Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

After leaving the disaster area, Bai Ze and his group removed their disguises, bypassed the Spirit Disaster Bureau's blockade, and re-entered the bay, blending into the crowd that had been moved to the beach open space.

After pretending to accept the alteration of collective memory, the two followed the crowd back to the coastal terrace that had been damaged during their crossing of Yinchen and has now been restored.

"Why doesn't the Disaster Management Agency just tell ordinary people to go home?"

He was very puzzled.

Keep in mind that after that fierce battle, it was already past midnight.

"Memory modification is not a panacea technology."

Lu Xingyao explained in a low voice, "Tourists come here with the intention of watching the fireworks show. If we directly change the fact to 'I have already seen it and gone home,' it will definitely feel incongruous when they look back on it later."

"It is said that the Bureau of Disasters once caused an anomaly called the 'Mandela Effect' due to the misuse of memory modification, so they are now very cautious when using it."

She listened intently to the agitated and angry chatter around her and came to a conclusion:

"The memory that the Disaster Management Bureau has instilled in tourists' minds now is that 'the performance was delayed due to a mistake, and the people who were unwilling to leave waited until midnight.'"

Bai Ze tapped on the railing he had previously trampled on, now spotless: "Are they... actually going to try and persuade the event organizer to continue with the fireworks?"

In a sense, the efficiency of the Bureau of Spirit Disasters is admirable.

"Probably, that's why I didn't pull my senior away."

Lu Xingyao puffed out her chest triumphantly.

Even though she was wearing a simple red and white hoodie, her natural beauty still exuded a powerful attraction.

The greater the mass, the greater the curvature of spacetime... The theory of relativity is truly accurate.

"However, we still haven't found Senior Lin. Could it be that she was separated from us by the crowd and the Spirit Disaster Bureau moved to another location?"

She felt a little guilty because the child got lost while they were in the restroom together, "and there was no response to my messages."

"Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Bai Ze remained calm.

She'll definitely come back to them after she gets Leia out of the water.

"What is that? The telepathic connection unique to childhood sweethearts?"

His certainty only made Lu Xingyao very unhappy.

"...Anyway, it won't bother me at all if my senior can't find us."

She leaned lazily against the railing, standing side by side with Bai Ze.

A rose-colored firework bloomed in the sky, illuminating the girl's profile.

Her hair, tied in a ponytail, fell to her neck, where it was gently stirred by the wind.

The silver-haired, blue-eyed doll girl struggled to climb out of the hoodie's hood and sat on her owner's shoulder.

Fireworks rose one after another along the seashore, like a ribbon of light flowing across the sky, or like neon lights projected from the city on the other side of the sea, turning the seawater into a magnificent array of colors.

"Senior, the fireworks tonight were beautiful."

"Indeed, wouldn't it have been great if we had this as background effect when we were fighting in the sky just now?" Bai Ze agreed.

"Hey, right? The worst reply in the world right now is to crack a joke!"

Lu Xingyao turned her face away angrily, the cat hair accessory on her side ponytail shimmering as it went up and down.

"It's not the moon, it's just fireworks." Bai Ze shrugged.

It is said that Natsume Soseki once translated "I love you" into English as "The moon is beautiful tonight," but that is actually a rumor.

"Fireworks may only have a fleeting life, but their brightness when they burst into bloom can even outshine the moonlight."

She turned her face back, "I think fireworks that win in a moment are more beautiful than the moon that has existed for ages."

The artificial flowers blooming one after another in the sky were reflected in the girl's eyes, and for a moment they did indeed overshadow the clear, mercury-like moonlight.

"Senior, do you prefer the moon that has been with you for so long, or the fleeting yet intense fireworks?"

She asked as if she were simply curious.

"Can't I like them all? I'm quite greedy."

Bai Ze didn't think too much about it and answered casually, but the other party let out a dissatisfied "humph" from his nose.

"No... never mind, I originally wanted to force my senior to give an answer right now."

The reason she changed her mind was that she heard a series of hurried footsteps approaching, the girl muttered to herself.

"...Anyway, the moon has already come out."

"Finally found it!"

A girl in a black dress rushed over and hugged the two of them.

"That's great... I thought something had happened to you."

Lin Tingwan's body trembled slightly.

Although she has received statistics from the Bureau of Spirit Disasters, there were no casualties in this incident.

But given that it was a rather large-scale and unusual disaster, people were naturally very worried before actually seeing their friends.

"Senior, you're the one who got lost in the crowd, aren't you?"

Lu Xingyao complained, "That's like a lost child in a shopping mall worrying about their parents instead. And why are you hugging me?"

She felt that her senior was incredibly strong, and without the help of the core girl, her bones were about to be broken!

I...I can't breathe...She survived even a legendary battle, how could she be assassinated like this?!

Upon hearing this, Lin Tingwan glanced at her and pushed her junior out of her arms.

"Then this is not needed."

"Let go of my senior too! Everyone around us is staring at us, it's so embarrassing!"

Freed from her predicament, Lu Xingyao attempts to rescue Bai Ze.

There was no way around it; Lin Tingwan's sprint-and-hug combo was just too dramatic, especially with a combination of one man and two women, which naturally attracted a lot of attention.

"I also request that you release me."

Bai Ze is terrifyingly calm. Having survived the deadly battle with the Pale Knight, he can now live in any chaotic situation!

"...before my ribs got damaged!"

But witches are just that terrifying! Lin Tingwan almost wiped out the rising star of the supernatural organization, Eternal Serpent!

In short, it finally broke free from the vise-like embrace.

Speaking of which, the two of them are childhood sweethearts and have had quite a lot of similar physical contact since they were young. Why did Lu Xingyao feel uncomfortable when she was holding him and flying before?

...Let's not delve too deeply into the differences between them.

"I... I can't believe I didn't get to see the fireworks..."

Lin Tingwan, who arrived a step too late, was deeply affected.

"It's okay, senior, I saw it."

Lu Xingyao patted her shoulder to comfort her.

"You...you actually watched the fireworks together..."

The change in pronoun alone can shift the emotion from sadness to anger; human language is truly amazing.

Sensing the terrifying killing intent, Lu Xingyao took a step back and shielded Bai Ze in front of her.

"There's a second wave!"

Bai Ze looked at the event information he found on his phone and quickly stopped his childhood sweetheart, who was turning to the dark side.

Not only the second wave of fireworks, but also drones, originally intended to symbolize the progress of industrial civilization to appease Yin Chen, were launched into the air and arranged into a lifelike dragon.

"Yay!"

Lin Tingwan's emotions surged like a rollercoaster, and she immediately squeezed next to Bai Ze.

Two witches and one time traveler stood in a row, leaning against the balcony railing, gazing at the dazzling summer night.

Perhaps we will encounter even more dangerous anomalies in the future;

Perhaps the underlying concerns about witch-like transformation have not yet been fundamentally resolved;

They might even continue their unfinished struggle in the future;

But for now, let's enjoy the summer fireworks.

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Volume One, Complete