Chapter 27: What Is the Logic Behind the Anomaly’s Behavior?

“Kexin, have you found anything unusual?”

The voice of Inspector Guan came through the earpiece as a magical girl with shoulder-length pink hair flew slowly through the night sky over Muchou City.

“No abnormalities so far. I’m heading to the next sector,” Kexin replied. Her eyes glowed faintly in the darkness — she was using magic-wave detection, a basic spell all magical girls were required to learn.

Of course, the results varied from person to person depending on their magical capacity.

Thanks to her immense mana reserves — enough to shock even the Special Investigation Bureau’s upper management — Kexin could sustain full-power scans over every inch of the city below. But even after hours of searching, she’d found nothing.

“Understood.”

Inspector Guan pulled off her headset, and the moment she did, the noise around her came flooding in — a cacophony of chatter that filled the Bureau headquarters like a bustling marketplace.

No good news had come in all evening. Even the team dispatched to the mountain villa had lost contact half an hour ago. Whether it was interference or something worse, no one knew.

As a field coordinator, Guan wasn’t the one under the most pressure — that weight fell on the Bureau’s leadership. If anything went wrong on either front, no single person could take the blame.

Taking a deep breath, she put the headset back on and switched to another channel. “Qisi, anything on your end?”

“Not yet, Sister Mengyao,” replied Lu Qisi. She was stationed on one of the upper floors of an office building, from which she could clearly see the Fuwen Real Estate Tower across the street.

The skyscraper, dozens of stories tall, had only its top floors lit — but no sign of anyone actually working inside.

According to documents from the local authorities, only the uppermost levels were owned by Fuwen Real Estate; the rest had been leased out.

If the company’s CEO had sensed trouble at his mountain estate, it made sense he might have returned here — though no one knew for certain.

In fact, there were a lot of unknowns. What was this anomaly exactly? Why had it cooperated with humans? And what was its real goal?

Kexin wasn’t the only one lost in a web of questions.

Her tactical display projected a new patrol zone in front of her eyes. Adjusting her trajectory, she angled herself in that direction.

She could sense multiple magical energy signatures nearby — other magical girls patrolling their assigned sectors.

Muchou City was one of the largest urban areas in the entire Federation; it was impossible to sweep it completely with just one or two people.

On her display, each magical girl appeared as a blue dot. Unidentified magical energy sources would show up as yellow, and confirmed hostile targets as red.

As Kexin flew toward her next area, the streets below began to look familiar. A moment later, she realized this was near her own neighborhood.

Compared to other districts, this area had a much higher ambient mana density — likely due to the frequent activity of magical girls.

To avoid being seen by ordinary people, a large-scale perception interference spell had been activated. Even if someone took a photo of the night sky, all they’d capture would be a faint distortion — something most people would dismiss as a camera glitch.

Then, without warning, a powerful surge of mana swept through the area. A chill ran down Kexin’s spine — every nerve in her body screamed danger.

She instantly decelerated, stopping midair, eyes darting across the dark cityscape in search of the source.

But just as suddenly as it had appeared, the wave was gone.

Maybe it was fatigue — she’d been using magic continuously for hours — but she didn’t think it was her imagination.

Someone had sensed her presence and deliberately concealed themselves. Just like before.

Seeing her blue marker suddenly stop moving, Inspector Guan cut in: “Kexin, what’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I detected a burst of abnormal magic energy. It only lasted a moment — but it was very strong.”

“The monitoring system didn’t record any high-energy reaction in that timeframe… but I’ll report it to command.”

The Bureau had installed numerous mana detectors throughout Muchou City. Whenever they registered a spike in magical activity, the system would triangulate the source within seconds.

Most newly manifested anomalies were found and dealt with that way — the nearest magical girl would be dispatched to eliminate them quickly.

But even Kexin knew the truth: those detectors weren’t that sensitive. Their limitations were the reason everyone still relied so heavily on Hoshino Erika’s special sensing ability.

Inspector Guan reassigned Kexin’s patrol route immediately. Since she’d detected something unusual, that sector would have to be rechecked — even if another magical girl had already cleared it.

Still, if the target had hidden its presence, how was she supposed to find it again?

Anomalies capable of masking their mana were usually intelligent — the so-called “monsters,” whose actions were driven not by instinct but by intent.

If it had accidentally revealed itself, that meant it had business here.

So… what was it trying to do?

According to previous records, monsters only ever appeared to kill. Their victims were usually people who unknowingly possessed latent magical potential.

The Bureau theorized that monsters could strengthen themselves by absorbing such individuals’ energy.

If that was the case, then the target would naturally go after whoever nearby possessed the greatest amount of magic power.

Realizing this, Kexin immediately descended, scanning the area with pinpoint focus. Lower altitude meant greater precision — and soon, she locked onto the brightest magical signature around.

“Wait… isn’t that Ruo Lin’s house?”

Through her magically enhanced vision, she spotted a black-haired girl sitting at her desk, head resting on her arms atop an unfolded map.

It was unmistakably Zhang Ruolin.

Could the creature’s target really be her?

Just as Kexin was about to report the finding to Inspector Guan, a dark shape darted through Ruolin’s window.

Was it attacking already?!

Ignoring Guan’s calls, Kexin accelerated, streaking straight toward the house.

“Kexin! What’s going on over there? Kexin, report immediately!”

Even at full speed, she was still a fraction too late — the shadow burst back out through the window, carrying Ruolin in its grasp.

Snatching someone right in front of her — that was pure provocation.

Kexin’s anger flared.

“Inspector Guan, a black shadow just abducted someone!”

“What?! Can you keep up?”

“For now.”

Without another word, Kexin launched into pursuit, climbing higher to maintain visual contact. The shadow wove through narrow alleyways as if trying to evade her.

But from the way it moved — leaping effortlessly from rooftops, dropping seven or eight stories without slowing, vaulting over two-meter walls — it was clearly not human.

It knew she was following.

Since it was carrying a hostage, Kexin couldn’t risk using her weapon. Even the weakest setting on her magically reinforced rifle would be enough to blow a person apart.

The longer Ruolin stayed in its grasp, the slimmer her chances of survival — Kexin needed to stay close, no matter what.

“I’ll call in all nearby magical girls for backup,” Guan said quickly. “Don’t act recklessly.”

But Kexin barely heard her.

“Qisi,” Guan switched channels again, “based on Kexin’s trajectory, the target’s heading your way. Get ready to intercept the anomaly.”

“Uh— but, Sister Mengyao, there’s… something else. Something already inside the office.”