The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

Chapter 554 The Rabbit's Principle

The next morning, at the canteen of Rongcheng Medical College.

Cat and Fox, as always, updated their status on time in the corner of the cafeteria, slurping up their two ounces of beef offal noodles while chatting about what happened last night.

When there are early classes, Nan Jiayu prefers to stay overnight in the dormitory—this makes it more convenient to get up in the morning, and she can also order breakfast for Hu Hu in advance at the cafeteria, saving her the time of queuing.

As the yawning, sleepy golden fox recounted being woken up in the middle of the night to work overtime, and then inquired further about Garuda dragging people into a dream, Nan Jiayu suddenly felt extremely terrified.

"Invading...the dream...?"

"Is the harm caused by Garuda really that serious, invading dreams and all that..." The cat girl put two pieces of beef offal into her mouth and said while chewing.

"Yes, Chi Xue and I discussed it all night, but we still couldn't figure out how Garuda invaded the dream world," Su Tianqing said softly to Nan Jiayu after biting off half a tea egg.

"And Little Fish, listen to me, last night's dream was absolutely bizarre!"

"Do you remember the Gate of Fox Virtue? The other day, you played the out-of-control colossus and used your spring fist to smash the hyacinth in that mental world."

"Iris and that winged girl were dragged into that place by Garuda, and Garuda seems to have altered my settings for the mental world, turning it from a dice-rolling TRPG into an action-packed MMORPG!"

"Iris Flower wiped out all the monsters with just a few powerful spells. Seeing that she couldn't hold them off alone, I rushed in and unleashed a Meteor Shower! It's that ninth-ring spell with a total damage of 40D6, super powerful!"

Nan Jiayu was stunned, only knowing to pick up noodles one bite at a time, completely unaware of what expression to make.

The surrounding environment obscured their perception, preventing their conversation from being heard. To outsiders, it sounded like nothing more than an ordinary daily chat. Only Nan Jiayu knew what extraordinary things Tian Qing had said.

Su Tianqing's rambling finally came to an end when she went to the classroom, sat in her familiar seat, and stood up to greet the professor.

The first class this morning was Orc Pathology, and the fox girl next to me listened very attentively.

Nan Jiayu would occasionally tilt her head and secretly observe the notebook in Su Tianqing's hand. Looking at the densely written small words and diagrams on it, and then recalling the scene of Hu Hu slacking off and sleeping during her study of human pathology, she suddenly felt a strange sense of amusement.

Tianqing seemed very interested in all things related to orcs, and she was much more attentive than in other classes. However, even though she didn't listen to anything in Human Pathology, she still managed to get almost perfect scores on quizzes and midterms, which was quite unbelievable.

But regarding Garuda...

As the catgirl sketched in the book, she pondered the most important matter at hand.

The astral behemoth Garuda possesses powerful and unknown mysterious forces. According to current intelligence, it can drag sleeping people into its dream world, then set up countless dangerous traps within the dream world to silently kill them.

Its true form remains safely in the most secure location, and no one knows where it is hiding. Even the world's most powerful magic, the "Mental World," can be easily invaded and distorted by it. How can one fight against it?

"Phew... If only there were a way to find out where Garuda is hiding..."

Nan Jiayu muttered something to herself.

This muttering was naturally overheard by the fox girl beside her. The golden fox tilted its head and glanced at the cat girl beside it, revealing a bright smile.

"Little Fish, what are you muttering about? Are you still thinking about Garuda?"

"yes."

Nan Jiayu nodded, her cat tail twitching behind her, and answered honestly.

"I'm so worried about you, Tianqing."

"Since Garuda can invade your mental world, it may also cause you hidden harm that is difficult to detect. I am worried that it will be detrimental to you one day."

"...And besides, I have no way to deal with it."

Halfway through her sentence, the catgirl clenched her fists, a strange sense of powerlessness welling up inside her, brewing in the young girl's heart.

If Garuda really attacks Ame-no-Kage, what should she do? What can a "Hellcat" who excels only in close combat and knows almost nothing about magic do?

A fist can shatter the teeth of Leviathan and smash the flesh of Jormungandr, but it can never dispel an invisible and intangible "dream," nor awaken those who are in danger within it.

The fox beside him stopped swaying its tail, stared at him with its emerald eyes for a long time, then suddenly curved into a crescent moon, and its fluffy tail started swaying again, swaying very vigorously.

"Hmph~ Little Fish, are you worried about me~?"

The fox girl's voice suddenly became soft and clingy, emanating an inexplicable sweetness that left Nan Jiayu stunned. She only reacted when the fox girl quietly snuggled up to her.

The catgirl blushed and gently tried to dissuade her:

"Tianqing... Class is still in session, let's..."

"My sensory shielding has been deployed! Neither the professor nor the students around us will notice what's going on here!"

"Oh dear, is it blushing? A blushing little fish is so cute—"

"Cough cough."

A light cough instantly blew away the mischievous, cloying atmosphere.

The cat and fox both bristled and turned around to look at the pink-haired rabbit girl who had somehow gotten into the back seat.

"Well, what I mean is..."

Xia Taotao pursed her lips, her gaze shifting back and forth between the surprised fox girl and the astonished cat girl several times. Her brows furrowed and relaxed intermittently, her eyes filled with mixed emotions. Her lips moved as if she wanted to speak, but after much hesitation and struggle, she finally uttered those words:

"...Should I hide and avoid you? I can pretend I didn't see you."

.

In the end, Su Tianqing didn't let the rabbit hide and become a third wheel. She put away her playful thoughts in class and continued to listen attentively.

When the morning classes ended and the three of them sat in the cafeteria eating their lunch, the incident involving the fox was brought up again:

"So far, Garuda has made substantial contact with four people."

