Breakthrough

(Sun Yao)

Around 3 PM.

The branch's tiered conference room also served as Miss SpiCa's temporary command center.

"Oh? Ceruno- chan! You're finally here!"

"Good afternoon, Sister Ceruno."

Miss Sirius and Xiao Yi were there too; they even waved and greeted me.

"Hmm, huh?"

Miss SpiCa, who had been dozing in her seat, finally looked up. She seemed to have been up all night, only managing to take a short break after arranging the search, but my arrival had disturbed her.

"Ceruno ..."

She blinked twice and woke up.

"... The Information Department has located your father's whereabouts. He is still in Skyreach City, and he is getting closer and closer to here."

"Here?"

I didn't quite understand. Was my father approaching the Sky Branch?

"Yes, this is it."

Sirius picked up the thread. "The city's road surveillance cameras caught them on camera several times. There are fewer cameras in the North Suburbs, but the closer to the city center, the more often they are exposed... And then you see this part."

She operated the computer, gesturing for me to look at the projection screen in the conference room.

The scene shows the father, mother, Miss Anjie, and another person in a black robe walking on the sidewalk by the roadside, captured by traffic cameras.

"Black robes... is that a witch again?"

Judging from her height, she is most likely a woman, possibly an incarnation of a witch. After all, robots are completely different from humans and can be easily identified, which is why she needs this black robe.

Sirius paused the video and replied, "It's uncertain. It could be Artificial Magical Girl like Anjie or your mother who forcibly activated the Star Crystal. At least she's not an ordinary person. According to Lu Linxi, the person who rescued your father and the others was most likely this man in black robes."

So that means...

Where are your uncle and aunt?

"Who? Oh, Prosecutor Bai Yunzhi is continuing the search for your father's whereabouts in the Information Department; that's his forte. As for Prosecutor Lu Linxi... she said she had to go home for a while, but will head straight to the scene afterward to use magic to track down your father."

Lin Xi's magic is very powerful. As long as the person wasn't teleported away directly through a portal, she can trace the clues back to the source by following the remaining traces of their thoughts at the scene.

"Since they've been caught on camera multiple times, is there no way to catch them?"

"No, because your mother has also acquired her own magic."

As Miss Sirius spoke, she pressed the spacebar, and the surveillance footage on the projection screen continued to play.

When the four of them stepped out of the sunlight into the shadows of the street, they vanished instantly, like ice cubes falling into water.

"Um?"

Miss Sirius continued, "Isn't it obvious? Yuehan possesses is probably the magic of invisibility in the shadows, or more precisely, invisibility in places where the sun cannot shine directly on it. At least that's the effect."

"Invisibility... is this Mother's magic?"

It's a support-oriented magic, but it can also be used in combat.

I wonder to what extent it can become invisible. If it can even eliminate scent, infrared radiation, and its very existence, then neither surveillance nor search dogs will be able to find Dad and the others.

Not to mention Miss Anjie's Bloodline magic, which is inherently difficult to detect but deadly.

"This seems tricky... Is there anything I can do right now?"

You didn't call me here just to tell me this, did you?

"No, you can't help with the search, but don't be discouraged. Everyone has different roles and strengths. Before you contact your father, you should conserve your energy and prepare... By the way, you can go and check out your father's office."

Miss Sirius tossed him a key.

"This is the spare key to A-Ji's office. I believe he must have his reasons for approaching the branch. If we can find out what he's up to, we can take precautions in advance and even set a trap."

"What was Father's purpose in coming here...?"

Now that his mother is awake, what exactly does he want to do?

I took the key to my dad's office.

"I understand. I'll go check if there are any clues, but if I find anything, please contact me immediately."

"Of course, that's no problem."

Miss Luer was the one who led me upstairs to my office. I didn't have a pass to the upper floors, so I needed someone to show me the way.

But she stopped in front of her father's office.

He asked, "Do you want me to come in with you?"

Even though her father's job was basically over, Miss Luer was still hesitant to enter the office without permission. After all, Miss SpiCa hadn't sent anyone to search the place directly, and he was still nominally the chairman of the Association. He could only send me, his "son," to investigate.

"No need, I can go in by myself."

I didn't want to put her in a difficult position.

"I'll go take care of other things now. Call me when you come downstairs."

"Um."

This is my third time in this office, and it's almost unchanged from the previous two times. The doll that fell to the ground and turned its head over is the same one we left behind yesterday.

Although my father is the Association's chairman, his main office is located in Skyreach City. However, his distance from the Europe headquarters is not to avoid internal affairs, but rather to better prepare for his plans...

He had been waiting.

It wasn't until Heat Haze was hospitalized that he finally got the last and most crucial piece of his plan: a Star Crystal that could be matched with his mother.

That's why we took action yesterday, the day Heat Haze was discharged from the hospital.

Even without this press conference, Heat Haze would have needed to have his cast removed sooner or later, so his father's plan was just brought forward.

I looked through the densely packed folders on the office bookshelf, but my dad hadn't left any clues. They were all work-related, with no mention of those third-party agencies. However, there was a thick stack of medical reports for various magical girls, including Heat Haze... and mine was among them.

These reports are all for the purpose of selecting Star Crystal.

How many years had he been planning this for?

I did find a photo of my parents in the drawer; the colors were no longer vibrant, and it looked quite old.

However, I wasn't in the photo.

Dad... he really does hate me, doesn't he?

The all-in-one computer on my desk can't be turned on because it's password protected.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I turned my attention to the secretary's desk... Miss Anjie had a pair of dolls on her desk, the same ones her father had... I roughly understood why she was angry about the broken dolls.

Power on.

A password is also required...

"Huh? They went in?"

Although her father was cautious, Miss Anjie's thoughts were not hard to guess.

"It really is my father's birth date..."

There is a prominent document on the desktop.

Is this the security department's shift change schedule?

The inpatient ward and research ward are not the Association's security, but the security of the treatment facility... etc.

Perhaps it's not that Dad is getting closer to the Association, but rather to a medical facility not far from the Association. Heat Haze is no longer there, so what could possibly attract his attention...?

Witch.

He wants to take away the Shark Princess Witch?!