Chapter 54: The First Bewitchment

“Hah… ha—ah—!”

For the third time, Lin Yu collapsed, her knees giving out beneath her. Sweat drenched her uniform; her breathing came ragged and shallow.
Her strength—and her psychic energy—were nearly gone.

The gashes on her wrists and thighs had been hastily bound with torn strips of cloth, just tight enough to slow the bleeding. The pain, however, still burned vividly—each pulse of her heart a sharp reminder that she was running on borrowed time.

Her vision swam, the world crawling with a haze of black motes that danced like ants before her eyes. Twice, she nearly fell again.

“Damn it… Luo Shaotian, you’re way too heavy…”

Her flushed face twisted with effort as she panted, half in pain, half in complaint.
“You’re just a cop! Why are you built like a bull…? Damn muscle freak… impressive, but still…”

Her attempt at humor was feeble—a desperate way to stay conscious, to drown out the dizzying haze threatening to pull her under.

Yet even as her arms trembled, her grip on Luo Shaotian’s limp body never once loosened.

(Vision’s blurring… no… I can’t pass out here…)
(I’m not… that useless nobody anymore…)
(I will—no matter what—get this idiot out alive… he’s not allowed to die… he’s not…)

She clenched her teeth, forcing her staggering legs onward down a desolate back road.

“This should be near the outskirts already… maybe there’s a wall we can climb…” she muttered under her breath.

Then, behind her, the weight she carried stirred—just barely.

A faint cough broke the silence.
“Cough… cough…”

A hoarse voice rasped weakly near her ear.
“…Don’t bother…”

“Officer Luo! You’re awake?!” Lin Yu’s voice trembled, laced with both exhaustion and relief.
“Don’t talk! Save your strength! I’m getting you out of here!”

“Heh…” Luo Shaotian gave a small, breathless laugh, dry and self-mocking.
“Listen to me… This place—it’s the old port of Huaxia Heavy Industries… The Red City Gang uses it for trades… They usually move things by water…”

He lifted a trembling hand and pointed toward a shadowed direction.
“…There’ll be boats… by the shore…”

Just as he said, it didn’t take long before Lin Yu found a small motorboat beneath a derelict pier.

It was ancient—its metal hull mottled with oil stains and rust, clinging barnacles marking the years it had been forgotten. The water it floated in was dark and murky, reeking faintly of diesel and salt.

“No one’s guarding this?” Lin Yu asked in a low voice.

“These old things… half a century old, maybe more,” Luo murmured faintly. “They only use them to haul cargo now…”

“I see… No wonder there are bottles and cans everywhere.”

She carefully lowered him into the passenger seat, then slumped into the driver’s spot herself—only to freeze.

The console before her was a tangle of dials, levers, and foreign labels. Everything was mechanical, raw, industrial—no digital displays, no familiar controls.

Even the words were all in some foreign script, glowing faintly red in the dim light.

(What the hell…? How do you even start this thing? Why’s everything in English?!)

Panicking, she pressed a few buttons at random.
“Whirr… chk… splutter…”

The engine wheezed, coughed twice like an old man on his deathbed, and died with a pitiful sigh.

“Damn it!”

She slammed her fist into the wheel.
“This stupid thing’s worse than my laptop at home!”

Just as she was about to scream—or cry—a warmth pressed against her back.

A heavy, fever-hot weight leaned gently against her.

“…Calm down,” came Luo Shaotian’s voice, still soft, still steady.

He was burning with fever, his strength nearly gone, and could barely stay upright without resting against her. His chin brushed her shoulder; his breath—hot, uneven—fanned against the side of her neck.

A shiver ran through her, goosebumps prickling her skin.

“…I’ll teach you,” he murmured.

His voice was weak—like a dandelion caught in the wind—but carried that same quiet warmth, like sunlight over a wheat field.

“The thicker blue lever by your left hand… you see it? Grab it… gently… not so tight, idiot…”

“…Push it forward… slowly. That’s the throttle…”

His words blurred, his consciousness slipping—but his guidance remained precise.

To correct her stiff, trembling movements, he even managed to lift his fractured hand and rest it over hers.

Through the thin layer of cloth, Lin Yu could feel his calloused fingers—rough, scarred, alive.

Thump, thump… thump, thump…

Her heart began to race.

(So hot…)
(Why is his body so hot…?)

(Calm down, Lin Yu! You’re a man! You’re just—just being hugged from behind by another man while piloting a boat—what’s the big deal?!)

But no matter how many times she told herself that, her body refused to listen.
Her face flushed crimson; her muscles locked tight.
Even her breathing hitched, terrified that a single inhale might draw in too much of that dizzying mix of sweat, blood, and something heavier—something primal.

Her nerves snapped. She jerked a lever the wrong way again.

The engine groaned in protest and died with another helpless sputter.

“I can’t… I can’t do anything right…”

Her shoulders sagged as she stared down at the controls, shame washing over her.

But before despair could swallow her whole, that same fragile voice reached her ears again—hoarse but unwavering.

“Don’t be afraid… Believe in yourself. You’re… the bravest girl I’ve ever met.”

The words hit her like a spark through fog.

Lin Yu froze. She didn’t dare look back. Didn’t dare speak.
All she could do was focus every ounce of herself on the machine before her.

This time, her hands moved smoother—steadier.

VROOOOOOOM!

The engine roared to life.

No more coughing, no more stuttering—just a fierce, primal growl that shook the night air.

The black hull cut across the dark sea, gathering speed, a streak of white foam trailing behind as it tore into the filthy depths ahead.

The cold ocean wind lashed at Lin Yu’s face like invisible blades.

Her tattered maid outfit clung to her skin, the seawater-soaked fabric sticking to her slender thighs, sending shivers deep into her bones.

