Argument

Direct hit. Looking at the previously talkative Ran Jiuyi—now a mixture of shock, silence, and simmering rage—Meng Shan knew he had struck a nerve.

“Listen to me. I don’t know if it was you or your former teammates who made that same mistake, and I don’t care if those mistakes led to irreversible consequences. But projecting your anger over someone else’s failure onto Xiao An is completely irrational.”

His logic was sound, but Ran Jiuyi was in no state to listen to reason. “What do you know? Don’t think for a second that reading a few files means you understand me!”

“It’s a fact that I don’t know everything about your past,” Meng Shan said bluntly. “But it’s also a fact that you are displacing your hatred for others onto Xiao An. Let’s think about why you’re doing this. Is it because you made that same mistake once? Does criticizing Xiao An make your guilt-ridden soul feel a little better?”

Those simple words pierced straight through Ran Jiuyi’s defenses, dragging up her most repressed memories.

“Regardless, Xiao An is Xiao An, and you are you,” Meng Shan added, delivering the most painful blow of all. “She still has a chance to make amends. You don’t.”

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Ran Jiuyi completely broke. “Her ‘chance’ exists because I gave it to her! It has nothing to do with her!”

“You can talk all you want, but the facts remain. Her mistake resulted in no serious consequences. But you? I imagine you’ve caused the deaths of more people than you can count.”

Ran Jiuyi snapped. “Fine. You want to dig up the past? Don’t think I don’t know why you’re so lenient with Bai He’an and those two brats. It’s because you got your own squad killed, isn’t it!”

“The ‘Valiant Squad,’ wasn’t it? I heard that during a battle, your command error caused most of your team to die for nothing. And among the survivors, there was a young man who couldn’t live with the guilt and killed himself shortly after. His suicide note was filled with nothing but resentment for you.”

“What was his name again? Wyatt? Yeah, that sounds right. I’ve seen his photo—a bright young soldier, refined, full of potential and ambition. He was already making a name for himself in communications and mechanics at such a young age.”

Ran Jiuyi leaned in, her eyes cold. “Isn’t it ironic? A young man with a limitless future ended up committing suicide all because of one mistake by an incompetent commander.”

She emphasized the words ‘young man’ deliberately, ignoring Meng Shan’s darkening expression.

“It’s because you killed people with your own mistakes that you’re so soft on these three useless Magical Girls now. Does following them around and cleaning up their messes make you feel better? I wonder what Wyatt would think if he saw you now?”

“Enough!” Meng Shan slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, pointing a finger at her. “You have no right to speak Wyatt’s name, and you have no right to call them useless.”

“I have no right!? I’m the one who spared their lives! Twice now! They attacked me twice, and twice I had the chance to crush them like bugs. But I’m such a damn good person that I let them go both times!”

“And who started all of this!? You chose to come to this city, you lured them into a fight, and you’re the one who brought that ‘Cheng Ya’ person here! You caused all this crap, so don’t sit there acting like a saint!”

At this point, both Meng Shan and Ran Jiuyi had lost all restraint, shouting at the top of their lungs.

“So what if I brought her here? I have the power and the strength to settle it. But you? You’re just a regular human. Every time something happens, you hide behind Magical Girls. Does it feel good being protected by three little girls?”

“You have strength? You call being beaten into a human stump ‘strength’? I have to spoon-feed you your meals, for God’s sake! Without your powers, you’re nothing but a dog on the side of the road! I may be a normal person, but I’m a normal person who has taken down over a dozen transcendents. You? I bet if you lost your powers, the only thing you’d be good for is selling your body in some nightclub!”

“Oh, you think you’re so tough now? I haven’t even mentioned—”

“This is all your fault! You—”

They screamed at each other for over ten minutes. At first, it was a stalemate, but as time went on, Meng Shan’s superior mental fortitude and sharper tongue began to win out. Ran Jiuyi started to buckle.

“You’re just a coward! A spineless weakling hiding behind your gear! Without that equipment, you’re nothing!”

