Chapter 31: The Scorpion Monster Appears Again

Charging through the dense barrage of needles, Ka Xin forced her way into the building and immediately looked toward the source of the attack.

It was something Ka Xin was very familiar with—a giant scorpion. Since it was a scorpion-type anomaly, it was impossible not to mention that Ka Xin had encountered a similar one not long ago. Comparing the magical energy signatures, the match was as high as 99%.

It could basically be confirmed as the same one.

Previously, Ka Xin had wondered how such a huge anomaly had disappeared, and even Hoshino couldn’t track its whereabouts.

She had been worried about where to find it to deal with it, and now, unexpectedly, it had appeared on its own.

Due to the anomaly’s rampage, almost all the walls on this floor had been destroyed. At this point, there was no obstacle between Ka Xin and the scorpion anomaly, allowing her to observe it clearly.

She also noticed several other magical girls on the floor, including Qisi, who had been struggling with the anomaly from the start. Her combat outfit stood out among the others.

The magical girls gripped their weapons tightly, most using differently styled wands, and were on high alert for the anomaly’s next attack.

It was miraculous that this building hadn’t collapsed amid the battle between the magical girls and the anomaly. However, once the fight ended, it was unrealistic to expect the building to remain usable.

Even without considering the anomaly’s destructive power, the situation had shifted drastically by the time Ka Xin arrived.

“Finally, you’re here,” Qisi said, her body radiating a yellow glow, a manifestation of her magical energy.

She held a shield in her left hand and a one-handed longsword in her right, standing almost at the closest distance to the anomaly. In gaming terms, Qisi’s role was very much like a tank—essentially a human shield.

This fit her magical traits perfectly, most of which focused on defense.

“What’s going on with this scorpion?” Ka Xin got straight to the point.

She could have learned more from Officer Guan, but the Special Investigation Bureau’s situation was chaotic, with all hands needed elsewhere.

Even Officer Guan had been pulled away halfway through a conversation due to another emergency.

If the headquarters staff were in disarray, the frontline magical girls weren’t faring much better.

“You’ve seen it yourself; this one’s tough to deal with,” Qisi said, glancing at the magical girls on her left and right. There was no fear in her eyes, but the heavy use of magical energy had visibly fatigued many of them. “Sister Mengyao asked me to watch this area. When I saw someone enter that office, I rushed in, and this thing appeared.”

“This anomaly can disguise itself as a human?” Ka Xin was genuinely shocked. Gamma-class was indeed the entry threshold for most anomalies. Those below Gamma could look human-like, but they either lacked intelligence or had insufficient magical energy to pose a real threat.

For anomalies above Gamma-class, the real question was whether they had enough intelligence to be called a “monster.”

Compared to the last encounter, the scorpion’s most noticeable change was its tail, which had turned into a six-barrel needle launcher. The barrage that had just rained down like a machine gun came from there.

When Ka Xin had entered, the scorpion had already expended all the stored needles and was now replenishing them with its magical energy, staying alert to human attacks.

“Not exactly. This anomaly probably followed that person. Maybe it’s being controlled,” Qisi added.

Ka Xin didn’t feel any relief. Whoever could control an anomaly like this was definitely formidable—and possibly a monster themselves.

Anyone called a “monster” was never easy to deal with; the person controlling it could be watching the situation unfold from somewhere nearby.

No, she had to focus on the scorpion anomaly.

Ka Xin forced herself to ignore other thoughts; now was not the time to worry about anything else.

“Does it have a magical shield on its body?” Judging from the magical energy expenditure of the surrounding girls, it was clear they had already attacked it multiple times.

Looking at the anomaly, there were barely even scratches visible on its surface.

“Yes. Normal magic bullets feel like a tickle,” Qisi replied.

The “collaborative agents,” as the official term called them, didn’t train daily at the Special Investigation Bureau like Ka Xin did, so their magical skills were relatively limited. Most urban anomalies could be handled with ordinary magic bullets.

In this situation, however, even several B-class magical girls wouldn’t be enough to avoid being at a disadvantage.

“By the way, Ka Xin, did you notice? This one can fire up to 60 shots in one concentrated burst, then needs about three minutes to reload.”

“Hmm, only three minutes?”

Ka Xin had noticed too, though she hadn’t expected such a fierce attack to be ready again in only three minutes—far too fast.

She had already spent two minutes observing the battlefield, meaning the scorpion would soon attack again.

“Any ideas?” Qisi’s tone was lighter than before; she might not have realized it, but Ka Xin’s arrival had relieved a lot of pressure.

Recently, whenever they acted together, Ka Xin provided strategy and firepower, while Qisi focused on keeping the anomaly occupied.

“I have an idea, but I need to test it a few times. Is that okay?” Ka Xin asked cautiously, unsure how long Qisi could hold up.

Qisi shrugged. “Don’t underestimate me, newbie.”

“Who’s relying on a newbie for ideas?”

With Qisi around, there would inevitably be some trash talk, but she could still maintain full vigilance, taking hits to protect others.

Whether her words could actually taunt the anomaly was another matter.

As the scorpion’s tail finished gathering magical energy, Ka Xin didn’t want to sit idly by.

Quickly analyzing the scorpion’s body structure, she targeted a weak point and switched her weapon back to gun mode.

“I’ll go first.”

This time, Ka Xin didn’t transform her weapon into its sniper form. That mode required a long charging time and was so powerful that a single shot could destroy the entire floor—or even the whole building—making tomorrow’s headlines even more sensational.

Instead, she switched it to rifle mode. As she channeled magical energy into the weapon, it reshaped itself into a form similar to an HK416.

A holographic sight was mounted on the top rail. Ka Xin aimed at the scorpion’s lower leg and fired while advancing.

Even though she had reduced the power significantly, each shot still exceeded the destructive force of a 40mm high-explosive grenade.

The nearby collaborative magical girls stared in awe. Someone actually fired magic bullets in full-auto mode—if it were them, they would have already exhausted their magical energy.