After a moment of silence, Lu Ren ultimately chose not to expose Xu Wenxing for looking at Magic Girl lewd illustrations in the Dormitory.
After all, Lu Ren himself liked that kind of thing too; otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to translate doujinshi online for free.
Although it wasn’t just Sapphire and Shooting Star wearing those embarrassing outfits in the pictures—even the extremely flat-chested Blazing Flame was featured.
But with how much Xu Wenxing liked busty beauties, he probably wasn’t into any weird stuff, right?
With that uncertain thought in mind, Lu Ren spent a quiet afternoon in the Dormitory.
It wasn’t until evening, after having dinner in the Dining Hall and coming back to play on his phone out of boredom, that Lu Ren’s attention was caught by a new, strange case.
“Blazing Flame, good news: the family of three who were hospitalized for food poisoning woke up.”
“Bad news: we’ve got trouble on our end, and we’ll still need your help this weekend.”
Reading these messages from Sapphire, Lu Ren felt confused and hurriedly replied in the chat app.
“What happened? Is it serious?”
“It’s big—someone lost a gun.”
“Lost a gun?”
Seeing Sapphire’s short reply, Lu Ren thought for a moment and understood the danger behind it.
Thinking in the most dangerous way possible, a single bullet meant a single life.
Losing a gun could mean major trouble for all of City A.
“Yes, a gun was lost, and the circumstances are extremely bizarre. It makes no sense at all. They suspect it’s the work of a Shadow Beast,” Sapphire replied.
“With the abilities of a Shadow Beast, they wouldn’t need a gun to kill someone. Why do they suspect a Shadow Beast was behind the missing gun?” Lu Ren pressed for details.
“Because every single gun in the Branch Bureau is gone.”
Sapphire delivered the most shocking reply in the simplest words.
Lu Ren stared at the message, stunned.
Was this some kind of joke? Every gun in the bureau was gone?
If it was just one missing gun, you could make an excuse, say it was mishandled, beg for help from all your contacts, and if you tried hard enough, you might even find it and save your own skin without spending the rest of your life behind bars.
But for the entire bureau’s guns to go missing…
What was this, was everyone going to get reincarnated and start a veterans’ barbecue together?
This wasn’t some funny joke.
“…How many were lost?”
“Three hundred and twenty-seven guns, with all magazines gone as well,” Sapphire replied.
Seeing that precise number, Lu Ren sucked in a sharp breath.
But soon after, another question came to mind and he quickly asked,
“Don’t they usually store guns and ammo separately? How did the bullets disappear too?”
“I don’t know either. But according to the info from Director Xu, everyone went sleepwalking at the same time and walked out with all the guns and ammo without following any procedures.”
“Sleepwalking?”
Lu Ren keenly sensed something was wrong.
That many people sleepwalking at the same time, all taking guns and bullets out with them?
Not to mention how unlikely sleepwalking is under normal circumstances.
And for a mass sleepwalking event of this scale, and all the people involved having the same profession…
There was no doubt—some kind of monster had to be involved.
To control people in their dreams and make them do something like this…
Could it be the same Nightmare Monster he had encountered?
Lu Ren grew suspicious, a vague guess forming in his mind.
“That’s right, sleepwalking. From the surveillance footage, it looks like they were carrying out some mission in their dreams, even filling out registration forms. But when we checked, there’s been no mission needing that in City A recently.”
“You mean, everyone had the same dream at the same time?” Lu Ren asked, puzzled.
“Seems so. I don’t have much intel here either, still waiting for Director Xu to sort out some clues,” Sapphire replied.
“…What’s going on with those who lost their guns now? Has word of the missing guns gotten out?”
Lu Ren thought for a moment and asked the question he was most concerned about.
He was more worried that news of the lost guns would spread and trigger mass panic.
Hundreds of guns vanishing at once—who could guarantee some lunatic wouldn’t grab one and go on a rampage?
“The people who lost the guns are being reprimanded, but they haven’t been arrested yet. Since this probably involves some mysterious monster, it’s complicated.”
“As for news getting out, it hasn’t leaked yet. But I can’t say how long that’ll last—if someone commits a crime with the guns, the truth will come out for sure.”
“Oh, Director Xu is calling me, give me a sec.”
Seeing Sapphire’s reply, which was a little reassuring, Lu Ren calmed down somewhat.
But soon, he noticed something odd.
If the monster needed guns to stir up panic, why not just have the controlled people start shooting?
Why go to the trouble of moving all the guns, then let the controlled people return safely to the Branch Bureau and report the situation?
What exactly was this monster after…
Lu Ren leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin as he considered all the possible scenarios behind this incident.
As he was lost in thought, the little fox beast who had been watching the News suddenly turned its head and waved at him with a paw.
Seeing Pandora’s gesture, Lu Ren looked up in confusion and asked,
“What is it, Pandora, is the News over?”
“No, I have something important to tell you.”
“Something important?” Lu Ren echoed, puzzled.
Pandora rolled her eyes, then jumped onto Lu Ren’s lap, staring into his eyes and speaking with a serious tone.
“Have you, lately in your sleep, encountered a monster who could enter your dreams?”
“Uh…yes.”
Lu Ren didn’t know how Pandora knew, but he nodded and admitted it.
“I knew it. You’re covered in that dirty magical aura—I could tell you’ve been targeted.”
“…What do you mean?” Lu Ren asked, confused.
“Exactly what it sounds like: that troublesome monster has its sights set on you,” Pandora explained.
“He enters your dreams, marks you, and then tries every possible way to kill you by ‘reasonable’ means, making it look like a normal accident.”
“For real? How do you know?” Lu Ren asked, surprised.
“I once saved a Magic Girl who nearly died to that guy. That’s how I learned about it,” Pandora sighed, clearly not wanting to talk about her past.
“By the way, the Shadow Beast you killed before—the one that liked to set Bombs—was way easier to deal with than the one you’re up against now.”
“Why?” Lu Ren asked, perplexed. “A Bomb can cause so much destruction. Isn’t that a simpler method than all this?”
“Why? Because this one has actually killed a Magic Girl before, you idiot.”
With a cold snort, Pandora revealed a fact that left Lu Ren utterly shocked.
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