041 Justice from Above!

"Oh my, oh my. So, bad children truly cannot serve as excellent nourishment to feed a newborn fetus and complete a noble breeding, can they?"

In the sealed room, Qi Lin narrowed her eyes. A strange, eerie luster shimmered on her long, straight, fair legs.

It looked exactly like... the glimmer of some kind of scale.

"Although I am a bit annoyed at losing such a convenient way to dispose of evidence, it is about time, isn't it?"

"The 'germ' and the 'nutrients' are already prepared; all that is missing is the final 'catalyst' to break the cocoon and emerge as a butterfly..."

Qi Lin looked up at the basement ceiling and couldn't help but reveal a kindly smile.

"Sometimes, I wonder if a child loving their mother too much is a good thing or a bad thing..."

The next second, a tremor like an earthquake shook the entire basement. Dust poured down from the cracks like a rainstorm. Amidst the gray gloom, Qi Lin saw a fissure.

A crack tore from top to bottom, as if someone had wielded a giant axe to split the mountain, cleaving the entire surface open just to find a tiny target hidden underground.

"Heh, to lock onto my location so quickly, you must have sought out an alchemist specializing in astral studies, right?"

"Once a concrete target is identified, immediate action is taken. This tough style, this terrifying execution—oh, oh, it really makes me..."

Qi Lin covered her face. Her dark pupils shone with satisfaction, and her trembling voice was filled with incomparable joy.

"...infinitely delighted."

In the intersection of movements, a gap was torn open.

*Click.*

It was the sound of something breaking.

It was also the herald of its awakening.

Qi Lin lay on the ground, her smooth, flat abdomen instantly swelling to an incredible size, like a balloon filled with water.

This was no longer a scale achievable by a normal human. The room, roughly thirty square meters, was instantly filled by Qi Lin’s distended belly. Even Qi Lin herself was squeezed by her own stomach, disappearing into the crevices.

Due to the extreme expansion, Qi Lin's abdominal skin had become nearly transparent. Thus, one could see that the spherical belly was packed densely with countless... insects.

They craved freedom. Their six hooked legs climbed over the bloodshot skin, and their sharp mouthparts gnawed at the flesh that was already pushed to its limit.

Qi Lin lay at the bottom, her expression intoxicated, as if she could not feel the pain. She muttered to herself:

"Good children, hurry and be born..."

"The Moon of Breeding is watching over you..."

*Boom!*

Qi Lin exploded.

Just as a crushed spider might occasionally burst with a cluster of spiderlings, a massive swarm of insects flew out from the ruptured belly like a mass of solidified darkness.

From the individuals on the edge or those flying solo, it was clear that these insects were butterflies.

Butterflies with pink wings.

They flew up through the jagged fissure, overlapping and emitting a terrifying sound.

Their target, without a doubt, was Chu Aoqing, who stood on the surface, pounding the ground with rhythmic thuds.

"Yo-ho, finally here, huh?"

Facing the incoming swarm, Chu Aoqing felt not a shred of fear. She simply held her hand high, letting it hover in the air.

As if she were gripping something.

"Three, two, one..."

As she finished her calm countdown, the sound of the swarm grew deafeningly close. The moment they were about to burst from the ground, Chu Aoqing swung her invisible weapon and smashed it fiercely against the earth.

*Buzz!!!*

It was an incredibly crisp sound. For a fleeting instant, the entire space seemed to warp. The terrifying power instantly incinerated the swarm upon first contact, then continued to drive downward.

The already cracked earth finally collapsed under the unbearable burden. Under that immense force, countless insects were reduced to ashes, falling alongside the debris.

This was the power of Chu Aoqing’s Blood Origin, "Absolution of All Enemies," once she reached the Star-Conjunction stage.

She could treat anything she held in her hand as her weapon and reinforce it.

And just now, she had gripped the air.

Stepping onto the edge of the concrete, Chu Aoqing hoisted a piece of rebar and looked down, shouting into the chaotic pit: "As kin of the Moon of Breeding, is this really all you have?"

"If you don't drag out something bigger, I’m going to drop something big on you."

Chu Aoqing held the rebar like a javelin, aiming it at the deep pit below.

"Heh..."

"If you stab down with something so thick and so long, I won't be able to handle it~"

The woman chuckled, and then that laughter turned into a sort of moan—pain mixed with pleasure, pleasure woven with lament.

Finally, it turned into a soft sigh.

