Chapter 71: The Calm Morning Returns

By the time the news reached the rear command center, everyone in front of the surveillance screens couldn’t help but cheer, even though the real target hadn’t been eliminated.

The agents high-fived each other, and some even excitedly threw their hats into the air—after all, one less Delta 2-class abnormality was still a significant reduction in the threat to humanity, and that was undeniable.

After the cheering died down, everyone quickly began pondering a more pressing question: if a single D2-class abnormality was already so difficult to handle, then how formidable must a Corpse Mother, a higher-tier entity, be?

Including Agent Guan, the staff of the Special Investigation Bureau exchanged glances, all seeing the same concern reflected in each other’s eyes.

A more immediate problem was the aftermath in Yunxi Village: how to explain the complete destruction of the village to the public, especially with no survivors left, and how to comfort the families of the victims—a very tricky task, with much information still restricted from disclosure.

All of this would heavily test the Bureau’s operational capabilities. After instructing the magical girls to return to the base, Agent Guan removed his earpiece and headed to the meeting room to report the latest situation to headquarters.

Of course, this had little to do with the magical girls themselves—their duty was combat; the agents would handle the aftermath.

The most central and crucial person in this battle, Kexin, returned to the guesthouse surrounded by everyone’s attention and rested for a few hours. As night gradually fell, all the Mu Zhou magical girls began their journey back.

There was no celebratory feast, no farewell ceremony—just a quiet bus, similar to the one that had brought them, transporting them back to Mu Zhou City as if they were ordinary high school students.

On the way, most of them spoke very little, using the time to catch up on sleep, or to check their phones for messages missed over the past few days and reply one by one.

When Kexin finally shook off the shock from delivering her earth-shattering strike, she realized that the federal holiday was nearly over.

The bus entered Mu Zhou City. Looking at the familiar city nightscape outside, Kexin couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.

“Yo, you’re up already. Pretty early, huh?”

The next morning, Kexin rubbed her eyes and walked out of her bedroom, seeing Qisi standing by the dining table preparing breakfast, greeting her cheerfully.

Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting a golden edge around Qisi.

Kexin yawned, responding groggily: “Morning, ha—”

She glanced at the vintage clock on the wall—it was just past six. No one else in the apartment seemed awake yet—after all, it was still a holiday; most people wouldn’t rise this early.

Dragging her feet to the fridge, Kexin took out a bottle of iced water and leaned back on the sofa.

The cool liquid awakened her immediately, dispelling most of the sleepiness from rising early.

It was then she noticed that Qisi had already put on her Crescent Academy soccer team uniform. The blue-and-white outfit fit her perfectly.

Kexin knew Qisi was active in multiple sports clubs at school, so this attire wasn’t unusual—but she still wondered why she was up so early.

“Is there a match today? Will this be enough breakfast?” Kexin asked, noting that the meal consisted of only a boiled egg, a carton of milk, and two slices of bread.

For most people, this might suffice, but given Qisi’s activity level, it was clearly inadequate.

Peeling her egg, Qisi replied, “It’s a friendly match against Dan Zhu Middle School, over at their campus.”

She took a bite of egg white and continued, “I heard their cafeteria is pretty good. Want to check it out together?”

“I don’t even know the rules of soccer, so maybe not,” Kexin said after a moment of thought, shaking her head.

Besides, visiting another school seemed like too much hassle. She hadn’t even fully settled into Crescent Academy yet… thinking about this, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy for those outgoing social butterflies.

“That’s a shame,” Qisi shrugged, swallowing the rest of her egg and picking up a slice of bread. “I heard their cafeteria’s dessert shop serves strawberry cake supplied by a well-known chain. Not interested?”

“Who said I liked strawberry cake?” Kexin said, but she couldn’t help imagining the taste, secretly deciding she wanted to go out for a meal today.

At that moment, Bai Xihan rubbed her eyes and entered the living room, hair messy, wearing cute pajamas with child-friendly cartoon patterns.

“You’re all up so early…” Bai Xihan mumbled, half-asleep, heading straight to the table and pouring herself some milk without noticing that Qisi had already opened it.

“Hey, that’s my milk—” Qisi reminded her, but it was too late.

Bai Xihan realized and sheepishly smiled, scratching the back of her head. “Sorry, sorry, didn’t notice.”

She held out the bottle, which still had about half left, handing it back to Qisi.

“It’s fine, I’ll get another one.”

Qisi opened the fridge, scanning inside, but saw no more milk—what she had taken earlier was the last carton.

