Since Ye Xiao Chi and Jie Geng were still students, the celebration party was about to wrap up after ten o’clock at night.
Greasy grill trays still had a few bits of meat left, and beer bottles and empty plates piled up into a small mountain.
“Hui Jin, be my mom! I want to eat your grilled meat every day!”
The drunk Candy sat duck-legged on the floor, clinging to Hui Jin’s arm and acting spoiled, her delicate cheeks flushed with a tipsy red.
“Miss Candy, you… I’m not your mom… Could you please let go?”
Hui Jin tried to pull her arm back, but Candy clung to her like a sloth.
Helpless, she had no choice but to cast a pleading look at Jiang Yiyun.
“Sorry about that. When Candy drinks too much, she gets like this. I warned her before, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Jiang Yiyun let out a light sigh, spreading her hands and shrugging her shoulders, giving off the impression of an adult watching as a child makes trouble.
“Then why don’t you pull her away instead of just watching?” Hui Jin slapped away the hand tugging at her stomach and said irritably, “Director Jiang, I recall you’re her agent, aren’t you?”
“That’s true, but Candy is the strongest magical girl right now. I’m really afraid that if I try to pull her away, I’ll eat an ‘Ultimate Rainbow’ from her… She’s done this before. The Special Task Force spent a lot of effort to suppress it, and in the end it was labeled a ‘gas explosion.'”
Sigh, the mighty hand of the Special Task Force.
Sigh, the darkness of magical girls.
Hui Jin rubbed her sore arm, and in the end, she even had a few pieces of the meat she herself had grilled.
Magical girls were just too good at eating, especially Ye Xiao Chi, who alone polished off five or six plates of meat and a pile of sashimi.
No wonder Jiang Yiyun said such gatherings were rare—
If they had them more often, the Magical Girl Branch might go bankrupt.
Even though Hui Jin was exhausted afterward, she still did her best to feed every hungry magical girl, since she was the adult.
At that moment, Ye Xiao Chi returned from the restroom.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Candy hanging off Hui Jin and was instantly shocked.
“Ah! Senior Candy!”
She pounced like a kitten, using her super strength to separate the two.
“Wah—Mom!”
Candy whimpered.
Seeing that Candy was about to lunge again, Ye Xiao Chi quickly shielded Hui Jin behind her like a protective hen.
“No way, Senior Candy! Even if you’re my second favorite magical girl, I won’t let you steal my Senior Hui Jin!”
“And who are you calling ‘Mom’? She’s clearly…”
Ye Xiao Chi choked as if something was stuck in her throat.
She glanced guiltily at Hui Jin and coughed.
“Ahem! Anyway, Senior Hui Jin is mine! Yoshi yoshi yoshi…”
With that, the girl started ruffling Hui Jin’s head, making her dizzy.
This wasn’t escaping the tiger’s mouth—
This was jumping from the dragon’s pool into the tiger’s den!
Feeling like her brains were being shaken up, Hui Jin instinctively cried out.
“Xia, Xia Che…! Get Xiao Chi away!”
Xia Che, who had been standing to the side with one hand in his pocket, licking an ice cream while watching the show, finally sauntered over and patted Ye Xiao Chi’s shoulder.
“Alright, Xiao Chi. Miss Hui Jin has been grilling meat for you all night. She must be really tired now. How about you stop bothering her?”
“Eh? Ahaha… Sorry, Senior Hui Jin…”
Ye Xiao Chi sheepishly let go, her face blushing a little—
After all, it seemed she was the one who had eaten the most tonight.
The girl rubbed her soft little belly.
After going to the bathroom, it seemed she was getting a bit hungry again…
Maybe later she could drag Xia Che out for some midnight snacks?
But Xia Che’s words dispelled that thought.
“I have something to discuss with Jie Geng. Wait for me a moment, and I’ll take you home.”
“Mm, okay.”
Ye Xiao Chi obediently returned to her seat and started playing a Super Hero Brawl mobile game.
Xia Che looked at Jie Geng, who timidly nodded and followed him out.
