Chapter 55: Dangerous Thoughts

After a quick glance at the mission brief, Su Ziling couldn’t help but sigh.

She really was born to toil. She hadn’t even taken care of her family properly yet, and now she had to take over her sister’s job.

“Big bro, I’m counting on you.”

Su Xiaomeng clasped her hands together.

“Once this mission is done, I’ll meet my monthly performance target, so you shouldn’t need to take any more missions after this, big bro…” Halfway through, Su Xiaomeng seemed to think of something and added, “But big bro, you can still earn extra money if you want.”

“I have enough money for now.”

Thanks to Lin Yizhou providing a month’s worth of meal money, plus the earnings from her recent part-time job, Su Ziling’s funds weren’t too tight at the moment.

“Give me your Transformation Device.”

Su Ziling held out her hand, and Su Xiaomeng, understanding tacitly, handed over the device and said again.

“Thanks for your hard work, big bro. I’ll treat you to Kentucky Fried Chicken when you get back.”

“I don’t like that stuff. I’d be happy if you just recover well and stay up less.”

“Hehe… love you, big bro~”

Su Xiaomeng blew a kiss from the bed, but Su Ziling swatted it to the ground with a slap.

“So heartless, big bro!” Su Xiaomeng said in disbelief. “Why are other people’s brothers all siscons, but mine is just a big popsicle… oh right, no stick.”

“You should read less sibling comics.”

After a speechless retort, Su Ziling picked up the other’s Transformation Device and left the bedroom.

Back in the living room, she found Su Lili had already cleared the dishes and was putting on shoes, looking ready to go out.

“Are you going to see your dad?”

“Yeah!”

It was clear that Su Lili really liked Lin Yizhou, even more than she liked Su Ziling.

The notion that a daughter favors her father is indeed true.

Su Ziling sighed inwardly, but she knew that even if she asked Su Lili to stay home, she’d have nothing to do and would get restless and run out anyway. So rather than that, it was better to just let her go find Lin Yizhou. That guy might be the Legendary Lightning-Resistant King, but Su Ziling trusted his character.

Even so, Su Ziling still remembered to add a reminder.

“Make sure you come back before evening. Better yet, have your dad walk you back.”

“Mm-hmm! Then, Mom, I’m heading out!”

Su Lili nodded obediently and sensibly, then ran out, leaving only the sound of fading footsteps.

After Su Lili left, Su Ziling checked the time and felt it was about time for her to get moving. If she kept delaying, she probably wouldn’t even catch the fire-starting monster.

After a while, Su Ziling also left home. She found an unnoticed corner and placed her hand on the Transformation Device’s gem. With a flash of light, the short-haired androgynous girl disappeared, leaving only a Magical Girl in a black-and-gold scheme, slightly shorter.

“Sigh… no matter how many times, I can’t get used to this perspective.”

Su Ziling smoothed her hair and sighed.

“And this hair is too long, not convenient for fighting at all. What’s the point of all these flashy decorations? They just add attack speed and critical hit to the defeat CG.”

Complaints aside, Su Ziling still rose into the air and flew toward the target location.

The fire was at a residential building. According to the mission brief, a Flame Monster covered in fire had been committing a home invasion robbery and accidentally ignited the furniture, causing the entire apartment building to blaze. The fire was still being brought under control, and her mission was to find that Flame Monster and prevent it from causing more chaos.

The incident location wasn’t far from where Su Ziling lived. When she arrived, she noticed many firefighters busy at work. The rescue of trapped people was mostly complete; they were now in the phase of containing and extinguishing the fire. But because the whole building was on fire, the situation was far more severe than Su Ziling had imagined.

Looking at the wounded crying out on the ground and the lifeless bodies, her expression turned especially grim. While it was true that some Magical Girls could use Water Magic, unfortunately, Su Ziling could not spray water. So she was powerless against the fierce fire. Putting out the fire was best left to professionals like the firefighters. Her task was to find and capture the fleeing Flame Monster as soon as possible.

Su Ziling levitated her Magic Wand in front of her chest, amplifying her perception dozens of times, and finally caught the monster’s scent in the air, and… a Magical Girl? And this scent was not far from her.

Following the perception, Su Ziling saw Pei Keke sitting on a park bench. She had already transformed into a Magical Girl, her Magic Wand resting on her thighs, hands pressing down on it, face full of gloom, as if something had happened.

Since the monster’s scent was rather faint, Su Ziling landed in front of Pei Keke to look for clues.

“Have you seen a monster covered in flames?”

“Ah… ah?” Hearing Su Ziling’s voice, Pei Keke snapped back to reality. “It ran that way. I… can’t defeat it.”

Seeing the other’s gloomy demeanor, Su Ziling thought for a moment, then said.

“Are you sad?”

“Ah… yeah.” Pei Keke said in a low voice. “So many people died.”

Of course, that wasn’t the real reason. Lin Yizhou’s words had hit her too hard, so she was sitting here questioning her life. Pei Keke was pondering her own “value.” She had come here because she heard there was a monster and wanted to replicate her previous success to show her righteous image. But after sensing that the Flame Monster’s strength far exceeded her own, she… chickened out. She chose to escape, hiding in this park, afraid to face the Flame Monster.

“I couldn’t stop it.”

To that, Su Ziling actually understood. No one forced Pei Keke to face an enemy she couldn’t defeat on her own. So Su Ziling didn’t blame her. Instead, she comforted her like an elder.

“It’s okay. I’ll go after it. You go check the fire scene over there and see if there’s anything you can help with.”

Following Su Ziling’s pointing, Pei Keke saw the disastrous fire scene. She stared blankly at the firefighters going in and out of the fire and the wounded on the ground, stunned for a long time.

‘That’s right…’

Although she couldn’t defeat the monster, rescuing people from a fire was not difficult for her abilities. And it could indeed break people’s doubts about her and earn more admiration and praise. But now the fire in that building was mostly out, in its final mop-up stage. There was no room for her to contribute.

And at that moment, a terrifying and dangerous thought suddenly arose in Pei Keke’s mind.

‘How about… starting a man-made fire?’