Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 54 The Little Autumn Clearing Dispute

018 Disaster Zone.

The emergency evacuation announcement has been broadcast for the third time.

The residents remained calm, clutching their two most valuable possessions, and followed the familiar evacuation route. Their pace wasn't even particularly fast; once they saw the magical girl had arrived, most of them wore expressions that screamed: "I'm not worried!"

"Get it done quickly."

Just then, a soon-to-be magical girl ran against the flow of evacuees, bent down to report, and spoke at a controlled pace:

"Senior Qiuji, the crowd has been evacuated. This time, multiple strange beasts have appeared at the same time again, with at least four gray-bronze level and one silver level. Please be extra careful."

Qiu Ji placed the alien core he had taken from the lying gray-iron-grade creature into the girl's hand, then stood on tiptoe and patted her head:

"Alright, good junior, evacuate now. You're responsible for maintaining the outer magical barrier, don't worry about me."

"Senior, please take care."

Even the aspiring magical girl herself knew that saying this was just empty talk.

If it were a few months ago, she would definitely have applied to stay, but the situation in the disaster zone is very different now.

The gathering of multiple alien beasts has become the norm. In this situation, the support of low-star magical girls is not a helper, but a variable, or even a distraction that Qiu Ji needs to pay extra attention to.

She understood her powerlessness, so she withdrew.

Qiu Ji waved goodbye to the other person, then looked up at the collapsed buildings in front of her.

Four gray bronze ones, one white silver one.

He sighed, and the six star marks on the back of his hand glowed faintly.

trouble...

It wasn't because of the difficulty; to be honest, she had seen far more difficult situations.

What truly exhausted her was a thought that began to surface more and more frequently after she entered university—stupidity.

In fact, the disaster zone was initially an uninhabited area.

The residents living here today moved in voluntarily. They gradually squeezed in, from hesitation to taking it for granted, from making do to settling down permanently, and finally it became what it is today.

Are they after that little bit of disaster relief compensation? Or is there some other reason?

Qiu Ji really didn't understand.

Suppressing that thought, magical girls can't complain; it was like that in the past, and it's no different now.

The ground trembled slightly at that moment.

Not just one.

Four different footsteps, each with varying intensity, reverberated simultaneously from the depths of the ruins.

Qiu Ji stood still, without moving.

She lowered her eyelids slightly, her gaze searching for something unseen by others in the air.

In the world that ordinary people can see, there are only ruined walls, broken bricks, and a gust of dusty sand with a rusty smell.

But what Qiu Ji saw was completely different; as the magic power within her body circulated, 'lines' appeared.

As fine as a hair, as thin as a cicada's wing, the amber-colored glimmer lies dormant beneath the surface of reality, converging into lines. Each line connects two nodes, 'cause' and 'effect,' and most are taut, like a fully drawn bow, just waiting for a trigger point to release the arrow.

At this moment, in this abandoned area where Qiu Ji stands, hundreds of such lines are intertwined around him.

She's used to it.

What happened next was both troublesome and easy.

With a gentle flick of her index finger, amber-colored causal lines spread out in her eyes, connecting the next step of each strange beast, taut and straight, waiting to be untangled by her—

The cleanup was completed in about fifteen minutes.

The four gray irons each fell into the ruins in unbelievable ways and were crushed and killed.

Having completed the battle, Qiu Ji simply clapped his hands lightly, letting out a weary sigh: "What a terrible world."

It was neither anger nor accusation, just a calm thought.

"Hey, Xiao Qiuji?"

Just then, a male voice came from behind, causing Qiu Ji's shoulders to stiffen slightly.

She took a deep breath, turned around, and enunciated the next title carefully: "Xiao Gu Bai!"

Gu Bai paused for a moment. It seemed that Qiu Ji cared more about the word "small" than he had imagined. This was indeed his fault.

After scanning the scene—the remains of five strange beasts and Qiu Ji's unharmed state—he roughly understood the situation: "Has it been resolved?"

"That's about right." Qiu Ji calmly confirmed, then followed up with, "So, what did you just call me?"

"Xiao Qiuji," Gu Bai had no choice but to repeat.

"According to the rules of magical girls, based on strength ranking, you should be calling me 'senpai' now!" Qiu Ji tilted her head slightly, her tone serious. "Understand, little Gu Bai?"

rumble--

Suddenly, a different kind of tremor came from the ground, this one much stronger.

Qiu Ji activated his magic, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the air.

I saw the line and tried to move it by hanging my index finger on it. It was like prying off a piece of cable; it barely moved.

This time we've met a big one!

On the other side of the collapsed building, a strange beast about nine meters tall emerged from around the corner. Its sharp-edged armor gleamed coldly, and with each step it took, the ground sank an inch, its oppressive aura spreading outwards, even pushing the broken bricks and stones beside the ruins half a circle away.

It's a silver-level beast, and it looks like it's almost at the gold level!

"You retreat. If you have the resources, go and support other disaster areas. Leave this to me!"

Qiu Ji has already restarted her magic, but she cannot guarantee that she can protect the weak in the face of this strange beast situation.

"Hey, what are you doing—"

"I'll take care of it."

Gu Bai had already started walking and was approaching the huge beast.

The flower-falling ceremony this morning was still weighing on my mind, and on the other hand, Xiao Qiuji had just appeared a bit yawny.

Then, with a thought, he conjured a black sword in his palm. The sword, with its black blade and dark aura, quietly gleamed with a fierce light.

"Danger! Don't come any closer!"

Qiu Ji didn't finish speaking.

Gu Bai had already gotten very close to the terrifying beast!

She saw that the strange beast was about to crush Gu Bai with a swing of its paw, but fortunately Gu Bai dodged the heavy blow in time.

Wait, is it really just luck?

He raised his sword, and then, like a sudden downpour, he mercilessly slashed at the beast's massive body.

In just a moment, the beast that had been exuding a violent aura collapsed into the ruins. Its massive body even kicked up a cloud of dust and broken bricks. Before it could utter a proper roar, it fell silent on the ground, motionless.

Qiu Ji stood there, stunned, staring at the pile of wreckage.

He channeled his magic, slowly shifting his gaze back to Hui Bai, or rather, trying to find the 'threads' on him.

But she couldn't see anything at all...

Is it because the opponent's strength far surpasses that of oneself?

"According to what you just said—"

Gu Bai dispersed the ink sword and returned to the girl's side. After a pause, he continued, "—Now, I can call you Xiao Qiuji, right?"

"..." Qiu Ji took a deep breath, her face turning slightly red.

She stared at Gu Bai for a long time, but finally gave in, turned around, and took a step forward, enunciating her words in sharp, fragmented sentences:

"Okay, but I can actually handle this Silver-level monster by myself. Let's hurry up and go support other disaster zones!"

Gu Bai followed, the curve of his lips not obvious, but he didn't hide it either.

Two figures left Zone 018 one after the other, and then headed to the next calamity zone according to the prompts of the Prayer Heart APP.