On the way to Song City, Yang Nini saw many sights rarely seen in Wudong Town: dense forests covered with snow, towering mountain ranges stretching into the clouds, and desolate abandoned towns.
They walked along broken roads, while the strange beasts carrying their supplies followed closely behind. This was the first time Yang Nini had been so close to these beasts.
She was curious—after all, no book had ever described these mysterious creatures.
If it weren’t for the fact that they could harm people, Yang Nini would have loved to get a closer look at these enigmatic visitors from another dimension.
With Qixing’s permission, Yang Nini was allowed to approach and touch them.
Running her fingers along their hard shells, she felt a chilling coldness, like stroking metal.
Yang Nini sensed she was touching a terrifying weapon—no wonder these beasts had caused such great casualties among humans… Luckily, now this weapon was being used by humans.
“What do you think of them?” Qixing asked Yang Nini.
“They’re scary… but also powerful. I can’t believe these beasts were once enemies, and now they’ve become helpers. How did you manage that?”
“We use a medium called ‘dreams.’ Through it, we magical girls can access their thoughts and modify or control them,” Qixing explained briefly.
“So that means we don’t have to fight the beasts anymore?”
“Not exactly. There are exceptions. The stronger the beast, the stronger the magical girl needed to bind it. For example, we can’t control the massive beast named Chiyou that attacked our country. But we do have ways to drive it away so it no longer harms those of us left.”
“What about other places… beyond the northeast?”
Yang Nini voiced the question that had long troubled her.
“We don’t know. Maybe our compatriots inland face similar situations. After all, the beasts are incredibly powerful. Without magical girls’ help, conventional weapons are almost useless,” Qixing answered. But this answer was too bleak for Yang Nini.
“I don’t want it to be like that… that would be too lonely… I hope that one day I can leave the northeast, go inland, see our other compatriots, and find out if they really defeated the beasts, if their lands that haven’t fallen look like the beautiful scenes in books.”
Yang Nini gazed toward the distant mountain ranges.
In her imagination, behind those mountains lay the warm south, where countless kind people welcomed her, where no one schemed in the apocalypse, and no one struggled just to survive the harsh cold.
“The truth may not be what you hope for, Yang Nini. Sometimes it’s best not to have too many illusions.”
“I understand.”
Walking through this black-and-white ruined world, there wasn’t a single smooth patch of ground.
Weathered pillars stood alone among weeds and rubble, bearing the marks of time. Building ruins resembled black skeletons, gnawed and swallowed by ice and snow.
“Is this the surface of Song City? It’s different from other abandoned towns. Almost no buildings remain intact. The entire city looks like it was destroyed by a massive explosion,” Yang Nini wondered.
“That was a magical cannon fired by the beasts, detonated in the sky over this city—roughly at its center. The closer you get to the blast site, the more merciless the destruction. I’ve been as close as possible to the epicenter; it’s just a flat plain, barren of any grass,” Qixing said expressionlessly.
Yang Nini felt sympathy for the city’s fate. Seeing Qixing’s cold expression, she guessed that perhaps Qixing’s tragic past was connected to this city’s disaster.
“So, Qixing senior, did you experience that catastrophe firsthand?”
“Yes. My relatives and family all died on the surface. I was the lucky one who survived by a thread. I even had a boyfriend once—a soldier. He died too because he consumed something radioactive outside.”
Hearing Qixing’s story, Yang Nini couldn’t help but pity her. She asked, “Qixing senior, how old are you this year?”
“About twenty-five. Don’t be fooled by this body that looks like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old. You could even call me auntie,” Qixing said with a rare smile.
The two passed a nearly intact telephone booth. The frosted glass bore the English word: “TELEPHONE.” Yang Nini had seen this word in English books before, but this was her first time seeing a phone booth.
She wanted to get closer to see the telephone inside, but it had long since been removed.
Looking at the advertisement posters inside the booth, Yang Nini asked, “Did you live before the beast invasion? What was life like then?”
“Back then, I was about your age. My parents were workers at a textile factory, and I lived in the Factory Dormitory. Even the kindergarten I attended was run by the factory.”
“Oh, there was a kindergarten back then, though you never went to one. Looking back, it was quite a large factory. It had everything. I especially loved going to the Cultural Palace. There was a library inside and even movies to watch…”
A magical girl interrupted Qixing’s story: “Captain, we’re entering a danger zone.”
