Chapter 33: The Unseen Observer and the Epidemic-tier Entity

As evening fell, the Juxianghui Shopping Center, located not far from Hongqiao West Station’s subway exit, bustled with activity. As the sole high-end shopping center in the vicinity, it consistently drew a large crowd.

From supermarkets and restaurants to cinemas and family entertainment, it boasted every conceivable amenity. For those residing nearby, whether young people looking to gather on weekends, middle-aged individuals hoping for a grand meal with their families, or couples simply planning a stroll through the stores, the center had always been an ideal destination.

Warm, soft lighting rendered the interior vibrant and bustling. The immaculately polished floors reflected the moving figures of shoppers: children paused before bakery displays, couples strolled hand-in-hand into the cinema, and students chatted with beauty store assistants. The center harbored people’s desire to unwind, and they, in turn, simply embraced the well-deserved peace and tranquility it offered.

Everything appeared perfectly normal, at least for now.

****

On the south side of the shopping center, a nondescript cargo truck sat parked, its grayish-white body devoid of luster. No one knew, nor did anyone care, what it contained. At that moment, a young man in a baseball cap and tracksuit emerged from a bakery, carrying two bags of food, and jogged towards the truck.

He tapped forcefully on the window, rousing his companion who was sprawled on the seat, snoring. As the window rolled down, he pulled a bottle of drink from one of the bags, tossed it to the other person, and began to chat.

“How are things?”

“Same old, everything’s normal. Do you have any more food? Break off a couple bites for me; lunch wasn’t quite enough.”

“You didn’t say anything when I went to buy it. Let me see if there’s anything else for you… Here, have this to tide you over.”

“…What’s this? Didn’t you go buy bread? Where did this half-meter long stick come from?”

“Ah, this is called… what was it? Mustard roe baguette. I saw a bunch of people buying them, so I grabbed one too.”

“What the hell is that? Got anything else I can swap it for?”

“Nothing else. I was looking forward to trying something new. If you don’t want it, I’ll just give it to the captain and the others.”

“Hiss… wait, don’t go. Fine, let’s split it.”

Shoving aside the grumbling about ‘these foreigners always messing around and wasting food,’ the young man walked to the back door of the truck and cautiously tapped on it.

The truck door slid open, and another person peered out. After glancing left and right, they gestured with their eyes for him to enter.

As he stepped into the truck, a completely different world greeted him. The four walls of the compartment were lined with various screens and electronic devices, their indicator lights constantly blinking, displaying real-time surveillance footage from all corners of the shopping center. The interior lighting was dim, with only the faint glow of the instruments casting a cold, blue light onto the walls and the faces of the few staff members present.

“Captain, I’ve brought back the food.”

The middle-aged man, standing behind two monitors and also staring at a display, didn’t turn around. “Well done. Just set it on the table.”

The young man twisted open a bottle of drink, gazing at the dizzying array of screens before him, and couldn’t help but shake his head. “Even though we’ve got access to the central control room’s surveillance, watching it all on these small screens is still quite uncomfortable.”

No one responded to his grumbling. He simply gulped down a few mouthfuls of his drink, then returned to his seat, rubbed his eyes, and donned his headset and communication equipment, joining the ranks of those monitoring the shopping center’s interior.

These individuals, secretly monitoring the interior of the shopping center from their hidden vantage point, were not criminals but specially dispatched personnel from the Magic Surveillance Department. Their presence here was for a crucial mission: to track the movements of a key individual.

“Target has entered the third-floor game center, approaching a claw machine,” a monitor whispered, his fingers rapidly swiping across the screen to switch between different camera angles.

After several shifts, the perspective on the screen finally settled on an ordinary-looking girl. She wore a white lace blouse and blue jeans, a pink over-ear headset around her neck. Light-footed and natural in her demeanor, she now stood with her hands in her pockets before a claw machine, seemingly captivated by the oversized plush toy inside.

Noticing the girl on screen exchanging for a few game tokens and beginning to operate the machine, the captain in charge of the operation momentarily lowered his head to open the file before him. Jì Lánxīn, sixteen years old, from Jihai City. Her identity and academic records were unproblematic, and her teacher-student evaluations at school were quite normal. The only noteworthy detail in her personal information was her family situation.

She currently lived in a single-parent household with her mother. Regarding this family, she had two records of calling the police. The first time, she had hesitated and stammered during the call before abruptly hanging up. The second time, she had sought help because her mother had become entangled in an illegal pyramid scheme, her demeanor during that call marked by an emotional breakdown and incoherent speech.

