“You mean there’s going to be a concert by your singers on Saturday? How famous is this singer? Are they some third-rate performer?!”
Pandora continued questioning Lu Ren, her eyes clear, as if hoping to get a reassuring answer from him.
“No, the singer on Saturday is very famous. Even now, you can often hear her songs playing in the square.”
Lu Ren looked at Pandora and gave her the answer she least wanted to hear.
After hearing Lu Ren’s reply, Pandora froze on the table, not responding for a long time.
“Pandora?” Seeing Pandora unresponsive, Lu Ren poked her back with his finger in confusion.
“…Listen up, Blazing Flame. No matter what means you use, you must prevent this incident from happening!” Pandora spoke to him in a tone of seriousness Lu Ren had never heard before. “Otherwise, there will be big trouble in City A!”
“I will. Do you have any advice for me?”
Seeing Pandora like this, Lu Ren nodded firmly and asked her for help.
Even without Pandora saying so, he would still do everything he could to stop this damned Shadow Beast.
There were simply too many people looking forward to the concert on Saturday. He absolutely couldn’t let this concert end badly because of some danger.
“Advice? My advice is to contact the other Magical Girls, tell them your suspicions, and then have them call off this concert through official channels.”
Pandora told Lu Ren, “Otherwise, nobody knows how many people will die on the spot by then.”
“You mean, because there’s likely to be danger, Yunjin should give up her concert in City A, and the other people who bought tickets should just stay home?”
“That’s right, exactly.” Pandora replied.
Lu Ren looked at the calm expression on Pandora’s face, pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said to her,
“I disagree. I want to resolve this incident head-on.”
“Blazing Flame, what are you saying!” Pandora’s tone was anxious, as if she couldn’t understand why Lu Ren would make such a choice.
“I know what you want to say, but I won’t agree. Even without Yunjin, they have other famous targets to choose from—the effect is the same. Rather than running away, it’s better to take advantage of knowing their target and settle this once and for all.”
Lu Ren shook his head at Pandora and gave his own reasoning.
Pandora was stunned. She looked at Lu Ren’s determined gaze, then lowered her head, unsure how to respond.
It wasn’t until several minutes later that she slowly asked Lu Ren,
“If, I mean if. If you fail to stop them on Saturday and the explosion kills everyone at the concert, what will you do?”
“That won’t happen. Even if it really does, I’ll die at the scene to stop it—there’s no way anyone else there will be harmed.”
After hearing Pandora’s question, Lu Ren didn’t hesitate for a moment. He immediately gave his own answer, without the slightest delay.
His tone was calm, but Pandora could feel the strength of his resolve in his words.
Lu Ren was not joking; he truly meant to do so.
“…Remember to get up early on Sunday and help me switch to the News Channel. I want to watch the morning news.”
After a long silence, Pandora didn’t ask Lu Ren anything else. She only made a small request of him.
Lu Ren smiled, nodded, and replied,
“No problem, just remember to wake me up on Sunday.”
……
Half an hour later.
Lu Ren and Xu Wenxing each held a cup of milk tea, drinking as they walked, with a bag of ready-to-eat food and drinks in hand.
“Hey, seeing how you spend your own money without a care, makes me want to find a job too.” Xu Wenxing shook his milk tea, trying to stir the coconut jelly around the cup.
“Compared to you, I feel so lame always spending my parents’ money.”
“You want to get a job as a freshman? So ambitious.” Lu Ren teased. “Looks like the School doesn’t need to worry about its employment rate.”
“Cut it out, I just want to have my own income. I don’t want to be a data point for the School.”
Xu Wenxing waved his hand at Lu Ren, then looked up at the darkening sky, yawned, and asked,
“By the way, Ren, didn’t that stall’s Boss know you? Why didn’t he say hi this time? I remember you chatting with him before, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t see how busy he was just now. No time to say hi to me.”
Lu Ren paused, then casually found an excuse to brush off the question, without revealing the real reason the Boss didn’t greet him.
Xu Wenxing was just a roommate, not family—there was no need to make him worry over his own problems.
This was a completely irreversible price—even if Xu Wenxing knew, what good would it do?
He couldn’t help him anyway.
“Really? But I felt like his attitude was a bit odd…” Xu Wenxing muttered to himself, “Forget it, I trust what you say, Ren. He was probably just too busy to chat.”
“That’s how it is in business—when you have customers, you have to serve them first, not stand around chatting with old friends passing by. Otherwise, if a customer gets annoyed, you’ll lose a regular next time.”
Seeing that Xu Wenxing didn’t doubt his words, Lu Ren felt much more at ease.
“You’re right, Ren. That’s how it is in business… Huh?”
As they chatted, Xu Wenxing’s phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
He subconsciously took it out to see what was going on.
But as soon as he unlocked the screen and opened the notification, seeing the text on the picture, he froze on the spot, speechless.
Lu Ren saw Xu Wenxing’s dazed look and immediately sensed something was wrong. He asked,
“What is it? Did something happen again?”
Xu Wenxing turned to look at Lu Ren, his eyes flickering, as if hesitating about whether to tell him.
But in the end, Xu Wenxing gritted his teeth, handed his phone to Lu Ren, and said nothing—his eyes alone told him the matter was serious.
Seeing Xu Wenxing’s hesitation, Lu Ren’s heart started to beat faster.
He took a deep breath, accepted Xu Wenxing’s phone, and looked down at the text.
And, just as he expected.
“To all humans.
At 10:45 this Friday morning, we will detonate the Bomb at the Bumper Car Attraction in Bishui Lianhai Amusement Park, City A.
You are still welcome to come and watch, but we take no responsibility if you die.
“——Night Demon’s Apostle.”