The wind in the Canyon rolled with dust, scattering the lingering smell of burning that filled the air.
An Lin took a deep breath, trying to calm the shock in her heart.
The magical fluctuations between clans were greeting each other in a friendly manner, which allowed An Lin to confirm that the black-haired woman before her was a witch—and a witch with immense power.
Although the person appeared lazy, weak, and carried not even a shred of the pressure belonging to a powerhouse, a witch’s eyes could not deceive her.
The monster with Great Witch-level combat strength from just moments ago had been obeying the commands of this mysterious witch.
“To possess such a powerful summoned beast, while her own magical fluctuations are weak yet terrifyingly pure…”
An Lin analyzed the situation rapidly in her mind.
‘This is definitely a senior who has been living in seclusion! She might even be a Peak Witch who has gone into hiding here due to an injury!’
As the captain of a B-level exploration squad, An Lin knew very well what encountering a lone, powerful witch meant in a witch society that valued strength above all else.
It was an opportunity, but also a challenge.
If handled correctly, this senior could perhaps become a pillar of support for their squad.
An Lin tidied her slightly messy deep blue windbreaker, wore her most professional fake smile, and reached out, preparing to step forward to greet this “senior” with the standard etiquette used among witches.
“Respected Sen…”
“Gurgle—”
A massive sound exploded like muffled thunder in the silent Canyon, even drowning out the thunder that had yet to cease in the sky.
The air froze instantly.
An Lin’s outstretched hand stiffened in mid-air, Liuli’s posture of holding her greatsword became comical, and Warner’s motion of pushing up her glasses jammed.
A rare, embarrassed flush appeared on Tunzuo’s pale, delicate face.
She covered her stomach, eyes darting away, trying to mask the awkward noise with a cough.
“Ahem… um…”
Tunzuo’s voice was even weaker than before.
She raised a hand, pointed to her dry, chapped lips, and opened her mouth in an obvious gesture of begging to be fed.
“I… am hungry.”
Coming from a powerhouse suspected to be of the Peak Witch level, these three words had an impact no less than a supernova explosion.
An Lin froze for half a second before reacting with lightning speed.
“Hurry! Back to the battleship! Bring out the reserve rations… no, bring out all our best food!”
An Lin gave a grand wave of her hand, instantly switching from a tense combat posture to a hospitable reception mode.
Ten minutes later, in the battleship’s dining hall.
“Eat slowly, Miss Tunzuo. There is plenty more here.”
An Lin looked at the black-haired witch devouring food with loving eyes, filled with… heartache.
Tunzuo had completely abandoned all pretense of a witch’s image.
Before her stood a mountain-like pile of grilled Angus beef ribs, along with several plates of exquisite pastries containing rich magical energy.
The bones left behind by Tunzuo were piled all over the table.
Tunzuo held a rib in her left hand and a pastry in her right, her mouth stuffed full.
Her cheeks were puffed out like a hamster storing grain, and her emerald-green pupils were brightening again with the intake of food.
The dead, weak aura on her body was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Mmph… so good…”
Tunzuo mumbled incoherently, tears almost welling up from gratitude.
How could this be the “bad witch” her bad mommy Antuxi spoke of? These were clearly a bunch of good witches!
Liuli sat to the side, wiping her greatsword while staring at the ravenous Tunzuo in a daze.
“Captain…”
Liuli lowered her voice, leaning toward An Lin’s ear.
“Is this senior… really alright? That summoned beast earlier took our 8th-level spell head-on, but how does she herself look… so…”
“Useless?”
Warner added from the side.
“Shh!”
An Lin glared at them both, but she also frowned, her gaze landing on Tunzuo’s side profile, which remained delicate even in its pallor.
“I find it strange too.”
An Lin whispered her analysis.
“I observed her magic circuits just now. Although the flow is stagnant, the width and resilience of the circuits far exceed our own. Logically, a witch with this level of magical reserves could maintain herself for a long time even in a magic desert, yet she has starved herself to this point. There is only one possibility…”
“What possibility?”
“Dying by her own hand.”
An Lin delivered an astonishing conclusion.
“You know how it is, the nature of us witches is to do as we please. Many powerful witches, in pursuit of extreme magical experiments or to comprehend certain laws, often end up looking like ghosts. This senior probably trapped herself on this wasteland planet for too long while researching, ate through all her supplies, and was too embarrassed to ask for help, so she simply starved herself to this state.”
“So that’s it… As expected of a powerhouse; even starving has such style.”
