Two minutes later, the entire group was sprawling flat on the grass.
Flandre Scarlet squatted down, holding a twig to poke the chest of a burly man who was currently clutching his stomach, his face deathly pale as he curled into a tight ball.
"Speak up! Where are you from, and why did you try to rob us?"
???
Why rob you? Because you three looked like helpless, weak girls, obviously!
Who could have guessed you'd be total monsters?!
If we knew it was going to end like this, we wouldn't have lifted a single finger, okay...
Of course, these were merely the silent, agonizing complaints in the men's minds. As for speaking aloud, they were in so much sheer pain that they could only choke out raspy groans, completely unable to articulate a coherent sentence.
Just then, a few more figures shuffled out from the treeline not far away.
It was several elderly villagers. Upon seeing the strong men lying battered on the dirt, their trembling hands pointed frantically at Flandre and her companions.
"Who do you think you people are?! How dare you hurt my son! This old man will fight you to the bitter end!"
With a raspy roar, one elder raised his wooden cane high, attempting to charge forward and strike Flandre.
In response, Flandre—her face still darkened with annoyance—swung her small fist through the air. In a flash, every single one of the old men was knocked flat on his back.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Flandre, you're really ruthless, aren't you? Those were elderly people..."
Standing beside Patchouli, Hong Meiling—who had been watching the entire spectacle with her arms crossed—couldn't resist teasing the young girl.
Flandre huffed twice, dusting off her hands as she stomped back to them. "Do they look younger than me, or is their actual age greater than mine?"
"To me, they're neither children nor my elders, so why can't I beat them up?!"
Hearing Flandre's stubborn sophistry, both Hong Meiling and Patchouli were rendered momentarily speechless.
If one truly followed Flandre's internal logic, there wasn't actually anything wrong with her statement. In terms of physical appearance, Flandre looked like a child who hadn't even reached ten years old. And in terms of actual lifespan, no matter how one calculated it, these mortals couldn't possibly be older than a 496-year-old vampire.
Therefore, since these people were neither younger than Flandre nor older than her, Flandre was perfectly justified in thrashing them; it didn't count as failing to respect the elderly or protect the young.
"So are we just leaving them here?" Meiling asked, curious about Flandre's next move.
"No way, that would be letting them off way too easily!" Flandre huffed angrily. "Meiling, do you have any rope? Let's tie them all up and haul them straight to the local Government Office!"
Hong Meiling pointed at the groaning men on the dirt and shook her head slightly. "Are you sure that if we walk into the Government Office, the officials will believe us instead of them?"
Flandre tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? They did bad things and tried to cause us trouble. We defeated them, so handing them over to the government is the right thing to do, isn't it?"
"The logic is sound on paper, but these people are clearly local residents from a nearby village," Meiling explained gently. "You have to understand that official Government Offices always prioritize administrative 'stability' above all else. When handling disputes, they usually don't care to solve the root issue—they prefer to solve the person creating the noise."
"In other words, they don't fix the problem; they quiet the person who brought it to light."
Meiling patted Flandre's shoulder. "These bureaucrats only stay posted in one jurisdiction for a few years before seeking a transfer; they just need to ensure that no major incidents flare up on paper during their term. These robbers are clearly all from the exact same hamlet. If we drag them to the magistrate and force a formal investigation, it would mean an entire village under their jurisdiction has turned to banditry."
"To the local governor, that is a massive, unforgivable stain on their political record. After all, if the populace under their rule can't survive and is forced to resort to highway robbery, reporting such a scandal would utterly destroy their chances for promotion."
"On the flip side, if they sweep it under the rug and pretend they didn't see anything, then this village—at least on official records—appears peaceful and prosperous."
Hong Meiling rubbed Flandre's head, knowing the petty, cynical maneuvering of mortal adults was still far too convoluted for Flandre's straightforward worldview.
"But if that's the case, we could just go to other cities to keep reporting them, or find news reporters to expose the whole thing!" Flandre argued stubbornly. She felt it shouldn't be so complicated—as long as external oversight was introduced, wouldn't those lazy officials be forced to handle the case fairly?
"So, if those officials don't want the matter exposed to the public, what do you think is the most efficient way for them to handle it?"
This time it was Patchouli who spoke up. Hearing her prompt, Flandre fell into a quiet, deep thought.
Only after a long pause did she look up, stating with uncertain caution: "Since they can't easily fix the underlying problem... the fastest and most effective way is to get rid of the person raising the issue in the first place."
Patchouli nodded approvingly. "Precisely. As long as no one is raising the problem, the problem subjectively ceases to exist. As for objective reality... for those bureaucrats, as long as the mess doesn't explode while it's sitting on their desk, they don't care about anything else."
Listening to their explanations, a flicker of genuine bewilderment flashed in Flandre's crimson eyes. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Patchouli rested a comforting hand on Flandre's small shoulder. "Dragging them along with us isn't realistic, and handing them to the local magistrate won't achieve anything either. For most ordinary citizens, there would be no way out."
"But you are different; you hold a far stronger card."
Flandre turned to look at her. "Patchy, I don't get it!"
Patchouli smiled softly, gently ruffling Flandre's hair. "It's precisely because you don't understand that you need to observe and learn! For now, we will do nothing here and head straight to Lungmen. Don't you have a close relationship with the Chief Executive of Lungmen? Once we arrive, tell him everything that transpired here."
"The corrupt desire for localized power can only be crushed by an even greater authority. As a core Mobile City of Yan, the Chief Executive of Lungmen possesses immense political clout. If he personally shines a light on the situation here, those low-level bureaucrats who want to cover things up won't have a leg to stand on. Only a weight like his can break the deadlock with absolute authority."
Flandre blinked her large eyes, still failing to grasp all the intricate political twists, but she understood one clear fact: as long as she told Chief Executive Wei Yenwu what happened, the issue would be thoroughly resolved.
"Then let me take you to Lungmen right now!"
Now that a clear plan was set, Flandre didn't linger in the clearing any longer. She looked down at the local bandits sprawled across the dirt and ultimately chose not to end their lives.
The reason was simple: Patchouli had informed her that these very people would serve as the most crucial "living evidence." Only if they remained alive could they expose the local bureaucrats' utter neglect when a formal Investigation Team eventually arrived.
Pulling her two companions along, Flandre kicked off the ground, and the trio resumed their steady flight toward the northeast.
It was roughly another half-day's journey by air to Lungmen—a distance that would take two or three full days by ground transport. Naturally, this border outpost was well outside Lungmen's direct jurisdictional authority.
However, Flandre felt that given Wei Yenwu's status, if he personally inquired about the regional security, the officials governing this domain wouldn't dare let these bandits off lightly.
Because failing to act would be far too embarrassing for them—and for higher officials, political face mattered more than anything else.
As the setting sun dipped below the western horizon, painting the sky in fiery hues of amber and violet, the grand, sprawling silhouette of a majestic titan finally appeared on the distant plain.
"Even though I've seen countless grand structures and vast cities across realms, beholding a Mobile City as massive as Lungmen still fills one with a sense of awe and overwhelming pressure," Patchouli remarked softly, her violet eyes taking in the towering steel metropolis shimmering against the dusk.