Whatever

"Ugh..."

Lin Xi stood at the warehouse entrance.

Oh wait, she should be called Magical Girl Xing Lan now.

She looked at the pitch-black darkness before her.

Her legs were shaking.

Not shaking slightly.

It was that kind of shaking when looking down from a bungee jumping platform.

Even the staff in her hand was trembling along with it.

Clinking and clattering.

Like a wind chime.

There was no help for it.

Once bitten by a snake, twice shy of a well rope.

The memory of being slapped flying by a Fierce Calamity last time was still carved into her bones.

Although everyone told her that a Lesser Calamity was very weak.

Weak enough that ordinary people could deal with it if they found the method.

Her brain had already automatically equated the word "Calamity" with "getting slapped into an iron wall".

Conditioned reflex.

Chen De stood ten meters away.

Leaning against a rusted iron pillar.

Holding that cup of taro paste boba in her hand.

Took a sip.

Chewed the boba.

Her gaze calmly looked at Lin Xi.

That gaze translated roughly meant—

"What's wrong?"

"Go on in."

"My milk tea is almost finished."

Lin Xi turned her head and glanced at her.

"Sister Su..."

"Mm."

"Is there really only a Lesser Calamity inside?"

"Your Contract Familiar said so, I didn't."

"But what if... what if it's actually a Fierce Calamity?"

"There are dozens of orders of magnitude between a Lesser Calamity and a Fierce Calamity. If your Contract Familiar can't even tell this apart, you'd better replace it sooner rather than later."

Lin Xi swallowed hard.

"Then... then what if it's a mutated Lesser Calamity?"

"Are you creating drama for yourself here?"

"A Lesser Calamity is a Lesser Calamity, there is no such setting as mutation."

"Do you think this is playing a game? Elite monsters?"

Lin Xi's staff trembled even more violently.

Chen De took a sip of milk tea.

"Lin Xi."

"Present!"

"The way you look right now is so much like when I fought a Calamity for the first time."

"Really? Sister Su, you were scared too?"

"No, I was forced into it the first time, I didn't even have time to be scared."

"..."

"So you're much luckier than me, you still have time to stand at the entrance and shake."

Lin Xi felt this method of comfort was a bit strange.

Yet somehow she couldn't point out what was wrong with it.

"Sister Su, can't you at least go in with me?"

"No."

"Just standing nearby and watching is fine!"

"Aren't I standing nearby and watching right now."

"I mean closer nearby!"

"Closer and I'm afraid you'll develop a dependency."

Chen De bit the straw in her mouth.

"Think about it, I can't be by your side every time."

"Sooner or later you have to face it alone."

"Instead of being forced to face it later, you might as well face it proactively now."

"Sister Su, what you're saying makes so much sense."

"Then go in."

"My legs won't listen."

Chen De's eyelids twitched.

She glanced at her phone.

Eight thirty-seven.

They had already dawdled here for seven minutes.

Seven minutes.

Enough for her to fight this Lesser Calamity three times back and forth.

Forty thousand yuan swaying back and forth in front of her eyes.

No, this forty thousand yuan was no longer hers.

But time was hers.

Time is money.

So Lin Xi was not only taking her money now, she was also wasting her money.

Double critical hit.

"Lin Xi."

"Present!"

"I'll give you thirty seconds more."

"If you still don't go in after thirty seconds—"

"You'll help me fight it?"

"No, I'm going home."

Lin Xi's expression instantly changed from anticipation to panic.

"You can't leave!"

"Then go in."

"But—"

"Twenty-five seconds."

"Wait—"

"Twenty seconds."

"Sister Su, you're counting too fast!"

"Fifteen seconds."

"This is definitely not thirty seconds' speed!"

"Do you want me to help you Baidu how long thirty seconds is?"

Lin Xi gritted her teeth.

Grip the staff tighter.

Turned to face the pitch-black warehouse entrance.

Took a deep breath.

Took another deep breath.

Took yet another deep breath.

"Are you doing breathing exercises?" Chen De's voice drifted over from behind.

"I'm doing psychological construction for myself!"

"Your construction is slower than building a house."

Lin Xi closed her eyes.

Then opened them.

"I'm going in!"

"Mm."

"I'm really going in!"

"Mm."

"Sister Su, watch me!"

"I've been watching."

"If I'm about to die, you must save me!"

"If you can manage to fight a Lesser Calamity to the verge of death, then you might as well cancel your magical girl license right now."

Lin Xi gritted her teeth, strode forward, and rushed into the warehouse.

