After entering the house, Ch'en Huijie looked at the injuries of those people and thought of the fate of those who had ambushed little Flandre shortly after she first arrived in Lungmen. It was almost a mirror image of the current situation. She asked around the department, and sure enough, the tactical reports confirmed that little Flandre had used almost the exact same moves this time as she did before—trapping them in a space they couldn't understand and systematically breaking them.
After the Lungmen Guard Department took all the thieves away into custody, Beatrice Schwire looked at the warehouse and then at the girl. "Do you want me to stay here with you tonight?" she asked, her voice showing a rare bit of maternal concern.
Flandre Scarlet held up her hand and began counting on her fingers, one by one. She pointed out that with the four of them (meaning her and her three clones), they could play mahjong perfectly. Beatrice's presence would make it five, which was an awkward number for a table.
"Then I'll go back to sleep. I'll bring you pudding tomorrow morning!" Seeing the girl was in high spirits and clearly not lonely, Beatrice didn't insist. After a warm goodbye, she returned to the villa.
After everyone else had left and the warehouse became quiet once again, the "real" Flandre Scarlet watched as her three companions dragged a mahjong table out from a corner.
"Come on, come on! I'm terrifyingly strong today! I can feel the luck!"
"Revenge, revenge! Today I'll show you the true power of the Ridge Top Demon King!"
"Tsumo! Tanyao! I won again!"
The little Flandres began a heated, new round of mahjong battle that lasted through the night.
The next morning, when Shaw opened the door to start her inspection, she saw four "King of the Nachzehrers" squatting on stools, deeply engrossed in their tiles. It gave her quite a fright.
"FourFlandres?" Shaw asked, her big tail twitching as she looked at the four girls, all of whom were covered in little white paper slips stuck to their faces and arms.
She soon learned the rules of this particular game: the losers had to stick paper slips on themselves as a mark of shame. Looking at the sheer volume of paper, it was clear they had been at this for hours.
"Alright,butwheredidyougetallthispaper?" Shaw asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
(Alright, but where did you get all this paper?)
"From the bathroom, of course! I saw a huge pile of paper right by the door. Didn't you say paper is flammable and shouldn't be kept in large quantities because it's a safety hazard? So I decided to help you out and took it to use," Flandre Scarlet said, puffing out her chest proudly as if she had done a great deed for fire safety.
"Uh..." Shaw looked toward the bathroom. Less than a third of the toilet paper remained on the roll; the rest was currently stuck to four different versions of a Blood Demon. "Actually,thisisn'tnecessary.Afterall,it'svery closetoawatersource,andthatpaperisa necessityforthestaff."
(Actually, this isn't necessary. After all, it's very close to a water source, and that paper is a necessity for the staff.)
After a brief, fast-paced complaint, Shaw pointed to the remaining scraps. "I'mtaking these.Youtidyyourselvesupandthrowallthese papersintothetrashcanoutside.Rememberto poursomewateronthemsotheydon'tfly everywhereandcreateamess."
(I'm taking these. You tidy yourselves up and throw all these papers into the trash can outside. Remember to pour some water on them so they don't fly everywhere and create a mess.)
Flandre Scarlet nodded obediently. With a wave of her hand, all the paper slips flew off the clones and rolled into a tight ball, which she then levitated into the trash can outside the warehouse. Then, she carried a basin of water and poured it over the scraps. Only after confirming they were thoroughly soaked and wouldn't catch a stray spark did she walk back contentedly.
Seeing Flandre's actions, Shaw nodded. She greatly approved of this behavior. Although the little one was chaotic, she was remarkably obedient when given a direct, logical safety instruction.
Soon, the rest of the logistical staff arrived and began the final day of preparations. While some people wondered why the bathroom was suddenly out of supplies, no one dared to investigate a "Blood Demon Incident" too closely. Flandre Scarlet spent the rest of the day diligently completing her inventory work.
In the evening, Ch'en Huijie, Beatrice, and Hoshiguma arrived as a group.
"You're leaving tomorrow. Although we won't be going with you this time, we still have to have a proper farewell dinner, right?" they said, unpacking several containers of high-end takeout.
