Following the local magical girls, Veronica flew with them from the new district of Bo'an City to a street in the old district.
The street they arrived at was sowhat old, with most of the buildings along the roadside having been around for years. Of course, this didn't affect the people who had lived here for a long ti, who went about their normal lives.
Being the old district, it was lined with storefronts, offering all kinds of shops. Due to Bo'an City's unique characteristic of being associated with music, many of the shops featured musical elents, including music bars, music stores, and performance halls.
The magical girls took Veronica to a music store that looked like it had been around for so ti.
"This is our usual base of operations," Bai Ji introduced, "It’s a music store founded by Deng Zhan’s parents, and later, they handed it over to her. Now, Deng Zhan is the store manager here."
Although the music store appeared old on the outside, the interior was clean and tidy. A faint scent of wood lingered in the air, showing that considerable effort had been put into maintaining the place. The furnishings inside weren’t particularly unusual—there were various brands and models of instrunts hanging on the walls, and larger items like pianos were displayed in the back. Despite it being evening, there were still many custors lingering inside.
Veronica followed Bai Ji and the group through the storefront area, walking past it into a small door in the back, leading them upstairs to the second floor. After ascending a narrow, steep staircase, they entered a spacious area. What greeted Veronica's eyes was a personal space—a lively activity room filled with life.
It seed this area had originally been a recording studio, with so old recording equipnt placed in a corner, hinting at its previous purpose. However, it had now been transford into a living space, furnished with various items. It was here that Veronica t Bo Li, the Seeder of Bo'an City for the first ti.
Bo Li, a fairy, looked like a fluffy raccoon, with an adorably clumsy appearance that was quite cute. When Veronica first encountered Bo Li, it was… playing the guitar.
It was a difficult scene to describe: a small, seemingly clumsy raccoon sitting on the ground, a guitar stretched out in front of it, one paw pressing down on the chords while the other skillfully plucked the strings.
The lody was slow and sorrowful, as though telling an unspoken sadness. At the sa ti, Veronica found it oddly familiar, though she hadn’t paid attention to popular music in years. This seed like a song that had been popular a few years ago.
As though sensing the people at the door, the raccoon gradually stopped playing, lifted its furry head, and greeted the magical girls: "Oh, you’re back? Good job, girls!"
Its voice shattered the mood of the scene. Despite its raccoon appearance, it spoke with a deep male voice, even sounding a little hoarse. The tone was full of a nonchalant attitude, rhythmic like a rap song.
Before Bai Ji and the others could respond, it turned its attention to Veronica: "Who’s this big shot you brought ho? Did you solve the Ravager problem? Have you found Deng Zhan yet?"
"Bo Li!" Bai Ji drawled, slightly exasperated, "Stop with the rap. This is an Inspector from the Investigation Bureau!"
"Cool, babe. You’re telling she’s an inspector…" The raccoon stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing the aning of Bai Ji’s words. It paused and carefully felt Veronica’s magical power, and its fluffy face grew expressionless for a mont before it cleared its throat and continued, pretending nothing had happened: "Oh, my bad. Inspector."
Inspectors from the Investigation Bureau usually were dispatched for special cases and had the authority to mobilize any local factions involved in the case, including Seeders and magical girls. While the formal requirent for an inspector was a Flower Card, no magical girl who could sit in such a position would be interested in troubling fairies. However, Seeders generally respected their authority.
On the other hand, the high-ranking mbers of the Court of Magic, who were also in positions of power among magical girls, were often the subject of covert ridicule by the Seeders.
"Hello, I actually don’t mind how you speak to ," Veronica said, lowering her eyelids slightly and bowing. Her voice was cold. "I just hope you can provide useful information."
"Ah, alright." Wiping nonexistent sweat from its forehead, the raccoon spoke in its announcer-like voice. "So, what would you like to ask?"
Veronica asked her questions directly. The conversation went smoothly. Despite the raccoon’s slightly comical speech, it was very organized, and after their exchange, Veronica quickly received several useful pieces of information that clarified the entire situation:
It started ten days ago when the missing Cat Tail Squad arrived in Bo'an City and contacted the local Counterasure Bureau and the magical girl squad. They asked many questions. Two days before their disappearance, they had interacted with Deng Zhan, discussing "recent strange occurrences in Bo'an City."
