But neither Flandre Scarlet nor Rope were easy targets to catch. Furthermore, it was only because Flandre thought playing hide-and-seek was fun; otherwise, even if there were twice as many thieves, it wouldn't be enough for her to kill. The two of them continued to lead the little thieves on a chase while eating, drinking, and having fun, leaving Flandre feeling quite satisfied.
After walking for a while, Rope noticed the people behind were closing in and couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Flandre was about to comfort Rope when she suddenly caught sight of an acquaintance. She pulled Rope and walked forward. They soon arrived beside a tall woman. The woman was currently wearing a motorcycle suit with a trench coat over it, looking very heroic and dashing.
Flandre reached out and touched the 'absolute territory' between the woman's long boots and leather pants under her trench coat; the next second, the woman's gaze shifted over. Hoshiguma was still wondering which audacious pervert dared to provoke her when she turned her head and saw no one at first. Looking down, she realized it was Flandre, and standing next to her was a familiar purple-haired rabbit.
"Little Flandre, what's going on? Did you catch Rope stealing your wallet?"
In just a second, she remembered that this purple-haired rabbit was a regular at the Guard Department's prison whom she had caught before. This little girl was very alert and extremely clever; every time she was caught, it was intentional just so she could get a full meal in prison. Everyone in the Guard Department knew about this as well. It was just that it wasn't easy for such a young child to live in the Slums, so everyone tacitly accepted it and never mistreated her at the Guard Department. She just didn't expect her to be caught by Flandre.
At that moment, Flandre shook her head. "No, Rope is my friend!" Then she pointed behind her. "Someone wanted to steal Flandre's money, and Rope found out. She's leading me to play hide-and-seek with those guys!"
Hoshiguma looked up and scanned the surroundings. Years of experience allowed her to spot several people with strange behavior in the crowd at a glance. They didn't look like customers looking for delicious food in the snack street at all, but were purposefully searching for something. She nodded, then pointed to a nearby alleyway.
"Head towards that alley. I'll send people to meet you and wipe these guys out in one go."
Flandre nodded. "Understood!" With that, she pulled Rope and ran towards the alley with great fanfare. Hoshiguma then raised a miniature microphone at the cuff of her trench coat and began to make arrangements.
"Won't it be too dangerous?" Rope asked while running.
"Dangerous? If I don't take action, they won't be in any danger." Flandre stated proudly... "Uh, I meant us!" Rope couldn't help but complain upon hearing Flandre's words.
"Us? How could we possibly be in danger! Let's go, those guys have spotted us!" Flandre glanced back out of the corner of her eye and saw those people starting to close in, so she pulled Rope and quickened her pace.
"It's those two little girls. They ran into the alley. What should we do?" one of the pursuers asked.
"You guys go ahead and block the other side of the alley. We'll chase from here and pincer them. We'll split the money on that girl evenly." Hearing the man's words, two of them quickened their pace and rushed out from the side.
At this time in the snack street, one tall and one short figure also looked in this direction. They didn't make a sound but silently followed behind. At the same time, several dark shadows also began to move.
After Flandre and Rope entered the alley, they found it was a small alley with no branching paths and no lights. While the outside was dimly lit with lanterns, the inside was pitch black. People who just entered would need some time to adjust to the dark environment. But Flandre didn't need to. She pulled Rope and ran into the depths of the alley in a flash. By the time they stopped, Rope's eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness and the surroundings.
"They seem to have come in too. What should we do?" Rope looked back, saw several figures entering, and asked in a low voice.
"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Flandre silently led her to a recessed spot in the alley, then waved her hand in the void, and the two of them hid within the darkness. At the same time, two figures identical to them appeared up ahead. Rope's pupils shook violently as she looked at the 'self' standing not far away.
"Shh!" Seeing that Rope was about to cry out, Flandre reached out to cover her mouth. Rope covered her own mouth with both hands, trying her best not to make a sound.
"What is that thing?" Rope asked softly, seeing that the others hadn't approached yet.
"Magic," Flandre replied equally softly.
"Magic? Isn't that fake?" Rope said, indicating she had seen similar fairy tales.
"Flandre is a magical girl, so magic definitely isn't fake; you just haven't seen it before." Saying this, she reached out to stop Rope's further questioning.
