Chapter 118: Ordering a Magical Girl

Although a Phase Walker’s physical fitness far surpassed that of ordinary humans, having a hundred-plus-jin grown man hanging solidly off her slender arms was still enough to make them go numb after a while.

She glanced down at the man still dazed in her arms, and irritation surged.

What are you looking at?
Never seen a beautiful girl save a hero before?
Keep staring and I’ll start charging!

Before Luo Shaotian fully snapped out of it, Lin Yu felt her arm give out—she really couldn’t hold him anymore.

Tch…
I can’t do it anymore!

Thud!

“OW!”

Luo Shaotian crashed straight to the ground, letting out a painful howl.
The intimate encounter between his tailbone and the solid floor jolted the fog out of his brain.

Lin Yu, on the other hand, didn’t spare him a glance. She only shook her sore arm, venting like crazy in her mind.

To be honest, when the mission alert popped up, she hadn’t planned on transforming to clean up the Pollutant.

After all, that thing was a C-class Pollutant.

And which C-class job hadn’t nearly cost her life before?

These tasks had tiny bonuses and big risks.

Hmph. Only an idiot would rush to handle them.

Besides, Dawn Corporation didn’t have just her stationed in Xinhai City.

There were plenty of other unlucky—cough, diligent—colleagues on standby who could respond.

She fully intended to lie low in the car, pretending to be a terrified civilian.
Perfectly reasonable, perfectly safe.

If she transformed right now and Luo Shaotian noticed anything off, then the undercover identity she’d painstakingly maintained for over a month would go straight down the drain.

But who could’ve expected that the thing later labeled “Filthy Bride” in the after-action report would act like it had eyes—

And out of the entire crowd, pick Luo Shaotian to grab?!

Caught off guard, she’d reacted purely on instinct.
The transformation command burst from her lips, and beneath a bloom of pink light, she swapped into the one battle form she least wanted to display in front of someone who knew her.

“Um… who exactly are you?”

Sure enough, Luo Shaotian immediately asked.

“And… I saw you before, right? Back when I fought the Chicheng gang?”

“Uh…”

Lin Yu felt her whole body stiffen under his unwavering stare.
Honestly, she didn’t want to answer a single one of his questions.

The more she said, the more she’d slip.
The less she said, the safer.

And the safest was—say nothing!

“Shh—”

She raised a slender finger, lowering her voice.

“It’s professional cleanup time. I have no obligation to answer you.
Just stay hidden and don’t cause trouble for me, okay?”

Without waiting for his reaction, her figure whooshed forward, darting straight toward the collapsing main building.

“Hey! Wai—!”

Luo Shaotian pushed off the ground, trying to chase after her, but only managed to snatch at a wisp of drifting gray hair.

A faint sweet scent lingered on the strand.

…so familiar.

…

“Cough… cough cough…”

Not far away, Wan Xiaohu lifted his head from the rubble, spitting out dust, eyes dazed with the shock of surviving.

Although the Heart Bomb had heavily damaged the Pollutant, it had also given the already-unstable building another blow.

The surrounding area was a scene of devastation.

Thankfully, the materials used for government buildings hadn’t been cut with cheap substitutes—otherwise they’d all be dead.

“Z-Zhang队, are… are we still alive?”

“…Alive.”

Zhang Zheng’s voice was hoarse as he stood in the rubble, staring blankly.

From behind collapsed desks and overturned pillars, other surviving officers cautiously poked out their heads.

One young officer wiped the dust from his face, eyes full of disbelief.

“T-That explosion just now… what was that? Was that our fire support? It looked way too powerful! What new weapon system was that? Which unit developed it?”

“No… no, that’s not right,”
another older officer said with trembling voice.

“I didn’t hear any missile or artillery launch at all…
And… and wasn’t that explosion… pink?
With— with little hearts?”

“You— You saw it too?!”

The young officer’s voice cracked, rising an octave.

“I thought I was hallucinating! That was the kind of stuff you’d only see in a cartoon!”

“Y-Yeah!
And I—I think I heard her shout an attack name! Something like… ‘Justice ☆ Heart Bombardment’?!”

“No way—she really said it?!”

Wan Xiaohu slapped his thigh hard, his excitement drowning out all lingering fear.

“I knew it felt familiar! It’s textbook!
Transformation—catchphrase—ultimate attack!
This… This was a MAGICAL GIRL!!”

“Magical… girl?”

Zhang Zheng’s brows twisted into a hard knot.
He absolutely could not parse the vocabulary these youngsters were throwing around.

He barked:

“Xiaohu, what the hell nonsense are you spouting?!
Did your brains get shaken loose?!
What magical girl? What the hell even is that?!”

Even after being yelled at, Wan Xiaohu shrank his neck but couldn’t suppress his excitement.

“Hehehe… No, Zhang队, listen! Let me explain!”

He hurried forward, waving his hands wildly as he tried to convert his nerd-knowledge into language the old-school leader could understand.

“A magical girl—it’s not a person’s name!
It’s a type of… uh… special super-soldier!
They usually look like young girls, wearing these… uh… special uniforms, carrying weird weapons, and they can use all sorts of unscientific skills!”

He kept gesturing, completely immersed.

“And actually! On some online game forums, there’ve been rumors for years!
People say that here in Xinhai City, there’s a group of mysterious girls protecting the city from the shadows, cleaning up the stuff the authorities can’t handle!”

“Really? How come I never heard of it?”

“Uh… Zhang, do you browse the internet much?
Ever check any ‘Magical Girl’ forums?”

“No, you also know how busy we cops are.
When would I have time—
…wait. You’re telling me you browse this stuff while on duty?”

“Cough! Ahem—anyway!
I always thought it was just an urban legend! Someone making stuff up!
Never thought—never thought it would be real!
Damn! I actually saw a real magical girl today!”

By the end, Wan Xiaohu was so worked up he forgot where he was, even cursing in excitement.

Zhang Zheng took a deep breath.
And exhaled slowly.

His temples throbbed violently.

Every shocking case he’d ever handled—combined—still couldn’t compare to the amount of insanity his subordinate had dumped on him in the last ten minutes.

“…Enough,”
Zhang Zheng waved weakly.

“Let me… process this…”

He gave up trying to understand the younger generation’s world.

For now, he only wanted to figure out one thing:

The girl Wan Xiaohu called a magical girl…

Could she be the reinforcement Zhao Liwei mentioned?

And…
Was the so-called “socialized service procurement”…

…literally ordering a magical girl to come over?