Ye Lan and Ling Miao ran into Bai Tu and the others on their way back.

“Ye Lan, what are you doing here?” Bai Tu walked up to her, looking a little puzzled.

Ye Lan pointed at Ling Miao, who was already drenched in sweat, and answered without hiding anything. “Senior Ling Miao brought me out.”

Bai Tu and the others turned their attention to Ling Miao, who hadn’t said a word.

Cai Xun rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes.

“Let me guess. Did you drag Ye Lan to the mission site without permission, you little brat?”

“Meow~”

Ling Miao broke into a sweat.

Bu Jie joined in, too.

“Sheesh~ You airheaded little brat! Was getting yourself into trouble not enough? You had to drag someone else down with you, too? Shouldn’t we report this and lock you up for ten days or half a month? This isn’t something to fool around with!”

“Wuh~”

Ling Miao was sweating buckets!

Then she looked at Bai Tu with big, pitiful eyes, trying to get out of it by acting cute.

Bai Tu shook his head. “You really shouldn’t have done that. It’s too early for you to go on missions. If you run into danger, you’ll barely be able to do anything about it. And this time, Ling Miao, you brought Ye Lan along even though she’s only just joined the Night Watchers and doesn’t know anything yet. You really shouldn’t have.”

“Eep~”

Ling Miao was sweating like a waterfall!

It was over. She was definitely going to be locked up for a long time this time.

Ling Miao looked like a cat who’d lost all hope. If she’d had cat ears and a tail, they’d surely have been drooping. She looked so wronged.

Ye Lan quietly watched from the sidelines, and got a pretty good sense of Ling Miao’s personality.

So she was just a mischievous little brat who knew when she’d done wrong.

She did have the air of someone who’d do it all over again, but she was still pretty cute. Though she’d be even better if she didn’t drag Ye Lan into trouble.

So Ye Lan decided to step in.

“Wait. Actually, I was the one who asked Senior Ling Miao to bring me out. I was curious about the site where the Star Eclipse happened, so I wanted to see it with my own eyes. She didn’t drag me along against my will. And Senior Ling Miao took good care of me. She didn’t let me go out there—she only had me watch the livestream. So please forgive her.”

Ye Lan gave Ling Miao a cute little wink. Ling Miao understood at once and quickly nodded. A wave of emotion welled up inside her.

【What kind of adorable little angel is this, meow?!】

Ling Miao made up her mind: she’d cling to Ye Lan until they became best friends!

Bai Tu and the others had naturally noticed the little exchange between them, but they didn’t call them out on it.

“We’ll let you off this time. Don’t let it happen again, or you’ll both be locked up.”

“Got it, meow!”

Ling Miao was the first to promise. Whether anyone could trust that promise was another question.

In the conversation that followed, Ye Lan learned that Bai Tu and the others had been the ones to recommend Ling Miao.

In other words, they were the ones who’d brought Ling Miao into the Night Watchers, and her experience had been almost exactly the same as Ye Lan’s.

No wonder Ling Miao listened to them and didn’t dare talk back too much.

Then Bai Tu suddenly seemed to remember something. “Since you two already know each other, let’s have Ling Miao look after Ye Lan from now on. You’re the same age, so you should get along more easily. Ling Miao may be a little mischievous, but she knows what she needs to know. Ye Lan, if there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask her. You should learn the basics of being a Night Watcher as soon as possible.”

“Yay!”

Ling Miao jumped for joy like a kid who’d just gotten a new toy.

Ye Lan didn’t object, either. As long as she had time to slack off, that was all that mattered.

Money you make while slacking off is the only real money!

She had no interest in getting involved with Star Eclipses.

Bu Jie walked over and ruffled Ling Miao’s hair, chuckling. “That said, you’d better not lead little Ye Lan astray, you little rascal. You’re in charge of her now, so make sure you take responsibility.”

“I know that even if you don’t tell me.” Ling Miao dodged Bu Jie’s hand and bared her sharp little fangs. “And don’t go messing up my hair, or I’ll bite you! Then I’ll report you for bullying a kid.”

“Fine, fine. You really are an unlikeable little rascal.”

After that, Bai Tu and the others left.

The Tragic Shadow Troupe wouldn’t leave a city easily—not unless their performance was a success.

But this time, the Night Watchers had stopped them. They’d probably look for another chance to come back.

Under the circumstances, the Night Watchers’ next mission was to find the few anomalies hidden in the city.

But that was easier said than done.

Once Star Holders became the source of a Star Eclipse, they were no longer human. They turned into something else—something uncanny.

They didn’t need food, sleep, or rest. They only used human thought to fulfill their obsessions.

It felt like they’d transformed from carbon-based life into a completely different form of life.

Even the Night Watchers hadn’t fully figured out this bizarre group. All they knew was that when the members joined together, they became a Star Eclipse on the scale of a Supernova.

On top of that, their knack for hiding gave the Night Watchers a huge headache. They were incredibly hard to find.

The Night Watchers in other cities had already experienced how much trouble the Tragic Shadow Troupe could cause, and shared what they’d learned with all the other Night Watchers.

The Night Watchers had even formed a “Tragic Shadow Troupe Strategy Group.” That showed just how much these Star Eclipses had earned everyone’s hatred.

Enemies this hard to deal with were the worst.

After Bai Tu and the others left, Ling Miao and Ye Lan retraced their steps back to the Night Watchers Base.

......

Inside one of the Night Watchers’ rooms.

A black-haired little girl and a white-haired little girl sat in chairs, each holding a drawing board and a paintbrush as they sketched something on the boards.

They were Ye Lan and Ling Miao.

Here’s what happened.

When they got back to the Night Watchers Base, Ling Miao had dragged Ye Lan off to her room without asking.

If Ling Miao hadn’t been a girl, some Night Watchers might have stopped her halfway, considering how suspiciously close her behavior was to a crime.

Ye Lan had asked why, but Ling Miao had only said, “Come and you’ll see, meow. Come on.”

That gave Ye Lan a strange sense of déjà vu.

Once they were back in the room, Ling Miao said that drawing was her hobby, then asked Ye Lan if she could draw, too.

Ye Lan figured that after spending so many years in the anime world, she’d seen every kind of fictional character there was. Even if she’d never eaten pork, she’d at least seen a pig run.

So she answered, “A little.”

Then Ling Miao handed Ye Lan a drawing board, and they started drawing.

Yeah. It made no sense at all.

Nearly ten minutes later, Ye Lan stared sadly at what she’d drawn on her board.

“Is this... the limit of my abilities?”

Ling Miao leaned over.

“Hey, meow~ Ye Lan, are you done?”

“More or less...”

“Lemme see!”

Ye Lan handed over her drawing board. Ling Miao took it and had a good look. The moment she saw it, she burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, meow~ What is this? It’s the legendary stick figure! And you said you could draw a little.”

“Wuh~ I overestimated myself.”

Ye Lan covered her face, already feeling totally embarrassed.

Ling Miao didn’t keep making fun of Ye Lan. Instead, she started trying to comfort her.

“It’s okay. Everyone has things they can’t do! I’m sure there’s something you’re good at!”

Did she mean running away?

She was pretty good at that.

So why did that make her feel even more pathetic?