Proving one's status starting with magical girls

"What?! You're saying the Seed of Hope kept by the second group is missing?!"

"The second team also said they found no trace of the Archangel's Revenge at the scene?"

"Damn it!!! How many times have I told you! The Seed of Hope for magical girls' transformations is just as important as the girls themselves! Even if everyone dies, you have to protect their belongings!!"

"I don't care what their reasons are! Contact the second unit immediately and have all the remaining standby teams go find them!!"

"If you can't find it! You tell that guy surnamed Yang to forget about ever stepping into my office with any funds for the Second Unit by the end of the year!!"

"This is a grave dereliction of duty! A grave dereliction of duty! Do you understand?!"

She slammed the phone down, and even Si Baixiu couldn't help but grit her teeth and slam her fist on the table, cursing three times.

"**! ***! **!"

If it really was stolen by the demon angels, she wouldn't be so distraught right now.

But the worst part is that with so many people guarding the army hospital, someone still managed to steal the item right under their noses, and no one at the scene even noticed!

It should be noted that the members of the countermeasures mobile unit group directly under the countermeasures section are all elite soldiers selected from various army groups!

Today is a seed of hope, but what about next time?

Si Baixiu would rather the person on the other end of the phone had told her that a demonic angel had swaggered in and snatched the Seed of Hope.

That way, she only needs to thoroughly investigate whether there are spies within the organization. Even if it causes significant damage, at least she will know that she is solving a problem.

Unseen enemies are often much more difficult to deal with than visible ones.

First came the ferocious beast, then the dazzling magical girl who only appeared once, and then Magical Gardenia also went missing.

The demon executive, who was usually active only in the north, unexpectedly appeared in Linjiang. In the morning, she even interrogated a high school student who seemed to know sword energy.

What's next?

Does this mean that spiritual energy is about to revive and everyone will start cultivating immortality?

In short, when Cheng Yu was pulled into the section chief's office by Wang Fanfan to report, what she saw was Si Baixiu with a gloomy face that looked like it could squeeze water out of it.

Cheng Yu: ...

So the girl quietly pulled the expressionless senior Bai Chi to her side.

"...Bai Chi, you're here." Si Baixiu's expression softened slightly as she looked at Wang Fanfan entering the room.

But when she saw the girl behind her wearing a sun hat and looking somewhat embarrassed, her expression turned ugly again.

Cheng Yu forced herself to say:

"Hello, Harasode-senpai..."

Si Baixiu squinted at her.

"Little Bai Yu, we've known each other before, and this isn't the first time you've done something under the countermeasures department."

"When I went to Shenjin to teach the new magical girls last time, you followed behind me, ignoring all the magical knowledge and instead pestering me about Bai Chi. I gave you a serious reprimand."

"Let me be frank! You don't seem to want to work under me, and you're afraid I'll transfer you away from Bai Chi!"

Although Cheng Yu was a little scared, she mustered up her courage and spoke when she looked at Senior Bai Chi beside her.

"I only want to protect Senior Bai Chi now!"

Hearing her words, Si Baixiu chuckled and said softly.

"I know you're a Shining Magical Girl now, with extraordinary potential and a certain degree of autonomy. Even Shen Jin's Countermeasures Department has to call you Director Bai Yu."

"You don't want to obey my orders, and you even applied to come to Linjiang for a transfer. But... now you've come to my office to report for duty."

"You have absolutely no respect for me. You don't consider me a comrade-in-arms in the fight against the Demon Angels. You won't even call me Section Chief!"

Her voice was calm, yet it gradually made the girl feel ashamed.

In the end, the young, dazzling magical girl only briefly finished transferring the data before her defenses crumbled due to shame. She lowered her head and left without saying a word.

As the girl's swaying figure gradually disappeared from sight, the short-haired girl, who had remained silent, finally looked at the woman sitting in the chair.

Wang Fanfan said slowly:

"Section Chief, you're being a bit too harsh on her."

"At this critical juncture, being even harsher wouldn't be excessive, but these things can't be done with Fanfan and the others yet..."

She took a deep breath and buried all these things in her heart.

The highest-ranking official in charge of the Linjiang Countermeasures Division, abandoning his previous imposing demeanor, casually shrugged and said:

"That child is too capricious. As an official magical girl, she'll be in big trouble if she acts so recklessly."

"And this also helps you get rid of a problem, doesn't it?"

Upon hearing this, the short-haired girl gave him an approving look.

She plopped down on the leather sofa in the office and began to speak casually.

"So, Section Chief, you sent her away because you wanted to talk to me alone?"

"Ha, how can someone so young have so many thoughts?"

The woman chuckled softly, then hesitated for a moment before speaking seriously.

"Bai Chi, what's your opinion of that girl named Li Jiangqun?"

Upon hearing this name, Wang Fanfan frowned.

"Li Jiangqun? What happened to her?"

"Just yesterday, after you defeated the beast, your classmate caused quite a stir online."

"Take a look for yourself." With that, Si Baixiu turned the screen of her office computer toward the girl.

The scene on the screen looked like it was recorded on a mobile phone, and it was a bit shaky, but you could still vaguely make out that it was in a subway station, and in the hall not far away, a girl was fighting with several Demon Sky Warriors while holding a long sword.

As a crescent-shaped sword aura slashed down the combatants, Si Baixiu paused the video and then looked at the girl.

The latter's expression at this moment could no longer be described as merely wonderful.

Using an emotion map, it represents three parts astonishment, two parts confusion, one part bewilderment, two parts curiosity, and two parts relief.

The girl hesitated for a long time before slowly speaking.

"I have no idea."

Wang Fanfan said calmly.

"But she could indeed be a magical girl, she just hasn't signed a contract yet."

Si Baixiu nodded, showing no disappointment, as if the girl's answer was within her expectations.

She continued.

"During the investigation, we discovered that she was connected to the three magical girls who were also affiliated with the Otherworld Society."

"One of them had a particularly close relationship with her, and the Countermeasures Division believes that this power may be related to the research findings of the Other Society."

"Sprouted rice?"

"That's right, magic rice sprouts."

"Then that's not surprising..." Wang Fanfan said thoughtfully.

"But speaking of magical rice sprouts, the investigation results for that previous matter are in."

The woman took a document from her desk and handed it to the girl.

Wang Fanfan glanced at it briefly, and her face immediately showed an expression of "I knew it."

Si Baixiu said in a deep voice.

"We checked the records of all the middle schools in Linjiang City for that girl named 'Azi,' and none of them matched your and Li Jiangqun's descriptions."

"And later we also contacted the magical Inaba who was there at the time through other means, and when we asked her why she was there, her answer was..."

"—At the time of the incident, someone used the contact methods of the Otherworld Society to ask her to go to Baiye Park to deal with the inferior beasts, and told her that you had been downgraded to the Bright Rank."