Everything happened too fast, almost in the blink of an eye.
Scorchingly hot flames distorted the air, making it shimmer.
Ji Lingyuan stood her ground; the terrifyingly high temperature emanating from her fist even evaporated the blood that had splattered onto her.
The ground was covered in blood, shredded meat, and countless shards of shattered glass, which reflected everyone’s horrified expressions.
*Whoosh!*
Ji Lingyuan flicked her wrist expressionlessly, and the menacing flames instantly died out, leaving behind a thin trail of white smoke.
She calmly raised her eyes to look at the armed personnel quickly surrounding her.
The crowd shifted, and Shao Hua stepped forward. Seeing K424, who had been reduced to an unrecognizable mass of gore, her small face turned as black as the bottom of a charred pot.
All that effort for nothing.
The body was so mangled that they couldn’t even extract its memories.
Shao Hua stared intently at Ji Lingyuan, who met her gaze with a cold, piercing look of her own.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to the freezing point.
“Take her back.”
Shao Hua turned around without further conflict, leaving behind only that single command.
Ji Lingyuan ignored her and turned to look at Su Ling.
In an instant, like snow meeting the sun, Ji Lingyuan’s gaze softened.
“You… why are you crying?”
Ji Lingyuan, who had been about to say something, suddenly panicked when she saw Su Ling in tears.
Su Ling stared blankly at the shredded meat on the ground.
She slowly reached out her hand, and feeling the coldness on her fingertips, a flash of confusion crossed her eyes.
‘I… I’m crying?’
‘Why?’
‘Why am I crying?’
“It’s okay, I’m here. What happened just now was just an accident,” Ji Lingyuan said, her voice tender, assuming Su Ling was simply in shock.
However, Su Ling felt dazed.
Her heart ached terribly.
It felt as though… she had just lost someone very important to her…
***
“I gave repeated orders not to rush the Zerg in the Lower City. Now look what happened. That Zerg is deader than dead, and it’s even on the news! Do you see what the self-media is saying? They’re saying we ignored the safety of the public. The internet is already overflowing with people cursing us!”
Inside the Superintendent Department.
Shao Hua kept her head lowered.
In front of her stood a hysterical woman.
Yun Liuxue, the Director of the Superintendent Department and Shao Hua’s direct superior.
Shao Hua looked up at Yun Liuxue.
Ahead of them, a projection showed a video of a media report.
The background music of the video was “Stumbling into a Celestial Home —”, followed by interviews with several people involved.
“The Original be praised! Even though we’re just common folk from the Lower City, we’re still citizens of the Witch Empire! The Superintendent Department completely disregarded our lives!”
It was the lolita bus driver.
While the lecherous lolita poured out her grievances, her eyes were fixed greedily on the reporter’s cleavage.
“I want to file a complaint! If it weren’t for that student from the Witch Academy stepping in, we might all be dead!”
A mother cried out, her emotions extremely agitated.
The camera panned to Ji Lingyuan, but she swatted it away with a palm.
Shao Hua, meanwhile, was staring intently at the flickering image of Su Ling in the footage.
She keenly captured the moment where Su Ling stood dazed, shedding tears over the Zerg’s corpse.
“Sigh, let it be. Since that bug is dead anyway, let’s put a period on this matter. It just so happens that the Bureau Chief needs help with her situation. Your Second Group should join in as well.”
“But Director, that bug was very likely an Imperial Guard! If an Imperial Guard was there, it means there is definitely a member of the Royal Family in the Lower City. I suspect that Su Ling…”
“Enough!”
Yun Liuxue was so angry that her ample chest heaved.
“All of this is just your speculation, and that Zerg is already dead. What more do you want? As for that Su Ling, I’ve seen your report. And the result? The result is that the Genetic Testing proved she is a Witch through and through!”
Yun Liuxue threw a report in front of Shao Hua.
The reason she was so angry was entirely because she had previously seemed to agree with Shao Hua’s theory.
If that Zerg was an Imperial Guard, then a member of the Royal Family had to be nearby.
If she could capture a member of the Royal Family, wouldn’t that be a massive boost to her political record?
With the mindset of giving it a try, she had arranged for Genetic Testing as soon as Su Ling was brought into the Superintendent Department.
However, the results showed that Su Ling was a genuine Witch, just one whose head wasn’t quite right.