“I’m a coward? Then what are you? A parasite being fed by a coward? You can’t even crawl on your own. At least I have all my limbs—I’m doing a hell of a lot better than you.”

Ran Jiuyi finally hit her breaking point. “Fine! Fine! You think you’re so much better than me? Then I’m leaving! You deal with ‘Ken the Werewolf’ yourself!”

Meng Shan didn’t back down. “Go then! See if I care! You’ll just be a useless mouth to feed somewhere else anyway!”

“Just you wait! When you’re all being beaten to death, don’t expect me to come save you!”

With that, Ran Jiuyi transformed into her Acent form, replacing her missing limbs with Erosion Needles. She packed her things and stormed out without looking back.

The room finally fell silent, leaving Meng Shan alone to fume in the quiet.

After a long while, Meng Shan’s anger cooled, and he began to think about the future.

Driving Ran Jiuyi away had been incredibly irrational. Even in her weakened state, she possessed immense power. Without her, the risk of facing the unknown strength of Ken the Werewolf with only his current resources was dangerously high. It would be a lie to say he didn’t regret it at all.

But she had been gone for a while, she wasn’t answering her phone, and finding her would be nearly impossible. Even if he found her, there was no guarantee she would help.

He made a decision: he wouldn’t go looking for her. Instead, he would use every resource at his disposal to prepare for the coming battle. He opened his computer and contacted an old friend he hadn’t spoken to in years.

“I’m sorry. I made a huge mistake yesterday. We had a plan, but I never showed up.”

The next morning at the Dispatch Center, Bai He’an bowed deeply in apology to her teammates.

Her companions didn’t seem to mind. Jiang Yunshu waved it off. “Oh, is that all? I thought it was something serious. I’ve stood people up plenty of times. This is nothing.”

Yi Ziling chimed in, “Yeah, Sister An, Yunshu is right. I do that all the time. I’ve missed three sorties just this month. If I remember correctly, this is the first time in six months you’ve missed one. You’re way better than me!”

With her teammates’ forgiveness, the last weight was lifted from Bai He’an’s heart. She looked rejuvenated. “Thank you both. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“We should be the ones saying that,” Jiang Yunshu joked. “Since Ziling and I do it way more often than you!”

The three of them laughed, any lingering tension vanishing instantly.

Suddenly, Yi Ziling noticed Meng Shan, who hadn’t said a word. “Hey, look at Brother Dashan. Something seems… off.”

They huddled in a corner, whispering as they watched Meng Shan grimly organizing files at his desk.

“What’s up with him? He looks like he just lost all his money in the stock market,” whispered Jiang Yunshu.

“I bet his gaming account got hacked, or a kid smashed all his models,” suggested Bai He’an, thinking of her own wall of Gundams.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. He probably just didn’t sleep well…” said the ever-kind Yi Ziling.

Their whispers didn’t escape Meng Shan’s ears. He took a deep breath to steady his emotions. “Alright, stop gossiping and get over here. I’m fine. I just… paid too much for something I bought.”

The girls obediently sat in front of him.

“Brother Dashan, what did you buy?” Jiang Yunshu asked.

“You might find out eventually, but that’s not important right now,” Meng Shan dodged the question. “What is important is that we have a major problem. According to reliable intel, a powerful enemy named Ken the Werewolf will appear in this city within the next week or two.”

“Ken the Werewolf? Who’s that? Anyone heard of him?” Yi Ziling asked.

Jiang Yunshu shook her head. “Never heard of him. Probably just some small fry.”

“Be quiet,” Bai He’an corrected them. “Let Brother Dashan finish. I’m sure he has a lot of intel to share.”

“I’m sorry,” Meng Shan sighed. “As much as I’d like to give you a detailed briefing… that’s actually all I have.”

“Huh?”

Bai He’an didn’t expect to be proven wrong so quickly. She certainly didn’t expect the usually reliable Meng Shan to fall short like this.

“Are you serious? Is this an April Fool’s joke?”

“No joke,” Meng Shan replied seriously. “I really don’t know anything else. My contact told me he’d attack within a week or two, and that was it.”