Chapter 124: A huge hit!

Cough… cough…

In a dark, damp alleyway, a hunched man staggered forward. His steps were strange and unsteady, like his frail, broken body might collapse at any moment. One hand clutched his chest; the other scraped along the cold wall for support. Every step came with two or three blood-tinged breaths.

By the time he reached the corner, he finally couldn’t hold on anymore and collapsed to the ground.

“Urgh—”

His fingers loosened, revealing the horrifying hole punched straight through his chest. The scorched flesh and blood-soaked clothing stuck together, exuding a nauseating stench. A wound left by a high-energy psy-bullet.

“D… damn… magical girl…”

His rasping voice was like sandpaper scraping rust. He gasped for air, blood-shot eyes glaring toward the shadows ahead.

“Just wait… you hypocritical monsters… Sooner or later… you’ll pay the price… for everything you’ve done…”

Before he even finished—

A light, teasing girl’s voice drifted in from the alley entrance.

“Oh my, isn’t this the little bottom-feeder from Abyssal Gospel Society? What happened—why do you look like a rat that got sucked through a vacuum?”

The man jerked his head up, pupils constricting.

A girl in a black JK uniform was leaning against the wall, casually twirling a strange psy-handgun between her fingers. The corner of her lips held an amused, indifferent smile.

“It’s her…!”

Fear and hatred briefly overwhelmed the pain, making him forget his dying body.

“Tch~”

Li Qing twirled the gun around her fingertip and let the muzzle drop lazily. She tilted her head, eyes filled with boredom and impatience.

“Honestly, you small fry really never learn your lessons, do you? We beat you guys like dogs every time and you still don’t remember?”

She flicked aside her bangs and sighed helplessly.

“Always sending polluted monsters out to cause trouble… Can’t you chill for a bit? Or are you craving another round of iron-fist education? It’s a harmonious society, y’know.”

Her mockery fell like needles.

But suddenly—

The man’s expression went eerily calm. He slowly straightened his back. His lips curled upward into a strange arc.

“Ignorance is not the obstacle to survival… arrogance is.”

He spread his arms, as if embracing some unseen, towering being. His voice became solemn and hollow.

“You puppets tamed by order… Cherish the little time you have left. That being who shelters you… has fallen into eternal slumber. And the doomsday of mankind… is already upon you—HAHAHAHAHAHA—”

“Bang.”

A crisp gunshot cut him short. A clean hole opened in the middle of his forehead.

“Urh—ah…”

His body swayed twice before collapsing. A pool of blood spread beneath him.

The next second, a pale blue flame silently ignited from within his corpse, devouring everything. No flesh. No bones. Just a handful of ghost-blue ash drifting up before dissolving into the air. The signature clean-up method of the Abyssal Gospel Society. Pollution energy left in the host detonates at death, erasing all traces.

Ji Qing watched the faint blue dust drifting away. She puffed gently, blowing the last of it apart. She holstered her gun, the mischief fading from her face, replaced with a heavy, complicated displeasure.

“My good mood… ruined by small fry again.”

Forget it. Guys like this—muttering weird doomsday nonsense—best not to take them seriously.

“Bro, have you been listening to a word I said?”

“Weren’t you doing perfectly fine these past few days?”

“How did you let some damn ‘unforeseeable accident’ make Luo Shaotian see through your identity?!”

Lin Yu was already back home. After a long hot shower, he had returned to his normal body. But hot water could only wash away dirt—not pressure.

He collapsed into the sofa, draped a wet towel over his face, trying to block the entire stressful world out. With no other choice, he went to the only “technical support” he had.

Of course, he couldn’t tell his sister that after transforming into a magical girl… he also accidentally kissed Luo Shaotian. Strictly speaking, it was him who initiated it to recharge his magic. But still—He would rather socially die three times than ever admit it!

“Hey! I’m talking to you! What happened? Tell me everything!”

On the phone, Lin Xue’s voice jumped an octave, clearly on the verge of blowing up.

“Tch…”

Lin Yu irritably tugged at his hair, the towel falling off and revealing his exhausted, guilty expression. He tried to organize his explanation.

“It’s just… tonight, me and Luo Shaotian went out. Then near the Public Security Bureau, a pollution monster suddenly appeared. To save him, I transformed into combat form… and he, uh, saw me.”

He half-lied, half-truthfully explained—strategically skipping the “kissing to recharge” part that could drill through the earth’s mantle from sheer embarrassment.

“You idiot! You couldn’t find a place with NO PEOPLE to transform?!” Lin Xue’s roar nearly burst his eardrum.

“It was an emergency! What else could I do?!” Lin Yu almost cried. God knew—If Luo Shaotian hadn’t been kidnapped by that monster, he would’ve hidden inside the police car pretending to be dead until sunrise!

Silence fell for a few seconds. Lin Yu could practically see his sister’s expression: How did I end up with such a useless brother?

“…Fine. If you were exposed, then there’s no helping it.” Lin Xue’s voice finally calmed. “My suggestion is: just blow up the ‘Lulu’ identity.”

“…Huh?” Lin Yu froze. Blow it? Just like that?? Then all his suffering these past days—What was it for?!

“What are you surprised about? You’ve still got another layer of disguise anyway.” Lin Xue said matter-of-factly: “Just tell him… you were polluted by someone, so you pretended to be their runaway daughter to get close to him.”

“…That sounds unbelievably sketchy.” Lin Yu hunched over, frowning hard enough to kill a mosquito. “And wouldn’t he immediately suspect the one who ‘asked’ you to do it… is me?”

“So what?” Lin Xue was completely unfazed. “He’ll assume you asked Lulu to approach him. Not that YOU are Lulu. As long as your bottom-line identity doesn’t fall, it’s fine.”

“…That… actually kinda makes sense.”

“So just follow my plan. After you confess that part, give him the medicine I created and let him take it.”

Her voice softened slightly—rare for her—as if sensing his stress and panic.

“Think about it. Exposing one layer of disguise isn’t a bad thing. Were you really planning to lie to him forever? Live your whole life pretending to be a girl in his house?”

Lin Xue sighed softly. “Honestly… the fact you lasted THIS long is already a miracle.”

Lin Yu took a deep breath and nodded hard. “You’re right. I can’t hide from him forever…”

He made up his mind. Tomorrow, after transforming back into Lulu, he would tell Luo Shaotian everything. Besides, he really didn’t want to pretend to be Lulu anymore. Staying transformed so often… He did feel like he was becoming a tiny bit girlier…

Saving his best friend was one thing. Sacrificing himself was not in the job description.

Ring ring ring—

A sudden ringtone cut through his self-pep talk.

Lin Yu froze for half a second. Then showed a bitter smile.

Speak of the devil… and he really calls.

No need to wait until tomorrow.

Luo Shaotian… was already calling him now.