Presenting their magical girl IDs, the group of three entered the crime scene without any issues.
The victims’ bodies had already been removed, but the scene itself was relatively well preserved.
Since ordinary people had no resistance against witches—even the lowest C-rank ones—the only clue obtained at the scene was the magic residue captured by the magnifying glass, confirming both cases were indeed caused by witches.
Trying to gather a large amount of clues right at the start of an investigation would consume too much magic power and offer poor cost-effectiveness.
After leaving the scene, the group went to examine the victims’ bodies.
As direct targets of the witches’ attacks, the bodies retained far more information than the scenes themselves.
Youzi pointed the magnifying glass at the binding marks on the limbs.
Text immediately appeared on the lens: Traces of magic power binding.
As Xiaobai increased her magic power output, the information became more detailed: Bruising caused by tentacles formed from the witch’s magic power.
In a similar fashion, they obtained other details such as “time of death for both victims,” “the two witches’ magic power signatures are highly similar but belong to different individuals,” and “each witch is C-rank.”
After gathering the basic information, the group returned to the Anning City branch.
“This appears to be a classic case of a same-origin witch disaster. There are records of similar incidents in the archives. In areas and times where negative emotions are highly concentrated and similar—such as schools during exam week or companies during holiday overtime—there’s a small chance that a group of same-origin witches will be born. These witch groups have low individual combat power, but they come in large numbers. Clearing them out isn’t particularly dangerous.”
Youzi classified the current witch disaster and finished speaking in one long breath.
She took a sip of hot cocoa to soothe her throat.
Doesn’t drinking that just make you thirstier?
Su Xiaocheng suppressed the question in her heart and timely offered emotional support to her senior.
“So how are we going to locate the large witch group?”
“We can have logistics deploy more detectors, but they’re expensive to purchase. The branch’s budget hasn’t been great lately, and the approval process for procurement could take a long time.” Youzi sounded a bit helpless. As a second-tier city, Anning City had been under heavy financial pressure in recent years.
When you couldn’t spend money to solve problems, you had to grind it out.
Youzi had plenty of experience with this, and Xiaobai’s presence could significantly reduce the grinding required.
“Xiaobai, do you have any tools for tracking witches? Ideally something that can mark an entire witch group at once.”
Youzi added, “It’s just a C-rank witch group. If the three of us split up, we can clear them all in one night. Worst case, after we’re done, we can each go home and replenish our magic power.”
“A whole group of witches in one night?”
Listening to Youzi, Su Xiaocheng’s little face flushed slightly.
She felt like she might need to lie down for the entire next day.
“That many? Is it really possible?”
“It is, the say.”
Xiaobai tapped on her game console and pulled out a map of Anning City’s urban area.
Then, the shape of the game console in her hands changed.
Under Su Xiaocheng’s surprised gaze, it transformed into a tablet.
“This game console is actually Xiaobai’s staff. Xiaocheng, once you figure out your main specialization, you can try converting your staff into a more suitable form too.”
Youzi was a friendly senior who took her responsibility to guide newbies very seriously.
As Xiaobai operated the device, a judgment line appeared on the tablet.
Accompanied by background music, interactive notes began to fall.
“There’s even a rhythm game segment?”
Su Xiaocheng had truly never seen magic cast this way before.
The combo count kept rising as red dots gradually appeared on the map, marking the approximate locations of the witches.
As the number of red dots increased, Youzi’s expression grew more serious. “8, 9, 10, 11… Why are there so many?”
The music grew more intense.
A large cluster of twisted green bars and pink notes rushed forward.
Xiaobai’s small fingers danced rapidly across the screen, moving up and down so fast they almost left afterimages.
The red dots on the map multiplied wildly. In just a few seconds, they exceeded 30 and showed no signs of slowing down.
Youzi frowned, sensing that things weren’t so simple.
“Eeee~~~~~!” Xiaobai let out an adorable cry of distress. In the end, she couldn’t withstand the pressure.
The twisted green bars snapped in the middle and disappeared.
The combo count reset to zero, and the game exited directly.
A deep blue Maiden Heart flew out from Xiaobai’s body.
The once brilliant Maiden Heart now looked somewhat dim, with several faint gray strands of aura wrapped around it, threatening to fully attach themselves at any moment.
“Is the rhythm game that strict? One miss and it’s game over?”
Su Xiaocheng sucked in a cold breath. It looked like this path wasn’t suitable for her.
Xiaobai’s face had paled noticeably.
She recalled her Maiden Heart, caught her breath, and said weakly, “Most of them, the say. In the end, got counterattacked, the say. Need to rest, the say.”
Translation Master Youzi stepped in: “She located the positions of most of the witch group, but not all of them. In the end, the witches noticed and counterattacked. She consumed too much magic power and needs to recover. With this many, how did the detectors only pick up one?”
“We need to strike first and eliminate them in advance. Alright, Xiaobai, you go back and rest first. Before you leave, make two copies of the map—one for Xiaocheng and one for the logistics department. We’ll handle the rest.”
Su Xiaocheng looked at the 35 red dots on the map and felt her legs go weak. “Do I have to join in too?”
“You bet!” Youzi answered as if it were obvious.
“All of them in one night?”
“You bet!”
Sensing Su Xiaocheng’s unease, Youzi comforted her.
“Just do your best. If your magic power runs low, go home and rest. Leave the rest to me. No matter how many there are, they’re still just C-rank.”
Checking the time, Youzi opened the cabinet in the lounge, revealing it was packed with all kinds of desserts.
“Let’s eat first, then rest for an hour. We’ll begin operations promptly at eight.”
***
As night fell, people became more active, freely venting their energy.
However, this night in Anning City was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Youzi stood against the wind on the roof of the Anning City branch building.
She wore a colorful silk evening dress, with blue-white and purple-black mismatched knee-high stockings accentuating the long curves of her legs.
In her hand was a flintlock pistol decorated with candy motifs, and her high ponytail swayed gently in the breeze.
“Xiaocheng, come in if you read me.” Youzi said through the terminal’s voice channel.
“Su Xiaocheng received. I’m in position.”
Su Xiaocheng stepped out of the taxi.
In front of her was the back gate of Ninghe Park.
According to the map, one witch was hiding in the small grove beside the park’s back entrance.
According to the plan, Su Xiaocheng was responsible for clearing the eight witches in the East District.
If she had magic power left afterward, she would go help in the other three districts.
“Then, operation start!”
Youzi spun the flintlock in her hand. Magic power surged as she flew straight into the night sky.
“Received!”
Su Xiaocheng stroked Xiaotuan, who was perched on her shoulder, and whispered, “Time to go.”
Xiaotuan let out a soft meow.
“Transform!”