Shao Hua looked at the testing report, her face full of disbelief.
It felt as though her brain had exploded.
Although the Royal Family of the Zerg could perfectly perform Mimicry to look like a Witch—even mimicking the body fragrance of a Witch—genetics was something that couldn’t be faked.
This report was like a heavy hammer, ruthlessly striking her already taut nerves.
In an instant, countless images flashed through her mind.
The Zerg’s escape route that specifically avoided Su Ling’s residential area, the squad members monitoring Su Ling mysteriously losing their memories, and Su Ling weeping for the Zerg’s corpse…
“Shao Hua, I admire you. You were the most outstanding graduate of your year and you are my junior sister, but you must remember: never bring your personal grudges into your work.”
Yun Liuxue seemed exhausted, her face full of weariness.
She cut off Shao Hua, who wanted to defend herself.
“The matter with Su Ling is over. Withdraw your people. Her mother might be a Deserter, but that is no reason for you to target her.”
“We’ve also investigated. Bai Wei’s wife, Su Yao, was someone Bai Wei met while she was on the run. Her personal background information is very complete; she had absolutely no idea about Bai Wei’s status as a Deserter.”
“No matter what, they are still citizens of our Witch Empire. They enjoy the rights of Imperial citizens. Shao Hua, in this matter, you truly crossed the line.”
“Go now. This chapter is closed. I’ll have the Third Group hand the files over to you shortly. The Bureau Chief’s matter is still unresolved.”
Yun Liuxue waved her hand.
Shao Hua bit her lip and withdrew unwillingly.
As she walked through the noisy corridor, Shao Hua’s ears suddenly began to ring.
In her daze, she heard those damned noises again.
“Whose child is this? Why is she here?”
“Ha, her mother is a Deserter. She gave birth to her on the battlefield and ran away. I thought she was pitiful, so I picked her up. I didn’t expect her to actually hatch successfully. She’s certainly lucky.”
“Oh, she didn’t turn into a bug? How rare.”
“Haha, a Deserter? Where’s her mother then?”
“Executed long ago. She’s probably reporting to Fengdu by now. In a few more days, she might already be on the path to Samsara.”
“…”
“Hah! Hah!”
Shao Hua curled up in a deserted corner, clutching her head in pain.
The past was like thorns, tightly strangling her neck and making it hard to breathe.
“Are you okay?”
At that moment, she suddenly smelled a pleasant cherry blossom scent.
Her heart stirred.
She slowly looked up, her eyes wet and her vision blurred, but she still locked eyes with those beautiful cherry-colored pupils.
“You…”
Shao Hua never imagined that Su Ling would be here.
“Why are you still here?”
“I told you to wait for me back there. Why didn’t you listen?”
Ji Lingyuan’s voice came from nearby.
Su Ling scratched her head and gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
She had just seen Shao Hua huddled alone in the corner for some reason.
Worried, she had come over.
Ji Lingyuan also noticed Shao Hua.
She rolled her eyes and let out a cold snort.
However, Yun Guang, who was following behind, poked her small head out and looked at Shao Hua with concern.
“Senior, are you having your… again?”
“It’s fine. Just an old problem.”
Shao Hua propped herself up and looked at Su Ling.
At this moment, her eyes were full of apology.
“Miss Su Ling, I am truly sorry.”
“Heh, so you know how to apologize now?”
Ji Lingyuan was the first to mock her, but she was nudged in the ribs by Yun Guang’s elbow.
“I was too extreme,” Shao Hua said, seemingly having come to a realization.
She gave a faint smile.
She looked at Su Ling and offered a kind smile, then shook her head and left alone.
She knew Yun Guang was the one who had leaked the information; otherwise, Ji Lingyuan wouldn’t have arrived so coincidentally.
Yun Liuxue’s words were still echoing in her ears, and her eyes dimmed.
“Xiaoyuan, withdraw the personnel. There’s no need to test Su Ling’s younger sister’s genes either. Come back; we have a new mission.”
“Ah, really?! Great! I’ll rejoin the unit right away!”
On the other end of the call, Xiaoyuan’s voice was full of pleasant surprise.
They naturally knew about Su Ling’s family situation.
Buried in debt, Su Ling had even chosen to walk that specific path for the sake of her family.
