Underground, in Hong Kong City's central district.
Nan Xiaofeng stood in the subway maintenance tunnel, carefully sensing the subtle magic emanating around her.
Soon, she snapped out of her focused observation, shrinking into an emergency refuge in the maintenance tunnel, watching the subway train rush past.
"Did you get a clear sense of this barrier's specific situation?"
The White Sable Spirit floated over to Nan Xiaofeng, handing her a thermos while asking.
Nan Xiaofeng took the cup, drank a couple sips of the still-warm water, and sighed.
"Only a very shallow part of it. This barrier is too immense. My perception of it can only observe a very small area, completely unable to map out the barrier's full scope."
"How can this be…?"
Bai Ling said in surprise.
Given Nan Xiaofeng's talent, Bai Ling felt that she should theoretically be able to easily map out almost all existing magic barriers in the current world today.
She had investigated along Line 1 several times!
From a magical theory perspective, no matter how large a barrier is, it has a boundary. It's impossible for it to exceed the scale of an entire subway line.
...Excluding Xin Yuehu.
Her abstract barriers were all incredibly vast, but those were, after all, set up using the Mindscape World and a large number of familiars, so they couldn't be considered normal barriers.
However, Nan Xiaofeng was unable to accurately determine the barrier beneath Hong Kong City.
Clearly, from the feedback of her perception magic, it was just an ordinary barrier outlined by guiding earth vein magic, so why was its scale so immense?
"If even you can't observe its full scope, then how large is its actual range?" Bai Ling posed a soul-searching question.
"..."
Nan Xiaofeng said nothing, only shaking her head in silence.
She had run back and forth on Subway Line 1 several times, even sneaking off the train and into employee maintenance tunnels to investigate, yet she still couldn't map out the actual scale of this barrier.
"If things are like this, then Xin Yuehu really wasn't wrong."
Nan Xiaofeng murmured to herself,
"If this truly is a bomb barrier, then she does indeed have the ability to blow up the entire Hong Kong City."
"Then we should investigate its situation even more!"
Bai Ling anxiously circled Nan Xiaofeng's head a few times.
Nan Xiaofeng, however, didn't lose heart. She returned along the maintenance tunnel to the nearest subway station and met the gaze of a girl resting on a nearby bench.
Lin Muyao and Hua Ling had taken the other route, and it seemed they had already completed their investigation and were waiting for her there.
"Xiaofeng."
Hua Ling waved in greeting, watching the somewhat hesitant Nan Xiaofeng walk over and sit down, then curiously asked:
"How was your side? Any clues?"
Nan Xiaofeng just shook her head, sighing sullenly.
"Alas... the scale of this barrier is too large. Based on our investigation along this line, we can't fully map out the complete barrier."
"Indeed, your conclusion is similar to ours," Lin Muyao said with a helpless sigh.
The three of them had been riding Line 1 subway back and forth since morning, attempting to use this subway line, which traversed the center of Hong Kong City, to observe the central situation of the magic reaction.
But reality had dealt Nan Xiaofeng a heavy blow—the barrier's scale was unimaginably vast, and this method of merely glimpsing a corner was too limited, yielding minimal results.
"But we might as well think from another perspective."
Hua Ling pushed up her glasses and said,
"Since one subway line can't gather enough information, let's try a few more, or exchange information with Bai Lili and the others. Maybe then we can piece together a complete barrier."
"Yes... So what do we do now? Go back directly and contact Bai Li and the others? Or..."
Before Lin Muyao finished speaking, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the subway entrance not far away. Two small figures were walking into the waiting hall, chatting and laughing.
Deep blue and gold, the familiar color combination immediately made Lin Muyao's Fox Fox radar hum.
Tianqing Jie spotted!
"You two, look over there!"
"Hmm?"
Nan Xiaofeng turned back in confusion, initially thinking it was one of Lin Muyao's boring pranks, but the moment she saw the two, she almost jumped out of her seat.
"Tianqing Jie? Jiayu Jie? How are they...?"
"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let Jiayu Jie discover us."
Hua Ling quickly clapped a hand over Nan Xiaofeng's mouth. The three of them collectively ducked behind a pillar in the hall, hiding from the Cat Girl's habitual glance around.
