Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

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Ever since the idea popped into his head, the Abyss Gentleman has been making the most of his free time to study, but his progress is still quite limited.

Moreover, he doesn't have enough time; his younger siblings have only recently become independent, and he still needs to train successors.

He has thought more than once that if he had spent more time improving himself when he was younger, things would be different now.

After saying those words in his youth, he naturally felt somewhat disheartened; perhaps this is a case of "if you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old."

That's why he needs to guide his younger self with even more patience.

He doesn't know if the seeds he's planting will sprout, but he still has to take the first step.

The Abyss Gentleman remained expressionless, but for some reason, Jack could still detect a hint of sadness on his face.

Unlike the young and reckless Jack, the Gentleman of the Abyss chose a more reserved appearance without facial features, partly because he didn't want too many people to notice his emotions.

The facial expressions on his face are only shown to others if he chooses to.

In fact, he was able to transform his appearance to be very human-like when he was young, but after his mindset matured, he chose to tone down his sharpness and make his appearance more energy-efficient.

Jack initially judged Abyss Gentleman's skill level by his appearance. Generally speaking, humanoid monsters like them would only reveal their highest level in appearance, rather than concealing their abilities.

So he never expected that this strange old woman was, in some ways, much stronger than him.

He simply assumed the strange old woman was a weak, eccentric person who had come to seek refuge with him—regardless of whether she was weak or not, she was definitely not as strong as him.

As for the other party's audacity in interfering in his affairs, Jack also had an explanation.

A person's eccentricity is linked to their personality traits. If someone enjoys doing housework and nagging like a fussy old woman, then they are definitely a "motherly eccentric."

This feeling of being controlled was still quite unusual for Jack.

He rubbed the goosebumps that had appeared on his skin after seeing the Abyss Gentleman, such a strange man, display a "weak" and "sad" expression, and then honestly apologized: "...Um, I was just talking nonsense, I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't stoop to the level of arguing with a young man like you." The Gentleman of the Abyss sighed slightly. After adjusting his mindset, he finally calmed down and was able to view his younger self more objectively and fairly.

It's not so much that I didn't think about the future when I was young, but rather that I was afraid to think about it.

The Gentleman of the Abyss knew how weak he was; his indulgence and recklessness stemmed from his unwillingness to think about the near future, a "live for today" mentality.

Only when you truly stumble and fall will you learn to grow.

Therefore... it is necessary to dampen the arrogance of young people.

The Abyss Gentleman's face revealed a smiling expression, which, for some reason, made Jack feel a little uneasy.

All I saw was this strange old woman slowly taking off her apron, shaking it slightly in her hand, and it turned into a suit jacket.

The Abyss Gentleman draped his coat over his shoulders, put his black top hat back on (which he had put away when he had to work), and dusted off his shoulders.

With another wave of his hand, a jewel-encrusted cane appeared in his hand.

Jack suddenly sensed something was wrong.

The tip of the cane poked his chest, causing a slight sting. He looked up, and the expression on the Abyss Gentleman's dark face was particularly striking: :)

“It’s necessary to discipline this unruly young leader,” the older gentleman said slowly and deliberately. His voice was magnetic and steady, a far cry from the impression he had left on the old woman, giving people a strong sense of crisis. “Jack, these are the rules you set yourself. Whoever wins gets to listen to them.”

Jack paused for a moment, then smiled with interest: "You want to challenge me?"

The Abyss Gentleman's tone was as if he were discussing the nice weather: "It's easier to talk to someone after you've become the alpha wolf."

"What's going on with that weirdo today?" Magical Girl Red muttered. "It's so noisy."

The young Sugiyama Rika, let's call her Magical Girl Akagi here, to avoid confusing her with my 28-year-old self.

Beside her, 28-year-old Aya Terasaki leaned back on the sofa, her voice calm: "It's probably a change of power."

"Huh? Is it that terrifying monster from the future who came with Terasaki-san and my future self?" The magical girl in red looked worried. "Are you alright?"

