What Huang Yi revealed was shocking—any snippet, if released, would cause an immense upheaval in human society.
Their heavy statement that “there are traitors among humans” was not speculation, but a conclusion.
When Lightning-man first appeared, they noticed that guy was using an earpiece for communication, and his behavior was inconsistent with both beasts and the past generations of aberrations.
It was as if someone was controlling him, making his actions odd.
Later, when facing Biscuit-boy, they deliberately jammed the signal and cut off communications. As expected, Biscuit-boy’s behavior changed as well.
This further confirmed their suspicion—something was giving the aberrations orders.
Then, considering the clues about the portals, those things had been secretly constructed all over the city, though no one knew when.
After studies by engineering experts and city planners, they discovered that the locations of the portals were particularly crafty—hidden away in every nook and cranny of the city.
Summing up the portal locations found so far, all of them were in places nobody visited.
Some were in abandoned houses, others in deliberately dug-out basements.
There were traces of human involvement—the builders clearly knew where a portal could be placed without being discovered, and where it would pose the greatest threat.
Psychology and sociology experts also came to the same conclusion, believing that all of these designs followed human behavioral logic.
The experts, rarely of one mind, agreed—even the notoriously difficult sociologists had similar opinions.
Materials scientists even inferred the timeframe of the portals’ construction based on their manufacturing techniques and materials.
The first portal found on the outskirts was the oldest. Tests detected cellulose ≥ 31%, hemicellulose ≥ 22%, lignin ≥ 17%, Ag ≥ 13%, Cu ≥ 9%.
While reading the data, Huan Hong scratched her head.
Jin Luan’s expression remained calm as she read on.
The second portal found in the suburbs had a reduced cellulose content, but a sharp increase in Ag.
By the time they reached the fifth and sixth portals, the cellulose content stayed low while Ag content kept rising. There was also a significant amount of Zn, As, and Fe, making these portals even more problematic than the first.
A debate broke out among the experts regarding the construction sequence of the portals.
In the end, Huang Yi accepted the conclusions of the materials scientists and sociologists.
The builders were running some sort of test. At first, they likely relied on human industry, but later intended to establish their own industrial system and break away from humanity.
Huang Yi and his team launched an investigation, looking for suspicious suppliers, and did find some clues.
There was an unusually large amount of precious metals being moved on the black market, but the buyers’ identities remained unknown, and the trail went cold.
The transactions were in cash. Although they could have traced the serial numbers, it turned out the bills had left the bank two years ago, and the surveillance footage was gone.
When they questioned the bank staff who handled the cash, the teller vaguely recalled a heavily-wrapped person collecting the money. Since the withdrawal was large, the staff hadn’t paid much attention to their attire.
Upon further investigation, they found the account holder had died last year.
The lead fizzled out—though they knew the person who took the money was still alive and in Yiri City, they just couldn’t find them.
The anti-registration policy championed by the Witch Faction had caused no small trouble for themselves.
If not for the Witch Faction’s obstruction, simply installing cameras throughout the city and enforcing registration everywhere would make it easy to catch the buyer. But since the Witch Faction always opposed such laws, none could be enacted.
Of course, that’s also one of the reasons why magical girls so rarely reveal their true identities—they’re protected by the Witch Faction.
The Eastern Alliance was still investigating, refusing to give up, and had already located the Underground Factory.
One factory had reported a large amount of copper missing.
At first, they thought it was just a minor theft, but it turned out to be part of a crisis affecting humanity’s fate.
After reaching this stage, the Eastern Alliance had dispatched some people to strengthen the protection of various resources.
For the first time, Jin Luan asked about an issue crucial to humanity’s survival: “How did you manage to get the minerals out of the mines?”
Huang Yi didn’t answer. “It’s better that you don’t know.”
His tone was heavy.
To maintain healthy human development, resources are indispensable. Magical girls rarely care about such things. They only ensure the bare minimum for humanity’s survival—saving lives from the aberrations.
But as for how humans could live more comfortably, or how to maintain pre-war standards of living? Those thoughts rarely crossed the minds of magical girls.
Jin Luan sensed the weight of the topic and didn’t press further.
Huang Yi continued, updating them on the recent investigation.
The reason Lightning-man had tried to assassinate Yin Lin a few days ago was likely because Yin Lin had dual strategic value.
First, Yin Lin’s perception was extraordinary—she could sense any aberration entering or leaving through a portal.
Huan Hong and Jin Luan, by comparison, seemed rather useless; those portals had stood in the city for ages and neither of them had noticed a thing.
Thus, Yin Lin held the Radar Value—she could detect even the aberrations’ smallest maneuvers.
Second, Yin Lin’s destructive power was tremendous—even against cadre-level aberrations, her attacks caused overkill damage. She could be the trump card in a siege, making the city capable of killing cadre-level aberrations.
There was even a third strategic value.
Even if she only possessed one of the three, the Witch Faction would still be justified in fully supporting her.
As for that third strategic value—if Yin Lin and the Witch Faction could form a political alliance, then…………………
Huang Yi hadn’t finished when he sensed the temperature in the room drop—not an illusion. It felt as though Jin Luan was casting some kind of magic.
She looked murderous.
Realizing something, Huang Yi shut his mouth.
At this point, the meeting was drawing to a close.
Huang Yi began a bit of ideological work, hoping they could persuade Yin Lin to accept 24-hour protection from the Eastern Alliance.
If they could reach Greenfield, he hoped they could give her one last, solemn warning: never, under any circumstances, harm Yin Lin. Otherwise, for Yin Lin’s safety, the Witch Faction might destroy Greenfield at any cost.
This was no idle threat—it meant erasing this dangerous person, utterly and completely.
Hearing such words from the Witch Faction was already a grave matter.
“Lastly, I have a rather personal request—a compromise between our Witch Faction and the Human Supremacists. If possible, I’d like you to patrol more frequently near the Eastern Alliance headquarters. It would be embarrassing if the headquarters were attacked.”
Huang Yi sounded casual as he spoke. It was probably the Human Supremacists who’d made the request, not him.
Jin Luan didn’t mind and nodded.
Huan Hong refused—she had no fondness for the Human Supremacists.