Chapter 22: The Unconventional Infiltration

From an objective standpoint, the Magical Girl Organization’s stronghold boasted remarkably robust defenses.

Despite the scarcity of personnel and a less-than-sufficient number of armed forces in this remote small city, the Magical Girl Organization possessed considerable wealth.

Cameras, electronic access control systems, motion sensors, sentry guns, and various detection devices—a bewildering array of high-tech defensive equipment—littered every conceivable space.

The visible defensive infrastructure alone amounted to the tax revenue of this small city for several years.

This didn’t even account for the concealed armaments and routine maintenance, let alone its inherent structural integrity and sheer scale, which rendered it a heavy fortress capable of withstanding even heavy artillery.

Rather than merely serving as an outpost in a peripheral town, it resembled an apocalyptic stronghold, seemingly prepared for a global war.

Although many privately voiced their dissent, suggesting these funds should be reinvested in public welfare, it was clear that no one yet dared to utter such sentiments openly beneath the looming shadow of this towering edifice.

Even an average Magical Girl would find attempting to breach a defensive base of this caliber an exceedingly arduous undertaking.

Chao Wu, for her part, conceded that even if she exerted her full strength, she likely wouldn’t be able to endure for long within its confines.

The rookie combatant spent a solid fifteen minutes detailing the defensive arrangements, and simply transcribing her descriptions of the visible facilities filled over a dozen pages at the back of Ling Xing’s small notebook.

Evidently, she was deeply intimidated by the stronghold, believing that given its defensive capabilities, even Ling Xing would inevitably face a monumental struggle.

Alas, this apocalyptic stronghold that instilled such dread in the rookie combatant was about to face the elite combatant, Ling Xing.

“Hmph. This is merely an evil fortress, a monument forcibly commandeering civilian resources and erected solely to flaunt their military might and contributions, despite being utterly useless now that the war is over.”

Ling Xing crossed one arm over her chest, nonchalantly sweeping a stray strand of short hair from her forehead.

Chao Wu, still nervously clutching her rifle and taking deep breaths in preparation for the impending battle, found her gaze irresistibly drawn to Ling Xing.

Could Ling Xing truly overcome even such formidable defensive power?

The young girl cast an incredulous gaze, subtly mingled with a hint of anticipation.

Her mind instantly conjured images of tense, thrilling, and undeniably stylish infiltration scenes from countless spy and assassin films.

‘Even if she couldn’t be a Magical Girl, a righteous and dashing phantom thief—that wouldn’t be so bad!’

“In front of me, the righteous elite combatant Ling Xing, this is nothing more than a tombstone built by those evil Magical Girls for themselves! It poses no obstacle whatsoever!”

Meeting the young girl’s expectant gaze, Ling Xing proclaimed her righteous indignation, a sentiment no one had ever dared to utter here.

She tossed her white hair and, with a flourish, pointed towards the sensor-activated door to the staff entrance.

As her fingertip extended, the electronic door—

[Beep. Magical Girl – Chao Wu. Welcome back.]

Under their astonished gazes, a mechanical voice chimed, and the door slowly slid open.

“……Huh?”

Chao Wu froze for a moment.

Only then did she notice Ling Xing’s hand, still extended in a posture of dramatic accusation.

Clutched in her palm was none other than Chao Wu’s own ID card.

“Nyahahaha! Trivial, utterly trivial! How could paltry, evil electronic devices possibly contend with a righteous elite combatant, hmph!”

“Eh? Eh… no, no, that’s just…”

‘You merely used my card to swipe through the access control, didn’t you!?’

‘No, no, that can’t be right! Did we just waltz in so brazenly?’

The young girl was utterly bewildered, yet Ling Xing evidently had no intention of catering to her torrent of internal deliberation.

Instead, she placed one hand on her hip and, with a dismissive ‘Hmph,’ waved a hand.

“Let’s go! Why are you so scared? We are righteous crusaders here to vanquish evil Magical Girls, so show some mettle! Presence, presence!”

With these words, Ling Xing…

…simply sauntered inside, right under Chao Wu’s bewildered gaze?

