizi, I'm really impressed with you now."

"Actually, that's what you thought too, wasn't I right?" Hailing turned her head to look at Miaomeng.

“Logically, I definitely wouldn’t agree. After all, we’ve already succeeded. Doing this could make all our previous efforts go to waste, and Mutsuko’s sacrifice would also be…” Meowmon clicked her tongue. “However, I don’t think I’ve ever been very rational.”

"Does that mean you agree?"

"That's obvious." Miao Meng blushed and turned her head away. "Okay, so what if I'm a fence-sitter... God... you really dare to say that."

“I’m pretty good at judging people.” Hai Ling winked at her expressionlessly, then looked at Xiangzi. “Of course, the final decision is still yours, Xiangzi.”

We are willing to believe in you unconditionally, but do you believe in yourself?

Hailing's words were essentially a question.

Do I believe in myself?

Xiangzi lowered his head.

In the past, most of the time, she had no choice but to gamble on that slim chance of success, on whether she and her companions could complete the impossible task—a life-or-death gamble. But what if she had a choice, a way out? She always seems to... manage to mess things up, making things worse and worse.

Can she really do it?

Or maybe we should let them take the super-causal route, and then we can... think of a way.

This is also a kind of "do or die" approach.

“We’re birds of a feather, we share a common destiny,” Hailing suddenly said. “That’s what you told us at the beginning. You tied us to your boat, hoping we would help you solve the trouble you’ve caused.”

At that time... Nirvana, it's true that he brought trouble upon himself.

The world has become what it is today, and it's all our own fault.

She herself used those words to hold everyone hostage... making everyone follow her lead... She used to be so confident, but what was the result? One by one, the people around her left because of her confidence. Did she really... deserve that kind of confidence?

Or rather, can she really do it?

As Xiangzi thought of this, the light in his eyes dimmed even more.

“But,” Hailing said, “we have no intention of disembarking, Captain. Everyone believes you can do anything.”

“Captain, oh captain~” Meow Dream whistled from the side, “That’s so cheesy.”

"Pfft." Xiangzi covered his mouth and laughed out loud. "It's cheesy, but it does have some effect."

"Actually, I'm quite confident in my speaking skills." Hailing gave Miaomeng a thumbs up.

Xiangzi shook his head, both amused and exasperated, banishing all the self-doubt that had been swirling in his mind. Since they were still willing to believe in him, he should believe in himself even more.

From now on, she will never have that thought again.

"thank you all."

Xiangzi revealed a smile as bright as sunshine after rain.

"I've figured it out. I'll do as Hailing said and take the black box to Mu."

"However," Xiangzi said, taking the black box, then added, "you should leave in the diving ball first."

Hailing did convince her that rather than letting them leave with the supercausality while she struggled in the seabed with her remaining magic, it was better to take a gamble and win big.

But before that, we still need to get the two of them out to sea.

"Why? Didn't we agree that we were in the same boat?" Miao Meng asked, puzzled. "That's not fair of you."

"What did I do wrong? You guys will drag me down." Xiangzi rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "Have you ever experienced the feeling of being in close contact with a super-causal relationship? If you haven't, you'd better wait for me on the surface and wait for me to bring Mu back to Desuwa intact."

"you--"

“Listen carefully, I’m not joking, and I don’t intend to face this alone or bear it all by myself.” Xiangzi held the black box and looked at the two of them. “I’m the only one who has been in close contact with this thing. If you come with me and encounter any accidents during this process, I will have to save one or even two more people, understand?”

"So since you are willing to trust me and believe that I can make good use of this power, then listen to me."

"What should we do, Hai Zi?" Miao Meng turned her head, but didn't see Hai Ling's figure.

The spot where Hailing used to stand is now empty.

“I’m very obedient,” Hailing’s voice floated out from inside the diving ball. “I don’t know how to drive this thing, so it’s better if you’re the driver.”