During subsequent investigations, the Jihai City Public Security Bureau confirmed that her mother, Jì Měizhú, had indeed mistakenly joined a pyramid scheme. Although Jì Měizhú herself had not organized or led any illegal activities, she had been uncooperative during the investigation, providing limited clues and evidence. According to statistics, Jì Měizhú’s capital investment amounted to approximately 500,000 yuan (TL Note: Roughly 70,000 USD). Members of the related organization had yet to be apprehended.

Recently, Jì Lánxīn had records of unexplained absences from school. When her mother was consulted, the reply was that she had fallen ill and needed to take sick leave. The truth, however, was that Jì Lánxīn was currently acting alone in the distant Jinghai City.

Based solely on these details, she might appear to be merely a girl from an unfortunate family who had run away from home. Yet, the contents of the following pages explained why the Magic Surveillance Department had specifically dispatched personnel to monitor her without informing the shopping center.

There was a group photo she had posted on social media with two other boys, surveillance footage of the three of them together in the city, the recent internet cafe usage records of one of the boys named Wen Qiusheng, and most crucially—a Corrosion Entity attack incident connected to him. This incident, in turn, implicated an unexpected character: the special Epidemic-tier Corrosion Entity, Black Mirror.

The records, filled with anomalies and mysteries, were unsettling. However, for now, their only task was to carry out the Magic Surveillance Department’s assignment: to complete the surveillance without alarming the target or drawing the attention of others. Should any unforeseen circumstances truly arise, then a team of magical girls, already on standby nearby just like them, would have to be deployed.

A child on the screen, smiling brightly while holding their parents’ hands, reminded the captain, burdened with such a weighty responsibility, of his own daughter. The peace before them was far more fragile than imagined. Regardless, he hoped things would not escalate to the worst possible outcome.

“The target is leaving the game center. She failed to win any prizes and looks rather displeased.”

“No wisecracks. Continue monitoring.”

“Alright, boss. Since entering the shopping center, the target has checked her wristwatch five times, and two of those instances were within the last half hour.”

The captain glanced at the time on the screen: it was approaching seven in the evening. The target seemed to be constantly checking the time, as if she had an appointment with someone. He picked up the walkie-talkie beside him and issued his next command: “Team A, report immediately if you find any information on those two boys from the group photo.”

“Understood, Captain.”

Observing the girl’s movements on the screen, he switched to a different communication channel. “Team B, spread out a bit more. Leave only a few personnel in the immediate vicinity.”

As his command was issued, several customers who had appeared on the girl’s floor in various screens gradually began to move. Beyond electronic surveillance, he also needed to ensure the target remained under their watchful eyes at all times.

This was not only to account for potential surveillance equipment malfunctions but, more importantly, to guard against Black Mirror, the Corrosion Entity that had abducted Wen Qiusheng right in front of the magical girls.

As an ordinary person, it was already incredibly difficult for him to climb to a mid-level position within the Magic Surveillance Department, an organization with such an imbalance of power. Even so, the intelligence he was permitted to access remained scarce. Ultimately, the Magic Surveillance Department was the territory of the magical girls; no matter how hard ordinary people strived, they could never touch the core levers of power.

Regarding Black Mirror, he only knew that she appeared as a young, black-haired woman with distinctive purple eyes, and that she possessed a special ability rendering herself completely undetectable by any surveillance equipment.

If only they could smoothly pass through the night like this, the man, his nerves taut, observed Jì Lánxīn browsing the supermarket section, currently accepting a sample of a snack, and wished for just that.

As seven o’clock drew nearer, Jì Lánxīn’s glances at her watch became increasingly frequent, further convincing everyone before the screens that she had arranged to meet someone here at seven. The monitors, displaying the shopping center and its surroundings, constantly switched views, checking the situation.

“Captain, the target is heading to the restroom on the first floor. We have no surveillance there.”

“If we had surveillance there, the person in charge would have been detained by us long ago. Team B, send a female colleague in to check the situation in one minute.”

As everyone watched her disappear through the restroom doorway, the flow of time seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl. At that moment, they could only hope that the female team member heading in to check the situation would move a little faster, bringing the target back into their field of vision sooner.

Fortunately, their unease was quickly swept away. Before the female team member, disguised as a customer, could even enter the restroom, Jì Lánxīn emerged, crossing paths with her. However, to avoid drawing unnecessary attention, the female team member still proceeded into the restroom.

“The target appears to be normal.”

“Team B, have you found anything inside the restroom?”

A brief burst of static crackled in the headset, then the team member’s voice came through the channel: “No abnormalities detected so far, Captain.”

Another sound of a stall door opening followed, likely the team member conducting her check. She then confirmed again: “All clear, Captain.”

