Magic Alliance Jiuyun Sea Branch.
Luo Zining was hard at work practicing magic, focusing especially on defensive spells.
Ever since she awakened her divine particle abilities, her role in group battles had grown ever more important. Sometimes, even the Border Customs would borrow her to deal with dragon-class dimensional beasts.
And thanks to her increasing experience fighting strong enemies, her power had clearly leveled up.
Today, Luo Zining happened to receive a rare bit of special guidance from Xingyu.
“Little Red Riding Hood, don’t just focus on defensive spells. Try learning magic to boost your speed and agility too—it can help you survive intense battles.”
“Huh? Speed magic… like Herrera’s speed?”
“Uh—!”
Xingyu’s lips twitched unnaturally.
“Herrera’s speed is no longer human. Don’t aim to match her.”
“Oh…”
“And you should try learning more precise control of your mana. I’ve watched your battles before—you’re too wasteful with mana, a lot is getting lost.”
“Mm, I’m learning.”
Seeing Little Red Riding Hood so eager to improve, earnest and receptive to advice, Xingyu felt quite fond of her.
It was almost like guiding her own little sister.
Speaking of sisters…
A dim trace appeared in Xingyu’s eyes.
[So Auntie already knows about Liyun’s existence. How am I supposed to tell Liyun about this?]
Liyun wanted nothing to do with her old family. It all started seven years ago, after being assaulted by Herrera and falling into a deep depression.
As time dragged on, so did her alienation. In the end, it all came down to missing the right moment.
Xingyu had tried many times to get Liyun to reconnect with the family, but Liyun never really cooperated.
“Well, now’s a good opportunity to help her take that crucial step.”
Xingyu had made up her mind.
Boom—
She suddenly looked toward the direction of the Border Customs, where a thunderous rumble echoed so loudly that it could be heard all the way in Jiuyun Sea.
Xingyu cast farsight magic.
Within seconds, her face turned ashen with shock.
“Little Red Riding Hood, alert the entire Jiuyun Sea Branch! Mobilize every available combat force to Border Customs, immediately!”
“Eh? Okay, I’ll go now!”
Luo Zining didn’t know what had happened, but she immediately found Ji Yue and relayed the orders. In less than five minutes, she had gathered all available magical girls to head for Border Customs.
By the time she finished, Jiuyun Sea was already blaring with alarms, helicopters lifting off everywhere, and even magical girls from more distant cities en route to Border Customs.
Seeing this massive mobilization, Luo Zining grew anxious.
“Little y… Sister Feiyu, what happened at Border Customs?”
“The Wrath-Eater Colossus appeared and destroyed the sea barrier! Tons of seawater flooded in—Border Customs is practically overrun!…”
Ji Yue’s expression was darker than ever.
Soon, they arrived at the scene.
“Wh—”
Luo Zining held her breath.
The sight before her went far beyond anything she’d prepared herself for—she’d been to Border Customs many times, but what should have been solid land was now a surging sea.
Familiar landmarks were barely recognizable, with only a few standing structures indicating their location.
Even the flood control infrastructure, built at great cost, couldn’t withstand this overwhelming torrent—it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, and the flood was rapidly spreading inland.
Anyone swept up by the Jianghai seawater was as good as dead—the seawater’s Jianghai substance could kill an ordinary person in two minutes of agony, making rescue near impossible.
The jellyfish in Luo Zining’s squad wanted to rush in to save people, but Luo Zining immediately stopped her.
“Little Red Riding Hood? Those people are trapped! What are you waiting for?”
Luo Zining bit her lip and shook her head.
“Our top priority isn’t that. That’s the rescue team’s job.”
“But we need to save people!”
“Stopping the seawater comes first! How many can you save? If we don’t stop this, tens of thousands will die. Which do you choose?”
The harsh truth hit hard, and the jellyfish’s expression filled with unbearable guilt.
Ji Yue silently approved of Luo Zining’s composure, but she had no time for praise.
“Keep moving!”
The magical girls advanced again.
Since the sea barrier at Border Customs had collapsed, plugging the source was the only way to solve the problem.
However—
“The barrier—where is it?!”
Ji Yue cried out in shock and anger.
She had reached the spot where the barrier should have been, but not a trace of it remained.
It wasn’t until she questioned the on-site guards that she learned the breach was far worse than she’d imagined.
They’d heard the Wrath-Eater Colossus had shattered the barrier, but never expected this much to be gone!
No wonder they said Border Customs was about to fall—this was the worst crisis since Jianghai first appeared. It threatened far more than just Jiuyun Sea; the entire southern region could face chaos.
Luo Zining and the magical girls with her gazed at this catastrophic start, a deep sense of helplessness rising in their hearts.
Forget their squad—even if every magical girl in the south came, it wouldn’t fill this breach!
No one imagined the sea barrier could be smashed open like this; it was supposed to be nearly indestructible.
Not even magical girls could easily damage it, yet the Wrath-Eater Colossus did it with ease.
Even if they managed to patch it this time, what if the Wrath-Eater Colossus targeted it again?
“Sister Feiyu, what… what do we do?”
Ji Yue’s expression grew even gloomier.
What to do?
