Terrible!
Looking at the constantly flooding messages, Hibiscus felt a headache. She absolutely shouldn't have picked this time—could the tragedy netizens mentioned really be replaying? It shouldn't happen, right?
Just as she was conflicted, a notification sound in her mind completely shattered her fantasy. The system generating a "Save Nan Zhiyi" suggestion—didn't that mean real danger existed? Better to believe it existed than not. Regardless of whether the Vanguard Disaster Beast landed or not, she had to find someone.
The girl didn't have time to look at system rewards and directly acted, opening the window to leap out into the cold.
Rumble!
Just reaching the rooftop, she heard tremendous noise from Ningfeng Harbor's dock direction—definitely not the sound of ships or such, but the entire ocean rolling up a whirlpool eye. Fishing boats, cargo ships, and yachts were swallowed without resistance and disappeared from sight, probably pulled into endless abyss where water pressure alone would be enough to crush them. From Hibiscus's perspective, amazing magic power was condensing. Deep under the sea, spatial rifts fluctuated violently, ready to emerge. Some terrifying existence was about to cross the barrier.
So that's how it was—indeed magic power release.
Hibiscus stretched out her involuntarily trembling hand, identical to the gang members affected by her overflowing magic power back then, enough to show the gap between the two sides. And the opponent hadn't even officially appeared yet—just pushing open the door.
At this moment she really wanted to ask netizens "how did this worldview become all-ages," but complaining couldn't solve anything. Time to act.
Simultaneously, alarm sounds echoed throughout Ningfeng Harbor, with surrounding cities also sensing it and dispatching support.
Special attack forces had already departed.
Many people in the dock area fell into unconsciousness. Only those far away had the chance to barely run into shelter facilities—slow but effective.
...City life was fully visible, vision far superior to eagles allowed Hibiscus's gaze to quickly sweep several streets, but she found nothing except people running in panic.
Hibiscus bit her teeth and simply leaped down from the rooftop to reach a slightly shorter building, observing along the way. Heavy snow fell, ice pierced to the bone. With her current constitution, actually feeling a trace of cold was quite rare. She couldn't delay anymore. Otherwise, just the celestial abnormalities before the Vanguard Disaster Beast landed would be terrifying enough. Ordinary people exposed outdoors would quickly suffer hypothermia and death. Only Hibiscus's physical qualities dared to traverse rooftops freely.
If abnormal celestial phenomena were one form of Origin manifestation, it was indeed exaggerated.
The girl suddenly stopped because a thousand meters ahead, dense clouds gathered and sent down lightning. The whirlpool in the sea that had absorbed lightning actually protruded like a mountain peak.
Time was more pressing.
While running toward the whirlpool, she observed passersby. Many people covered their faces and fell down because any moisture in eyes, nostrils, and mouths was frozen solid, forming a mask covering their features.
Affected citizens cried continuously, but the more they cried, the more it accelerated frost erosion. The number of injured kept climbing.
Not good. If this continued, finding Nan Zhiyi would be useless. The indiscriminate map cannon intimidation from Disaster Beasts was harvesting ordinary people. Without timely intervention, consequences were unimaginable.
Magic power release!
Hibiscus concentrated all her attention on mobilizing Origin release intimidation to actively meet the Disaster Beast's aura. Instantly, a gentle breeze passed through a hundred-meter radius. Simultaneously, an angry roar came from the whirlpool, temperature quickly returned, deadly freezing rapidly receded, and it even stopped snowing in the air.
The Vanguard Disaster Beast sensed a strong Origin and understood it would have to gnaw a hard bone later. How could it waste intimidation on clearing small fry?
It let out an angry roar as if saying "wait till I cross the door and I'll eat you"—equivalent to a declaration of war.
The girl wiped cold sweat from her forehead and smiled bitterly.
Finished. She'd drawn aggro.
With both sides locking onto each other's unique Origin aura, battle was unavoidable. With Disaster Beasts' frenzied bloodthirsty nature, it would definitely run all the way over. So should she continue looking for someone? She feared implicating others. But before the girl could think clearly, she saw countless sharks with legs crawling out of the sea—exactly like a low-budget trashy monster movie scene.
The Disaster Beast had launched active infection to control lower creatures' mutation and flood into the city to tear at passersby. Don't look at the seafood army's comical appearance—one bite and it was a bloody mess.
"Each one's a small expert at group combat. When will Sands of Time evolve too?"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunfire shrouded the seafood army. Large-caliber, high-lethality weapons instantly raised a cloud of blood mist. Steel rain forcibly constructed a defensive line preventing infected bodies from advancing an inch. Using this as opportunity, special attack forces quickly evacuated civilians from dangerous areas—movements skillful and surprisingly orderly. The leader was Jin Yulu, whom she'd met once before, concentrating on commanding.
Hibiscus discovered infected bodies' skin also showed crystal characteristics, so ordinary weapons were inadequate. But professionals obviously had preparations and switched to special ammunition.
Even with current magical girl strength, taking a hit would probably leave her in pieces here and there. After all, her own defense and health were too poor.
As an assassin-type warrior, I'm helpless.
The girl wasn't in the mood to watch the excitement. With special attack forces sharing pressure, she could finally search streets adjacent to Nan Zhiyi's residential area. As time passed, Hibiscus grew increasingly anxious.
Perhaps magical awakening could let her old classmate escape disaster, but family breakdown and physical disability were still too cruel.
If she couldn't change all this, wouldn't she be wasting netizens' strategic planning? You provide the strategy guide, I'll achieve the good ending. Though both sides never truly agreed, it was tacitly understood—things that shouldn't happen would all be avoided.
Boom!
Just as Hibiscus passed the special attack forces' temporary line, Disaster Beast intimidation suddenly erupted. A shock wave pushed team members away, and simultaneously infected body waves attacked.
That guy in the sea coordinated with his subordinates—extremely effective against flesh and blood lacking magic power. In an instant, people were brutally torn and bitten, flesh flying, wails endless. Damn it, such precisely timed intimidation was probably because of her approach.
Moreover, the Disaster Beast deployed new infected bodies. Mutated octopi sprayed ink to obscure vision, laying groundwork for the next fierce attack.
"Time stop."
Hibiscus couldn't sit by and watch, so she took out a string of throwing knives from her bosom.
Though she didn't know why netizens were obsessed with the "time types should use throwing knives" suggestion, the normal conversation parts were quite beneficial.
The girl leaped into the air and scattered throwing knives, each infused with a trace of magic power with explosive effects, one-on-one precision care for the first batch of infected bodies charging up. In the gray-white world, Hibiscus passed through crowds and infected body groups. When passing by Jin Yulu's side, she paused—no matter how you looked at it, this great hero didn't have the thirty-year-old temperament from propaganda. Her frozen face had quite a youthful, tender feeling.
On a whim, Hibiscus extended her index finger to touch a bit of ink suspended in air, then lightly flicked Jin Yulu's pretty face to add a small pattern.
When her figure reached the turbulent dock in the distance, the world regained colorful splendor. Threats remained ice-cold and piercing, about to claim lives, and then one color surged:
Blood!
Dozens of infected bodies charging at the front and even separated from the main force instantly burst into fragments. Before Jin Yulu and her group's eyes, the crisis was resolved and they gained enough breathing room to save their lives.