Chapter 38 What kind of family are you people?

Lily hung her head in frustration, staring at the wreckage on the ground.

"It was just a puppet. She has plenty of those."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Han’s expression turned grim. During their previous discussion about the true identity of String-Heart Stone, Lily had mentioned the name Black Coral.

She was one of the four people who had been close to String-Heart Stone back in the day—or perhaps more accurately, a teammate from the same Magical Girl squad. At the time, Lily had described Black Coral merely as "an intelligence officer, not skilled in combat," and the dossier provided to the Magic Affairs Bureau was just as brief.

It was clear now that this had been a lie.

"Why hide her capabilities?" Xiao Han challenged Lily. "There was almost no information on her in the database, and you didn't add a single detail. Yes, we didn't expect to face her instead of String-Heart Stone today, but as someone so closely linked to her, you should have told us the truth. You shouldn't have held back."

Xiao Han turned to look at her colleagues, who had been controlled like marionettes just moments before. "We almost lost so many people!"

Filled with guilt, Lily replied gloomily, "That’s because... Black Coral had long since decided to retire. I respected her choice and believed she wouldn't cross the line again. Especially after she betrayed the squad... I truly never expected them to join forces again."

*Why does this keep getting more complicated?*

Li Xiao Han felt a headache coming on. Setting aside old grudges, she was more concerned with how Black Coral had pulled this off.

"What exactly is her magic? Puppetry?" She looked at the disintegrating remains of the puppet and asked the question that baffled her most. "Why was she able to cast spells directly on our officers?"

Lily answered, "You could call it Puppet Magic."

Unlike mages, the magic of Magical Girls cannot be easily categorized into elements or illusions. While one might find superficial similarities, their abilities are essentially unique to each individual. Puppet Magic was one such specialized ability.

"Black Coral’s magic can grant movement to any doll, and she can craft her own puppets to act in her stead. The traces we tracked earlier were all left intentionally by dolls infused with her magic—the same goes for the Ball Beasts and String-Heart Stone. What appeared just now was a puppet she crafted for herself; we usually call it a 'substitute'."

Lily stared at the ground, where the magical components of the puppet had dissipated, leaving behind only scattered silver and loose gemstones.

"That was only the most inferior type of substitute. If she wished, a substitute could be completely indistinguishable from her true self."

*And that was just the inferior one...* Li Xiao Han went pale.

Lily continued, "Because it was a puppet, it managed to bypass the restrictions placed on Magical Girls. Strictly speaking, your colleagues were affected by a magical item, not a direct spell cast by Black Coral. And it seems her ability to conceal her magical signature has grown even stronger than before."

A flicker of frustration crossed Lily's face. Neither she nor the officers' detection equipment had managed to detect the puppet's presence beforehand.

"It can do that?!" Xiao Han was stunned. "With such a terrifying ability, you still said she wasn't good at combat?"

As the controller of the castle, she had seen everything that happened inside. Forget mages; even among all the Magical Girls she had seen in her career, none could have survived such an attack for more than a second.

Lily sighed. "Black Coral is indeed considered to have relatively low direct combat power among the Stranded."

"Do you understand the danger of the Stranded now?" Long Yushu walked toward them, leaning on her cane.

Li Xiao Han opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. Long Yushu pressed her lips together and gestured for her subordinates to collect the remnants of the Black Coral puppet. She then looked at the shadow beneath Lily’s feet—the Bloodhound had not been deployed.

"Can you find the source of the puppet's control?" she asked, staring into Lily’s eyes.

"I’m afraid not. No one has been able to do so yet," Lily said shamefully. "I am sorry."

Long Yushu said nothing, her gaze only growing more piercing.

"Director, what should we do next?" Xiao Han asked. "Are we going to deal with Black Coral as well..."

Long Yushu did not answer immediately. She tapped her cane and paced back and forth in front of Lily. "What do you think their objective is?"

Lily said, "I don’t think Black Coral was lying. As I hypothesized before, String-Heart Stone’s previous action was an accident, and Black Coral did this to help her evade capture. It is also a declaration. Black Coral didn't cause any real harm this time; she was simply announcing that if we continue to pursue String-Heart Stone, she might launch a real counterattack on her behalf."

Long Yushu asked coldly, "Do you think the Magic Affairs Bureau should obediently accept her threats?"

