Chapter 52: Sudden Incident

Ke Xin was still dragging her suitcase into the room when she saw Luo Anying flop onto the bed, after which there was no movement. It’s common for people to jump onto the bed as soon as they enter a hotel room—after all, traveling always involves some jostling along the way.

Although the journey so far wasn’t exactly a long-distance trip, sitting on the bus for such a long time had made Ke Xin feel a bit unwell.

But Luo Anying was completely different—she had truly fallen asleep. Ke Xin couldn’t help but envy how fast she had drifted off.

Since Luo Anying had taken the bed closer to the door, Ke Xin’s gaze naturally fell on the bed by the window. Fortunately, nothing unusual had happened, like discovering that their twin room had been switched to a single king bed.

“Senior Luo?”

Ke Xin walked past Luo Anying and softly called her name, naturally receiving no response.

If it had been Qi Si or someone else Ke Xin knew, she might have gone over and poked them to see if they were pretending to sleep.

But in this situation, Ke Xin really didn’t know what to do. Leaving her like that didn’t feel right either—they weren’t here for leisure. Just looking at the itinerary they had received beforehand, there were still plenty of things to do today. Clearly, it wasn’t time to sleep.

Sighing lightly, Ke Xin quietly shoved her suitcase into the wardrobe, then took out her toiletries. Just as she stepped out of the bathroom, her phone rang with a special line call from the Special Investigation Bureau—a measure designed to prevent missing any important notifications, and also a bureau regulation.

Naturally, the caller was Agent Guan. No one else from the bureau had contacted Ke Xin yet. Thinking about it, maybe she hadn’t been in the bureau long enough.

Unlike someone else, who even seemed to know the bureau’s gossip.

Ke Xin rolled her eyes but immediately answered the phone: “Hello—”

“Ke Xin, report to the first-floor lobby immediately.” Agent Guan didn’t say anything extra and simply issued the instruction.

“Yes. Should I bring Senior Luo with me?” Ke Xin’s eyes flicked toward Luo Anying again, who was still lying there in the same position.

“She’s in the same room as you. Just come down together.”

“Senior Luo seems to be asleep… should I wake her?”

“…No need. Come by yourself first. There are things to discuss with everyone.”

“Understood.”

It seemed Agent Guan wasn’t surprised by Senior Luo’s sleeping—understandable, since she had been a magical girl even longer than Qi Si. In theory, she shouldn’t have been participating in this training.

Perhaps bringing her here was part of Agent Guan’s real plan.

Also, she had said “you all,” which meant she needed to brief everyone before the afternoon schedule started.

Ke Xin increasingly felt that the “Shimu” (Corpse Mother) was still only a hypothesis by Agent Guan, not yet backed by solid evidence; otherwise, things wouldn’t be handled this way.

Before leaving, Ke Xin glanced back at Senior Luo. Since Agent Guan had said it, she would just let her continue sleeping.

Unlike going upstairs and waiting for the elevator, Ke Xin didn’t encounter anyone on the way down. When the elevator reached the first floor, she saw Agent Guan standing near the main entrance.

Qi Si was also coming from the direction of the cafeteria, holding a pile of snacks. She didn’t expect the logistics here to be so well-stocked—if she had come down earlier, she might have grabbed some to eat.

“Dream Yao, is there something wrong? I haven’t even finished breakfast yet.” Qi Si complained between bites.

“The liaisons, we’re here.”

At that moment, two quick footsteps sounded behind them. Ke Xin turned and met the gaze of a girl named Yan Luofei—this was the first time she had seen her face. Before Ke Xin arrived, Yan Luofei had been the only pink-themed magical girl in Muzhou City.

But she quickly looked toward Agent Guan. Coming with Yan Luofei was Yuan Lingfeng, and Bai Xihan soon noticed the small group gathering here.

“Follow me. We need to investigate a scene.”

“Is it just the five of us?”

Ke Xin had assumed Agent Guan had called everyone, but there were only five people here. Including Senior Luo, that would make six.

“No, too many people would draw attention. Also, the helicopter is small.”

Leaving the lodge, Agent Guan led the group back along the same road. Ke Xin finally had a chance to look around. She hadn’t expected that this lodge was the tallest building in the Special Investigation Bureau’s dedicated area. The other buildings were only three or four stories high and looked just like villas built by wealthy people in the mountains.

It looked nothing like an office. Combined with the high-tech holographic disguises, this old-fashioned camouflage made the security surprisingly meticulous.

A few hundred meters from the lodge was the helipad. It could accommodate up to five helicopters, but only a small civilian helicopter was parked there now.

Its distinguishing feature was the bureau’s special livery.

As Agent Guan’s group squeezed into the helicopter, they immediately felt how cramped it was. There was even a box on the floor by their feet. Compared to military multi-purpose helicopters, this one was no match.

Looking at the itinerary on her phone, Ke Xin realized they were supposed to visit a training base next—but now the plan was being broken. Not a good sign.

Compared to a military helicopter with high-tech support, this one was much noisier. Without headphones, it was hard to hear the person sitting across from you. Just enduring the noise was stressful.

Ke Xin didn’t know what to say, so she just leaned against the window and looked out. After ascending for a while, the training base on the ground suddenly disappeared from view, leaving only the surrounding forest blending into the environment.

“So, what’s the emergency?” Qi Si spoke first, clearly annoyed that her breakfast had been interrupted.

“I’ve sent the data to your terminals. Go ahead and review it while I give a brief explanation.”

Ke Xin realized her personal phone had been turned off and put in her suitcase; the phone she was holding now had been issued to her upon arrival, set up as a copy of her old phone—she hadn’t even noticed.

“A nearby town’s police station received a report from a self-driving tourist yesterday morning. A middle-aged couple on vacation spotted a car parked along a mountain road, with obvious dents and what appeared to be bloodstains, so they called the police immediately.”

When the police arrived, they immediately secured the scene and began collecting evidence, including the set of photos Ke Xin was now viewing.

The photos showed the car heavily damaged, with no part of its paint intact. It didn’t look like an ordinary car accident; if it had been, the damage would have been even more severe.

Of course, a regular car accident wouldn’t have warranted a Special Investigation Bureau response.

“Then why is this case coming to us?” Bai Xihan, a magical girl with extensive on-site investigation experience, asked, picking up from Agent Guan’s explanation. As she looked at the data, she understood why.

“You can see, the police at the scene used a portable magical detection device recently issued by the bureau. They didn’t know exactly what it did, but the readings triggered an automatic alert, so the bureau became aware and dispatched an agent to coordinate on-site. However, I suspect there may be an even more concerning situation.”

Ke Xin naturally thought of the Corpse Mother. Could this be related?

“What about the people in the car?”

“Missing. The reporters didn’t find anyone inside. The car looks abandoned.”

The police quickly traced the vehicle to a rental company. Records showed that three days ago, a 24-year-old man had rented it. He was supposed to return it today.

“Missing…” Ke Xin shuddered at the thought of what might have happened to him. Having almost died in a previous monster attack, she could deeply empathize.

Of course, everyone present knew what “missing” meant in a case involving magical anomalies.

“So, we need to find out what happened to prevent a tragedy from repeating.”