Chapter 104 – Why Did You Only Come See Me Today?

Lin Xi’s “Deceptive Array” tactic worked.

With the Dragon Princess on her back, she left the woods and came to the roadside. The ones she waited for were not the two Magical Girl operatives, but Zheng Mo, who came tearing over in her car.

Thank goodness… Lin Xi wiped away her sweat, carried the injured woman into the car, then climbed in after her.

“Zheng Mo, step on it. Xia Xun and Misaka Shirai might already be on their way.”

Through the rearview mirror, Zheng Mo saw exactly what Lin Xi had brought into the car.

She asked in shock, “A Dragon Maiden?!”

“Yeah.” Lin Xi took a breath first, then prepared to explain.

Zheng Mo floored the accelerator, and the car shot off. “We’ll talk after we get to the Safe House.”

…

About twenty minutes after the car drove away, Xia Xun and Misaka Shirai returned to the woods at almost the same time.

“The west side was a false alarm,” Xia Xun snapped. “What about the east side?”

Misaka Shirai replied, “Also a false alarm.”

The two of them looked toward the woods together and instantly understood.

“We were tricked.” Xia Xun was almost certain that the draconic Special-Grade Disaster that had fallen into the woods had been rescued.

“Damn it!” Xia Xun swung her Ice Sword, and a large tree crashed down in response.

Misaka Shirai said her Captain, Feng Yuanwei, was so furious he had been cursing nonstop, demanding to know which bastard had set off the disaster alarms.

Xia Xun analyzed the situation.

“Looks like this wasn’t someone accidentally triggering the disaster alarms.”

“Whether it was the alarms on the east and west sides, or the Fireball that lured us north, someone did all of it on purpose.”

“Their goal was to rescue that dragon.”

Misaka Shirai and Xia Xun rushed into the woods. Sure enough, all they found were traces. There was no one there.

“Some bastard played us for fools, completely and utterly.” Xia Xun was so angry her teeth itched. “If I catch that bastard, I’m going to skin them alive and pull out their tendons!”

Xia Xun was this angry because she had sacrificed her precious Saturday with Lin Xi.

After all that, they had come up empty-handed. How could she not be furious?

Misaka Shirai was still relatively calm. She said, “When we defeated the Giant Dragon, that bastard deliberately launched a Fireball to the north to draw our attention.”

“Sigh-“

“We didn’t think it through. I never expected that thing to be able to release a Fireball from a distance.”

Xia Xun had to admit that she had not thought too deeply about it at the time. She had assumed victory was already in their grasp.

“First, Lure the Tiger out of the Mountains. Then, Deceptive Array. There should be more than one of them. This was a team operation.”

The two exchanged a look, becoming even more certain that this was the work of the Dark Realm Alliance.

“Damn Dark Realm Alliance!”

“Looks like Z City’s peaceful days are about to end.”

Xia Xun contacted Captain Zhao Xing and asked him to bring people over to see if they could find any useful clues.

She and Misaka Shirai left the woods and turned back.

Misaka Shirai suddenly said, “This dragon wasn’t the one we’re looking for. It wasn’t the Special-Grade Disaster that set the building on fire.”

“Yeah,” Xia Xun said. She had thought of that too. “The bastard who released the Fireball and drew us away should be our actual target.”

“Not only is that thing fairly strong, it’s also got a brain.”

“Maybe it’s a high-ranking member of the Dark Realm Alliance???”

“We have to find a way to completely capture or eliminate this bastard that’s been giving both our Second Squad and Third Squad such a headache.”

Xia Xun had no choice but to return to the Countermeasures Bureau building with Misaka Shirai first.

After everything that had happened, they needed to go back, analyze it, and sort it all out. Today, she probably would not be able to leave until nightfall.

Damn it!

The more Xia Xun thought about it, the angrier she became. She felt terrible for making Lin Xi wait at her house for nothing.

