Chapter 167: Begging

At noon on the same day, in the director's office of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, Lin Yun was dealing with a headache-inducing guest.

A woman in a shabby Taoist robe sat before his desk, holding a boxed meal and shoveling the food into her mouth with ravenous speed.

"Delicious, delicious."

Mumbling with her mouth full, she said, "It's been many days since I ate so heartily. It's truly refreshing!"

"I hope this is the last time."

Behind the desk, Lin Yun rubbed his forehead with a headache: "The Anomaly Strategy Bureau is neither a restaurant nor a shelter. Please leave immediately after finishing your meal."

"Mm... yes! I don't want this either!"

Swallowing the food in her mouth, Yuan tapped her chopsticks against the meal box: "I've truly experienced the vicissitudes of life and the fickleness of human nature these past days. I've fallen into such destitution that I can't even afford a full meal."

"Destitute..."

His eyelids twitched twice. Though puzzled, Lin Yun maintained a poker face: "What exactly happened?"

"Nothing much. To put it briefly, even a hero is brought down by a lack of money."

Yuan held her chopsticks with her thumb and spread her hands: "I have no money on me."

"I know you have no money; otherwise, you wouldn't have been arrested for dining and dashing before."

Lin Yun nodded: "I just don't understand how you fell into such a state."

The Yuan before him looked even more wretched than a few days ago. If her Taoist robe had merely been worn out before, it could now be described as filthy and chaotic, looking as if she had rolled in a garbage heap.

The image of her previously declaring loudly that she would "have a good time in human cities" and then departing with flair was still vivid, yet to think she ended up looking like this in the blink of an eye was truly embarrassing.

"This is a long story... I originally wanted to find a place to work, but after a few days of effort, the foreman in charge of me completely disappeared. I don't have a phone, nor do I know where he is."

Placing her chopsticks on the meal box, Yuan sighed: "Since I couldn't find work, I thought about doing odd jobs elsewhere, but they all asked for some kind of 'academic qualification.' I didn't even finish elementary school before I started practicing martial arts; how could I produce such a thing?"

"So?"

"So, I have no money, and my dry rations are gone. I have nowhere to stay and nothing to eat."

Yuan licked her lips, seeming still somewhat unsatisfied with the meal she had just finished: "Since I couldn't find a place to sleep, I originally planned to find a random spot in a park to lie down, but there are patrols at night that don't allow homeless people to sleep outdoors. I was kicked out after sleeping there for one night."

"Since I couldn't sleep in the park, I had to look for abandoned houses, but I searched several places that were too filthy to step into. The rare few clean rooms were already occupied by other beggars, and they thought I was there to provide some illegal services."

Waving her hand as if to ward off bad luck, Yuan continued: "No choice, so in the end, I had to sleep under a bridge. It was a bit cold at night, but as martial artists, we aren't afraid of falling ill from such cold."

"Then why don't you solve the eating problem!"

Sammy suddenly interjected from the side, sounding full of resentment: "If you can't solve your own eating problem, that's one thing, but making me fight stray cats for trash cans! How many times must I say it? I'm a spirit, not a cat!"

"You look so much like one. If cats can use their paws to dig through trash cans, why can't you?"

Yuan looked somewhat puzzled: "Don't talk about you; even I, when I couldn't endure the Great Abstinence, would go dig through trash cans..."

"Enough, enough. I already know your situation."

Feeling that letting them continue would turn into an argument, Lin Yun decisively raised his hand to stop them: "If you want to argue, can you go outside to do it? As the main culprits who previously destroyed Anomaly Strategy Bureau facilities, you are currently wanted by us. Although the Bureau lacks the ability to arrest you, can you please not treat this place like a vegetable market?"

"Eh, I'm wanted already?"

Yuan blinked, turning to look at Sammy behind her: "See, what do you think? Wanted. Doesn't that feel a bit like a villain?"

"I'd rather you did something more fitting of a villain's identity, rather than acting like a street swindler, going from street to alley to find people for fortune-telling and begging..." Sammy sighed heavily.

Yuan argued with conviction: "So isn't that why I came to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau to beg?"

— "I must emphasize again: the Anomaly Strategy Bureau is not a shelter."

Seeing that this human and this spirit were about to formulate a crime plan right in front of him, Lin Yun interrupted once more: "However, if it is merely to solve the problem of food and shelter, that is not something that cannot be considered. Although the Anomaly Strategy Bureau cannot provide any funding to wanted criminals, if you truly have such needs, I can give you a small sum of money in my personal capacity."

"Ah, money? Really?"

