Siren sounds blanketed Hong Kong City's central mall.
Zi Ying Shi walked blankly through the ruins, the piercing alarms and ambulance sirens around her seemingly stabbing deep into her heart.
"Quick! Move it!"
"The Maisui Squad's sniping position is over there! We've confirmed all four of them!"
..."No, Red Zircon also collapsed on the rooftop; we need more medical support!"
Medical personnel gathered at the office building's exit, as ambulances continuously arrived and swiftly departed, urgently transporting the fallen Magic Girls to the Association Hospital.
The Hero Association Headquarters was contacting the Bai Lili Squad, who were still in Sui City, to come for support—as human medical technology could not have any effect on Magic Girls possessing Star Realm Magic.
"Now, we can only hope Bai Lili and her team can use advanced healing magic… Sigh…"
Passing a staff member in an emergency uniform, Zi Ying Shi overheard his discussion with someone next to him.
"Yes, but their condition is quite good, it's just…"
"…"
Catching sight of Zi Ying Shi passing by, the two quickly greeted her.
"Miss Zi Ying Shi, how is your physical condition? Do you need our help?"
"Ah, no, no need, I'm, I'm quite well."
The purple Magic Girl quickly tightened her hood and face mask, politely declining with shyness while hurrying away.
People were already used to the consistent style of this local Magic Girl, merely watching her leave.
But only Zi Ying Shi herself knew that all of this was just the calm before the storm.
Especially when she walked to the mall's front entrance and met the gaze of Hyacinth, who was receiving emergency treatment from Nightingale, the fear in her heart grew even stronger.
...
"...The regular meeting discussion begins now."
Later, at the Hero Association Headquarters conference room.
The Magic Girls gathered here, but only six remained:
Hai Lan Shi, Gan Lan Shi, Zi Ying Shi,
Hyacinth, Iris, Nightingale.
The original large team of eleven instantly lost five members, all hospitalized at the Hong Kong City Association Headquarters Hospital, a result that was absolutely unacceptable.
Not to mention the condition of the remaining few was not very optimistic:
Hyacinth sat expressionlessly beside Nightingale, her entire body wrapped in bandages and band-aids infused with continuous healing magic by Nightingale, looking like a mummy made of bandages.
Iris and Nightingale seemed relatively well, but still had varying degrees of injuries—the result of being brutally beaten by Hellcat.
As for Hai Lan Shi and Gan Lan Shi…
"...Does anyone wish to speak first?"
In the chief's seat, Hai Lan Shi sat upright.
This was not her trying to act profound—Hai Lan Shi wore a neck brace, had both shoulders in slings, and her arms were firmly fixed with splints; it was hard to imagine what she had gone through.
Even Hyacinth couldn't imagine what kind of terrifying hellish scene Hai Lan Shi had encountered.
One must know that Hai Lan Shi was facing Hellcat! A close-combat Magic Girl with Star Shadow!
Although both sides were forbidden from using magic, in terms of pure close-combat suppression, Hellcat was absolutely one of the most terrifying people in the world, if not the most.
If one had to say… perhaps 'Azure Reaper' Mercury could contend with Hellcat? But the former had long since vanished into the Star Realm, making the topic moot.
But no matter what, Hai Lan Shi's strength was absolutely not enough to provoke Hellcat; her ability to hold Hellcat in the furniture store for twenty minutes was already an extraordinary overperformance.
"I, I have something to say."
Hyacinth was the first to raise her hand.
"After our squad entered the mall, we were ambushed by Hellcat and had a big fight with her in the third-floor furniture store."
"But when I reached the rooftop to confront Xin Yuehu, she had already captured Iris, Nightingale, and Gan Lan Shi, threatening me to a shooting match with her."
At this, Hyacinth looked at the three people beside her, and the three hostages nodded seriously, all agreeing with Hyacinth's statement.
"After that, I confronted Xin Yuehu in a match on the rooftop. Although I lost, Mai Sui, who was on standby in the northern building, launched a sniper support, successfully resolving my crisis at the time and allowing me to pursue her in turn."
"!!…"
Zi Ying Shi suddenly froze, looking up at Hyacinth with eyes full of confusion.
Mai Sui had provided sniper support to Hyacinth?
That's impossible! Mai Sui was the mole she herself had defeated! How could she be the one supporting Hyacinth?