To be honest, they did feel some heartache and sympathy for her.
Now that Shao Hua had ordered the withdrawal, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Tch.”
Ji Lingyuan watched Shao Hua’s retreating back and snorted.
“She grew up on the battlefield against the Zerg in the Fourth Universe. When her mother faced the Zerg, she was consumed by fear and became a Deserter. Later, she was sentenced to death by the Witch Court. That’s why she detests the Zerg and Deserters so much.”
Yun Guang sighed.
She seemed to be explaining this to Su Ling.
But Su Ling only shook her head.
From beginning to end, she hadn’t felt any resentment toward Shao Hua.
Although she had learned from Ji Lingyuan that Shao Hua had likely been monitoring her for the past few days, she had a clear conscience.
Aside from the fear of being detained for being a Fuli Ji, she didn’t fear a damn thing.
Furthermore, someone had just performed Genetic Testing on her, proving she was a real Witch.
This also allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.
To be honest, she had genuinely been afraid that she might be a bug and that her self-perception was just a result of a bug’s Mimicry.
Looking at it now, she really was a Transmigrator from Earth, and she was currently a genuine Witch.
Unfortunately, no one around her believed her.
Earlier, while the testing was being done, she had fearfully told those people about her transmigration.
But those Witches had just looked at each other, appearing as though they were struggling not to laugh.
They even coaxed her like a child, saying they understood and would help her resolve it.
‘Sigh, why is it that when I tell the truth, no one believes me?’
Su Ling felt a bit melancholy.
When other Transmigrators possessed bodies, they were always terrified of people realizing they had taken over the Original Owner.
She, on the other hand, had nervously exposed herself, yet no one took it seriously.
“She just has too much time on her hands.”
Regardless, Ji Lingyuan still found Shao Hua unpleasant.
Fortunately, this matter was now cleared up.
Meanwhile, images of the ground covered in Zerg corpses kept surfacing in Su Ling’s mind.
For some reason, she felt a slight weight in her chest.
“Hee, since it’s over, I’m going to enjoy my vacation. By the way, is there anything fun to do on Azure Star? Does the eldest Miss Ji have any recommendations?”
As they left the Superintendent Department, a crowd was gathered at the entrance.
The appearance of a Zerg in the Lower City was a hot topic.
The lolita driver was currently describing what had happened with great flair to various cameras.
Her large eyes weren’t idle either, darting lecherously toward the chests of the female reporters surrounding her.
“Search for a guide yourself,” Ji Lingyuan snapped, rolling her eyes.
She grabbed Su Ling’s wrist.
At the entrance, S and Z had been waiting for a long time.
“Hee hee, you two aren’t actually a couple, are you?”
Suddenly, Yun Guang grabbed Su Ling’s other wrist.
The bodies of Ji Lingyuan and Su Ling both stiffened instantly.
Su Ling’s small face turned bright red, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at either of them.
‘D-Did she find out?’
But thinking about it, it made sense.
She was the consultant Shao Hua had invited; how could she not know about this?
“What are you talking about?”
Ji Lingyuan turned her head, her gaze looking as if she wanted to eat someone alive.
She actually felt a sense of crisis.
Yun Guang stared at Su Ling.
Seeing her blushing face and lowered head, she felt a sudden surge of desire.
“Oh, come on. I’ve known about your situation for a long time. Stop pretending.”
She ignored the glaring Ji Lingyuan and leaned in close to Su Ling’s ear, her ruby-red lips moving slightly.
“Little cutie, how much did that girl pay you? How about I give you double? Hee hee, you’re so cute and beautiful—you’re tempting me every single second~”
“Yun Guang!”
Scorchingly hot flames shot into the sky.
The terrifyingly high temperature forced Su Ling to keep backing away.
Yun Guang took the opportunity to pull Su Ling into her embrace.
Instantly, the scent of blue orchids on Yun Guang’s body filled Su Ling’s nose.
And Su Ling truly got a face full of her chest.
Su Ling’s mind went blank.
She subconsciously struggled, but Yun Guang held her tight, even shooting a provocative look at Ji Lingyuan.
“Ha, don’t be so angry, eldest Miss Ji~ If it really doesn’t work out, a threesome isn’t out of the question, you know~”
“YUN GUANG!!!!!”