Welcome, everyone from Hong Kong City, to Fox Fox's amusement park~
Hmm? Don't you all know yet? Hong Kong City has already been enveloped by Fox Fox's powerful magic. It's already Fox Fox's territory~
The TV was showing the live stream of Xin Yuehu. She was sitting on a rooftop somewhere, smiling cheerfully at the camera.
Last night, Fox Fox unleashed an unprecedented super-large magic spell at the Hong Kong City Grand Theater!
Thanks to Inari's mask, Fox Fox's magic has advanced even further~
But then again...if only Fox Fox is having fun, everyone might find it less interesting.
So! Fox Fox plans to get Hyacinth involved too! Ta-da—
A map of Hong Kong City appeared on the screen, highlighting twelve red, blinking points of light, marking the corresponding Inari attractions.
Fox Fox will randomly visit one of these places in the coming time!
Of course, Fox Fox has forbidden Hyacinth and the others from using offensive magic, so everyone doesn't need to worry about large-scale damage to the surroundings~
The video began playing a trailer for the Hong Kong City Heist, but it was quickly turned off, and the lights in the room came back on.
Nan Xiaofeng—or rather, Hyacinth—sat silently in front of the screen, looking at the person who had turned off the video.
It was a stern-faced middle-aged man, dressed in a Hero Association uniform. After turning off the video, he distributed the documents from the table in front of him to everyone present.
“Everyone, allow me to introduce myself,” the middle-aged man said calmly, “I am Cobra, the S-Class Hero stationed in Hong Kong Hero Association. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
There was sparse applause. Everyone in the conference room was focused on the documents in their hands, giving only the most basic courtesy to his self-introduction.
This Hero was the liaison sent by the Hong Kong Hero Association, responsible for contacting the three Magic Girl teams and providing all possible assistance.
Especially after hearing that everyone's magical abilities had been blocked by Xin Yuehu, his support became crucial.
“As you can see, the villain Magic Girl from Rong City, Xin Yuehu, is planning a huge scheme in Hong Kong City, which we will temporarily call—”
“The 'Heist,'” Hyacinth interjected, speaking up.
“But I still don't understand.”
The next person to speak was Hai Lan Shi, her expression puzzled.
“Why is Xin Yuehu doing this? What does she want with Inari Senior's relics?”
“It's better to call them souvenirs. Little Quartz said Inari Senior isn't dead yet,” Red Zircon accurately detected the problem in Hai Lan Shi's words, making a sharp retort.
Then she was hammered by her own team leader.
“In any case, no matter what Xin Yuehu's intentions are, we cannot stand by and do nothing. Furthermore, Inari has made outstanding contributions to Hong Kong City, and we absolutely cannot tolerate Xin Yuehu trampling on her memorial hall like this.”
The speaker was Mai Sui. At this moment, she seemed to have regained the position of team leader, but she appeared more cautious than before, with much of her arrogant sharpness smoothed out.
“Yes, and she also wants to detonate a huge magic barrier in the center of Hong Kong City...” Green Ivy helplessly shook her head and sighed.
Cobra didn't say much, merely picking up a document in silence.
“In any case, I will represent the Hong Kong Hero Association and provide you with full support throughout. Especially since Xin Yuehu does not plan to use magic, the support we can offer will be quite extensive.”
“Extensive support? For example?”
Nightingale asked curiously, tilting her head along with Iris.
...
Later, in the southwestern part of Hong Kong City, at an Inari memorial attraction.
Nan Xiaofeng got out of the car and looked up at the building in front of her.
According to the information she had gathered, this mall was where Inari first transformed to fight Monsters. So many years later, the original operators had long since disappeared, and it had been transformed into a Magic Girl-themed merchandise mall specially supplied by the Hero Association.
Nan Xiaofeng recalled the conclusions reached by everyone during their discussion at the Hero Association Headquarters.
Xin Yuehu will choose these twelve attractions to launch her attacks. What we need to do is discreetly go there to look for possible clues, and at the same time, find a way to dismantle her bomb traps.
