The day after tomorrow.
Luo Zhizhou sat in front of the makeup table, waiting for quite some time.
He was inside a nondescript van, the black opaque windows preventing him from seeing outside.
For this mission, he only carried a specially modified signal transmitter—it had just one button.
Once pressed, Lin Xing, who was on standby, would immediately teleport her Magical Core to his side. However, Lin Xing was unaware of the specifics of this secret mission.
Someone got on the van, and Luo Zhizhou felt the vehicle shake.
Turning his head, he saw a masked person open the door and step inside.
“Uh… who are you?”
Ma Xinyin took off her mask and said, “Don’t recognize me anymore?”
“Old hag? Why all the secrecy?”
“Shut up. I’m here to personally disguise you. You’re a very high-ranking important figure. I had to apply to my superiors to get you male’s real body assigned, so I had to put in a lot of effort. From now on, any of your actions will rely on my direct help.”
“That’s really touching.”
“Our Intelligence Bureau has quite a few informants in the Old City District. Just follow my instructions and find the informant.” Ma Xinyin handed him a list.
“Here are the informants’ appearances, names, and locations.”
She unfolded a paper map on the makeup table.
“Neither our Magic Control Bureau nor the Intelligence Bureau wants to alert the enemy. Considering the threat posed by hidden Magical Girl enemies, our Intelligence personnel only dare to scout around the outskirts and gather intel.”
“A bunch of cowards.”
“Heh, you’re the bravest. To fight Magical Girls, you need a Magical Girl, so you’re the one we’re sending.”
“I think the chance of this mission being exposed from the start is pretty high…”
“Stop jinxing it. Look here—you enter from this spot. We’ll have plainclothes cover you, but once you reach the critical line, you’re on your own.”
“Got it.”
“Then let’s start the disguise. My makeup skills aren’t bad. Look into the mirror.”
Ma Xinyin pulled out her disguise tools.
***
After a while, Luo Zhizhou looked at his reflection in the mirror—his face covered with a fake beard.
“If your disguise technique is just sticking on fake beards, I can do that too. Why did you have to come personally?”
“Shut up. There’s an art to sticking these on.”
Ma Xinyin opened the makeup box and applied a grayish-black foundation on Luo Zhizhou’s face. Then she took out an eyebrow pencil and reshaped his eyebrows.
Finally, she put on a messy wig.
After a long time, Ma Xinyin was satisfied.
The final result left Luo Zhizhou speechless—he looked exactly like a sleazy homeless man sitting in front of the makeup table…
“How’s it? Do you still recognize yourself?”
“Honestly, no. I don’t look this sleazy.”
“That’s good. Take off your current clothes and put this on.”
Ma Xinyin took out a worn, yellowed, tattered outfit.
Luo Zhizhou didn’t mind the dirt and quickly put it on before walking back to the mirror.
“Oh ho ho, quite exaggerated,” Luo Zhizhou made a funny face.
“All done. Get ready and go execute the mission.”
Luo Zhizhou stepped out of the van, facing a filthy, chaotic alley—perfectly matching the Old City District’s style.
He walked out of the alley onto a crowded street.
It was hard to imagine such a modern metropolis had this kind of urban village.
Low old residential buildings crouched in front of the tall skyscrapers appearing far along the street.
The street was bustling with cars, electric bikes, motorcycles, and pedestrians all sharing a mere five-meter-wide lane.
Beep beep! Car horns blared nonstop. Luo Zhizhou had to cover his ears, looking left and right before quickly crossing the street.
No crosswalks, no traffic lights—the street was just extra space between two rows of houses.
As the saying goes, “There was no path originally; it becomes a path when people walk on it”—that’s how the Old City District was planned. It was too old, long ignored.”
“Due to traffic jams, the Municipal Bureau couldn’t manage it well. It wasn’t just dirty and chaotic; public safety was poor too. Pickpocketing was the least of the worries. No gang fights would be a blessing. To put it bluntly, this was a slum.
Luo Zhizhou left the main street and entered another alley. Though dim, the alley still had quite a few people because some houses opened right onto it.
He looked up to see tangled electrical wires overhead, but hardly any surveillance cameras. The lighting was dim.
He could only be thankful he looked like a beggar now; otherwise, someone might have beaten him from behind and robbed him.
Luckily, a few plainclothes agents were secretly guiding him nearby.
The deeper into the Old City District, the stronger the stench of rotting garbage.
He turned his head and saw several beggars dressed like him rummaging through trash heaps. Luo Zhizhou thought to himself how fortunate he was not to be one of them…
The designated meeting point was a barbershop.
Inside, a few lively young men were dyeing their hair.
But Luo Zhizhou didn’t see the informant.
“Hey! Homeless man, do you have money to get a haircut? Beat it!”
A man who looked like a barber said to Luo Zhizhou.
The others laughed at him.
Luo Zhizhou was at a loss. He looked around but didn’t see the person he was supposed to meet.
Just as he was about to give up lingering there, someone emerged from a room, saw Luo Zhizhou, and motioned him inside.
This room actually connected to a basement. Inside the basement was almost exactly as Luo Zhizhou imagined—various high-tech instruments displayed, monitoring every corner of the Old City District.
“Mr. Luo Zhizhou.”
The man spoke.
He actually recognized Luo Zhizhou. Luo Zhizhou was incredulous.
“Uh… you know me?”
“Yes, I’m a senior member of the Intelligence Bureau. Of course, I’d know someone like you. We’ve been planning this operation for a long time.”
“So, you found out about the enemy early on?”
“Yes, but the Magic Control Bureau discovered it too, so secrecy was pointless. Therefore, the Intelligence Bureau shared what we knew. Our enemy is an A-Class Magical Girl.”
Luo Zhizhou was curious and asked, “Do you have more information about her?”
The man shook his head. “Sorry, no. The enemy’s counter-surveillance awareness is very strong. Several of our people have already fallen to her.”
“What we currently know is that her residence might be in this area shown on the map, but we can’t pinpoint it accurately.”
“This place has dense population flow and poor management—virtually a no-man’s land. It hasn’t improved for many years.”
“What’s my mission?”
“We have several highly suspicious targets you need to personally verify and investigate, to find any suspicious points. Here, here, and here.”
He pointed to three locations.
“The enemy knows the movements of some of our Intelligence Bureau personnel. I suspect there’s a mole in our bureau, so our people can’t investigate directly.”
“On the other hand, we’re also wary of the enemy’s magical power—that’s why we need special means. That’s you, Mr. Luo Zhizhou. No matter what, you won’t betray us.”
“I understand.”
“The rest of the journey depends on you. The enemy has anti-communication technology, so we can’t communicate remotely. If danger arises, please use your magic power.”
It seemed he was unaware of anything related to the Dream Realm.