Suburbs of Tongmen City.
A sharp screech of brakes sounded as a pure white sports car stopped in front of an abandoned house long devoid of residents.
The car door opened, and Su Li’s foot clad in white high heels touched the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The rear door slammed shut with a click, and Aoi Hoshino slowly walked up beside Su Li. Both were in their transformed states.
Su Li silently made a few hand gestures. Aoi Hoshino nodded and sprang away.
Su Li pressed the Bluetooth earpiece on her ear. “Tian Aixing, confirm target location again.”
Tian Aixing’s voice came through the comms, tinged with faint static. “It’s this house right in front of you. The source seems to be underground. Mingshe detected a high concentration of Magic Power. It’s similar to Rose… but with some differences.”
Su Li narrowed her eyes. This house had no owner and was an ideal hiding place.
Rose…? But Tian Aixing had previously confirmed Rose wasn’t in Tongmen City. What’s going on?
Shaking off the thought, Su Li reminded herself that she was in combat mode—no distractions allowed. Whether it was Rose or not, the target had to be eliminated.
“Aoi, are you in position?”
“Can’t wait any longer~” Aoi Hoshino’s voice crackled through the comms. “Back door secured. Ready to close in anytime!”
Su Li took a deep breath and removed the Transformation Crystal from her chest.
“Shua!” The white Scythe appeared in an instant.
“Commence operation.”
***
Inside the dim living room.
This house was a detached villa with a complex interior. There was even a long corridor at the front entrance. Tian Aixing’s Mingshe slithered ahead, its translucent serpent form flickering in the dark, guiding Su Li.
Suddenly, the Mingshe stopped.
Su Li lowered her breathing.
From the darkness ahead came a sticky, writhing sound.
“Target located,” Tian Aixing’s warning rang in her ear. “Not human—this is a Mimic-type Disaster!”
The next second, concrete shattered as several thick tentacles burst through the walls, covered with suction cups, aiming straight for Su Li’s face!
“Clang—!”
The Scythe clashed with the tentacles, sparks flying.
Su Li used the force to flip backward, slashing two arcs in front of her with the Scythe and instantly severing two tentacles. A spray of foul-smelling liquid burst forth.
“Disgusting!” Aoi Hoshino appeared behind Su Li without warning. She leapt forward, her Electric Hammer crackling with lightning, smashing down heavily.
“Boom—!”
The ground caved in, revealing the hidden core beneath.
It was a writhing mass of flesh, with a twisted human face embedded in its center, emitting a shrill scream.
Not Rose…?
Su Li was momentarily stunned, and that brief lapse allowed a tentacle to slam her away.
“Bang!” Su Li crashed heavily against the wall, dust billowing.
“Su Li!” Aoi Hoshino sounded panicked.
“I’m fine… cough, cough.” Su Li coughed twice, slowly emerging from the smoke. “I’m used to being whipped around.”
“…”
“The core is in the head!” Tian Aixing quickly analyzed. “Be careful. It can mimic a Magical Girl’s Magic Power!”
As if to confirm the warning, the Disaster suddenly twisted and transformed, taking on a human form similar to a Magical Girl.
Su Li’s eyes grew cold. Another suddenly evolved Disaster, identical to the one that attacked Lu Yuan before.
“Useless,” she said coldly. “A fake is still just a fake.”
Blade light like the moon, a chilling aura erupted! The whole space was instantly covered in frost, and the Disaster’s movements visibly slowed.
“Aoi!”
“Here I come!” Aoi Hoshino leapt high, electricity crackling on her Electric Hammer. “Final Technique coming!”
“Bang—!!”
Lightning pierced through the Disaster’s core. The twisted face shattered amid its screams, the flesh convulsed violently, then dissolved into a pool of foul slime, evaporating slowly into the air.
Silence fell once more.
Su Li sheathed the Scythe and looked at the purple crystal remnants on the ground—remnants of the Disaster’s core.
“This Disaster wasn’t formed naturally,” Su Li’s voice turned grave. “Someone deliberately cultivated it and taught it to mimic Magical Girl Magic Waves.”
This explained why Tian Aixing had mistaken it for Rose—the Disaster was imitating Rose’s Magic Power signature.
Aoi Hoshino crouched down and poked at the crystal. “So… this thing was deliberately released to confuse us?”