Seeing Zi Ying Shi eager to speak, Hai Lan Shi raised her hand to stop her.
"Our meeting rule is that everyone speaks in order. Zi Ying Shi, if you have something to say, you can start after Hyacinth finishes speaking."
"Ah… okay, okay."
Zi Ying Shi quickly restrained her nervous expression but still couldn't suppress the unease in her heart, waiting for Hyacinth's speech.
What happened after that was clear to everyone; a preview video had even been uploaded by Xin Yuehu to the Magic Girl Fox Fox Official account:
Fox Fox Great Demon King had somehow brought in a Ka52 armed helicopter, piloted by Cheshire Rabbit, chasing Hyacinth relentlessly,
It didn't stop even when Hyacinth performed a century-defining jump from the mall's outer wall.
"The situation I understand is similar to Hyacinth's," Iris said.
"Me too," Nightingale chimed in.
"+1," Gan Lan Shi repeated.
"Then… Zi Ying Shi, tell us about your situation."
Everyone turned to look at Zi Ying Shi, who had been eager to speak since earlier.
The purple Magic Girl pursed her lips, hesitating for a moment, but quickly organized her thoughts and removed the face mask covering half of her face.
The girl's youthful face beneath the mask was exposed to the air, and her gem-like shining eyes looked at Hyacinth, who was seeing her true face for the first time, and in the latter's slightly stunned gaze, she said:
"Red Zircon and I were assigned to the eastern sniping position, responsible for supporting Hyacinth."
"Miss Hyacinth contacted me just now; I don't know if you still remember."
"...Mmm, indeed."
Hyacinth nodded, acknowledging Zi Ying Shi's statement.
"After that, Red Zircon and I encountered sniper suppression from the northern building."
"I thought it was a good opportunity to catch the mole, and coupled with the suppression of sniper fire, I was forced to abandon my support position and went with Red Zircon to check on the Maisui Squad's situation."
"We were met with enemy fire resistance inside the building. When we pursued them to the rooftop corner, Red Zircon was ambushed by a Claymore mine and knocked unconscious. I confronted Xin Yuehu's familiar mole on the rooftop and shot it, eliminating it."
After briefly explaining the cause and effect, Zi Ying Shi continued:
"That familiar mole had the ability to change its appearance; it even transformed into me right in front of my eyes!"
"I believed it absolutely couldn't be allowed to escape, so I decisively shot it, eliminating it."
Everyone frowned, but remembering Xin Yuehu's earlier statement about her familiar's abilities, they weren't too shocked.
But just as Zi Ying Shi finished speaking, Iris suddenly raised her hand.
"I have something to say."
"Miss Zi Ying Shi, you just said that you eliminated the familiar mole disguised as Mai Sui on the rooftop. Besides you, who else was present at that time?"
"Red Zircon, she was there at the time."
"But Red Zircon was already unconscious from the mine ambush when you eliminated the familiar, correct?"
Nightingale immediately questioned.
Zi Ying Shi was a bit anxious but helpless, so she could only nod in acknowledgment.
"That means, everything that happened in the northern building is currently just your side of the story, am I right, Miss Zi Ying Shi?"
Iris slowly voiced her thoughts, her eyes narrowing, staring intently at Zi Ying Shi, whose expression suddenly tensed.
"I… but what I said is all true… I, I really was with Red Zircon… with her…"
"Calm down, Zi Ying Shi."
Gan Lan Shi spoke to soothe her but also had to consider the very reasonable questions raised by Iris and Nightingale.
Only now did Zi Ying Shi finally understand why Xin Yuehu had made her familiar say those words.
This was a blatant open scheme!
The so-called familiar mole, its mission was to actively expose itself after collecting intelligence, then lure her into a one-on-one duel, and then be eliminated by her.
Because only in this way could this familiar complete this perfect logical siege:
As the only person in the northern office building who could tell the truth, but her description of "Mai Sui is the mole" contradicted the sniper support Hyacinth received…
This way, no matter whether she told the truth or not, in the eyes of those who hadn't experienced it, "she" as Zi Ying Shi would inevitably be the primary suspect!
Zi Ying Shi suddenly realized, understanding the true meaning of the familiar's cunning smile.
This was a perfect… Infernal Affairs!
