Nest

At this moment, Larkspur finally understood what the sense of unease she had been feeling all along was.

The faint sense of crisis that had lingered in her mind since she entered the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau; the sense of alienation brought about by the surrounding scenery; and a certain nausea that, though very faint, was quite familiar. These senses mixed together, forming a sense of unease in her heart, issuing warnings and constantly reminding her that something was wrong here.

After witnessing this scene, Larkspur had a vague idea of what this space was.

However, to completely confirm this answer, she needed to do one more thing—go back to the office where the Aberrant Beast had been found.

With this thought in mind, the Larkspur was unwilling to delay any longer. She immediately activated her magic to support her body and float up, flying towards the direction she remembered.

She quickened her pace down the corridor, the scenery flashing past her peripheral vision, exactly as she had seen before, unchanged. But now, with the answer in her heart, she was no longer confused.

Ignoring any potential interference along the way, the Larkspur flew straight to the office where the Aberrant Beast had been found, then pushed the door open with one hand.

The office door opened, and what she saw was just an extremely ordinary office.

There were no corpses, no bloodstains, no ashes left by the Aberrant Beast, only the same bright white light as in the other rooms, and various office supplies casually placed inside.

All traces vanished without a trace; all the clues that had been discovered before disappeared, as if they had never existed in the first place.

However, upon seeing this scene, a glint suddenly flashed in the Larkspur's eyes.

The reason was simple: this was the answer she wanted.

"I see."

Speaking softly, and gazing at the scene before her, the Larkspur did not take another step inside, but made a judgment with absolute certainty. "This is indeed the 'Nest'."

The "Nest" she mentioned is a signature ability of the Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast.

As a symbolic stage of the Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast, the "Nest" is often a distorted space that originally existed in reality, a layered and nested spatial labyrinth.

The scene inside the "Nest" is not created out of thin air, but rather is the product of capturing and imitating the surrounding space based on its location, and then replicating, multiplying, and distorting it.

If the Nest of an Aberrant Beast is located in the desolate wilderness outside a city, then its Nest will appear as an endless wasteland; if the Nest is located in a lake, then its Nest will appear as an endless ocean that is indistinguishable from any direction and can never reach the surface.

Larkspur has seen such instances more than once, the most recent one even being just a few months ago.

At that time, Cui Jing discovered an Aberrant Beast of the Pupa Stage underground in Fangting City. The location where the Aberrant Beast built its nest was the sewer system of Fangting City, so the form of its Nest was a sewer pipe that was layered and intertwined like an anthill.

Just like now, the Larkspur back then entered the Nest of the Aberrant Beast while investigating Aberrant Beast, and was thus absorbed into the labyrinth.

Starting from this premise, everything that the Larkspur discovered after entering the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau can be reasonably explained—because this is not the real Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau at all, but an Aberrant Beast's Nest that simulates the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

The spatial composition of this Nest is to replicate and extend the space of the first floor of the Bai'an City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, piecing together countless spaces similar to the "first floor" to ultimately form a complete Nest.

The Larkspur wasn't trapped in the inescapable Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau; rather, she was surrounded by countless "First Layers of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau." These "First Layers" had identical spatial structures and replicated the appearance of all inanimate objects, but they were unable to replicate living beings.

Therefore, there would naturally be no corpses or bloodstains in this office, because the "first floor" where the victims were killed was not the same space as where the Larkspur was located.

The Larkspur came here to confirm this.

However, with the solution to this mystery, another problem arose before her.

That is to say, this Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast is definitely extraordinary. An ordinary Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast would never have been able to do such a thing.

Ordinary Aberrant Beast "Nest" merely mimic the basic elements of their surrounding space. Similar to a chameleon's camouflage, their purpose is to conceal their Nest and make them less conspicuous. Therefore, Aberrant Beast's Nest is often just a crude imitation of the original surrounding space.

To perfectly replicate the layout of an entire floor of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, as seen in this space, without any errors, is something that the intelligence of Aberrant Beast could not possibly achieve.

With the limited intelligence of Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast, it was utterly incomprehensible what these decorations in human buildings were, what their purpose was, or how every detail could be so exquisitely crafted.

This also explains why this Aberrant Beast was able to set up its Nest next to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, yet no information has been leaked to the magical girl so far—because this is definitely not a simple case of Aberrant Beast building a nest.

With the answer in her heart, the Larkspur naturally knew what she should do now: find the owner of this Nest and kill the Aberrant Beast.

As for how to find it, the method that Larkspur came up with was very simple - release his Mana Perception and head in the direction of the strongest reaction.

