Lao Qian’s Tracking Technique (2)

You Dong drove the Clover, weaving recklessly through the busy traffic. The way he was driving, he must have been in a real hurry.

Chen Xi didn’t have time to think. Reality didn’t allow it. Just keeping up with You Dong was already pushing her to her limits.

The last time she’d driven this nervously was during her driver’s license test.

Sweat dripped from her palms, dampening the steering wheel. She wiped her hands hastily on her skirt and refocused on the pursuit.

“now broadcasting an emergency alert. at 11:05 today, an aberration appeared at jixiang street in jixiang district…”

The car’s speaker announced the alert.

Another aberration?

Chen Xi frowned. Lately, it felt like these things were appearing more often. Was it just her imagination?

The stray thought distracted her.

And in that instant, the Clover smoothly switched lanes to the right. Chen Xi reacted too late, missing her chance to follow. Ignoring the solid line, she swerved across it anyway, risking a fine.

Wait. This road…

She glanced at the navigation. The screen clearly read four characters: Jixiang Street.

The report stated that since the aberration was small and currently confined to a single office building, the main road crossing the street didn’t need to be closed—traffic could continue as normal.

Still, as the saying goes: when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer. Many alert citizens, aware of the danger, had already turned on their hazard lights and were speeding away from the area. In this context, You Dong and Chen Xi, moving toward the danger, stood out like sore thumbs.

The alarm siren mounted on the streetlight blared, making Chen Xi’s heart race.

After entering Jixiang Street, the Clover soon came to a stop.

You Dong got out, scanned the area, then suddenly rushed toward a dark alley as if he’d spotted something.

Chen Xi, seeing this, hurriedly stepped out of her car too.

Thanks to the efforts of magical girls and the joint human-government organization, the Anti-Aberration Special Operations Bureau, the impact of aberrations on daily life had been steadily decreasing—especially within city limits.

In a relatively safe city like Shangjing, many citizens—including Chen Xi—were like this. They’d only ever seen aberrations on TV or in news reports. They had no real experience facing one.

The life-or-death battles between magical girls, special agents, and aberrations felt as distant as war in a foreign land—lacking any sense of reality.

Precisely because they were so well protected, Chen Xi didn’t realize how dangerous her actions were.

No—more accurately, even if she had realized, her curiosity about You Dong’s actions outweighed her fear.

He’d left work halfway through the day, driven off, and now arrived at the exact location where an aberration had appeared.

This series of actions made Chen Xi suspect that You Dong had somehow received advance intelligence.

But logically, even if he had known, he should’ve been trying to avoid the area. Why would he drive straight into it?

Her mind quickly pieced together a plausible scenario.

His beloved niece—You Xi—must have been in Jixiang Street at that moment.

After witnessing the aberration, she called her uncle for help. That’s why You Dong arrived faster than the news reports.

That explanation made perfect sense.

The only question was: why head into an alley?

Driven by this doubt, Chen Xi crept quietly toward the alley where You Dong had vanished and peeked inside.

At that very moment, a blinding flash of white light erupted from the dark alley, forcing her to instinctively turn away.

When her vision refocused, You Dong was nowhere to be seen.

Strange. Where did he go?

As Chen Xi stood puzzled, a sharp —whoosh! tore past her ear—a sonic boom. It felt like a fighter jet had just flown dangerously low overhead.

She looked up, following the sound.

And then, Chen Xi saw it.

A blue unidentified flying object streaking across the sky at incredible speed.

To be honest, with average human visual acuity, Chen Xi couldn’t make out what the fast-moving object even was.

In the next moment, the blue object shot toward a nearby office building like a missile, crashing violently into the third-floor wall—shattering it completely—before vanishing inside.

In her shock, her body reacted before her brain could catch up.

Following Lao Lin’s instruction, Raging Flame raised her greatsword like a shield above her head.

The Shadow Hunter, emerging from the shadows of the ceiling, launched its surprise attack—its bone blade stabbing straight into the flat of the sword.

—Clang!

Sparks flew. The recoil jolted the Shadow Hunter’s entire body, numbing its limb and leaving it wide open.

Now!

Sensing the opening, Raging Flame switched from defense to offense.

Pivoting on one foot, she spun her body, using centrifugal force to swing the greatsword in a wide, brutal arc straight at the Shadow Hunter.

Yet in these split-second moments, her lack of combat experience became painfully obvious.

…Huh?

Mid-swing, Raging Flame distinctly felt something obstructing the sword’s path.

—Shriiiik!

The blade scraped against the concrete wall, producing a terrifying screech.

A block of concrete, immovable by human strength, tore open like flimsy paper under the magical girl’s strike—leaving a jagged gash.

But that brief resistance had disrupted the sword’s momentum.

The result? An attack that could’ve split the Shadow Hunter in two missed by half a second—or less—only managing to sever the very tip of its bone blade.

If compared to a human arm, that tip would be roughly the size of a palm.

Badly wounded, the Shadow Hunter chose not to stay and fight. It melted away again, vanishing just as it had before.

Ah, too bad.

Lao Lin, perched on Raging Flame’s shoulder, clicked his tongue.

Not to brag, but you almost became the fastest magical girl in history to solo a C-rank. What a shame. You were this close to standing on your own… Ah, such a waste.

Lao Lin kept muttering about what a pity it was, but Raging Flame knew the truth—she was far from being self-reliant.

First, without Lao Lin’s warning, she’d have been skewered. Second, she’d had zero awareness of her surroundings. Her flawed technique had cost her the perfect killing opportunity.

…But there was still a chance.

She steadied her breathing, preparing to press the attack.

Just as her right foot stepped forward—before she could even settle her stance—a sudden, massive boom shook the floor.

—Ah!

She stumbled, nearly falling.

An earthquake?

Still shaken, Raging Flame looked around—only to see that a gaping hole had been blown into one of the walls.

Dust swirled, obscuring the interior.

Did the military launch an artillery strike?

That was her first thought—but she quickly dismissed it.

Because, as the dust slowly cleared, a small, blue figure stepped into view.

An entrance that was bold and reckless, contrasted by a face that was calm and indifferent.

The magic wand—symbol of seniority and power—held in the delicate hand of a girl who looked like a porcelain doll.

Combining all these mismatched elements into one identity—

T-Tidal Senior! Raging Flame exclaimed, delighted.

It’s me.

Tidal gave a blank nod, then scanned the room.

Where’s the aberration?