Leaving the docks, Jin Luan and Yin Lin did not take those items. It wasn’t that they didn’t want them, but there were other methods beneficial to both parties to recover the materials.
The containers had seals, which had already been broken and couldn’t be restored. Even if they stuffed the magical materials back into the containers, it would be useless; the recipient would find out.
“We need to protect them, and we also need to secure this shipment.”
Jin Luan’s view was simple, but she first had to convince the silver-haired girl beside her.
Yin Lin was the one who discovered the items. By any measure, she had more authority over how to dispose of these magical materials.
Yin Lin knew she still had a plan and asked, “You’re not thinking of calling your good friend Huang Yi, are you?”
She couldn’t help but slip into her habit of making sarcastic remarks.
Jin Luan clenched her fist again, remembering the earlier incident of being groped.
She held it in for now, focusing on the matter at hand.
“He can handle this. They have the personnel, institutions to research those special materials, and can protect the crew of the ‘Hotpot.’ Afterwards, we can also take some materials for our own research.”
It made perfect sense. This was essentially Yin Lin’s own idea as well.
But to stay in character, Yin Lin had to argue a bit, flexing her verbal prowess.
She continued her sarcastic tone, “It’s always Huang Yi this, Huang Yi that. Someone who doesn’t know better might think we, the Jinyin Hong Sisterhood, are the Eastern Alliance Magical Girl Corps’ First Squad.”
Jin Luan seemed to take this comment to heart, falling into a long period of thoughtful silence as she flew through the air with her head lowered.
The relationship between Magical Girls and the Human Alliance was complex. The relationship between the Jinyin Hong Sisterhood and Huang Yi was equally complex.
Jin Luan brought up a thought she’d had for a long time.
“Do you think we need to establish our own faction?”
This truly shocked Yin Lin. Jin Luan was so young, yet her ambitions were this grand? Did she want to become an emperor?
Yin Lin didn’t respond. It wasn’t convenient for her to agree or disagree.
She had only been a Magical Girl for a few months, having participated in just a few battles, saved some people, and protected Yiri City.
She hadn’t fully accepted her identity as a Magical Girl yet. She felt more like an extra in a play, not the true main character.
So, she didn’t want to get involved in such major decisions that could determine the fate of Magical Girls.
Having opened this dangerous topic, Jin Luan continued.
“I know the Human Alliance is very afraid of Magical Girls forming factions. They’ve been preventing such things from happening for decades.”
She began to share her insights.
“Whether it’s issuing Wanted Lists, constantly taking credit for Magical Girls’ achievements, or not publicizing Magical Girls’ deeds—all these are methods to prevent Magical Girls from growing too powerful and forming groups. They need the combat power of Magical Girls, but they don’t want Magical Girls to band together and become powerful, independent entities like feudal lords.”
“There are already some areas that have almost become such feudal territories, controlled by Magical Girls. The Human Alliance doesn’t want this situation to develop further. The Human Alliance’s military strength can’t compare to Magical Girls, so they can only maintain the current situation through a series of political maneuvers.”
Jin Luan spoke with clear logic, making it hard to believe she was just a high school girl.
She wasn’t viewing the issue through textbook political content or fragmented online opinions, but had formed her own understanding.
“Sigh, talking about this with you, you probably don’t understand anyway.”
Jin Luan sighed, disappointed with the younger Yin Lin’s political acumen.
This frustrated Yin Lin immensely. Old men loved nothing more than gathering to talk about international politics.
Who couldn’t spout a few lines of nonsense about it?
Now being mocked by Jin Luan, yet unable to retort, was truly aggravating.
Should she stop playing the kid and switch to playing a cunning old fox instead?
For a moment, Yin Lin again considered changing her persona.
After a moment’s thought, she held back. The ‘kid’ persona was extremely convenient for many things and made it easier to be forgiven.
This was the cover that age provided—whether it was mischievous pranks or stubborn tantrums, they just seemed amusing.
But if an adult called you an idiot, you might roll up your sleeves for a fight.
If a grade-schooler called you an idiot, you’d probably just laugh and find it funny.
Age could be excellent cover for Yin Lin, which was why she still wore this “kid’s cloak” to this day.
Thinking she didn’t understand such complex matters, Jin Luan didn’t continue discussing forming a faction, but she still looked deeply preoccupied.
The two returned to the topic of Huang Yi. Jin Luan said today’s matter still required Huang Yi’s help and explained the benefits.
Yin Lin finally nodded in agreement.
After receiving Jin Luan’s message on his phone, Huang Yi, who had been sleeping, was awakened by a special notification tone.
Seeing the message, he immediately changed clothes and rushed to the Countermeasure Center to discuss the matter with the experts.
“Special materials imbued with mana? This is the first time we’ve discovered something like this.”
Huang Yi was shocked.
When the experts received the intelligence report, their hands trembled slightly, clearly understanding the importance of this matter even more than Yin Lin did.
While the many experts were discussing, Huang Yi found the Sociology Expert and asked for his opinion.
“What do I think?”
The Sociology Expert said, sipping coffee to stay awake.
“I think some mysterious scientist is studying the mysteries of Earth, trying to build some kind of sci-fi device to become the ruler of the world…”
Listening was the same as not listening; asking was worse than not asking. This person always managed to spout a bunch of nonsense.
The experts discussed for ten minutes. While there were many disagreements, they also reached a consensus—agreeing with a certain view of “Intelligence Operative B”: prioritize protecting the crew.
They then discussed for another half hour, formulating a specific action plan before contacting the Acting Person-in-Charge.
Hearing that his subordinates had already obtained crucial intelligence and even prepared an action plan, the Acting Person-in-Charge was furious.
As the temporary person in charge here, he felt like a mere figurehead. He hadn’t participated in the discussion and now only needed to sign off.
He gritted his teeth and signed, unable to find any fault to pick.
The Maritime Administration received orders from above: they were to cooperate with the Eastern Alliance today to install a batch of equipment. To ensure safety, the docks needed to be inspected first.
The reasoning was sound. It was essentially about installing sensors. Everyone had heard rumors about it; the action just came a bit suddenly.
The operation began a few hours later.
The plotline of “accidentally detecting mana signatures on the ‘Hotpot’ during the installation process” was triggered in the evening.
Most developments proceeded according to Huang Yi and the experts’ arrangements.
There was just one small detail—
The sensors capable of detecting mana only gave readings at very close range, about two meters.
The aura from that batch of magical materials was extremely faint, difficult for even the new sensors to capture.
Therefore, the Maritime Administration and the Eastern Alliance even filmed a news segment, deliberately staging a scene: pretending to “accidentally” discover these magical materials during the sensor installation process.
This served to promote the new equipment, boast about their achievements, and protect the crew of the “Hotpot.”
This time, Huang Yi didn’t set up the “Hotpot” crew, nor did he set up Jin Luan and Yin Lin.
He honestly went with the straightforward approach of flushing out the snake, not using them as bait to catch the mastermind behind it all. It could be considered a rare moment of conscience for him.
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