Magical Girl Fan Bingbing

The corridor on the third floor of the research institute was soon crowded with people.

The commotion had spread so quickly that it reached the employees faster than any official announcement. Within minutes, almost every colleague who could move in the third-floor office area had gathered around, and many people from the neighboring floors also came over under the pretext of going to the restroom to find out more.

Nuanyu and a member of the Watchers blocked the office doorway, preventing people from peeking inside.

A deputy director of the research institute with gray hair squeezed to the front, his face displaying a complex expression of both politeness and apprehension, and nodded slightly to Nuanyu.

"My name is Zhou, the deputy director of the research institute."

"You've come with such a large entourage without any prior notice. This could significantly impact our institute's daily operations and public image. Could you please provide us with a formal explanation? At least so we can give our superiors an account."

Several employees who were watching the commotion immediately chimed in.

"That's right, Commissioner Lin usually gets along very well with everyone."

"He may have some minor issues, but it's not like he'd go so far as to kill someone..."

"A little kickback and a warning would suffice; why send a magical girl and a guardian together?"

Some employees were even whispering among themselves, wondering if Specialist Lin had offended someone above him to be receiving such special attention.

Those at the door could only see the scene inside through the gaps in the watchman's eyes. The desks were overturned and in disarray. Commissioner Lin's hands were cuffed behind his back, and there was blood on his cheeks and the backs of his hands that had not been wiped clean. He was pressed to the ground with a pale face. The whole scene looked like the scene in a TV drama where a vicious criminal was being escorted away.

According to everyone's understanding, even if Commissioner Lin committed a crime, at most he would be sent to Tilanqiao prison for a few years, where there are many talented people to learn from.

But this scene... it feels like they're about to be sent straight to the execution ground to be shot?

Nuanyu was quite experienced and was already adept at handling such situations. She raised her hand to signal everyone to quiet down, her tone gentle but firm.

"Please cooperate with our work, comrades."

"The case is still under investigation, and due to confidentiality requirements, we cannot disclose details at this time. If we require the institute's cooperation or assistance in the future, we will notify the leaders through proper procedures."

"We urge all unrelated personnel to return to their posts as soon as possible to avoid disrupting the normal investigation."

Her voice was cold and clear, and after a few words, the employees watching were less likely to push forward.

Standing in the office, Jiang Li listened to Nuan Yu outside the door manage to quell the situation with just a few words, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly that the senior was indeed a senior.

She really wanted to hide under her desk right now, because as soon as she looked up, she saw that familiar figure in the crowd.

Song Mingyue crossed her arms and leaned against the wall opposite in the corridor, looking every bit the part of a bystander.

However, when Song Mingyue's gaze inadvertently swept over Jiang Li, Jiang Li seemed to feel a mysterious, invisible pressure.

It's like when I was a kid, sneaking out to play with my classmates when my mom wasn't looking, only to come back and find her sitting on the sofa with a feather duster.

However, due to her cognitive biases, Song Mingyue clearly did not recognize her own daughter, and no particular expression appeared on her face.

Jiang Li checked it in her mind several times before she could relax her tense nerves a little.

"Director Zhou." Jiang Li shifted her gaze from Song Mingyue and turned to the deputy director who had just spoken at the door. "We need to check your institute's warehouse. Could you please send a leader with warehouse access to accompany us?"

The smile on Deputy Director Zhou's face froze for a moment.

"Well..." He glanced at the other leaders by the door, "I have a video conference with my superiors this afternoon, and I really can't get away. Perhaps another colleague could accompany me?"

"I also need to rush to finish a project proposal today," a leader next to him immediately chimed in.

"I still have one set of data to run in my experiment."

"I……"

Jiang Li stood there, watching these usually kind and amiable uncles and aunts pass the buck and shirk responsibility, and felt a little uncomfortable.

After several leaders made excuses and back-and-forth, Deputy Director Zhou finally had a flash of inspiration and his gaze fell on Song Mingyue, who was standing across the corridor.

"Professor Song also has warehouse access. She should be relatively free today. Let her accompany this comrade."

The other leaders immediately nodded in agreement, as if they had found the perfect candidate.

Jiang Li: "..."

Song Mingyue had no reason to refuse, so she gave a light reply, tucked the pen back into the breast pocket of her white coat, and walked out of the crowd.

When she walked up to Jiang Li, she nodded to Jiang Li, indicating that they could set off.

Jiang Li steeled herself and followed Song Mingyue toward the elevator at the end of the corridor.

There were only two people in the elevator. Jiang Li stood stiffly in one corner of the elevator, her eyes fixed on the numbers on the floor display screen, pretending to be nonchalant.

Song Mingyue stood diagonally opposite her, her hands in the pockets of her white coat, without saying a word, adopting a businesslike demeanor.

The elevator stopped with a ding.

The two walked out of the elevator one after the other and walked deeper into a corridor paved with gray non-slip tiles.

