CHAPTER 1169: CHAPTER 1168: THE RETURN OF THE DARK SHADOW

After sending the Space-Time Bureau away, Fang Zheng no longer paid any attention to the matters here. Whether the Space-Time Bureau lives or dies is up to them. If they want to survive, they’d better behave and not look for trouble. If they want to seek death— hey, do they really think my Azure Fleet is not serious?

However, the fact is that Fang Zheng is already prepared. According to his speculation, if the Space-Time Bureau is as he thought, they will definitely not let this matter slide. After all, this is a reality world, not an innocent and cute Magical Girl cartoon. The Space-Time Bureau will not allow some organization to mysteriously pop up out of nowhere and suddenly go against them for no reason.

This is just like in martial hero novels. Even if you’re the protagonist with ultimate skills, walking on the street, who knows your name? Even small punks can bully you, let alone the Sect Leaders of the Five Major Sects who won’t take you seriously.

The best way to gain fame is to go straight to Blackwood Cliff after coming out of seclusion, and in front of everyone, first O then X the Undefeated of the East. This will ensure your fame spreads across the world, sweeping across the universe, and no one on the street would dare challenge you again.

Right now, in Fang Zheng’s eyes, the Space-Time Bureau is the Undefeated of the East on Blackwood Cliff, and he is just waiting for them to come crawling over and then crush them to the ground, cut them down, and then stick a pole through their bloom from behind to the mouth, roast it over a fire, sprinkle cumin and salt, and start a worldwide barbecue live broadcast to make a name for the Heavenly Dao Palace.

Of course, it will take a while for the Space-Time Bureau to react. Since the Seed of Holy Stone problem is resolved, what Fang Zheng needs to care about naturally is Sakura’s collection of the Clow Cards.

During this period, Sakura has been quite busy, mainly because she first went to the Space-Time Courtyard with Fang Zheng. After Precia’s family moved to Earth, Sakura and Shisei often went to visit Fate and Elysia. During this time, Li Xiaolang also made rapid moves, collecting two Clow Cards, which made Little Ke furious, constantly shouting for Sakura to teach that kid a lesson. This time, Sakura had no choice but to make another move to reclaim the Clow Cards.

As for the others... naturally, they continued to watch.

"Ah, Fate, Elysia, you guys are here, come over, come over!"

Seeing the two walking into the room, Little Hei excitedly greeted Fate and Elysia, then pulled them over to the screen.

"Today, Sakura is going to reclaim a Clow Card. Come, come, you are seeing this for the first time, right?"

"Sister Sakura is going to reclaim a Clow Card?"

Hearing this, Fate was a bit surprised. She looked at the screen and sure enough saw Sakura holding the Key of Seals with a tearful expression, and Little Ke next to her.

"Um... don’t we need to go help?"

"It’s not yet time to act."

Little Hei shook his head.

"This is Sakura’s mission, so she must complete it on her own. We will not intervene... by the way, it was the same for you back then, wasn’t it?"

"Eh?"

Hearing Little Hei’s words, Fate paused for a moment, as if just understanding her meaning.

"You mean... when it was me and Nanoha, you guys also..."

"Yeah, we were basically just watching here."

"I see..."

Upon hearing this, Fate finally understood why, even though it was clearly the first time she met these girls before, they behaved as if they were very familiar with her. So that’s how it is...

But also...

Thinking about this, Fate couldn’t help but look again at Nanoha, Illya, and Little Hei, who were focusing on the screen in the room. If, during the first meeting with Nanoha, these people had also intervened, she probably wouldn’t stand a chance of winning...

"Whoa———!!"

However, at this moment, a scream suddenly came from the screen, startling Fate. She looked up and saw Sakura crouching on the ground holding her head, with Li Xiaolang in a Taoist robe and another girl in an equally eccentric outfit standing behind her.

"Hmm? Who is this girl?"

Seeing the girl, Illya curiously asked, while Shisei zoomed out the lens and answered with a smile.

"She’s called Li Meiling, she’s Classmate Li’s cousin, who transferred to our school these two days, seems she followed Classmate Li here, she claims to be Li’s fiancée."

"Eh..."

Upon hearing Shisei’s answer, Sakura and Nanoha couldn’t help but sigh, as this is the first time they’ve encountered something like a fiancée!

"Speaking of which, the last few times, it was Li Xiaolang who collected the Clow Cards. Did any of those Shadow Creatures appear when he was collecting the Kuloka?"

Little Hei was more concerned about another question. Hearing Little Hei’s inquiry, Shisei shook her head.

"No, I’ve been monitoring all the time, but nothing happened."

"Ugh... big brother, what do you say?"

Facing Little Hei’s inquiry, Fang Zheng nodded.

"That’s right. As Shisei mentioned, when Li Xiaolang was collecting the Clow Cards, those Shadow Creatures did not appear, which means these Shadow Creatures are targeting Magical Girls. We need to prioritize this issue. If by chance Sakura goes again and those Shadow Creatures attack her again, it would confirm our suspicion. At that time, we’ll need to find out where these Shadow Creatures are coming from and why."

While saying this, Fang Zheng looked at the girls beside him.

"Remember, when it’s time for you to act, you must be swift. With outsiders joining this time, the situation might become complicated."

As everyone spoke, the already assembled Sakura, Syaoran, and Meiling was walking into the music room. At this moment, with Shisei’s introduction, everyone understood the whole story---it turns out that in the past few evenings, sounds of singing would echo from the deserted music classroom, and Little Ke thought it was caused by a Clow Card and hence let Sakura come to investigate. As for Syaoran, it was naturally because he heard this rumor and thus came with Meiling to explore.

Then the three arrived at the music classroom door, and sure enough, they heard the intermittent singing from inside, which frightened Sakura. But the quick-tempered Meiling apparently couldn’t be bothered and just pulled the door open.

Although her bold act alerted the card, it also allowed everyone to learn the card’s true identity. However, to reclaim this card would require a little bit of skill...

"Do you... want me to go?"

Hearing the voice coming from Sakura, Shisei was taken aback, and Little Ke nodded.

"Yes, the Karuta likes Shisei’s singing very much, which is why it keeps practicing here. As long as Shisei can sing this song perfectly, the Karuta can be reclaimed."

"This... teacher?"

"No problem, you guys go ahead."

Fang Zheng, naturally understanding Shisei’s thoughts, quickly nodded.

"And Nanoha, Illya, Little Hei, you guys go along too. If we’re right, those Shadow Creatures will definitely appear again this time. You should stay by their side and protect Shisei and the others."

"Okay, teacher!!"

"Understood, big brother."

At that moment, Fate looked towards Fang Zheng and hesitated, raising her hand.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, I want to help too..."

"You want to go too?"

Hearing Fate’s request, Fang Zheng was a little taken aback, but still nodded.

"No problem, let’s go together then."

Soon, under Fang Zheng’s Teleportation, everyone quickly arrived beside Sakura and Li Xiaolang. Seeing so many Magical Girls, Syaoran and Meiling naturally looked dumbfounded, but there was no time to explain. After arriving at the rooftop, Shisei began to sing.

Just like in the anime, after Shisei performed the song perfectly, the Karuta quickly appeared and was then recovered by Sakura.

"Is that it? I could easily... sing..."

Seeing Sakura happily taking the card and writing her name on it, Meiling was somewhat unconvinced. However, at this time...

"Roar..."

Amidst the low growl, the shadows around started to stir.

One after another, the bizarre Shadow Creatures began to appear again.

Seeing this scene, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but frown.

Indeed, those Shadow Creatures came again.