"......" Miao Meng was speechless.

She sighed deeply, lamenting her bad luck in marrying the wrong person, and then turned her head toward Xiangzi.

“Okay, then,” she said. “We’ll wait for you on the sea. You absolutely, absolutely, absolutely have to bring Muko, Chao Yin-ying, and yourself back completely safe and sound.”

After saying that, Miaomeng extended her little finger.

"Hook."

"How old are you?" Xiangzi tilted his head. "Including these thirty years, you're almost sixty, aren't you?"

"I'll always be seventeen. What's wrong with keeping a bit of childlike innocence?" Miao Meng pouted. "Pinky promise, I won't leave without it."

"Okay, okay, I promise you, I'll bring Mu, Chaoyin, and myself back completely intact." Xiangzi comforted Miaomeng like a child, hooking his little finger with Miaomeng's little finger, "Pinky promise, a hundred years from now, no take-backs."

"Oh, right, you can keep the rest of the Lament Cube; we don't need it."

"Yes, yes, I received it. You can rest assured."

Xiangzi grabbed Miaomeng's shoulders, who was still reluctant to leave, and pushed her into the diving ball. Then he closed the hatch for them from the outside.

The diving ball began to slowly descend, and the hatch blocked out the sound. Xiangzi saw Miaomeng patting the glass, as if she wanted to say something to her.

Xiangzi simply smiled and shook her head, breathed on the glass, and then drew a smiley face. She took a step back and said a final goodbye to the diving ball.

The bubbling bubbles quickly disappeared, and the water surface stopped churning.

Xiangzi lowered her hand, her smile turning calm. She looked down at the black box she was holding in her arms.

Xiangzi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, turned around, and fell into the water.

With a splash, a metal sphere identical in design to the diving ball that had just surfaced enveloped Xiangzi before she fell into the water. The diving ball bounced on the surface, then its inner layer began to fill with water, slowly sinking to the surface.

Xiangzi, clutching the black box, sat on the seat of the diving ball, staring at the scenery outside the glass window.

To find Mu, she first needed to locate the hall she had previously seen within the collective consciousness. Judging from its decor, this hall shouldn't be in the lower city. Besides, she had already explored most of the lower city and hadn't seen any such building.

So she decided to go up to the Upper Town, which she hadn't explored much, and if that place wasn't in the Lower Town, it could only be in the Upper Town.

The diving ball slowly rose to the surface, ascending along the elevator from which he had fallen. Only then did Xiangzi realize just how deep he had fallen. The iron ball rose about a thousand or two meters, but Xiangzi still couldn't see the Upper City he had previously reached. The elevator pipes seemed completely unchanged; if the depth gauge hadn't been constantly rising, Xiangzi might have thought he hadn't moved at all.

Finally, a sliver of familiar light appeared outside the glass window.

It's the light from the underwater city; I didn't expect it to still be on.

Xiangzi pushed the control lever, increasing the upward speed slightly.

The diving ball rose from the deepest part of the trench to the seabed, and the underwater city that Xiangzi had seen before reappeared before his eyes.

The remaining lights of the city and the lights of the submersible illuminated the underwater scenery, making everything on the seabed clear. The light projected onto the tranquil seabed looked as if it were light that had been refracted and analyzed through the spectrum.

Various seashells and mollusks stroll along the soft sand, transforming the seabed into a garden. Above, jellyfish float like flowers amidst skyscrapers. Deep-sea plants—perhaps plants, perhaps corals—these plant-like creatures serve as urban greenery in this underwater city.

If all the lights were on, this city would be breathtaking, but now...

Xiangzi sighed regretfully, controlling the diving ball to float in the center of the city.

She hovered the diving sphere here because it offered the best view of the entire underwater city. Her original plan was to use the vague impressions she'd gleaned from others' memories to find the hall, precisely calculate every bit of her magic power, and rescue Mu before reaching her limit.