“Oh, sorry, I got distracted. Everyone, put on your Gas Masks. Here, Yang Nini, take this.” Qixing handed Yang Nini a small Gas Mask and helped her put it on.
“Anyway, that was a wonderful time. Unfortunately, the beasts came not long after. Sigh, back then my parents volunteered to join the Civil Defense Organization. They organized defensive lines right in the factory, building Street Barricades…”
Turning a corner, between two ruined buildings, a low wall composed of various debris appeared. A toppled Unrailed Tram formed the main structure of this barricade.
“See, this is a typical Street Barricade. With these, we could ambush the beasts on the streets, though the effect wasn’t great. Under the piled snow, you could probably still dig up some corpses.”
“To resist the beasts, everyone was mobilized. I helped with some rear defensive work too.”
“If it weren’t for that explosion in the city center—I’ve heard from adults that maybe we could have delayed the beasts for several more months, waiting for reinforcements to arrive—if only Song City hadn’t fallen, we might have saved millions of lives in the northeast…”
Listening to Qixing’s words and looking at the ruins around her, Yang Nini imagined that dark past.
Warriors forged their defenses with flesh and blood, resisting the beasts’ steel rams that came wave after wave like a tidal surge.
Bullets and cannons were barely enough to hold them back… She had heard from survivors in Wudong Town that the survival rate of frontline soldiers during beast surges was almost zero.
She felt deep gratitude for those soldiers who defended their homes at the apocalypse’s arrival. Without them, she might never have been born. If only humanity could be stronger…
“But history has no ‘if,’” Qixing sighed, shaking her head.
“Well, Yang Nini, I accidentally talked your ear off. I don’t usually say this much. We’re almost there; get ready.” Qixing took Yang Nini’s hand.
At their touch, the previous distance between them vanished completely—Yang Nini realized Qixing was not a cold executioner but a living, breathing person like herself.
Though some doubts and confusion remained, Yang Nini found that she might have unconsciously fallen for her, fallen for a genuine magical girl, her idol.
“Got it, Sister Qixing.”
After saying this, Yang Nini blushed, but Qixing couldn’t see her face behind the Gas Mask.
Usually, it was Han Yu—who was younger than her—who called her “sister.” Today was the first time she called someone else that, feeling a bit shy.
But since she was only about ten years old, she thought it was natural and overcame her embarrassment.
“Hmph, I thought you’d call me auntie,” Qixing teased.
***
“Dear listeners, workers currently on duty, patrolling magical girls, and soldiers in training, good afternoon—welcome to the radio station ‘Today’s Song City.’”
“I’m your host, Chen Tianming. Today is Sunday, September 21, 2008. We have a special guest with us, a Russian magical girl originally from the Chinese-Russian Border.”
“She fled south due to the beast invasion and finally arrived in our Song City. She can be considered a foreign friend who also speaks fluent Chinese. Let’s hear her self-introduction…”
“Friends of Huaguo, 3ApactByte! (Hello), my name is Anna Ivanova, from a small village on the Chinese-Russian Border. As the host mentioned, my family was forced to flee to Huaguo due to the Siberian beast invasion and eventually reached Song City.”
“I am very grateful that you accepted a refugee with nothing. I am also thankful to my magical girl predecessor Yandong, now the Governor appointed by the Witch Committee. Here, I would like to express my highest respect to her…”
***
Yang Nini walked along the spacious streets of the Subterranean City. Few people were visible; perhaps most were working inside the buildings glowing with light.
Not only that, but buildings extended from the columns themselves, and some black-smoke-emitting trains ran along bridges in the air.
Compared to Wudong Town, this place was like night and day. Yang Nini marveled at the vast underground space—it was practically a small world.
Seeing Yang Nini’s shocked expression, Qixing smiled, “Everyone who enters here for the first time shows the same look.”
“How many people live here?”
“No official count yet, but with such a huge space, maybe over a hundred thousand. Song City is still expanding underground, so it will accommodate even more in the future.”
“Amazing…”
High above, between giant pillars where light scarcely reached, a squad of magical girls waited secretly.
“Boss, that train—number 23—carries our target.”
“No need to tell me. Report on the guards?”
“Mostly ordinary people. The train has five cars: two in the middle are freight cars carrying the target cargo. The other three cars are all guards. I counted roughly fifty, all equipped with lethal firearms.”
“There are also three medium-level magical girls. With our strength, it will take some time to deal with them.”
“This time, no survivors. The Military Committee is planning to wipe us out. We must act swiftly—let’s plan the operation…”