Chapter 280: Who Brings a Coach Along on a Mission?

After receiving the Director’s permission, they immediately began their operations.

After obtaining intelligence from Yin Lin, Huang Yi clearly had a pre-existing plan.

Now all he needed was authorization to begin deployment.

As Yin Lin and her companions flew high above, looking down at the city below, long convoys of military vehicles had already formed in the streets.

Yin Lin witnessed the power of the authorities firsthand.

Traffic was under control.

Only military vehicles were allowed to pass.

A small number of military vehicles headed toward the city center, apparently to defend it.

The rest went elsewhere.

At that moment, Jin Luan spoke with a feigned profundity:

“The defensive force in the city center is a decoy. Something’s wrong with the Eastern Alliance. They intend to make us the main defensive force and have us hold the city center.”

Huan Hong asked,

“How do you know?”

Jin Luan didn’t answer.

She continued in that profound tone:

“Making such a big commotion and implementing traffic control—that’s clearly meant to be seen. It’s all for show. The real danger should be where it’s not visible: either the suburbs or underground.”

“The industrial district is underground. I suspect that’s what the Alliance truly wants to protect.”

Huan Hong grew more astonished.

“No way, sister. Since when did you become so smart?”

Jin Luan still didn’t explain.

She kept talking like an NPC speaking to herself.

“If we also show up in the city center, we can make the spectacle even bigger. It will further broadcast the message that we’re defending the city center.”

“That will make the enemy cautious and steer them toward attacking other areas.”

Yin Lin had only known Jin Luan for a few months.

They hadn’t reached the point of “deep intimacy,” but they understood each other fairly well.

Jin Luan did have a bit of cleverness.

But her current performance was far too smart.

Jin Luan’s intelligence level was, in theory, only slightly above average.

“Are you really Jin Luan?”

Yin Lin felt something was off about Jin Luan today.

Whether in the dungeon or now, she wasn’t acting like herself.

Yin Lin couldn’t help but interrupt her.

Huan Hong quickly nodded in agreement.

“I find it strange too. Jin Luan, you’ve been off these past few days.”

Jin Luan blinked.

“What’s the matter? Can’t I be a little smarter? Am I usually not smart?”

Yin Lin shook her head.

“Not this smart.”

Huan Hong chimed in,

“We’ve known each other for so long, and I’ve never seen you this clever.”

Jin Luan sighed, as if deep in thought.

Faced with two pairs of eyes staring intently at her, she finally confessed.

“Fine, fine. I’ll talk.”

“The thing is, I know another Magical Girl. She’s the one giving me advice.”

Jin Luan raised her phone.

Oh, I see.

No wonder Jin Luan with a signal and Jin Luan without a signal were so different.

She had a coach controlling her remotely.

“Who is it? Who’s the woman behind you?”

Yin Lin pressed immediately.

Jin Luan quickly explained.

“The Magical Girl from that city in the southwest—Wan Zi.”

They had heard that name before.

Occasionally, it appeared on TV or in social media profiles.

The southwest region was somewhat special.

It used to border several countries, near the frontier.

After the Human Alliance formed, national boundaries gradually weakened, but that area remained unique.

People crossing borders for refuge happened from time to time.

Various good and bad news often broke out there.

As for the Magical Girl Wan Zi, she was said to often leave her city and travel around.

She appeared in other Southeast Asian cities frequently.

She was a Magical Girl who loved to fly.

In every photo of her that surfaced, she was almost always airborne.

No one had ever seen a picture of her on the ground.

“When did you meet her?”

Huan Hong’s gossip soul was burning fiercely.

The three sisters had slowly flown near the city center by now, chatting while patrolling at high altitude.

Jin Luan explained.

“After the Ganlong Island incident, she approached me on her own.”

“She said we should support each other, keep in touch, so we could look out for one another in the future.”

Huan Hong exclaimed.

“Wow! Why did she come to you and not me?”

But Yin Lin caught a key word.

Allies.

Things probably weren’t that simple.

Hadn’t Jin Luan had dangerous ideas before?

She’d even talked about building her own faction.

Oh no.

Were Jin Luan and Wan Zi really planning something big?

Yin Lin felt a bit scared.

She thought about the current state of the world.

The Human Alliance was the largest organization on Earth.

In a sense, it was like a global parliament or cabinet.

Their goal was simple.

Protect humanity.

Just four words, yet they felt incredibly heavy on modern Earth.

It was something many people had to risk their lives to achieve.

Countless lives had been devoted to this cause.

The Human Alliance had to guard against both Demonic Creatures and Magical Girls.

They feared Magical Girls forming factions.

And in fact, some Magical Girls had already established the foundations of their own forces.

Not every city treated Magical Girls with the relatively neutral stance Yiri City did.

Although Yiri City had issued a wanted order to arrest Magical Girls, it wasn’t enforced seriously.

Everyone in Yiri City understood.

The ones protecting the city were the Magical Girls.

They still needed these Magical Girls to continue guarding the city, so they couldn’t easily arrest them.

But the specially dispatched Defeated Team didn’t care about that.

They genuinely tried to capture Yin Lin and had almost succeeded.

The Defeated Team’s approach was what most human cities did.

Magical Girls had to hide their identities.

They had to guard against humans while fighting Demonic Creatures.

You ask why Magical Girls don’t resist?

Why don’t they flip the table?

In fact, some did.

When Magical Girls began to resist, some failed, and some succeeded.

A classic example of success was Tokyo City.

It was known as a Magical Girl autonomous zone.

In Tokyo City, Magical Girls could rule the roost.

Even if they went shopping in pajamas with empty hands, they wouldn’t be arrested, let alone fear for their lives.

Because that city was already controlled by Magical Girls.

They had become the de facto rulers of the region.

The Human Alliance not only couldn’t go to war with them, but also had to maintain normal trade.

Precisely because of such successful examples, the Human Alliance became even more vigilant about Magical Girls forming factions.

As a key transportation hub, Yiri City must never fall into the hands of Magical Girls.

If Jin Luan really intended to build her own faction, the resistance she would face would be far greater than what Tokyo City encountered back then.

And now she had established contact with Wan Zi.

That was not a good sign.

It completely looked like she was gearing up for something big.

“Yin Lin, what do you think? Yin Lin?”

“Huh? What?”

Suddenly tapped on the shoulder by Jin Luan, Yin Lin snapped back to reality.

Jin Luan had to repeat herself.

“I just said that Wan Zi wants your contact info. Do you want to get in touch with her?”

Yin Lin understood immediately.

Everything made sense now.

She recalled her previous work experience.

Back then, Huang Yijun was still a Group Leader.

If someone wanted to curry favor with Huang Yijun, they would first cozy up to his good buddies Qian Dehao or Song Wuli.

They used those two as stepping stones to reach Huang Yijun.

Wasn’t this exactly the same situation?

The Magical Girl Wan Zi kept in touch with Jin Luan on the surface, maintaining a friendly, mutually supportive relationship.

Even if her initial intention was truly to befriend Jin Luan,

now her real target was probably no longer Jin Luan.

It was Yin Lin, the one known as the “Magical Girl Output Ceiling.”