Lily tried to persuade her gently, "...Actually, you could look at this from a different perspective. This should be seen as a peace treaty, not a threat. Perhaps String-Heart Stone has completely rid herself of her murderous impulses, and those Ball Beasts were just decoys to mislead us. Black Coral could have easily eliminated all the officers on the scene, yet she chose to fight only me. If they truly have no intention of harming society, why not tolerate them living in seclusion?"

Long Yushu shook her head, her tone indifferent. "Evasion is an inherently selfish act—it is an abdication of responsibility toward public safety. The longer a Stranded individual hides, the less we can trust them. Especially since, as you said, Black Coral broke her own vow of retirement, which further diminishes her credibility. There are only two ways for us to believe a Magical Girl won't harm society: either she agrees to be fully monitored by the Magic Affairs Bureau, or we witness her death with our own eyes."

Lily dissipated the dual pistols in her hands and lowered her head. "When I decided to assist the Bureau, I said I came only for peace."

Long Yushu withdrew her gaze and told Xiao Han, "Then lock her in the confinement cell."

Li Xiao Han sighed inwardly, understanding her intent. This operation wasn't just targeting String-Heart Stone; it was targeting Lily as well. Clearly, Lily had failed the test.

...

After properly settling the two Ball Beasts in another room, Shi Ningyu finally had a chance to settle accounts with Fu Lan.

"If I didn't have hypnosis magic, would we have been blown to bits just now?" she asked irritably.

Fu Lan said earnestly, "If that were the case, I would have suggested you run out first. The Ball Beasts have significant lethality when they self-destruct indoors, but it wouldn't be enough to collapse the building."

Shi Ningyu narrowed her eyes like a cat. "Even then, you still don't want to take action yourself? Do you not want to cast spells, or are you completely incapable of it?"

*Here it comes.*

Fu Lan felt a jolt of alarm, but he quickly calmed himself. He knew Shi Ningyu had investigated him, but she didn't know *that* he knew. Perhaps it wasn't time for a showdown yet.

So, he countered, "What do you think?"

Shi Ningyu stomped her foot in anger, turned away, and took several deep breaths before complaining, "I don't know! I didn't want to get involved; everyone has secrets, that's normal. But when you’re still hiding things even when our lives are in danger, I’m just... speechless!"

Fu Lan was silent for a moment before asking, "If I really don't want to say, is it still possible for us to continue working together?"

Shi Ningyu glared at him sideways and sighed helplessly. "Honestly, I really want to cut ties with an unreliable business partner like you. But until I get the formula for the ice, I have to put up with you."

Fu Lan hadn't expected her to be so honest; it left him speechless. After she finished, Shi Ningyu felt her words might have been a bit harsh. But unable to admit she wanted to help him earn more money, she hurriedly brought up a more awkward topic: "Are you going to file for divorce tomorrow?"

Compared to her, who was beginning to feel embarrassed, Fu Lan didn't find it awkward at all. "Yes, so tomorrow you’ll be on your own. I have a morning appointment, so if all goes well, I can be here by noon."

"Oh, that's fine, no rush. Go handle your divorce. I just wanted to ask if this kind of thing will happen again while you're away."

Fu Lan rested his chin on his hand. He couldn't guarantee that. Ball Beasts usually self-destruct due to prolonged agitation, generally occurring when the breeders fail to soothe them in time. Since they were currently in their incubation period and couldn't move, it could only be another reason—they had sensed a massive, unavoidable threat and were forced to self-destruct.

But what threat could have been nearby half an hour ago to make the Ball Beasts fear for their lives? Black Coral?

*No...* She had extracted the Ball Beasts' magic much earlier, and they hadn't reacted then, so it shouldn't have been her. As for himself, that was even less likely. He hadn't transformed, and he was far away at his own home; how could he have posed a threat to the Ball Beasts?

Moreover, only one of the five Ball Beasts had triggered a self-destruction. Could there be another reason?

Fu Lan couldn't find an answer, so he could only comfort Shi Ningyu by saying it was a low-probability event and told her to keep an eye out for suspicious individuals. Even if another Ball Beast self-destructed, she already knew how to handle it, so there was no need to worry. As for any other unexpected situations, he couldn't imagine them—if they really encountered one, they would just have to consider themselves unlucky.

