Chapter 314: A Lavish Wish

"Stop right there for me!! Or I'll kill you!!"

Vivi didn't hesitate for even a moment, not daring to pause for a single instant. Her meager magic power clung to her legs as she raced across the mountains of garbage. The only sounds in her ears were the howling wind and her own ragged, heavy breathing.

She had always been a fast runner.

Relying on her intimate knowledge of this ruined terrain, she wove agilely through the intricate maze of gaps, circling widely several times in succession. Only after confirming she had completely shaken off the guards who had come chasing after the alarm did she finally stop in a dead corner piled high with discarded tires.

"Hah... hah..."

Vivi leaned against the tires, gasping for breath, her lungs burning like a bellows, yet on that filth-covered face bloomed an expression of wild ecstasy.

Trembling with excitement, she clutched the bundle in her arms a little tighter.

She had done it!

The landfill's perimeter was enormous. The Cat Claw Gang couldn't possibly mobilize a full lockdown of every boundary over some nobody they couldn't even identify.

All she had to do now was run to the outer edge of the landfill, slip through, and then she could take any roundabout route back to Neon City!

And as long as she could get this casting unit out and sell it off, not only would the debt hole be patched up, but maybe even next month's and the month after's living expenses and medication money would be covered!

Just as she was basking in her joy.

*Click.*

From not far behind her, a faint sound like a dry twig snapping underfoot suddenly came.

Every hair on Vivi's body stood on end. She whirled around, her orange-yellow pupils contracting sharply.

"?!"

Behind her, at some point, five scavengers wearing equally tattered protective suits had appeared. Each one had fuzzy dog ears perched atop their heads and rough dog tails hanging behind them. They seemed to have come in together as a group.

They appeared to have just been passing by, and when they saw Vivi, they clearly froze for a moment as well.

The woman at the front of the group swept her gaze across Vivi's face and blurted instinctively: "It's you? That idiot who bought up District 44?"

"Wait, without someone from the Cat Claw Gang guiding you, how are you getting out?"

The woman's expression shifted, as if something had suddenly clicked in her mind. Her eyes locked dead onto the thing in Vivi's arms, tightly wrapped in rags.

, That precious?

, Must be something good?

No verbal communication was needed. The four companions around her immediately read the situation too, and a look of undisguised greed flashed through each of their eyes.

No robbing allowed? Every veteran knew that was bullshit. Just don't get caught.

Not to mention this girl had already broken the rules by sneaking in here in the first place.

They signaled to each other and began slowly closing in on Vivi in a fan formation.

Vivi didn't waste a single word. She stuffed the thing in her arms into her shoulder bag and bolted!

"Grab her! Don't let her get out of this area!"

The woman behind her shouted in a low voice, and the five of them lunged in pursuit like vicious hounds catching the scent of blood.

Vivi pushed herself to the absolute limit, vaulting over those razor-sharp metal remnants, but earlier, in order to evade the patrolling Cat Claw Gang members, her completely unmodified body had already burned through far too much stamina and magic power.

She hadn't eaten her fill all day, only some nutrient paste.

After running barely a hundred meters, Vivi's legs felt like they were weighed down with lead, and her steps began to falter.

There were still several hundred meters to the edge of this area.

Perhaps afraid that Vivi would escape the zone, the dog-eared woman grew anxious. She pulled an old black handgun from her clothes and squeezed the trigger at Vivi.

*Bang-, !*

The metal pellet grazed Vivi's arm, leaving a thin line of blood.

Vivi gritted her teeth, a look of determination flashing across her face. She yanked the homemade pistol from her bag, spun around, and pulled the trigger.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The five of them were clearly startled, but they quickly realized the gun had no accuracy at all, not a single shot had landed. They grinned viciously and were about to charge forward when they failed to notice the bullets embedded in the ground emitting a crimson glow.

*BOOM-, *

The pellets suddenly exploded, and two of the scavengers collapsed on the spot, clutching their legs and howling in agony. They wouldn't be mobile for quite a while.

However, a scene like this wasn't enough to scare off these desperate outlaws who had clawed their way up from the very bottom.

The remaining three women paid no attention to their companions at all, charging forward with eyes blazing red.

As Vivi ran, she pulled the trigger behind her once more.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

But this time the others had clearly learned their lesson. They crisscrossed their jumps, never stepping on the spots, and easily dodged the subsequent explosions.

Finally, in a dead-end path blocked by an abandoned train car, the remaining three cornered the gasping Vivi completely.

And the two scavengers who had been wounded by the explosions came limping over as well, their faces twisted with hatred and savage glee.

"Run, huh? Why don't you keep running, you little bZ?"

"Got some nerve, huh, cracking even the Cat Claw Gang's signal device."

The lead dog-eared woman panted heavily, holstered her gun, and casually picked up a rust-covered steel pipe. Looking at the pale-faced Vivi, whose bullets and magic power were both spent, a greedy, feral grin curved at the corner of her mouth.

"Hand over that big score in your bag nice and obedient. Seeing as we're all just out here trying to make a living, big sister here will only break one of your legs today and leave you a way out. How about it?"

If it were an ordinary scavenger hearing these words, perhaps they might feel a bit of relief at being able to keep their life and obediently pay the price to avert disaster.

But at this moment, Vivi's back was pressed against the cold train car, her chest heaving violently, and all she felt was the world spinning around her.

This time, it seemed she had truly run out of roads.

She didn't believe these people would show any mercy and leave her even a shred of hope.

Everything would be taken from her, including her earlier prize.

If her leg was broken here and her things were stolen, she would have no way to repay her debt.

All that awaited her was the Black Snake Gang's debt collectors tracking her down, dragging her forcibly onto an operating table, carving out every organ in her body while she was still alive to settle the debt, and then distributing the rest according to procedure to those Companies.

Because the collateral had been so thoroughly consumed, the Black Snake Gang might not even find much left to seize for debt..., but that no longer had anything to do with her.

She would never see tomorrow's sun rise.

Vivi suddenly wanted to cry.

How unfair it all was.

She had risked her life to find this treasure, the hope of turning her fate around had been right within reach, and in the end she was going to be brought down by these people like a stray dog, then die on the roadside?

Had she done something wrong?

Was it her fault for being too greedy?

Was she never supposed to have any dreams at all, only fit to scrape by and survive?

, I want to become a magical girl, even the most clumsy, most mediocre magical girl, as long as I can be a magical girl.

Was a wish like that really so outrageous?

Vivi no longer looked at the woman approaching. Instead, she gazed up at the dark clouds in the night sky, toward the direction of that enormous tower suspended in the air. The light in her pupils was about to go out.