Su Tianqing said, picking up four pieces of meat from the plate with her chopsticks and placing them on the rice, as if listing names on a name board.

"The first person to come into contact with Garuda was Chi Xue."

"But I think that little winged bird was the first person to actually come into contact with Garuda. It's just that she hadn't become a magical girl yet, or perhaps it was because she had some kind of unique constitution that Garuda didn't have a more profound impact on her."

"Then there's Dandelion, who was pulled into my mind by Chi Xue. When they first entered the Gate of Fox Virtue, everything was normal, not much different from the world I designed."

"Here comes the important part."

The fox spirit ate three pieces of meat, chewed them carefully a few times, and then pointed to the last piece with her chopsticks.

"iris."

"She was dragged into a dream world based on my mental imagery by Garuda, who also distorted the basic rules of mental imagery, turning it into something whose composition I myself cannot understand."

"Moreover, a shadowy monster-like entity appeared in my mind's eye, somewhat like a degraded version of a monster, and it launched an endless pursuit of Iris and the others."

Watching the fox girl stuff the last piece of meat into her mouth and chew and swallow it, the cat and rabbit exchanged a glance, feeling like they wanted to say something but couldn't find a way to start.

Nan Jiayu felt that her brain was not working properly. She racked her brains trying to figure out "what exactly is Garuda?", but the answer she came up with always felt a little off, so she was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

[Actually, I think Sasha is related to Garuda in some way] - Nan Jiayu had this strange thought pop into her head, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt that her way of thinking was a bit too peculiar.

"Um, may I share my own thoughts?" another voice asked.

The speaker was Xia Taotao. She shoveled two mouthfuls of rice down her throat like a little rabbit, then gathered her pink hair into a simple ponytail at the back of her head. Her rabbit ears stood up high, and she transformed into her intelligence rabbit mode.

Stunned by her display of power, Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu nodded in unison and passed the conversation to Xia Taotao.

The one with the most superb intelligence gathering and organization skills in the villain squad—without a doubt—is this pink-haired bunny in front of you when she gets serious.

Despite Tao Tao's usual obsession with the shy and terrified expressions of magical girls, once she gets serious and starts analyzing, she can easily uncover hidden information that ordinary people cannot.

Su Tianqing even felt that if there were no strong cognitive biases and the property of "simultaneous occurrence", Tutu could even analyze that Xinyuehu and Dandelion were actually the same person.

"Based on the intelligence we currently possess, all of Garuda's abilities are related to 'Dream'."

"Whether it's the dandelion being accidentally dragged into a dream, or the iris and that winged girl being pulled into a distorted world of mental images, all of these have one thing in common—dreams."

"Except for the time when Chi Xue faced Garuda directly, which was an exception, but the situation at that time was quite special and can be analyzed separately as a special case."

"...Rabbit, try to keep it simple and use a way that Little Fish and I can understand."

Su Tianqing added.

Fortunately, Xia Taotao's analysis wasn't too complicated, at least to the point of being understandable—after piecing together all the information, she put down her plate and chopsticks and summarized:

"The first possibility is that the little bird is Garuda."

Su Tianqing was stunned.

Wow, this is a stunning debut!

"That's out of the question first, absolutely impossible." Su Tianqing rejected it without even thinking.

The information about Sasha in the secret book is very detailed, and it even emphasizes twice that "she is a winged person, not an astral behemoth," as if they are afraid that they will go astray and send the Zodiac Witch to kill Sasha to eliminate any future troubles.

"I also think this is a bit too radical, but there are two other possibilities."

Xia Taotao also showed a similar expression, and then said:

"The second possibility is that Garuda is hiding next to Chi Xue or that winged person. Once it finds an opportunity, it can drag the person closest to it into the dream world and then tear them to pieces."

"Hmm...that makes some sense..." Nan Jiayu said thoughtfully, stroking her chin and swaying her cat tail slowly. "But if Garuda is hiding right next to us...that guy is a giant astral beast, and Chi Xue isn't exactly a newbie. Besides, we've had many interactions with them, so we shouldn't be completely clueless, right?"

"That leaves only the third possibility! But I think this last one is the least likely, it's a bit too mystical."

Is it really that mysterious to say something in a world with magic and superpowers? Su Tianqing thought to herself.

The pink-haired bunny girl picked up her soup bowl, took a sip, and slowly uttered the last, most outrageous possibility:

"Garuda is hidden in someone's dream."

"It took over that person's dream, transformed it into a 'phantom dream' that could pull people into it, and then disguised itself as a normal dream to quietly lurk."

"...Unfortunately, it met you." Xia Taotao looked at Su Tianqing, her eyes becoming more determined.

"Me?" The golden fox blinked, looking puzzled.

"Yes, it's you, Tianqing. Your mental world covers the entire city of Rongcheng. Against the 'background' of this mental world, the 'illusionary dream' disguised by Garuda is truly revealed. Only then can those who are drawn into it realize that this is not a normal dream, but an illusionary dream distorted by Garuda."

The rabbit girl frowned slightly, shoveled a few more mouthfuls of rice into her mouth, quickly chewed them, and swallowed them. She then continued the previous topic:

"It's like a brown-furred rabbit suddenly appearing in the snow. Garuda itself knows that it's very conspicuous, so it instinctively pulls everyone who gets close to the dream into it."

"But I think this possibility is a bit too far-fetched. All the analysis is based on my subjective feelings, and there isn't much objective evidence to support it, unless..."

Hearing Xia Taotao's sudden pause, Su Tianqing quickly followed up with a question:

"unless?"

"...Unless another dream attack occurs, and we manage to get inside and investigate that dream, our idea will be confirmed."