Compared to the future Abyss Gentleman, Jack at this time left a much deeper impression on the magical girl Crimson.

This also made her somewhat wary of the future Abyss Gentleman—no, a much deeper wariness.

The terrifying monster of the future... will obviously be even more troublesome than this one.

Terasaki Ayasa simply replied, "Don't worry about it, just read your book."

The magical girl, whose face was flushed from being urged to study, suddenly collapsed: ...Waaah.

Main text: 320. Launching the operation

Why is Ayasa Terasaki from the future supervising the studies at the Magical Girl Red House?

This all started the night before when the magical girl Akari saw her future self at her teammate's house.

Upon hearing Xiao Caisha's cries for help, Xiao Lihua rushed to the scene immediately and was shocked to see that the person standing next to Xiao Caisha was an adult with the exact same face as himself.

As a magical girl, what hasn't she seen?

However, aside from the possibility that "the other party is your future self," there is also the option that "the other party is an enemy disguised as yourself." So, Xiaoli Hua almost subconsciously launched an attack on the other party.

As an adult more than a decade later, Sugiyama Rika naturally far surpasses her childhood self in magical prowess. The only problem is that her younger self was a fool, completely failing to consider that Ayasa's room was utterly incapable of withstanding the magic cannon's power.

Even if it's slowly repaired after it's over, it will definitely attract the attention of the household servants.

What to do... I'm really bad at creating soundproof barriers.

As Sugiyama Rika was struggling with her predicament, the magical cannon was already upon her. She had no time to think of another way and could only rely on her defense to withstand the attack.

"Fool." The woman's sigh rang softly in my ear.

The next second, all attacks vanished without a trace.

The doctor, with dark circles under her eyes, finally canceled the invisibility spell. She held up a rapidly spinning magic circle, about the size of a palm, with her index finger.

But it was this unassuming thing that absorbed all of the red magic of the magical girl, who, even as a newcomer, already possessed the potential to become a powerful, brick-flying force.

"Huh?" Xiao Lihua looked at the two adults in front of him who looked very familiar and scratched his head.

Although she was still a little wary of Sugiyama Rika, Terasaki Ayasa was still recognized.

This may be a kind of protection mechanism for time. Future visitors are not so easily recognized when facing their past selves, but if it is someone else, they can be easily identified.

Aya Terasaki arrived at this point in time a little earlier than Rika Sugiyama, but she was much more cautious and chose to use invisibility magic to hide herself.

She arrived at a location not far from the route of the magical girl Red Patrol, and the other party did not notice her at all.

Looking back now, the other party must have noticed something was off, but didn't take it to heart.

Aisha Terasaki:.

It perfectly matches the image of carelessness she remembered.

Even before they retired, this guy was already so arrogant that it infuriated her.

When she was a magical girl, she was a more easygoing little girl, so she was able to tolerate working with idiots.

Now, Terasaki Ayasa is even more annoyed with her foolish lover.

Especially during this awkward, lukewarm period between the two of them, she couldn't stand seeing Sugiyama Rika, who at twenty-eight years old, still acting as stupid as she did when she was a child.

Originally, Terasaki Ayasa planned to use invisibility magic to hide herself first, then slowly find Sugiyama Rika's location, and the two of them would slowly discuss how to return to the original time.

But suddenly, they saw that the magical girl, Red, immediately changed her flight path and flew towards her home the moment she heard the telepathic communication.

Terazaki Aisa: ...Tsk.

It's obvious that the idiot gave it away.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the case.

I was seen as a strange woman by my younger self... haha.

He had already mocked Sugiyama Rika in his heart, but he still had to save those who needed to be saved.

After their sudden appearance to save the day, we were finally able to sit down and have a proper talk.

The two adults from the future briefly explained the situation, and the two magical girls from this point in time looked enlightened.

However, Xiaocaisha is quite meticulous in her thinking, and her focus is on the Abyss Gentleman.

"The Fear Monster still exists even after more than ten years... Did we fail to defeat him?" Xiaocaisha wondered.

