Patchouli smiled as Madam Fumizuki finished speaking. "That is truly wonderful to hear. Thank you."
The group stepped out into the night air together. Looking up at Flandre floating happily in the breeze, Fumizuki opened her arms and beckoned to her with a fond smile. "Little Flandre!"
Flandre swooped down into a warm hug.
"If you need anything at all at your house, remember to tell Beatrice right away," Fumizuki murmured gently.
Flandre nodded enthusiastically. "I know!"
After holding the girl tight and chatting for a few more moments, Fumizuki reluctantly took her leave, having just received an urgent administrative message that required her immediate attention at the Chief Executive's office.
Once Madam Fumizuki's car disappeared around the bend, Ch'en stepped forward and reached out, lightly pinching Flandre's soft cheek. "Now that you're back, when do you plan to report for duty?"
Flandre tilted her head, her crimson eyes blinking in pure confusion. "What work?"
"Have you forgotten? You're officially a special consultant for our Guard Department!" Ch'en stared at her with an amused smile. "You've been absent without leave for half a year; the department has a massive stack of cases piled up!"
"Oh! I completely forgot about that!" Flandre gasped, clapping her hands together. "Then should we go right now?"
She meant it quite literally—if there was work to be done, she was ready to go. Besides, her belly was far too full from dinner to even consider sleeping, so dropping by the Guard Department sounded like a fun diversion.
"Ah, taking guests to the Guard Department the second they land in Lungmen might not be proper hospitality," Ch'en hesitated, glancing over at Patchouli and Hong Meiling, who was still casually holding Flandre's "balloon string."
"It's no trouble at all," Patchouli reminded them with a calm smile. "Don't we still need to process our formal Lungmen residence permits? If I recall correctly, that paperwork is handled at the Guard Department's administrative wing."
"In that case... let's head over together," Ch'en agreed.
Hoshiguma walked over to a heavy armored off-road vehicle parked near the curb, tossing the keys in her hand. "I'll drive!"
A short drive later, the vehicle pulled up to the imposing entrance of the Guard Department headquarters. The moment the doors unlocked, Flandre charged out first, jumping onto the pavement with her arms stretched wide.
"Guard Department! Flandre is back!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
...
Two passing L.G.D. officers halted, casting deeply bewildered looks at the tiny girl before continuing on their way. There were no grand cheers, no thunderous applause—only the quiet autumn breeze carrying the residual warmth of late summer.
"Fascinating. So very impressive," Beatrice, standing beside her, clapped her hands slowly with an entirely deadpan expression.
Flandre instantly perked up again, puffing out her small chest. "Hmph, of course! Flandre has always been super impressive!"
Stepping into the main administrative building, several veteran officers recognized her immediately and began shouting out warm greetings:
"Flandre! You're finally back!"
"When did you return, little Flandre?"
"Welcome back!"
Hearing their familiar voices, Flandre happily responded to every single one, waving her arms and beaming. The brief walk to the office wing, which normally took three minutes, took more than ten.
Upon entering the Major Crimes Unit, the room was packed with familiar faces. The officers looked up, their eyes lighting up with genuine surprise and joy.
"Flandre! Look who's back!"
"Long time no see, kiddo!"
Listening to the chorus of welcomes, Flandre smugly raised her eyebrows at Hong Meiling, as if silently boasting: See how popular I am here?
Meiling scanned the room, feeling a slight pang of disappointment. While these officers possessed a decent level of physical discipline and tactical training, they were still fundamentally ordinary mortals.
Ring— Ring—
A heavy desk phone suddenly rang out, and an officer snapped it up.
"Major Crimes Unit... What? The primary suspects for the 723 Robbery and Murder Case have been located? Five targets... hiding in a residential complex near the lower docks... Understood. The Chief Executive demands a swift arrest. Got it—skilled fighters from the Gouwu Martial Arts Hall. Full tactical gear, seal every exit so no one slips through."
Hong Meiling, standing a short distance away, heard every word of the call clearly. She raised an eyebrow and cast a playful glance at Flandre.
Flandre caught her drift instantly. She raised her right hand high in the air. "I want to go too!"
"Flandre, you literally just stepped off the vehicle," Ch'en said, frowning slightly. "It feels wrong to throw you onto an active operation before you've even rested."
"No, no! I want to go!" Flandre shook her head vigorously, practically vibrating with excitement.
Hoshiguma, who was already pulling her massive triangular shield from a gear rack, grinned. "Why not let little Flandre ride along in my unit?"
"Then... what about your two friends?" Ch'en turned to Patchouli and Meiling.
"I will remain here to oversee our residence permits," Patchouli offered gently, stepping back from the bustling squad room. "Meiling, you should accompany Flandre."
Patchouli held no personal interest in police raids, but if Flandre wanted to go play, she wouldn't stop her. Besides, she had clearly caught the competitive spark between Flandre and Meiling just now. A handful of local martial artists wouldn't even serve as a warm-up exercise for Meiling anyway, so letting them run along was harmless.
Ch'en looked at Hong Meiling with a hint of hesitation.
It wasn't that she doubted the green-clothed woman's physical capability—after all, if Flandre vouched for her, Meiling was bound to be extraordinarily formidable. Furthermore, she was a personal guard dispatched by Remilia Scarlet herself. A weakling wouldn't qualify for such a post.
Her hesitation stemmed purely from protocol: Meiling was a civilian visitor without official Guard Department authorization, making her direct involvement in a tactical raid procedurally improper.
Reading her mind, Meiling offered a polite, casual out: "Assisting law enforcement in apprehending dangerous criminals is the civic duty of any visitor. As newcomers, we don't have much to offer, but I happen to have plenty of strength to spare. If you don't mind, having me along won't hinder your operations in the slightest."
Though Ch'en was notoriously strict about regulations, she was far from socially oblivious. Flandre and Hong Meiling possessed absurd individual combat power; having them join the strike force guaranteed that the high-risk arrest would be cleaner, faster, and significantly safer for her officers.
After weighing the factors, Ch'en finally gave a firm nod. "Alright. Fall in."
As the squad grabbed their gear and prepped the transport, Patchouli pulled a thick leather-bound tome from her cloak, sitting quietly on a bench in the lobby and opening it to a bookmarked page.
"Patchy, wait for us here! We'll be back in a flash and go home together!" Flandre waved cheerfully, then dragged Meiling behind her as they piled into the back of the armored L.G.D. transport with the Major Crimes Unit.
Inside the dark interior of the heavy truck, Hoshiguma briefed the squad on the details of the 723 case.
"723" referred to July 23rd—exactly two months prior.
A brutal, highly publicized home-invasion robbery and homicide had occurred in one of Lungmen's high-end residential districts. The target was a wealthy factory owner. The owner's entire household had been slaughtered, every vault stripped clean, and the perpetrators had even pried the gold teeth directly from the owner's jaw. The crime scene was grotesque, efficient, and horrifyingly cruel.
After a week of intense forensic analysis by the Criminal Investigation Bureau, investigators confirmed that five individuals executed the breach. Coincidentally, five high-tier security guards had abruptly gone missing from the victim's manufacturing plant on that exact night.
Naturally, those five became the prime suspects.
According to intelligence reports, the suspects hadn't fled Lungmen, instead hiding within the dense, labyrinthine lower sectors. Because of their extensive background in counter-surveillance, it had taken the L.G.D. over a month of undercover tracking to pin down their precise hideout.
Hoshiguma slapped a stack of manila folders onto the tactical bench. "These are the dossiers and physical profiles of the five suspects. Everyone take a look before we hit the breach site."