But she no longer felt any of it.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel with a desperate, unyielding strength, the small boat skimming over the waves like a fighter jet hugging the surface.

She weaved through a maze of rusted buoys and abandoned cargo containers, executing one reckless evasive maneuver after another.

The engine howled behind her, the black water tearing apart into jagged white fangs.

Just as she began to believe they might actually make it out alive—

“BOOM! BOOM!”

Six speedboats burst into view behind them—Red City Gang insignia flashing under the moonlight.

They were crude like hers, built in the same rough, industrial style of a bygone era—but clearly newer, faster.

They closed in.

“Damn it… those bastards have—”

Before Luo Shaotian could finish, the night exploded.

“Tatatatatatatata—!!!”

The sharp rattle of automatic fire ripped through the air.

Orange tracers hissed past, carving fiery lines through the darkness.

“Thup! Thup! Thup—!”

Bullets peppered the waves around them, geysers of white spray shooting skyward.

A few stray rounds slammed into their hull, sparking against the alloy plating—each impact ringing like a death knell.

“Are they insane?! This is inland water! Do they want the coast guard on their ass?! And why the hell do they even have guns!?”

“Smuggling… So I was right,” Luo muttered weakly. “They’re running weapons deals… But that can’t be all—”

“Now’s not the time for a damn case report!”

Lin Yu shouted over the roar of the sea, her voice raw. Her hands moved with frantic precision, not daring a single slip.

She knew exactly what they were up against—men long past redemption, the kind who had nothing left to lose.

For people like them, law was nothing but a joke.

She had no weapons. No backup.

All she could do was push the engine to its absolute limit.

But the enemy wasn’t about to let her try.

Two of the fastest boats veered out from the formation, circling like sharks scenting blood—one from each flank.

The gangsters aboard grinned, cruel and gleeful, their submachine guns already trained on the small, battered vessel.

The distance closed rapidly.

One hundred meters.

Fifty.

Thirty…

Lin Yu could already see the fire flashing from their muzzles.

(…Is this the end…?)

A cold hand of despair seized her heart.

But then—just as quickly—something inside her snapped, burning through fear with sheer, furious resolve.

“Luo Shaotian!”

She spun around, eyes blazing, voice sharp and commanding—one even she didn’t recognize as her own.

“Wake up! Hold the wheel steady! Three seconds—that’s all I need!”

“Wha—what are you doing?!”

Lin Yu didn’t answer.

She took a single deep breath—then leapt from the boat like a diver plunging into the abyss.

The sea swallowed her whole.

The gunmen hesitated, startled by her sudden disappearance.

And then—

“Don’t you dare touch me☆ Hmph!!”

“BOOOOM—!”

A colossal shield of shimmering pink light burst from the waves like a rising leviathan, detonating with earth-shaking force!

The explosion of energy became two invisible fists that smashed into the enemy boats.

“CLANG—!!! KRRRSHHH—!!!”

Metal screamed.

The two speedboats were hurled into the air like toys, torn apart mid-arc before crashing back into the sea in twisted heaps.

And just like that—it was over.

Lin Yu’s power flickered out. Her strength vanished.

The freezing seawater surged into her lungs, filling her with stabbing, icy pain.

Her body felt heavy, solid, like stone sinking into darkness.

Cold crept inward—from her fingertips, her limbs, straight to her soul.

But worse than the cold were the voices.

They whispered at the edges of her mind—low, warped, and crawling with malice.

“Give up, child…”

The voice was rough yet seductive, disturbingly clear amid the roar of waves.

“All you’ve done is struggle in vain. Look at your hands… this pathetic, borrowed body of yours… how pitifully weak.”

“All your effort amounts to nothing. Soon, the rest of them will come, and they’ll tear your little companion apart, limb by limb—right before your eyes. And then…”

The voice chuckled darkly.

“…they’ll take their time breaking you—turning the so-called magical girl into their favorite little toy.”

Her mind trembled.

“You can’t fight destiny,” the voice hissed. “Weakness is your original sin.”

Then its tone softened, sweet as poisoned honey.

“But, child… don’t you wish you could change all that?”

“Don’t you crave the strength to crush anyone who dares to take what’s yours?”

“Power… to rewrite your fate?”

“Then close your eyes. Stop resisting. Feel it—the flow of all things, the truth of transformation…”

“Repeat with me:
Change is eternal. Deception is truth. Power is freedom.”

Lin Yu’s thoughts dulled, her mind freezing over.

Her once-bright green eyes dimmed to a murky gray.

Her lips parted unconsciously.

“Change… is…”

“HEY—!!”

A shout split the night like lightning across a frozen sky.

A powerful arm plunged into the water, seizing her just as she began to sink.

It dragged her up—hauling her half-conscious body back onto the deck with sheer, desperate strength.

“Cough—! Khh—ha—haaa—!”

Seawater spilled from her mouth and nose, her lungs burning as she gasped for air.

The searing pain snapped her out of the trance.

(…Did I… just hear something…?)

Her thoughts were scattered, hazy. Everything felt like a fever dream.

“…You okay?”

The voice came again—soft, strained.

She blinked up to see Luo Shaotian’s pale, blood-drained face.

And somehow, in that moment, the world went quiet.

The whispers were gone.

Her racing thoughts stilled.

The warmth of his hand, his presence—it melted through the cold.

(…So warm…)
(…What is this… this feeling…?)

Luo didn’t seem to notice her daze. He quickly checked her over—rough, but careful—confirming she was still breathing.

Then he turned to the controls.

“No idea why, but I’ve got a bit of strength left… Let me handle—shit!”

“Chkkk… pfft… pffft…”

The engine sputtered, whimpered—and died completely.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Out of fuel—now?!”

He turned—just in time to see four Red City Gang boats closing in from all sides.

Encircled.