Infiltration! Counseling the Empty-Nester Magical Girl!

“What the hell is going on? Why has Zhao Haiping’s team been arrested?! Don’t they know they’re busy trying to repair the super-large Star Rings right now!?”

The Supreme Commander of the Sea of Realms Border, Su Daoling, slammed his hand on the desk in fury.

In front of Su Daoling stood a man in civilian clothes, also with graying hair, but his face still appeared spirited.

He remained unfazed in the face of the Supreme Commander’s anger, calmly stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“We suspect that this large-scale shutdown of the Wangyue-class is related to the Heretic Organization. Recently, our national security personnel have uncovered some clues. The Heretic Organization is up to something dirty. Not just some petty squabbles, but a major operation.”

The man in civilian clothes spoke with a booming voice.

“And Zhao Haiping’s team is suspected of providing information and intelligence to the Heretic Organization. We dared to make the arrests precisely because we have indirect evidence.”

“You can’t just arrest them at a time like this! Even if you have to, wait until the Wangyue-class super-large Star Ring problem is fixed!” Supreme Commander Su Daoling stared at him resolutely.

“No, Zhao Haiping’s team is not of much use… at least not of great use. Whether it’s the Equator-class or the Wangyue-class, the R&D was led by that person in the Heretic Organization. To fix the Wangyue-class super-large Star Rings, we will ultimately have to rely on that individual from the Heretic Organization.”

Hearing this, Su Daoling’s powerful aura subsided slightly.

It was something they were unwilling to admit.

The might of an entire nation was actually inferior to a single organization in terms of R&D capabilities.

It wasn’t that they were inferior in every aspect.
The entire country could conduct multiple research projects simultaneously, whereas the Heretic Organization, with its small size, could not.

But whenever the Heretic Organization finalized a research plan, they were certain to produce results, and those results were generally more than ten years ahead of any other nation.

The Equator-class super-large Star Ring symbolized the magnificent crystallization of this century’s human industrial civilization, halting the trend of one-sided devastation of human society by Dimensional Beasts.

But without the Heretic Organization developing something like the Singularity Core, no country in the world could have broken through that barrier.

As for a mysterious power like ‘magic,’ which no country could get a handle on, the Heretic Organization had quietly applied it to the Singularity Core of the Wangyue-class super-large Star Ring.

‘Talented’ was no longer sufficient to describe the Heretic Organization’s R&D unit.
The other party most likely possessed some miraculous ability to achieve such incredible feats.

Therefore, it was perfectly normal to say that Zhao Haiping’s team wouldn’t be of much use.

“Supreme Commander Su, give me the bottom line. What is the status of our R&D progress on ‘magic’?” the man in civilian clothes said seriously.

“Your national security is not part of the same system as ours. You’re overstepping your authority by asking this.”

“I must ask you to give me the gist. I believe it’s no coincidence that the Wangyue-class’s Singularity Core can use magic as a substitute energy source. It was a ‘time bomb’ planted by the Heretic Organization from the very beginning of the Wangyue-class’s development. Coupled with the fact that the Heretic Organization may be planning a major move soon, if they succeed, we will be in big trouble!”

Su Daoling was moved.

“That shouldn’t be possible, right? The reason the Wangyue-class’s Singularity Cores malfunctioned is because of a recent anomaly in the Sea of Realms, which changed the composition of the ‘Source’ we extracted. Could the Heretic Organization have predicted even the changes in the Sea of Realms?”

“Who knows? They are always full of surprises.”

The man in civilian clothes asked again, “You don’t need to tell me the specific research direction. Just tell me, is our research on magic more advanced than the Heretic Organization’s?”

“…I am ashamed to say.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Those three words alone contained more than enough information.

The man in civilian clothes stood up and left.
He had already found a specific direction for his investigation.

Evening gradually fell.

Luo You tapped her fingers impatiently at the dinner table.
The hands of the living room clock had already reached 7:30 PM.

“I’m back—”

“You’re late!”

Luo Zining had just come in from school when Luo You snapped at her.

“Did you have some kind of club activity today? You’re back so late, and I couldn’t reach you by phone!”

Luo Zining didn’t talk back, merely asking in a somewhat dazed tone, “Dad… have you ever seen a super-large Star Ring with your own eyes?”

“Huh? Who hasn’t seen one of those?”

“Then have you ever personally been on one?”

“Tch, as if you’ve been on one!” Luo You scoffed.

The super-large Star Ring was a top-level military secret.
Under normal circumstances, how could her daughter, a mere magical girl stationed inland, have the opportunity to board one?

Luo Zining pouted in dissatisfaction. “What’s that supposed to mean! What if I really have been on one!”

“What, you’ve actually been on one?”

“Uh, no, I haven’t…” She averted her gaze, looking a little guilty.

“…”

Luo You narrowed her eyes slightly.

‘It seems she has been on one, and today at that.’

‘Why?’

‘Even a first-rate magical girl fighting on the front lines of the Sea of Realms Border might not get to board a super-large Star Ring, so how could Zining?’

‘Besides, why would Zining go to the Sea of Realms Border?’

Luo You calmly called Zining over for dinner.
Then, while she was still in a daze, Luo You casually asked, “By the way, has something been going on at the Sea of Realms Border recently?”

“Indeed… The atmosphere there seems to have gotten very tense, so many magical girls… Ah!”
Luo Zining paused for a moment, then added, “That’s what people online are saying.”

“Heh… I’ll search it up later.”

Luo You already had part of the answer in her heart.

If the anomaly Xue had sensed came from the Sea of Realms Border, then this thick ‘scent’ inland meant that the danger from the Sea of Realms had already spread here.

‘Well… that’s not something I need to worry about.’

What she needed to focus on now was—

“Zining, what’s your sister’s home address?”

“What are you planning to do!?” Luo Zining’s face was full of suspicion. “If you act like this, I’m going to call the police! She’s only twenty-s… oh, she’s an adult now… but still, no!”

“…Can’t you have a single good thought about me?”

Luo You was already used to her daughter’s distrust.
Through a combination of pestering and cajoling, she managed to pry Ji Meng’s address out of her.

Now it was time to take action.

To bring back that ultimate resentful woman, Liyun.

The next day, Luo You went to Nine Mings Sea.

First, she went to the address she got from Zining, and then… she broke right in!

Like a thief.

And like a bad woman planning to do ill deeds to the resident, coveting their beauty.

“Looks like no one’s lived here for a while,” Luo You muttered to herself.

But it was understandable.
Ji Meng was the Third Seat, Xingyu.
With all the trouble at the Sea of Realms Border recently, she wouldn’t have much free time to come back.

Although she now knew Ji Meng’s address, Luo You was already certain that Ji Meng’s sister, Liyun, couldn’t be living here.

Assuming Liyun did live in this house, if Luo Zining were to visit one day when Ji Meng wasn’t around, wouldn’t Liyun’s presence be exposed?

Therefore, Ji Meng must have a second apartment, where she usually lived with Liyun.

“Even though Zining doesn’t know where the second apartment is, there should be some clues here…”

A magical girl is just a magical girl, not some counter-espionage expert.
It would be impossible for her to not leave a single trace in this regard.

Sure enough, after a simple search, Luo You found a stack of heating bills in a drawer.
On them was not only the address of this apartment but also that of another one.

And it was in the same building, just on a different floor—one on the third, one on the sixth.

“Hmph… Now that I’ve found it, this will be easy.”

Luo You let out a wicked smile.
‘Now, let’s begin counseling the resentful magical woman!’