The sound of wheels rolling echoed from behind her. The team member turned, saw a cleaner pushing a utility cart entering, and quickly stepped aside, backing out of the restroom.

Next, as the clock ticked past seven, Jì Lánxīn visibly grew anxious. Frowning slightly, she paced back and forth on the B1 level, looking around, before finally sitting down in the snack area and pulling out her phone to type a message.

Three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes… The person she was waiting for seemed not to have arrived. Her actions of typing messages on her phone became more and more frequent, the speed of her screen taps increasing rapidly. She mumbled continuously, her face betraying her impatience, clearly holding a grudge against the person who had stood her up.

A little while later, the girl abruptly stood up from her seat and huffily walked into a snack shop, returning with a steamer basket of soup dumplings. She bit into one fiercely, as if it were the person who had disappointed her, only to immediately wince in pain from the scalding hot broth inside. She quickly grabbed a pitcher of lemonade provided by the shop and poured herself a glass.

“If she could just finish her meal quietly and leave, it would be a huge help to us.”

“Keep observing. Don’t let your guard down,” the captain’s voice remained stern. “Let’s stick to our job.”

After quickly devouring the steamer of soup dumplings, Jì Lánxīn waited a bit longer in her seat, her expression gradually shifting from anger to calm, and finally to helpless disappointment. She opened her phone and stared at the screen for a long time, but ultimately sent no more messages.

At eight in the evening, she rose and left the snack area, wandering around the upper floors. She now appeared preoccupied, lingering by a display rack, looking at several phone cases, picking one up, turning it over a few times, then returning it to its original spot.

She was unhurried, no longer concerned with the expired time, yet she no longer displayed any clear purpose. She simply moved silently and alone through the bustling shopping center, brushing past crowds of people.

It was strange; if one didn’t intentionally pay attention to her, she seemed like an utterly ordinary person, completely blended into the noisy crowd. Yet, when everyone’s gaze fell upon her, a shared realization emerged: she didn’t quite belong to this crowd; a faint solitude clung to her.

At half-past eight, Jì Lánxīn returned to the first floor and walked towards the shopping center’s main entrance.

“Boss, while I feel a bit sorry for the girl, it’s great that she didn’t encounter any troublesome individuals.”

The captain ignored him, instead asking about the other teams’ situations.

“Team A, all clear, no abnormalities detected.”

“Team B, all clear, no suspicious individuals found.”

“Understood.”

Setting down the communicator, the captain’s lingering anxiety finally eased. Their greatest concern—a major security incident occurring within the shopping center—had now been averted. Although they hadn’t gained any other intelligence, Black Mirror’s absence from the vicinity proved that their operation had been a step ahead. Now, it was up to the other departments responsible for negotiations; they would attempt to contact Jì Lánxīn at a pre-arranged location and earn her trust. If things progressed smoothly, the Magic Surveillance Department would gain further initiative in this incident.

As Jì Lánxīn exited the shopping center, the team members who had been monitoring for hours became more active. A hint of relaxed atmosphere seeped back into the previously tense and serious room. Their eyes remained fixed on the monitors, but their hands were already reaching for the food on the table, eager to satisfy the hunger that had belatedly set in.

“Boss, your sandwich.”

“Thank you for your effort.”

Taking the sandwich, the captain sat in the monitor’s chair. The target was moving further and further away from the shopping center, gradually disappearing into the night.

Nothing happened tonight, and that was the luckiest outcome.

“…”

As if hearing the captain’s silent sentiment, Jì Lánxīn slowly halted. She stood still, extended her right hand towards the sky, allowing the solitary moonlight to filter through her fingers and fall upon her face.

This somewhat ambiguous action caught the attention of the team members. She maintained the pose for about half a minute before finally lowering her hand. Then, she turned around and began walking back in the direction she had come from.

Why was she returning? Confusion spread among the team, and an unfounded tension began to creep in once more. Even though she remained under their surveillance, no one knew the reason for her actions or her next destination. This unknown factor exerted an unexpectedly heavy pressure.

“All units, stay sharp. See where she’s going and what she intends to do.”

The captain stared intently at Jì Lánxīn’s every move on the monitor. Her footsteps were light, imbued with an inexplicable composure that instinctively triggered a sense of crisis in him, honed by years of experience. Every human action held meaning; thus, every subtle shift in her movements tested his patience and wisdom.

In this manner, Jì Lánxīn slowly made her way back to the shopping center’s entrance, tugging at everyone’s heartstrings with her actions. Just when everyone assumed she intended to re-enter for some reason, her next move completely defied their expectations.

