""Because the moth is no longer here, this place belongs to magical girls."
Soldier Bee Seven extended a hand toward the window, "Just like flowers blooming in the wild, where there is one, there will be another; the social interactions among magical girls will only increase their numbers here."
"...Tsk, what a nuisance."
"Yeah, a real nuisance."
As if talking to himself, Soldier Bee Seven said, "So if we're going to leave, it has to be now."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Just thought of one."
"What plan?"
"Hostage."
Soldier Bee Seven lowered his head again, "According to the investigation by sleeper agents of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, their new director seems to have a close relationship with the magical girls—information left by the moth shows he has so sort of connection with that blue, flower-grade individual, and our target seems to be very closely related to him as well."
"...So you plan to kidnap the director of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau?"
Looking at him as if he were mad, Soldier Bee Twenty-Five said, "At a critical mont like this? Are you not afraid that blue monster will tear you to pieces alive?"
"That's why I plan to 'kidnap' our mission target."
Looking at Soldier Bee Twenty-Five as if he were a fool, Soldier Bee Seven said, "We'll threaten the director of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau with her life, pretending to demand certain things, and make that blue, flower-grade individual hesitate to act. But in reality, we will only be feigning extortion, what we really need is the 'hostage', to misdirect their actions. After that, we can find a chance to escape."
"I don't think kidnapping a magical girl is a better idea either. Isn't there a more secure thod?"
"She's just a sprout-grade magical girl, if you don't want to kidnap her, the only other option is to kill that blue, flower-grade one first."
Soldier Bee Seven dropped the remaining half of his cigarette to the ground and stamped out the butt with his foot, "Which do you think has a higher chance of success?"
"...Let's just kidnap the girl."
Watching him extinguish the cigarette, Soldier Bee Twenty-Five asked, "Then what? How do we kidnap her? And how do we escape after the actual kidnapping?"
"There are still two sleeper agents inside the Abnormal Strategy Bureau. Since they haven't acted before, they haven't been exposed yet."
Pacing around the room with hands behind his back, Soldier Bee Seven said, "The other moles have been rooted out, so these two will inevitably be discovered once they move. We have only one chance left."
"First, we need a diversion, as you said, splitting our forces. The main team will monitor our mission target, the girl; the rest will feign an attack on the director of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, best if among them is a Worm-grade or above tamorph, forcing the other magical girls to support the Bureau first."
"Afterwards, we capture the girl and negotiate with the Bureau director: if he wants to save her life, he must return the Source of Beasts left behind by the moth, and stop pursuing and cornering us until the terms of the exchange are t."
"Finally, we'll have the sleeper agents tamper with the scheduling of the Bureau to create about a 5-minute window for us, giving us the opportunity to scale the city's periter net and flee through the wilderness."
"Huh? Run through the wilderness?"
Soldier Bee Twenty-Five's voice rose several octaves, "Are you joking? Isn't that the sa as going to our deaths?"
"If I'm still alive by then, we'll have just enough to survive in the wilderness."
Soldier Bee Seven's voice was calm, with a hoarseness that carried a chilling madness, "They won't let us board a land cruiser, our only way out is to physically cross the wilderness."
"What if we die out there?"
Swallowing hard, Soldier Bee Twenty-Five said, "We have to bring the mission target with us, if we die, she'll die in the wilderness too. Then the boss is likely to resurrect our souls to make into feed."
"That's why I'll inform the boss before we escape into the wilderness and have him send soone to et us there."
Soldier Bee Seven walked to the window of the civilian house, "If we die, we just need to leave the girl with a chance to live, the boss's people will take her away."
This silenced Soldier Bee Twenty-Five.
Both from under Bee's command and long-ti combat partners, he was keenly aware of Soldier Bee Seven's character and abilities, and this seed to be their last option.
Were they to wither away in Fangting City, dying a slow death like frogs in warming water, or use the last of their strength in a mad bid for the one path to survival? The choice seed unnecessary.
