Chapter 187: Discharge from the Hospital

“Yay! I’m finally resurrected——!!!”

At the main entrance of Xinhai City First People’s Hospital, the cheerful shout drew the attention of passersby.

The sky was cloudless, the sunshine just right.

The trio, who had just had their “house arrest order” lifted by Manager Qian, finally shed the hospital gowns reeking of disinfectant and changed back into their respective uniforms, walking out of the inpatient building side by side.

“Mmm—”

Chen Bingbing stopped in her tracks and tilted her head back slightly, narrowing her eyes like a lazy cat.

She took a deep breath of Xinhai City’s air and sighed,

“Ah… it’s a bit dazzling, but I have to admit— this feeling of basking in the sun… really is nice.”

“Yeah, yeah! Feels like all the mold in my bones got dried out!”

Li Qing chirped excitedly from the side,

“But Bing-chan, is this really okay? The sun’s so strong! You didn’t put on any sunscreen, you know? Be careful not to get tanned!”

“That’s fine. Moderate ultraviolet exposure helps with vitamin synthesis, which is beneficial for bone recovery.Being a little darker is proof of good health.”

“Huh? Health, my ass!”

Li Qing clutched her cheeks in horror,

“It’s a huge deal! I’m going for the sweet loli aesthetic, okay? I don’t want to turn into some Shibuya gyaru! If I tan into dark skin, all my fans will disappear!”

The two bickered noisily like this, while Ye Ye Sheng fully committed to her high-intensity shut-in persona, quietly gaming off to the side.

The scene looked pleasant, but in truth, they all knew very well that this comfortable “release from prison” was not because they had truly recovered.

Everything stemmed from the late-night visit by that chubby manager last night.

Last night, Manager Qian had shown up with bags and bags of nourishing supplements, smiling as he pushed open the hospital room door.

Manager Qian explained that although their 【Soul Anchoring Index】 had only just crawled past the red line and had not yet fully recovered to optimal condition, the difficulty level of this mission left the company with no choice but to call them back into action.

Mission codename: 【Embers】.

Objective:
Serve as instructors for the guide-class magical girl “Gray Crystal,”
and carry out reconnaissance and liquidation operations
against the remnants of the Akagi forces.

Ever since the battle at the Xinhai Convention and Exhibition Center, the once-arrogant 【Abyss Gospel Society】
and 【Akagi Gang】 had seemingly evaporated from the face of the earth, completely vanishing without a trace.

According to intelligence feedback from the company’s withdrawn network, the Akagi Gang’s various shell companies, nightclubs, and underground casinos had recently been frantically liquidating assets and dumping shares.

It didn’t feel like they were preparing a comeback— rather, it felt like… handling their affairs and getting ready to run.

Were they scared?

Was it because they saw their boss turn into a monster and get slaughtered, so they feared Dawn Company’s thunderous retaliation?

Indeed, the reason the Akagi Gang had managed to survive in that gray zone for so long was largely because Dawn Company, in order to maintain a certain delicate balance, had chosen to show restraint.

But now they had crossed the bottom line, even colluding with a cult to cause such a massive incident.
A purge was inevitable.

But… would things really be that simple?

Manager Qian’s keen instincts told him: it wouldn’t be.

Especially that 【Abyss Gospel Society】 that had been manipulating everything from behind the scenes— those lunatics were not the kind to be easily frightened off.

This abnormal “full retreat” felt more like a smokescreen to conceal some greater conspiracy, or perhaps… to stockpile resources for an even crazier ritual.

To find out what kind of “big news” the other side was really plotting, a deep reconnaissance operation was unavoidable.

And the protagonist of this operation had been designated as Lin Yu.

The reasoning was sound: although the kid already had experience in direct combat, when it came to this kind of “technical work” requiring infiltration, disguise, and intelligence gathering, he was still a complete rookie.

So this was both a reconnaissance mission and a special training session tailored for Lin Yu.

And the three of them were the “instructors” for this training.

“Sigh… honestly.”

