Chapter 144: Secret Movements

"To wield a beast's magic without relying on its core—that girl's talent is unique. So, we must find a way to bring her back."

Under the blazing midday sun, Bing Feng Qi lit a cigarette, held it between his lips, and took a deep drag:

"Fang Ting City is no longer tenable. We must act immediately. While we still have fighting strength left, we must concentrate and break through."

On the twenty-fifth day of being trapped in Fang Ting City, Bing Feng Qi had never felt as anxious as he did at this moment.

The remnants of the Black Ash Dawn lingering in this city were gradually shrinking. The Anomaly Strategy Bureau, relentless as hyenas, was hunting them down from all sides. By today, only a few core squads remained.

If "Moth" were still alive, the Black Ash Dawn would never have fallen into such a predicament. But ever since Moth was defeated by the Magical Girl, and the management of the Fang Ting City Anomaly Strategy Bureau changed hands, the entire situation instantly reversed.

The Black Ash Dawn, which had once been able to move about boldly, carrying out various operations completely unconcerned about leaving traces, was now forced to carefully conceal its movements to avoid detection by the Magical Girl.

The reason was simple: a Magical Girl capable of killing "Moth" would have no difficulty killing them either.

Moth was a King's Ash Servant of the Black Ash Dawn, one of the group closest to the core power, and also one of the groups possessing the greatest strength. Even among the Ash Servants, though Moth was not renowned for combat ability, defeating Ash Soldiers like them was not difficult.

And now, Moth was dead. The Ash Soldier Beast-Tamer units under her command had been swept away almost entirely by strange threads falling from the sky on that eerie night, leaving only a few remnant squads still hiding around Fang Ting City.

These remnants contained few Beast-Tamers to begin with, and even those present possessed little strength. Furthermore, lacking a leader, they failed to cooperate for a long time, and were eventually wiped out one by one by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau.

Of course, Bing Feng Qi and his squad were an exception.

Because they had never been Moth's people from the start; they had not participated in the operation that night.

Relying on Moth's concealment and protection, during the Black Ash Dawn's peak, at most three Ash Soldier groups from different sources coexisted in Fang Ting City: the "Soldier Moths" and "Worker Moths" belonging to "Moth"; the "Soldier Hornets" and "Worker Hornets" belonging to "Longhorn Beetle"; and the "Soldier Bees" and "Worker Bees" belonging to "Bee".

Among them, Moth's Ash Soldiers needed no explanation; they were her direct subordinates, stationed in Fang Ting City, obeying her orders. The source of the Longhorn Beetle Ash Soldiers was slightly different; these people roamed throughout the entire Donghua Province, searching everywhere for high-quality resources and potential "Sacrificial Children". As for the Bee Ash Soldiers, they originated from a deal between Bee and Moth.

Bee paid some compensation, persuading Moth to allow his people to enter her territory to take away certain things he desired. Among these "things," a girl named Bai Jingxuan was explicitly named.

Bing Feng Qi became the executor of this mission.

As one of the few Ash Soldiers under Bee who had reached the Pupa Stage strength, he arrived in Fang Ting City a month ago. However, upon reaching this city, they discovered that the matter had been ruined at some point by the "Longhorn Beetle" Ash Soldiers who had suddenly appeared; helplessly, they halted their operations. While they were still considering their next plan, Moth was killed by the Magical Girl.

This made Bing Feng Qi reflect for a time on whether he should have consulted a fortune teller before leaving home.

Unfortunately, thinking of this now was too late. The situation had changed far too suddenly, leaving them no time to react, and they were thus trapped here.

"You speak easily, wanting to take her away, but that little girl is now a Magical Girl. Bing Chu Three, that mad dog, alerted the snake and brought things to this pass. It will be very difficult for us to continue our operations from here."

Beside Bing Feng Qi, Bing Feng Twenty-Five squatted in the corner, staring into the void: "If we can really leave this damn place, I will definitely file a formal complaint against 'Longhorn Beetle' and ask him how he leads his subordinates."

"Stop worrying about useless things now. Think hard about how to break through."

Exhaling a puff of white smoke from his nose, Bing Feng Qi glanced at him: "The Anomaly Strategy Bureau has apparently acquired some new equipment recently. They have already captured a Beast-Tamer. If this continues, by the time all of Moth's forces are brought to justice, we won't be able to hide for long either."

These past few days, under several rounds of encirclement and pursuit by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, they fought as they retreated, constantly shrinking their area of operation, until finally, they could only hide in a small civilian house.

