Truth

"I should have told you this before: if you don't change your mind, I won't allow you to join the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's operations."

In the director's office of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, Lin Yun said with some helplessness, "Yes, I have no authority to command a magical girl. If you insist on going with her, there's nothing I can do. So I can only tell you: I hope you stay calm. If possible, remain an observer."

"You say you're just looking? What kind of behavior does your 'looking' encompass? I mean... well, if you can really do that, I have no problem with it."

"An enemy the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau can't handle? Of course we can. In fact, I'd appreciate your help, but please remain calm."

"... Okay, then let's do it your way. See you later."

Click.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yun sat helplessly behind her desk for a while, then sighed.

After talking with Emerald, he roughly understood and clarified Bai Jingxuan's problems. However, understanding the problems did not mean knowing the solutions. On the contrary, as Bai Jingxuan's image became clearer in his mind, he became increasingly unsure how to deal with the child.

It's not just because of the other person's personality and experiences, but also because of their special magical properties— Offsetter in the nature of Aberrant Beast.

Personality, experiences, and magic—these factors combined in Bai Jingxuan mean that this child is practically a ticking time bomb: although everything seems normal now, she could be detonated by external forces at any moment, destroying the fragile balance.

Lin Yun knew very well that he wasn't an education expert. Just five months ago, he was a neglectful father who couldn't even get along with his own daughter. It was far too difficult for him to figure out how to guide such a child in a short time.

--Or we could just let her go and seek revenge.

In her distress, Lin Yun even had this thought:

Ultimately, she and I are just senior and junior magical girls; do I really need to worry about her that much?

Even if this child does start seeking revenge, so what? Retaliation is human nature, even Lin Yun himself is like that. Does he really have the right to educate this child?

On the bright side, maybe Bai Jingxuan is just a child who doesn't know any better and shouts scary words every day? If you really put your enemy in front of her and asked her to kill him, she might not dare to do it.

As Lin Yun's thoughts began to wander, just as she was about to convince herself with this twisted logic, a knock came at the door.

--Knock knock.

"Director, this is Liu Dachun from the Logistics Department."

Immediately afterwards, a muffled sound came from outside the door.

Logistics Department? At this time?

His chaotic thoughts were interrupted, and Lin Yun's consciousness returned to reality. He was initially puzzled, but didn't dwell on it. He then said, "Please come in."

At the same time, he subconsciously reached into his pocket and grasped his Heart Gem.

This has become a habit since he took office as director.

Not only because he didn't trust the people at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau enough, but also because of its troublesome side effect—if the Heart Gem suddenly went out of control and caused a transformation, he had to make sure he could detect it before then.

The same applies now. With these considerations in mind, he reached for the Heart Gem in his pocket, and out of vigilance, he extended his senses to the door of the chief's office: there were magic threads he had laid out beforehand, which could sense the magic outside the door and thus deduce the situation in the corridor.

However, the moment he connected the silk thread to his senses, he sensed something unusual, and his gaze immediately sharpened.

There are two forces of magic outside the door.

This means that there is not only "Liu Dachun" who spoke earlier, but also another person hiding in the corridor.

In his perception, a magical force first approached the swing door and opened the door to the chief's office. Then, it deliberately adjusted its body angle to block the scene behind the door and slowly entered the chief's office.

Visually, this is represented by a tall man walking in from outside the door.

However, Lin Yun's perception of the threads was crystal clear: until the tall man had completely entered the director's office, the other magical force lurking outside the door remained completely still.

Something's not right.

Lin Yun made a judgment instantly.

The reason was simple: he had absolutely no recollection of this man who called himself "Liu Dachun".

He had already seen the employee roster of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau on the day he joined the company, and since then he has been trying to match everyone's names with their photos. To speed up the process, he sometimes even uses the image of Larkspur to aid his memory. Although he has not yet completely finished, he is certain that there is absolutely no employee in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau who looks like that.

But he didn't bring it up; instead, he continued to feign ignorance and calmly asked, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Here's the thing, Chief. When we were taking inventory of the equipment this morning, we found that the remaining quantity didn't seem to match the inventory records. Four Magic Armament are missing."

