When the teams from Fangting City and Bai'an City returned to the Magical Girl base, it was already past 1 a.m.
The furniture in the dining room remained as it had been when everyone hurriedly left, with half-eaten meals still messily positioned on the table. The hotpot, which was supposed to be the highlight of the meal, now sat cold. Clumps of congealed fat floated on the surface of the broth, intermixed with ingredients that had gone in and never come out, telling the regrettable tale of this abandoned dinner.
"Damn these claw marks... damn these evil Magical Girls, I will never coexist with you..."
Asou Haruka leaned despondently against the table, tears in her words as if she bore some tremendous grudge, while Bai Ji stood awkwardly beside her, looking like she wanted to say something but not knowing how to console her.
As for the other two from Bai'an City, Mu Baihe was currently yawning his way toward the washroom and Mimosa had slipped off to her room at some unknown point.
Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu were cleaning up the kitchen, putting away the food and miscellaneous items intended for New Year's Eve, while Emerald Sparrow was urging Bai Jingxuan to hurry up and wash up to sleep, then found a quiet corner by herself, reverted to Lin Yun, and continued to instruct the Abnormal Strategy Bureau over the phone.
Fortunately, the incident had not occurred inside the city. Whether intentionally or not, she had chosen Silver Screen Mountain, a remote suburb, as the battleground, which was fortunate for the Abnormal Strategy Bureau as it meant they need not spend extensive manpower and resources to repair the site.
However, the Abnormal Strategy Bureau still needed to send personnel to the site for cleanup, whether it was the residual Residual Beast Magic, the extensively damaged mountain flora, or even the damaged mountain itself, everything needed clearing.
Furthermore, such malicious incidents as claw mark attacks required reports and records to be filed with the headquarters and the national authority. Fangting City's Abnormal Strategy Bureau had to document and archive this event as well. The Magical Girls also deserved some official compensation as a reward for combating a formidable enemy.
How to arrange these affairs was the job Lin Yun needed to handle at the moment.
After having roughly organized everything and reverted back to the appearance of Emerald Sparrow, she silently returned to the base's corridor, where the time had moved past 2 a.m.
There she encountered Lin Xiaolu, who had just finished washing up, changed into pajamas, and was about to head back to sleep.
Probably because she had just been through a tough battle and was greatly spent, she seemed very tired, her head drooping as she walked, and she didn't even notice someone passing by.
"Bai Mei." So, Emerald Sparrow called out, stopping her.
Only then did Lin Xiaolu belatedly look up, seeing Emerald Sparrow calling her, she gathered some energy again, "What is it?"
"Can you hold up? I have a few words I want to discuss with you alone." Emerald Sparrow was straightforward, not hiding her intentions at all.
"Um... I should be able to?" Lin Xiaolu blinked, feeling a bit strange but not refusing.
She had a guess as to why Emerald Sparrow wanted to talk to her alone.
After all, on the way back to the base, she had briefly mentioned her successful awakening of the Magic Armor. So, knowing Emerald Sparrow's character, who never aims without reason, she must be wanting to know more about the Magic Armor, right?
Although she was very tired now, the importance of awakening the Magic Armor meant she was still in a state of wanting to find someone to confide in, almost wishing to catch someone and ask, "how did you know I just successfully awakened the Magic Armor?" Emerald Sparrow choosing this time to ask for a talk was exactly what she hoped for.
With an agreement reached, the two headed together toward Lin Xiaolu's room. During the walk, Emerald Sparrow remained silent, and while Lin Xiaolu occasionally stole glances at her, she too didn't initiate conversation.
Thus, they entered the room, and Emerald Sparrow closed the door behind them before she convincingly turned to face Lin Xiaolu, ready to listen attentively.
Would it be about the Magic Armor? Surely it must be. If she—
—"Your father just called me; he doesn't understand your actions."
So Emerald Sparrow sighed softly and said, "He said, according to the agreement between you and him, you should have been resting well inside the base tonight and shouldn't have appeared on the battlefield."
Her tone was very calm, and emotionally, it didn't show any inclination; when she spoke those words, it seemed like she was merely passing someone else's message.
However, even if Emerald Sparrow's disguise was impeccable, it didn't change the fact that this question itself was questioning Lin Xiaolu's actions. So, as soon as these words were spoken, visibly, the previously hopeful Lin Xiaolu suddenly deflated.
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to argue something but hesitated, glancing at Emerald Sparrow, slightly furrowing her brows, clearly thinking about how to counter, but these thoughts also ended just in thought, and she could only continue to look silently at Emerald Sparrow.
All reactions were visible in Emerald Sparrow's eyes; she saw Lin Xiaolu's face change from a veiled excitement to surprise, to discontent, and finally to hurt, her eyes reddening as she looked back at her, like a puppy about to be abandoned by its owner.
Even the most insensitive person would realize they might have said something wrong, so Emerald Sparrow, originally coming with a mindset of righteous interrogation, had to halt her thoughts and quieten down.