“The site is very dangerous. Do not linger. Please evacuate according to the instructions—!”
With the assistance of the Special Police Unit and the Magical Girls, the crowd outside the mall was quickly cleared.
There was no one left around,
But inside the building, there were still quite a few people needing evacuation and rescue.
Naturally, this job fell to the Magical Girls.
“Rescue Team, the first and second floors have been confirmed safe. Work with the Magical Girls for the search and rescue!”
The Special Police Unit Captain nodded to Luo You, “Sorry to trouble you all.” “Mm.”
Luo You nodded, then thought for a moment before advising, “Let the Magical Girls handle the rescue on the second floor. I’m worried the danger above hasn’t been cleared yet, and there might be large-scale collapses.”
“.Alright, but I think you’re worrying too much. You saw the group that just went in; they were full of themselves, but they have reason to be.”
“I know they’re Fusion Warriors, but are they really that powerful?”
“Of course they’re powerful. They have a unified name, Jingwei, taken from the story of ‘Jingwei Filling the Sea.'”
The Special Police Unit Captain gazed at the building and said,
“Anyway, we’ve heard the government is now deploying a Jingwei Squad in every city among the top one hundred in economic rankings. Each squad has eight members by default, with even more in directly governed cities, provincial capitals, and some economically strong provinces. They’re gradually replacing anti-terror forces as the mainstay. With the country giving them such strong support, they must be truly capable.”
A squad of eight for the top hundred cities, plus some special security areas—so let’s say an average of ten per city.
Wouldn’t that mean well over a thousand across the entire nation?
The sheer number made Luo You gasp.
As far as she knew, there were just a little over two hundred Fusion Warriors in the entire Awakened organization.
Even accounting for discrepancies, it wouldn’t be too far off.
But just looking at this, there must be more than three thousand Fusion Warriors across the whole Dragon Nation!
Though the Awakened organization did have technological advantages, the machinery of the state could easily crush them by sheer numbers.
“‘Jingwei Filling the Sea,’ huh… are they trying to fill the Sea of Realms?” That’s quite an appetite.”
Luo You looked with great interest at the interior of the building.
If the Sea of Realms could be filled that easily, humanity wouldn’t be so full of questions about it.
At the same time—
Inside the General Goods Mall, the Jingwei Squad had already cleared the third floor and found no threats.
A female member of the Jingwei Squad asked, “Captain, shouldn’t we at least say hello to the Magical Girls? They did arrive earlier than us—maybe they know something.”
“Forget it. I’ve seen how poorly Magical Girls handle these situations. Listening to them is just asking for trouble. Best to trust our own eyes.”
Xu Jing, the squad captain, spoke as he watched ahead, his deep voice vibrating through the murky air.
Another team member chimed in, “Yeah, these days, Magical Girls only keep their status because they can still deal with dimensional beasts. The moment we take over that job, they’ll be swept aside by history.”
“Is that so? But none of us have reached Dragon-class Fusion yet, have we?”
“We will, sooner or later, as technology develops. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Captain, we’ve found something here!”
Everyone rushed toward the source of the shout.
Up ahead, the scout had found three masked men lying among the rubble, weapons scattered around them—clearly the main culprits.
But at this moment, all three had had their limbs cut off, a grisly sight.
One was already dead, and if the other two didn’t get their bleeding stopped soon, they’d likely die as well.
The squad’s only female member frowned, squatting down to examine their injuries.
“Who did this? We need to get them to a hospital or they’re dead for sure.”
“Don’t bother, they’re probably not savable. Give them adrenaline shots and question them on the spot.”
The captain’s order brooked no argument.
The female squad member injected the two survivors with adrenaline, and not long after, they gradually regained consciousness.
“Sheng Wen, I’ll leave them to you. The rest of you, come with me and keep searching.”
“Yes!”
In less than two minutes, they learned crucial information—that there were still hostages on the fourth floor.
After confirming the third floor was secure, they led the team up to the fourth.