“Captain, the target is moving again. Direction, the direction is…” The monitor’s voice was filled with hesitation. “She, she’s walking directly towards us…”

Upon hearing this, the compartment fell into a dead silence. No one refuted, no one questioned. All eyes were fixed on the moving girl on the screen. Her pace wasn’t fast, as if she were merely taking a casual post-dinner stroll, yet the distance between her and the surveillance truck was indeed steadily shortening in a straight line.

“Teams A and B, stand by. Await my command.”

“Boss, should we call the magical girls—”

“No need.”

The captain’s refusal to his subordinate’s suggestion was decisive. Everyone inside the truck froze in place, able only to silently watch Jì Lánxīn on the screen draw closer and closer to them.

One hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters… until she was close enough that they no longer needed the monitors to confirm her presence, until the faint sound of her footsteps reached their ears—Jì Lánxīn stopped directly in front of the Magic Surveillance Department’s surveillance truck.

Bypassing the driver feigning sleep in the cab, the girl walked straight to the back door of the compartment, raised her hand, and gently tapped on the truck.

“Thump. Thump. Thump.”

No one responded. All eyes inside the vehicle were fixed on the captain, who merely gestured for everyone to remain still.

“Thump. Thump. Thump.”

“…”

At this moment, the protective metal box transformed into an inescapable cage. They were no longer the detached observers, but helpless rats trapped in a jar, cornered.

“Thump. Thump. Thump.”

When Jì Lánxīn knocked on the truck for the third time, the captain stood up. “I’ll open the door alone.”

The man took a deep breath, subconsciously pulling a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. He had repeatedly emphasized the rule against smoking inside the truck, yet at this moment, he lit a cigarette for himself. In the faint white haze of nicotine, he descended two steps, disengaged the lock, and pushed open the door.

Standing before him was Jì Lánxīn, a radiant smile on her face.

“…What do you want?”

The girl remained silent, simply watching him with a faint smile.

How utterly peculiar. Jì Lánxīn had moved under their surveillance for hours, and they had believed they had mastered all her movements, even deducing some of her personal habits and preferences. Yet, with her truly standing before him, the man felt an indescribable sense of dissonance.

“The show’s over, Uncle,” she said, uttering a baffling remark. At the same time, she leaned slightly, as if attempting to peer inside the truck, but was thoroughly blocked by the man’s tall stature, his flesh and blood forming a seemingly impenetrable wall. She merely shook her head indifferently, taking a half-step back.

“Thank you all for your tireless efforts until now. But as I just said, this scene is over. There’s no reason for you all to remain here. You can go home.”

As Jì Lánxīn spoke more words and made more gestures, the captain felt the sense of dissonance within him grow more prominent. In this short span of time, an unseen, unexplainable transformation had occurred in Jì Lánxīn.

No, was this person truly Jì Lánxīn?

“You’ve already got your thoughts written all over your face, Captain.”

Jì Lánxīn smiled knowingly, revealing her small, pointed canine teeth.

“Who are you?”

“Who am I? You all have been watching me so intently for so long, yet you haven’t figured out who I am. That’s rather disheartening, isn’t it? Who am I… How can you all distrust your own eyes and judgment so much?”

The girl spun in a circle where she stood. When she faced the captain again, the abrupt feeling in his heart was swept away by visual and sensory input. Her features were still the same, her face and attire hadn’t changed in the slightest, yet in a brief instant, she had once again proven to him that she was indeed the Jì Lánxīn they had been monitoring for so long.

“I am, of course, Jì Lánxīn.”

“…”

“Captain, don’t instinctively reach for the handgun hidden inside your jacket. A single bullet is quite expensive.”

“…”

The man, his thoughts exposed, glanced downwards, then returned his subtly moving hands to their original positions.

“That’s better. My death would be very realistic and very ugly, and the Captain wouldn’t want to drag his exhausted body home at night, only to be tormented by nightmares in his soft, comfortable bed, would he?”

“Rainbow.”

To provoke them with such a frivolous tone, only one entity in the entire Jingping City could accomplish it.

“What is it, Captain? I’m here.”

At this point, the man understood the true identity of the girl before him. This chill creeping up his spine, this persistent confusion in his mind—she was not Jì Lánxīn. It was Rainbow, the most dangerous and cunning monster in Jingping City, the Epidemic-tier Corrosion Entity of a thousand faces and bodies, most adept at creating chaos.

Since it appeared before him wearing the target’s face, their mission had likely failed. In the end, this master of disguise had made fools of them all, right under their very noses.

“You’ve been deceiving us from the start.”

