The Eastern Alliance’s Countermeasure Center was holding another meeting with the experts.
The middle-aged man rubbed his aching temples while sipping his coffee.
Looking over the experts’ votes, there were many speculations about that strange enemy.
He called on someone: “You, the sociologist, explain why you believe Cookie Boy has such a deep connection with humans.”
The named expert stood up.
Before he could speak, the bespectacled man Huang Yi interrupted.
“Boss, why do we have to call that organism ‘Cookie Boy’? Why not just use the Chinese or English terms? Calling it this way sounds awkward, and it’s inconvenient to write.”
The middle-aged man put down his coffee and replied, “I already told you last time, we need to align with international standards, so we have to use foreign terms.”
Huang Yi said again, “Then why not just call it ‘Cookie Boy’ in English directly?”
The middle-aged man responded, “The Eastern Alliance has its own language and culture; we need to have confidence in our own culture.”
Huang Yi pressed, “Then why not use ‘organism’? Why not use ‘man’ or ‘girl’? Why use ‘boy’?”
The middle-aged man said, “You just said it sounds awkward; ‘boy’ sounds better. Enough, shut up and don’t waste time. Sit down. Sociologist, answer the question just now.”
Huang Yi had no choice but to sit down and continue typing on his computer.
Another expert took over: “Hello everyone, I am the sociologist. Let me first recap the background. After the special task force was deployed, they attempted to ignite the sewers with mixed fuel to create explosions, fires, and an oxygen-deficient environment, hoping to use these combined effects to eliminate Cookie Boy. I want to ask the physicists present a question.” He turned to another expert and continued, “Water flows downhill — what is the physical phenomenon here? And in which school term do humans learn this?”
The physicist stood up and replied, “That should be… middle school knowledge, right? Objects experience gravity due to Earth’s attraction, so water flows downward because of the vertically downward gravitational force.”
The sociologist nodded. “I’d like the biologist to explain the basic role of oxygen.”
Another biologist stood up, looking doubtful, and answered, “That’s also middle school knowledge. The lungs exchange gases with the external environment — this process is called ventilation. It requires red blood cells to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide. Organisms need oxygen to maintain normal metabolic activities.”
The middle-aged man grew impatient, pointing at the sociologist: “Can you just give me a conclusion? I don’t understand these old-school concepts. Who remembers this stuff after so many years?”
The sociologist continued: “Well, I think the enemy just now cut off the upstream, blocking the fuel flow and completely extinguishing the fire. Then it opened a hole in the wall to let oxygen into the sewer. These actions show knowledge of human middle school science. Therefore, I believe the being commanding Cookie Boy is an organism with a profound understanding of human culture.”
While the Countermeasure Center held the meeting, the battle continued on the other side.
A new report arrived from the Center, emphasizing that this enemy must be treated as having intelligence on par with humans and must not be considered an ordinary demon.
What does that mean? It feels like the Center is hinting at something but not daring to say it outright.
New orders were also issued: besides cutting off and jamming nearby wireless communications, the entire special task force was to withdraw.
When they heard the orders, they understood immediately.
Reluctant but unable to disobey, they retreated.
Silver Lin was quite surprised to see them withdraw.
Weren’t they supposed to use the special task force as cannon fodder? But now they were retreating?
Could it be that the earlier threat actually worked? Threatening Huang Yi to open fire really made him pull back?
She checked her phone—no signal—and had no idea what Huang Yi was thinking.
Forget it.
Such hesitation isn’t befitting of a child.
Since the character is supposed to be a teenager, she wouldn’t overthink it.
Fire!
The long-awaited full-power cannon blast was unleashed, aiming at the target directly below.
This time the distance was much greater, requiring more prediction.
The target naturally sensed that extremely abnormal magic overhead and quickly retreated a few meters, then once again used gravity magic.
The ground was compressed again, but in reverse — from the underground slanting upward, opposite to normal gravity.
If that guy wasn’t an enemy, Silver Lin really would want to compliment him.
When the magic cannon hit the ground, it was suddenly forcibly redirected by an invisible force and bounced back.
Fortunately, she had been prepared.
Seeing the magic cannon fail to explode normally, she immediately triggered the detonation herself.
The explosion went off twenty meters above the ground, very close to the enemy.
This was a lethal distance.
A powerful shockwave blew over Silver Lin, who was watching the spectacle, throwing her more than a hundred meters away.
The force of the blast was huge.
Without the shield’s protection, she might have been crushed.
The surrounding buildings were, needless to say, all destroyed.
Within the milky-white explosion circle, everything was vaporized.
Further out, the shockwave caused damage—walls cracked and glass shattered to various degrees.
Nearby areas were lit up as brightly as daytime.
No matter how many times one saw such scenes, they were always awe-inspiring, giving a sense of addictive destruction and accomplishment.
Half the park was ruined, countless streets and houses reduced to ashes.
From a distance, watching from the helicopter, the special task force grit their teeth in frustration.
To them, this was another massive failure.
Silver Lin frowned as she descended toward the scorched ground.
She sensed no magic at all.
By all logic, the enemy should be dead.
Yet before the magic cannon exploded, Silver Lin had felt a faint, somewhat familiar magic fluctuation — like the magic she sensed every time she tore open a void rift to meet the Contract Goddess.
She vaguely felt this wasn’t over yet.
Searching the ground, she still found no trace of demon magic or any other magic.
The helicopter’s sound grew louder.
The special task force arrived to handle the aftermath.
Silver Lin hurriedly took off and left.
The task force fired a few shots, pretending to threaten her — probably filming a documentary and treating the gunfire as a fierce attack on a magical girl.
Silver Lin ignored them and decisively withdrew.
After flying a few kilometers, her phone regained signal.
Several messages from Huang Yi and Jin Luan had arrived.
They were very concerned about the outcome on her side.
Silver Lin thought for a moment and decided to play cute to maintain her character, replying:
【With me taking charge, is there any enemy I can’t handle? Of course I solved it, didn’t even see a speck of dust left behind. I’m just too awesome.】
That said, she didn’t let down her guard.
The magic the enemy used before the explosion still weighed heavily on her mind.