Liu Dachun stared intently at Lin Yun, his voice flat and monotone, as if reciting a memorized text. "We don't know if there's a mistake in the record or if it's truly lost, so we wanted to come and confirm with you."

"Magic Armament?"

Lin Yun frowned. "I should have instructed you to keep it safe, how could something still go wrong?"

"I'm very sorry, Chief."

The tall man expressionlessly handed over a hard drive. "That's why I brought the inventory records. I hope you can check the names on them to see if there are any omissions."

Lin Yun took the hard drive from him, bent down and connected it to her computer. "You've already checked it?"

The tall man put one hand behind his back. "Checked."

Lin Yun continued staring at her computer case, "Didn't you find any problems?"

"No." The tall man took out a clump of purplish-black flesh from his pocket.

"What kind of work are you doing? You can't even handle this simple task."

Lin Yun seemed very angry. As she bent down to turn on her computer, she said, "Where's your Minister Li? Call him over here right now."

"Okay, I'll call him right now." The man pressed the purplish-black flesh against his chest.

"Okay, then I'll ask you one last question."

"Please speak," the man said blankly.

"Was it Zhuang Yang or Tao Fang who let you in?"

Lin Yun raised her hand and looked at him calmly:

"Or is there a spy within this Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau that I'm unaware of?"

These words caused the tall man's pupils to contract sharply.

Almost instantly, he opened his mouth, clutching the purplish-black flesh in his hand, as if trying to say something. But before he could utter a single syllable, strands of blue silk suddenly wrapped around his wrist, pulling his hand holding the flesh aside.

The man immediately raised his other hand, which already held the medium for the Spell Formula, and purplish-black magic instantly lit up at his fingertips. However, he had no chance to activate the Spell Formula before he was completely bound to the spot by the blue threads.

Lin Yun expressionlessly manipulated the silk threads beside him. In an instant, the azure threads lifted the immobilized man high into the air, and then, without a word, he rushed out the door.

In his perception, at the very moment the man was subdued, the magical force outside the door was already moving towards the emergency exit.

Seeing Lin Yun's actions, the man hanging in mid-air realized that their actions had been clearly seen. Without further thought, he shouted, "Run!"

Unfortunately, both he and the owner of the magic outside the door realized it too late.

The moment Lin Yun stepped into the corridor, he took the Flower of the Heart out of his pocket and activated it. The petite blue figure soared into the air from the magical light, and in a few leaps, she caught up with the figure at the end of the corridor. Then, she used the same method to control the figure with blue threads.

The man who had been hiding outside the door had no idea why he had been captured. He felt as if he was about to escape, but was inexplicably tied up and hung in the air. He wanted to find the culprit, but could only see Lin Yun standing not far away, staring at him, with a few wisps of blue light still lingering around him.

After he saw Lin Yun's face clearly, he said nothing more, and simply closed his eyes numbly.

After reverting to his original form, Lin Yun took a quick look at the man and immediately recognized him as "Zhuang Yang," the man he had mentioned when questioning the tall man earlier.

"Zhuang Yang" and "Tao Fang" were two Black Ash Dawn agents whom Lin Yun had secretly marked but had not directly exposed.

The reason they were kept was that since the reconstruction of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, these two had not done anything that could substantially harm the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, and their positions were not high enough to warrant great things. In addition, the remaining forces of Black Ash Dawn were well hidden, and it was difficult to find any trace of them through normal searches. Therefore, Lin Yun thought of keeping them as clues to see if he could follow the trail and find clues about the enemy.

He never expected that this undercover agent named Zhuang Yang would be so bold as to secretly bring an assassin into the station during working hours, and that the assassin he brought was a Beast Shifter.

Looking at the numb-faced man in front of him, Lin Yun was about to ask a question when a sudden thought struck him, and he remembered something else.

Zhuang Yang is here, what is Tao Fang doing?

With this in mind, he took out his phone without hesitation, dialed the intelligence department, and spoke urgently to a trusted employee:

"Find out where Tao Fang is now and retrieve her communication records for the past two days. I need to know which people she's been in private contact with."