By now, several figures had appeared at both ends. "Hand over everything valuable on you!" Seeing Flandre and the other 'girl' blocked in the middle, one of them said with a fierce expression.
"So, you're planning to rob us?" The Flandre in the middle suddenly spoke up.
"Hahaha, so what if we are? We couldn't do anything to you in the crowd, but you chose to walk into hell instead of heaven. Since you ran into this deserted alley yourself, don't blame us for being unkind." The man chuckled and took a few more steps closer.
Just then, a woman's voice came from behind them. "Lungmen Guard Department. You are all under arrest for the crime of robbery in progress."
"Who's there!" They turned around only to find several Guard Department members had appeared at both ends of the alley.
"Oh my, is this what they call the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?" Flandre's provocative voice came from the middle. Only then did they realize they had been set up.
Seeing this, the leading man pulled out a small knife and looked towards Flandre.
"I advise you not to move. For a robbery in progress that hasn't succeeded, the sentence is only three months to half a year. If you use force or choose to take hostages, the nature of the case will change, and it will be at least ten years." Hoshiguma's voice made them feel a chill all over. The person who intended to take action also withdrew his thought. Because Hoshiguma was right. Even if they were caught red-handed, since it hadn't been successfully carried out, the crime wasn't that heavy. But if they really did something, whether it was violent assault on police or taking hostages, those were top-tier felonies in Lungmen.
Just as he was preparing to put down the weapon in his hand, the Guard Department Operators on the other side suddenly cried out in pain and fell to the ground one after another. Seeing this, the thieves instinctively wanted to run, but then they heard a voice say, "Freeze!"
Immediately, the thieves were held firmly in place. At the same time, the Flandre in the middle looked towards the attacked Guard Department Operators and suddenly rushed over, grabbing at the air behind them. Five dark shadows rushed out from there; the leader was instantly twisted into a ball, blood splattering everywhere.
Facing this eerie scene, the other four shadows stopped abruptly and tried to flee. But Flandre's speed far exceeded their reactions. One Flandre appeared at the alley entrance, blocking their retreat. Then the Flandre who had been chasing turned her hands into claws and instantly tore another person apart.
The remaining three saw they couldn't escape and took out their weapons to resist. The next second, one was kicked into the wall, leaving a web of cracks, and fell unconscious. Another had his head pressed into the ground by Flandre; after his forehead had an intimate encounter with the concrete, he fainted there.
The last person had it the worst. He was the only one among the three to fully draw his weapon—a longsword gleaming with a cold light. Before he could act, Flandre made a gripping motion in the air, and the hand holding the sword, along with the sword itself, was twisted into a lump. The shattered fragments of the iron sword merged directly with his hand. Worst of all, his sword wasn't just iron; it was coated with a film of Originium. Once scratched by his sword, there was a high probability of becoming an Infected.
And now, all of this was being applied to himself. Before he could even scream, Flandre hit his head with a flying kick, sending him into dreamland along with the other two.
Hoshiguma only rushed over after she had finished all of this. She first looked at the attackers Flandre had dealt with in the blink of an eye, confirming they had all lost their combat capability, then lowered her head to check her comrades' injuries. After an inspection, she breathed a sigh of relief. The hand-crossbows used by the attackers hadn't hit any vital parts of the Operators. So while the injuries were serious, they still had a chance to live.
Instead, among the attackers, two were dead and the remaining three were seriously injured. Especially the one whose hand and weapon were twisted together like a pretzel—he would likely be a one-armed hero for the rest of his life.
Just then, two more people walked in. Seeing them, Flandre stood in front of Hoshiguma and the others. But the two who entered raised their hands to show they were harmless.
"We are from the Dali Temple. We detected the scent of blood here. May I ask what happened?" The short one looked at Flandre and asked.
"I remember you, Lin Qingyan. Why are you here?" Flandre asked with a look of vigilance.
"We were shopping outside and noticed some commotion here, so we came to check!" Saying this, she looked into the passage. By now, her eyes had also adjusted to the darkness, but she couldn't help but gasp upon seeing the scene inside.
"Do you need our help?" Lin Qingyan asked.
"No need. This is Lungmen, and our Guard Department will handle the matters here." Hoshiguma stood up and said to Lin Qingyan.
"So it's colleagues from the Guard Department handling a case here; I was overthinking it then." Lin Qingyan looked at the tall Oni woman and quickly identified her from intelligence reports.