Hearing this, Yuan's spirits lifted: "Coming to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau to beg actually works?"

"Let me state beforehand: this sum will not be large, used only to solve the most basic needs for food and lodging. And as a condition of exchange, you must not cause trouble in Fang Ting City in the future."

Lin Yun rubbed his temple with one hand: "If you cannot do this, I will only report it to higher authorities to see if the Magical Kingdom has any opinions."

This statement was actually made to scare them, because regarding the existence of this human and this spirit, he had already reported it to Emerald, and the answer he received was very simple: there would be no major problems.

Although he didn't know where the other party got such confidence, since the Gem Scepter had given such a promise, he didn't want to get involved in this matter any further.

After all, the safety of the Beast Source was no longer his concern—it had already become Emerald's thing.

He had already packed it up and thrown it to Emerald.

Realizing that keeping this thing in hand would only attract the covetous eyes of those with ulterior motives, and considering that he currently had no way to handle the endless stream of enemies, he decisively threw it away.

What he needed to do most now was maintain stability in Fang Ting City. Allowing the Beast Source to cause trouble in his hands would not only be detrimental to his own safety but also to the growth of the new team members.

For enemies at Yuan's level, if they didn't have great malice, it would be fine, but once they arrived carrying immense malice, it would undoubtedly be a calamity for Fang Ting City.

Considering all this, there was no more suitable buyer than Emerald. No matter how untrustworthy the Gem Scepter was, it was ultimately on the side of the Magical Girls; having the Beast Source fall into Emerald's hands was better than falling into Claw Mark's hands.

And as long as the owner of the Beast Source became Emerald, the responsibility for its safety would naturally transfer to Emerald's shoulders. An incumbent Gem Scepter holding power to protect the Beast Source would be easier than an injured person like him.

Precisely because of this, Lin Yun now faced Yuan with more confidence—the thing was not in his hands, so he wasn't afraid of what the other party could do.

His attitude, on the contrary, made Yuan, who had run to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau with the idea of "just trying," feel curious: "Not causing trouble is very simple; after all, I don't like bullying the weak. But this money... you're just giving it like this? Not asking for anything more?"

"You not causing trouble is a huge blessing for the Anomaly Strategy Bureau."

Lin Yun narrowed his eyes: "As for other requests, I don't think you could offer anything in your current state."

After saying this, he noticed the other party looking at him with a strange expression.

"Hmm... your appearance is actually quite decent, you could be considered a handsome guy. Your identity is also not bad; you're a director."

Yuan rubbed her chin: "If you want something special, I'm not unwilling to consider it."

"Forget it."

Hearing the other party's slightly veiled suggestive words, Lin Yun remained unmoved, merely letting his eyelids droop and saying indifferently: "Please take the money and leave; do not linger in the Anomaly Strategy Bureau."

"Hahaha, with your shabby appearance, what man would be interested in you?"

Seeing Yuan's suggestive words and actions hit a wall, Sammy immediately spoke out to mock: "You'd better not have any twisted thoughts."

"Mm."

Even with her carefree personality, having her charm as a woman directly denied left Yian somewhat frustrated: "You rejected me so decisively? Do I have no attraction at all as a woman?"

"Sorry, you are beautiful, but I am married."

Lin Yun remained expressionless: "And I love my wife very much."

"Alright, alright, then pretend I never said it."

Placing the lunch box in her hand onto the desk before her, Yian feigned giving up and said: "Final confirmation: you said no troublemaking, but challenging a Magical Girl to a fight isn't troublemaking, right?"

"As long as no one is killed and no public facilities are destroyed, it doesn't count."

Having guessed the other party's intention, Lin Yun barely restrained the twitching of his mouth corner and stated in a calm voice: "However, neither I personally nor the Strategy Bureau wish to see such a thing happen."

From an emotional standpoint, he very much wanted to dissuade the other party from the idea of challenging someone to a fight as well, because he was busy and truly had no time to fight with a martial arts fanatic every day; however, from a rational standpoint, blocking all of the other party's paths would be detrimental to negotiations. Therefore, he could only express his opposition in the tone of a third party, using relatively soft language.

"Then can you give me a contact method for Cornflower?"

His opinion obviously failed to touch Yian's nerves; hearing that challenging someone to a fight was not strictly forbidden, she immediately perked up: "I haven't seen her in several days."

"The Strategy Bureau has a rule of mutual confidentiality; we will not provide any Magical Girl's personal information to anyone."

Lin Yun said solemnly: "Moreover, even if we provided the contact method to you, it would be useless. As you said earlier, you do not have a mobile phone."

