“Wow, Shandie, thank you!”
Looking at the gift Shandie handed over, Xiao Keke hesitated for a moment. She actually wanted to ask Shandie, Have you not had many friends before?… but she held back.
The main reason was that every gift Shandie gave was always the kind that was exquisite yet useless—carefully chosen, trendy little junk that clearly showed she lacked social experience at a glance.
Xiao Keke had originally thought Shandie was cold by nature, but now it seemed she was just not good with words. Keke could tell that each gift Shandie gave was carefully picked, so she didn’t want to disappoint her good intentions.
“Shandie, I’ll accept this one this time, but you don’t have to keep giving me stuff all the time. Even friends don’t need to keep exchanging gifts every now and then, right?”
“So, does that mean we’re friends now?”
Shandie’s reply left Xiao Keke a little at a loss. She could only nod vigorously. “Of course! Even if you don’t give me gifts, we’re still friends.”
Xiao Keke even found Shandie’s somewhat awkward way of making friends kind of endearing—little did she know that this exact moment was being clearly observed by Xiaoxi, who was just coming out of Miss Shan’s office.
Xiaoxi’s mind instantly clicked, and the murderous aura around her surged.
Right, how could she forget that Shandie was a new teammate she hadn’t known for long?
A few days ago, Shandie had randomly given Xiao Keke a gift, and now again! No good deed goes unpunished.
Now Xiaoxi was certain who the real troublemaker was. Thinking this through, Shandie’s image fit perfectly: the term “yellow hair” originally referred to delinquents who dyed their hair in strange colors thinking they looked cool. Although Shandie’s hair wasn’t yellow, her neon blue long hair was just as eye-catching.
A Magical Girl’s transformation form is also an outward reflection of her inner self, and Xiaoxi thought this theory was quite reasonable.
Shandie had no idea about the mental whirlwind Xiao Keke just went through. When Keke said they were friends, Shandie’s eyes briefly lit up.
Right now, she just wanted to drag Black Rose over and say, Talk! Didn’t you say nobody liked the way I give gifts because it’s useless? Yet here I am, making friends so easily!
It was true—Shandie had almost no experience making friends. After confidently saying goodbye to Keke, she had only walked a few steps before turning a corner and bumping right into Xiaoxi.
“Sirius… what a coincidence,” Shandie greeted calmly.
“Let’s talk over there, Shandie,” Xiaoxi said, her gaze darkening as she tilted her head, “but you should know why I want to talk.”
Shandie frowned. Last time, she had a bad feeling about this Sirius. Now suddenly being summoned for a talk probably wasn’t good news.
“I’ll be straightforward, Shandie. I want you to keep your distance from Xiao Keke. We both know what you’re really after.”
Shandie: “???“
Was her identity as an insider exposed so quickly? Black Rose had disguised her perfectly. How could Sirius see through her so easily?
No, stay calm. Last time, she didn’t have the key evidence and let her go. Maybe this was just a bluff.
What are you thinking, Sirius? I didn’t do anything. Xiao Keke and I are just ordinary friends. Chatting is normal, right?
Damn it. When a yellow-haired troublemaker gets caught, they always try to deny it by saying, “We’re just ordinary friends; nothing happened.” Shandie shouldn’t think such a lame excuse would fool her.
Stop pretending. Your intentions are so obvious that anyone could guess what you want just by looking. Playing games with me is pointless.
I only have one request—just don’t go after Xiao Keke. Is that clear?”
Shandie was even more incredulous… How could you just tell by looking? Is that something you can figure out with a glance? Are you Sherlock Holmes or something with such sharp intuition?
Shandie believed she hadn’t shown any real slip-ups. In fact, Black Rose hadn’t even asked her to do anything yet, so there was no way she could expose any real flaws!
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Sirius,” Shandie put on an innocent expression. “I just want to get along well with the team since we’re teammates, aren’t we?”
“Senior Xingge often says the Magical Girl Team is an Order of Destiny Community anyway.”
Shandie decided to play dumb and hold her ground. If she refused to admit anything, Sirius probably couldn’t do anything to her. Unless this Sirius was not only sharp but also suffering from Superhuman Syndrome? Just running over here to confront her on a hunch?
Seeing Shandie’s pure, innocent look, Xiaoxi ground her teeth in frustration. There really was nothing she could do.
“Fine, keep up your stubborn act, but I’ll be watching you closely. You better not give me any reason to catch you!”
Shandie: “???“
Watching Xiaoxi storm off angrily, Shandie was more confused than ever.
She just left? Just like that… left?
This person really must have Superhuman Syndrome!
Usually, when someone suspects an insider, they either conduct a covert investigation or report to higher-ups to handle it. Shandie had never seen anyone just come straight up and confront the insider, and after failing to get anything, threaten them.
What’s with this Sirius? Is she just dumb or up to something else?
Of course, Shandie wouldn’t spread this incident. She planned to contact Black Rose afterward to figure out what to do. Sirius’s self-exposure had completely thrown her off.
At Xiaoxi’s home.
Molan’er paced anxiously in the living room with furrowed brows, while Ye Xinglan sat guiltily on the sofa.
Although they had confirmed their relationship, Molan’er still felt cautious around Xiaoxi and never came over when Xiaoxi was home.
Moreover, there were many things she and Xinglan talked about that couldn’t be heard by Xiaoxi—like today’s matter.
“Miss, be honest with me. Have you secretly used your ability again?”
“Sorry, Lan’er. I thought a little use wouldn’t be a problem, but I didn’t expect to lose control like this…”
“It’s okay, Miss. Don’t blame yourself. I’ll find a way to fix it.”
Molan’er took out her phone and stepped onto the balcony to make a call, leaving Ye Xinglan alone, uneasy on the sofa.
Her eyes were slightly red, and a few thin tentacles had emerged near her collar.
Xiaoxi always suspected that Ye Xinglan’s strong desires were the reason she insisted on sleeping together every night since confirming their relationship.
In fact, Xiaoxi’s guess was right. Xinglan recently had been somewhat… unsatisfied.
Generally speaking, as a cost of being able to use Magical Power, a Monster’s body has certain flaws.
Usually, the more smooth the Magic Power meridians are, the fewer physical defects the Monster has.
As the Divine Summon Order’s strongest artificial Monster, Ye Xinglan was called a “Human-shaped Weapon” or “God’s Perfect Creation,” but she had one small flaw—she needed to periodically absorb Magical Power.
If she went too long without “feeding,” Ye Xinglan would lose control. In this state, her Monster traits became uncontrollable, and she would literally rampage until she fed and absorbed enough Magical Power to regain her sanity.
This was also why Xiaoxi firmly opposed releasing the Blood Moon Witch from the Hidden Bone Hall—she was uncontrollable.
Although compared to other Monsters’ defects, needing to absorb Magical Power was a minor flaw, it was a major issue for Ye Xinglan’s combat effectiveness because the destruction she caused in her uncontrolled state was terrifying.
Since receiving Ye Xinglan, Molan’er had been working hard to solve this problem. She wanted Ye Xinglan to live a normal life and had spent a lot of money and effort on it.
It turned out Molan’er succeeded. For the past two months, Ye Xinglan hadn’t lost control even without absorbing Magical Power.
If this continued, Ye Xinglan could truly be no different from an ordinary person… on the condition that she never used the Blood Moon Witch’s Ability.