That night, outside an abandoned hotel on West Street in Summersea City.
Miss L was still dressed in her OL outfit, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, looking like a white-collar worker just off work.
She waited on the spot for about ten minutes before she saw Xiaoxi coming up, panting and out of breath.
Xiaoxi had run out as if her typing speed was lightning fast. In the past, going out so late would definitely have invited questions from Ye Xinglan, but now Ye Xinglan probably guessed that Xiaoxi was busy with her magical girl duties and wouldn’t press further.
Not only did she not ask much, Xiaoxi felt like she hadn’t exchanged more than a few words with the Rich Girl recently!
Now that they lived under the same roof, they were in a state of mutual ignoring. The day Xiao Keke visited was the time Xiaoxi and Ye Xinglan talked the most.
It was safe to say the atmosphere between the two was extremely awkward.
Miss L glanced at Xiaoxi’s half-sleeved shirt and shorts, and the casually tied ponytail, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“When you used to keep your transformation form on and go out with us, you dressed just like this. Back then, we all thought A Xing liked to keep a low profile and not attract attention.”
“But now it seems, A Xing, you just have terrible fashion sense.”
“Why are you laughing? You with only one outfit in your entire wardrobe have the nerve to criticize me!”
Xiaoxi glared back. Even after turning into a girl, she never developed the habit of buying clothes to dress up.
Clothes were simply about comfort for her. And how could Miss L, who only ever wore workplace OL outfits year-round, criticize her!
“This is for image’s sake. Let’s go.”
Miss L led Xiaoxi into the abandoned hotel. Inside, it was a mess, but surprisingly, Xiaoxi caught sight of a faint red glow in the darkness—that was the elevator button’s light.
Logically, the power in the abandoned hotel should be cut off, yet the elevator still worked.
Miss L casually pressed several floor buttons after stepping in, and the elevator emitted strange noises as it began descending.
Half a minute later, the elevator doors opened to reveal a new scene: a narrow street, pedestrians of various appearances, neon signs in every color. It felt like stepping into another world.
The nighttime Black Market was still bustling; in fact, it was as if the sky couldn’t be seen at all, and the concepts of day and night simply didn’t exist here.
Miss L carried Xiaoxi through the Black Market, seeming very familiar with the place.
“Looks like the Ministry Head of the Magic Girl Squad comes to this kind of shady place quite often, huh?”
Though said jokingly, Miss L fell silent for several seconds before sighing.
“I come here often. There’s nothing to hide about it. A Xing, you know, the Black Market isn’t just about dirty business; there’s a large residential area here as well.”
“I sponsor a few children’s schooling here and sometimes visit them. You know, the Association pays me a good salary as the Ministry Head.”
Xiaoxi was stunned; this was an answer she hadn’t expected. The underground Black Market having residential areas was a thing from the Great Chaos Era.
During the initial outbreak of the Great Chaos, there weren’t many magical girls yet, and many people moved underground to escape the rampaging monsters. But once things stabilized, most moved back out.
It was more accurate to say the Black Market was actually built upon the ruins of underground residential districts.
During the mid-Great Chaos, underground trade flourished, and those abandoned underground homes were targeted because of their secrecy.
Xiaoxi had been to those underground residences before; the environment was… terrible. She had assumed no one would live there after the Great Chaos ended.
Miss L sighed, “Some people just can’t survive aboveground, so they move down here. They are forgotten by those above, but they still have to live. The two children I sponsor… are monsters.”
Xiaoxi understood this deeply and fell silent. The monster problem was indeed not something easily solved.
As they talked, they arrived at their destination—a simple tent set up at the entrance of an alley. Miss L told Xiaoxi to wait outside while she bent down and entered alone.
Inside the tent, the light was dim, and various divination tools were scattered about.
Deep within, a figure cloaked in a robe leaned against a large wooden box, its withered hands stroking a dirty crystal ball.
“This guest wants to… divine something? Old me knows many things to divine, heh heh heh heh heh.”