Liuli was filled with sudden, enlightened admiration.
Just as the three were whispering, Tunzuo finally put down the last bone and let out a satisfied burp.
“Belch… I’m alive again…”
Tunzuo patted her rounded belly.
The magic circuits within her body were finally running smoothly and joyfully again.
She looked up at the three witches staring at her eagerly and felt great.
“Thanks for the meal. You witches are really nice.”
Tunzuo revealed a sincere and innocent smile.
Although there was a bit of sauce on the corner of her mouth, it made that usually cold face look much more vivid.
Seeing that Tunzuo was full, An Lin took the opportunity to speak, keeping her tone as casual as possible.
“Miss Tunzuo is too kind. It is our honor to be of service. However… may I be so bold as to ask for your name? Or perhaps your codename in the Witch Council?”
Tunzuo paused.
A name?
A codename?
Tunzuo’s food-filled brain remembered the warning Antuxi had given her before leaving:
“Never tell other witches that you are my daughter.”
So, Tunzuo cleared her throat and adopted an enigmatic look.
“I… am a Ghost Witch.”
“A Ghost Witch?”
The three exchanged glances.
The name sounded cool; it felt like some sort of rare lineage.
“Yes, and… uh, I am also a Lost Witch.”
After thinking for a long time, Tunzuo decided to use the excuse Antuxi had given her.
“A Lost Witch?”
The smile on An Lin’s face stiffened.
“Do you mean… you are the kind of witch who was transformed by accident, left out in the cold, never received formal academy education, and grew up like a wild monster?”
“Uh… yes, that’s it.”
Tunzuo scratched her head and bit the bullet, agreeing.
Tunzuo’s words made a barrage of silent complaints scroll across An Lin’s mind—what kind of “Lost Witch” uses the professional term “Lost Witch” to describe themselves so precisely? It felt as out of place as a savage saying, “I am an uncivilized human!”
However, An Lin mistook this for Tunzuo being concerned about her pride, so she didn’t call her out.
Instead, she probed further.
“Since you are a Lost Witch, you should at least know the promotion rules of witch society, right? For instance… what rank are you currently?”
Tunzuo blinked.
“Um… what are the promotion rules? I only know you have to write papers and fight.”
An Lin: “…”
Warner: “…”
Liuli: “…”
The atmosphere in the battleship instantly turned rigid.
“Then… which of the nine magical schools do you major in?”
“Shadow, and… close-quarters combat?”
Tunzuo replied with uncertainty, as that was all Antuxi had taught her.
“Then… what is the highest directive of the Witch Council?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then do you know how to activate a witch teleportation array?”
“What’s that?”
The three were struck as if by lightning, their faces turning pale instantly.
This was no hidden powerhouse! This was clearly an illiterate who hadn’t even finished nine years of compulsory education!
“Warner, go get that…”
An Lin took a deep breath and instructed Warner to take out a magic crystal ball from the room that radiated a soft white light.
“Miss Tunzuo, forgive me, but please place your hand on it.”
Although puzzled, Tunzuo complied.
The crystal ball flickered, and 6 points of light in different colors appeared inside.
A needle fluctuated between the 6 points and finally settled on a red point.
Beside the point, where the mark of an Adult Witch should have been, there was only empty space.
“It’s over…”
An Lin closed her eyes in despair.
“No adult crest. While the magic circuit is vast, it is completely undeveloped… Legally speaking, she is still a…”
“What?”
Tunzuo looked at the three witches anxiously.
“A Juvenile Witch—in other words, a minor.”
An Lin spat out the word heavily, one she absolutely did not want to hear right now.
“Oh, right, I am a Juvenile Witch, actually.”
Tunzuo tapped her lip with her fingertip, looking thoughtful, finally recalling the rank classification Antuxi had given her.
“According to the Witch Code, a Juvenile Witch who has not graduated from a witch academy and obtained an adult crest is a key protected object. Any behavior involving the luring, exploitation, sexual harassment, or forcing of a Juvenile Witch into dangerous labor…”
Warner pushed up her glasses with trembling hands, reciting the contents of the Witch Code with a grave expression.
“…will be treated as a felony.”
Liuli took over, her voice shaking as well.
“Once discovered, not only will we face massive fines, but we will be forced into labor reform. Furthermore, we will be hung on the Witch Network to undergo public execution and ridicule by every witch in the universe.”
An Lin felt her career slipping away.
Her exploration license and alchemist certification were melting away like butter.
