She was being hunted down, so she became a magical girl.

Nothing went wrong the following day.

Xu Ting returned to her post as the signboard girl and continued the work of unloading bullets.

At 8 p.m., Hezhi City entered a night fraught with danger, and the adorable maid café naturally closed its doors to customers.

The workday has come to an end.

Yan Yuling, the acting manager of the coffee shop, finally came down from the second floor.

After receiving the compliment from Luo Ruowei that "Xiao Xuting performed exceptionally well today," she relaxed her brow.

But after Luo Ruowei embellished the story by saying, "A scoundrel gangster came today and tried to swindle Xiao Xuting away with money," Yan Yuling's eyebrows furrowed again.

She walked to Xu Ting's side, straightened the ribbons on her maid's uniform, and whispered:

Do you know that gang?

Xu Ting replied, "His gang seems to be the same one that was fighting nearby last night."

"The Blackwater Gang..." Yan Yuling paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is he a man who wears gold-rimmed glasses and looks very refined?"

"Yes, you can check the surveillance footage to confirm."

Yan Yuling shook her head: "Only the owner has the authority to access the store's surveillance footage."

"That man is dangerous, don't go near him. I'll handle this for you."

It seems this acting store manager also knows the true nature of the viper.

That's understandable. If she knew nothing about the dark side of Hezhi City, the boss from Tianyi Group wouldn't have entrusted the shop to her with peace of mind.

Moreover, she was the one who brandished a gun and drove away Xu Ting, who was still male, from the second floor last night.

Yan Yuling likely knows about the "lost color," so we can't be careless in front of her.

Their whispers soon ended.

Next up is the maids' party time.

"These are rules personally set by the boss," Luo Ruowei explained to Xu Ting, grabbing a bottle of cola.

"The sisters who have homes to go back to have already gone home by now, leaving only us homeless people behind."

"To make everyone feel at home in the coffee shop, we start our gatherings every night at 8 p.m., so we can enjoy our own evening."

"And the theme of today's gathering is—"

She took a step back and opened her left arm to reveal the cake on the table.

"Ta-da! Congratulations to Xu Ting for joining our adorable maid café and starting a new life!"

The other maids clapped in unison, and Luo Ruowei shook the Coca-Cola in her hand vigorously, twisting the cap open in the open space.

Carbonated drinks gushed out, fizzing with bubbles.

She opened the Coke like it was champagne.

"Go ahead." Yan Yuling patted Xu Ting on the shoulder.

"Although we have to wait for the boss to come back to confirm whether you can stay, you are still the main character today."

Luo Ruowei complained, "Yu Ling, you're saying discouraging things again. Little Xu Ting is so cute, how could the boss not want her?"

After saying that, she hugged Xu Ting, who had come forward.

Xu Ting suppressed the urge to dodge and retaliate, and helplessly let her pull him into her arms.

Luo Ruowei turned to Xu Ting and said seriously:

"Your sister Yu Ling has a particular fondness for saying discouraging things, so please don't get angry about it, little sister Xu Ting."

"Although she looks cold, she's actually an incredibly cute, expressionless, tsundere maid."

As she spoke, she pulled a gift box out from behind her back.

"The latest Tianming XII communication terminal, a gift that everyone chipped in to buy for you."

"This thing is super expensive. If Yu Ling hadn't used her salary to cover 90% of the cost, we might not have been able to afford it."

Is it Destiny XII?

The Tianming series of civilian communication terminals launched by Tianyi Group is notorious for its excessively high price, claiming to have "extremely strong information retrieval capabilities," but its actual performance is far inferior to that of cheaper and more user-friendly military communication terminals.

Those who had lost their color would never have even glanced at this communication terminal in the past.

But... for the average person, this is indeed the best communication terminal they can buy.

Xu Ting silently accepted the gift box, speechless for a moment.

After a long while, she finally managed to squeeze out a soft "thank you."

"Hey? What did you just say, Xu Ting? Your voice was too soft, I didn't hear you!"

Luo Ruowei affectedly put her hand to her ear like a megaphone and started teasing Xu Ting.

"She just said 'thank you'."

It was Yan Yuling who came to the rescue.

Luo Ruowei shook her head vigorously: "No, no, I didn't hear you clearly. I want Xiao Xuting to repeat it again."

"It's the same if I repeat it for her."

Seemingly seeking revenge for being described as an "expressionless, arrogant maid," Yan Yuling and Luo Ruowei clashed.

"She just said, 'Luo Ruowei, clean up the Coke on the floor yourself, or I'll dock your pay.'"

"Did you hear me clearly this time?"

The maids then burst into laughter again, followed by another round of playful banter.

Someone took out candles and asked Xu Ting to sing the birthday song before blowing them out.

Some people said, "She's sung 'Happy Birthday' 43 times today, so just let her off the hook."

Some people, not wanting to miss out on the fun, made Luo Ruowei sing a song for them and had Yan Yuling dance along, ultimately resulting in them getting a dishwashing bonus.

The night passed just like that.

......

It was 1:30 a.m. that night.

Xu Ting stood in front of the iron gate of the coffee shop.

She was still wearing Yan Yuling's maid outfit, and she was about to give Viper a "gift" in the same outfit.

After all, she had no other clothes; her original inner lining and combat uniform had been taken away by Yan Yuling.

Fortunately, the maid outfit is a conservative black and white color scheme, and as long as it is paired with the "must-have black cloak for going out in winter" uniformly distributed by the store, it will not be conspicuous in the dark.

Even after eliminating all the witnesses, she can still carry out stealth operations.

After being enraged by the viper, Xu Ting's magic power and precision were greatly enhanced.

She easily gathered a magic ball, scanned the structure of the iron gate lock with magic, and pried it open with magic.

And so, magical girl Xu Ting's first nighttime outing began.

Sensing the location on the viper, Xu Ting ran quickly.

Thanks to her magical girl-level prosthetic body, she could easily reach Viper's residence without needing a vehicle.

"Many magical girls' careers begin with the first time they sneak out of their homes in the middle of the night."

"The crow sighed."

Seeing you reminds me of them from the past.

"You mean 'once upon a time'?"

Xu Ting asked the question that had been bothering her: "Speaking of which, since magical girls exist on this planet, why has the world become the way it is now?"

"Even I, in my incubation stage, could do so much; surely a mature magical girl could do even more?"

"But they seem to be completely oblivious to what is happening in Hezhi City."

"At least I've never heard of anything related to magical girls."

The crow fell silent for a long time before saying meaningfully:

"Because magical girls have basically ceased to exist on Earth."

Xu Ting wanted to ask more questions, but the crow simply disappeared.

She had no choice but to stop and look at the mansion in the distance.

That was the viper's luxurious villa.

It was also his elaborately decorated coffin.