“Little Mi?!” When Xia Xun returned to the south of the city, Little Mi ran out from the side of the street. “Why are you here?!”

After Lin Xi let Little Mi go, Little Mi ran off to find Xia Xun.

Xia Xun was lured north by the Fireball, so Little Mi ran north.

Xia Xun was lured west by the alarm, so Little Mi ran west.

Xia Xun realized she had been tricked and doubled back south, so Little Mi followed her south again.

Little Mi was suffering, but Little Mi couldn’t say a word.

This was all Lin Xi’s fault. Little Mi wanted nothing more than to bite her to death.

So the moment Xia Xun mentioned Lin Xi’s name, Little Mi’s teeth started itching.

Asking Little Mi would be pointless, so Xia Xun called Lin Xi directly.

…

Lin Xi’s phone rang.

She was still in the car, almost at the Safe House.

The car was equipped with a medical kit, but Lin Xi had no idea how to treat wounds. For now, all she could do was clumsily bandage the Dragon Princess at random.

Zheng Mo said Qin Ling was at the Safe House, so they could have her take a look when they got there.

Lin Xi had only one thing to say:

Qin Ling was amazing!

She took out her phone. “It’s Xia Xun.”

Zheng Mo fell silent.

Lin Xi answered the call. “Xia Xun? What’s up?”

“Lin Xi, are you still at my house?”

“No, I already went out. Just wandering around.”

“Oh. Little Mi ran out. Did you know about that?”

“Really? I didn’t know.” Lin Xi seemed to vaguely hear Little Mi calling in the background.

Xia Xun believed Lin Xi. “Little Mi must have opened the window and run out on its own.”

“Probably.” Lin Xi pushed all responsibility for letting Little Mi escape completely off herself.

“So that’s what happened. Little Mi really is asking for a lesson,” Xia Xun said, feeling that maybe she had been too nice to Little Mi usually. “I’ll deal with it when I get back.”

Little Mi: “…”

“Lin Xi, I’m sorry. I invited you over to hang out, but I can’t even come back.”

The fact that Xia Xun couldn’t go back put Lin Xi at ease. After all, Lin Xi couldn’t go back for the time being either. “It’s fine. Go handle your business.”

Xia Xun insisted strongly, “Then let’s hang out tonight. You have to come to my place tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll come over.” Lin Xi planned to go once she finished up here in the afternoon.

“See you tonight.”

“Mm. See you tonight.”

Lin Xi hung up.

“Lin Xi, you really know how to play people,” Zheng Mo said.

Lin Xi felt terribly guilty about deceiving Xia Xun. “I don’t have a choice. I have to save this Dragon Girl.”

“You’re taking such a risk to save her. What, is she someone you know?”

“Shi Yu should have told you about my amnesia.”

“Mm, she mentioned it. She said that at first, you’d even forgotten how to use your powers.”

Back then, Lin Xi had used amnesia as an excuse to conceal the fact that she was a transmigrator.

“I have some vague impressions of this Dragon Girl.”

“Maybe I know her, or maybe she knows me.”

“I’m saving her because if she knows me, I hope she can help me recover some of my memories.”

Zheng Mo understood Lin Xi’s reason for rescuing her now. “This Dragon Maiden is a Special-Grade Disaster.”

“Maybe she’s a member of the Dark Realm Alliance.”

“After we wake her up, we might even get some useful intel about the Dark Realm Alliance.”

Lin Xi neither confirmed nor denied it.

If the Dragon Girl belonged to the Dark Realm Alliance, then would she know that Evil Maid who wanted to cut Lin Xi in two?

No matter who she was, or what organization she belonged to, they could only talk after waking her up.

When they reached the Safe House, Lin Xi carried her into the basement.

“By the way, how is Shi Yu?” Lin Xi asked Zheng Mo.

“So you do know how to care about me?” Shi Yu’s voice rang out in the basement hall. “Why did it take you until today to come see me?!”