The night in the outskirts of Summersea City was very quiet—no lights, no noise of carriages or crowds.
By rights, this wasteland could no longer be considered part of the “city,” but the city boundaries now were quite different from those before The Great Chaos Era.
Miss L looked toward the edge of the darkness, where, faintly visible in the distance, stretched a long continuous wall—that was the true boundary of the city.
Like the walls built in a certain famous anime to block out giants, the walls surrounding the city were erected to keep the monsters of the wilderness at bay.
Monsters were born from the negative emotions of humans.
Logically, cities with higher population density should see more monsters, while the chance of monsters appearing in the outskirts should be small.
Yet in reality, the number of monsters born in the suburbs and wilderness—uninhabited areas—was several times that of the city.
This was because monsters that appeared within the city were cleaned up by Magical Girls, but no one cared about the monsters born outside the city.
Magical Girls weren’t exactly common like cabbages on the street; how could there be so many Magical Girls with nothing to do but roam desolate areas just to clean up monsters?
Therefore, the Magical Girls stationed at each city branch of the Association existed only to ensure the safety of the city.
As for uninhabited areas outside the city, honestly, it didn’t matter much if monsters appeared there.
Of course, some facilities that had to be established far from the city would have dedicated Magical Girls assigned for protection.
To prevent monsters wandering the wild from threatening the city, toward the end of The Great Chaos Era, the Association built a wall surrounding every city’s outskirts.
These walls also served as protective devices for the city and could activate magical barriers to envelop and shield the entire city in critical moments.
Miss L had deliberately chosen this desolate place near the city wall to meet with Gu Lai, since it was important not to reveal Gu Lai’s identity as an informant.
Meeting in the Black Market was out of the question.
“I didn’t expect to still have the chance to buy information from you. It really brings back memories. Do you remember the first time we came to you for information?” Miss L sat down on a large stone, her tone tinged with nostalgia.
“I remember. At the time, I thought you were coming to settle accounts with me again. Didn’t expect you were here to buy information. I recall Miss Lin was still very young back then, not like now—well… you can tell she’s a leader now, much more mature.”
“Alright, no more of that. Let’s get down to business.”
Miss L felt like spitting blood. She wasn’t old—just a little worn out from working at the Association these past couple of years.
Fox Momomo was indeed a professional when it came to gathering intelligence.
She noted down the approximate times and patterns of Black Rose’s appearances at the bar, as well as more details about Black Rose’s image.
The only regret was that Black Rose had never removed her hood, so her true face remained a mystery.
“Also, Miss Lin, didn’t you say Black Rose might have the ability to control monsters? I suspect this ability is related to the tattoos on her body.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because during a few close-range observations, I noticed the positions of her tattoos had changed, and it seems she has fewer tattoos than before. So I guess she always wraps herself tightly in a long robe not just to hide her appearance, but mainly to conceal those tattoos!”
Fox Momomo’s fox ears twitched. “After all, if it was just to hide her face, she could wear a mask. Many buyers in the Black Market do that—it draws less attention. But a big black robe is so conspicuous.”
“As for her figure, no robe can hide that.”
“Hmm… makes sense. It was definitely the right choice to have you as an informant, Fox Momomo.”
Miss L nodded. That little fox was clever; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to survive so smoothly during The Great Chaos Era.
“By the way, there’s occasionally a girl who goes to the bar looking for Black Rose, but I couldn’t see her face clearly that day.”
Miss L knew Black Rose was very cautious. She had never shown her face when cooperating with either the Wild Wolf Gang or Scar-Eye.
These people were obviously cannon fodder for her. Anyone who could meet Black Rose face-to-face must be a closer aide.
Could this person be the Blood Moon Witch? She had recently appeared in Summersea City and seemed to have some connection with both Black Rose and the Divine Summon Order…
“Good. Keep collecting intelligence on Black Rose. It would be best to find out both her abilities and her appearance.”
Once the Association had enough information, they could send Magical Girls to catch Black Rose red-handed in the Black Market.
Although Black Rose’s exact goal was still unclear, Miss L had a feeling that since she was causing so much trouble in Summersea City on such a large scale, she was probably plotting a major conspiracy.
Meeting Fox Momomo’s expectant gaze, Miss L sighed and pulled out several red tickets, handing them over to the little money lover.
“Here you go, still as greedy as ever.”
Fox Momomo had always been like this during The Great Chaos Era—purely greedy, not lustful.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to repeatedly sell out Xiaoxi and the others’ intel… because the Divine Summon Order offered her a high price! The reverse was also true.