All the myriad defensive facilities the girl had painstakingly described for a solid fifteen minutes were rendered utterly pointless; Ling Xing entered with the nonchalance of someone returning to their own abode!

“Wait, wait, Ling Xing… there are still guards, aren’t there?”

‘Where are the guards? Can’t someone intervene?’

‘While I’m here to infiltrate, after I nervously elaborated for ages, portraying this place as an impenetrable doomsday fortress, it was simply waltzed into by Ling Xing as if it were her own home—doesn’t that make me out to be a mere nobody?’

‘Someone, a gate guard, please intervene! At least let me land a shoulder throw and knock someone unconscious; that would count as playing my part, rather than this utterly embarrassing situation…’

The young girl, who should have been rejoicing in the smooth progression of their mission, was instead perversely yearning for complications.

Upon hearing her words, Ling Xing…

…actually halted, conspicuously taking a few steps backward, and stood defiantly, one hand on her hip, right by the guard post at the entrance.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot. Indeed…”

As she spoke, she raised a hand, a playful grin gracing her lips.

*Smack*—

With a casual, yet firm, slap, did she just rouse the dozing guard who had completely ignored her?

“Hey there, you! Is work time meant for catching up on sleep, huh?! Get up, get up!”

“Ugh, huh, what’s… Ah, you’re—”

The guard, groggily stirring awake, instinctively began to speak before glancing up.

He saw Ling Xing’s hand that had just delivered the slap, adorned with a ring seen exclusively on Magical Girls of the Kuonji family.

“Hmph! Consider yourself lucky to possess some semblance of perception. Let me tell you, you’re fortunate to encounter me today.

The Young Lady is in a foul mood, looking for trouble everywhere she goes, and even dispatched me to run errands.

If you dare to doze off in front of her, she’ll break your legs, you hear!”

“Eek—! No, I wouldn’t dare, please, spare me!”

“……”

Chao Wu was utterly speechless.

The events unfolding transcended her very understanding of the term ‘infiltration’.

The guard, who should have been intercepting and questioning them, was instead being arrogantly slapped by Ling Xing, bowing and scraping, frantically offering apologies in a hushed, servile tone.

This bore no resemblance to infiltration; it was clearly the malicious attendant of some haughty young lady bullying subordinates while on a tour of her domain!

Unbeknownst to Chao Wu, her timid, bewildered, and non-interfering demeanor only solidified the conclusion the guard had subconsciously reached.

‘Even Chao Wu, the most revered Magical Girl in this small city, who was usually the most eager to help and would surely never tolerate such behavior, was acting like this.

This must be a major figure from the Kuonji family; how could I possibly afford to offend them?’

Moreover, that Young Lady was notoriously unhinged; snapping someone’s leg for a trivial reason was considered a light punishment.

The guard wore a wretched, tear-streaked face, on the verge of collapsing to his knees.

“Hmph—very well. Consider yourself simply fortunate that you ran into me… Tell you what, go fetch two gourmet ice creams and deliver them to the Young Lady’s office.

Then, I’ll consider this incident unseen.”

“Ah, yes! Is it room three on the second floor? I-I’ll go right away! Thank you for the guidance!”

As if saved, the guard bolted away in a flash.

Despite being the one bullied, his expression was filled with the bliss of liberation.

Subsequently…

…the entrance hall was, naturally, devoid of any patrolling guards.

“Okay, problem solved. Lead the way, you silly Magical Girl?”

Casually dropping a few small items in the now-empty entrance hall, Ling Xing shook her hand.

There were no acrobatic stunts or intricate infiltration techniques involved; a true combatant simply maximized the resources at hand to ensure mission completion.

By deducing from the Young Lady’s conversation that Chao Wu hadn’t yet been publicly recognized, and thus the system wouldn’t identify her as an intruder, Ling Xing then leveraged her ring and acting skills to assert dominance and set the stage.

Was this not, in its own way, the method of a thief?

“…Huh? Oh, oh, it’s already solved… Um, it should be in the underground laboratory cold storage, about a three-minute elevator ride…”

Chao Wu, utterly bewildered and unsure what expression to make, replied instinctively.

She glanced at the time on her phone.

Exactly two o’clock; they had plenty of time.