Esper X Family – Chapter 511 – I’ve Already Retired

“That was great.”

Ye Yao looked utterly satisfied after blowing up the “toilet”.

Back in the original timeline, she had wanted to blow it up too, but she never got the chance.

By the time she remembered, Mu Luo and the others had already taken care of it.

During the period when Mu Luo and his group were running all over the world, the rotten elements were naturally chopped down one after another.

The foul-smelling “toilet” of that island nation was completely leveled as an afterthought.

In a way, that had stolen Ye Yao’s fun.

Fortunately, no one in this parallel world was competing with her.

Blowing up the “toilet” was truly a wonderful thing.

Just as Ye Yao was thinking about what to do next, a noise came from outside the door.

Someone must be back.

Right now, only the aunt was home. Based on her experience from the original timeline, the uncle wouldn’t be off work until later.

And from the light footsteps, it was probably a girl.

It had to be Mo Qiuli!

Ye Yao immediately sat up straight, careful not to act too excited or overbearing. It would be impolite to instinctively hug her.

After all, Mo Qiuli in this timeline didn’t know her.

“Mom, I’m home.”

Her voice came before she appeared.

The voice of Mo Qiuli in this timeline was slightly more mature than the one in the original timeline.

Three years had naturally stripped away some of her childishness, leaving behind a pleasing, youthful tone.

A few seconds later, a black-haired girl wearing glasses came into view.

For Ye Yao, who existed in both timelines simultaneously, she could feel this contrast more keenly than anyone.

Three years had passed like the most delicate carving knife, reshaping the deeply etched figure in Ye Yao’s memory.

What would Mo Qiuli look like when she grew up?

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Now, the answer finally appeared before Ye Yao’s eyes.

The small, childish figure stretched into a tall and graceful young girl.

Mo Qiuli stood at the door, her posture much taller.

The unique silhouette of a girl caught between innocence and maturity was now clearly defined.

Her signature glasses still rested on her straight, delicate nose.

The eyes behind the lenses seemed to have gained a touch of calmness, losing some of childhood’s wonder.

Those glasses were like a faint barrier she had built for herself.

Trying to hide the quietly blooming charm of a young girl beneath them.

Perhaps this was out of habit, or perhaps it was a new, budding modesty.

“Oh? You’ve grown up.” Ye Yao’s eyes sparkled.

But the beauty carved by time couldn’t be completely hidden by a pair of glasses.

Under the frame, her gradually maturing features had grown softer and more delicate, losing the roundness of childhood and revealing the elegant bone structure of a young woman.

Even the somewhat plain dress she wore couldn’t conceal the quiet, unique temperament emanating from within.

The black-haired loli from memory had become a genuine, beautiful black-haired young lady!

As the saying goes, a girl changes eighteen times as she grows up.

Even if Mo Qiuli wasn’t quite there yet, it was enough to show how much she had transformed.

In the original timeline, Ye Yao couldn’t help but have the loli version of Mo Qiuli stand in front of her and look closely.

“Ye Yao, why do you want me to stand at attention?”

Mo Qiuli’s puzzled voice sounded.

“Nothing. I just want to get a good look at you. Don’t you like me looking at you, Little Mo?”

“Of course I do! A magical girl is never afraid of being watched! Look all you want!”

It seemed that even without transforming, Mo Qiuli could face her own heart honestly.

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This kind of growth was undoubtedly huge.

Her normal state had unknowingly become indistinguishable from her magical girl form.

What about the grown-up, parallel world version of Mo Qiuli?

Ye Yao continued observing.

In the parallel world.

“Huh…? A guest?”

The girl’s voice reached Ye Yao’s ears.

After arriving home, Mo Qiuli naturally saw an unfamiliar girl sitting on the sofa.

She was very cute.

At first glance, she left a very favorable impression.

Mo Qiuli thought at once that she had the perfect qualities to be a magical girl.

But…

Just then, the aunt’s voice came from the kitchen.

“Qiuli, your friend has been waiting for you for a while. Go talk with her. She can stay for dinner tonight.”

Friend?

A question mark slowly appeared above Mo Qiuli’s head.

Did I have such a cute friend?

She had no memory of this at all!

What should I do?

Should I greet her?

What was her name again?

Mo Qiuli began to feel a little lost.

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Meanwhile, Ye Yao heard the system’s voice.

【Detected a family member within range who has never met the host. Please recognize each other. Reward: 5 attribute points.】

Wait, I can actually recognize her as family again!?

Ye Yao was slightly surprised.

When she first arrived in this world, she had discovered that the system’s family relationships didn’t work across worlds.

Even the family members listed in the family section were only connected to their counterparts in the original world.

When she tried to use the family location sharing, this timeline’s counterparts didn’t react at all.

Only the little light representing her last companion in Sequence Zero blinked alone.

Ye Yao thought she could no longer use the system to read information.

But then this Found Family system dropped a new “recognize as family” feature!

Yes, exactly! That’s how it should be.

This was the kind of function the system should have.

Because how could family ties be broken just because of a parallel world?

This also meant brand new attribute points!

But how to actually “recognize as family” was still a problem.

Ye Yao stared at the young girl who seemed a bit at a loss and decided to take the initiative.

“Sister Mo Qiuli, I’m your fan!”

“Fan!?”

The question mark in Mo Qiuli’s mind suddenly multiplied.

This was even stranger!

How could she possibly have fans?

This little girl must be mistaken.

Seeing Mo Qiuli caught off guard, Ye Yao decided to press her advantage.

“Sister Mo Qiuli, aren’t you the magical girl Mercury?”

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Mo Qiuli: “Huh?!”

Holy crap! Doxxed!

Wait, no, this isn’t right, is it?

Why would a stranger know she used to be Magical Girl Mercury?

Mo Qiuli’s brain felt like it had turned into mush. She felt dizzy, as if some embarrassing dark history had been dug up.

“Y-You’ve got the wrong person. What’s Magical Girl Mercury? I-I don’t know!”

Mo Qiuli could only hurriedly wave her hands in denial.

Ye Yao blinked.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re not very good at lying?”

Come to think of it, Mo Qiuli had tried to hide things back when they first met.

Although she later learned to put on an act and fool the adults, that was only after going through many experiences.

And it all relied on self-hypnosis using the “magical girl worldview” in her head.

It was basically all about the power of “I believe I can do it”.

And now, Mo Qiuli was actually trying to deny being “Magical Girl Mercury”.

She couldn’t fool anyone. Let alone Ye Yao, she couldn’t even fool an ordinary child!

Ye Yao decided to simply stare quietly at Mo Qiuli.

An unprecedented pressure washed over her.

Mo Qiuli quickly surrendered.

“E-Even if I was, that was a long time ago… I’ve already retired…”

Author Note

I’ll give you the most direct, truthful, straightforward, heart-wrenching, hardcore, decisive, immediate, impactful, merciless, incisive, to-the-point, unpretentious, unsentimental, and frank conclusion: May Day is almost over.

Text: Upturning group friends!