Chapter 305: L Organization

Suddenly.

On the nightstand, beside the wooden Stand-in Body, a phone suddenly vibrated, shattering the quiet of the bedroom.

"..."

The girl had a popsicle stick in her mouth. Her cherry-red eyes glanced lazily at the phone screen. She casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with slender fingers, then reached out, picked up the still-buzzing phone, and answered the call.

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"Mr. Lin Guang, good afternoon."

On the other end, Sixth Division Section Chief Qin Shengshi's voice was gentle and polite, carrying a formal tone.

"I apologize for calling out of the blue. I hope I haven't disturbed your rest."

The girl silently pulled the popsicle from her mouth. Several silvery threads glistened in the sunlight.

"Something you need?"

As she spoke, a red bow-shaped force field phantom flickered at her throat, converting that sweet voice into a perfectly ordinary young man's tone.

These past few days, this number had sent him many messages, all regarding the follow-up handling of the P Incidents. The attitude had been quite friendly throughout, as if laying groundwork for a more formal conversation to come. And today, the other party seemed to feel the groundwork was sufficient and had finally called directly.

Qin Shengshi paused, her tone turning very serious.

"First, please allow me, on behalf of the Sixth Division, to thank you... and your friend, for your contributions to the peace of Wind Capital."

"Mm. Just something I did in passing."

The cherry-haired girl gave a noncommittal response.

With the pleasantries done, a brief silence fell on the other end of the line.

"...Mr. Lin Guang."

Qin Shengshi's voice rose again. "Your friend, how is she doing?"

Lin Guang tilted his head and touched the gem on his chest, feeling the steady breathing within. "Same as always."

That idiot had played to her heart's content that night and then conked out again.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but ultimately decided to get straight to the point. With a powerhouse this unfathomable, rather than beating around the bush and probing indirectly, it was better to ask openly. That way, she wouldn't risk stirring up any ill will.

She added:

"She, or rather, all of you... which side are you on?"

Lin Guang gazed out the window with those beautiful cherry-red eyes. It was late October, yet the sunlight was bright enough to be called scorching. His tone was flat as he spoke:

"Our own side."

"..."

Qin Shengshi keenly caught something in that sentence.

Our.

The tone of that word carried a certain inexplicable nuance.

It was as if she had understood something. "You... are an organization?"

Though the question might be somewhat presumptuous, she could no longer afford to care.

*Crunch.*

The cherry-haired girl bit off the front section of the popsicle, chewed it up, and swallowed. Then, unhurried, she spoke. "I suppose you could say that."

"...In other words... you have more than one friend?"

Qin Shengshi's voice carried a shock she couldn't quite conceal.

Lin Guang glanced at the countdown for the next mission on the system panel.

[8 days 19 hours 27 minutes 34 seconds...]

This time, she didn't dance around the subject and gave a definitive answer.

"Mm."

Though it probably wouldn't be just one for much longer.

The next moment, before the other party could press further, she hung up directly.

...

"...Phew."

Hearing the dial tone, the pink-haired woman in a white dress shirt set down her phone.

Yet her eyes had never once left the computer screen before her.

It was a clear screenshot.

In the darkness, a brilliant crimson flame blazed to life, elegantly outlining a silver capital letter "L."

The final frame of that day's livestream.

"Lin Guang, Lin, L..."

"L Organization, is it?"

After a moment, she spun her chair around, pulled up the blinds, and looked outside.

Afternoon sunlight poured over the steel jungle of the city center, glass curtain walls refracting dazzling spots of light. Wind Capital's most iconic landmark, the massive windmill towering nearly a thousand meters high, still turned steadily.

On the surface, Wind Capital remained that bustling, vibrant international metropolis. But only from a superhuman's standpoint could one clearly perceive the surging undercurrents concealed beneath the prosperity.

The ceiling had already begun to loosen.

Qin Shengshi had already noticed that her curse power, which had been stagnant for so long, had spontaneously risen by a fraction these past few days. For a top-tier sorcerer like her, the next realm was now within reach.

But it equally meant that those old relics slumbering through the ages, the ancient demons, would all usher in their opportunity for revival.

The future situation would only prove more convoluted than previously estimated.

After all...

Wind Capital had been special since ancient times.

Wind Capital was none other than Fengdu.

As the forefront of the mysterious tide, this place sat directly above that Hollow. That was the passage leading beyond the world, and also the easiest breach point for demons invading reality.

The death of the Pollution Demon was not an ending. It wasn't even the beginning of the end. It was merely the end of the beginning.

Who knew how many beings from every corner, every era, every dimension were lurking within this city of tens of millions, draped in the skins of ordinary people.

And who knew how many within those seemingly calm, established powers harbored hidden agendas, coldly watching this coming storm from the sidelines.

Everyone understood that the truly surging mysterious tide would sooner or later come crashing down upon this city.

Qin Shengshi fished a slim women's cigarette from the pack on her desk, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Through the curling smoke, she suddenly thought of that Divination Demon.

Ever since its brief activity that day, its avatar had cackled wildly in the deepest recesses of the containment facility for an entire night before falling completely silent once more.

Its eyes... just how far into the future had it seen?

And what did that future look like?

Qin Shengshi narrowed her deep yellow eyes slightly.

If it had been before, she would have held a fairly pessimistic attitude.

But at least for now, though there were many enemies, there were equally no few like-minded allies. With so many people still willing to fight to uphold the baseline and order of this society, then this world wasn't so bad after all.

And moreover...

Magical girls, huh?

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A somewhat peculiar smile suddenly appeared on Qin Shengshi's face.

So beings representing love, hope, and courage really did exist.

Actually, when she was little... she seemed to have been part of that sort of work's audience, too.

"...!!"

She took a deep drag of her cigarette and suddenly froze, remembering something.

There was one thing she'd forgotten to mention.

Right now, on Wind Capital's

</path> internet, the popularity of that red magical girl had reached an unbelievable level. Fan-made re-edit clips were sprouting up like bamboo shoots after rain. Many small workshops had already started rushing to produce related merchandise while the hype was hot, and it was selling extremely well...

That magical girl... surely she wouldn't care about such trivial matters, right?