Three heads then peeked out from behind the pillar, secretly observing the Golden-haired Fox Girl, who was covering her mouth and chuckling softly.
The Monster team, all out, instantly got into character, beginning to replenish their Cat Fox energy from afar.
"Tianqing Jie is smiling very happily," Hua Ling said cheerfully.
"Yes, and look, are they not wearing new clothes?" Lin Muyao chimed in.
"You can tell that?" Nan Xiaofeng was very surprised.
"Of course! I've never seen Tianqing Jie wear this winter dress. Xiaofeng, have you seen Jiayu Jie wear this outfit?"
"Now that you mention it, I really haven't," Nan Xiaofeng replied after thinking for a while.
Jiayu Jie was wearing a simple, warm winter dress, with equally warm white fleece-lined tights underneath, perfect for the current biting cold of Hong Kong City.
At least, she had never seen her own older sister dress so fashionably.
Thinking of this, Nan Xiaofeng couldn't help but glance down at her own fleece-lined tights.
The past was unbearable to recall, but anyway, keeping warm was the most important thing, Nan Xiaofeng thought.
But when this outfit was put on Jiayu Jie, it was like a mother who usually wore an apron and loungewear at home suddenly transformed into a ball gown, creating a considerable contrast.
Especially when Jiayu Jie revealed that slight smile, teeth showing, while chatting with the Fox Girl, it gave Nan Xiaofeng a strong feeling:
Was she, perhaps, inexplicably fed another mouthful of dog food?
"But then again..."
As if remembering something, Lin Muyao, the leader of the Monster team, asked,
"Since Tianqing Jie would personally come here, besides accompanying Jiayu Jie to play, is she perhaps also intending to investigate the magic distribution here along the way?"
"...Probably?"
Nan Xiaofeng didn't dare to guess too much.
Tianqing Jie's magical talent was far superior to her own. If she personally came to Line 1 to investigate, why would she need herself?
"How about we switch to another subway line? We'll leave this place to Tianqing Jie." Hua Ling hesitated but still offered the idea.
But the collective gaze of her teammates already explained everything:
This was a perfect opportunity to follow the Fox Fox. Should they really let it slip away so easily?
...
Su Tianqing did not pay much attention to the three burning gazes behind her.
【Gaze Detection Magic】, this was a powerful magic she had extracted from Inari's magical memories.
It allowed her to sense all focused gazes around her, proving especially strong in counter-surveillance and counter-peeping.
But the truly heavy-hitting one was the magic she had cast on Little Fish: 【Advanced Barrier Protection】, used to counteract any potential effects the sealing barrier set up by Inari might have on the Cat Girl beside her.
Judging by Nan Jiayu's relaxed, natural, and even chatty expression, this magic's effect was quite excellent.
After all, this was Hong Kong City Line 1, a place quite close to the center of the barrier.
"Little Fish, if you feel the magic protection on you weakening, tell me. We can't have any accidents."
"Don't worry, we're not heading to the central area this trip either."
Nan Jiayu nodded.
According to Inari's warm reminder, as a villain Magic Girl without the stars' blessing, Nan Jiayu couldn't approach the barrier's center. This subway station was the closest extreme point Su Tianqing had tested.
Even one more stop closer to the center, this barrier protection magic would be destroyed by the overly powerful defense. To ensure Little Fish's safety, Su Tianqing had no choice but to wait for a subway to return to the outer area, halting today's investigation.
"Using magic protection to find the extreme distance this barrier allows us to approach, such an investigation plan is truly bold."
Nan Jiayu praised.
She never stinted on praising Tianqing's magical skills, and compared to before, Nan Jiayu always felt that Tianqing had advanced even further in her magical attainments.
It seemed she, too, must improve her combat power! Nan Jiayu thought.
"And we can also have some fun along the way~"
"What should we eat tonight? I want to eat at that all-you-can-eat barbecue place in City South!"
"Okay, let's call Ye Lan and Tao Tao too."
"Yay!"
Su Tianqing clung to the Cat Girl's side, her Fox Girl tail immediately rubbing against the Cat Girl.
The intimate interaction between the Cat Girl and the Fox Girl fell into the eyes of the Monster team.
Everyone showed satisfied smiles.