Today, Jinluan was unusually quiet, her wolfish nature noticeably subdued.
She seemed almost like a normal, ordinary friend.
Little did anyone know that Jinluan was digging her nails into her flesh, struggling to keep herself restrained.
It had been a long time since she last saw Yinlin.
These past few days, whether in class, eating, or even sleeping, that face kept appearing in her mind—no matter what, she couldn’t shake it off.
That image hadn’t faded with time; instead, it grew clearer.
Jinluan calmly spoke to her, “About Diamond, I’m really sorry. There’s only so much we can do.”
Yinlin snapped back with some aggression, “You don’t know anything, do you? Offering such blind comfort—aren’t you afraid of saying the wrong thing?”
This was the first time Jinluan saw Yinlin so calm yet prickly, almost like she was covered in thorns.
It was even harder to communicate with her than when she was in her petty little brat form.
But this version of Yinlin was also kind of cute.
Small, prickly, and cold.
Jinluan patiently asked about Diamond, “Then just tell me—what exactly happened with Diamond?”
Yinlin collected her thoughts and began to explain.
That little one had been injured by a Genesis Artifact.
She didn’t know the exact details of the injury, but the first time she saw Diamond, the wounds were already critical—only about a month left to live.
It was also at that time that Diamond was encountered and became the last magical girl to sign a contract with her.
Yinlin recounted these past events slowly, all the way to the final battle with Lightning Man.
She still hid some things—especially about the Contract Goddess.
She felt their relationship was just coworkers, not close enough to share such top-secret information.
Jinluan didn’t pick up on the concealment and assumed the info about the Genesis Artifact came from Diamond.
She didn’t realize the intelligence was actually passed from Diamond to Yinlin, and Yinlin heard it from the Contract Goddess herself.
Before, she hadn’t understood why the Contract Goddess looked down on others like a snob—keeping the Genesis Artifact secret from both Diamond and the other magical girls.
Now she understood.
Yinlin’s mission wasn’t some trivial matter of fighting low-level aberrations.
The Contract Goddess operated with the mindset of a corporate manager, classifying Yinlin as part of the company’s board of directors, involved in major operational decisions.
Contract beasts were middle management—no need to tell them company secrets, only company policies.
For ordinary magical girls, they just needed to handle basic tasks: fighting aberrations and maintaining human city stability.
Among them were elite workers, like Song Wuli, who could be trained for special or difficult tasks.
That was the cultivation of Elite Magical Girls, meant to fight high-level aberrations and executive-class aberrations.
This was the Contract Goddess’s thinking—a capitalistic magical girl chairman.
Yinlin found the Contract Goddess both familiar and strange.
Right now, she resisted her and didn’t want to accept her.
But she had to admit some of the goddess’s ideas made sense—putting the right person in the right job.
A magical girl like Jinluan, who was only moderately above average, didn’t need to know too much.
She could just be a simple magical girl, punching little monsters in the city every day.
Though these ordinary magical girls lacked ability, the city couldn’t do without them.
It was the first time Yinlin had revealed so much information to someone else, and Jinluan took some time to digest it.
The most important part was the Genesis Artifact.
She had heard a little about it before, but this time she got a much clearer explanation.
“So, you’re still going to keep collecting the Immortal Orbs? Lightning Man didn’t have any, right?” Jinluan realized the real reason Yinlin was back wasn’t for her or Huanhong, but because of the Genesis Artifact.
Yinlin nodded.
She wasn’t gathering those things to fulfill a bet, but driven by imminent pressure.
Killing a suddenly reckless Lightning Man had been so difficult, nearly resulting in total annihilation.
If Lightning Man had carried an Immortal Orb—a Genesis Artifact—he could have single-handedly slaughtered a city.
The power of the Genesis Artifact, combined with the combat strength of executive-level aberrations, scared Yinlin.
She had thought humanity had enjoyed decades of peace and the cities were impregnable.
Magical girls fighting aberrations daily would be enough to maintain the status quo.
But now it seemed that wasn’t true.
The peaceful era was ending.
Something had broken the balance.
At this delicate moment, the aberration faction had grown extremely strong.
They talked for a long time, nearing dawn.
Jinluan suddenly said, “Remember to tell Huanhong. Though she usually seems indifferent to others, she’s really worried about you and’s been looking for you.”
Yinlin nodded.
“There’s one more thing I need to tell you.” Jinluan grew serious, no longer joking. “You’re still young, and I didn’t want to tell you some things. But I’ll ask anyway—have you heard of the faction called the Witch Party in the Human Alliance?”
Yinlin nodded again. “I know.”
It wasn’t a secret—most people knew about it.
Within the Human Alliance, some officials who were close to magical girls were called the Witch Party.
Jinluan continued, “Someone from the Witch Party in the Human Alliance contacted me. They want to meet with us magical girls to discuss something important. Are you going?”
“I’ll go,” Yinlin decided after a moment of thought.
This wasn’t simple; it involved politics.
Jinluan didn’t realize Yinlin was thinking so deeply—political considerations were usually for adults.
Jinluan was somewhat precocious and had some political exposure due to her family.
At Yinlin’s age, she shouldn’t be dealing with politics yet—maybe just political paranoia.
“I’ll go.” Yinlin’s real thought was to protect Jinluan, to prevent her from being used as a pawn by the Human Alliance.
The meeting was set for tomorrow afternoon.
Not ideal, since Old Song would be at the company then.
Seeing Yinlin’s troubled expression, Jinluan offered to reschedule.
They finally changed the meeting to evening.
On the way home, flying through the air, Yinlin took out her silver phone and snapped a selfie, then sent it to the Three Sisters Group.
Huanhong replied within seconds, “You’re still alive?”
Yinlin smiled and sent back a thumbs-up emoji.
A few girls, without much ill intent, had returned to the normal circle of magical girl life.
The group chat became lively again, sharing flash sale info from Pinduoduo or funny videos from Douyin.
The next day, Song Wuli went back to work after a week away, missing the company somewhat.
As soon as he entered, he sensed something off about the atmosphere.
A young colleague was playing on his phone by the roadside, not noticing Song passing by.
Old Song glanced at the guy’s screen.
The group chat title caught his eye: Defeat the Strikebreaker Song Wuli.