Chapter 16: The Elite Thief’s Unique Approach to Crowd Control

A common stereotype often clung to regarding thieves.

It posits that thieves are only capable of petty thievery, resorting to ambushes to pick off foes one by one, and would require an eternity to dispatch even the most insignificant of adversaries.

As an elite combat thief, Ling Xing felt compelled to offer a clarification.

—This wasn’t a stereotype; it was simply the truth.

Yet, engaging individual targets did not preclude the ability to confront a crowd—that particular inequality was instantly shattered!

Through the doorway, several members of the Magic-Science Squad, armed with firearms, surged into the room.

Chao Wu, having transferred her magical energy to Ling Xing, leaned against a nearby cabinet and drifted into a tranquil slumber.

At this juncture, there was no longer any pressing need to attend to the dunderhead.

Crimson laser dots swept across the room, fixed on Ling Xing, and then—

“Eeyah—!”

“Gwaaah—!”

‘Hmph.’

Indeed, even relying solely on physical prowess, the seasoned Ling Xing possessed a unique repertoire of crowd-control techniques.

Her method was deceptively simple…

“Eeyah—!”

“Gwaaah—!”

“Eeyah—!”

“Gwaaah—! Stop, please stop hitting me! I surrender, I surrender! Why are you only attacking me?!”

Seize one unfortunate individual and relentlessly pummel them!

More precisely, it involved vigorously kicking the posterior of the hapless soul beneath her boots.

“You were the only one who dared to fire at me, weren’t you? Huh? Still pulling that trigger, still trying to act tough? I’ll give you tough!”

“Gwaaah—!”

Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Ling Xing exhaled slowly, then, with a flick of her hand, glanced towards the doorway.

Beyond the threshold, the armed Magic-Science Squad members subtly angled their weapon muzzles a few degrees away, allowing their laser sights to bypass Ling Xing entirely, thereby feigning ignorance of her ongoing brutality.

‘…Honestly, idiots will always be idiots.’

Ling Xing pursed her lips, her arms crossing over her chest.

The foolish, half-dead Chao Wu had genuinely believed these individuals were terrifying, elite soldiers.

In reality, however…

This dilapidated little outpost barely had any personnel to begin with.

While they weren’t wearing gas masks today, weren’t these the exact same people from yesterday?

“Hey, aren’t you all being a bit too half-hearted? At least fire a few shots! They’re just beanbag rounds anyway, acting as if you could actually hit me.”

“Er? Oh, right! Captain Kuonji has gone offline, so I believe it’s perfectly fine not to open fire!”

It was abundantly clear these individuals weren’t genuinely committed to fighting.

Setting aside everything else, would a person truly make a cartoonish “Gwaaah—!” sound if they were genuinely shot dead, just like in some low-budget anime?

Moreover, they had the audacity to righteously refuse to engage in combat!

‘Damn it, they wouldn’t even give me a proper excuse to legitimately beat them senseless!’

Ling Xing, with an exasperated huff, delivered another kick to the prostrate figure on the floor.

“Why are you still hitting me?! I haven’t done anything, have I? Doshite?!”

“Enough with your nonsense! You merely took a beating, whereas I lost the first kiss I’d cherished for over a decade, meant solely for Dal! Do you even comprehend my anguish?!”

She raised her arm, delivering a sharp elbow strike!

The elite warrior, who had exuded such an overwhelming presence in Chao Wu’s eyes, was now being repeatedly kicked and elbowed by Ling Xing, whimpering plaintively and cowering, clutching their head.

Had she still been conscious, Chao Wu would likely be questioning her entire existence… though, if truly awake, she would probably still put on a performance and engage in a mock battle.

After all, protecting a maiden’s dreams was also part of a combatant’s duty.

‘Alas…’

‘Even the Magical Girl organization has fallen so far.’

The very same Magic-Science Squad members she had released just yesterday were already back on duty today.

Having witnessed her formidable prowess, these individuals harbored no desire whatsoever to fight her, and furthermore…

Feeling a slight fatigue from all the kicking, Ling Xing rubbed her wrist, then deftly kicked a fallen gun into the air, caught it, and removed its magazine.

The specialized large-caliber rifle magazine she withdrew was indeed loaded with non-lethal beanbag rounds.