——
Early the next morning, when the first rays of dawn shone into the room, Xiaoxi slowly opened her eyes.
Scratching her tousled hair, Xiaoxi carefully removed Ye Xinglan’s hand, foot, and Big Thunder from atop her and quietly got out of bed.
Although the little Rich Girl usually acted very poised and mature, no one expected her sleeping posture to be so bad—she was even drooling.
Xiaoxi found a suspicious puddle of unknown liquid on her own chest.
Xiaoxi herself had an early biological clock, but she guessed the Rich Girl wouldn’t be getting up early today after staying up so late last night.
Xiaoxi glanced down at the various red marks on her body… she had to admit Ye Xinglan still had limits; last night she hadn’t forced anything too extreme, just held her and nibbled on her for half the night, mainly on the upper body.
Standing in the morning light, Xiaoxi suddenly shivered, her face inexplicably flushing red.
Well… she decided it was best to head back to her own room and get dressed first.
After dressing, washing up, and making breakfast, Xiaoxi covered Ye Xinglan’s portion with a lid, then returned to her room.
She didn’t have to patrol at the Association this morning, so she planned to spend the time writing.
The rapid clatter of keyboard keys soon filled the room. Not long after, her editor sent a message.
“Remember the good news I mentioned before? Now it’s official. Are you interested in being a guest at the upcoming Manzhan?”
Looking at the editor’s message, a big question mark popped up over Xiaoxi’s head. She wrote Magical Girl stories—being a Manzhan guest? What could she even do there?
But soon, the editor’s explanation clarified everything.
“In a couple of days, there’ll be a Manzhan in Summersea City. Originally, the operations team didn’t care much because our web novel platform isn’t large, we have no famous adaptations, no printed books, and no merchandise to sell. So participating had little meaning.”
“But recently, as the event approached, the organizers still had two or three booths unsold, so the operations team decided to rent one cheaply to do some promotion on the side.”
“Although our booth probably won’t draw many people, since we’re renting it anyway, the company wants to invite a few in-house authors to be signing guests.”
Xiaoxi understood now. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t really a Manzhan guest—just a guest at the Wind Pear Bun novel booth.
But she was quite aware of her own work’s level; if there were guests, they’d surely be more famous authors, right?
“Because our booth isn’t popular, for authors, going to a Manzhan isn’t as effective as getting a push on the site for more views. Few authors from out of town are willing to come all this way for little return.”
“So the company plans to prioritize authors from Summersea City and nearby. Your conditions fit well—you’re here in Summersea, and your book’s recent stats are good—so you were the priority choice for the signing guest.”
“How about it? The signing session is just an hour. The rest of the time is free, and you’ll get a 500 yuan subsidy.”
Xiaoxi found it hard not to be tempted. Money and a free trip to the Manzhan? This was better than paid bathroom breaks!
Whether or not there was income from the signing didn’t matter.
Her real intention wasn’t the money anyway—at least she wouldn’t have to travel out of town.
Xiaoxi popped up from her seat with a “woohoo” to tell Ye Xinglan the good news, but then she thought of something and sat back down.
“Can I bring a friend along?”
“Sure. You’ll enter through a special channel anyway. Or if you want, I can ask the organizers for two tickets.”
“No problem, I’m in!”
Xiaoxi felt like her long unemployed homebody life was finally turning around.
This kind of good news was practically made for her.
At that moment, Muxingge also sent a message in the group chat, roughly saying she had a performance in a couple of days and asking if anyone wanted to come watch.
Xiaoxi didn’t hesitate; she made up a reason about wanting to accompany her partner and politely declined.
Muxingge’s concerts no longer held much attraction for her.
It wasn’t that Muxingge sang badly; Xiaoxi had heard enough.
Back when Muxingge was still an Underground Idol, she often invited her teammates to attend live shows—mainly to boost the crowd.
The teammates provided free support, so why not?
Later, when Muxingge released new songs, she’d ask for their opinions.
Watching Muxingge rise step by step to a well-known idol made Xiaoxi quite pleased… but the songs were truly overplayed.
It was like setting a favorite song as an alarm clock—after hearing it too much, you naturally became numb.
Besides, Xiaoxi wasn’t even a fan of Muxingge; she didn’t have the fan’s rose-colored glasses.
After seeing Muxingge’s bad temper in private, it was hard to have an idol image of her energetic, lively stage persona.