Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 21, The Holy Church's Disaster Relief Institute

Cheng Chen was already very familiar with the top floor of the Yinfu Entertainment office building, the president's floor.

The whole floor was noisy at this moment, as it seemed that many more people had come to report to Jiang Fei.

Cheng Mo strode forward on the carpet, with Cong Cong following closely beside him.

"The video was released late last night. After the public relations department detected the potential for negative publicity, they immediately activated the emergency plan. Coincidentally, the president was still at the company having a meeting with the directing team about Ms. Songlan's concert, so he personally contacted Ms. Huiya and asked her to come back to the company."

"I roughly understand now, so what's the reason for kidnapping the girl in the video?"

"Miss Huiya said that she got to know the girl in order to protect her."

"Protect?"

Cheng Chen frowned, and as they spoke, the two of them arrived at the door of Jiang Fei's office.

Congcong went up and knocked on the door. After pushing the door open, Cheng Chen went in first.

At this moment, "Magical Girl Eja" did not transform and sat on the sofa with some frustration. On the other side, Jiang Fei was talking to a little girl she had never seen before, who seemed to be the one who had been kidnapped by Yan Xi.

Jiang Fei was about to say something when Cheng Chen raised his hand to interrupt her:

"Let me talk to her first."

Seeing this, Jiang Fei nodded, whispered something to the girl, and the group left the lounge together. Congcong thoughtfully closed the door for her.

With a soft click of the door lock, only Cheng Chen and Yan Xi remained in the room.

"Explain yourself. You have five minutes."

Cheng Chen took out his phone. "After the time is up, I will decide how to deal with you based on the outcome of your explanation."

Yan Xi raised her head, showing no sign of rebellion, and obediently began to explain what had happened last night.

Cheng Chen was originally prepared to get a little angry, like a homeroom teacher disciplining a student, but seeing that she suddenly became well-behaved, he had no choice but to suppress his anger.

"...That's it. I thought she sold her daughter to those people, which is why she did this." Yan Xi lowered her eyelids after speaking. "I'm sorry if this has caused any trouble."

If Cheng Chen had been present last night, she probably would have made the same judgment.

Otherwise, how could a heavily indebted gambler easily borrow such a large sum of money?

The matter itself was not complicated, and his expression softened after hearing it.

Do you know how many mistakes you made?

Cheng Chen pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her, placing his hands on top of her.

Yan Xi opened her mouth, then shook her head.

"First, you acted impulsively based on mere conjecture without any evidence. You could have done much better by investigating and observing, or even by transforming yourself and then interrogating that gambling mother for the truth, but you chose the method that would generate the most traffic."

Yan Xi sat obediently and properly with her legs together, a stark contrast to her rebellious and irritable demeanor yesterday.

"Secondly, the consequences were not considered."

Cheng Chen raised his finger again. "If those people are really some vicious thugs, with demons or heavy weapons among them, rushing in will only cause a bigger conflict. Are they the only ones in that building? If other people get caught up in the crossfire, are you just going to wait to die on the spot?"

Yan opened her mouth, but could not refute it.

"If we really want to force our way in, we should at least destroy the building's transformer box first, so we won't be caught on camera. The darkness is also more suitable for a surprise attack; you can take them away before they even realize what's happening."

Cheng Chen said with exasperation.

He looked at Yan Xi, took a deep breath, and his tone became serious:

"Third, and most importantly. You just went over with that mother and daughter, and got into an argument with the mother downstairs. Then, a magical girl burst into the house and took her daughter away. This makes it easy for you to associate yourself with the magical girl."

"Knowing your true identity allows me to target your family and friends. For example, if I were a malevolent demon, I could use your family to threaten you into handing over your wand. What would you choose?"

Yan Xi's expression changed, and her lips turned pale.

Cheng Chen sighed and stood up: "You didn't consider that much at all, did you?"

Yan Xi lowered her head. He was right. When she rushed into the building last night to look for someone, she didn't think about that much at all.

"Impulsive, reckless. Just like yesterday. I don't care how much trouble you caused, it's just a pity you don't seem to have learned anything from the lesson." Cheng Chen stood up. "Think it over carefully."

Jiang Fei walked in with a smile, carrying two cups of coffee.

Cheng Chen calmed himself down and said to Yan Xi, who was clearly more flustered, "You can go out first. I have something to say to the president."