"As you wish."

"The big one is coming~"

Chu Aoqing: "!"

No sooner had the words fallen than countless rocks and debris flew up from below. Something was roaring and bellowing down there, venting its dissatisfaction and protecting its "mother."

It was a giant... insect. Roughly estimated to be dozens of meters long. Its rough outer shell shimmered with an eerie light, but its body was soft and slug-like.

It looked somewhat like the larval stage of Mothra from Godzilla.

"This is the 'embryo' Miss Misery spoke of, right?"

Chu Aoqing couldn't help but sigh: "A thing this big—who knows how many lives it would have to absorb to go from larva to adult."

"And who knows what kind of calamity the adult would bring."

"Sure enough, this kind of breeding that does not belong to this world should be nipped in the bud, once and for all!"

Chu Aoqing finished her harsh words, then took a big red button out of her back pocket.

"Off you go."

She pressed the button without hesitation and made a quick getaway.

[Verification Passed]

[Heavenly Punishment No. ZHGF9527 initiated]

[Wishing you a smooth cleanup]

Soon, a small black dot flew in from the distant horizon.

In the blink of an eye, it expanded rapidly.

It became a large black dot.

It was... a missile.

Justice from above!

This was the "Heavenly Punishment" from the Bureau of Control. It was usually applied for during major incidents and launched either by a member of the Bureau or automatically after the applicant's death to prevent the spread of calamity.

The shell was a missile, and the launch mode was a missile, but what was inside was all the high-tech, hardcore gear from the alchemist circle.

It would definitely bring the enemy a surprising gift!

When dealing with the spawn of the Moon of Breeding, one had to destroy it in a single strike; otherwise, who knew where a whole army would burst out from next.

Therefore, upon confirming the target was right before her eyes, Chu Aoqing did not hesitate to use the Heavenly Punishment.

One might ask, who could refuse a big red button waiting for you to press it?

The pit Chu Aoqing had smashed seemed designed for the missile; it plunged straight in and struck the still-howling larva.

Then came the terrifying explosion.

A blinding fire filled the entire pit, like a roaring dragon. The high-temperature incineration and the destructive blast swept over the entire larva. In its pain, it let out a sharp, mournful wail.

Just like a child abandoned by its mother.

But this wail lasted only two seconds before it ceased abruptly.

All that remained were flames reaching for the sky and the pitch-black ash sinking to the bottom.

In the distance, Shen Qiqi was stunned.

"Is... is this how we Transcendents fight?"

Weren't we supposed to be playing with magic together? What the hell is this missile falling out of nowhere?!

"This is how we Transcendents fight," Mo Mo said expressionlessly. "It’s just a missile; it’s nothing."

"If you perform well one day and get sent to the border battlefield, you might even see Gundams fighting Godzilla..."

"Avoid sacrifice whenever possible. If a problem can be solved with a missile, why bother fighting by hand?"

Once things became serious enough that missiles couldn't solve them, then you’d really have to risk your life.

"That's right." Ji Yue, who had been slacking off, nodded earnestly. "Hand-to-hand combat is so exhausting. This stuff is way better."

"Truth only exists within the range of the artillery."

"Ah, haha..." Shen Qiqi shrank her head. "I understand."

*Sob...* Could it be that her magic had already fallen behind the times?

No, Shen Qiqi shook her head, comforting herself. At least she could use magic to disperse the innocent bystanders.

She was still useful.

Magical girls would never fall behind the version update!

Yes, while Chu Aoqing was busy with the "civil engineering," Mo Mo and Shen Qiqi were outside dispersing the crowd.

One used magic, the other had the Alaya Consciousness; their efficiency was top-notch.

As for the reason for the dispersal, don't ask—if you do, it's a gas explosion.

At this moment, Chu Aoqing, who was checking if there were any living things left below, received a phone call.

"Hello? Is this Director Chu? Judging by how quickly you answered, your cleanup went smoothly, right?"

It was Miss Misery on the line.

Chu Aoqing glanced at the flames that were slowly shrinking. "Yeah, it went quite smoothly. I saw that embryo you mentioned, and we've already blown it to ash."

"Is that so? Then congratulations. However, I must warn you: the matter is not over yet."

Misery’s voice turned serious. "Through those scales, I have found out who the master behind this incident really is."

"A very dangerous individual."

"The 'Naraku Butterfly' from the 'Eternal Paradise'."

"Qi Lin."