Although they had controlled the original owner of the house, forcing him to provide supplies for their survival, this was not a long-term solution. With such a large group, even if they remained completely still, it was impossible not to leave traces.

"Let's move to another place. Fang Ting City is so big; waging a guerrilla war against them isn't impossible."

Bing Feng Twenty-Five's attitude toward the matter of "breaking through" was obviously quite pessimistic: "Throwing all our manpower into a breakout, and even wanting to take a Magical Girl with us when we leave... we might end up attracting a Flower-Class monster. Are you sure you aren't talking in your sleep?"

"I am sure."

Bing Feng Qi's expression was calm: "A simple breakout is meaningless. If we cannot bring back that little girl, we will die anyway. And right now might be our last chance. If we drag it out any longer, it will probably become increasingly difficult to escape."

"Why?" Bing Feng Twenty-Five looked surprised.

"Because Moth is no longer here. This is the Magical Girl's territory."

Bing Feng Qi pointed a finger toward the window: "Just like flowers blooming in the wild, if there is one, there will be a second. The social interactions between Magical Girls will cause the number of Magical Girls here to increase."

"... Tsk, what a hassle."

"Yes, what a hassle."

Bing Feng Qi spoke as if muttering to himself: "So if we are going, it must be now."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Just thought of one."

"What plan?"

"A hostage."

Bing Feng Qi lowered his head again: "According to the investigation by the Anomaly Strategy Bureau's undercover agents, their new Director seems to have a close relationship with the Magical Girl. The information left by Moth indicates he has some connection with that Blue Flower-Class, and our mission target also seems to have a very intimate relationship with him."

"... So you plan to kidnap the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau?"

Bing Feng Twenty-Five looked at him as if he were a madman: "At this critical moment? Aren't you afraid that Blue monster will tear you apart alive?"

"So I plan to 'kidnap' our mission target."

Bing Feng Qi looked at Bing Feng Twenty-Five as if he were an idiot: "Use her life to threaten the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, pretending to demand something, and use him to make that Blue Flower-Class hesitate to act. But in reality, we are only feigning a threat. What we truly need is the 'hostage'. After misleading their actions, we can find an opportunity to escape."

"I don't think kidnapping a Magical Girl is a better idea. Isn't there a safer method?"

"She is only a Bud-Class Magical Girl. If you don't want to kidnap her, the only remaining option is to kill that Blue Flower-Class first."

Bing Feng Qi tossed the remaining half of his cigarette onto the ground and crushed the butt with his foot: "Which do you think is more feasible?"

"... Then let's go kidnap that little girl."

Watching his action of crushing the cigarette butt, Bing Feng Twenty-Five asked: "And then? How do we kidnap her? And after we really kidnap her, how do we escape?"

"There are still two undercover agents left in the Anomaly Strategy Bureau. Because they haven't acted yet, they haven't been exposed."

Bing Feng Qi clasped his hands behind his back and paced around the room: "All other undercover agents have been eliminated, so once these two are used, they will inevitably be exposed as well. We only have one chance."

"First, we need a diversionary action. As you said, we must split our forces into two groups. The main force will lie in wait for our mission target, that little girl. The remaining personnel will feign an attack on the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau. Among them, there had better be a Beast-Tamer of the Caterpillar Stage or higher, forcing the other Magical Girls to rush to support the Anomaly Strategy Bureau first."

"Afterwards, we capture that little girl and negotiate with the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau: if he wants to save her life, he must return the Beast Source left behind by Moth, and simultaneously stop our pursuit and encirclement until the exchange conditions are met."

"Finally, have the undercover agents perform some simple operations on the Anomaly Strategy Bureau's shift schedule, creating a gap of about five minutes for us, allowing us to directly climb over the protective net outside the city and escape via the wasteland."

"Hah? Escape via the wasteland?"

Bing Feng Twenty-Five's voice immediately rose several octaves: "What kind of joke is this? What's the difference between this and going straight to our deaths?"

"If I am still alive at that time, we will have the capital to barely survive in the wasteland."

Bing Feng Qi's voice was calm, carrying a hint of madness that chilled the bone within his hoarseness: "They won't let us board a Landship. Our only way to live is to cross the wasteland with our bare bodies."

"What if we die in the wasteland?"

Soldier Bee Twenty-Five swallowed hard: "We have to bring the mission target with us. If we die, she will die in the wasteland too. By then, the Boss will probably dredge our souls back to refine into feed."

"So I will notify the Boss before we flee into the wasteland, letting him send people to extract us there."