After making the above request, he held his phone and paced back and forth, quietly waiting for the other party to give a result.

The order given personally by the director naturally received high attention from the intelligence department. Within minutes, all of Tao Fang's activities over the past few days were thoroughly investigated, and the head of the intelligence department personally read it to Lin Yun.

Lin Yun listened attentively to the other party's report, carefully noting down every place name mentioned, mentally arranging and comparing them. Until one moment, the other end of the call uttered a name that made his heart skip a beat.

The instant he heard that name, he felt his mind clear, and he suddenly understood the situation:

"--Wait, you just said... Lakeside Spring?"

"Give up, you are no match for us."

Reaching out and pressing down on the head of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau employee in front of him, Bing Bee Seven withdrew his fingers from the neck and lightly flicked away the blood from his fingertips. "Our time is very precious. Surrender now, and I can give each of you a quick death."

Before him stood the Special Operations Department's Third Squad, now in complete disarray.

Li Yingwei, the team leader, was pierced through the chest by an unknown weapon and was lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance. Tian Sheng, another key combatant, was held in the claws of a huge, Aberrant Beast, his head bowed and silent. Only the vice-captain Mu Bensheng, and a few team members remained, standing back to back, gritting their teeth and staring at the enemies around them.

--The disparity in combat strength between the two sides is simply too great.

This Black Ash Dawn unit, which appeared out of nowhere, included one Pupa Stage Beast Shifter and four Looper Tier Beast Shifter. Each of these individuals alone would be enough to deal with the entire Third Squad, let alone when they were all gathered together.

The moment the team stepped into the Lakeside Spring, they had already walked into the enemy's ambush. In just ten minutes, they suffered heavy casualties. If it weren't for the magical girl who happened to be in the team, they would probably have been wiped out by now.

Ironically, just moments before, they were struggling to figure out how to get this magical girl to leave and stop following them.

Bai Jingxuan communicated with Lin Yun by phone, using her stubborn attitude and relatively softened demands to obtain permission to follow the Third Squad. Little did she know that this permission would become the lifeline for the entire Third Squad.

It was because of her that the team was able to hold out against these Beast Shifter for so long.

Bai Jingxuan's Magic Armament, "Heavenly Tone," can continuously revitalize and heal the team members with magic, allowing the three team members equipped with Magic Armament to work together to resist the attacks of the Aberrant Beast of the Looper Tier. In addition, Bai Jingxuan herself held off three Beast Shifter, barely preventing the situation from collapsing too quickly.

However, when the man known as "Bing Bee Seven" by the other Beast Shifter made his move, the support of the Third Squad seemed like a joke.

The strength of Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast is nothing short of a disaster for a slightly smaller city. Even magical girls would need elites of Leaf Rank or higher, or a large-scale attack to have any chance of defeating it head-on.

Even if Bing Bee Seven didn't use the Beast Viscera, and only used some magic and Spell Formula in an ordinary way, it was still far beyond what the Third Squad could withstand.

Defeat became a foregone conclusion.

Having easily killed all of his subordinates from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, Bing Bee Seven's ashen expression remained unchanged. Even his words of persuasion to surrender were merely casual remarks. He looked at Bai Jingxuan.

A girl in a green dress was kneeling on the ground, clutching her chest and breathing heavily.

She bravely stepped forward to save the employees of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, but was easily defeated by Bing Bee Seven, and now she has great difficulty even getting up.

"I didn't intend to kill you, magical girl. To be precise, you're the one we're here for."

"Behave yourself and surrender," said Bing Bee Seven. "We might even consider not harming you."

"Cough... cough... why?" Bai Jingxuan gasped for breath, her expression a mixture of pain and confusion. "Why are you looking for me?"

"I'm sorry, I may not have time to explain these things to you."

While Bing Bee Seven verbally apologized, his expression betrayed no remorse. "But you can consider yourself important to us, or rather, important to our leader."

"Magical girls... and Aberrant Beast are enemies."

Bai Jingxuan supported herself as she stood up, the music emanating from the music box continuing to heal her body, "I don't care what you think of me, I'm going to kill you all."

