The phone had been picked up by someone else—and this person was no ordinary individual.
Many people have the habit of immediately saying “Hello?” when answering a call.
But the other party remained completely silent, not making a single sound, showing a certain level of anti-tracking ability.
After waiting five seconds with no response, Song Wuli hung up and quickly left the spot.
He pulled out the SIM card, snapped it in two, and threw the pieces into separate trash bins.
This was the experience of an old man who had watched too many movies and anime—he had learned some counter-surveillance tricks.
He blended into the crowd and slowly drifted away with the flow of people.
Yao Ruoning’s number was still inconvenient to use for now, so he decided to take care of other matters first.
He wanted to contact Jin Luan and Huan Hong to check on their situations.
With that thought, he found a safe place, transformed into a magical girl, and then went to the rooftop hut where Jin Luan stayed.
No one was there.
After waiting for half an hour without any sign of Jin Luan, he was about to head home when a sudden thought struck him.
Could Jin… possibly be there?
Yin Lin spent some time doing her makeup, purposely making herself look uglier than usual, then went to the familiar milk tea shop.
This time, she had no shift scheduled and came very suddenly.
“Xiao Yao, you’re sneaking in to work again, huh?” a customer joked.
The store manager also greeted her with a wave: “Working today? There are lots of customers waiting for you.”
Yao Ruoning shook her head. “Today, I probably won’t have time.”
Her gaze settled on Xia Shiyao, then moved to another man—someone she was somewhat familiar with.
Huang Yi from the Eastern Alliance’s Countermeasures Center.
He rose from his seat and, passing by Yao Ruoning, handed her a silver phone before leaving.
Though he said nothing, it was as if he had spoken volumes.
Sigh… Yao Ruoning let out a breath.
She knew exactly how she’d been exposed.
This silver phone was purchased by Jin Luan with a SIM card that honestly used the real name “Yao Ruoning”—a name only a few places knew was being used, like this milk tea shop.
Huang Yi probably didn’t even have to put in much effort to track her here.
Fortunately, it was him returning the phone; if it had been someone else, the problem would’ve been far worse.
Huang Yi was deliberately doing a favor.
In short, her first layer of identity had been exposed again.
Both Huang Yi and Xia Shiyao now knew who Yao Ruoning really was.
After taking back the phone, she sat down opposite Xia Shiyao.
“It’s not like I told him anything,” Xia Shiyao hurriedly defended herself, “He was trying to fish for information, and I didn’t say a word.”
Sigh, with this little sister’s intelligence, she really thought she could fool Huang Yi, who worked at the Countermeasures Center—a core institution?
Using her real name on the phone was basically handing over a head on a silver platter.
One wonders how many messes the witches of the Human Alliance have had to clean up for these naïve magical girls.
Of course, Yin Lin herself was also to blame for this; she hadn’t changed her SIM card either.
But no personality like Yin Lin’s would ever admit to a mistake—no young female demon has ever been known to easily acknowledge her errors.
Anyway, it wasn’t her fault; it was Xia Shiyao’s fault.
Her attention shifted back to the phone.
She unlocked it, flipped through the apps and logs, and saw no newly installed applications.
Still, something about it made her uneasy, as if some kind of backdoor program had been installed.
Next, she opened the social app and checked the messages.
Many were unread, but it seemed they hadn’t been snooped on.
Since the milk tea shop was crowded and not suitable for talking, Xia Shiyao sent messages right in front of her to communicate by text.
She asked about the battle from the previous day.
Too many things had happened yesterday to type it all out; they’d talk it over later.
Yin Lin opened the group chat with the three sisters—Jin, Yin, and Hong—and checked Huan Hong’s situation.
She had been rescued last night as well.
The rescue was simple: Liang Tai used a flame cutter to slice off the roof of her vehicle, taking both the roof and Huan Hong away together.
She was taken to a secret base to stay the night.
She hadn’t slept well.
There seemed to be some hidden reason—Huan Hong’s few words about it were too brief and evasive.
If she were fine, why not just go home?
Why stay at someone else’s secret base?
So, she must have still had some issue last night.
The thought of having to maintain that posture for half the night…
It felt like she was turning into an adult-themed magical girl.
Jin Luan had asked, but Huan Hong refused to admit anything, firmly insisting that nothing had happened.
The orange adhesive substance that had stuck to her took until dawn to disappear—a strong magical construct, indeed impressive to last that long.
She was rescued only at dawn and was exhausted, sleeping until daytime at the secret base.
Yin Lin typed a few words into the group chat: 【You’re not clean anymore】.
Huan Hong immediately understood the meaning and responded: 【You’re the one who’s not clean, your whole family isn’t clean】.
They were quite agitated.
Huan Hong was also curious about what had happened after yesterday and changed the topic in the chat, asking about the battle.
Because it involved classified information, Yin Lin didn’t say anything over the phone and instead arranged a face-to-face meeting.
She and Xia Shiyao left the milk tea shop and flew off.
Half an hour later, the three of them met on the rooftop of a building.
They brought drinks and snacks and ate together up there.
Yin Lin began recounting the story from last night, exaggerating the strength of the Biscuit Boy to make it seem more impressive—otherwise, defeating it wouldn’t feel like an accomplishment.
Besides, there were some plot holes she had to patch by boosting Biscuit Boy’s power.
She didn’t mention the mysterious orb suspected to be a creation artifact.
Talking about that would lead to the recovery and Contract Goddess issues, so better not tell them.
After telling the story, the three were left puzzled without any answers.
Song Wuli’s patches still weren’t enough.
The most baffling question was the true strength of Biscuit Boy—was it strong or weak? Was it a mid-level, high-level anomalous demon, or a cadre-level anomalous demon?
Song Wuli knew the creature was weak, but it was hard to explain.
If he said it was weak, how to explain the gravity magic? That magic was cast by an orb, not by the anomalous demon itself.
But if he explained that, they’d ask where the orb was now.
Huan Hong asked about other matters—specifically about the Heavenly Spear.
“Is that Li’s new magic?” Her tone changed, becoming excited.
“Yes, it’s called Heavenly Spear,” Yin Lin didn’t hide it.
“Cool! Teach me, please?” Huan Hong wanted to get stronger.
“Big sister’s magical power is too low—not even as strong as a small fry. This move consumes a lot of magic,” Yin Lin spoke honestly.
Huan Hong immediately felt discouraged and sighed.
Jin Luan’s magic power was a bit higher, but she wasn’t very interested in that spell.
Right now, she was more focused on Yin Lin’s body, her gaze lingering for a long time.
“Is your injury serious?” she asked, noticing the wounds on Yin Lin’s exposed skin.
“Just surface wounds, will heal in a few days.”
“You should go to the hospital. Scars wouldn’t look good.”
“No need, it’s nothing.”
“Go! It won’t cost anything.”
After some hesitation, Yin Lin finally relented and agreed verbally.
As they were about to leave, she remembered something about the badge.
She described its appearance aloud, but they claimed they had never seen such a badge before.
They agreed to keep an eye out.
“Should we reveal it publicly, and let society help find its origin?” Jin Luan proposed a seemingly viable plan.
“Not yet,” Yin Lin said, still hesitant. She feared getting entangled in an extremely troublesome matter.
Judging from Biscuit Boy’s trust in the badge before dying, it was definitely no ordinary item.