Chapter 13: Human Bombs and the Prelude to a Conspiracy

The entire phone booth was blown to pieces, leaving a large crater in the ground.

Su Wanyue pushed herself up from the ground and stood, looking at the dust filling the air, silent for a moment.

“Have you been playing the little girl for so long that you can’t even sense danger like this?”

This was the first time Serafica had shown such obvious anger.

Su Wanyue knew she was in the wrong, so she tried to appease her.

“Alright, alright, it’s my fault. You can have any compensation you want, but agreed, you can’t use my body. That’s the bottom line.”

“I want to use your body.”

“Can you listen to what people say?…”

“I’ll give it back to you.”

“Huh? Really?” Su Wanyue thought she misheard.

“This world has many things I haven’t encountered before. As the ‘Heavenly Scripture’ Witch, I have a strong thirst for knowledge, you know.”

Su Wanyue pondered in silence for a moment.

Since Serafica said that, as long as they set some ground rules in advance, letting her out seemed acceptable.

“So Serafica, about the ability used in today’s attack.”

The conversation returned to the explosion from earlier.

“Hmm, it’s the power to alter the essence of things, the authority of the ‘Heavenly Axe’ Witch. But it should be similar to the case with Li Jing before—this is just a fake created by disguising it with a large-scale magic.”

“Imitating the authorities of the seven Great Witches, what exactly are they trying to do…”

The gate of the Jianghai City Hunter Association base swung open.

Su Wanyue patted the dust off her clothes, but her face was still smudged with black ash, her hair a bit disheveled. 

She walked in looking bedraggled.

“Squad Leader, something terrible happened!”

Fang Yao still dashed out as usual.

But after seeing Su Wanyue’s face, she abruptly stopped and froze on the spot.

“Squad Leader, you look like you just came from a battlefield. Oh, wait—could that small-scale conflict in the news just now be something you mediated?”

With that, Fang Yao’s eyes lit up, and she leaned in with an admiring look: “Squad Leader, you’re too amazing! Even if you really are Captain Chen Ye’s secret illegitimate daughter, I’ll never bring it up again!”

Several question marks seemed to pop up on Su Wanyue’s forehead, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

‘What is this girl secretly imagining behind my back again? This thing shouldn’t be known by others, right?’

Su Wanyue still wanted to keep her position as captain in the Hunter Association.

“Fang Yao, since you’re so idle, from today onwards, double your training volume.”

“No! Squad Leader, you’re a little runt, heartless, you’re just a demon!” Fang Yao yelled sorrowfully.

“We haven’t found any demons among the Erosion Beasts yet. By the way, what was that urgent matter you mentioned earlier?” Su Wanyue found a chair, sat down, crossed her legs, and got to the point.

Fang Yao immediately dropped her exaggerated expression.

“Squad Leader, the Jianghai City Government was attacked. The mayor died in this attack.”

“Was he killed by a bomb?”

“Squad Leader, how did you know?”

Su Wanyue lifted her chin slightly, indicating the dust on her face.

“Because I just encountered a bomb attack.”

“Squad Leader, were you also attacked by that kind of freak who turns into a bomb?”

“Humans turned into bombs?”

“Yeah, the one who attacked the mayor was a security guard.”

“Fang Yao, go investigate who that security guard has been in contact with recently.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll show the Squad Leader that I’m very capable too!”

Su Wanyue crossed her arms over her chest, nodded, and said, “Having drive is a good thing. Go for it. I’ll just slack off a bit here.”

“…Wouldn’t it be good if the Squad Leader helped too?”

Hearing that, Su Wanyue slowly crossed her legs again.

“No way. I have my own things to do.”

***

Su Wanyue arrived at the Jianghai City Government to conduct an investigation.

“If it were just turning objects into bombs, it wouldn’t be anything special. But humans can’t endure that kind of pain.” Serafica, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

“Pain?” Su Wanyue raised an eyebrow and asked back.

“Casting form transformation magic on oneself is excruciatingly painful. Flesh and bones are forcibly reshaped into another substance.”

Just imagining that scene was horrifying: turning oneself into an expanding bomb.

Su Wanyue couldn’t help but shiver, her shoulders trembling slightly.

“But if the witches in that alliance are all so-called victims, doesn’t that mean the mayor isn’t clean either?” Serafica said.

“Who knows what those witches are planning. Maybe they just wanted to kill the mayor to establish authority. In my opinion, the ‘paradise’ they speak of might well be inside the mental hospital.”

With that, Su Wanyue pushed open the door.

“Honorable Acting Captain of the Hunter Association, please follow me.”

A butler-like person bowed and led the way, bringing her to the reception room.

‘No, I didn’t come to the wrong place, did I? Why is there a butler?’

Su Wanyue stepped into the reception room. 

Inside, a richly dressed man was seated.

“Captain, we are all deeply grieved by the unfortunate death of Mayor Peng.” The man opposite spoke first.

“And you are?” Su Wanyue looked up.

“My oversight. Allow me to introduce myself.” The man gave a slight bow, “My name is Xiao Hongfei, currently the Vice Mayor of Jianghai City.”

“Vice Mayor? Then where were you when the mayor was killed?” Su Wanyue questioned.

“I fully understand your eagerness to catch the murderer, but I’m sorry—when the mayor was attacked, I was attending a business meeting.”

Su Wanyue knew clearly that she couldn’t get any useful information out of this man.

She already despised the hypocritical etiquette of officialdom.

So she cut straight to the point: “Can I go see the scene where the mayor was killed?”

“Of course.”

The office was in a mess.

The traces left by the bomb were still clearly visible.

“Serafica, can you tell me anything?”

The white-haired witch appeared again.

“There is no residual trap magic here. It seems the mayor was working when the security guard outside suddenly rushed in and took him down with him.”

Before Su Wanyue could think more, she was drawn by the sound of footsteps.

‘What the hell, didn’t I say not to disturb me?’

The newcomer was that butler, but now his eyes were vacant. 

The moment he saw Su Wanyue, he suddenly charged at her.

“Idiot, he’s been turned into a bomb!”

Without hesitation, Su Wanyue smashed a nearby window and jumped out.

She rolled and landed safely.

But the mayor’s office was a different story.

“Boom”

After the loud noise, a huge gap was blasted into the wall of the city government building.

“Great, now all the clues have been blown away.”

“Serafica, did you sense anything?”

“Wasn’t that butler just a bomb?”

“No, I meant the Vice Mayor.”

Su Wanyue squinted, looking toward the direction of the blasted office.