“Over here! Senior Wanxin!”

After taking a cab to the agency, Bai Xiaoxiao checked the time. It was only 7:55, five minutes before their agreed meeting time.

To her surprise, Senior Lu Wanxin had already arrived in a black sedan. Cai Mengmeng sat in the back seat, her face expressionless.

“Where are you off to, cutie? How about I take you to the zoo? When you get tired, we can go straight back to my place. It’s pretty big.”

With the window rolled halfway down, Senior Lu Wanxin—wearing sunglasses with her eyes peeking over them—teased Bai Xiaoxiao. If a man had said those things, it would’ve been blatant sexual harassment. But coming from a gorgeous, mature beauty like her, it only made your heart race.

“Senior Wanxin, don’t be like that. Xiaoxiao’s scared...”

Cai Mengmeng sat in the back and watched quietly without butting in. Bai Xiaoxiao opened the passenger-side door on her own and buckled her seat belt.

Lu Wanxin’s eyes lingered on her chest as she clicked her tongue. The seat belt was pressing into Bai Xiaoxiao’s full breasts, squeezing their curves to either side. It was hard not to stare.

“Aww, just look at our Xiaoxiao, all plump and healthy. I’m so~ jealous. What did you eat to get that big? I really want to reach out and touch.”

Lu Wanxin reached out with both hands and made a lecherous grabby motion. Bai Xiaoxiao immediately hugged herself, her face turning red.

“Senior, don’t! Didn’t you promise you wouldn’t make a move on me?!”

Looking at her adorable junior, Lu Wanxin could only sigh. So lovely to look at, but not to touch. What a waste of such a great figure.

Playtime was over. It was time to get down to business.

Before setting out, Lu Wanxin had already checked in with Captain Meng Ting. They were now on their way to the zoo, while Bai Xiaoxiao sat quietly in the passenger seat, admiring the scenery outside.

A gentle breeze blew as green scenery streamed past on either side, appearing and disappearing as if they were traveling through a tunnel in time.

Lu Wanxin and Bai Xiaoxiao chatted along the way while Cai Mengmeng rested with her eyes closed in the back. As they neared the zoo’s cordoned-off area, a roadside sign and some staff stopped their car.

“Water pipe repairs ahead. Please take a detour.”

Lu Wanxin didn’t say a word. She took out the credentials issued by the agency, and the staff immediately recognized them as official personnel. They quickly opened a prepared passage for the trio.

As the sedan slowly entered the cordoned-off area, the streets and tourist spots around them—which had once been bustling—were now completely silent.

All ordinary people had been evacuated in advance. Now, within five kilometers of the zoo, only the animals and the three of them remained.

The farther they drove, the more strongly Bai Xiaoxiao sensed the magic.

When the car stopped outside the zoo, Bai Xiaoxiao and the other two got out. The hot wind hit them, and they instinctively adjusted their hats.

Bai Xiaoxiao wore a white baseball cap, while the other two wore plain white hats. They looked good, and the hats did their job of keeping the sun off, too.

A huge sign stood by the entrance to Tianhai Zoo, displaying basic information about the zoo and a general map of its routes.

Lu Wanxin took out her phone and snapped a photo of the map, then led the other two inside.

A huge plaza lay just inside the entrance. It was usually lined with stalls selling stuffed toys, snacks, bottled water, and popsicles. Now, unfortunately, it was deserted.

Farther ahead, the path split in two. According to the map at the entrance, the left-hand path led to the large, ferocious animals—lions, tigers, black bears, and the like. The right-hand area was bigger and held more animals, but they were less dangerous, such as monkeys, giraffes, and red pandas.

The source of the magic was to the right, so the three quickly chose that path.

The first exhibit housed golden snub-nosed monkeys. Several were scattered around the enclosure, and they weren’t afraid of people. When Bai Xiaoxiao and the others passed by, the monkeys even reached out for food. The staff should’ve left the animals plenty to eat before evacuating, and they weren’t likely to starve in just one day, so Bai Xiaoxiao and the others didn’t feed them.

Bai Xiaoxiao took a couple of photos with her phone, then continued following Lu Wanxin.

The second enclosure housed pangolins. Bai Xiaoxiao was quite curious about these animals, covered in scales and able to curl up into a ball.

After walking for about five minutes, Lu Wanxin told everyone to get ready. The magic was growing denser and denser. Whatever was causing it might be just up ahead.

They didn’t linger over the animals. Bai Xiaoxiao and Cai Mengmeng had already summoned their magical outfits, and Lu Wanxin had changed into a blue dress.

A mass of black magic came into view. The orb of magic suspended in midair was continuing to gather, and directly beneath it lay a huge black-patterned python, its body as thick as a person’s waist, sprawled lazily on the ground.

“Get ready to move!”

Lu Wanxin sent Captain Meng Ting a message to say that they were ready. Once she confirmed there were no ordinary people in danger, she condensed a white orb of light in her hand.

With B-Rank magical power, Lu Wanxin should theoretically be able to disperse the mass of black magic with a single strike. If she succeeded, the monster crisis would be over.

Bai Xiaoxiao was ready to act, too. If Lu Wanxin failed, she’d immediately follow up with another attack. An A-Rank’s strength was far greater than that of an ordinary B-Rank.

Lu Wanxin had gathered a considerable amount of magical power between her hands, bathing herself in a brilliant glow. Slowly, she pushed both hands forward, sending the orb of light toward the mass of black magic.

The instant the black orb and the white one touched, the mass of black magic—which was still gathering power—was instantly annihilated by the white orb and vanished into the air. Lu Wanxin wiped away her sweat. She hadn’t expected the mission to be this easy. No wonder it had only been rated C-Rank; it was no match for her B-Rank strength.

They waited another dozen seconds or so, but nothing else happened. Lu Wanxin dismissed her magical outfit and changed back into her usual clothes.

Bai Xiaoxiao returned to normal, too. The baseball cap on her head was blown up by the wind, and the gust carried some stale air into her nose.

“All right. Now we just need to report back to Captain Meng Ting.”

Cai Mengmeng, who’d been on edge the whole time, finally relaxed out of her combat stance. None of them had expected the mission to be so easy, and Bai Xiaoxiao felt relieved, too.

The black magic continued to drift away in the air. That should mean there wouldn’t be any more trouble.

But just as Bai Xiaoxiao was about to take out her phone and snap a photo, she noticed something was wrong.

“Wait, Senior Wanxin! Where’s the snake? What happened to the python with the black markings?!”

Bai Xiaoxiao realized what was wrong. The three of them had been focused on the gathering black magic the whole time and had ignored the patterned python right beneath it.

The python had vanished without a trace. Its huge body was no longer in the enclosure.

Lu Wanxin and Cai Mengmeng snapped back to attention. Just as a flash of white light swept over them and they changed back into their magical outfits, a huge maw lined with fangs dropped from above, blocking out much of the light. Bai Xiaoxiao attacked first, sending a blade of light slicing into the python, whose body had grown several times larger.

Sparks flew everywhere. The blade of light had no effect against its thick scales, but it gave Lu Wanxin and Cai Mengmeng a chance to escape. They teleported away from where they’d been standing a moment before.

“What’s going on? The gathering magic had already been dispersed. How did it still find a host?!”

But no one could answer Lu Wanxin. The black-patterned giant python held its head high, staring down at the three of them. Bai Xiaoxiao’s palms began to sweat.