Half an hour ago.
The torrential rain in Yunjing City showed no sign of letting up, the sky dark and heavy as if dusk had fallen.
“Make way, make way!”
A shared bicycle weaved back and forth through the jammed traffic, nearly scratching the paint on several cars.
“Why the rush? You’re trying to be reborn or something?!” A few drivers stuck their heads out, cursing.
“Sorry! I really am in a hurry!” Liu Zhe said, though without looking back, he pedaled toward the hotel.
He hadn’t risked his life like this for anyone in a long time, and even he didn’t understand why he was going to such lengths for two little girls.
He was a man in his forties, yet still incapable of weighing pros and cons properly. Clearly, having Mei Mei stay hidden was the safest option right now.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine leaving Qing and Lu Yuan behind.
***
At first, he only worried about Qing getting into trouble and her guardian coming after him, but somehow, inside the hotel, chaos reigned.
The interior was a mess, dust hanging thick in the air alongside an unsettling metallic scent of blood.
His heart pounded as he sprinted to the floor where Lu Yuan’s room was located, relying on memory.
The hallway lights were dim, walls scarred with deep marks—like they’d been chopped by an axe or clawed by some beast.
When Liu Zhe finally found Lu Yuan’s door, it was gone—completely missing.
Inside, the room looked as if bombed; nothing remained intact, and neither of the two girls was in sight.
Seeing the devastation, Liu Zhe oddly exhaled in relief.
Not finding them in the room meant, at least, they weren’t dead.
Just then, his toe struck something cold and hard.
He looked down sharply, breath catching.
It was Lu Yuan’s Transformation Crystal!
That uniquely shaped, clear crystal with a dark core lay quietly amid shattered furniture and shards of glass.
It must have fallen off her during a fierce fight, abandoned here.
Liu Zhe knelt down, trembling as he picked it up, clutching it in his palm.
The cool touch of the Transformation Crystal steadied him a bit.
Miss Lu Yuan… she wasn’t carrying her Transformation Crystal?
Transformation Crystals were always carried close to their Magical Girl owners—it was unthinkable to leave them behind.
Without lingering, Liu Zhe carefully slipped the crystal into the inner pocket of his suit, ready to leave this dangerous place immediately.
***
As he anxiously made his way to the hotel lobby, planning how to contact Lu Yuan, the TV hanging above flashed an urgent local news bulletin:
“According to reports, during this incident, a young woman with light blue hair allegedly used a special weapon to severely injure a black-haired girl before fleeing the scene… Police are conducting an all-out search for the suspect, who is considered extremely dangerous. Citizens are advised to…”
On the screen, a surveillance photo clearly showed a blue-haired girl stabbing a black-haired girl.
Liu Zhe’s pupils constricted sharply.
He recognized the light blue-haired girl as Qing.
And the stabbed girl… Liu Zhe guessed it was Lu Yuan.
The Magical Girl concealment made it impossible for ordinary people to identify them precisely, but it couldn’t fully mask their features.
Liu Zhe noticed that the black-haired twin-tailed girl knew Qing, and those who knew Qing mutually were only himself and Lu Yuan.
Therefore, the black-haired girl had to be Lu Yuan!
But why would Qing harm Lu Yuan?
Liu Zhe was at a loss, but there was no time to think now.
“Miss Lu Yuan, she needs this.” He pressed the Transformation Crystal hidden against his chest.
A Magical Girl without her Transformation Crystal was just an ordinary person.
Lu Yuan was severely injured and powerless… she was in extreme danger! She needed this.
A wave of overwhelming fear and an unprecedented sense of responsibility surged through him.
He had to find Lu Yuan immediately! Give this to her!
***
Liu Zhe dashed out of the hotel, his eyes locking onto a shared bike being pelted by the pouring rain beside the road.
No time to hesitate!
Like a bull cornered with nowhere to run, he lunged toward the bike he had casually left there, scrambling clumsily to mount it.
Rain blurred his vision, fierce winds made him stagger, icy water poured down his collar, but one thought burned in his mind:
Faster! Faster! Miss Lu Yuan is still waiting!
***
Back to the present.
“Transform!”
A dazzling burst of light exploded, glowing bandages instantly wrapping around Lu Yuan!
Her bloodstained white hoodie and jeans vanished in the light, replaced by the iconic black lace battle suit that perfectly outlined her figure.
More miraculously, the horrific piercing wound on her abdomen was visibly healing at a rapid pace.
Her skin smoothed over, lost blood replaced by new energy, and the pale color of her face quickly regained a healthy flush.
All weakness and pain were swept away in an instant; Lu Yuan’s eyes sparkled once more with renewed strength.
“Phew…” Lu Yuan exhaled deeply, steadying herself as she savored the long-lost feeling of power within her.
She twisted her neck, a soft crack sounding, and locked her gaze on Rose.
***
“You dare ambush me, inferior human?!” Rose spun around, revealing her wild, unstable nature.
A tentacle suddenly lashed out toward Liu Zhe. “You’re asking to die!”
Liu Zhe instinctively raised both hands to shield himself, though it was useless against Rose.
But Lu Yuan was no longer the helpless girl who’d been at their mercy moments ago.
“Bang!”
A gunshot rang out.
Lu Yuan precisely severed the tentacle lunging at Liu Zhe.
Liu Zhe stared in horror as the broken tentacle writhed on the ground like a worm, feeling nauseated.
“Liu Zhe, you run first!” Lu Yuan shouted.
“Oh, okay!” Liu Zhe scrambled away in a panic.
***
Watching Liu Zhe flee, Rose completely lost control.
“Again, and again, and again, and again, and again!” Her tentacles flailed wildly throughout the subway station, leaving countless scratch marks.
Why?! No matter what she tried, this Magical Girl named Lu Yuan kept ruining her plans!
Rose sneered coldly at Lu Yuan.
“Even transformed, what can you do? Do you really think you alone can kill me?”
Lu Yuan was just a rookie Magical Girl, impossible to defeat her.
Rose was sure Lu Yuan was scheming to escape or stall again, but this time, she planned to kill her outright.
She had no patience left to play games… right?
Rose suddenly froze.
She saw Lu Yuan raise her head, and behind her messy bangs were eyes Rose had never seen before.
Those eyes… like a lion staring mercilessly at its prey.
Calm and ruthless.
Lu Yuan stared Rose down fiercely and said:
“You think… I can’t kill you?”