Li Qing stood under the shade of a roadside tree, hands clasped behind her head as she waited for the company shuttle, unable to resist complaining,

“That old Qian really treats Senior Lin Yu like his own daughter… This kind of hand-holding, nanny-level treatment— I never got to enjoy that when I first joined, you know.”

“Special talents receive special treatment. That’s also part of the company’s strategy.”

Chen Bing replied flatly, though her gaze drifted toward the far end of the street.

Li Qing suddenly seemed to remember something, her eyes lighting up as her gossip soul burst into flames.

“Speaking of which, Manager Qian casually mentioned something last night too.

To cooperate with this operation, besides us, they also specifically seconded a newcomer from a related department to help out, right?”

“Heng.”

Chen Bing raised an eyebrow, a hint of disdain in her tone,

“Probably just another intern recruited by HR from some middle school or high school. After all, even though the entry threshold for magical girls is high, Xinhai City is huge— every so often you’ll get a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse and find a few exceptionally talented little girls.

Besides… our company’s never short on money. How could those young girls resist that kind of temptation?”

“No, I don’t think it’s that simple.”

Ye Ye Ying, who had been silently gaming on her Switch, suddenly cut in.

“Huh?”

Chen Bing and Li Qing turned at the same time, looking at the little girl who usually spoke sparingly.

“Not a magical girl?”

“Think carefully about Manager Qian’s wording.”

Ye Ye Ying didn’t even look up, her slender fingers flying across the buttons, her voice calm,

“Seconded, and… related department.”

“If it were a new recruit from within the company, even an S-rank potential seed, there’d be no need to use a term as administratively loaded as ‘seconded.’

And according to the usual corporate euphemisms in this country, so-called ‘related departments’ generally don’t refer to internal divisions of a commercial company like ours.”

“Hiss—”

Li Qing sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes instantly shining like light bulbs,

“Not company personnel? Then could it be… official personnel? Did the higher-ups finally send those legendary ‘relevant department’ agents to assist us?

That’s so cool!”

Just as the three let their imaginations run wild, speculating about the mysterious newcomer’s identity—

“Beep beep—”

Two short, low horn sounds interrupted their discussion.

A pitch-black MPV pulled up in front of them.

The car door slid open automatically.

“Uh, um… good morning, seniors… haha…”

A somewhat timid voice floated out from the cabin.

Immediately after, that familiar figure stepped down, looking a bit awkward.

Today’s Lin Yu had clearly been carefully “styled.”

She wasn’t maintaining that conspicuous gray-haired abnormal combat form, but instead, per mission requirements, had switched to the black-haired, black-eyed appearance more suitable for infiltration— that is, the “Lulu” persona.

She wore a slightly loose beige knit cardigan, layered over a dark blue sailor uniform.

On her legs were a pair of well-textured black tights.

Although the weather in Xinhai City was sunny, the temperature was still on the cool side, and this thin layer of velvet was both modestly alluring and warmly practical— a very utilitarian aesthetic.

She was clearly starting to develop a personal sense of outfit coordination.

“Congratulations on being discharged, seniors. Um… I bought you some fruit…”

Lin Yu held a fruit basket in her hands, her gaze drifting as she spoke, her cheeks flushed red, like a young bride meeting her in-laws for the first time— her entire being radiating awkwardness.

“Hm?”

Li Qing’s keen gossip radar instantly went off.

Something was off.

Very off.

Logically speaking, this guy had transformed plenty of times already and should be used to going out in women’s clothes by now.

So why today… was she acting so coy?

This anxiety, this shyness…

It was practically as if she were hiding some unspeakable secret behind her back.

“Hey, senior.”

Li Qing sidled up with a mischievous grin, ready to tease her a little,

“You’re acting like this today… don’t tell me you’ve got a guilty conscience? Or maybe—”

But before she could finish—

“Zzz—”

The driver-side window slowly rolled down with a faint motorized hum.

A large, well-defined hand rested on the edge of the window.

And then, a handsome, sharp-featured face wearing sunglasses came into view…

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