Jì Lánxīn, or rather, Rainbow disguised as Jì Lánxīn, narrowed her eyes slightly, denying the captain’s accusation. “I don’t possess such immense power, Captain. The one you were initially monitoring was indeed the real deal.”

Despite Rainbow’s sincere tone, she only received suspicion in the captain’s gaze.

“Alright, it seems I need to offer a small hint. Now, calm down and think: at which step exactly—”

“The restroom.”

The captain quickly supplied the answer. He paused, then continued to elaborate on the details: “The only blind spot in our surveillance was the restroom. Since it’s you appearing here, many things can now be explained.”

“The person we sent in to check the situation, you swapped them out too, didn’t you? All the information we received about the restroom’s interior was false. As for how you took her away… the timing of that cleaner pushing a utility cart now seems a bit too coincidental.”

Confirming his deduction was the voice of the team member who had entered the restroom, now coming through his headset: “Sorry, Captain, she’s been taken out.”

But… how could she be so certain Jì Lánxīn would enter that particular restroom? Or had she set up similar arrangements on every floor? But if so, the likelihood of drawing attention…

“Many things in this world are not as uncertain as people imagine, Captain.”

Rainbow snapped her fingers crisply, and her clothes instantly transformed into a vibrant evening gown. The vivid red color entered his mind through his vision, immediately bringing forth some blurry and fragmented memories, along with a familiar string of characters.

“PU8069… I’m guessing those are the numbers you’re thinking of, the license plate of this vehicle. Don’t look at me like that; I don’t read minds, I just know a little trick.”

Even if his expression could be faked, the man’s increasingly rapid breathing couldn’t deceive her eyes. She giggled triumphantly, gently ravaging his psychological defenses with soft words.

“Many times, people believe their choices and thoughts are determined by their own free will. But that statement doesn’t hold water, Captain. It’s not that I guessed what you were thinking, but that you received the thoughts I implanted in you.”

“Decorations ubiquitous in the mall, conspicuous brand logos, promotional banners for sales, cute mascot costumes… these visual elements can easily leave fleeting impressions in the memories of people like you, whose nerves are taut and who refuse to miss a single detail. So, I only need to stimulate those memories with a little color, just as I’m doing now. Similarly, by adding specific topics of conversation among customers, it’s not difficult to have someone go to a designated location and receive a carefully prepared snack from me.”

A spider, suspended on countless silk threads, appeared in the captain’s mind. She controlled, she manipulated, she reveled in the vibrations transmitted along the threads. Her horror lay not in her identity as a monster, but in the fact that her ability and technique to toy with them originated from humanity itself.

Facing the man’s cold, furious glare, Rainbow still appeared utterly innocent. She even clapped her hands for his correct, albeit belated, deduction. “Alright, don’t be so tense. Go retrieve your team member; she’s still fast asleep in the stall.” Then she raised a hand to her cheek, a hint of smugness in her tone. “But as for this little girl, don’t bother yourselves. You won’t find her. I’ll return her to you after I’m done.”

“You? It’s ‘you two,’ isn’t it? You and Black Mirror are working together.”

The captain snorted. The biggest reason for their mission’s failure was their failure to anticipate Rainbow’s involvement. However, this in itself was a significant discovery from the operation, even if the Magic Surveillance Department clearly preferred not to face such a grim situation.

“Feel free to imagine whatever you like on that point. Alright, I won’t bother you all any longer. Off work, time to pack up!” With that, Rainbow turned, preparing to leave on her own accord. However, the next moment, a crisp ‘click’ echoed, and simultaneously, a cold metallic sensation wrapped around her left wrist.

She turned back, seeing her left hand severely cuffed by one end of a pair of handcuffs, the other end fastened to the captain’s hand.

“You’re coming back with us.” He tugged on his arm, pulling her towards him. “You have no choice.”

“Oh my, such a cold attitude. Though I don’t dislike assertive men.”

Rainbow shook her cuffed wrist, utterly unfazed. For a Corrosion Entity, such a thing was barely even a toy.

Her wrist suddenly twisted with a violent, instantaneous force, like a mechanical device springing into action. Her movement was so swift that the captain could barely perceive it. The handcuffs seemed to slide on her wrist for a split second, then the metal was forced apart with a low grinding sound.

Her wrist, as if pulled by an invisible force, changed its angle in the blink of an eye, rapidly and eerily. The sound of bones twisting was hard to believe, and the next moment, she was free, letting out a cheerful whistle for her fluid escape technique.

“Well then, goodbye everyone. If you wish to annihilate me, please call the magical girls on standby.”

Smiling at the grim-faced man before her, Rainbow waved goodbye to everyone.