At that moment, Jiang Yiyun also lifted Candy, who was still muttering incomprehensible things like “Mom, feed me…”
Jiang Yiyun said to Hui Jin with a hint of apology.
“I’m sorry, Miss Hui Jin. Our branch’s magical girls have caused you trouble.”
“It’s nothing.”
Hui Jin shook her head.
“…After all, in name, I’m now a member of the Special Task Force.”
She studied the well-preserved middle-aged woman in front of her and pursed her lips slightly.
If she was going to ask, now was the best chance.
Hui Jin hesitated for a moment, then parted her red lips.
“Um, Director Jiang… Could I have a word in private?”
Jiang Yiyun was slightly taken aback, then smiled and nodded.
“Of course.”
So Candy was placed on the sofa in the room, and the two left the private booth, took the elevator, and arrived at the small balcony of this barbecue restaurant.
It was already very late.
Apart from them, there was no one else on the balcony.
The view was excellent—
They could see the city’s nightscape, lights flickering, traffic flowing, as if the city itself was breathing.
“So, Miss Hui Jin, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Jiang Yiyun sat on a rattan chair, crossing her legs and folding her hands on her knees.
She looked at the gray-haired girl, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
“Or should I call you… Mr. Ye Qianqiu?”
Hui Jin frowned.
“Didn’t I tell you not to call me that name when I’m still Hui Jin?”
“Haha… Sorry.”
Jiang Yiyun bowed slightly to apologize, then looked into the distance, at the Special Task Force headquarters building that still shone like a lighthouse in the night.
“It’s just that I’m still very surprised… The true identity of the magical girl Hui Jin is a 40-year-old man. This has never happened before in the entire history of superheroes.”
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to be this exception either.”
Hui Jin said, crossing her arms.
Jiang Yiyun was currently the only person who knew her true identity.
Because transformation-type heroes joining the Special Task Force needed to register their true information, identity exposure was unavoidable.
To prevent more people from knowing her identity, Hui Jin had asked Jiang Yiyun to prepare the highest level of confidentiality agreement.
Her deep red eyes glanced at the woman beside her, who was wearing a black fitted suit and striped trousers with a high ponytail, and slowly spoke.
“…What is the magical girl gene? And what is the container?”
Jiang Yiyun’s movements paused slightly, then a contemplative expression appeared on her face, which was otherwise unremarkable.
“Did that shadow called [Chariot] tell you?”
“Yes.”
Hui Jin stared at her.
“It concerns my daughter. I cannot back down on this matter. Please tell me everything you know, Jiang Yiyun.”
Instinct told her that the live broadcast might be connected to this attack.
Jiang Yiyun was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“Regarding the ‘container’ you mentioned, I’m not too clear. But I know a bit about the magical girl gene.”
Her fingers tapped on her knees in turn like playing the piano.
“The magical girl gene, as the name implies, means that someone with the magical girl gene in their body can become a magical girl. But this gene can only be possessed by females. Once, an organization conducted experiments, and men implanted with the magical girl gene without exception experienced severe rejection reactions… Their deaths were extremely gruesome.”
“But that shadow said Xiao Chi is ‘perfect’… What does a perfect gene mean?”
Hui Jin recalled what Chariot had said, her tone becoming increasingly urgent.
“I don’t know either. Perhaps we can arrange a medical checkup for Xiao Chi later. Compared to that…”
Jiang Yiyun’s gaze sharpened.
“The genes originally stored at the Second People’s Hospital were stolen. The theft occurred on the day of the attack.”
“What? Wasn’t that guy’s target Xiao Chi?”
Hui Jin was stunned.
“And I clearly remember that I completely killed him at the time.”
“Yes and no. Feizuan might have been just one of his targets, but the genes were undoubtedly stolen. This means…”
Jiang Yiyun said slowly.
“Either Chariot’s attack was just a diversion, and another monster entered the cold storage and stole the genes.”
“Or… that guy never died at all.”
“Hui Jin, he played you.”