“Where was Letian Workshop again?”
Luo Zhizhou opened a simple map and followed the marks on it.
He walked out of the dense residential area and arrived at an abandoned industrial zone.
There were many old factory sites here, along with a large vacant lot that locals had converted into parking spaces or vegetable plots.
“Hey! You there, beggar! Want a job?”
Passing by a van, Luo Zhizhou heard a bald man wearing sunglasses open the window and call out to him.
Luo Zhizhou stopped and asked, “What job? Is it legal? What’s the monthly salary? Does it include social insurance and housing fund? How many days off per month?”
His rapid-fire questions left the bald man dumbfounded.
“What’s this? A beggar asking all these questions? You should be grateful if I give you something to eat. One word—are you in or not?”
“This doesn’t sound like a proper job. If the pay isn’t good, no one’s going to take it.”
“Heh.” The bald man glanced behind him and signaled with his eyes. A group of five or six burly men climbed down from the van.
“Human trafficking, huh? I warn you, there are cameras here!” Luo Zhizhou immediately stepped back. There was no way he could fight a group of burly men his size.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Heh, this area’s under my control.” The bald man sneered.
One word flashed through Luo Zhizhou’s mind—run!
Back in the military, Luo Zhizhou’s sprinting ability was excellent, thanks to daily workouts—his 100-meter dash was around 13 seconds.
Although the men behind him looked physically strong, they couldn’t keep up after a few hundred meters.
“You punk! If you’ve got guts, don’t run!”
Their voices grew distant as Luo Zhizhou hid in a building and successfully escaped.
“This world nowadays… sigh, human traffickers come out in broad daylight.”
Leaning against the wall to catch his breath, Luo Zhizhou glanced around and saw that the Letian Workshop was right in front of him.
“What luck… a blessing in disguise.”
After resting, Luo Zhizhou pulled out the Anomaly Index Meter and began scanning.
“Hm… ten points? Interesting.”
He circled the workshop, noticing the meter consistently stayed around ten points. Moving further away caused the readings to drop, indicating the anomaly was inside the workshop.
The building called Letian Workshop was clearly abandoned, like the other factory ruins around.
It looked like a small wood-processing shop, with many wood scraps scattered on the ground and rusted saw teeth on the workbench.
Luo Zhizhou stared into the darkness inside, unwilling to enter, fearing an ambush.
“No matter how you look at it, this has to be a trap…”
Soon, he got his answer.
“Indeed, sweet death awaits you~” a voice, unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, echoed.
“Who are you?”
A purple-haired girl appeared in the darkness—wearing a black trench coat outside and a tight mini-skirt underneath, though the trench coat concealed the details.
She wore a gas mask.
That must be the person Yuying mentioned.
“I am your enemy. Remember my name—Tianlang.”
Before he could react, she swiftly pulled a revolver from her trench coat and fired at Luo Zhizhou.
“You—”
Years of experience as a Magical Girl had honed Luo Zhizhou’s reflexes. The moment she reached for the gun, he dodged, and the high-caliber bullet slammed into the ground nearby, kicking up dirt.
The gunshot was deafening.
Her revolver was probably modified for enormous destructive power.
Luo Zhizhou quickly pressed a button; his Magical Core instantly materialized beside him, merging with him.
He swiftly completed his transformation.
As she finished, a hand grenade slipped to her feet. She kicked it away just in time—the grenade exploded midair, and the shrapnel grazed Porcelain Moon’s pristine face.
Fortunately, the magical shield blocked the lethal fragments. Otherwise, Porcelain Moon would have been killed by a simple fragmentation grenade.
Porcelain Moon counterattacked, conjuring several Explosive Spikes with a wave of her hand.
With a series of explosions, the entire workshop was leveled.
Tianlang flew up from the ruins, unscathed.
“Hahaha! That’s more like it! But let’s stop fighting for now and talk.” Tianlang said haughtily.
“I can’t trust you. What kind of meaning is it to pull a gun halfway through a conversation?” Porcelain Moon raised a transparent Crystalline Shield to prevent another sneak attack.
“I just wanted to provoke your Magical Girl transformation~ Haha, mission accomplished!”
Trapped…
The world seemed to freeze. The sky gradually shifted to an eerie purple, and the sun turned into a sinister eye, staring at Porcelain Moon.
“Only here, we can’t hurt each other and can talk properly.”
Tianlang landed, and the ground beneath turned into smooth stone tiles, spreading across the earth.
Two stone stools rose from the floor.
“Sit down, Porcelain Moon.”
“Looks like I have no choice. What do you want to say?” Porcelain Moon sat down with Tianlang.
“I want to ask—what do you think of Yuying?”
“You’ve been spying on me!?”
“Hahaha! You’re all fools. Did you know your plan was uncovered from the start? Want to infiltrate Viper’s territory? Then be ready for Viper’s ambush~”
“Yuying, is she your informant?”
“No. She’s just an ordinary, pitiable child—mother passed away, father seriously ill, forced to slave away like a donkey every day, unable to accompany her slowly fading father, destined for a tragic end.
“I helped her.”
“Heh heh… remember that saying? ‘You might save one person, one family, but you can’t save everyone.’ You can save one Yuying, but there will always be a second. With your own power, you can’t save them all.
Evil.
“How does this relate to you undermining social stability?”
“Don’t lie to yourself. Are you Porcelain Moon? Or Luo Zhizhou? I see through your entire past. I’m the person who knows you best in this world!”
“Knowing only my insignificant past doesn’t mean you understand me.”
Tianlang’s sharp eyes noticed Porcelain Moon gripping the stone stool’s handles tightly—she was clearly enraged.
“True, but from that ‘insignificant’ past, all I see is a cowardly fool who refuses to face reality and dares not resist.
“Maybe you are the true evil.”
“Hahaha, don’t joke around, Luo Zhizhou. Think about it—Bai Lingyi, who killed her?”
“No!!! You will not speak her name!”
Porcelain Moon stood up and grabbed Tianlang’s throat fiercely.
“Ha… that only proves your incompetence.”
Porcelain Moon glared at Tianlang’s gas mask—it was like a stone wall, emotionless.
“You were the one talking to me through the Dream Realm during the last Beast Extermination Operation, right?” Porcelain Moon said.
She released Tianlang, knowing rage wouldn’t help.
“Yes.”
“What’s your goal?”
“Revenge.”
“Against whom?”
“You know very well.”
“That’s pointless. Controlling aberrant beasts to attack innocents—this is what you stand for?”
“For a noble cause, sacrifices are inevitable—I suppose someone told you similar words before, didn’t they? Your sister, didn’t she hate you for it? ‘Necessary sacrifice,’ how noble! Hahaha!”
Tianlang’s laughter echoed through the silent space.
“Absurd.”
“Indeed. But even more absurd are fools like you, so what we do is justified.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You will, one day. How about a game? In the hills north of Jing’an City, there’s a cave with a secret Monster Nest. I want you to clear it out.”
“Why give me this information?”
“You look so angry; I owe you some compensation~ That’s all for the game. Goodbye!”
Tianlang vanished, the sky returned to a clear blue, and the sunset still cast its enchanting warm glow.
Around them, a line of Police Special Forces surrounded the scene, though it was unclear how much time had passed.
“Ma Xinyin, the mission has had unexpected progress.”
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