“Sigh, why do you have to be like this?”
Hearing Maka’s response and knowing that he had already made up his mind and would never surrender to anyone, Hua Yiya let out a sigh and muttered these words under her breath.
Without responding to Hua Yiya, Maka launched an attack at An Xiaoyu as fast as he could, hoping to break through from her direction—since she had a fish tail and looked like she might be the easiest to get past.
Seeing Maka charge at her, An Xiaoyu showed not the slightest hint of panic. The very next moment, she swiftly manipulated the water around her, sending it surging toward Maka. It easily dissolved his attack, soaked what little paper he had left on his body, and sent him crashing to the ground, completely knocked out.
“Just because I look a bit less mobile, you thought you could rush me? You really underestimated me, didn’t you?”
Watching Maka, whom she had taken down so effortlessly, An Xiaoyu—knowing exactly why he had targeted her—couldn’t help but huff indignantly to herself.
“Alright, now for the remaining lovely lady who’s willing to surrender—please cooperate with us.”
Having overheard Hua Yiya’s earlier conversation with Maka and knowing she had already decided to give herself up, Zhao Meier retrieved a restraint ring developed by the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs—designed to suppress supernatural power—from her system space. She stepped forward and said this to Hua Yiya.
Hearing this, Hua Yiya, fully aware that she stood no chance against Zhao Meier and the others, immediately put on a strained smile and willingly stretched out her neck.
“Cooperate, cooperate—I’ll absolutely cooperate.”
Seeing Hua Yiya’s outstretched neck, Zhao Meier quickly fastened the restraint ring around it.
After securing the ring on Hua Yiya, Zhao Meier also took out another one and placed it on the unconscious Maka, who was still lying on the ground.
Once she confirmed that both devices had activated and were doing their job—successfully suppressing the supernatural abilities of these two supernaturals—Zhao Meier stood up, mission accomplished, and said to Hua Yiya.
“Smart choice. Now, come with me and my companions—let’s get out of here.”
“Understood.”
After giving Zhao Meier a very obedient reply, Hua Yiya followed her and the other Yan Qi doppelgangers toward the location where the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs members were gathering near the hotel entrance.
“Xiao Hu, Miss Zhao Meier, and Miss An Xiaoyu—you’re back! Did you catch those two criminals who tried to escape earlier?”
Seeing Hu Yao’er and her group appear in the corner of her vision, Bai Yuling, who had been discussing the aftermath with her colleagues from the Bureau, broke off their conversation and hurried over to them, asking with concern.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Bai. With me, Zhao Meier, and An Xiaoyu on the case, there’s no way those two supernatural criminals could have gotten away from us.”
Hearing Bai Yuling ask about Maka and Hua Yiya as she approached their group, Hu Yao’er stepped forward confidently, pointed at Hua Yiya following behind them and Maka being dragged along, and replied with great assurance.
Following the direction Hu Yao’er pointed, Bai Yuling spotted Maka and Hua Yiya, who had fled earlier. Knowing that these Free Life Association members would definitely have been able to catch those two, a smile immediately spread across her face as she praised Hu Yao’er, Zhao Meier, and An Xiaoyu.
“I knew that no matter what kind of supernatural criminals they were, they’d never escape from you.”
“Aunt Bai, don’t praise us too much. If you keep that up, we might just start letting our tails rise all the way up to the sky!”
Feeling genuinely happy at Bai Yuling’s compliments, Hu Yao’er quickly replied with humility, while playfully wagging the tail behind her.
“Given the contributions you’ve made to our Windbreak City, even if you wanted to raise your tails to the heavens, I think most of our Bureau members and the ordinary citizens of Windbreak City would be perfectly fine with that.”
Watching Hu Yao’er’s tail swaying back and forth and hearing her words, Bai Yuling’s smile grew even brighter than before. She reached out and gently patted Hu Yao’er on the head, signaling that even if Hu Yao’er wanted to lift her tail up to the sky someday, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Alright, enough about that for now. Aunt Bai, have you taken care of that old woman?”
Smiling at Bai Yuling, Hu Yao’er—although she already knew through Si Yexing’s vision that the Bureau had dealt with Old Mrs. Victor the Shepherd—deliberately pretended to be unaware of what had happened over here. After all, she and her group had just been out chasing Maka and Hua Yiya and couldn’t possibly have known about the situation on this side. So she asked Bai Yuling this question as if she knew nothing.
Hearing this, Bai Yuling assumed Hu Yao’er was just showing concern about whether their side had handled things properly, and quickly replied.
“After you left, we captured that Shepherd woman as quickly as possible and put several restraint rings on her. She won’t be posing any major threat to Windbreak City now.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“By the way, Xiao Hu, can I ask you something?”
After answering Hu Yao’er’s question, Bai Yuling suddenly remembered something that had happened earlier and continued.
“Aunt Bai, what do you want to ask me?”
Hearing that Bai Yuling had a question for her, Hu Yao’er looked up at her and asked in return.
Bai Yuling paused for a moment, thought about how to phrase it, and then replied.
“Xiao Hu, can you tell me why your organization’s leader—Miss Daoyan—left in such a hurry today?”
“Aunt Bai, that’s all you wanted to ask?”
Hearing Bai Yuling’s inquiry, Hu Yao’er—not quite understanding why she cared about this—asked back with a hint of uncertainty.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want to know. Miss Daoyan left so abruptly earlier that I didn’t even get a chance to speak with her or get a better understanding of her current situation.”
Bai Yuling looked directly at Hu Yao’er, making no attempt to hide her intentions, and spoke truthfully.
