As night fell, the shop lived up to its name.
In the pitch-black space, only a few scattered stars provided any light, a place where light could never reach—the abyss, the carnival of dark forces, the breeding ground for countless conspiracies.
Luo Shuangyue skillfully traversed the dark corridor, stepping through the stars and into the deepening night sky.
In the next moment, a large door appeared out of nowhere, as if it had been waiting for her arrival.
“6:59, you’re half a minute late,” came a lazy and youthful voice from behind the door.
Luo Shuangyue’s expression didn’t change as she stepped into the room.
Inside the pitch-black room, the only source of light came from a few hanging beads from the ceiling, casting a dim glow that made it hard to see anything clearly.
To be honest, Luo Shuangyue didn’t like this place at all.
“Last time, I arrived half an hour early and was turned away at the door. Since then, I decided I’d never show up early again,” she said, walking to the table at the center of the room and glancing at the several plates of food on it.
And the blonde girl, leisurely cutting a steak with a knife and fork.
The girl wore a light brown, form-fitting dress with a slightly darker checkered shawl draped over her shoulders.
Every movement exuded the elegant aura of old Western aristocracy.
“Good evening, Monice,” Luo Shuangyue said, pulling out the chair opposite the girl and sitting down without ceremony.
“Call me BOSS, or Boss, whatever you prefer,” Monice replied, tapping her knife against the plate in slight dissatisfaction.
“I heard from Jiu Ye that there was an accident in yesterday’s operation?”
So she was going to ask about yesterday’s events?
Luo Shuangyue silently breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she had already prepared for this.
She nodded casually, then pulled out a card from the pocket of her jacket, a card wrapped in white light.
“A few minor setbacks, but the card is in hand.”
From the very beginning, Luo Shuangyue’s goal with the Extreme Night had never been the magical girl, but this card.
Rosemary had been saved by an unknown powerful magical girl, which made the plan less
perfect, but as long as she got the sealing card, the mission couldn’t be considered a failure.
“That’s right, this is the Demon King of the Rhinoceros Seal sealed by White Night. With this sealing card, my research will progress further…”
Monice took the card Luo Shuangyue handed her, bringing it close to her nose and sniffing it lightly.
A blush crept up her face, and she rubbed the card against her cheek, much like a cat with catnip.
“Ahem!” Luo Shuangyue quickly cleared her throat.
“Boss, keep your image in check. Don’t make that kind of suggestive expression everywhere, alright? You’re making me think you’re some kind of pervert who wants to be my dad.”
“Don’t be so surprised, this is a sealing card left by White Night.”
Monice shook her head and put the card into her pocket.
“Wait until I separate the demonic energy from White Night’s power, then I’ll give you your share.”
Although Luo Shuangyue was nominally Monice’s subordinate, their relationship was more like a partnership.
She helped Monice obtain the sealing card, and Monice would help her separate the demonic energy and White Night’s magic.
Afterward, Monice would take the demonic energy, and Luo Shuangyue would take the power of her mother, each getting what they needed.
Then, the leader of Extreme Night brought up another matter.
“You must have seen what the magical girl looked like by now?”
“Yes.”
“Describe her to me, and I’ll send someone to dig up her identity.”
As expected of the big boss of an evil organization, in just a few words, Monice decided to take down the defeated magical girl.
Of course, Luo Shuangyue couldn’t let Monice have her way.
If Monice found out that Rosemary was Summer Mo, she, Summer Mo’s childhood friend, would definitely run into trouble.
“Targeting the friends and family of magical girls is a typical tactic of evil organizations.”
“No need, I have a lead. Monice, you should focus your attention on more important matters.”
Luo Shuangyue calmly shook her head, rejecting Monice’s request.
The blonde girl raised her eyes to assess Luo Shuangyue, noticing that her expression was one of calm disdain, and there was no suspicion that Luo Shuangyue was trying to protect Rosemary.
She probably thought Rosemary wasn’t a threat, and if she got saved, then so be it.
“Instead of Rosemary, I’m more curious about the magical girl who saved her—someone who could scare Jiu Ye like that… Could she be at the Sheng Fang level?”
To prevent Monice from continuing to focus on Rosemary, Luo Shuangyue brought up a much more urgent issue.
The defeated magical girl wasn’t the real concern; it was the sudden appearance of that powerful magical girl!
Monice shoved a piece of meat into her mouth, chewing slowly.
After a long pause, she swallowed and then voiced her thoughts.
“The Sea of Stars doesn’t have any Sheng Fang-level magical girls on permanent duty, and based on Jiu Ye’s description… I suspect it’s Bai Ye.”
“Bai Ye?!”
Luo Shuangyue showed genuine surprise.
“I once had a brief friendship with her. Although we parted ways because of differences in ideology, I must admit, she’s a noble and powerful magical girl—completely different from those other useless ones.”
Monice’s face softened as she reminisced, as if recalling the past with fondness.
Luo Shuangyue, however, sat up straighter, listening intently.
She joined Extreme Night because she had learned from her parents’ journals that the leader of Extreme Night had a close relationship with her parents, and she believed she might find clues about their disappearance there.
But after two years, she had hardly ever heard Monice mention her parents.
This made Monice’s reaction now even more noteworthy.
“Then… are we just going to ignore this?”
Luo Shuangyue asked.
“Why ignore it? I’d like to see my old friend again, ask her where she’s been hiding all these years, and if she’s been off having kids with her little lover.”
Monice’s lips curled into a smile that sent a chill down Luo Shuangyue’s spine—a terrifying smile.
“To dare steal my lieutenant… she certainly has guts.”
Luo Shuangyue couldn’t help but shiver. Her intuition told her that Monice was very dangerous at the moment.
“Yin Die, aren’t you interested in Bai Ye’s power? Now’s your chance, go find her!”
“Boss… but she’s at the Sheng Fang level. I can only steal a bit of her magic; I can’t fight her head-on.”
Luo Shuangyue reminded Monice of her own limitations.
Yin Die’s power was enough to hold her ground against seasoned Chuxian-level magical girls, but against a Sheng Fang magical girl, who surpassed normal magical girl strength, she knew her performance would probably be no better than Jiu Ye’s.
“Well, that’s your problem. Actually, with her personality, if you went to ask her for help, she’d probably agree to help you right away.”