Soldier Bee Seven stood by the window of the civilian house: "If we die, we just need to leave a little survival space for that little girl before we go; the Boss's people will take her away."

His words left Soldier Bee Twenty-Five silent.

The two belonged to the same command under the Bee, counting as comrades with a long history of cooperation; he knew Soldier Bee Seven's character and capabilities well, and this seemed to be their final option right now.

Whether to cower pathetically in Fang Ting City like a frog in warm water, slowly waiting to die, or to throw everything into a desperate gamble, fighting for the only path to life, it seemed no choice was needed.

Everyone who joined the Black Ash Dawn harbored some desire and pursuit; for the sake of this pursuit, life itself was often just another chip.

Gambling was something every one of them had been doing since they set foot on this path.

"I don't know whether to praise you as a smart madman or a crazy smart person."

He leaned back against the wall edge: "You always manage to convince me with your twisted logic; this time is no different. You win."

"I just want to stay alive."

Soldier Bee Seven's expression was indifferent: "Any creature will unleash wisdom when seeking survival; even beasts do so, let alone us humans."

"So when do we act?"

Soldier Bee Twenty-Five shook his head, clearly ignoring his self-talk: "Since you have devised this plan, I assume you have already set the time."

"In two days."

Soldier Bee Seven turned from the window: "We need to do some guiding, tricking the Moth's forces out to feed them to the Anomaly Bureau, creating an opportunity to easily capture the mission target."

"So that's going to die in two days; we'd better have a proper last meal before making our move."

Soldier Bee Twenty-Five rubbed his stomach: "Speaking of which, our people have been cutting back on food for days already. Everything edible in this house has been eaten; why hasn't the homeowner sent us new supplies yet?"

"There won't be new supplies." Soldier Bee Seven walked back into the room.

"Why?"

"Because there is no homeowner anymore."

Pointing a finger toward the living room nearby, his fingertip aimed at several black plastic bags placed in the corner, Soldier Bee Seven said indifferently: "Yesterday I heard their phones ring; suspecting someone tried to call the police, I ended their mission early."

"Ah, no wonder."

Soldier Bee Twenty-Five nodded: "I was wondering why there was always a scent in the living room, making my Beast Viscera keep twitching."

"Perfect; after the meat pigs die, they can still serve their proper purpose."

Soldier Bee Seven pulled a cigarette from his pocket again, placed it between his lips, and raised a hand to light the lighter. The lighter's flame shone through his palm, reflecting flickering firelight in his pitch-black, hollow eyes: Reading books, ha.

"With this, for the next two days, we won't need to search for other supplies anymore."

Lin Yun returned to the Anomaly Bureau alone.

In the end, he still did not agree to Emerald's "product trial," even though the other party lowered the conditions again and again, finally changing from taking off clothes to taking off socks.

Emerald claimed her previous behavior was merely to collect data on Senior Cuique's abilities, and that taking off socks now was just to get closer to the skin for easier examination, but Senior Cuique felt there was still something fishy about it, so she politely declined and left the research institute.

Of course, since it concerned her own injuries, Senior Cuique did not speak too absolutely, merely replying "continue considering."

And as soon as he returned to the Anomaly Bureau, Tian Sheng, who had been waiting outside the door, followed up; he walked with Lin Yun into the Director's office and, with practiced ease, handed over the document in his hand:

"Director, this is our combat briefing for the past few days."

Lin Yun reached out to take the document, sat behind his desk, flipped through it briefly, and grasped the key points: "Captured two Beast-Transformers? That fast?"

"We have to thank the Magical Armament for that."

Tian Sheng scratched the back of his head: "Our captain has been praising your great achievements these past few days. I tried it myself and felt the effect of this equipment is truly too advanced."

"Dead objects are just dead objects; weapons ultimately depend on the user. You used weapons to defeat the enemy, so that is your merit; no need to flatter me."

Lin Yun waved his hand casually, not accepting this indirect flattery: "So it seems your squad is already the most contributing in the Special Operations Department. What needs or plans do you have next?"

"Oh, as for that, actually our captain also asked me to submit an application to you."

Tian Sheng scratched his head and handed over another document in his hand:

"According to investigation feedback from other squads, there seems to be traces of Black Ash Dawn members hiding in a residential area in Li Xing District; he wants to apply for search permission there."

"Residential area? Are you sure?"

Lin Yun had no doubts, reached out to take the document Tian Sheng handed over, scanned the paper with his gaze, and then slowly read aloud the printed content above:

— "The name of the residential area is... 'Lakeside Spring'?"

(End of this chapter)