The atmosphere in the basement was completely different from that in the upstairs office area. There was a slight smell of disinfectant in the air, and various warning signs were posted on the walls on both sides.

Halfway there, Song Mingyue suddenly spoke up, "Comrade Magical Girl."

Jiang Li's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

"My code name is Little Azure Dragon." She steadied her voice. "You can just call me Little Azure Dragon."

"Oh, it's Comrade Little Green Dragon."

Song Mingyue softly read the code name aloud, a faint smile appearing on her face.

Then, seemingly subconsciously, she pulled her right hand out of her white coat pocket and reached towards Jiang Li's head. Halfway up, she realized something was wrong and withdrew it.

"Sorry, I'm used to it." Song Mingyue gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I also have a daughter at home, who's about your age."

Jiang Li's heart skipped a beat at the hand that almost landed on her head.

Suddenly, Jiang Li had a flash of inspiration!

She really wanted to know how her mother described her daughter to outsiders. Her mother's evaluation would probably be much more objective in front of a stranger.

Jiang Li swallowed hard and spoke in a low voice, "Professor Song... Professor Song."

"Um?"

"What kind of person is your daughter?"

Song Mingyue seemed to be taken aback for a moment, not expecting this seemingly aloof magical girl to take the initiative to talk about such a casual topic.

But she still replied with a smile, "Sigh, she can't compare to you."

Song Mingyue shook her head, her tone carrying a typical sense of helplessness as a parent.

"He's very mischievous at home and has a lot of talk; he talks back two out of three times. His grades aren't bad, but he's extremely unbalanced in his subjects, so it's hard to say whether he'll be able to get into a decent university."

Jiang Li's lips twitched; she began to doubt whether she was Song Mingyue's biological daughter.

What mother would speak ill of her own daughter in front of outsiders?

However, before she could finish complaining in her heart, Song Mingyue's next words made her stop in her tracks.

"But that person," Song Mingyue's tone softened.

"If my little girl could be like you, so responsible and capable of standing on her own at such a young age..."

"Then as a mother, I really have nothing to worry about in this life."

Jiang Li didn't respond. Being praised by her mother in person, but receiving the praise under a completely unfamiliar code name, was a very strange feeling.

What kind of expression would my mom make if I suddenly turned off my transformation?

Jiang Li really wanted to know the answer, but in the end she held back; now was not the time to act coquettish.

The conversation ended there, amidst the myriad of emotions swirling within Jiang Li's heart.

Song Mingyue didn't continue the conversation, as if she had just casually chatted with a stranger and then moved on.

At the end of the corridor appeared a heavy metal door, with a red indicator light on the access control.

"We've arrived." Song Mingyue stepped forward, stuck her employee ID card on the card reader, entered a password on the keyboard next to her, and finally placed her palm on the biometric panel.

With a beep, the red indicator light turned green, and the metal door slowly slid open inward.

The cold air from inside the warehouse rushed in through the cracks in the door, carrying a very faint, unique scent that only those who have been in contact with magic essence for a long time can distinguish.

Jiang Li followed Song Mingyue inside. The warehouse was much smaller than she had imagined. The four walls were lined with custom-made built-in safes, and in the middle were several rows of transparent glass cabinets with temperature control systems. Each cabinet door had an electronic tag displaying the name, batch number, and date of receipt of the items stored inside.

"What exactly are you investigating?" Song Mingyue asked, turning her head.

"The latest batch of high-purity magic crystals has been purchased and put into storage."

Without asking any further questions, Song Mingyue walked straight to a display case in the second row from the middle and accessed the cabinet door.

The cabinet door opened, and Jiang Li stepped forward, took out special gloves from her uniform pocket and put them on. Then she carefully picked up one of the bottles and held it up to her eyes.

Looking through the glass bottle, several tiny crystals lying at the bottom of the bottle, illuminated by the cool white light from the warehouse ceiling, emitted a unique, dreamlike pale blue glow, like ocean tears frozen in glass.

Dreamy Sapphire...

Jiang Li stared blankly at the glass bottle for several seconds. When she found the Disaster Master's work again, a feeling rushed through her entire body, starting from her feet and going up to her head.

She had previously turned the city's ledgers upside down, flipped through the list of organizations from the first page to the last, visited the public security bureau's warehouse, the military region's warehouse, and dozens or even hundreds of research institutes and laboratories of all sizes, but to no avail.

She had even begun to doubt whether the idea her father had casually mentioned at the dinner table that night was reliable.

As it turned out, he suddenly turned around and found the guy right there in the dim light.

Jiang Li gently placed the glass bottle back into the evidence bag and slowly exhaled a long breath.

If she hadn't stumbled upon a clue at the hospital today, she probably would never have imagined that the clue to the Dream Sapphire had been quietly lying in this place she had frequented since childhood.

My dad was right. The killer thinks you'll look for things you wouldn't expect.