Yan Xi walked out the door, looking dejected.

"Finished talking?"

The female CEO calmly raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm," Cheng Chen replied calmly, "Overall, it's about what I guessed."

"The PR department has proposed two solutions, both classic approaches: the first is to pay to delete posts and forcefully suppress the hype, and the second is to ignore it and play dead. I recommend the second one. The competitor's dirty water has already been thrown at us, and no matter how we explain, it will only make things worse. It's better to remain silent and wait for the hype to die down," Jiang Fei said, waving her finger.

"Are we just going to passively take the insults like this?"

Jiang Fei shook her head, completely unconcerned: "Anyway, the company is already in this state. Being bombarded with criticism won't cause any further damage. Once the hype dies down a bit, we'll use online trolls to clear things up and say that the online claim that 'Black Magical Girl' is one of our trainees is a rumor."

"Once it turns into a war of words within the industry, casual observers will think it's just hype and lose interest, while fans are more concerned with whether they can win the argument than with the truth."

She laughed again as she spoke, "The marketing team is racking their brains every day trying to generate buzz and traffic, but Huiya just casually makes a move and it goes viral... In a way, that's a kind of talent."

Don't worry about what's trending on social media, just ask how much traffic it generates!

Cheng Chen was speechless.

"Hmm, no joke." Jiang Fei's smile faded. "You're in charge of the trainees; you can choose one of the two options."

Walking to the floor-to-ceiling window next to the CEO's chair, Cheng Chen gently braced his hand against the windowpane, hesitated for a few seconds, and then asked:

"What do you know about the Holy Church Disaster Relief Home?"

"The Magical Girl Association was originally established to unite against them. They were once the largest monster organization in Yin City, gathering many powerful demons. It was because of the destruction of the Disaster Relief Institute that I was able to free up my time to cooperate with the association to establish Yin Fu Entertainment."

Jiang Fei was clearly implying something, "If you're asking about the Disaster Relief Institute that jumped out this time, then it's most likely a fake."

"How so?"

"Aside from the part about faith, the Holy Church Disaster Relief Institute is essentially an organization that feeds on monsters and seeks to gain power."

Jiang Fei explained calmly, "Their only target is magical girls, so they actively protect ordinary people and maintain order, which allows them to establish themselves in Yincheng for a long time."

"Similar to us?"

"Similar to us."

Jiang Fei can establish a magical girl idol company, making money while protecting magical girls; others can also establish a disaster relief institute, supporting disaster beasts while maintaining their order.

For ordinary people, there is no difference between relying on magical girls or calamity beasts; it is simply a choice based on regional history and tradition.

"The Disaster Relief Institute has been setting up 'Girls' Church Schools' everywhere, providing free education, free room and board, and even scholarships and subsidies. I don't need to explain the purpose, do I?" Jiang Fei continued.

Cheng Chen nodded: "In order to select magical girls."

To feed the calamity beast, you need a "Heart of Wish," and to obtain a "Heart of Wish," you must find a magical girl.

The awakening of magical girls is almost a completely random event. Any girl of the right age may gain power overnight. The only way to find them is to cast a wide net and include as many girls of the right age as possible within your scope of intervention, so that you can detect when one of them awakens.

Only in this way can they have a stable "harvest" to supply their Holy Spirit.

"That's right."

Jiang Fei nodded. "After the Disaster Relief Institute was destroyed, the association received support from the municipal government and shut down all the 'Girls' Church Schools,' integrating them into the public education system. But they are still deeply rooted in Yincheng, and there are still many of their followers among ordinary people. The name of the Disaster Relief Institute can easily gain the trust of former believers."

Cheng Chen's expression was somewhat amused, as if he were deep in thought: "What benefit would they gain from impersonating the Disaster Relief Institute?"

The answer to the question is so simple as to be obvious: it is to take advantage of the influence left by the Disaster Relief Institute in Yincheng.

The greatest benefit of this influence is its ability to efficiently select magical girls.

Cheng Chen suddenly clenched his fist: "I suddenly have a new idea."

"What are your thoughts?" Jiang Fei asked cooperatively.

He shook his head without answering, strode into the president's office, and simply instructed, "Dismiss the public relations department for now, and have the marketing department wait for my news to prepare for the hype."

……