About a week ago, Cat Tail Squad suddenly disappeared, and the last known sighting was in the new district of Bo'an City.
Four days ago, when Veronica was notified by the Investigation Bureau about the missing squad, Deng Zhan, as the local squad leader, decided to start her own investigation to gather information before the Bureau arrived.
Three days ago, Deng Zhan took mbers of the local magical girl squad to the Counterasure Bureau to cooperate and investigate the squad’s last known movents.
Two days ago, she told the remaining three mbers of the squad that she had found possible suspects.
Finally, yesterday, Deng Zhan also disappeared.
At this point, everything fell apart, and all the clues pointing to the truth were abruptly cut off. This was a very troubling situation, and even Veronica furrowed her brows upon hearing it. No wonder the magical girls in Bo'an City looked so anxious.
"If possible, I hope you, Inspector, can find Deng Zhan too," the raccoon said helplessly after recounting the details. "I told her not to act rashly, but she insisted on investigating, thinking the disappearance of the squad was related to her. I didn’t expect this to happen…"
"I will," Veronica said, glancing at the blonde girl beside her. She turned and promised, "I will find her."
Whether for professional or personal reasons, she needed to resolve this issue now. She didn't want to be mistaken as a criminal, and finding the real culprit was the best way to clear up the misunderstanding.
With the promise of the Inspector, the raccoon, Bo Li, seed a little more relaxed. It started rapping again, idly flattering Veronica.
Veronica didn’t say anything more. Her next task was clear: to obtain the final pieces of information from the Counterasure Bureau and launch her investigation, focusing on locating the missing Cat Tail Squad and Deng Zhan.
If not for the detour she took earlier when she t Bo'an City’s magical girls, she would have already gone to the Counterasure Bureau by now. However, since the schedule had changed unexpectedly, she arrived at the magical girls' base, and it was already late. The Bureau had closed for the day, so there was no point in visiting now.
Veronica decided to visit the Bureau the next day and rest for the night. While rescuing the missing magical girls was crucial, without sufficient information, resting to recharge was a wiser choice than blindly running around like a headless chicken.
She inford Bo Li to pass along her plan to the Counterasure Bureau and left her contact information with the local magical girls. Veronica then left the base and returned to the hotel she had originally planned to stay at.
After a long day and a series of misunderstandings that caused trouble, Veronica, exhausted and ntally drained, washed up quickly and collapsed into bed, falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning, she set out again in her Veronica persona.
To avoid the morning rush, she chose to fly directly to her destination rather than taking public transportation like when she first arrived in Bo'an City.
She already knew the location of the Counterasure Bureau, and with its location in the Music Park, it was easy to find from the air. After checking the map, she flew straight to the new district.
Upon landing in Music Park, she found a music-thed exhibition hall focused on local music masters. According to information provided by the Investigation Bureau, one of the entrances was here.
She followed a solitary man through the crowd, sneaked into the exhibition hall without paying, and quickly walked to a hidden security passage. At the end of it, she found a secretive entrance: a stairwell leading underground.
After walking down the stairs to the third basent level, Veronica found a tal door with a password lock.
She knew the code and quickly entered it, causing the door to open.
What lay before her was a bright yet deep corridor, its white walls neat and well-maintained, with lights bright and no dust or trash on the floor. The entire space was clean, showing that soone took great care to maintain it.
As she proceeded, she noticed the Bureau's massive underground complex, which seed to have an endless number of passages connecting various exits.
Continuing down the long hallway, Veronica heard a strange sound—like sothing wet hitting the ground, a liquid-and-solid collision sound. It seed like soone was mopping the floor.
The sound ca from a half-open office door, with bright light streaming out. Veronica walked towards the door, full of curiosity, and opened it without hesitation.
Then she froze.
The entire office was painted red, as if doused in red paint, but it wasn't paint—it was blood.
The instant the door opened, the sll of blood assaulted Veronica’s senses. Various dismbered, unrecognizable body parts lay scattered around the room, making it resemble a giant slaughterhouse, far more grueso than an ordinary one.
And in the center of this bloody scene was a Ravager—a creature about two or three ters tall—squatting, holding a still body of a Bureau employee, gnawing contentedly with its sharp teeth.
The sound Veronica had heard earlier was not from mopping the floor, but from the creature dragging bodies, and the chewing noise.
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