Chapter 34 – “Still Have to Keep Fighting

“What kind of crappy building collapses just like that?” Qisi muttered angrily as she crawled out from the rubble she had punched open. A faint golden glow surrounded her body—her personal magical shield—and if one looked closely, small fragments of dust slid off it as she moved.

Being trapped under a collapsed building was nothing for a magical girl.

The area had long been evacuated by the Emergency Management Department under the coordination of the Special Investigation Bureau. Standing atop the rubble and looking around, everything was pitch dark; the streetlights had been turned off under official orders.

Only the blinking lights at an intersection about a kilometer away could be seen. Many of the officers who had already gone off duty were called back to maintain the cordon.

Ke Xin had been buried a little deeper, so it took her slightly longer to climb out. Just as she poked her head out, she heard Qisi’s voice. It couldn’t be denied that Ke Xin was partially responsible for the situation.

But the main responsibility clearly lay with the anomaly. If that scorpion creature hadn’t been so tough, she wouldn’t have had to use her ultimate attack.

Ke Xin had already tried her best to control the force and direction of her attack. Of course, telling others that would probably earn her no one’s belief.

“I think it’s okay, after all, we’ve been at it for a while,” Ke Xin said, habitually patting her sleeves and collar, checking her headset—it was still fine.

“Qisi, Ke Xin, report your status,” Agent Guan Mengyao said in surprise as she saw the building suddenly collapse on the screen. It took her a moment to realize that the two girls had been inside at the time.

Although the surroundings were currently empty, it wasn’t entirely safe. Without a word, the two of them instinctively flew to a nearby rooftop.

“It’s fine, Agent Mengyao. Ke Xin just dealt with the scorpion anomaly—just made a bit of noise,” Qisi said from the high vantage point, looking down at the building rubble and sensing the destruction firsthand.

After all, it had only grazed them, not hit directly.

“No need to exaggerate,” Ke Xin murmured in protest. Qisi heard the muttered complaint and turned around—but Ke Xin immediately fell silent.

Another reason was that she had glanced down and noticed a notification on her watch. She had been planning to ignore it until tonight’s events were over.

At that moment, a new message popped up. The avatar was of a pink-haired virtual idol, and Ke Xin immediately felt uneasy.

Being contacted by this person was never a good sign.

Even if she didn’t want to see it, the system automatically unlocked the message and displayed it.

Kagura Mafuyu, a mysterious hacker sharing the same name as the virtual idol, possessed top-tier hacking skills that even the Special Investigation Bureau couldn’t track. When the Bureau’s tech team analyzed Ke Xin’s phone, they found no useful information—but were startled by a deliberately left “easter egg.”

Ke Xin, of course, wasn’t aware of this. She only knew the Bureau staff had returned her phone with rather grim expressions.

【Go to this location immediately.】

Where?

Before Ke Xin could ask, a location was sent. It was about 20 km away, in the western suburbs of Muzhou City—normally a one-hour subway ride.

There were no Beta-class anomalies there. Compared to the city, which had pervasive magical waves, it was extremely quiet.

Wait—Ke Xin sensed something odd. She immediately took off toward the target, and Qisi quickly followed, unable to ask questions.

“What now? I really don’t have any magical energy left,” Qisi said, but still tried to keep up with Ke Xin’s speed.

“I can’t explain it exactly, but we have to check it out,” Ke Xin said.

She activated the Special Investigation Bureau’s operational map, showing real-time updates. Red Xs indicated areas where anomalies had been cleared.

Beta-class anomalies were scattered across Muzhou City, with some even reaching Gamma-1 level—a potential threat to novice magical girls.

As more magical girls joined the cleanup, the anomalies gradually disappeared, reflected by new red Xs on the map.

Yet near the location Kagura Mafuyu had sent, there was no sign of any anomaly. Could it be a coincidence?

After everything that had happened, Ke Xin didn’t believe in coincidences. The sudden appearance of so many anomalies itself was suspicious.

“Agent Guan Mengyao, we’re heading to a construction site in the Zijin District. Something seems to be happening there.”

“Received. Do you need backup? There should be spare personnel available soon.” Guan Mengyao glanced at the address and sensed the issue. Without asking why, she began coordinating resources.

Even if immediate backup wasn’t possible, there were other deployable assets, and another team should be returning soon.

Beta-class anomalies in densely populated areas weren’t too dangerous for magical girls—they could handle them without major effort. But if an unlucky civilian encountered one late at night, it could become a problem.

To prevent that, the Bureau prioritized clearing the minor anomalies first.

Ke Xin didn’t expect that she and Qisi alone could handle the situation. She hadn’t even thought of solving it personally—she just wanted to confirm what was going on.

“Best case, I hope an A-class magical girl can provide support.”

“A-class, let’s see…” A-class magical girls were rare nationwide, even in Muzhou City. Most operations relied on B-class girls. Scanning the list, Guan Mengyao’s eyes lingered on a name, and a slight smile appeared.

“You two, be cautious until reinforcements arrive.”

“Understood.”

Twenty kilometers wasn’t close, but flying made the distance vanish quickly.

Ke Xin’s enhanced vision detected the location: an abandoned construction site, likely meant for an industrial park. Construction equipment was scattered, and weeds had overgrown the ground.

“This place was invested in by the real estate company boss who jumped to his death suddenly. After his death, the company’s finances collapsed,” Qisi said, reading the faded slogans on the fence. The incident had made the news years ago.

Ke Xin didn’t know.

“And it’s been abandoned since?”

“Exactly. No one wanted to take it over; some even said the feng shui was bad.”

“Well, that’s a perfect spot,” Ke Xin said. For anomalies, an isolated place like this was ideal—no interference, and even if a civilian stumbled in, the Bureau wouldn’t immediately notice.

Yet, even after intensifying her magical detection, Ke Xin found nothing abnormal.

“Feels… very quiet. No magical waves at all.”

“Yeah,” Ke Xin sent a message to the person claiming to be Kagura Mafuyu.

【Stay alert, or you’ll die.】

Ke Xin frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Just say it plainly—playing the cryptic card was no fun.

“Is there really something wrong here?” Qisi asked, activating her magical detection. She also found nothing abnormal. Staying transformed was consuming her magic—if she skipped sleep, it would take a whole day to recover.

As she turned to investigate further, a flash of red light caught her peripheral vision.

“Something’s happening!”

Qisi reacted faster than her brain. A massive shield appeared before her, just as two white threads slammed into it with loud bangs, like two cannon blasts hitting her at once.

Ke Xin immediately heightened her magical awareness.

Before she could detect anything, a thin thread suddenly emerged from the darkness behind her. Ke Xin didn’t notice it. When she instinctively turned, the thread struck her back.

A tremendous force hit her, sending her crashing to the ground.

“Ke Xin!”

Qisi flew toward her, but slammed into something, losing balance. She quickly regained it, but when she looked back at the spot, there was nothing to be seen.

“Agent Mengyao! Can you hear me?”

No response in the headset.

“This is bad,” Qisi gripped her sword tightly.