Superman Termination Manual

"I'm sorry."

Xiaohongmao said softly, her voice devoid of any regret.

"Forget it, let's go."

Magical Girl Ash replied curtly, shrugging her slender shoulders.

If it were anyone else, she would have lost her temper long ago, but for some reason, despite Xiaohongmao's constant lies—insignificant, strange lies like claiming they were classmates or that she had a Magic Girl grandmother—Ash simply couldn't get angry with her. She always felt a peculiar sense of kinship towards her.

"I'll take you."

She said, taking Xiaohongmao's hand with one hand and lifting Cinderella with the other, its shaft blooming like a gray rose, ripples spreading outward.

Under the influence of the magic ripples, the bodies of the two Magic Girls gradually rose towards the sky. The sunlight bathed their clear silhouettes until they disappeared beyond the clouds.

Soon, Magical Girl Ash and Xiaohongmao arrived at the abandoned school on Yandai Commercial Street. They landed on the rooftop, toes touching the dusty ground.

The former extracted Xiaohongmao's profile from inside Cinderella, clenched it in her hand, then collapsed the umbrella's canopy and walked towards the iron door of the rooftop.

"Come with me," she said.

Xiaohongmao pretended to scrutinize the surroundings, seemingly memorizing the place, then followed the silhouette of Ash.

They soon reached the fifth floor of the school building and entered a classroom. In the middle stood a "meeting table" made from over a dozen wooden desks stacked together.

Xiaohongmao looked around and said, "It seems... there's no one here?"

Ash found a chair to sit on, crossed her legs, cradled one arm, and pulled out a cell phone from the umbrella.

"Like last time, just send a message and she will come. I'm just not sure if she's awake yet—she usually wakes up in the afternoon. Like yesterday, I couldn't find her."

As she spoke, she opened her backup WeChat and sent a message to Xizi Yue.

Yesterday morning at Wanxiang City, the moment she stepped out of the toy store, she had sent a message to Xizi Yue, but Xizi Yue didn't reply, probably still catching up on sleep after staying up late.

Shortly after the "ding" sound, two headlights suddenly lit up Xiaohongmao's face. Then, a gust of wind blew her hair awry.

She raised her arms to shield her eyes, looking up only to see a massive space-time rift torn open in one corner of the classroom, and a dark green tram "clanged" its way in.

Well, only the front and the cockpit entered the classroom; otherwise, the entire classroom would have been crammed with the tram.

Xizi Yue pushed open the tram door, carrying a bag of tomato-flavored chips as she stepped down from the cockpit.

Today, her hair was not in buns but fell short and loose over her shoulders, paired with a cheongsam, creating the delicate allure of a belle from the Republic of China era.

As Xizi Yue stepped into the classroom, the dark green train was sucked into the rift behind her, twisting bizarrely before the rift sealed shut.

"Xiaohongmao, why did you make me wait so long?" Xizi Yue asked.

"Busy picking up trash," Xiaohongmao said.

Magical Girl Ash, tapping her arm absently, thought she was about to endure another tedious meeting when she overheard this and couldn't help bursting into laughter. She thought to herself how Xiaohongmao could utter such a deadpan joke but then suddenly turned and asked, "Wait, you weren't actually picking up trash, were you?"

"Recycling trash. You can make some money and buy bread at the convenience store," Xiaohongmao explained.

Xizi Yue sat down across from them, glanced over the meeting table at Xiaohongmao and said, "That's pitiful. How about coming with me to New York for a couple of days? All expenses paid."

As she spoke, she sat down the bag of chips and picked one up to eat.

"No need. I like being independent and self-reliant."

"That's a shame," Xizi Yue remarked nonchalantly, "Ash told me you've decided to join the Alliance. Is your file completed?"

"It's here," Ash said offhandedly, placing the profile on the table enveloped in magic. She then pushed it gently towards Xizi Yue, and the file shot out like a dart, traveling ten meters.

Xizi Yue caught the flying profile between her fingertips covered in magic.

"Are you trying to kill your master?" she asked, judging by the speed of the paper's flight and its sharp edges which would have sliced open a normal person's fingers.

"It's because you are my master that I'm so casual, okay?" Ash replied, resting her chin in her hand, utterly bored.

"I'm docking your pay," Xizi Yue said.

"You can't be serious, Master. A salary deduction over such a trivial thing?" Ash gaped.

"There's a limited-time dessert at the donut shop tomorrow morning. If you buy it for me, I won't dock your pay," Xizi Yue proposed.

"Then why don't you go yourself, Master?"

"Can't wake up," Xizi Yue said matter-of-factly.

While discussing, she glanced down at Xiaohongmao's profile. After a quick look, she summoned her Magic Book and tucked the profile inside it.

Then she popped a chip into her mouth and casually told Xiaohongmao, "Now, transform back so we can see. We need to verify that your identity matches the profile."

"Master, you just want to see what she looks like untransformed, don't you?" Ash accused.