Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

Kerberos was stunned for a moment after hearing the whole story.

"Before you even set off, I already wondered, isn't this approach completely pointless...?"

"Even so, we still can't find the incubator."

“It’s meaningful…how can it not be meaningful?” Kazama said.

Chapter 57 Intelligence Offense and Defense

"We already have a crucial clue on how to locate that magical girl."

On the rooftop, Kazama said this to Cerberus beside him.

"To be honest, the ability that girl acquired was quite unexpected."

In fact, one could make a judgment based on appearance alone, and Kazama was even more convinced of his thoughts after their previous encounter.

"The thing I was fighting was something like a puppet."

That inhuman strength and the almost metallic texture suggest that beneath the clothing covering his entire body might lie a body of steel.

One of the powers the girl gained from her wish was to possess and manipulate this puppet.

“But this ability to manipulate things from behind the scenes would actually make it more difficult to pinpoint the girl’s identity,” Cerberus said.

"That's right... but that's precisely where the clue lies."

Kazama said:

"The magical girls in Madoka Magica have abilities that are closely related to the wishes they make."

"For example, Sayaka Miki's wish is to restore her childhood friend's hand, and the ability she gains becomes the rapid healing of her own body."

"Homura Akemi's wish is to go back in time to save Madoka Kaname, so her ability can stop time..."

"Judging from this underlying setting, this magical girl's abilities..."

"Wait..."

Kerberos interjected, "But according to our previous investigation, this girl's wish was something like the disappearance of bad people, so she has shown the ability to brainwash people."

In his previous investigation, Kazama approached the 'victims'.

Because some of their crimes weren't serious, they were only detained for a day before being released. But the changes in them after leaving the station shocked both Kazama and Cerberus.

That is to use extraordinary power to completely change a person's character.

"Yes, this should be the core ability that the girl obtained through her wish."

"But in addition to a core ability, most magical girls have additional abilities derived from it."

"For example, Homura Akemi's core ability is to jump between timelines and go to other parallel universes. But she also has derivative abilities such as time stop."

“Sakura Kyoko’s ability is large-scale illusion, but it is most commonly manifested as the creation of weapons for attack.”

"That puppet should be the derivative ability of our current fallen girl."

"The corresponding thing must be that within the other party's desire to 'make the bad guys disappear,' there is a subconscious longing for something."

"For example... a healthy body."

"The puppets are powerful and strong. If it weren't for a subconscious desire for this, they wouldn't have developed such a disguised ability to manipulate puppets. Instead, they would fight witches with their own bodies, like the girls in Madoka Magica."

"This indicates that the girls who have fallen into prostitution may have been extremely weak before signing the contract."

"A long-term serious illness, or even a very serious congenital disease."

“A girl aged 10 to 16 in this city had previously suffered from a serious illness, but recovered about two weeks ago.”

"This clue has narrowed down the scope to the point where a detailed investigation can be conducted."

"Holy crap..." Kerberos blurted out a Chinese interjection without thinking.

"In addition to these, there are some auxiliary clues to help you find things."

"For example, why would a girl have a wish to 'make all the bad guys disappear'?"

"Such a wish is not normal for a child this young; it is mostly due to the influence of the family's living environment."

"Either the girl or her family has been harmed by criminals, or the girl lives in an environment that is easily influenced by the concept of 'justice and eliminating bad guys'."

"There's also the trajectory of the girl's 'justice-enforcing' activities."

"Based on the results of previous investigations, it should have started on Yulan Road."

"Over there, the girl caught a small gang of thugs."

"The second time, we moved to Zhilin Road and stayed there for four days."

"Then we moved again, to Wenshu Road, where we stayed for two days."

"And now, here on Wenhua Road, it's been two days including today."

If the puppet has a controllable range, the girl's movement trajectory is also important information.

Moreover, it's highly likely that this puppet does indeed have a controllable range.

This is also why Kazama had Cerberus observe this area. What if they were lucky and found it directly?

“I understand…” Cerberus nodded. He hadn’t really thought that much about it if Kazama hadn’t said anything.

"Now that you have a direction to search, why did you contact that child today? Isn't that just alerting the enemy?"

Returning to the original question, Kerberos did not understand why Kazama wanted to contact that child this time.

"Because of time."

Kazama let out a breath.

Time is not on our side...

The spying in the woods earlier was most likely from Kyubey; it probably followed the 'anomaly' left by the parasite.

Having learned about the Parasites and seen Keroberos, and drawing on its own experiences, it realized that there were beings like itself manifested in this city.

However, by the time he discovered this, Cupid had probably already chosen the girl and was, in some way, "trapped."

Before this first magical girl transforms into a witch, Kyubey will continue to hide quietly within the city.

If they were to wait for the girl to complete her witch transformation, and if Kazama were the incubator, he would definitely choose to leave this city, or even China, as soon as possible.

"We must capture the incubator before the girl becomes a witch, otherwise things will get very troublesome later."

"But the girl is using magic far too frequently. If we make contact with her, even if my words can make her hesitate for a moment and buy us some time, it will be a good thing for us."

"So that's how it is..."

Cerberus nodded slightly.

"But if it's talk therapy with the other person, it might be better if you become a different person."

"After all, your disguise is still on the wanted list, so it's no wonder that kid reacted so strongly."

Hearing Cerberus's words, Kazama watched him with a smile.

This left Cerberus bewildered, scratching his head in confusion.

After a moment, Kazama sighed.

"Actually, the battle has already begun, but it's just an intelligence war."

Whoever can obtain more intelligence before direct confrontation will naturally have an advantage.

Intelligence stations are a battleground of offense and defense, with each side trying to obtain the other's intelligence and protect its own.

How much intelligence do the incubators have about us?

I am different from the appearance of this disguise and the abilities of the Clow Cards.

That's all.

"Using a disguise to approach a girl, if one has to use the Clow Cards for some reason, would only create unnecessary complications."

"This is fine."

P.S.: Stop complaining about why we don't change our appearance. We're eliminating any possibility of our disguises being exposed. That's what it means to be cautious.

The ability to track and conceal information will be introduced in the next volume; we won't remain passive like this forever.

PS2: First subscriptions are in! 3500! Thank you all for your support. I'm currently thirteen chapters short.

Two bonus chapters will be released tonight.

Chapter Fifty-Eight: It's never wrong to yearn for a better life.

About 3000 meters away from Wenhua Street, is the other side of where Kazama and Cerberus are located.

At the top of a building, Chen Nan, dressed in a gorgeous white robe, slowly opened her eyes.

A white, lewd beast was guarding him.

"That person..."

Very strange.

First of all, it's ridiculously strong.

If the vehicle through which one's abilities are acquired is like a bicycle versus an off-road vehicle compared to an ordinary person, then the strength and physical power that person displays are at the level of a tank.

Moreover, despite being a wanted criminal, he showed no hostility towards me.

In fact, there was goodwill in what the other party said.

Although the girl was young and innocent, it was precisely this innocence that allowed her to subtly perceive whether the other person's intentions were good or bad.

"Is he really a murderer?" Chen Nan turned to Qiu Bi and asked.

Cupid shook his head.

But it immediately added, "He is absolutely involved in the deaths of those two men."

Chen Nan assumed that Qiu Bi didn't know the specifics either, and nodded.

She then continued, "You should know who those two people who died were, right?"