Jin Luan earnestly tried to play the role of a mature big sister and stepped forward to arrange the tactics.
To prevent that person from setting a trap to capture the magical girls, they decided to split up.
She planned to meet the person alone, while Yin Lin would observe from a distance.
Even though she had met that person many times, it was better to be cautious and have a plan.
Yin Lin agreed, praising Jin Luan’s idea as a good plan.
After Jin Luan left, Yin Lin found a high spot alone to train her abilities.
She was well aware of her weaknesses.
1: Fear of attacks that ignore magical shields;
2: Fear of heavy overkill damage;
3: Fear of fast-moving enemies.
There was a quick way to overcome the first two.
She recalled the awe-inspiring orbital cannon—it was one of the solutions.
So, she took off with her Power-Enhancing Baton, ascending steadily.
Breaking through the clouds, the closer she got to the top of the troposphere, the colder it became, and breathing grew more difficult.
At around 14 km above the ground, she could no longer endure it and had to lower her altitude.
This was nowhere near the height of an orbital cannon, and there was a risk of being hit by the sniping cannons of high-level aberrations, but those aberrations didn’t have the perception to lock onto targets below 14 km.
Besides, how could anyone lock onto enemies on the ground from such a high altitude?
Below were thick clouds blocking the view.
Yin Lin also couldn’t sense the magical power from Jin Luan’s magical girl uniform unless Jin Luan accumulated enough mana for it to be detectable.
How to solve these two problems?
How could she survive at 60 km above the ground and still aim at ground targets?
After much thought, she came up with a plan: carry an Oxygen Cylinder to breathe at high altitude.
Then wear a thick coat to resist the cold up there.
It was said that temperatures actually rose at even higher altitudes, making it warmer, but she wasn’t sure if that was true.
She couldn’t test this hypothesis yet.
Yin Lin tried another move—grabbing her baton with both hands, she entered free fall, charging mana mid-fall while aiming at a ground target, ready to fire.
The test proved it was doable.
For now, she couldn’t precisely shoot while flying, but she could roughly fire during free fall.
It seemed that for now, she could just barely fire at the ground from 14 km altitude. To go higher, she would need a bit of technology assistance.
Returning to lower altitude, she landed on a building and watched Jin Luan, who was conversing with someone in the distance.
The other person was a young man, seemingly wearing glasses, constantly adjusting them.
Yin Lin didn’t know what they were discussing.
The glasses-wearing man also noticed Yin Lin and glanced a few times, seemingly mentioning her.
Jin Luan met his gaze and shook her head, refusing something, though Yin Lin couldn’t tell what.
They continued talking for another half hour until dawn.
Then they parted ways.
The meeting went without incident, relieving the tense Yin Lin and Jin Luan.
Afterward, Jin Luan joined her in flight to high altitude, leisurely drifting above the empty clouds, discussing the conversation.
“That person is a member of the Witch faction within the Human Alliance. I’ve known him for a year. He’s reliable and has supported me a lot. We cooperate by sharing intelligence,” Jin Luan first explained their relationship.
After a pause and seeing Yin Lin didn’t ask more, she continued, “One year ago, I…”
Yin Lin sensed a long explanation coming and quickly interrupted, “Summarize it within 100 words.”
Jin Luan choked on the interruption, coughing a few times before gathering her words.
She said, “One year ago, he found my true identity and came to my school. Since then, we started cooperating. He told me about the Human Alliance’s movements, and I shared info on aberrations and magical girls.”
She paused and changed the topic: “He also told me that the lightning incident isn’t over yet. Clues indicate the lightning is controlled by some intelligent being, obeying orders. The mastermind hasn’t been found.”
Yin Lin asked, “That little? You two needed to talk for so long?”
Jin Luan explained, “He also said there’s been a change with the Special Task Force. The Human Alliance is dissatisfied with their results and sent a squad called the Failure Squad to operate in our city. They’re apparently very strong, with the same policy as the Task Force—not only attacking aberrations but also us.”
Yin Lin spotted a point of interest and asked, “Why is it called the Failure Squad?”
Jin Luan shrugged, “No one knows. It’s said the Failure Squad has many high-tech gadgets, so we need to be careful.”
Yin Lin nodded.
Jin Luan continued, “He mentioned you as well, hoping you’d control your power and avoid attacking humans. Property damage is negotiable, but if ordinary humans get hurt, it would be hard for them to explain. Worst case, the Witch faction might fully turn against us and pressure the magical girls.”
That was tough—it meant no more full-power shots.
This was also why Yin Lin hated politics.
That glasses guy clearly pressured her with political reasons, asking her to control her firepower and behavior.
As a 34-year-old worldly-wise man, he hated politics not because he didn’t understand it, but because he understood it all too well and knew how it would bind him.
That was why he despised it.
In short, she probably could only use full power in the outskirts.
No bombarding the city anymore.
They separated in midair, heading home.
Jin Luan posted the meeting results in the group chat of the Jin, Yin, and Hong sisters, informing Huan Hong.
Huan Hong just sent a receipt emoji—no idea if she really paid attention.
Among the three sisters, Huan Hong caused the least damage and casualties, so there was no need to worry about her.
The biggest worry, of course, was still Yin Lin.
If she wasn’t allowed full-power fire, her combat effectiveness would be cut in half.
A 99% power magic cannon and a 100% power magic cannon were very different—the former couldn’t form a complete Magic Attack Formation, while the latter could.
Whether for direct or additional damage, the difference was huge.
Moreover, to avoid affecting humans in the city, cannon fire power could only be kept at about 5%, with a maximum of 10%.
How to put it… this was worse than Jin Luan’s regular charged blade form.
Even worse than Huan Hong’s Power-Enhancing Baton.
Far away from the city, a military plane landed in the city without the knowledge of ordinary people.
The rear cargo door opened, and a group of men and women wearing Exoskeleton suits stepped out.
The metal clanking of their boots hitting the ground echoed, leaving many scratches and cracks on the pavement.
Eastern Alliance reception personnel sighed in amazement as they greeted them.
“Is this the elite sent by the Human Alliance Headquarters? The Eastern Alliance is saved!”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.