Yin Lin spent some time chatting amicably with the sailors and the captain, gathering a significant amount of information before Jin Luan finally arrived.
Several of the sailors closed their eyes and began to pray again.
Jin Luan’s state seemed a bit off.
Her clothes were perfectly neat, clearly a result of the mysterious power that automatically dressed her after her Magical Girl Transformation.
However, her expression was… strange. A noticeable flush crept from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. She struggled to focus, her eyes frequently glazed and wandering.
While others might have assumed she was simply suffering from the sweltering summer heat, Yin Lin knew better.
It was the lingering effect of the tentacle monster’s DOT.
Yin Lin had felt a strange sensation just by lightly touching that liquid with her finger.
It was even worse for Huan Hong, who had been bound by the tentacles and practically soaked in the stuff.
Jin Luan probably wasn’t doing much better; she hadn’t even been able to start her Live Broadcast, likely because she had also been covered in the creature’s secretions.
Speaking of being handled, Yin Lin suddenly remembered the time she had encountered Jin Luan long ago, specifically that smack to her bottom.
“Hello, I am the Magical Girl Jin Luan. Who is the person in charge here?”
Jin Luan forced herself to snap out of it, scanning the crowd with her usual, intentionally cold demeanor.
“I am. Hello, my name is Zhao Xiao, and I am the captain of the Hotpot.”
The captain reached out his hand for a handshake.
Jin Luan did not return the gesture, remaining distant and cold.
At that moment, Yin Lin had already quietly slipped behind Jin Luan.
She stealthily reached out her small hand and gave Jin Luan’s backside a firm squeeze.
“Ah-meow!”
Jin Luan’s entire body jolted, and she let out an incredibly cute cry, causing everyone to look at her with bewildered expressions.
She glanced sideways and saw that the culprit was Yin Lin.
She let out a deep sigh and shot Yin Lin a fierce glare, clearly intending to deal with her once they were alone.
That squeeze made her face flush even deeper, looking as though it might actually start dripping with moisture.
Jin Luan began to inquire about the situation, and Yin Lin started to explain slowly.
However, Yin Lin’s hands remained restless.
She kept touching and prodding as she spoke.
“And then I followed the Mana over here… I found some items imbued with Mana and thought they were Demonic Creatures. They were over in the cargo yard…”
As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around Jin Luan’s waist in a show of intimacy.
“That’s right, that’s how it happened. I perceived it from the air…”
Her hand, however, had already slid down toward Jin Luan’s abdomen.
As Jin Luan listened, she squeezed her legs together and clenched her fists.
She grabbed Yin Lin’s palm and forcibly pulled it away.
Yin Lin’s fingers were still misbehaving, nimbly dodging the attempt to restrain them.
She brushed against Jin Luan’s side as she continued. “After arriving here, I discovered the Mana was coming from the ship, inside some of the containers.”
This time, Jin Luan used her Mana to boost her attributes.
She suddenly caught Yin Lin’s fingers with her own, locking them together in a tight grip. She had finally managed to seal Yin Lin’s hands.
Yin Lin tried to pull her hand back but failed; Jin Luan’s strength was far too great.
She could only continue her explanation without changing her expression.
“Then, with the captain’s cooperation, we found the containers together. It turns out these materials are what carry the Mana.”
Yin Lin used her other free hand to point toward the materials placed on the deck.
That restless little hand suddenly launched a sneak attack on Jin Luan’s side again.
Jin Luan’s ears turned even redder, becoming hot to the touch like a pair of ripe apples.
The sailors and the captain didn’t think much of it, simply marveling internally.
‘The Magical Girls are so close. I suppose that’s what youth is all about.’
The captain chimed in to help explain.
“I personally watched those goods being loaded. The person who handed them over to me was a woman, probably twenty or so years old. She was dressed very formally, as if she had just stepped out of an office.”
The captain repeated everything he had told Yin Lin to Jin Luan.
Jin Luan’s expression turned more serious.
She led Yin Lin over to the magical materials and focused her Perception. Aside from Yin Lin, who was a constant source of Mana, she could barely sense the Mana within these materials, just as Yin Lin had described.
She couldn’t help but gain a clearer understanding of Yin Lin’s sensory abilities.
Jin Luan could only sense these materials when she was close to them, yet Yin Lin had sensed such faint Mana while flying in the sky.
It was terrifying. It was no wonder the Human Alliance was so desperate to recruit Yin Lin; they wanted to turn her into a human radar.
Such a powerful Perception could serve as an early warning system for Demonic Creature attacks, making her far more useful than a sensor in many cases.
Feeling her mind go hazy again, Jin Luan forcibly suppressed the strange urges within her.
She spoke to the captain.
“Is it convenient for me to see the Hotpot’s registration and your crew’s identification?”
Her tone was solemn, carrying the weight of an official investigation.
The captain was surprised, but he gave the orders to comply.
The process took half an hour.
Jin Luan looked through every document, though no one could tell if she had found anything.
“Do you think there is a problem with my crew?”
The captain asked, adopting a more formal tone, discarding the joking manner he had used with Yin Lin.
“I’m not certain yet. We need to investigate further.”
Jin Luan’s serious face was also quite interesting.
She held the certificates with one hand and flipped through the pages with just her thumb—clearly the mark of an experienced professional.
“Could they really be a problem? These are people I have worked with for many years. I can’t imagine it.”
“That is why it isn’t certain yet.”
“Is this matter very serious?”
Jin Luan lowered her voice and told him privately, “Since they chose to transport this through a civilian vessel without informing you, it likely isn’t an official matter. It’s probably related to certain organizations.”
“Do you know of the Star Summoning Society?”
The captain also lowered his voice. “I’ve never heard of it. What is that?”
Jin Luan took out her phone and provided her contact information.
“You can ask me if you encounter anything in the future. If you run into trouble, you can come straight to me. Oh, and don’t bother her. She’s just a child—too young and immature.”
The conversation suddenly pivoted toward Yin Lin.
Yin Lin was left speechless and aggrieved.
‘What do you mean, child? I’m already three or four years old!’
However, she couldn’t say that out loud.
It was her own fault for acting so childishly as Yin Lin.
‘If I could be a bit more mature and act like a crafty old fox, it would probably make my future actions much easier.’
“I’m an adult,” Yin Lin quickly protested.
But Jin Luan had no intention of listening to her nonsense.
She continued, “You need to instruct your crew not to speak of today’s events. Keep it a secret; it’s for your own good.”
The captain thought for a moment and nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.
She had mentioned something called the Star Summoning Society, which sounded like a dangerous organization.
Were they the ones who sent this cargo?
Were they enemies of the Magical Girls?
If word of today got out, those villains might think their operation was exposed and do something terrible to the sailors.
Captain Zhao Xiao’s mind was very active, considering many possibilities.
He naturally trusted the Magical Girls because their good reputation had been earned over many years at the cost of their lives.
The actions of one or two bad eggs wouldn’t be enough to tarnish that legacy.