***
Second floor–
When Qiu Yu saw Luo You arrive, her tense heart finally relaxed.
“Lord Jinlin, is it safe upstairs now?”
“How would I know?”
Luo You shrugged, “I just got here. How could I know the situation inside?”
“Uh, well…”
Qiu Yu didn’t understand why Jinlin wanted her to hide the fact that she’d come earlier, but though she didn’t get it, following orders from a powerful Magical Girl was a rare and precious thing in the current chaos among the Ten Seats.
“This is the last person, right?”
“Yes, please help transport him out.”
After working with the Rescue Team to evacuate all the injured on the second floor, Luo You and the others prepared to head to the third floor.
At that moment, the Special Police Unit Captain contacted them with confusion.
“Magical Girl comrade, according to the Jingwei Squad, three main culprits had already had their limbs cut off before they arrived—very brutal methods. They’re all dead, and the final confession before they died was that it was done by a short woman. Since you arrived before us, do you have any clues?”
“No idea. Qiu Yu, do you have any leads?”
“Eh?”
Qiu Yu was startled by the question, glanced strangely at Luo You, and replied, “No idea.”
“Qiu Yu says she doesn’t know either. It’s probably a case of thieves turning on each other, right? Also, I just used a detection spell. There are a lot of hostages on the fourth floor, and the guards seem to be Fusion Warriors too. Have the Jingwei Squad stay sharp.”
“Alright, got it. I’ll notify them now.”
After ending the call, they prepared to go up to the third floor.
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Noticing the knowing looks from Qiu Yu and Mu Shui, Luo You puffed out her cheeks and poked them with both index fingers, pretending to be cute.
“Do I look like the type to do something like that?”
“…Not really.”
“Can’t imagine it.”
“Then don’t ask so much. Mu Shui, did you see the way the reporters outside reacted just now? I suspect this terrorist attack was a trap targeting Magical Girls. You both need to be careful.”
Luo You’s warning immediately put them on high alert.
A trap? Who would set a trap for Magical Girls?
And for what purpose?
Thank goodness Lord Jinlin is here! Otherwise, they’d have fallen right into it!
***
“There are a lot of wounded on the third floor! Speed up the rescue, quick, quick, quick.”
The Rescue Team, seeing all the bodies strewn across the third floor, couldn’t help but gasp.
It was too tragic.
So many corpses, so many severed limbs—was there even any chance of survivors?
Calling it a hell on earth was no exaggeration.
“Begin rescue! Quickly! Get the life detectors running!”
The Rescue Team Captain shouted hoarsely.
Luckily, with the Magical Girls on hand, they didn’t need heavy machinery to move people trapped under debris—saving the trouble of amputating limbs to get people free.
Rescue operations progressed quickly.
But this good fortune didn’t last long.
Soon, the sound of fierce fighting echoed from above.
“Hurry up! There’s a firefight upstairs! Collapse could happen at any moment!”
Everyone picked up the pace, rushing people out without worrying about transport protocols.
“Report: Life detector isn’t picking up any signs of survivors!”
“Alright, evacuate immediately! Magical Girls, we’re counting on you.”
It had to be said—magic was truly convenient.
There was no need to follow standard evacuation routes; the Magical Girls simply levitated everyone directly from the third floor to outside.
But when only half of the Rescue Team had been evacuated–
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A thunderous rumble erupted above.
With that shocking noise, massive sections of ceiling collapsed, walls and stone crashed down everywhere.
“Don’t dawdle! Jump out, now!!!”
But before the words were fully out, an even louder explosion rang out from above.
Those outside were left stunned, forced to the ground as their eardrums throbbed painfully.
When everyone finally recovered from the shock, the scene before their eyes left them utterly speechless.
Right in front of them, the entire General Goods Mall seemed to ascend to the heavens.
The upper floors—fourth and above—had vanished, while everything below the fourth floor was now just a pile of rubble.
At the same time, the alarms for a Dimensional Beast incursion began to blare at the scene.