“Exactly. Most likely Rose’s doing,” Su Li mused. “Why would she want to draw our attention…?”
“Captain, there’s bad news,” Tian Aixing’s voice interrupted Su Li’s thoughts. “Multiple Magic Power sources identical to this one have appeared all around Tongmen City. Three… four… no, the number keeps growing!”
“These Disasters are at most B-Class, right? Other Magical Girls can handle them quickly,” Aoi Hoshino replied.
“No,” Su Li vetoed.
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because there might be a real Rose hidden among them. No one but us can confront Rose head-on. It would be irresponsible to dispatch others before the investigation is complete,” Su Li explained.
“Give me all Disaster coordinates. This incident will be handled exclusively by Starlit Glass. No other Magical Girls are to be deployed,” Su Li instructed Tian Aixing, then crushed the Disaster core under her heel and climbed back into the car.
“Got it~” Aoi Hoshino agreed, sliding into the passenger seat. She understood that Su Li’s strength gave her the authority to make such calls.
The White Death God killing B-Class Disasters was as routine as ordinary people eating bread—she couldn’t even remember how many she had eliminated.
“Vroom!”
Su Li slammed the accelerator, the engine roaring as they sped toward the next coordinates.
***
Lu Yuan and Lin Wan followed behind Officer Chen Xin, walking through the glass doors of the Tongmen City Police Department. Though Chen Xin’s right leg was still bandaged, her steps were steady, showing no sign of recent weakness after leaving the hospital.
“Officer Chen, are you sure you don’t need more rest?” Lu Yuan asked. “Didn’t the doctor say you should be observed for at least two days…”
Chen Xin smiled. “Thanks to your Magical Girls’ treatment. Besides, cases won’t wait.”
Several on-duty police officers in the lobby stood up as they saw Chen Xin. “Sister Chen! You’re back so soon?”
“If I didn’t come back, you’d probably have the cases piling up by now,” Chen Xin joked, then introduced Lu Yuan and Lin Wan. “These two are Miss Lu Yuan and Miss Lin Wan, sent by Magical Girl Headquarters to assist us.”
A young police officer looked at Lu Yuan curiously. “You’re the new recruit who just debuted…”
“Cough, cough!” Chen Xin cleared her throat forcefully. “Xiao Wang, this is work time, you know.”
“Yes!” the young officer replied obediently.
Suddenly, the police station’s door was pushed open. An old lady with a cane hobbled to the reception desk and headed straight for Chen Xin. “Daughter, that stray cat is back again. Can you…”
Chen Xin’s expression softened. “Grandma Zhang, is it the spotted one?”
“Yes, yes. It’s fierce! It stole all my sun-dried fish!” The old lady pulled out a plastic bag angrily. “I specially brought you some little dried fish. It was your favorite when you were little…”
Daughter…?
Lu Yuan stared dumbfounded as Officer Chen Xin skillfully accepted the plastic bag, then turned to Xiao Wang. “Xiao Wang, take Grandma Zhang to check the surveillance footage. Let’s see if it’s true.”
“Yes!”
After the old lady left, Lu Yuan quietly asked, “Does the police station really handle this kind of thing?”
“Not everyone can become a Magical Girl,” Chen Xin answered with a bitter smile. “Since the Magical Girls took over major cases, our daily work is left with this kind of stuff.”
She pointed to some paper flyers on the front desk: “Pet Disturbance Handling Guide,” “Neighborhood Dispute Mediation Procedures,” and so on.
Lin Wan suddenly asked, “She just called you ‘daughter’… Is she your mother?”
Chen Xin’s age looked too different from Grandma Zhang’s. They hardly looked like mother and daughter.
“Grandma Zhang has some dementia. Her daughter went to work and never returned home. She mistook me for her daughter and doesn’t believe me when I say otherwise. I can’t convince her, so I just go along with it,” Chen Xin chuckled. “She’s just an old lady. If this makes her happier, then so be it.”
“Sister Chen! The surveillance confirmed it—a little cat has been stealing the dried fish!” Xiao Wang returned with Grandma Zhang to the lobby.
“See, see? Why would I lie to my own daughter…” the old lady chattered on.
“How about it, Magical Girls?” Chen Xin twirled the police car keys in her hand. “Today, let’s make an exception and be the ‘good neighbor’ Magical Girls for the community, shall we?”