[Sister Ning Rong, are adults always this… crazy when they do things?]
When Xiao Zi’s thought communication came through, Ning Rong’s first reaction was delight, because she hadn’t sensed any magic fluctuations from Xiao Zi, which meant Jiang Yin, who had little hope, had pulled it off. The emergency plan was executed perfectly.
Then came confusion.
[What did she do?]
[Sister Jiang Yin drove and wrecked all ten Marionette Monsters.]
[Wrecked…]
Ning Rong choked, nearly unable to react.
In her mind, Jiang Yin should have relied on magical item defense and attack to struggle through the Marionette Monsters.
But the reality…
[Xiao Zi, don’t learn from her. We still need to be mindful of the impact when we do things…]
She slapped her face with a smack.
Compared to the threat from high-level monsters, Jiang Yin’s actions were minor—a report to file at most afterward.
She even felt a bit of admiration. After all, Jiang Yin’s logic matched hers—always aiming to achieve the greatest result at the smallest cost.
At this moment, expending the magic in magical items was obviously unfavorable for Jiang Yin. In comparison, damaging a Modified Car and smashing a section of wall was nothing at all.
Writing a report afterward?
No big deal. As long as they successfully eliminated the Puppeteer Hunter, not only would they avoid punishment, but they’d also be commended.
At least a collective Second-Class Merit.
But this wasn’t something Xiao Zi should imitate. Jiang Yin was an adult—she knew her limits.
But Xiao Zi was just a first-year high school student. Forget street racing up to a police station like Jiang Yin; even passing a note in class made her nervous. She couldn’t possibly adapt to changing situations, or independently judge which rules must be followed and which could be bent temporarily.
That was an ability only gained through enough experience.
If Xiao Zi learned Jiang Yin’s style, and in future missions just unleashed high-power magic without care for the destruction, it would be a headache.
***
While the Magical Girls’ mental channel buzzed with chatter, the air inside the car was dead silent.
Qv Si Nan was quiet, and Jiang Yin was focused on analyzing their current situation.
In fact, according to the data, the hardest thing about the Puppeteer Hunter wasn’t its own combat strength, but its ability to create Marionette Monsters.
Each Marionette Monster could hide itself, and before activation was almost indistinguishable from an ordinary corpse, able to evade Magical Girl perception.
Even during movement, it could only be detected within five hundred meters of a Magical Girl.
Optical Invisibility, Scent Masking, Perception Shielding.
These things, though weak—like zombies in Western movies, any normal adult with an axe could take one down—couldn’t withstand a Modified Car hit.
But…
No one knew how many of these Marionette Monsters the Puppeteer Hunter controlled, or where they’d been hidden.
‘That’s why Ning Rong’s team had to leave a sliver of hope for the Puppeteer Hunter, so it wouldn’t go berserk and take us down with it.’
‘If it suddenly went mad and activated all the Marionette Monsters hidden in the District, the panic alone would cause a stampede big enough to bury us.’
‘The best solution is to fish slowly, wait for it to slip up, and let Ning Rong find its location and open a Magical Space to cut it off from the outside.’
These high-risk monsters with puppet-control abilities were always the hardest to handle. After all, Huaxia didn’t have Eagle Sauce’s advantage of low human rights, where tens of thousands died each year in monster Incidents without causing a ripple.
After all, even that casualty rate couldn’t match their self-inflicted gun violence.
***
In Huaxia, the rule had always been to nip monster Incidents in the bud and disturb normal life as little as possible.
Had Jiang Yin, in thirty years, never seen a large-scale monster Incident because Huaxia never produced high-risk monsters?
Not at all. In truth, Magical Girls used Magical Space to pull monsters in and destroy them before they could cause any real damage, leaving no trace in the real world. Naturally, ordinary people wouldn’t even discuss it.
A few scattered deaths would be covered up as ordinary cases to prevent mass panic, which could in turn spawn even stronger monsters.
“Vey, you…”
“What kind of person are you?”
“What else could I be?”
Jiang Yin rolled her eyes, briefly not understanding why the old maggot would ask such a dumb question.
But when she turned and saw Qv Si Nan’s anxious, uneasy eyes, she fell silent.
Her fault.
She’d always treated the old maggot as a buddy and forgotten she was just a twenty-something girl. Anyone caught off guard by this would be terrified and panicked.
People can’t think calmly when they’re scared out of their minds.
“Ha~”
The white-haired girl chuckled lightly, switched on the car stereo, and, to the cheerful tune of ‘Because I’m Just a Sheep,’ raised her head with a mischievous grin:
“I’m the one who came to save you, duh~”
It felt nonsensical, unreliable even, but for some reason, Qv Si Nan felt relieved. Her nerves eased, and she managed a quiet retort:
“Your taste in music sucks.”
“Mind your own business!”
The girl stomped her foot:
“What do you know? This is called reminiscing about youth!”
“You don’t even look older than me.”
“That’s because I look young!”
The battle-damaged car rolled forward, cheerful childish music drifting as it cruised down the street.
Their bickering never stopped.
As they neared the Navigation Destination, Qv Si Nan’s nerves had completely calmed. Reason returned, and she accepted the sudden crisis. Instead, curiosity took over.
“You’re an investigator from the Magical Girl Administration Bureau, aren’t you? Why didn’t you just say so earlier?”
“I once read something online: women care the most about reasons, and also care the least.”
“They’re always asking if you love them or if they’re pretty, but no matter how you answer, they always seem to get upset, like there’s no right answer at all.”
“So what’s your answer?”
Qv Si Nan was genuinely curious. She’d had similar experiences, but didn’t know what the right answer was.
But if Jiang Yin said this, she must have her own answer.
“If you ask me, it’s never a fill-in-the-blank question. It’s a proof question.”
“What she wants is proof that you love her, emotional value—what you have to do is…”
“What?”
“Obviously, you distract her, dummy!”
Jiang Yin rolled her eyes, hopped out of the car, and laughed:
“Who wants to spend all day answering questions and killing brain cells? Don’t you have to work?”
“Like right now, you didn’t even notice where I brought you, did you?”
Qv Si Nan froze, hurriedly looked around, and then…
A sharp explosion.
“Why did you bring me to her?!”
“Obviously, it’s easier to protect two potential victims in one place.”
Standing in front of the High-End Apartment, Jiang Yin grinned and patted her shoulder:
“Don’t just stand there. Get upstairs.”
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