Everyone who joined the Black Ash Dawn did so with so desire and pursuit in mind, often with their lives rely a chip to be wagered.
Gambling was what each of them had been doing ever since they started down this road.
"I don't even know whether to praise you as a smart lunatic or as a lunatic genius.""
He leaned back against the wall, "You always manage to convince with your twisted logic. This ti is no different; you've won."
"I just want to survive," Lin Yun replied.
Soldier Bee Seven's expression was indifferent, "When it cos to survival, every creature will unleash its intelligence. Beasts do it, and even more so do we humans."
"So when do we start?"
Soldier Bee Twenty-Five shook his head, apparently not intending to acknowledge his murmurings, "Since you've proposed this plan, you must have already set a ti."
"In two days."
Soldier Bee Seven turned away from the window, "We need to do a bit of guiding, trick the moths' forces out to feed to the Abnormal Strategy Bureau and create an opportunity that's suitable for capturing the target of our mission."
"That ans going to our deaths in two days. We'd better have a good last al before we act."
Soldier Bee Twenty-Five rubbed his belly, "Speaking of which, our people have been scrimping for several days now. The food in this house was eaten up long ago. Why hasn't the house owner sent us new supplies?"
"There won't be any new supplies." Soldier Bee Seven walked back into the room.
"Why not?"
"Because there's no longer a house owner."
Pointing towards the living room not far away, his fingertip directed at several black plastic bags in the corner of the room, Soldier Bee Seven's deanor remained indifferent: "I heard their phones ringing yesterday and suspected soone was attempting to call the police, so I ended their mission ahead of ti."
"Ah, that explains it."
Soldier Bee Twenty-Five nodded, "That's why there's always this fragrance in the living room, it's been stirring the Source of Beasts within ."
"Just as well. The dead pigs can still be of use."
Soldier Bee Seven took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it to his lips, and flicked his lighter to life. The light from the fla flickered through the palm of his hand, casting a dancing glow in his hollow, pitch-black eyes:
"This way, we won't need to look for other supplies for the next two days."
...
...
Lin Yun returned alone to the Abnormal Strategy Bureau.
In the end, he did not agree to Erald Sparrow's "product trial," even though the conditions were lowered repeatedly, eventually going from taking off clothes to removing socks.
Erald Sparrow claid that her previous actions were rely to collect data on the abilities of the Erald Sparrow, and now, removing socks was just for a closer skin examination. However, the Erald Sparrow always felt there was sothing fishy about it and politely declined before leaving the research institute.
Of course, concerning her own injuries, the Erald Sparrow did not speak too definitively, simply answering, "I'll keep considering it."
As soon as Lin Yun returned to the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, Tian Sheng, who had been waiting outside, followed him in. He followed Lin Yun into the Director's Office and, with a familiarity that spoke of routine, handed over the docunt he was holding:
"Director, these are our operation briefings for the past few days."
Lin Yun took the docunts and sat behind his desk, briefly scanning them before seizing the important point, "Captured two beastified individuals? That was fast."
"We owe it to the Magical equipnt."
Tian Sheng scratched the back of his head, "Our captain has been singing your praises for the past few days. I've tried it myself and found the effectiveness of the equipnt to be truly ahead of its ti."
"Lifeless things are just that, and weapons ultimately depend on the person using them. You used the weapons to defeat the enemy, so the credit is yours, no need to butter up," Lin Yun said with a dismissive wave, not accepting the indirect flattery, "It seems that your team has contributed the most in the special operations departnt. What are your needs and plans moving forward?"
"Oh, about that, actually our captain asked to submit a request for you."
Tian Sheng scratched his head again and presented another docunt:
"Based on the investigations of other teams, it seems there are traces of Black Ash Dawn mbers hiding in a residential area of Lixing District, and he wants to apply for search authority there."
"A residential area? Are you sure?"
Lin Yun took the docunt Tian Sheng extended, eying the contents quickly, then slowly read out loud the printed words on top:
— "The na of the community is... 'Lakeside Spring'?"
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