"Oh right, I don't have a mobile phone."

Only then did Yian nod belatedly: "But it doesn't matter; if I have money, I can use a public phone. By the way, since that's the case, why don't you Strategy Bureau take the Buddha all the way to the west and just give me a mobile phone..."

"No discussion."

Lin Yun terminated this conversation with extremely cold words.

Finally, he gave Yian several thousand yuan, ensuring this was enough to cover the other party's food and accommodation for a while, then decisively "escorted" the two troublesome guests out of the Strategy Bureau.

Only after seeing these two great deities off was he able to return to leisure and begin handling the work he had not finished today.

The Director of the Strategy Bureau did not only have internal affairs of the bureau to handle; he also had to deal with communications with Strategy Bureaus in other cities, as well as with the local municipal government.

In the past month, the Full Moon Festival, Lakeside Spring, and the incident of the Strategy Bureau being attacked a few days ago caused the municipal government to bleed heavily financially. Whether it was the compensation for sacrificed employees or the reconstruction costs of the Strategy Bureau, it all fell on their heads, which made some government officials very dissatisfied. Although they knew Lin Yun, the newly appointed Director of the Strategy Bureau, had some background, it could not stop them from raising "opinions" to Lin Yun, demanding he standardize the management of the Strategy Bureau more and reduce additional losses.

Regarding this, Lin Yun had to specially make time to go to the municipal government for a report to explain the issue of increased expenditures in recent days, while also providing comfort to ensure the Strategy Bureau would not have its funding source cut off because of this.

With such a huge Strategy Bureau and over a thousand employees, the maintenance funds required were no small sum. If he failed to comfort the municipal government officials properly, even if this sum was cut by one or two tenths, many places would become stretched thin, and there would be plenty of things to give him a headache later.

Thinking about these issues and completing some of the paperwork at hand, time gradually advanced to evening, and it was time to get off work.

Although there was still much work unfinished, Lin Yun could no longer continue, because after getting off work he had another schedule—to go to the Emerald Institute.

In recent days, he always had to go there.

First, because the transaction of the Beast Source was completed, the treatment process for the True Form had therefore begun; he needed to go to Emerald to undergo more examinations and perform some minor physical therapy work to start controlling his own injuries.

Second, it was because he had a fellow patient there who needed looking after, namely Hong Siyu.

The reason Hong Siyu was able to regain the power of a Magical Girl, as expected, was due to Emerald. According to her, Hong Siyu had retired only recently, not exceeding ten years, so there were some pathways to regain her own Magic Source.

Of course, when asked about the specific pathways, she became vague, obviously not wanting to mention it much, and it was not a legitimate path.

As for the motive for doing so, it was because when Hong Siyu was sent to the Realm for treatment, it coincided with Emerald's first proposal of a deal to Senior Cuique; to increase some bargaining chips, Emerald privately inquired of Hong Siyu. After obtaining her consent, she carried out such an operation.

Hong Siyu regaining the power of a Magical Girl was not without hidden dangers. Just from the aspect of identity, because she had not joined the Realm like a normal Magical Girl, nor had she obtained the qualification of a lifetime Magical Girl like Senior Cuique, she now, like Claw Mark, was considered an "illegal Magical Girl."

And if discussing the power itself, there were even more problems, because before regaining the power of a Magical Girl, Hong Siyu had not lived as an ordinary person. During these two years in Fang Ting City, the Remnant Beast Magic Source implanted in her body had subjected her to severe contamination; even though Senior Cuique later directly separated the concept of the Remnant Beast with scissors, the sleeping True Form still exhibited a certain degree of mutation.

Therefore, the physical condition of Hong Siyu, who had regained the power of a Magical Girl, was not stable.

Compared to Senior Cuique's occasional symptoms of turning into a Magical Girl, her symptoms were much simpler—she couldn't turn back.

It could be said that this state was relatively much better than Senior Cuique's, but that was simply because Senior Cuique's state was too terrible; from an absolute level, her own state was not good at all.

According to Emerald, after obtaining the Beast Source, she could conduct some targeted attempts to stabilize Hong Siyu's physical condition. Therefore, in recent days, Hong Siyu had to go to the Emerald Institute for follow-up treatment.

It had to be said that the weight of this bargaining chip did indeed shake Senior Cuique's decision to a certain extent.

For this reason, in the past few days after getting off work, no matter how busy the work was, he also had to find a way to make time to go to the Emerald Institute to learn about the latest progress of the treatment.

(End of this chapter)