“Sigh… fine, I suppose. Since you actually took my words to heart, I won’t cause you any more trouble. Now tell me, who ordered you to target Chao Wu? Was it those two Magical Girls?”

At the very least, these individuals had indeed honored their promise.

When she had released them yesterday, she had advised them to minimize the use of lethal weapons and avoid escalating matters too severely; consequently, they had changed their loadout for today’s mission.

Ling Xing had initially considered that the foolish Magical Girl might find the secret dealings between these Magical Girl auxiliary forces and the dark organization somewhat unacceptable, and thus had refrained from disclosing any specific details.

As it happened, the Magical Girl organization proved to be far more deplorable than Ling Xing had ever imagined, quickly rendering such concerns irrelevant and instead thoroughly terrifying the naive Magical Girl.

“To be precise, Captain Kuonji Mashiro from the Pacific Front has assumed command over us, replacing Qi Teng Shen Xue. She… she has some mental health issues, and her reputation isn’t exactly stellar.”

“I can certainly see that. With today’s incident, you’re all teetering on the brink of incarceration. If you truly follow her directives, you’ll essentially be guaranteed an ‘iron rice bowl’ and ‘silver handcuffs’ for the rest of your lives. So, where is your former captain? What has she gone off to do?”

Spreading her legs, Ling Xing settled herself upon the prostrate Magic-Science Squad member, adopting a remarkably audacious posture.

Any semblance of her naturally delicate and adorable charm, lent by her appearance, was utterly obliterated. Were she to clench a cigarette between her lips, she would undeniably embody the quintessential delinquent.

“We don’t know. She apparently intended to come to the school for some purpose, but was urgently summoned by the organization midway through. The regional command was transferred with surprising swiftness, suggesting she has no immediate plans to return.”

“Which means this entire region has now been fully taken over by those two brats from the Eastern Nation…”

Despite being even more petite than those two Magical Girls, Ling Xing appeared utterly oblivious to this fact, propping her head with a hand and swaying slightly.

As she swayed, she retrieved a small notebook from her breast pocket, a ledger famously dubbed the ‘Book of Grudges’.

“Hmph, Kuonji Mashiro! Harms subordinates, implicates innocent civilians, arrogantly self-important, caused me to lose my pure, single-minded devotion to Dal, and her breasts are so large they’re utterly unsightly—!”

With a flurry of scratches, she jotted down a few messy notes in the ledger.

Catching the barely suppressed snickers from the surrounding Magic-Science Squad members, Ling Xing shot them a sharp glare, prompting them to turn their heads away, feigning nonchalance.

Subsequently, she turned a page, her gaze settling upon the entry for her partner, Hane.

It was impossibly pristine.

The descriptions and intelligence gleaned from various documents and records consisted of merely a few terse sentences.

There were no criminal records, no reports of anomalies, and hardly any discernible presence.

Compared to the ‘young lady,’ Hane appeared so remarkably normal that they scarcely seemed like a compatible pair.

“Hmm… let me pose a question to you all. If you absolutely had to choose one of them as your leader, wouldn’t you agree that this one here would be a better choice?”

“Are you perhaps suggesting…”

This seemingly casual question caused the somewhat lighthearted atmosphere to snap back to a more serious tone.

The Magic-Science Squad members exchanged wary glances, until finally, the individual beneath Ling Xing, serving as her unwilling human chair, managed to squeeze out a response.

“Regardless of your intentions… the most we can offer is to hold back against you. However, if you’re seeking direct assistance, I’m afraid we’d be unable to provide it.”

“Don’t underestimate me, you uncles and aunties! I am an elite combatant; I hardly require your assistance!”

Snapping the book shut, Ling Xing tugged at her collar, tucking the small notebook back into her inner lining, and rose to her feet with agile grace.

“It’s simply that students still have to attend their classes, don’t they? If I keep getting entangled with this crazy, big-breasted monster, I won’t even be able to make it to school.”

With one hand perched on her hip, Ling Xing strode decisively towards the doorway, her boots tapping a rhythmic beat.

“Ah, I’m merely considering my own affairs, simply gauging the reaction and resistance this matter elicits from all of you. Don’t mistakenly believe I’m concerned about anyone in particular.”

“…Oh, oh…”

‘A misunderstanding, you say…?’

‘Yet, there appear to be only two students here, don’t there?’