"Alright, I understand the situation. We'll contact the branches in other cities to see if we can relay the information to the Magic Kingdom through their Seeders."

Listening to the voice on the phone, Lin Yun stared blankly out the window, took a deep breath, and sighed helplessly, "Okay, thank you. Sorry to trouble you."

It was the morning of the next day, and the location was Lin Yun's own office.

He was on a call with Hong Siyu.

The sudden incident from the previous night had ultimately affected his sleep, so he was now groggy and not in the best state.

However, he had many things to handle and couldn't rest. Besides the mountain of work piled up by the company early in the morning, he had numerous issues to discuss with the Bureau of Special Tactics regarding the encounter at the wetland park the previous night.

To ensure his daughter's safety, he had secretly participated in the battle under the alias of the Magical Girl "Cui Que," repelling the enemy. But the incident was far from over. From any angle, it seemed that a hidden hand was manipulating everything.

In the end, he summarized four points of suspicion.

First was the timing of the Brutal Beast's appearance last night and his inability to contact Hong Siyu.

Officially, he had no direct contact with the Bureau of Special Tactics, relying mainly on his personal relationship with Hong Siyu for information exchange. But last night, that contact was severed.

According to Hong Siyu, she hadn't received his call, and there was no trace of it in her missed call records. It was as if Lin Yun had never made the call.

But that was impossible. Lin Yun clearly remembered trying to contact Hong Siyu after discovering his daughter's disappearance, but the call went unanswered.

Second was the mysterious call he received at noon on the day of the incident. The number became unreachable after that, only giving a "not in service" message.

The caller appeared suddenly, with unclear intentions, providing information and then disappearing abruptly. Why?

Third, the abnormal magic barrier at the scene.

This wasn't a technique that a Brutal Beast should possess, at least not one at the level of a Caterpillar. Lin Xiaolu and he only encountered one Brutal Beast at the scene, which meant there was at least one more enemy hiding in the shadows.

But that enemy never showed up, even as the Brutal Beast was being defeated. What was their purpose?

Lastly, the Seeder named Mo Ke mentioned that before her arrival, there were no Seeders or Magical Girls in Fangting City, which was a significant doubt and potential threat.

This matter lacked clues and had no starting point for investigation, making it a complete black box.

These four points of doubt might be related to a conspiracy involving Lin Xiaolu, forcing him to take it seriously.

But the incomplete information was overwhelming, and he couldn't piece together the truth, making his already sleep-deprived brain throb even more.

"So, how does it feel to be back in action?"

Hong Siyu's question pulled Lin Yun back to reality.

He lowered and raised his hand holding the phone, thought briefly, and gave his answer:

"Pretty awful."

It was indeed awful. His magic power had declined, his skills were rusty, and the current situation in Fangting City worried him.

More importantly, the outcome of this mission was far from his expectations.

Although his initial goal was just to rescue his daughter, after successfully doing so, he considered bluffing the Seeder to extract some information. Once he had enough intel, he planned to reveal his identity to his daughter, hoping for a happy ending.

But in the end, he didn't get much useful information, didn't reveal his identity, and even agreed to Mo Ke and Lin Xiaolu's request in a moment of weakness. Now, he had to hide his identity while training Lin Xiaolu as a Magical Girl.

Though this allowed him to communicate with his daughter, it wasn't the way he wanted.

Thinking about his daughter's confession to Cui Que last night, he felt that revealing his true identity now would lead to an incredibly awkward situation. So, he chose not to disclose the truth.

The thought of continuing this awkward identity game made him rub his temples.

"Awful, huh... That's quite a unique response."

Hong Siyu seemed to laugh, "Senior, don't push yourself too hard. When a man reaches middle age, he should accept it."

"Can I hang up now?" Lin Yun responded coldly to her sudden joke.

Hong Siyu laughed even louder, "Haha! Just kidding, are you shy?"

At that moment, the office door opened, and a scruffy man walked in. Seeing Lin Yun on the phone, he exaggeratedly pointed to his mouth and then the door, using body language to ask, "Should I leave?"

Lin Yun shook his head and said into the phone, "That's it for now. We'll talk later."

Ignoring Hong Siyu's protests, he hung up.

With the call over, he sighed in relief.

"Not bad, huh?"

A stack of documents was thrown onto his desk, and the scruffy man approached with a mischievous grin, "I heard a woman's voice. Finally moving on?"

Lin Yun forced a smile, "Which ear of yours heard me flirting?"

"The left one."

The man replied nonchalantly, "Come on, just sign this."

This man's name was Liu Guanshan, the director of the External Affairs Department, and a colleague who often interacted with Lin Yun.

They had known each other since they were junior employees and had worked together for many years, developing a decent relationship, occasionally sharing a drink.

So their conversations were casual, and even topics like widowhood could be mentioned without Lin Yun taking offense.

Lin Yun grabbed a pen from the holder, took the documents, and explained, "It's not that I don't want to, but I can't even think about it. My daughter and I are already on bad terms. If I tell her I'm finding her a stepmother, she'll throw a fit."

Of course, these were just pleasantries. The real reason was that he didn't want to find someone new, but saying that would sound too pitiful, and he didn't want to leave that impression at work.

"Still fighting? Give her more pocket money to appease her."

Liu Guanshan sat on the edge of the desk, "My kid's the same. A little bribery works wonders."

"I've told you, it's not about pocket money."

Lin Yun signed the documents, "If I knew what she was thinking, things wouldn't be this bad."

"Want a smoke?" Liu Guanshan pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket.

"Let me finish signing first."

"They're wrapping up at Hengyun tonight. Want to grab dinner?"

"No, I'm going home to be with my kid."

"Wow, such a family man?"

"Think of it that way if you want."

Lin Yun said, feeling a bit melancholic.

He did plan to spend the evening with his daughter, but unfortunately, not as her father.

—He had to play the role of a senior Magical Girl and guide his daughter in her training tonight.