Chapter 23: Failed Pursuit:

At this point, the sky had gradually darkened, so a sudden flash of pink-and-white light wouldn’t attract too much attention.

Transforming into a magical girl takes less than 0.1 seconds. In an instant, Ke Xin’s school uniform was replaced by her combat outfit, and her skin emitted the same pink glow, like a thin membrane covering her entire body.

Her new outfit was a short, white-dominant uniform-style suit. Beneath the leather shorts, her legs wore mismatched white socks: the left leg had an over-the-knee stocking, while the right sock barely rose above her shoes.

On her nearly bare right leg was a quick-draw holster secured with a thigh strap and a belt. The gun was already in her hand, so the holster was empty.

Visually, Ke Xin looked nothing like the traditional image of a magical girl in a flashy Lolita outfit. She still couldn’t accept constructing such clothes with magic.

On the street outside the neighborhood, people suddenly saw a woman in OL attire somersault out of a building like a gymnast, flipping once in the air before landing and sprinting forward, ignoring her high heels.

Anyone seeing this would naturally stop to watch. But just as someone pulled out their phone to take a photo, she had already disappeared into the distance.

Soon after, a pink-haired girl leaped over a wall more than four meters high and landed gracefully, scanning the crowd to quickly determine the fleeing anomaly’s direction.

Ke Xin couldn’t afford to care about anything else—her mind focused solely on capturing this anomaly.

If someone blocked her path, she could simply push them aside. With a magical girl’s strength, it was no problem. In reality, however, anyone seeing this sprinting pink-haired girl—unless buried in their phones—would instinctively avoid her, especially since she was holding a gun.

“Next turn, right.”

“Isn’t it left?”

In her magical detection vision, the residual mana traces pointed left, but the mysterious voice in her earbuds told her to go the other way.

“The anomaly isn’t some brainless, low-level creature. With me here, it can’t escape.”

At the intersection, Ke Xin had to make a quick decision. If she let the distance widen too much, the anomaly could easily vanish into the crowd. Once it concealed its presence, finding it again in a city this size would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Since this mysterious person had guided her here in the first place, she decided to continue trusting them.

She stepped onto the crosswalk without hesitation, ignoring the glaring red light. Most streets in this old neighborhood had only two lanes. With her restrained magical power, she could cross in the blink of an eye. Behind her came honking cars and shouts, but Ke Xin paid no mind.

She followed the directions from the earbuds. At every intersection, the anomaly’s position was always just ahead. Even if it deliberately lowered its mana signature, it was still clearly visible in her detection vision.

Yet even at such close range, Ke Xin realized she had few viable options.

All her current spells were high-power, lethal attacks. Firing her gun in a crowded area risked harming bystanders.

“Where the hell is it trying to go?”

After chasing the anomaly for some time, the crowd began to thin, and tall buildings gave way to older residential blocks.

If an ordinary high school girl had been running this long, she’d be gasping for breath. But Ke Xin’s breathing remained steady, though her brow was furrowed.

She had no idea what this anomaly was trying to do.

“Based on the route, it’s likely heading toward Muzhou Station.”

“Why?”

She mentally unfolded a map of Muzhou City. The station wasn’t too far, but why go there? The city center had more foot traffic than the station.

“Probably trying to leave the area.”

“The anomaly is taking the train too?”

Ke Xin didn’t know if the mysterious voice was joking or serious. But thinking about it, using a human transportation system was more discreet than traveling with detectable magical power.

Even the Special Investigation Bureau couldn’t monitor every train passenger daily.

For the anomaly, getting a ticket and passing through verification would be trivial.

“Do you know its destination?”

If she continued blindly chasing, she might never catch it. Letting it reach the station would be far more difficult. If the anomaly had a specific destination, the best strategy was to get ahead and ambush it.

“I have a rough guess—but are you willing to trust me?”

“That… is a problem.”

While Ke Xin debated whether to trust the mysterious voice, the anomaly suddenly extended its right hand backward, holding its vintage sword-gun.

The muzzle emitted a dark purple flash, and simultaneously, Ke Xin felt a massive force slam toward her.

Instinctively, she flinched, dropping to the ground and using a nearby utility pole as cover. At the same time, she raised her weapon and fired rapidly forward.

The street was sparsely populated, but the attack happened too suddenly. Ke Xin didn’t even have time to aim properly and doubted any of her shots had hit.

Worse, she couldn’t see the anomaly anymore.

“Hey, can you hear me? Tell me where the anomaly is!”

The mysterious voice, normally instantaneous in response, was silent. She repeated the command, but still no reply.

Looking down, her phone had fallen from her pocket and the screen was shattered.

“Damn it.”

Ke Xin quickly checked her chest. Her body was protected by a close-fitting magical shield, which absorbed the impact. Aside from some pain, she was fine.

She brushed off debris from her clothes, pocketed the ruined phone, and resumed the chase.

Now she had to rely entirely on her magical detection.

Yet the anomaly’s direction didn’t seem to be toward the station. Without a map or phone, Ke Xin felt completely lost in Muzhou City.

After an uncertain time, she followed a lingering mana trace into a narrow alley. In such a confined space, any sudden attack would leave her with minimal reaction time.

From the moment she stepped in, she stayed alert, wary of every door and window.

At the deepest part of the alley, the mana traces disappeared.

All she could see was a strange, white, unidentifiable object on the ground.

Suddenly, she heard rapid footsteps behind her. Turning quickly, she saw a fully armed SWAT team advancing cautiously in two lines, shields raised.

The Special Investigation Bureau’s rapid response was impressive—Ke Xin decided to leave this to them.

She reholstered her gun and walked toward the team. But instead of a greeting, she heard a shout:

“Drop your weapon!”

From the other side of the alley, another group of fully armed individuals appeared, all aiming their guns at Ke Xin.

“Are you talking to me?”