"Uwah!" One strike of the staff, and the fight was already decided.
The thug who'd been holding Mousey hostage crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, leaving everyone around frozen in place. But it was the hostage herself who recovered first — she snatched up Qingyi's fallen Peace Bringer and turned it against her captors.
Whack! Whack! Two strikes, and Mousey sent the guns flying clean out of both men's hands, then quickly landed one more blow to each of their heads for good measure.
Though she lacked Qingyi's ability to discharge electricity, sheer adrenaline carried Mousey through the panic. She managed to knock both men out cold, then promptly slumped to the ground herself.
"Whew... whew... that scared the life out of me."
Once the rush of adrenaline faded, Mousey suddenly remembered that Qingyi still had enemies of her own to deal with. She glanced down at the Peace Bringer in her hands and realized Qingyi was now unarmed. Anxious to help, she scrambled to her feet — only to freeze at the sight that greeted her.
"Senior Qingyi, are you all right... right?"
Mousey could hardly believe her eyes. Qingyi had lost her Peace Bringer, yet even with nothing but her bare hands and feet, she still moved through the remaining thugs like a dragon weaving through water.
Because her body was an Automaton, she'd simply switched off her own pain feedback, then followed it up with a string of movements no human body could ever manage — leaving the remaining thugs completely unable to read her. They went down fast.
"Ugh, I'm getting old. My hands and feet just aren't as nimble as they used to be. Guess this body could use some proper maintenance."
Once the scene was cleared, Qingyi rolled her joints, drawing out a series of creaks — clearly the result of the outrageous moves she'd just pulled off.
"Senior Qingyi, are you okay?! That — that was seriously so cool just now!"
Eyes shining, Mousey handed the Peace Bringer back to Qingyi, silently shrieking with excitement inside.
Right then and there, she quietly added Qingyi to her list of idols.
"I'm alright, more or less. My body's just a bit out of practice — a sudden bout like that really put a strain on these old bones of mine."
As she spoke, an awkward look crossed Qingyi's face. Sometime during the scuffle, she seemed to have twisted a joint, and now it was stuck, refusing to pop back into place.
'Ugh, have I really been neglecting my upkeep? Lately, with everything going on because of Zhu Yuan, I suppose I've gotten a bit lax myself.'
Qingyi silently regretted it. Zhu Yuan was so capable that she'd grown careless about her own maintenance, and now, at a critical moment, it was letting her down.
Fortunately, nothing had gone wrong so far. Then again, if nothing was about to go wrong, something surely was.
Just then, a creak sounded out as an iron door somewhere inside the police station was suddenly thrown open.
A hulking, burly man stepped out from within, his face rough and unkempt.
By the time Qingyi snapped back to attention and turned to look, the man had already walked out of the holding cell — and beside him stood another man, dressed in a white suit and wearing a strange mask.
"What's taking so long? What's Sarah Floren playing at?"
"Lord Bringer, Lady Sarah Floren is carrying out the final step of the plan right now. She'll be here shortly."
Hearing this, Bringer's expression didn't improve much, but he asked no further questions. Instead, he turned to look at Qingyi.
"Didn't expect it'd be you standing here, in the end."
"Bringer. So you were their real target all along? I take it the whole business with Perlman was just a smokescreen."
The moment Qingyi saw the masked man and Bringer together, everything clicked into place.
If they'd come to break Bringer out of jail, then his identity was obvious enough — there was no possibility beyond The Exaltists.
It also explained why a mere gang of thugs had left the Sheriffs unable to fight back at all. It must have been his doing.
"Hmph. Sheriff Qingyi, still as sharp and quick-witted as ever. With abilities like yours, you ought to be far above the rank you're stuck in now — instead you're kept under the thumb of a few green little upstarts, all because of those damned prejudices. So, how about it? Join us. There's a place for you in the new world to come."
Bringer had known of Qingyi for quite some time — after all, her true nature was hardly a secret within Public Security.
Qingyi's personality and consciousness were a fabricated persona, crafted by the White Star Institute from ancient cultural texts of a bygone era. Her body was an intelligent construct built from biological materials — colloquially known as a Jade Construct.
Qingyi had already served at Public Security for quite a long stretch of time, and yet she remained stuck at the very bottom rung.
Partly, that was because of her origins with the Wistaria Society, which left a certain distance between her and the rest of Public Security.
Partly, it was because of her identity as a Jade Construct.
Though Public Security officially didn't discriminate against nonhuman races, that much was plain enough from the fact that there were essentially no Intelligent Constructs anywhere in its upper ranks.
Discrimination was never confined to the surface.
To certain people's eyes, Qingyi's identity as a Jade Construct marked her apart the same way a different-colored coat marks one lamb out from the rest of the flock.
Even though she fought for justice and for the city's order just like everyone else, she still never received equal treatment.
Of course, all of this was merely Bringer's own take on things.
"Mm, that does sound nice. But unfortunately, I refuse."
"That is a bit of a shame, then."
Bringer showed no strong reaction to Qingyi's refusal. After all, he'd only asked on a whim — whether she agreed or not wouldn't change his next move either way.
"Let's go. Time waits for no one."
"Yes, Lord Bringer."
With that, the two of them made to leave through the back entrance of the police station, the spot where the vehicles were kept, meaning to make their escape while they had the chance.
"Did I say you two could leave?"
Qingyi squared off into a fighting stance. There were only the two of them, her and Mousey, standing alone — yet she gave off not the slightest hint of being outmatched.
Because of the operation to capture Perlman, most of the precinct's manpower had already been mobilized by Zhu Yuan and sent off to the Ballet Twins Building for the arrest.
And the few who remained had all been knocked out or wounded in the fighting just now. The only two still standing were Qingyi and Mousey.
Seeing Qingyi like this, Bringer didn't even turn his head — he simply kept walking straight toward the parking lot, saying flatly as he went.
"Is that so? I'm afraid you don't have what it takes."
The words had barely left his mouth when all the thugs Qingyi had knocked down earlier climbed back to their feet.
Only, compared to before, their condition now looked far from good.
Their bodies were covered in the symptoms of Corruption, their eyes had gone milky white, and none of them looked remotely lucid.
"What is going on?!"
The scene plunged straight back into chaos.
"All of you shall return, in the end, to the embrace of the Progenitor. My faithful — may the Progenitor forge you anew."
With that brief prayer spoken, the man in the white suit fell into step behind Bringer and left Public Security headquarters as well.
And with that, a new crisis was only just beginning.
____
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🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo