Qian Dehao was dragged away, shouting, “Remember to put my things away safely! Don’t break them, they’re very precious!”
Watching his retreating figure, Song Wuli asked, “Will Old Qian be okay? How did his wife find him here?”
Huang Yijun was aggressively mashing the buttons on his controller, maneuvering his in-game character to dodge a dense curtain of bullets.
It seemed he wasn’t bragging; even after years of not touching a controller, his skills were still top-tier.
He managed to reply while playing, “You guys came here to book a room and didn’t invite me? Don’t you see me as a brother?”
Song Wuli also began mashing his buttons. “Aren’t you busy all day? How were we supposed to call you?”
Huang Yijun didn’t answer that. Instead, he asked, “I say, Old Song, what made you two think of booking a room just to play games?”
Song Wuli replied, “Old Qian said he felt uncomfortable at home and wanted to hang out somewhere else. He got his hands on a Famicom, and it needs a TV to work. Where else would you find a TV besides a hotel?”
Hiss… Putting it that way made it sound perfectly reasonable, yet it still felt like something was off.
And so, the two of them played to their hearts’ content in the hotel.
By the time they snapped out of it, it was already 9:00 PM. Not only had they beaten Contra, but they had also played River City Martial Arts for a while.
The two grown men were like children, losing track of time in their play.
It was as if they had returned to their childhood, and they even extended their stay at the hotel by an hour.
It had been a long time since they had such a satisfying time.
Old Song carefully packed Old Qian’s Famicom back into the backpack and took it with him.
The next day, he brought it to the office. He exchanged a look with Qian Dehao, and they both shared a small smile. Qian Dehao came over and quietly took the console back.
“What’s the plan for tonight?” Old Qian seemed to be doing just fine.
“I can’t come for now. We’ve been at it for so many days; if I don’t work some overtime, my salary for the month will be gone,” Song Wuli declined with a look of pain.
He actually had other things to do today.
At noon, Greta requested leave again, saying she was going to the hospital for a check-up and would arrive an hour late in the afternoon.
Why did that excuse sound so familiar?
But it was hard to refuse. Greta was quite diligent with overtime, and her total working hours this month had already exceeded Song Wuli’s, so he approved her temporary leave.
With Greta gone, the pressure on Copywriting Team Two seemed to lessen. Everyone was laughing and chatting, working in a relaxed atmosphere.
Since work was light, Old Song took out his phone to slack off for a bit.
He scrolled through the Three Sisters’ group chat and saw Golden Phoenix drinking tea at home.
Crimson was at her part-time job.
He didn’t see them going out on patrol today.
They said that if they patrolled as a group every single day, it would look too fake, and Midori would realize they were fishing for her.
So, they took a day off.
Golden Phoenix sent a message: [I miss you. I want to set a time to go shopping with you.]
Since she didn’t receive a reply for a long time, Golden Phoenix sent another message: [I have some very delicious dried fish imported from the outer sectors!]
Old Song did indeed hesitate for ten seconds.
He felt that this young girl was truly obsessed with Silver Lin. He wasn’t sure if it was the type of love where she fell for everyone she met, or if it was a dedicated, deep affection.
Unfortunately, this was a relationship that was abstract in every sense of the word.
Silver Lin: [No time.]
Very cold.
Golden Phoenix quickly sent another message with pictures—close-ups of various types of dried fish.
There was tuna, saury, and grouper.
There was even dried meat from sharks and whales.
Is this the life of the wealthy? In this era, they can still eat this well?
In this day and age, going out to sea to fish was no joke. You could encounter flying-type demonic beasts even in the coastal waters, let alone the Deep Sea. Almost every fisherman who went to the Deep Sea had encountered one.
That was a place that both magical girls and Alliance personnel disliked visiting.
For magical girls, the ocean required aerial combat.
To fight in the sky, one either had to learn self-flight magic—which would allow them to leave their flying devices and use their wands to attack enemies—or learn techniques to attack while in transit, using the wand for both flight and combat.
This was a weakness for most magical girls.
Going to the Deep Sea to fish meant having no guarantee of safety. Every trip out could end in death.
However, humans aren’t the type of creatures that avoid danger just because they know it exists. If you announced a road where there was a 50% chance of dying just by stepping on it, the next day would see countless influencers and streamers standing there to broadcast it to the world.
Even though they knew the mortality rate at sea was incredibly high, many fishermen still chose to go out because the prices for seafood were now astronomical.
In this era, to be able to eat shark and whale jerky as snacks like Golden Phoenix did required quite a family fortune.
It might not necessarily taste good, but it was certainly effective for showing off wealth.
Silver Lin’s coldness didn’t deter Golden Phoenix; she started an awkward conversation.
She went from talking about music to talking about dance.
This topic wasn’t just pulled out of thin air. She remembered the scene from a few days ago when they were caught by Midori, and Silver Lin had effortlessly performed the splits.
One look and you could tell she likely practiced dance. It couldn’t possibly be yoga or martial arts, right?
Golden Phoenix thought talking about this would be playing to her interests.
The result was that Old Song tucked his phone into his pocket, his ears flushed red.
On one hand, he couldn’t keep up with a conversation about dance; on the other, he didn’t want to recall the memory of being caught by Midori.
The rest of his time at the office was essentially just killing time. Greta returned in the afternoon, looking to be in a bad mood.
She worked overtime until 9:00 PM and then left.
Old Song stayed for another hour before clocking out. He didn’t go home today because there was a very special task to perform.
***
He went upstairs and transformed, deploying a windbreak wall and flying at a medium speed. If Midori discovered her, the windbreak wall would allow her to accelerate and escape quickly.
She had made a decision that was both correct and redundant.
Midori was indeed patrolling with high intensity. After passing through her Sage Time, she had become increasingly thirsty, just as Golden Phoenix had predicted.
She had carefully investigated the flight paths of the Three Sisters—Gold, Silver, and Red—and summarized the places where she was most likely to run into them, camping out there.
Even in the dead of night, she wrapped herself in a sleeping bag and rested in the park, lying in wait like a hunter.
Today, her diligence finally bore fruit.
She sensed magic. Something was streaking through the sky rapidly. She wasn’t sure who it was yet, but she was definitely going to give chase.
***
Silver Lin, however, did not sense any magic at this time. There was neither the aura of a magical girl nor that of a demonic beast.
She made her way to the Grand Theater. At this late hour, the shows had ended, and the security guards had already cleared the area.
Silver Lin landed at the entrance and walked inside.
She constantly scanned her surroundings. It was safe; she sensed no magic.
Walking through the long corridors, she saw the walls lined with posters of popular stars—none of whom she recognized.
The sound of high heels echoed through the silent theater.
A few minutes later, she reached the theater hall. There was a massive stage and two tiers of empty spectator seats.
One person was sitting there, a very familiar old man: Liang Tai.
He sat alone in the empty audience section, right in the front row.
Seeing Silver Lin arrive, he waved his hand repeatedly.
He wasn’t livestreaming today.
Huang Yi was waiting below the stage.
Today, he was dressed very formally in a black suit and tie. His old leather shoes were polished to a shine.
His hair was also styled with gel, combed back until it glistened.
The man looked very sharp.