161: Chapter 161 She attacked the card, so why did it work!

The referee opened his mouth.

The entire audience was stunned.

She didn't know?

Before Qin Ye activated Purgatory Mode to challenge everyone alone—she didn't know that Purgatory Mode allowed the use of a second associated card?!

The referee was silent for two seconds, then explained according to his professional duties: "In Purgatory Mode, all contestants may additionally use one same-origin associated card."

"But three conditions must be met."

"First, the second card and the main participating card must come from the same Card Creator."

"Second, the underlying core circuits of both cards must have a direct connection."

"Third, the main participating card cannot be deactivated. The second card must be used while the main card remains activated."

"After tournament inspection, if the core circuit correlation exceeds sixty percent, it can be judged as a same-origin system."

The referee paused here.

"These are the public rules of Purgatory Mode."

Qin Ye nodded.

"Understood."

Then she smiled.

It wasn't a sneer.

Nor was it anger.

It was just the extremely natural curving of her lips after learning something useful.

Seeing that smile, Wei Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

Master Mage Chen Taixu's hand holding his wooden sword also stopped.

The three layers of lenses before Han Ce's eyes emitted sharp alarms simultaneously.

Mental Power curve—is rising!

Inside the VIP box.

Kyubey lifted its head.

[Su Bai. Her combat excitement level has risen by eighty-seven percent.]

Su Bai grunted, "Mm."

Zhao Dahai turned his head, his expression stiff.

"Why aren't you surprised at all?"

"What's there to be surprised about."

Su Bai bit off a corner of his lollipop.

"She finally asked about the rules clearly."

Lin Xiao's fingers trembled.

Lin Weiwei slowly turned her head.

"Wait a second."

"What do you mean by that?"

Su Bai didn't answer.

On the arena stage.

Qin Ye reached her right hand into the side of her dark gothic dress.

Two fingers pinched a card.

She pulled it out slowly.

The surface of the card had no dark gold Stand.

Nor did it have burning gears.

There was only a young girl with her back to the crowd.

Her black skirt was spread out.

A gear-shaped soul gem floated on her chest.

The barrage of comments paused for a moment.

Then the screen was filled with question marks.

"magical girl card?!"

"She must have picked the wrong one?!"

"Isn't it a reinforcement card for her Stand?!"

"What does a Magical Girl have to do with a Stand? Besides both being made by Su Bai, these are completely different systems!"

"Being from the same Card Creator isn't enough! The underlying cores must be directly connected!"

"The tournament system can't possibly pass this—"

Qin Ye held the card up to her chest.

The tournament inspection array descended.

A pillar of white light enveloped her.

The data on the main screen began to scroll.

[Main Participating Card: Stand.]

[Additional Card: Magical Girl.]

[Creator: Su Bai.]

[Creator verification consistent.]

[Underlying core circuit inspection in progress...]

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

The inspection did not yield a result immediately.

This was a situation that had never occurred since the start of the competition.

The Purple-Robed Chief stood up from his seat.

Li Qingyue set down her teacup.

Shen Ye raised his hands, and over a dozen data screens appeared before him simultaneously.

"Magical Girl and Stand?"

His fingers swiped rapidly.

"One drives magical attire with wishes and emotions, while the other constructs an independent combat body with Mental Power and will. The circuit structures are completely different, and the energy operation methods are also—"

Shen Ye's voice stopped.

He dismantled the surface circuits of the two cards.

Further down.

Bypassing the magic transmission layer.

Crossing over the mental feedback layer.

Entering the very bottom.

The core structures of the two cards—overlapped!

It wasn't a similarity.

It wasn't imitation.

It was the same framework!

The inspection result on the main screen finally popped up.

[Common Underlying Core: Soul Manifestation Framework.]

[Mental Circuit Correlation: 91.7%.]

[Judgment: Same-Origin Derivative System.]

[Additional use permitted.]

The entire arena went quiet.

The data screens before Shen Ye stopped one by one.

His hand hung in mid-air.

"Ninety-one point seven..."

"Magical Girl and Stand are not two different systems at all."

He looked toward the VIP box.

"They are two branches of the same system!"

The Purple-Robed Chief's pupils contracted violently.

"Magical Girl grants a soul shell with wishes."

"Stand grants a soul body with spirit."

"Su Bai didn't create two types of cards separately..."

The old man's beard began to tremble.

"He first created an underlying framework capable of interfering with souls!"

"And then from this framework—"

"He split off two systems!"

The Empress parted the beaded curtain.

She did not look at Qin Ye.

Instead, she looked straight at Su Bai.

"Minister Su."

"How much more are you hiding?"

Su Bai thought for a moment.

"I'm not hiding anything."

The Empress narrowed her eyes.

"Then why does no one know?"

"No one asked."

"..."

It was quiet behind the beaded curtain for two seconds.

Wei Tianlong silently moved a step to the side.

He kept feeling that the Empress would throw Su Bai out of the box in the next second.

But in the end, the Empress did nothing.

She just looked back at the arena.

In her dark gold pupils, that light, like a child opening the wrapping paper of a new toy, grew brighter and brighter.

"Activate."

On the arena stage.

Qin Ye pressed the magical girl card against her chest.

The card passed through her clothes.

It sank into her body.

Thump!

A heartbeat sound rang out.

The sound was not loud.

Yet it was captured by every sound-receiving array in the arena.

Thump!

The second sound.

A cluster of dark gold light lit up on Qin Ye's chest.

That light pierced through her skin and clothes, outlining a slowly rotating gear.

Thump!

The third sound.

The world went quiet.

Black ribbons rose from beneath Qin Ye's feet.

One.

Two.

Dozens!

They swirled upward, wrapping around Qin Ye's ankles, calves, waist, and shoulders as if they had a life of their own.

Her original dark gothic dress decomposed into countless black light particles amidst the swirling ribbons.

The light particles did not dissipate.

They hovered in mid-air.

Reorganizing!

Black long boots formed first.

The heels hit the ground, splashing a ripple of dark gold.

The boot shafts spread upward along her calves, and extremely fine gear patterns appeared on the surface.

Then came the skirt.

The battle skirt armor, alternating between black and dark gold, unfolded in layers.

Beneath the skirt was not ordinary lace, but pieces of metal feathers as thin as cicada wings.

A circle of clock markings appeared around her waist.

Twelve dark gold light wheels lit up one by one.

On her chest.

The gear-shaped soul gem completely solidified.

It was pitch black throughout.

Deep inside, a cluster of dark gold flames burned.

Qin Ye's long hair was lifted by an invisible force.

Strands of dark gold light flowed across the tips of her hair, dyeing her originally pure black hair with a metallic, cold luster.

Finally.

A small black and gold top hat formed on top of her head.

A piece of translucent black veil hung from the edge of the hat, covering the left side of her face.

"Magical Girl..."

Chief Commentator Lu Ming gripped the microphone, his lips moving several times.

"Contestant Qin Ye has completed the Magical Girl transformation!"

"But—"

"Her Stand has not disappeared!"

The dark gold humanoid figure still stood behind Qin Ye.

The cracks on its body were still there.

The damage caused by Wei Xiaoyu's axe remained on the armor of its arms.

However, the moment Qin Ye completed her transformation, the Stand slowly raised its right hand.

Its large palm landed on Qin Ye's left shoulder.

Hum—

The gears at its joints stopped.

After a brief pause.

They began to rotate again!