What had they done?
They had engaged in battle with a Juvenile Witch, albeit unknowingly.
They had left her in a state of hunger, even if it was due to the environment, and they had even tried to con her into joining their squad as labor—which counted as child labor in the Code.
Every single point was dancing right on the red lines of the Witch Code!
“We’re finished… If this gets out, not only will our squad be disbanded, we’ll probably be sent to mine for several hundred years…”
An Lin slumped into her chair, her eyes losing their luster.
Her beautiful witch life had lost all hope in an instant.
“Captain! How about we… kill the witch to silence her?”
Liuli made a neck-slitting gesture, suggesting a radical plan in a moment of stupidity.
“No! She is a Juvenile Witch! Killing a Juvenile Witch adds to the penalty! That’s a death sentence! We’ll be stripped of political rights for life and locked in the Underworld to do hard labor forever! Don’t you dare crash my social credit score!”
Warner grabbed Liuli’s neck and shook her in anger.
While the three witches were lost in desperate, catastrophic fantasies, Tunzuo waved her hand, not understanding any of it.
“What are you all talking about? You fed me, why would I want to hurt you?”
Tunzuo burped, looking quite content.
“Anyway, I wasn’t planning on joining any Council. I just want a place to sleep. As long as you don’t bother me, I won’t say a single word about today.”
“Really?!”
An Lin looked up sharply, hope flashing in her eyes.
“Really.”
Tunzuo nodded.
“Though… if you can invite me to eat this kind of steak next time, I’d be even happier.”
“No problem! Forget steak, even if it’s dragon meat, I can get it for you, Miss Tunzuo!”
An Lin excitedly picked up Tunzuo and spun her around two or three times.
As long as this Juvenile Witch didn’t report them, everything was fine! Ah, my beautiful witch life is back.
“Then… can I go sleep now?”
Tunzuo pointed at the sofa in the corner of the dining hall that looked the softest.
“Please! That is your exclusive seat!”
An Lin immediately gestured for her to enjoy it.
Tunzuo did not stand on ceremony; she floated over to the sofa and sank into it like a puddle of mud.
Before long, rhythmic breathing could be heard from the sofa.
Looking at Tunzuo’s defenseless sleeping face, the three breathed a sigh of relief.
“Too close… escaped with our lives.”
Liuli wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
But just then, An Lin seemed to realize something, and her eyes changed.
She stared at the sleeping Tunzuo, her greedy gaze like that of someone looking at an untapped gold mine.
“Wait…”
An Lin muttered to herself.
“Although she is a Juvenile Witch, although she understands nothing, although she is illiterate… but!”
An Lin pointed at the red light on the crystal ball.
“Look at her magic reserves! A Juvenile Witch with a total magic volume comparable to a Great Witch! What does this mean? This is talent! This is a monster!”
“Captain, you don’t mean…”
Warner’s mouth twitched as she guessed An Lin’s plan.
“If we give her up now, what if another witch finds her? What if she’s brainwashed by hostile forces?”
An Lin stood up, the greed in her eyes undisguised.
“According to the Witch Code, a Juvenile Witch needs a guardian. If we become her guardians, responsible for her education, life, and… combat training, then when she comes of age, we, as her mentors, will be entitled to a huge amount of points and honor for all her achievements!”
“Moreover…”
An Lin’s lips curled into a cunning smile.
“As long as we have guardianship, she is our exclusive muscle… I mean, our future ace combatant! Just think, a Ghost Witch who starts with the potential of a Great Witch, willing to follow our arrangements…”
“This is an investment with absolutely no risk of loss!”
An Lin grew more excited as she spoke.
In her mind, she had already visualized herself getting rich off Tunzuo’s potential, standing at the pinnacle of witch society and receiving the adoration of ten thousand witches.
“Hehehe… found a treasure… found a treasure…”
An Lin held her face, drool leaking from the corner of her mouth as she laughed like a pervert, completely lost in her beautiful fantasies.
Liuli and Warner looked at their captain’s increasingly distorted, perverted expression and stepped back in unison.
“The captain is having another episode…”
“Shh, don’t disturb the captain’s daydreaming. As long as she doesn’t drag us down with her, it’s fine. Alchemy witches are just like this.”
On the sofa, Tunzuo was sleeping soundly, a giant cake beckoning to her in her dreams.
However, Tunzuo was unaware that in An Lin’s scheme, she had just transformed from a potential reporter into a long-term asset labeled as a future ace.–