“Looks like I’ll need to buy some,” she sighed, heading out for pre-match warm-ups.

After saying goodbye to the others, Qisi hurried out.

“Maybe I’ll just go back to sleep a bit more,” Bai Xihan glanced at the time—it was still too early for her—and turned back to her bedroom.

Kexin responded lightly, then continued lounging on the sofa.

Her phone vibrated. She picked it up casually and froze.

The sender was Mizuki Tsuki, the girl from next door she had known since childhood, and a classmate since kindergarten—truly a childhood friend.

Kexin hadn’t yet told her about the strange “changes” happening to her, but apparently her mother had already leaked the news.

Before this operation, Mizuki had already messaged her to interrogate her thoroughly.

That was fine, nothing unusual—but today’s message was different:
“小Ke, my transfer to Mu Zhou has been approved! Guess which school?”

Kexin didn’t know how to respond—surely not… Crescent Academy?

“Read but no reply, what’s that supposed to mean?” Mizuki followed up.

To prevent things from escalating, Kexin quickly opened the input box, at least letting Mizuki see the “typing…” status.

“Which school?” Kexin replied with a question.

“Crescent Private Girls’ Academy, High School Division, Year 2, Class B.”

It really was!

It felt like a direct challenge—Class B was right next to hers.

“I’ll rent a place first, then come find you, okay?”

“Of course.” There was no way to refuse. Thinking of this childhood friend, Kexin felt a mix of emotions.

She remembered back in elementary school, when her introverted self—then still called Xia Ke—was often bullied in class, Mizuki, who was already taller than her peers, would kick those troublemakers away. Kexin had been very grateful.

But Mizuki also liked to tease her, often putting her in embarrassing situations, which was annoying.

Not that she disliked her—Kexin still hadn’t figured out how to properly approach her.

“Then it’s settled.” Mizuki sent her final message and seemingly put her phone down.

Kexin no longer anxiously stared at the screen.

“Hungry meow~” came the voice of Neko Saki from upstairs.

As footsteps descended, Kexin turned to see Neko Saki wearing a long nightgown, her bare legs showing as she walked down the loft stairs, stretching like a real cat.

“Kexin, what’s for breakfast today, meow?” Neko Saki padded into the living room and squeezed onto the sofa beside her.

Shortly after came the poised Hime Hiiragi Tsukito, dressed elegantly as if about to go out.

Like Neko Saki, she and Bai Xihan were new magical girls under the latter’s guidance.

“Good morning,” Hime bowed slightly. “Senior Qisi already went out, right?”

“Yes. Did our talking wake you?”

“No, I’ve been awake for a while,” Hime hurriedly reassured.

With everyone now awake, Kexin went to the kitchen as usual, selecting some ingredients to prepare breakfast.

As Qisi had said, they would need to do some grocery shopping.

Perhaps attracted by the aroma, Bai Xihan, who had returned to bed, also came out, already washed and ready.

“So, any plans for today?” Bai Xihan asked casually at the table. “A few days off is rare—doing nothing would be wasteful.”

“This doesn’t sound like you at all,” Kexin teased. Bai Xihan, in some ways similar to her, preferred staying at home.

Neko Saki immediately raised her hand: “There’s a new cat café near Lakefront Shopping Street. I want to go, meow.”

“Go be a cat?” Kexin asked tentatively.

“Not at all, meow!”

“Tsukito, how about you?” Bai Xihan looked at the pale pink-haired girl quietly eating dumplings.

“Probably the library. I have some materials I want to look up,” Hime replied, setting down her chopsticks.

Then all three turned to Kexin.

“As for me…” Kexin thought a moment. “Play some games first, then go out for dinner later. That’s the plan for now.”

“With anyone?” Bai Xihan asked curiously.

“Alone.”

“Eating alone, meow. Neko Saki wants to go too, meow.”

“Probably not, we still have Master Rui taking us out for a meal today,” Bai Xihan reminded her.

Neko Saki seemed to have just realized this and nodded in understanding.

The topic then shifted to Rui, the strongest fighter in Bai Xihan’s squad.

But Kexin wasn’t familiar with her—she only knew Rui was an A-class magical girl with a wild combat style, completely outside Kexin’s circle.

“I’m done eating. Remember to clean up your dishes.”

Kexin returned to the sofa, habitually turning on the TV, just in time for the morning news segment.

Without a doubt, today’s biggest news was the Yunxi Village incident.