“Qixing-jie, where are we going next?”
Hand in hand, Yang Nini walked through the underground street, where every so often, armed guards stood watch as if on alert.
This reminded Yang Nini of the old security guards at the Wudong Town factory—protecting the director’s residence in just the same way.
“You came from outside, so I’ll take you to City Hall to register. Until you’re registered, don’t wander off, or you might get mistaken for something you’re not,” Qixing said.
“Why would we be mistaken for something?”
“This is our rule—every girl who can become a magical girl must be recorded, to tell whether or not she really is one. If you are a magical girl, then there are lots of rules to follow.”
Yang Nini worried, “Won’t that be a hassle…”
“Of course. Becoming a magical girl isn’t free at all. You’d better think it through—like the saying goes, the greater your power, the greater your responsibility, and the more rules you’ll have to keep. This isn’t something you can just mess around with.”
Seeing Yang Nini lost in thought, Qixing patted her head and added, “But don’t worry, the rules really aren’t that strict.”
“As long as you don’t randomly fly where you shouldn’t, or use magic recklessly, you’ll be fine. And usually, newbies aren’t sent on any dangerous missions—your whole routine will mostly be daily training and a few small patrols. No need to worry too much.”
Yang Nini felt nervous inside. Becoming a magical girl was an unknown adventure for her. She wanted to ask many questions, but each time, the words caught in her throat—she’d already asked so much.
The underground city’s scenery felt like a dream, light and shadow weaving between enormous support pillars.
There were even rare electric lamps lining the streets; back in Wudong Town, only the core district near the thermal power plant had these lamps.
Above their heads, a rail line hung across the sky. Suddenly, it flared with light, catching Yang Nini’s attention.
An ear-piercing explosion followed, flaming rubble fell from the ceiling and crashed onto the road ahead.
Thunderous booms echoed through the underground.
“It’s a terrorist attack!” someone shouted.
Qixing quickly shielded Yang Nini from the falling debris.
“How could this happen!? Yang Nini, hide right here!”
The tracks ahead of Train 23, carrying confidential cargo, were blown apart, forcing an emergency stop. Sparks flew across the rails.
Magical girls, hiding in the darkness, poured out, scattering in the sky and raising their weapons to unleash firepower at the train cars.
In an instant, bullets came from every direction, and several unlucky souls were riddled with holes, blood splattering the shattered windows.
“This is what happens when you go against us.”
A magical girl in a black trench coat landed atop the train. Her name was Yeyuan, a magical girl who could control fire.
Determined to leave no survivors, Yeyuan waved her hand; two massive fireballs appeared at the front and rear of the train, inching forward, threatening to engulf each and every car.
Unable to resist, the three magical girls defending the train were forced to take flight and retreat.
“Boss, what about those magical girls who ran off?” Xiaoge asked via telepathy. Although she looked like a twelve-year-old blonde loli, she was actually already eighteen.
“Leave them. Best not to kill too many magical girls—it pollutes the environment.”
With each car full of guards consumed by fire, resistance disappeared, and the dead were incinerated.
Yeyuan landed on the cargo car, melting its roof with high heat to reveal the cargo—a kind of powder.
“This is what we’re looking for?” Xiaoge scooped up a handful of the powder. From the outside, it didn’t look like anything special.
“Don’t touch anything unless I say so…”
“Got it!”
Xiaoge quickly put it back. “I won’t make that mistake again!” she said, sticking out her tongue playfully.
Yeyuan examined the strange powder briefly.
“The informant wouldn’t be wrong. This is what we’re after.”
Yeyuan ordered her team to gather some of it, but since they didn’t have time to take it all, she decided to destroy the rest.
Just as she was about to cast her spell, Qixing arrived.
“It’s them… the Wing of Freedom.”
Qixing recognized them instantly—Wing of Freedom was an illegal organization officially wanted by Song City, all of its members magical girls, responsible for various terrorist attacks.
Their goal was to eradicate all ruling powers outside of magical girls—mainly the Military Committee—and build a society ruled entirely by magical girls.
They all wore black trench coats, nearly invisible against the gloomy underground sky.
Qixing had fought them before. They were experts at aerial combat—fast, agile, almost impossible to chase down.
There were five hundred magical girls in Song City, but few matched their skills with maneuvering and firearms.
Qixing formed a magic array before her, preparing for battle.
“Boss, the enemy’s here!”
“Don’t engage them head-on—we’re retreating!”
“What about the cargo?”
“No time. Just fall back.”
Speeding between giant pillars, Qixing chased after the Wing of Freedom members, ordering her own team to spread out and form a huge net to prevent the enemy from escaping in different directions.
The enemy had guns, but bullets did little against magical girls’ shields—just a nuisance, really.
Though Qixing’s side held the advantage in magical power, she couldn’t just attack at will—strong spells might harm civilians by accident.
Bullets skimmed across magical shields, sending faint ripples.
Qixing noticed some enemies had never fired. They were hard to spot, able to counterattack under the cover of their gun-wielding comrades. Some of her teammates got hit—
A barrage of spells trailed brilliant afterimages as they struck a teammate’s shield.
Forced to pour all her magic into the shield to keep it up, she lost the power to fly and started falling—but fortunately, other teammates caught her.
“Damn… they’re just too agile.”
A sharp turn almost sent Qixing into a wall, but she managed to buffer herself with magic in time.
The one Qixing was chasing was clearly an ace flyer, dodging spells with every kind of aerial maneuver and seizing each fleeting chance to fight back.
Just when Qixing felt cornered, someone called her through the psychic channel.
“This is Xin Yu. Qixing, drive them toward the area I’ve marked for you.”
A net appeared in the sky before Qixing’s eyes.
“You’re moving fast. All right, I’ll try,” Qixing replied.
She ordered her squad to shift formation, deliberately leaving one side open, herding the enemy toward the trap.
Yeyuan quickly noticed something was wrong.
“Boss, why aren’t they chasing anymore?” Xiaoge wondered.
“That’s not right—it’s a trap! Change direction, now!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
From the branches jutting from the pillars on both sides, snipers opened fire.
A tracer round struck a Wing of Freedom member. Her shield was pierced, and her now-vulnerable body wounded, sending her plummeting down…
There was no time to react. Ahead, a machine gun spat fire, its burst knocking several more members from the sky.
“Run the other way!” Yeyuan shouted.
Qixing saw Yeyuan turn and aimed her magic cannon at her.
Suddenly, a strange black magical shield blossomed before Yeyuan, forcing Qixing to halt her attack. She could only watch as Yeyuan slipped from her grasp.
In that fleeting moment as they passed each other, their eyes met, and Qixing saw the hatred—and the tears—gleaming in Yeyuan’s gaze…
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