After parting ways with Shi Ningyu, Fu Lan intended to find Black Coral to discuss his doubts about the Ball Beasts, but as he picked up his phone, he received a message from her first.

*"After hearing about your experience after consuming Magic Ember, I’m very worried about the situation with Requiem. I must go to Gray Island immediately."*

Only then did Fu Lan realize the immense danger hidden in the fact that Magic Ember triggered a forced transformation—if the Magic Affairs Bureau knew this, they could use it directly to detect the identities of suspected Magical Girls!

The reason the Magic Affairs Bureau held the upper hand in their confrontation with Magical Girls was largely because Magical Girls could not harm ordinary people. Not only were they unable to consciously attack them, but most of their magic would immediately fail if it came into contact with an ordinary person within their range of awareness. Their mission was to protect humanity from magical beasts, never to harm them. The fact that the situation later changed, and they were forced to find ways to bypass these consciousness restrictions or use indirect means to fight back, was a story for another time.

Another advantage the Bureau held was the ability to identify and target the true form of a Magical Girl. Compared to mages who could use magic in their human form, Magical Girls were extremely fragile before they transformed. Once an opponent locked onto their true form and launched a sneak attack, they faced a fatal threat. If the Bureau gained this new method to force suspects to reveal their identities, those Magical Girls who were still managing to hold on under surveillance would likely never be able to hide again...

Fu Lan was annoyed by his own sluggishness. After experiencing a forced transformation, he hadn't thought of this immediately. Was he, as Requiem had said, a selfish and hypocritical bastard forever?

He hurriedly recalled the sensations of that moment and sent Black Coral a more detailed description of the effects, hoping it might help. But... he suddenly wondered, what if they had learned this information before the Bureau?

...

Back home, Fu Linxing replied to a voice message from He Yue, who had urged him again. He sulkily threw his tennis bag onto the sofa and walked into her bedroom.

The computer wasn't turned off. He clicked the mouse to wake it from sleep mode, entered the screen lock password, and picked up his phone, ready to find the file according to He Yue's instructions. However, as his gaze refocused on the monitor, he saw an unfinished painting.

*"Mom draws this kind of stuff?"* he muttered.

He Yue liked to paint with paper and pen; she didn't often draw on the computer, but he had caught her at it a few times. In Fu Linxing's impression, his mother usually drew sketches or oil paintings, or quick drafts for photography. This was the first time he had seen a Japanese anime-style illustration of a beautiful girl like this.

But Fu Linxing tried hard to recall and found no signs that she was an anime master. If this drawing hadn't appeared in professional software, and clearly left half-finished, he would never have believed it came from He Yue.

After saving the file for his careless mother, he was about to minimize the window to continue his own task when a memory was suddenly triggered. His mind went blank.

He leaned closer to the screen, staring at the painting, then pulled up some manga screenshots on his phone to compare them. His pupils shook. Although the hair color, appearance, and clothing were different, the style and the details that had been compared and confirmed countless times all indicated that this was the same person.

And this painting, like the others, was from the same artist.

*['']! My mom is ['']?!*

"Are you home yet? Why haven't you sent it over!"

Fu Linxing glanced at the message notification, sent the file to He Yue at light speed, and then opened the drawing again, unconsciously pulling at his hair.

*It can't be wrong. This is String-Heart Stone! And this painting hasn't appeared anywhere else!*

*But how could my mom be ['']?*

*Could it be that she knows the artist and is helping them edit the work?*

*But didn't that woman delete her account and retire from the circle...* Checking the web history would be useless now. If He Yue really was [''], given her habits, would she have written down her account password in her diary?

*No! Can't look through her notebook; I'll be killed!*

*Is there any other way to confirm? Should I talk to Zhong Zi about it?*

Fu Linxing hesitated for a moment but decided not to tell Zhong Zihao for now. Zhong Zi already had enough on his plate; he could imagine his reaction...

("What kind of family do you have!")

If this was confirmed, it would mean his dad was doing underground work for a Magical Girl, his mom was drawing fan-art for the same Magical Girl, and the two of them seemingly didn't know about each other...

*What the hell is going on!*

*Ah!!!*

*Ahhhhhhh!!!*

*No!* Fu Linxing plucked a thought from his tangled mind: *No, before I get this mess sorted out... I absolutely cannot let these two get a divorce!*