Beneath the robe seemed to be an old woman; her laugh was harsh, and her face was obscured. When she saw Miss Shan’s face, her voice noticeably faltered.
It was hard to imagine a place like the Black Market would have a fortune-telling stand, a seemingly frivolous thing.
Usually, such façades covered real business in the shadows, like Scar-Eye’s repair shop.
“No divination. I want to ask you to help find someone,” Miss Shan crossed her arms. “The person I’m looking for is about this tall, with something growing on their head—”
“This young lady must be joking. Old eyes are failing; finding someone like that is beyond my ability. You’d better ask someone else—”
The old woman spoke as she swayed slightly back and forth. Miss Shan squinted and noticed the wooden box behind the robed figure also swaying.
Suddenly, she reached out and flipped open the box’s top lid. The back of the box wasn’t sealed.
Inside, a small figure froze mid-motion, as if it had been trying to sneak out from behind the tent flap quietly.
Before Miss Shan could speak, the little golden-haired, orange-eyed girl cried out in a pitiful voice, sounding very endearing.
“That old hag tied me in this box! Thank you, sister, for rescuing me. Please catch this bad person! I want to go home to my mom…”
She tried to slip out again behind the tent flap, but Miss Shan was quick and grabbed her tail, preventing her escape.
“I wondered why you little fox spirit set up the tent at the alley entrance—it’s so you can sneak out the back and run away, huh?”
Miss Shan’s sudden movement knocked the robed old woman, who slumped sideways silently—it turned out she was just a dummy.
“You, Lin, you bastard! Don’t pull my tail, it hurts, don’t you know!”
The little girl who failed to escape instantly changed expression and began cursing Miss Shan fiercely while trying to pull her fluffy tail back.
Miss Shan grabbed the girl’s collar and lifted her up. The girl was no taller than 1.3 meters. Held in one hand, her feet dangled as she struggled.
Looking closely, the little girl was actually very cute—fair-skinned and tender, with two fox ears fluttering on her head and a big fluffy tail behind her. That tail had been the reason she failed to escape.
“Lin, put me down! Put me down! There are child traffickers here! Help!”
The little fox spirit shouted. Just from this scene, it really looked like Miss L was trafficking this little girl.
“Fox Momomo, aren’t you being a bit unreasonable? I’m not here to catch you, just want to ask a few things. You’re an intelligence dealer, right?”
“I don’t believe you! You caught me before because I was selling intelligence in the Black Market. This time you must be fishing for evidence!”
“I’m really not lying. Otherwise, why would I come alone to see you?” Miss L said helplessly. “If I wanted to catch you, I’d have sent a whole team of magical girls to bind you. No need to come here myself late at night.”
Fox Momomo stopped kicking and looked fiercely at Miss L.
“You come alone to see me, aren’t you afraid I’ll take you out? After all, I’m a monster. Lin, no matter how high your rank, you’re just a normal person, right?”
Fox Momomo let out a sharp “ha,” showing two little fangs. Her fox ears and tail stood upright.
Holding the growling fox spirit in midair, Miss L almost laughed. Unexpectedly, Momomo actually dared to bite—she bit Miss L’s wrist.
Miss L let go in pain, and Momomo quickly dashed out of the tent, throwing a mocking glance back.
“Bleh, Lin, you want to catch me alone… hey!”
Momomo hadn’t expected to run straight into someone just outside the tent. Xiaoxi was momentarily stunned, then casually lifted Fox Momomo up.
Xiaoxi had been daydreaming just moments before but caught sight of a striking glow of blue hair flicker at the alley’s end.
She immediately thought of the magical girl Flash Butterfly, who had sparred with Xiao Keke earlier that day.
Originally, Xiaoxi wanted to take a look, but unexpectedly bumped right into the little thing, so she picked up Momomo and went back into the tent.
Seeing the girl who looked like starlight, wearing a long dress, Fox Momomo’s ears and tail immediately drooped.
“A Xing sister? Long time no see. I… I thought you’d already washed your hands of it, no, retired.”
