After the deafening blast, at the very center of the explosion, there was nothing left but a charred crater and scattered fragments of the Mimetic Calamity.
Lin Wan’s head was buzzing.
The one just blown to pieces… that wasn’t the real Lian Xue; it was a Mimetic Calamity copy of Lian Xue.
Thank goodness.
***
Lin Wan first felt relieved that the real Chen Lianxue hadn’t died in the explosion, but then a wave of dread washed over her.
She understood how this collar worked.
The one-hour countdown ending would trigger the explosion, yes, but that wasn’t the only way to detonate the collar.
If the wearer suffered any injury, the collar would immediately explode.
The real Chen Lianxue was hidden among these Mimetic Calamity copies, meaning Lin Wan couldn’t attack at all, and even self-preservation was difficult.
Any slight touch, if it happened to the real Lian Xue, would instantly trigger the bomb’s explosion, and Chen Lianxue would be reduced to nothing but bones…
***
The copies gradually tightened their encirclement, trapping Lin Wan and Xiao Ya.
Lin Wan didn’t dare block their approach anymore.
Those identical, expressionless faces, those dozens of synchronized, flickering red indicators—everything told Lin Wan she had no chance of victory.
Despair washed over her like a cold tide.
She couldn’t tell! She simply couldn’t tell which one was real!
The password? Damn it, how on earth was she supposed to know the code to deactivate the collar?!
The countdown on the collar kept ticking.
Yes, she could fly away on her Flying Sword, but once the countdown ended, Chen Lianxue would die! She couldn’t just run away like that.
If after an hour, she couldn’t find the real Lian Xue and deactivate the collar, then she would…!
***
“How did it come to this…” Lin Wan’s legs buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, the crushing pressure suffocating her.
Before her were the advancing “Chen Lianxues,” step by step closing in.
Behind her was Xiao Ya, sobbing in terror.
Lin Wan was trapped in an unprecedented deadlock.
“Clang.”
Her Flying Sword dropped to the ground with a dull metallic ring.
The light in Lin Wan’s eyes faded as she gave up resisting.
***
She felt as if she had returned to that time when the roses had trapped her in a cage, tormenting her… back to when she was a child, slapped by her father just for wanting to go to the amusement park…
Back then, she could do nothing, and now she was just as helpless, just as small.
What to do? What could she possibly do?
Attacking meant she might kill Lian Xue; not attacking… how long could she and this innocent child survive?
***
At the moment her mind faltered, those silent copies suddenly surged forward like a tide, brandishing daggers and stabbing toward Lin Wan and the girl behind her.
“Ah—!” Xiao Ya’s terrified scream pierced the air.
The scream stabbed at Lin Wan’s nerves.
She could give up on herself, but she couldn’t bear to see this child get hurt!
“Don’t touch her!”
Lin Wan spun around sharply, instinctively using her battered body to shield Xiao Ya, clutching the girl tightly and bearing all the attacks with her back.
***
“Shriiiik!”
Sharp blades tore through her battle suit, leaving streaks of blood on her back.
Pain made Lin Wan groan softly, but she gritted her teeth, hugging Xiao Ya even tighter.
Curling up, she tried to fully cover the little girl within her protection.
She gave up all counterattacks, using only her body as a fragile last barrier.
Her consciousness began to blur; the agony and exhaustion of her depleted magic weighed down like a mountain, making it hard to breathe.
Her vision grew hazy, and in her arms, Xiao Ya’s blue ponytail and tear-streaked face seemed to shift in the haze.
She seemed to see… her own childhood self.
That little Lin Wan, who also longed to go to the amusement park but was forced by her mother’s early death and her father’s drunken abuse to always hide outside the window, enviously watching other children laugh.
That unfulfilled dream now cast a cruel shadow on this strange little girl.
So… the amusement park was like this… filled with monsters and despair…
Really not a fun place at all.
***
The sharp pain made her cough up a mouthful of blood, but her arms holding Xiao Ya didn’t loosen even a bit.
She lowered her head, looking at the trembling little girl in her arms, summoning the last bit of strength to give a gentle smile and whisper in her ear:
“Don’t be afraid… in my arms… live well…”
After saying this, her consciousness finally began to sink into darkness; her arms slowly dropped.
She was losing too much blood.
Countless copies began to cover Lin Wan’s body.
***
Suddenly!
“Boom!!!”
A muffled explosion thundered through the air!
A figure as fast as black lightning cut into the battlefield with incredible speed, delivering a precise side kick that slammed like a cannonball into the copies pressing on top!
The tremendous force exploded instantly.
Those copies were blasted away like they’d been hit by a speeding truck, crashing into the ones behind them and clearing a small vacuum around Lin Wan.
***
The black shadow landed lightly, graceful as ever.
It was Lu Yuan.
She didn’t even pause to check the outcome.
The moment she landed, Lu Yuan reached out both hands—one scooping up the bleeding, barely conscious Lin Wan, the other pulling the stunned little girl Xiao Ya close.
“Hold on tight!” Lu Yuan said quietly, springing forward with great force.
***
“Bang!”
Like a nimble leopard, Lu Yuan leapt up, holding the two of them.
Her toes lightly tapped the protruding decorations on the haunted house’s outer wall several times for momentum, then she landed steadily on the slanted roof.
They had temporarily escaped the most immediate encirclement of the copies.
Lu Yuan carefully placed Lin Wan and Xiao Ya on a relatively flat part of the roof ridge and quickly checked Lin Wan’s injuries.
Seeing the deep, bone-exposing wound and Lin Wan’s pale face, Lu Yuan’s heart clenched fiercely.
Anger burned in her eyes, but she forced herself to stay calm.
She immediately pulled out high-efficiency hemostatic spray and bandages from her small pouch, swiftly administering emergency treatment to Lin Wan.
She wasn’t a healing-type Magical Girl, but she was Lu Yuan, and basic medical care was something she’d never forgotten—just like when she had saved Su Li before.
***
Below the haunted house, the “Chen Lianxue” copies, having lost their target, began wandering aimlessly, like headless flies.
They seemed unable to climb, or rather… they hadn’t been given commands to attack below.
They just looked up with hollow faces toward the roof.
For now, they were safe.
Xiao Ya seemed to finally recover a little from her extreme terror.
She looked at Lu Yuan, who was desperately tending to Lin Wan, and softly asked,
“Sister… is there anything I can do to help?”
“… Not right now.”
Lu Yuan had wanted to smile gently at the little girl, but with Lin Wan injured like this, she simply couldn’t.
***
Lu Yuan quickly finished bandaging Lin Wan’s most severe wounds, at least stopping the heavy bleeding.
She raised her head and glanced at the dozens of identical “Chen Lianxue” copies below, watching the terrifying red countdown on their collars.
Her expression grew grave.
When Lu Yuan was at Headquarters, she had already learned from the blurry images Lin Wan’s Transformation Crystal had transmitted the operation logic of these bomb collars.
They couldn’t attack, or the collar would explode—and the real Lian Xue was among them.
The password was unknown, and time was limited.
This was almost an unsolvable deadlock.
***
But Lu Yuan’s eyes held not a trace of despair—only determination.
She gently laid the unconscious Lin Wan flat and stroked Xiao Ya’s head.
“Hide here, don’t make a sound, and watch over this sister.”
Then she stood up, walked to the edge of the roof, and looked down at the silent “sea of people” below.
She clenched her fists.
This deadlock—she could break it.
And only she could break it.