Chapter 73: Is that all the clothes you have?
“Unexplained restlessness? It seems we’ve come to the right place.”
“It doesn’t matter if we can’t find the source of the anomaly, as long as we know that magical energy is right here in the zoo and there are signs of leakage.”
The Tyrant Python hung up the phone and turned to the Black-clad Man beside him, who was adjusting some equipment.
“Is that thing ready yet?”
“Almost, it will be useful tonight. With this, no matter how deep that magical energy is hiding, we’ll be able to find it!”
……
“Did you not bring your friends today?”
While the villains were plotting their mischief for the night, Luo Shuangyue ran into Xia Mo at the zoo once again.
This time Xia Mo was alone, so Luo Shuangyue boldly appeared in front of her and casually struck up a conversation.
“They had other matters, and I can’t just bring them along for two days in a row.” Xia Mo glanced at the white-haired girl in front of her with a complex expression, feeling a dreamlike sense that this girl might be her beloved childhood sweetheart.
However, upon closer observation, Dark Butterfly and Shuangyue did share a resemblance; their body shapes were nearly identical, except one usually wore more covered clothing while the other wore a dress and long socks, which made it difficult to draw a connection at first glance.
But as Xia Mo’s doubts grew, these details began to surface one after another, increasing her suspicion.
Originally, she believed half of her speculation about Luo Shuangxing, but now she was believing it at least sixty to seventy percent.
If she really caught a whiff of Dark Butterfly smelling like Luo Shuangyue, she would have to accept the fact that her childhood friend was in fact a sweetheart, no matter how unwilling she was to admit it.
“Why are you looking at me with such strange eyes…” Luo Shuangyue noticed Xia Mo’s complex gaze.
Xia Mo quickly slapped her cheeks; she couldn’t let Dark Butterfly become suspicious. She needed an excuse to cover for her earlier daydreaming…
What excuse should she use? Her eyes swept over Dark Butterfly’s usual attire, and she suddenly had an idea.
“I was just curious, do you really only have that one outfit?” Xia Mo pointed at the dress on Dark Butterfly and then at her own clothes.
What she wore today was different from what she wore yesterday, but Dark Butterfly wore the same thing every time.
As for Dark Butterfly’s shoes, which originally belonged to her, Xia Mo couldn’t even be bothered to mention it—if Dark Butterfly didn’t change her clothes, would she change her shoes?
Hearing Xia Mo’s question, Luo Shuangyue’s expression darkened immediately. Are you really bringing this up?
What I wear has nothing to do with you, magical girl! As long as it’s nice-looking and I wash it every day, isn’t that enough?
“Boring. If you have time to worry about such trivial matters, you should think harder about how to find the source of the anomaly.”
Seizing the opportunity with that excuse, Xia Mo pressed on, “It’s not trivial at all. If you have time later, I can take you to buy some clothes…”
“Are you insane? I told you I don’t need those things. Can you focus on more important matters?” Luo Shuangyue was also starting to lose her patience. Was Xia Mo’s mental state off?
Why was she so obsessed with these things?
What I wear as Dark Butterfly has nothing to do with you, magical girl Rosemary! We’re enemies, do you understand?
“After I got home yesterday, I informed the Magic Department about the anomalies here. Now they have sent many investigators to infiltrate and investigate; there should be results soon.”
Xia Mo retorted immediately when Dark Butterfly accused her of being unprofessional.
Even with just the two of them, no matter how busy they were, they couldn’t search every corner of the zoo—this kind of thing should be left to professionals.
After she informed the Director, it was clear that there were now some people in the zoo who looked out of place. Some zoo staff were also being questioned by people in black civilian clothes.
All of this was thanks to Xia Mo; the Magic Department investigating here was equivalent to her investigating.
“Relying too much on external forces will ultimately lead to trouble.” Luo Shuangyue coldly replied, without acknowledging that she was doing the same thing.
It was just that she sent fewer people, while Xia Mo had called in more.
“Being overly individualistic isn’t a good habit, you know? Even the most powerful magical girl needs the help of her partners to defeat strong enemies.” Speaking on this topic, Xia Mo sounded quite confident.
The strength of magical girls relies on these bonds; idealistic power is boundless!
Didn’t I once defeat you, Dark Butterfly, with my idealism? What’s the matter? Have you forgotten that pain?
Luo Shuangyue’s expression stiffened; great, this topic wasn’t going anywhere. Continuing like this would just result in her being grilled by Xia Mo.
“Enough about this, so with so many of you searching for half a day, have you come to any conclusions?”
“There are some conclusions, but nothing very clear. What we do know is that all the animals in the zoo are exhibiting unusual restlessness, except for the snake area, which has been quite calm.” Xia Mo shook her head. “The Magic Department plans to conduct a thorough search of the entire zoo tonight after closing to find the source of this anomaly.”
In many respects, the efficiency of the Magic Department could be described as rapid; they received the report yesterday, and today they were already making grand preparations to dig deep and find the cause of this anomaly.
As for why they didn’t search during the day, it was partly because the Magic Department needed time to transport various equipment; if something went wrong, they’d be prepared to control the situation in an uninhabited area.
Also, there were reasons why doing such work during the day was not ideal.
Fights between magical girls and magical beasts should try to avoid the public’s gaze as much as possible.
Ideally, every battle would happen in the dead of night, quietly resolved.
“……Hmph, I’m going to wait here tonight. Bai Ye’s Sealing Card is my top priority. If you try to stop me, I won’t go easy on you.” With a snort of annoyance, Luo Shuangyue said to Xia Mo with a serious face.
Her goal was to ensure that the Sealing Card wouldn’t fall into the hands of the Snake Fang, so the best choice was to directly seize it.
Keeping it with Monise was far more reassuring to Luo Shuangyue than having it in the Magic Department.
“So… why do you care so much about the Sealing Card left by Senior Bai Ye?” Xia Mo asked with curiosity.
It seemed that from the start, Dark Butterfly’s focus had always been on the Sealing Card left by Bai Ye.
“For power, and to eliminate these unstable factors completely.”