Momomo stopped herself halfway through, realizing the phrase “washed your hands of it” suited her as an intelligence dealer, but not quite for Xiaoxi.
Indeed, it had been a long time. Maybe long enough for her to start missing the taste of dragon fruit, Momomo?
“By the way, who did you say you wanted taken out? Need A Xing sister’s help?” Miss L interjected flatly from the side.
“Ah, I see you’re very particular, Lin sister. I was just joking with you.”
Momomo chuckled and suddenly turned timid, like a gentle house cat.
“It’s just intelligence. Sisters, ask me anything you want!”
Xiaoxi couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t soften at all despite Momomo’s pitiful act. After all these years, this little fox spirit’s nature hadn’t changed.
During the worst years of the Great Chaos, many intelligence dealers appeared in the Black Market.
Information was more valuable the more chaotic the times, so controlling information meant controlling the money flow.
Back then, Momomo was an intelligence dealer—bold, meticulous, and clever. She made plenty selling intelligence.
If it were only that, Momomo wouldn’t have crossed paths with Xiaoxi and the others.
The problem was she dealt in everything, selling everyone’s intelligence.
Once, Xiaoxi and her group were besieged by the Divine Summon Order.
Later, tracing back, they found Momomo had sold their base’s location to the Order.
After teaching Momomo a lesson, she put on the same pitiful act, promising repeatedly not to do it again, softening their hearts enough not to press charges.
Moreover, she had sold intelligence on the Divine Summon Order to them too, and they thought she’d truly turned over a new leaf… but a few days later, their whereabouts were sold out again by Fox Moumou.
That was Momomo’s nature—never learning, money first. She’d sell anything for the right price.
Xiaoxi knew that after the Great Chaos, the monster Fox Moumou had been captured and modified by the Association.
She thought maybe this little fox spirit had finally gone straight. But after release, she was still running her old business in the Black Market.
“A Xing sister, you really can’t blame me!” Fox Moumou quickly defended herself, looking aggrieved. “This is my only skill. Look at my size, who’d hire me if I looked for a job?”
“You’re nothing like A Xing sister. Even if she retires and stops being a magical girl, she’d definitely find an easy, well-paying job. That’s why she retired, right?”
“…Enough, no more.”
Xiaoxi coughed twice, feeling the flattery like a knife twisting deep inside.
But Momomo was right. She had looked like a 1.3-meter-tall little girl years ago and hadn’t grown at all since. Looks like no chance of getting taller anymore.
Putting aside her monster identity, who would hire her with such a childish appearance? It would be suspicious if they didn’t think she was child labor!
“But I’ve really reformed a lot now! I swear! I only sell black market-to-black market intelligence. Anything involving the Association or magical girls, I stay out of it!”
“Enough, I told you we’re not here to catch you.” Miss L gestured for Xiaoxi to put Momomo down. “I’m looking for someone who looks like this…”
Miss L described the known appearance of Black Rose to Momomo. These details were pieced together from Scar-Eye’s mouth.
“Pieced together” wasn’t quite right because Scar-Eye, that sly Black Market merchant, was sharp and spilled everything he knew readily—though it was mostly useless information.
The Association only knew the person supplying the Divine Summon Order’s Magic Devices was called Black Rose, but nothing else.
Clearly, Black Rose knew Scar-Eye wasn’t a reliable ally, so she never let him in on anything useful.
Halfway through Miss L’s description, Momomo’s eyes flashed with recognition.
“I know who you mean, Lin sister. Black Rose, right? I’ve seen that woman in the Black Market!”
“She appeared about a month ago in the Summersea City Black Market, with a batch of Divine Summon Order items entrusted to Scar-Eye, that sleazy man, to sell.”
Fox Momomo suddenly realized, “Right, Scar-Eye was caught by the Association a few days ago. No wonder you two came to ask me about this.”
“A month ago”—both caught on to the timing. That was exactly when the first sudden monster attack happened!
They exchanged a glance. Indeed, for professional matters, it was best to ask a professional!