“The Elephant House has experienced an explosion. Some people on the scene have temporarily lost consciousness, but there are no fatalities.”
“In addition, there are no traces of a bomb at the scene. I suspect the explosion was caused by a Shadow Beast.”
“That’s all the information we have for now. Additional details will require further investigation.”
“That’s it, Meteor and I are leaving now.”
After reporting on the situation, Sapphire transformed once more and left the Elephant House together with Meteor.
Three minutes later, a zoo staff member in uniform hurriedly rushed to the Elephant House.
Seeing the visitors collapsed on the ground and the elephant now missing its entire body, his heart sank halfway into his stomach.
He quickly checked the visitors’ breathing and listened for their heartbeats.
Only after confirming that no one had died from the unexpected explosion inside the zoo did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and mutter thankfully.
“Thank goodness, thank goodness. No one died, so I still get to keep my job.”
……
Meanwhile, in the classroom building at A City Third University.
“Scorching Flame, something happened at the zoo. The warning came true.”
“I didn’t see any sign of the Shadow Beast at the scene, nor did I see any materials related to a timed bomb.”
“I have reason to believe this so-called timed bomb was placed using the Shadow Beast’s own ability. Ordinary methods simply can’t detect any traces of a bomb.”
Lu Ren read through these three messages from Sapphire, frowning deeply. He found this bombing case to be quite a headache.
The Monsters they dealt with before would only shriek and then rely on brute force to fight them.
Now, this Monster not only knows how to write, but can also hide its own tracks and avoid direct conflict with them.
What is this?
Did a normal Monster just become an elite Monster?
If this goes on, will they be facing a boss Monster next?
“I did sense an abnormal magic source just now, and it was indeed coming from the direction of the zoo.”
“But this abnormal magic source only appeared for a few seconds before vanishing completely. After that, I couldn’t sense any trace of it at all.”
While grumbling in his heart, Lu Ren sent the information he knew so far to the chat app, hoping it might be of some help.
“How’s the reading? Can you confirm it’s a Shadow Beast?” Sapphire asked.
“Everything checks out. I can confirm it’s a Monster,” Lu Ren replied.
“In other words, when the explosion happened at the Elephant House, the Shadow Beast appeared briefly near the zoo and then immediately disappeared. Because of this, we can’t track it at all.”
Relying on her experience, Sapphire quickly drew a reasonable conclusion.
Lu Ren looked at the message from Sapphire and let out a helpless sigh.
This ability doesn’t seem right. What’s with setting off bombs and then vanishing in an instant?
Is this really the kind of Monster they can handle at this stage?
Normally, they should still be bullying the newly emerged Monsters at this point, right?
Could it be that the Night Demon has already come to City A, planning to launch its schemes here, and that’s why such a Monster has appeared?
Random thoughts ran wild in Lu Ren’s mind, and the look on his face was nothing short of awful.
“What’s wrong, Ren-ge?” Xu Wenxing, who was also playing on his phone nearby, noticed Lu Ren’s odd expression. “Did that warning we saw at noon really come true?”
“Yeah. You’ll see related reports on the Forum soon,” Lu Ren nodded at Xu Wenxing and replied.
“So how is it? Were you able to find its location?” Xu Wenxing asked with a worried look. “If you can’t deal with it, I have a feeling it’ll cause more trouble soon.”
“We can’t find it for now. It’s a huge problem. The other side is extremely cautious and didn’t leave us any clues,” Lu Ren answered honestly.
“I see… Well, I believe in you, Ren-ge. I’m sure you’ll be able to solve this,” Xu Wenxing encouraged Lu Ren.
“Why do you have so much faith in me? Aren’t you worried I might not be able to handle this Monster?” Lu Ren replied with a laugh.
“No way. If you can’t, there’s still Sapphire and Meteor. The reason City A hasn’t had any major casualties is because you all are protecting us,” Xu Wenxing laughed as well. “If it weren’t for you, who knows what would have happened.”
“You make it sound like the Magic Girls of City A are all about to die off. That’s cheesy and disgusting,” Lu Ren shook his head, still smiling. “Say something harsher instead. That would at least make me feel better.”
“I really can’t. I’d never say something mean to a Magic Girl.”
“Then shut up and listen to the lecture. Stop grossing me out. I’d like to live for a few more centuries, thank you.”
“Ren-ge, are you planning to become a god now? Wanting to live for centuries,” Xu Wenxing teased Lu Ren’s unrealistic fantasy.
Lu Ren didn’t reply. He simply looked up and smiled at Xu Wenxing, then lowered his head to check his phone again.
Hearing this illogical trust in Magic Girls, Lu Ren unexpectedly found his mood much improved.
How to put it…
The feeling of being trusted was surprisingly not bad?
……
In the blink of an eye, class ended.
After dinner, Lu Ren returned to his dorm and sprawled out on the bed in a big X-shape.
“What’s wrong? You look so tired, even though you only had classes,” Pandora stepped on Lu Ren’s right palm and asked.
“Ran into a bunch of troublesome things, and I can’t figure out the reason, so I’m just worn out,” Lu Ren closed his eyes and replied simply.
“Oh, I get it. You’re suffering from too many thoughts at once and wearing yourself out mentally,” Pandora’s soft paw pressed on Lu Ren’s hand, fluffy and gentle, almost like a massage.
“Mental exhaustion… Where’d you even learn that term?”
Hearing such a modern phrase come from Pandora made Lu Ren laugh in exasperation.
Isn’t this little thing always watching the news? How did she end up picking up such trendy words?
“I learned it online. When you’re sleeping at night, I use your phone to browse the web,” Pandora explained earnestly.
“No wonder my phone’s always low on battery in the morning! So it was you secretly using it,” Lu Ren sat up, pulled out his right hand, and grabbed Pandora’s tail.
“You didn’t post anything online with my phone, did you? I’d hate to wake up to hundreds of comments flaming me.”
“Relax, I’m not so bored that I’d chat with strangers online,” Pandora lifted her head proudly. “I’m just studying human knowledge and trying to understand you all.”
“That excuse again. Do you really like things related to humans that much?”
Lu Ren let go of Pandora’s tail, tapped her head with his finger, and looked at her, puzzled.
“Of course. Didn’t I tell you before? Human language and behavior are fascinating. I like them a lot,” Pandora looked sincerely at Lu Ren.
Lu Ren and Pandora stared at each other for a few seconds, hoping to find some hint of deceit in her gaze.
But unfortunately, he couldn’t see a thing.
“Suit yourself. Say whatever you want, I can’t be bothered,” Lu Ren lay down on the bed again, returned to his earlier posture, and gazed at the ceiling.
“Thank you for trusting me.” Pandora licked her left front paw. “As a reward, I can help you solve a psychological problem for free.”
“You, a Magic Fairy who can’t even sign a contract with anyone, are acting as a psychologist now… Fine, I’ll tell you about my troubles. But if you tell me you can’t help after hearing it, I’ll make you take a nice bath in a bucket.”
“I won’t say that. Go ahead and tell me boldly what difficulties you’re facing.”
Hearing Pandora’s firm tone, Lu Ren couldn’t help but trust her, just this once.
Maybe he really was feeling exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Fine, he’d trust her for now.
After all, this little Pandora had never caused him any trouble, and had even helped him out more than once.