Inside the Nest, the concepts of space and time are blurred, so even Larkspur didn't know how long she had spent since she began searching.

Clearing her mind and eliminating distractions, the Larkspur maintained her most alert state, ensuring she could detect any unusual magical fluctuations in time.

However, just as she was about to expand the range of her senses once again, a very faint magical fluctuation appeared in her perception area.

This faint fluctuation was like a candle that could be extinguished at any moment. Although it was still burning, it was flickering and uncertain. If it weren't for the Larkspur's constant high concentration, it would probably have been subconsciously ignored.

When she stopped to check carefully, she discovered that the fluctuation was not far from where she was.

Without hesitation, the Larkspur immediately moved towards the direction of the perceived magical fluctuations.

After traversing multiple stairwells and several "first floors" laterally, she finally found her target: a young girl sitting against the wall in an empty office.

To be precise, it was a magical girl. Because Larkspur could see the gem in her hand, shaped like a flower bud.

It was a Flower of the Heart yet to bloom, so she should be a Blossom Rank magical girl.

The girl appeared to be around 18 years old, an age where she was gradually shedding her naivety and beginning to mature. From this, it was clear that she was a skilled magical girl who had served for many years.

However, she was not in good condition. She had completely reverted to her human form, with blood still seeping down her forehead. She couldn't even maintain her transformed state, clearly indicating that her magic power had been exhausted.

The Larkspur crouched down, reached out to check the girl's breath, and finding that she was still breathing, immediately pressed down on the Heart Gem in her hand and began to infuse it with his own magic.

As the azure magic flowed into the girl's hand, the Heart Gem gradually began to shimmer with a deep brown light, and finally, it shone brightly again.

The revival of the Heart Gem and the restoration of its abundant magic slowly brought the girl leaning against the wall back to consciousness. She opened her eyes from the darkness and met the gaze of the crouching Larkspur.

The girl was stunned for a moment, then suddenly startled and instinctively tried to back away, but she obviously forgot that she was in the corner. So, with a "thud," the back of her head hit the wall.

The intense, dull pain instantly snapped the girl back to reality. She grimaced and clutched the back of her head, then looked up after a moment, giving Larkspur a somewhat awkward smile, "Um, excuse me... may I ask who you are?"

"After all, I'm the one who saved you just now, so I should be the one asking you this question first."

Releasing the Heart Gem from the girl's hand, Larkspur stood up again. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I?"

The girl glanced at the Larkspur, her expression stiffening slightly before she raised her voice somewhat awkwardly and changed the subject, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

But as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed that the Larkspur was staring at her left hand. Turning her head slightly, she saw the Heart Bud shimmering in her hand and immediately realized that she had told a very clumsy lie.

After a subtle silence, the girl smiled somewhat awkwardly, then honestly replied, "My code name is Lantern. I'm a local magical girl from Bai'an City."

She didn't insist on hiding her identity because she could tell that the girl in the navy blue dress in front of her was also a magical girl, and since the other girl had chosen to save her, she probably wasn't a bad person.

After stating her identity, she looked at the Larkspur, hoping to get a corresponding answer.

What she didn't know was that Larkspur had already anticipated her answer.

:

"I am Inspector sent to Bai'an City by the Investigation Institute."

Larkspur succinctly stated, "I came here to find the investigation team that went missing in Bai'an City. I've also contacted the local Magical Girl Squad, and they told me that one of the missing members is named 'Lantern.' Are you referring to that?"

Lantern paused slightly, then asked, "The local Magical Girl Squad... you mean...?"

"Among them is a magical girl named White Thistle and a Seeder named Polly. Before I came here, they asked me to find you."

In order to gain the trust of the magical girl in front of her as quickly as possible, Larkspur told her everything without reservation, "I just happened to come here by accident, and I didn't expect to find you here too."

Ah! So that's how it is!

Hearing news of her companions, the girl was visibly more excited. "Have you seen White Thistle and the others? How are they... cough cough!"

Perhaps because she was too emotional, the violent movements aggravated the girl's unhealed injuries, causing her to cough violently.

Larkspur immediately pressed down on her shoulder and, somewhat helplessly, pushed her back against the wall.

"They are currently safe; in fact, the only problem is that everyone is worried about your safety."

She shook her head, finished explaining the situation of the Bai'an City Squad, and steered the conversation back on track, asking the Lantern, "So, can you tell me what you went through before you got here? Why did you faint here? Did you see the whereabouts of the Cat-Tail Squad?"