Who knew?
“All magical girls, assemble at my location!” came Xingyu’s voice through the radio.
More than thirty magical girls had already gathered at the site, and not just from Jiuyun Sea.
All had been urgently summoned.
Soon after, two more Ten Seats arrived via teleportation magic—one was King Jin, and the other’s arrival instantly lifted the flagging spirits at Border Customs.
Xingyue!
Xingyu immediately called out via communication magic, “Xingyue, over here!”
In less than thirty seconds, the Ten Seats, dozens of magical girls, and the Border Customs’ base commander, generals, and various experts all gathered in a temporary command post.
The Jiuyun Sea Border Customs commander immediately asked, “Magical girls, from your perspective, is there any way to block that breach?”
He asked, but his eyes were only on Xingyue.
Clearly, he didn’t expect any useful answers from anyone but Xingyue.
But this also meant all the pressure was on Xingyue’s shoulders.
After a moment’s thought, Xingyue asked, “Commander Wang, at this rate, how long before the flooding reaches Jiuyun Sea…?”
“Fifteen minutes at most! Then Jiuyun Sea and surrounding cities will be fully flooded!”
“Fifteen minutes… That’s too little.”
Xingyue frowned as well.
Fifteen minutes wasn’t even enough to evacuate the citizens.
If they couldn’t plug the breach, thousands—millions—could die.
The problem was, with a breach a kilometer wide, how could it be sealed instantly?
Even if she came up with a plan right now, it would take far more than fifteen minutes to carry out—it’d take days at least, by which time Jiuyun Sea and the surroundings would already be submerged.
The worst-case scenario: sacrifice the cities around Jiuyun Sea, demolish buildings, and build a temporary dam.
Even if it only delayed the sea for a bit, any extra time bought was valuable.
As she pondered—
“Uh, I have an idea…”
Luo Zining suddenly raised her hand, shocking her teammates.
To speak up at a time like this—she had guts!
A flash of light appeared in Xingyue’s eyes.
“Speak.”
“As long as… we plug the breach, right?”
“Yes. At any cost.”
That answer was an open endorsement.
Luo Zining felt instantly emboldened, pointing outside the window to the sky.
“If it’s at any cost… could we use that?”
Before Xingyue could answer, Commander Wang rushed to the window.
Following Luo Zining’s finger, he saw a gigantic presence high in the sky.
“You mean to use the Wangyue-class Super Star Ring to plug the breach?”
Commander Wang was so shocked his pupils contracted.
“Huh?! The Super Star Ring?”
The entire command post erupted in chatter.
A science officer at the computer quickly brought up details: “The Wangyue-class Super Star Ring is 9.8 km in diameter. It could plug the breach, with room to spare!”
But immediately, a purchasing department head wailed, “No, listen, the Super Star Ring isn’t meant to be used like that! Last time with the Singularity Core incident we almost scrapped it. If we lose it now, we won’t have a replacement—without it, what’s the difference between Border Customs and total collapse? A Wangyue-class Super Star Ring costs 170 billion!”
“There… isn’t another Super Star Ring in service?”
Luo Zining couldn’t help but ask.
“To date, only five batches of Wangyue-class rings have been built, each taking over five years to complete, and as soon as one’s finished it’s immediately sent off to replace an old Equator-class ring at another Border Customs. The latest batch started just three years ago—there’s still a year and a half left before it’s done!”
These aren’t built every year—they come in five-year cycles, slowly, step by step, replacing the old Equator-class models. It’s like shipbuilding—‘no new construction for five years, then one project keeps you busy for another five.’
Luo Zining was at a loss—she didn’t understand military hardware.
But she still wouldn’t give up.
She asked the purchasing head, “After the last Singularity Core event, didn’t some retired, barely 20% disassembled Equator-class rings start getting reassembled? Can’t we use those?”
“That’s easy to say… These are 10 km-diameter machines that have already been partly dismantled. It takes ages to put them back together, test performance, reinstall electromechanical systems, swap out worn parts… Even if we hurry, it’s still months.”
This meant that, if they used the Wangyue-class Super Star Ring to block the breach, Border Customs would be crippled for months to come.
In peacetime, that might be fine. But now was the Jianghai Tide!
With internal and external threats, without a Super Star Ring, how would they fend off dimensional beasts?
How many would slip through every day?
Even letting a single dragon-class through could cause horrific casualties—not to mention the much more numerous ghost-class and king-class beasts.
But it was a desperate solution—if they couldn’t block the breach, the entire south would need to migrate.
The loss would be equally devastating.
***
“I’ll take full responsibility for everything!”
…Such words, Luo Zining obviously had no courage to say so bluntly.
Responsibility, my foot! She was just a small fry, not qualified to take charge—shouldn’t the seniors step up at times like this?
If the sky is falling, let the tallest ones hold it up! Now was the time for Lady Xingyue to make the call!
She looked hopefully at Xingyue.
But Xingyue seemed to receive some news on a different magical frequency, her face suddenly changing.
She said, “I have something to deal with, I’ll be right back!” and instantly vanished.
“Eh?”
Luo Zining tilted her head in confusion.
Now that the sky was falling, where were the tall ones?