Sugiyama Rika explained, "He has already retired from the criminal life."

Xiao Cai Sha found it hard to imagine the terrifying monster who had retired from his life of crime, but considering that she would only find out more if she continued to ask, she kept her mouth shut.

However, she looked at the two future adults who were sitting together so naturally with a bit of suspicion.

She and Xiao Lihua have a pretty good relationship now, but they rarely sit together like this anymore.

It's not that the distance was too close or too intimate, but the two sat together naturally, and the sense of distance between them was quite subtle.

It's like we've gotten used to being together every day...

Xiao Caisha hadn't figured it out yet, but she didn't want to ask directly, lest she get answers that were beyond her imagination.

The next question is how to arrange it.

Both Xiao Cai Sha and Xiao Li Hua come from wealthy families and have spacious enough rooms to comfortably house their future selves.

However, Ayasa Terasaki made an additional request with a dark expression.

She was going to supervise Xiao Lihua's classes.

In the future, Sugiyama Rikka's academic performance can only be described as passable. If this simple-minded and insensitive individual had spent more time studying when he was young, he wouldn't have been so confused about life choices later on.

At least for now, she needs to keep an eye on Little Li Hua and make sure he doesn't spend so much time on patrol.

Although these magical girl jobs were mostly things that Ayasa herself didn't want to do, so she pushed them onto Rihanna for help.

“You should occasionally share some of the workload, at least to ensure Sugiyama’s studies are taken care of and tutor her.” Terasaki Ayasa said with a heavy expression, “She almost didn’t get into university after graduating from high school.”

Xiao Caisha's expression changed: "What!?"

She is indeed lazy, but that doesn't mean she's a selfish person who would push all her work onto her teammates without any guilt.

After learning that Rihanna might need her family to sponsor her schooling because of her obsession with magical girl activities, she quickly formed an alliance with her future self.

We must bring Xiao Lihua, who has no interest in studying, back to the right path.

Sugiyama Rika looked around and realized that she seemed to be the only one with nothing to do: "...Huh? What should I do then?"

Of course, I'm in charge of night patrols.

Since I'm free anyway, I'll fill in for someone.

Sugiyama Rika: "...Okay."

It's infuriating that when I was little, I could be with Ayasha and young Ayasha, while I could only miserably take her place.

At this point in time, attacks by strange beings were still quite frequent in Miracle City, after all, Jack was there.

However, after the Abyss Gentleman took over and began to reorganize the current strange group in Miracle City, the city visibly began to become more orderly.

When Sugiyama Rikka found the Abyss Gentleman, he was still dragging Jack along to get his driver's license.

The latter, like a large, menacing cat being grabbed by the scruff of its neck, said: "If you can fly, why learn to drive!"

Text: 321. Running Away from Home

Learning to drive is something that Abyss Gentleman has always wanted to do.

Before this point in time, the family's financial situation had actually improved somewhat. This was mainly because my younger siblings had started to share the household expenses and had managed to save some money.

The Gentleman of the Abyss began to think about using the money to learn to drive, and maybe he could even drive a taxi after get off work to earn some extra money.

On weekends, I can also take my family out for fun.

However, what Jack said is actually quite right.

In his youth, the Abyss Gentleman never felt the need to ride in human vehicles. He could fly, so why would he need to learn to drive?

Even when the whole family travels, they can use magic to fly together, which is faster than using other means of transportation.

But aside from the inability to use magic to run a taxi, the current Abyss Gentlemen have some understanding of the magic inherent in transportation itself.

He has no memories of his childhood, and the few remaining ones are scenes of his ex-girlfriend, the Desperate Eccentric, taking him on the run.

But as he grew older, he gradually came to understand that people have different precious memories in specific situations.

The music playing on the car stereo, the laughter echoing in the cramped space...

These are things that convenient and quick magic cannot provide for him.

Sometimes, taking a longer route can lead to a better experience.

This is the sense of ritual of the Abyss Gentlemen.