[Ten Marionette Monsters! I request deployment!]
Xiao Zi stood up on the rooftop, the high-altitude wind blowing at her clothes and long hair.
Magic was already surging within her, ready to annihilate all the monsters below at a single command.
[Don’t rush.]
But Ning Rong’s words forcibly stopped her.
[Why? Ten Marionette Monsters—if we leave them alone, they’ll definitely threaten the lives of ordinary people!]
[Leave it to Jiang Yin.]
Ning Rong replied simply.
The red-haired Magical Girl floated midair, her magic bursting forth without restraint.
To ordinary people, it was invisible—but to Magical Girls and monsters, it was glaringly obvious.
“They’re finally in a hurry.”
The man’s lips curved slightly as he sighed softly.
***
“Is that the end of the recording?”
Inside the Police Bureau, Jiang Yin grinned.
“Uncle, can we stay for lunch?”
The girl was still joking with the old officer when her phone suddenly rang.
It was a call from Ning Rong.
“Ten Marionette Monsters are near you. Find a way to deal with them—don’t let ordinary people get involved.”
Her expression at that moment was vivid.
What?
Me?
“You’re permitted to use magic tools.”
“OK~”
Noticing Qv Si Nan’s puzzled look, the girl forced a relaxed smile and hung up.
She glanced at the app, noting the ten red dots marked on the screen, then thought for a moment.
“Boss assigned work. Let’s move.”
“Should I walk you out?”
Officer Li stood up.
But Jiang Yin, looking at his aged face, hesitated and waved a hand.
“Forget it. You rest. I’ll handle my business myself.”
Whether Officer Li understood her hint or not, Jiang Yin hurriedly pulled Ning Rong out of the Police Bureau, started the car, and then—
“Vroom——!”
“Speeding in front of the Police Bureau!?”
Ning Rong was pinned to her seat by the roaring engine’s thrust, her face pale with terror.
“Sis, even if you don’t want to live, this is too much…”
Jiang Yin gave no reply.
Her gaze was sharp, yet calm and rational.
‘The crowd hasn’t panicked yet, which means these Marionette Monsters are still targeting Old Maggot, haven’t appeared, and have no intention of attacking innocent passersby.’
‘Really have to thank monsters for being obsessive freaks. If these things scattered to attack normal people, it’d be a real headache.’
Jiang Yin was certain there was a Magical Girl following her—most likely the youngest and weakest of Ning Rong’s trio.
Based on the task given, this basic information, and the fact that the monsters hadn’t appeared to cause indiscriminate destruction, a simple deduction could be made—
Ning Rong’s group definitely hadn’t found the lala-whatever messenger’s location.
The next conclusion was clear.
Why risk having her handle this group of monsters instead of sending the hidden Magical Girl for a quick cleanup?
To fish, obviously.
‘Maybe not even fishing—could just be a simple ruse.’
Deceiving the monsters to lower their guard.
A low-risk, potentially high-reward strategy.
The worst scenario would be Jiang Yin failing to promptly eliminate the ten Marionette Monsters, forcing the hidden Xiao Zi to act, exposing all three Magical Girls in the city, and allowing the Puppeteer Hunter to calmly plan an escape route—making pursuit much harder.
A city’s too big; just three Magical Girls could never block everything.
Jiang Yin had seen the files. Back in London, eight Magical Girls were deployed in Fog City to encircle the Puppeteer Hunter.
Back then, the monster used the same method, sending Marionette Monsters to attack pre-selected targets and forcing hidden Magical Girls to reveal themselves, eventually escaping unscathed.
Eight Magical Girls couldn’t close the net; with only three here, it was even less likely.
The ideal scenario would be Jiang Yin swiftly eliminating the ten Marionette Monsters, successfully luring out the Puppeteer Hunter, Xiao Zi revealing herself to pin him, with Ning Rong and Taotao quickly supporting to finish the job.
‘This really underestimates their intelligence. She’s probably just improvising, saving as much strength as possible.’
‘Such trust in me—I’m just a newbie, you know.’
The success of this plan rested entirely on Jiang Yin’s shoulders, with no advance prep and only a sudden order.
So Ning Rong didn’t expect much either—just hoping for a lucky catch.
Worst case, it’s no different from doing nothing.
If Jiang Yin could handle the ten Marionette Monsters alone, even if the big fish wasn’t caught, Xiao Zi could remain hidden, forcing the enemy to be cautious.
“What are you trying to do!?”
Watching Jiang Yin ram through the security gate without slowing down, speeding over a hundred meters in a blink, Qv Si Nan clung to her seat, screaming.
“You’ll know soon~ Anyway, right now…”
Jiang Yin’s lips curled into a bloodthirsty grin as she turned into a quiet side street next to an unfamiliar neighborhood.
Suddenly, she spun the wheel left, shouting excitedly.
“Crash it! Fortune!”
“Boom——!”
With a thunderous crash, the bulletproof silver sedan leapt onto the sidewalk.
Even though nothing was visible ahead, it was as if it hit someone— the bumper caved in, and the windshield splattered as if doused with water.
Jiang Yin switched on the wipers to clear the glass.
Qv Si Nan’s vision suddenly warped.
The ‘water’ stuck to the glass turned black and red—almost congealed blood— swept aside by the wipers.
Outside, a corpse barely recognizable as human lay crumpled.
Jiang Yin even drove back and forth to make sure it wouldn’t revive.
“Is that…one of those monsters? There are that many!?”
Qv Si Nan’s fear surged.
Because she finally understood—the red dots on the car’s navigation map, scattered less than a hundred meters from them, represented these things.
And she realized something else.
——Jiang Yin wasn’t the monsters’ target.
She was.
This girl had come to protect her.
That was the only explanation for how she knew the monsters’ positions ahead of time.
“Call the Bureau. Report it. Get the Bureau to send Investigators for cleanup.”
Jiang Yin tossed her phone to Qv Si Nan.
“Oh, and hold tight.”
Jiang Yin pressed a red button on the steering wheel and floored the gas.
The thirty-ton modified bulletproof diesel hybrid special infantry vehicle shed its meek disguise.
The engine howled with rage.
Special tires smoked almost to combustion.
She drifted through, smashing six Marionette Monsters in a row.
“Tsk, pretty clever.”
Jiang Yin glanced at the red dots rapidly hiding behind the neighborhood wall on the car’s nav and spoke up.
“Hey, ever been in a car crash?”
“No, and I don’t have a license.”
Qv Si Nan’s face was blank—not calm, but because she already guessed Jiang Yin’s intentions, she felt detached.
“Oh, then you have now.”
As the words fell, the white-haired girl burst out laughing and stomped the gas.