The bomb disposal groups also remained unchanged: Mai Sui, Hyacinth, and Hai Lan Shi's three teams would act separately, proceeding to various locations according to the predetermined plan to carry out the dismantling.
Her first location was this mall, which was also the first attraction to appear in Xin Yuehu's preview video.
“...It's quite big, this theme mall.”
Hua Ling calmly pushed up her glasses, and at the same time, tightened the jacket she was wearing, afraid that someone would see what was hidden beneath it:
Black straps, extending from her shoulders to her waist, accentuated the girl's figure while also exuding a cold murderous aura.
—A black tactical chest rig and holster, with a silver-white pistol.
When magic could not be used, aside from bare-handed close combat, channeling magic into bullets became the most efficient means of attack.
That's right, Xin Yuehu only forbade the use of magic, but did not restrict the mobilization of magic power. Perhaps it was Fox Fox's last mercy.
“Let's go, let's go shopping inside... Oh, no, let's investigate!”
Lin Muyao quickly corrected herself before she finished speaking, shifting the heavy shoulder bag further up on her body.
All three maintained their transformed appearances, but had changed their ceremonial attire to their everyday clothes, looking no different from ordinary people.
This merchandise mall was one of Hong Kong City's most famous theme malls, specializing in a variety of Magic Girl merchandise from all over the country and even abroad. It even held small themed comic conventions regularly every month.
As soon as they entered the mall, looking at the giant tapestry cascading like a waterfall from the dome ceiling, Nan Xiaofeng once again thought, “It's really nice to be rich.”
That tapestry was none other than a well-known Magic Girl from Sui City, Miss Mai Sui.
Nan Xiaofeng couldn't imagine how much money this young lady had spent since getting into Magic Girl merchandise, to the point where such a famous large mall would use its biggest display area to showcase her own merchandise...
But seeing the Mai Sui tote bags often carried by visitors, Nan Xiaofeng suddenly felt a sense of emotion about Miss Mai Sui's changes.
Ever since Mai Sui came out of Xin Yuehu's zoo horror story, her condition had been improving day by day, and with Tianqing Jie helping her resolve her worries recently, even the team's internal relationships had improved significantly.
Sure enough, Tianqing Jie is a completely trustworthy person, Nan Xiaofeng thought.
This thought did not last long. The three entered the mall, pretending to shop, and stopped in front of a very conspicuous object.
It was a withered tree protected by ropes and paper strips. Many tourists stopped here to take photos and observe, while also throwing crumpled banknotes or coins into the protected area, piling up a full circle.
“It is said that Inari Senior obtained her guardian star under this withered tree and transformed into a Magic Girl.”
Lin Muyao shared the knowledge she had learned, and casually pulled out a coin from her pocket, throwing it under the withered tree.
“People believe that by throwing some money under the withered tree, they can receive Inari Senior's blessing and countless good luck.”
“It's superstition,” Nan Xiaofeng scoffed.
“Heh heh, this traditional culture is quite interesting. It's a way for people to remember Inari,” Hua Ling said with a smile, and she also threw a coin, bowing respectfully twice under the withered tree.
But just as the three had each thrown a coin and were about to leave, the sharp-eyed Nan Xiaofeng suddenly caught sight of a gray figure in a corner of the crowd.
It was a Gray Wolf Girl, exuding a magical aura all over her body, clearly a Magic Girl in her transformed state!
But she wasn't wearing her ceremonial attire, and people didn't know what Magic Girls usually looked like, so they completely regarded her as an ordinary tourist!
“Look over there! That person is from last night's...”
Perhaps hearing Nan Xiaofeng's voice, the Gray Wolf Girl turned her head to look around a few times, and immediately saw the three Hyacinth in their casual clothes. Her wolf ears straightened, and she took off running.
“Don't run! Stop!”
Nan Xiaofeng didn't hesitate for a moment, chasing after her with long strides!