The Sharkman now felt as refreshed as putting on new underwear for the New Year.
Before, because of “Discipline,” unregistered monsters like him—whose magic was suppressed—were as stifled as could be.
But today, after using his full strength to rob in broad daylight, he found that the Magical Girls from the Association couldn’t do a thing to him.
This made the Sharkman a bit cocky.
His ability allowed him to turn any hard surface into water and dive into it.
So instead of escaping directly into the “water,” he suddenly changed tactics and launched a rapid attack toward Qingluan.
Seeing the monster diving through the ground toward her, Qingluan—who had already missed twice in a row—panicked for a moment.
What should I do? My attacks can’t reach a monster hiding beneath the ground, and this guy swims even faster than me… That’s right, fly! If I get into the air, I’ll be safe!
Qingluan hastily set her plan and soared into the sky, but it was already too late. The Sharkman leaped from the water’s surface.
Though he missed grabbing her, his sharp tail fin still slashed Qingluan’s calf, making her cry out “Ah!” as she tumbled down from mid-air.
“Haha! As expected, without [Judgment Scales], you Magical Girls from the Association are nothing but useless trash!”
The Sharkman cackled and dove back beneath the water’s surface, swimming toward the fallen Qingluan.
It looked like he was dead set on finishing her off before making his escape.
Qingluan was stunned in place, when suddenly, as the Sharkman burst out of the water again… a sudden Yujianjun Flying Kick, like a hero’s entrance in an anime, slammed right into the Sharkman’s stomach, sending him crashing back into the water.
Xiaoxi, a trained athlete, landed steadily. Qiuli strolled up to Qingluan and extended a hand.
“Is it because North Blossom City’s always had ‘Discipline’ protecting it that you’ve even gotten rusty at fighting, Qingluan?”
“Qiuli.” Qingluan’s face flushed red, gritting her teeth, “Mind your own business! Don’t pretend to be nice to me!”
Qingluan slapped away Qiuli’s hand and awkwardly scrambled up from the ground. It seemed making a fool of herself in front of Qiuli really irritated her.
She glanced over at Xiaoxi. A Magical Girl she didn’t recognize—probably one recently transferred to North Blossom City.
Qingluan could remember every famous Magical Girl’s look, and [Sirius] was clearly not among them, so she didn’t pay much attention to Xiaoxi, who had just saved her life.
“Damn it, you blasted Magical Girls!”
His aching belly made the Sharkman both furious and humiliated.
The feeling of dominance from moments ago had gone to his head; instead of running, he swam straight at Xiaoxi, determined to get his revenge before leaving!
Anyway, as long as he attacked from “the water’s surface,” no matter how strong Xiaoxi was, she could only watch helplessly just like Qingluan had—unable to hurt him at all!
But facing the Sharkman’s onslaught, Xiaoxi merely raised an eyebrow, not even trying to dodge.
Instead, she tilted her head toward Qiuli, signaling for her to cooperate.
When the Sharkman was just about to swim over, Xiaoxi seized the opening and smashed her fist into the ground!
With a crash, the pavement in front of the Sharkman shattered, asphalt flying everywhere.
The Sharkman instantly lost his “water surface” for swimming, and the force of the blow sent his whole body flying.
Qiuli seized the moment, nimbly leaping onto his back.
By the time the two landed, she had already snapped a unique-looking pair of handcuffs onto the Sharkman’s wrists.
The handcuffs flashed red, showing that they were now suppressing the monster’s magical circuits.
Their teamwork was clean and efficient. The Sharkman writhed on the ground in frustration, like a stranded fish gasping for life.
He hadn’t even managed to trade blows with the two before being subdued—how could he accept this?
“Not bad at all.”
Xiaoxi raised her eyebrows. The cooperation with Qiuli was unexpectedly smooth.
Originally, she had just wanted to create an opening for Qiuli to attack, but she hadn’t expected Qiuli to be so agile and subdue the enemy directly.
“You’re not bad either. You came up with a counter so quickly.”
“Anyone could think of such a simple trick. It’s just that this guy’s too stupid,” Xiaoxi shrugged.
“If it were a real water surface, it’d be hard to destroy. But this pavement isn’t real water. Did he really think diving underground made him invincible? Charging in a straight line like that.”
A round of applause broke out around them. People who’d been hiding in the shops poked their heads out, but Qingluan’s face just turned red with embarrassment.
To the bystander, Xiaoxi’s words meant nothing. But to Qingluan, she was the one who failed to think of a solution just now.
Having just lost face in front of the citizens, the applause and Xiaoxi’s remarks felt like direct slaps.
At this point, she had forgotten Xiaoxi had just saved her life, her heart filled with resentment at being upstaged.
Thus, the reinforcement ended as easily as it began. Unfortunately, it was so easy that Xiaoxi hadn’t been able to see Qiuli in real combat.
Still, one thing was clear—Qiuli was extremely nimble.
If it were an assassination-type situation, even [Judgment Scales] probably wouldn’t be able to react to a familiar person’s sudden attack, right?
Xiaoxi returned the stolen jewelry bag to the shop staff and stepped outside, where she saw the detained Sharkman baring his teeth and swearing at Qiuli.
“Damn! You, a monster, actually helping the Association! You’ve disgraced all monsters!”
Two small ears sprouted from Qiuli’s head, and a bushy tail appeared behind her, looking just like a squirrel.
Xiaoxi guessed that Qiuli probably wore a Magical Mimicry Device to hide her monster traits most of the time, just like Su Ying.
However, such devices only worked when one wasn’t using magic. The moment she started fighting, Qiuli’s monster features had been exposed.
Qiuli’s expression remained cold, as if she didn’t care: “It’s exactly because of people and attitudes like yours that monsters have such a hard time in society.”
“Tch…” Qingluan rolled her eyes. “Stop pretending to be so righteous. Like your record’s so clean?”
“Heh, looks like you’re not that welcome in the Association either. Being a monster and running to work for the Association—you must not be treated too well.”
Xiaoxi frowned, walked right up, and took control of the Sharkman from Qiuli.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Hey, I thought you two were both mon—…”
Before the Sharkman could finish, he clapped his hand over his mouth and squatted down, blood streaming through his fingers. Xiaoxi shook her wrist.
Sometimes, when dealing with people like this, law enforcement needed a little warmth—and a little force.
Qiuli’s face, usually expressionless, now showed a rare trace of surprise. Qingluan seized the moment to shout as if she’d found her chance.
“What are you doing! Once a monster is arrested and confirmed to pose no threat, you’re not allowed to use force anymore—you’re breaking the rules!”