Chen De watched her back disappear into the darkness.

Took the last sip of milk tea.

The boba was gone.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Do you think she can do it?"

"A Lesser Calamity only, as long as she doesn't scare herself, she can resolve it within three moves."

"Then she is obviously scaring herself right now."

"So it might take five moves."

A scream came from inside the warehouse.

It was Lin Xi's.

Chen De's body instinctively leaned forward a bit.

Then leaned back against the pillar.

"Qubi, was that scream because she got hit or because she got scared?"

"Scared. The Lesser Calamity just popped out from the corner."

"She isn't injured?"

"No, the Lesser Calamity hasn't even gotten close to her yet."

"Then what is she screaming for?"

"Fear."

"You don't need to scream like that even out of fear, I thought she got slapped by a Fierce Calamity."

Another sound came from the warehouse.

This time it wasn't a scream.

It was—

"Go to hell!!!"

Then came a loud bang.

Light spilled out from the warehouse entrance.

Blue.

Very bright.

Immediately followed by a second loud bang.

The third.

The fourth.

Continuous light bullet bombardment sounds.

Dense like firecrackers.

Chen De's expression changed subtly.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Is she shooting wildly?"

"Yes, shooting wildly with her eyes closed."

"What's her hit rate?"

"About fifteen percent."

"And the Lesser Calamity?"

"The Lesser Calamity is dodging."

"The Lesser Calamity is dodging?"

"Yeah, it got scared by her suppressing fire."

Chen De was silent for two seconds.

"So the current situation is—the Lesser Calamity is dodging, and she's spraying wildly."

"To be exact, the Lesser Calamity is being cornered by a newbie firing blindly with her eyes closed."

"Does this count as winning?"

"No, but the Lesser Calamity's psychological trauma is probably bigger than hers."

Another loud explosion.

This time the flash was exceptionally bright.

Then it went quiet.

Completely quiet.

Three seconds later.

Lin Xi ran out of the warehouse.

Her hair was a mess.

Her skirt was crooked.

Her staff was held high above her head.

The expression on her face fell somewhere between sheer ecstasy and surviving a catastrophe.

"Sister Su!!!"

"I killed it!!!"

"I actually killed it!!!"

Chen De looked at her.

"Killed it?"

"Killed it!! It turned into smoke and blew away!!"

"You fought with your eyes closed?"

Lin Xi's expression froze for a second.

"You... how did you know?"

"I guessed."

Chen De tossed her empty milk tea cup into the nearby trash can.

"Congratulations, forty thousand is yours."

Lin Xi froze for a moment, then bounced into the air like she'd just been plugged into a charger.

"Forty thousand!! I made money!!"

"Sister Su, thank you!! If it wasn't for you, I never would've dared go in!!"

"Mm."

"Next time I'll treat you to milk tea!"

"You said you'd treat me to dinner last time, and you still haven't."

"Then we'll do both next time! Dinner plus milk tea!"

Chen De turned around and started walking out of the factory.

Qubi jumped onto her shoulder.

"Chen De."

"Mm."

"When you heard her scream just now, your body leaned forward."

"The wind blew me."

"There's no wind tonight."

"It was an earthquake."

"This isn't an earthquake zone."

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Say one more word and I'm shoving you into that trash can."

Qubi's tail gave a little sway.

It prudently shut up.

Lin Xi's voice drifted from behind.

"Sister Su! Can we team up again next time!"

Chen De didn't look back.

"Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on whether I feel like having milk tea."

Lin Xi laughed behind her.

Her laugh was loud.

The corner of Chen De's mouth twitched.

The movement was tiny.

"You smiled."

"No, I didn't."

"The corner of your mouth went up by three pixels."

"You can even see that?"

"My eyes are high-precision."

"Then use your high-precision eyes to look at the road ahead."

"Stop staring at my mouth."

The night breeze finally arrived.

It blew her skirt, making the hem flutter twice.

Chen De raised a hand to hold her skirt down.

Then she remembered something.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"A net loss for tonight."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Transformed right as we left, so the patch consumption rate sped up. The milk tea was a waste, and the bounty goes entirely to Lin Xi. Spent stamina on the round trip, and I'll have to take an extra painkiller when I get back."

"All things considered, not only did I not make money tonight, I ended up losing about three hundred out of pocket."

Qubi was silent for a second.

"But you gained a friend."

"Can a friend pay for meals?"

"No, but she can buy you milk tea."

Chen De thought about it.

"I suppose that works."