"Are all the supplies loaded?" Beatrice Schwire asked, her eyes scanning the massive transport trucks lined up like sleeping giants.
"Everything has been loaded, and all vehicles have been double-checked. All we have to do is turn the keys tomorrow," Flandre Scarlet replied, mouth already half-full of food.
"This convoy is quite impressive," Hoshiguma remarked, looking at the scale.
"Yes, over thirty large cargo trucks," Ch'en added. "They are equipped with five escort vehicles and ten elite operatives per vehicle—top-notch personnel from the Guard Department. Flandre, once you cross the border, you must pay special attention to the north. I've heard there's significant movement in Ursus."
Flandre Scarlet nodded seriously. "Alright, I will keep a sharp eye on Ursus."
She knew, even without Ch'en's warning, that the situation was delicate. Through her letters to Alina, she knew the Reunion Movement was finally standing on its own feet. With their mobile module and new defensive artillery, they were a legitimate power. Because they bordered Leithanien and Victoria, those nations were actually happy to see the Reunion Movement thrive—it created a perfect buffer zone against Ursus aggression.
However, the Ursus Old Nobility were furious. They had tried to starve the Infected out with a blockade, but the Reunion Movement simply opened trade routes to the south, using pack beasts to navigate difficult mountain paths. Every time a scheme from the Old Nobility failed, Flandre felt a little bit of joy. But Alina had warned her: a cornered noble is a dangerous one, and they would surely target a convoy of this size.
After dinner, Beatrice Schwire grabbed Flandre Scarlet and hugged her fiercely, rubbing her cheek against the girl's. "Little Flandre, who knows how long it'll be until you come back. Let me have a few more snuggles while I can! I'm going to miss my little magical girl!"
"Ew, Char Siu Cat, you're being absolutely disgusting. Let her breathe," Ch'en Huijie said, looking on with pure disdain.
"Pink Sausage Dragon, do you want to settle this right now?!" Beatrice snapped back, and the two were instantly forehead-to-forehead in their usual standoff.
Flandre Scarlet looked at Hoshiguma, who was wearing her "I'm not part of this" expression. "Sister Hoshiguma, after I leave, I'll entrust Sister Ch'en and Sister Beatrice to your care. Try to keep them from killing each other."
Hoshiguma nearly choked on her drink, desperately trying to suppress a laugh. "Uh, well, we're all colleagues... I'll do my best, Flandre."
Meanwhile, far to the north in the cold halls of Ursus, the Old Nobility were gathered in a dark, smoke-filled room. A message from Yan had reached them, and it was the news they had been waiting for.
They knew Wei Yenwu was sending a massive supply of medical and military goods to the Reunion Movement. They knew the route: it would skim the boundary of Ursus and Kazdel before entering Leithanien. They knew Leithanien would let them pass without a second thought, which made the supplies a "nail" that would be hammered into Ursus's side forever.
The meeting was a cacophony of greed and malice. One faction argued for pure destruction: "Use the artillery! Send the drones! Burn the trucks where they stand! We must show them that Ursus territory is a graveyard for those who defy us!"
Another faction, however, was motivated by their thinning wallets. "The supply list is worth a fortune. If we capture those goods, the profit would equal the annual income of a Marquis! We shouldn't just burn it—we should take it for ourselves."
The only shadow over their greed was the mention of the Blood Demon girl, Flandre Scarlet. She had humiliated their forces before. To seize the goods, they would have to find a way to neutralize her.
Finally, a compromise was reached: Two ambushes. The first would attempt to seize the goods. If that failed, the second ambush would be a total annihilation mission—drones, artillery, and fire to ensure nothing reached the Reunion Movement alive.
As the Lungmen caravan prepared to start their engines, troop movements were already surging south within the Ursus border, hiding in the treeline and waiting for their prey.
Back in the warehouse, Flandre and her friends were looking at a map. Ch'en Huijie pointed to a specific spot—a narrow canyon just before the Leithanien border. "If I were them, I'd strike here. It's the most dangerous part of the trip."
Flandre looked at the map and smiled. "Then that's where the best part of the game will be."