Chapter 53: On-Site Investigation

The helicopter dropped off the group, including Kexin, at the closest landing spot to the crime scene. They hadn’t walked far with their large and small suitcases when a middle-aged man in a police uniform approached them. He looked to be in his forties, his black hair streaked with gray, and unlike the two casually dressed young officers behind him, he kept his back perfectly straight.

His steps were measured as if meticulously calculated, maintaining a precise rhythm. The sound of his leather shoes hitting the ground was like a thumbtack pressed into wood—short, crisp, and clean, without a trace of drag.

Even without knowing who he was, Kexin could tell immediately that this man likely had a long military background.

Looking further ahead, Kexin noticed that the number of police officers gathered around the perimeter far exceeded what would normally be needed for an investigation. Not to mention, this case should have already been handed over to the Special Investigation Bureau.

Could it be that local police, constantly losing cases to the Special Investigation Bureau, were now on the verge of confrontation?

Watching the Special Investigation Bureau agents surrounded in the center, Kexin allowed herself a worst-case scenario thought—but even then, it didn’t seem likely.

The middle-aged officer briefly scanned Kexin and the others before focusing on the only seemingly adult among them, Agent Guan. Despite being young-looking himself, he clearly did not consider these high school–aged companions worth much attention. In fact, he thought it unreasonable to have minors present at a crime scene.

He directly addressed Agent Guan, with a tone of dissatisfaction: “I heard you are the Special Investigation Bureau’s lead on this scene, Miss Guan Mengyao.”

“Yes, may I ask who you are?” Agent Guan seemed unsure of his intent.

“I’m Chen Mingyuan, Deputy Director of Linxi City Public Security Bureau,” the officer introduced himself briefly, then got straight to the point. “Miss Guan, I don’t quite understand—this is just an ordinary case. Why is the Federal Special Investigation Bureau intervening? Do you not trust our local police?”

Chen came in hot with his confrontational tone, but Agent Guan was unbothered.

“Director Chen, I believe you’re aware of the relevant regulations. Since the M-type detector has already registered abnormal readings, this case falls under the Special Investigation Bureau’s jurisdiction. If you disagree, you may escalate it to your superiors.”

The M-type detector is a portable magical residue detection device provided by the Special Investigation Bureau to local police. Not much bigger than an alcohol tester, it’s a complete black box to local officers, and nobody really knows what the readings mean.

“This is just an excuse for you to get involved. Are there things you can solve that we cannot?”

In fact, there were. Even if only a Beta-level anomaly appeared, ordinary police equipment would make eliminating it extremely costly.

However, because information about anomalies is strictly controlled, even a local police director might not know the truth. Kexin could understand their frustration, but this was exactly the kind of trouble Agent Guan was meant to handle.

After a brief pause, Agent Guan said: “According to regulations, we will investigate the scene. If nothing unusual is found, the case remains yours. So until then, could you avoid interfering with our work?”

No harsh words, but reasonable and firm. Chen could not find any grounds to block them and had to watch as the group walked past.

“Let’s go. We don’t have much time,” Agent Guan said, turning back to the team.

Since the area was a rarely visited mountain region, nearby villages were few, meaning there weren’t the crowds of onlookers typical at urban crime scenes.

If an anomaly occurred in Muzhou and wasn’t quietly handled immediately, there would inevitably be a crowd. In most cases, this could be managed—but for this suspected anomaly, more people only made things worse.

“So, what do we do?”

Since joining the Special Investigation Bureau, Kexin had mostly participated in combat missions—just using her magical power to attack anomalies. For a scene investigation like this, she had no idea where to start.

“You just need to watch,” Qisi said, stepping across the police line first and moving quickly toward the car surrounded by agents.

“Just watch?”

It seemed she had no choice; interfering would only be a nuisance. But hearing it from Qisi, Kexin felt a bit annoyed.

However, once at the scene, just observing was already significant.

The photos hadn’t conveyed it, but on-site, the smell was overwhelming—a mix of blood and decay far worse than discovering a long-dead rat in a corner at home.

“Xihan, scan the car.”

“Yes.”

Agent Guan had already put on a mask before approaching, though it was only slightly effective. Despite the grim expressions, they skillfully began their work.

The magical girls, including Qisi, put down their suitcases and set up various devices around the car, all connected to a central terminal.

“What’s that smell?” Kexin muttered.

“You want to know?” Qisi stepped in, taking the last small box from Kexin’s hands.

Kexin could already imagine the words coming.

“Never mind, just get to work,” she said.

“Yes, milady,” Qisi replied—wait, since when had she started calling her that?

As they operated the instruments, Kexin stepped back a little and noticed a monitor showing footage from the car’s dashcam. The car was driving normally, with nothing unusual, and then—suddenly—the recording stopped.

The tech agent was puzzled. Even if a severe collision occurred, the data shouldn’t vanish. It looked more like someone deliberately deleted it.

But would an anomaly really be sophisticated enough to tamper with electronics? Kexin had never heard of such a thing.

“Can the data be recovered?”

“No. Not even the GPS trail. Clearly tampered with. To recover it properly, we’d need to remove the mainboard entirely.”

“That’s troublesome. The inside of the car is worse than the outside. You haven’t seen it, have you?” The agents glanced at the vehicle with visible disgust.

Aside from the smell, connecting directly to the car’s hardware required dismantling the interior—something local police would never permit.

If they found nothing and handed it back after messing up the scene… Kexin could already imagine Director Chen’s scowl.

“Wait, the car must have cloud backups. But requesting that data will take some procedure.”

“Better than crawling inside,” one agent said, already filing the investigation assistance request. Due to privacy concerns, even the Special Investigation Bureau had to follow protocol, though it usually passed without issue. They would wait for the manufacturer to send the data.

Probably due to the boring wait, the two agents finally noticed Kexin standing nearby, watching.

“Anything, Princess?”

“Me?”

Princess? Was this a magical girl codename? Whose was it? Mine?

After analyzing, Kexin realized “Princess” referred to her—but why? Shouldn’t a codename be agreed with the person first?

Maybe they had confused her with someone else.

In general, there weren’t many magical girls, and even fewer active ones, so the Special Investigation Bureau was familiar with them—though more with their codenames than their real identities.

The two agents nodded. Muzhou only had two pink-themed magical girls; one was working ahead, and the other’s codename had recently been shared internally.

“So, Princess, can we help in any way?”

“No, I’ll just watch. You focus on your work.” Kexin mentally made a note to ask about her codename later.

“….”

At that moment, the manufacturer sent the requested data. It was voluminous, but the agents prioritized the video, playing it at increased speed.

Soon, they saw a chilling scene unfold.