"'Kill you all'...?"

Bing Bee Seven's usually impassive eyes flickered slightly. "As expected of the Beast Child handpicked by the leader, her resolve is truly admirable, unlike those hypocritical magical girls."

"But that's not enough."

He shook his head slightly, raised his hand, and a beam of magic shot straight towards Mu Bensheng, who was not far away.

Mu Bensheng, who was still engaged in a fierce battle with other Beast Shifter, had no time to dodge. He saw the purplish-black Spell Formula rushing straight at him and immediately closed his eyes in despair.

Sizzle.

The beam of light did not hit him.

Because Bai Jingxuan blocked the beam of light with her own body before it hit Mu Bensheng.

Her once fair and tender arms were instantly turned into a bloody mess under the corrosive power of the purplish-black magic, looking extremely terrifying. However, Bai Jingxuan seemed oblivious to it, still staring intently at Bing Bee Seven.

"You keep telling me, 'Kill you all.'"

"But your actions are completely different from what you said," said Bing Bee Seven, looking puzzled.

"You said you wanted to kill people, but you haven't managed to kill a single one yet; instead, you've almost killed yourself trying to protect these insignificant pigs. Why?"

He pointed to Tian Sheng, who was being held in the hand of another Aberrant Beast, and Li Yingwei, who was lying on the ground, not far away. "You even put most of the power of your Magic Armament into those two men, and you still want to revive them?"

"Because... I am a magical girl."

Bai Jingxuan reached out and touched the music box beside her, the melodious music continuing to fill the surroundings, "A magical girl is meant to save others."

"Holding such a naive attitude will only prevent you from killing anyone."

Bing Bee Seven shook his head indifferently, raised his hand, and magic gathered at the tips of his sharp fingernails. "Wings protect too many burdens, making it impossible for you to spread your wings and soar."

Boom!

Green and purple-black magic intertwined in the air, and Bing Bee Seven's figure briefly overlapped with Bai Jingxuan's. After the intense magical impact, Bai Jingxuan was once again sent flying backward.

Bing Bee Seven kicked her in the chest, slamming her heavily against the protective wall beside her.

"I'll say it again, surrender and stop wasting time."

He flicked his toes, walked forward, grabbed Bai Jingxuan's hair, and dragged the girl down from the wall. "Put away your magic, or do you want me to break your limbs before taking you away? Can your healing power restore limbs?"

"I... I'm going to kill you..."

The girl stared wide-eyed, gritted her teeth, and tried desperately to reach out and grab Bing Bee Seven, but she couldn't reach the face in front of her no matter what she did.

"What a contradiction."

Bing Bee Seven looked at her coldly. "It's like a split personality, sometimes human, sometimes beast; sometimes rational, sometimes just instinct."

"Tell me, magical girl, what do you hate?"

His question went unanswered. Bai Jingxuan simply continued to reach out to him, trying to grab his neck.

Tilting his head back slightly, Bing Bee Seven looked at her and said, "Is your hatred because of those two researchers?"

"What... a researcher..."

Bai Jingxuan gasped and growled, "My father, my mother, were both victims of Aberrant Beast, were all victims of you..."

"Dad? Mom? What's that?"

However, her words were interrupted by Bing Bee Seven: "You don't have such a thing."

"I did!" Seemingly further enraged by Bing Bee Seven's words, Bai Jingxuan struggled violently. "I did! You were the ones who killed me!"

No, you didn't.

Bing Bee Seven looked at her calmly, a hint of pity in his eyes. "Because you are just Beast Child born from experiments, created by us using abandoned babies."

You're talking nonsense!

Bai Jingxuan shouted angrily, "I won't allow you to talk about my parents like that! I'll kill you!"

"Don't make me repeat myself, magical girl. No, Beast Child, you have no parents."

Bing Bee Seven pressed her head down with his other hand, staring into her eyes, and, under the girl's astonished gaze, said, word by word:

"The 'parents' you thought they were were nothing but traitors to the Black Ash Dawn. They were just a pair of researchers who took you out of the organization."