However, if she actually did that, she would probably have already consumed a lot of magic power by the time she ascended. After all, to propel such a large iron shell up two thousand meters and withstand such great water pressure, the magic power required would be much more than she originally expected.

Even if they find Mu, they probably won't be able to successfully reach the surface.

Since nothing is enough, we might as well go all out and fight to the very end.

Anyway, once you get your hands on something, you're going to use it. She's not the kind of person who holds onto her cards until the very last moment before playing them.

“It’s time.” Xiangzi took a deep breath and reached for the black box. “Mu, here I come.”

She was ready to face it all.

A gap appeared in the black cube, and crimson light instantly filled the diving sphere where Xiangzi was, shining out from the glass of the diving sphere and turning into a red beam of light that pierced through the seabed.

The Tale of Transcendence: Stars and Us: Chapter 816 I Can Do Anything

Xiangzi suddenly opened his eyes, only to find that he was not sitting in the diving ball.

She stood on a vast red plain, an endless red plain that rose and fell, stretching to the edge of her vision and meeting the equally crimson sky.

The red flowers swayed gently in the wind, carrying with them murmurs of noise.

"So, this is the real barrier after all..."

Xiangzi understood almost immediately: she had been dragged into a vast collective consciousness by the city lord. This red desert, like the barrier buried deep within her soul, was also a complete barrier. Only this barrier was composed of the consciousness—or rather, the souls—of countless people.

Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, they merged into one, forming a vast whole that constitutes this "grassland".

What's under my feet isn't actually weeds.

Xiangzi lowered his head and carefully observed the red flowers at his feet.

Instead, they were people—people calling for help, raising their hands in praise, or letting themselves drift with the wind. Each red flower represented a once-human individual, their voices echoing in Xiangzi's ears. With each flower she stepped on, decades, even centuries, of memories flooded her mind—the memories of these people assimilated by the barrier.

Each memory flashed by like a frame of a picture, playing rapidly in Xiangzi's mind.

Pain, joy, happiness, bitterness... a mixture of emotions flooded Xiangzi's mind like images.

Xiangzi felt like his brain was about to burst, and the blood vessels near his temples were throbbing.

Have you thought it through? If you have, then joining us is definitely the better option.

The city lord's voice echoed in the sky.

Come, our doors will always be open for you. Pull back from the brink, turn back from the wrong path. It's not too late to make your choice now.

"I'm here to find someone, I don't want to listen to you." Xiangzi covered his ears and strode forward. "Shut up!"

She would no longer be fooled by these words, and she didn't hesitate for even a moment. She had only one purpose in coming here: to find that one unique color in this entirely red wasteland.

"Wait for me, Mu." Xiangzi gritted his teeth and took a step forward. "I'll be right there."

===================================

Meanwhile, in the real world, Xiangzi was still sitting inside the diving ball.

The moment the black box was opened, the cries of thousands of people filled Xiangzi's ears, and the city before him suddenly became restless again.

Xiangzi's body also showed obvious signs of melting.

The integration process has begun again.

But this time, Xiangzi had a means of resistance: he used his super-causal power to resist the fusion process.

She was the one who understood supercausality best. Even though the supercausality in her hand already had a "holder," she could still mobilize the endless energy within supercausality as long as she was close enough to it and had a clear enough desire.

Xiangzi's body was constantly melting while simultaneously undergoing rapid regeneration. Her entire body was like boiling water, bubbling and bursting, constantly cycling between self-destruction and regeneration in order to resist merging with the underwater city.

The diving sphere was also slowly moving towards a certain place in the underwater city.

=====================

Why are you so persistent?

The voice in the sky inquired.

"Can't you see my memories?" Xiangzi stepped on the weeds, digesting the memories he had gleaned from them. "Since you can see them, why can't you understand them?"

Behind her, on the crimson grassland, a long trail had been left, stretching out of sight.

It is precisely because we can see your memories that we understand even less why you did that.