I followed Haitang into the student council office.

But the update from little Cangyu wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“In other words, the trojan Cangyu planted did send back some data, but before we could analyze the culprit’s address, they cut their connection. It’s possible they noticed us. If that’s the case, then all our efforts went down the drain.”

As she spoke, Haitang slammed her fist against the desk, punching a dent straight into the heavy wooden table—she was really pissed.

Meanwhile, Cangyu kept her head down, typing away on her laptop, then spun the screen toward us:
【Sorry, I wasn’t skilled enough.】

“I’m not blaming you,” Haitang comforted her. “It’s not your fault—we just underestimated them.”

More clacking keys, then the screen turned again:
【The culprit used multiple proxy layers to hide their real IP address. If you give me time, I can trace it.】

“But their computer’s offline now, right? It might’ve just been a coincidence they lost connection. Either way, it’s not on you.”

I asked, “What about the tracker? Wasn’t there one hidden inside the battery pack?”

Even if Cangyu’s plan had failed, we still had Qiaojue’s backup. But Haitang shook her head.

“That failed too. As soon as Cangyu sent word, Qiaojue bolted out with the locator. But all she found was the battery pack tossed at the trash station at our village entrance… If the culprit didn’t notice us, then they probably never planned on reusing it in the first place.”

I clicked my tongue. That alone proved one thing—the culprit had money to burn. Portable chargers aren’t exactly cheap—good ones cost over a hundred yuan. Tossing it without hesitation? Just thinking about it made my heart ache.

Two prongs, both snapped. The fish had bitten, but slipped away.

Frustrated, I flopped across the meeting table. From behind her screen, Cangyu met my eyes—then quickly looked away, flustered.

What an unexpected turn. I thought we’d be confronting the culprit as the big climax of this volume… and yet we didn’t even catch them!

Seriously, September’s been dragging on forever—it’s already longer than the last two volumes combined! Author, did you screw up the outline?

“I’m back! I’m exhausted! Someone, anyone, hurry up and let me recharge on girl power—hey, lil’ bro, your energy’s the purest~ c’mere, lemme hug you~”

Bei Qiaojue wriggled over, sweating buckets. The sticky heat radiated off her, so I quickly pressed a hand to her shoulder to keep her away.

“You’re drenched! Stay back! And also, my soul is male—what do you mean ‘pure’?”

“The big-boobed beauty here is seriously asking that?” Since I wouldn’t cooperate, she switched targets. “Hey, caught you, Cangyu! Let me rub up against you!”

Cangyu, being kind, handed her a glass of water—and got herself dragged straight into Qiaojue’s arms. She flailed helplessly, crying out, “Waaah, waah, waaah!”

“For now, all we can do is wait. If they really just lost connection by accident, they’ll have to come back online eventually.”

Unlike the others horsing around, Haitang leaned back in the boss chair, one leg crossed, massaging her temple with her eyes closed.

“If the culprit did realize we were onto them, then they’ll either tone things down or stop monitoring you altogether. From your perspective, Commander, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Try to be optimistic.”

But that was just her trying to console me.

Relying on the culprit’s self-restraint or goodwill for my safety… that was far too passive.

And worse—the culprit might already know my secret. A notebook that turns people into cute girls is way too bizarre. If that got exposed, all sorts of shady organizations would be after me. If they tried blackmailing me with it…

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

“Well, there's nothing more we can do right now. I’ll head back to class.”

I stood up, dejected, but Haitang raised a hand to stop me.
“Hold on, Commander.”

She rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out another surveillance camera, placing it on the table. Compared to the last one, this was much bulkier—the lens alone was fist-sized, with a long power cable dangling off the back.

“Take this home today. Set it up in your room facing the balcony and window. Once it’s connected to the internet, you’ll have real-time monitoring.”

“You had this the whole time and didn’t bring it out earlier?!”

If she’d pulled this out sooner, maybe we’d already know who the culprit was.

“This thing’s way too conspicuous. If we’d used it from the start, the culprit would’ve noticed instantly. Before we knew who we were up against, I didn’t want to spook them. Besides, with both the trojan and the tracker, I thought our double insurance was airtight.”

More keyboard clacking. Cangyu “said”:
【Network cameras are vulnerable to hacking. Not safe.】

True, yesterday I’d also believed there was no way the culprit could slip past us. Who’d have thought their counter-surveillance was this strong? Don’t tell me I’ve really crossed paths with some government agent? Or is this one of Qiaojue’s “friends”?

Back in class, I filled Rinka and the others in.

“I see… so you didn’t catch the culprit?” Sis Xi thought for a moment, then turned to Lei Meow Meow. “Should we ask Uncle Lei? He might be able to help from a criminal investigation angle.”

That sounded promising, but Meow Meow shook her head.

“Not now. Dad’s swamped with the situation in the business district. Lü Le’s nearly done compiling intelligence on the gangs, and they’re about to move in soon. His hands are tied.”

Yeah, that was big stuff.

Rinka fell silent in thought, then asked, “Kai-chan, do you have any suspects in mind? Since we know roughly when it happened, could you rule people out?”

Her question reminded me—but it wasn’t that simple.

First were Dad and Wu Qinglan. They were both at work during the time window.

But Dad had already given Qinglan the house key. She could’ve driven back at lunchtime to swap the SD card and battery. Still, her motive was weak—if she wanted surveillance, wouldn’t she put it in Dad’s room instead of mine?

Then there was Brother Zhu. He stayed home all the time while lying low, so he had both the opportunity and the motive—the strongest motive of all: protecting his daughter, little Qianxia.

If he had planted the camera, that’d explain why he could entrust Qianxia to me without worry.

Finally, I looked at Xiao Lei. She hadn’t eaten with us at lunch today. If she used that time to run home and swap the card and power pack, the timing worked out.

More importantly, she knew all about Haitang’s traps. If she didn’t fall for them, it made sense.
…Though, if it’s her, she probably still would fall for them.

The trojan had sent back data for a short while—maybe she couldn’t resist checking the SD card videos, but forgot to disconnect from the internet.

Still, two things didn’t add up. Yesterday she hadn’t seemed like she was pretending; she didn’t have the acting chops for it. And those multi-layer proxy tricks? No way she could pull that off. Unless… she just happened to leave her VPN on from visiting some sketchy sites.

Xiao Lei caught me staring suspiciously at her. She scowled.

“Commander, why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Nothing.”
“You’re not suspecting me, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why’d you turn away? Liar!”

Annoyed, she hammered my chest with her fists, sending ripples across me like a “Hadouken.”

“Well, let’s put the camera aside for now.”

Sis Xi abruptly switched topics. She circled around Lei Meow Meow and wheeled her sister forward.
“We’ll be rehearsing for the concert in the gym the next couple of days. How about you come along too, Lingmeng?”

Hearing “concert,” I instinctively resisted. No way was I letting Sis Xi drag me onstage to humiliate myself.
“Eh… I’ve already got enough on my plate…”

“Stressing won’t help. Better to do something else and take your mind off it,” she pressed.

“But our deal was just to attend the concert, not the rehearsals, right?”

“Perfect!”
Lei Meow Meow suddenly chimed in, flashing a dazzling, unreadable smile.

She slung an arm around my shoulder, golden hair brushing against my neck and cheek.
“Truth is, I didn’t really want you at my concert. But it just so happens I need someone to perform on stage with me. If you don’t come to rehearsal tomorrow or the day after, then you’ll be going up next week directly.”

“Wait—you mean I am going on stage?!”

“Relax, it’s a role that doesn’t even need practice.”

“…What role?”

“A sandbag.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll put you inside a punching bag, place you center stage, and use you as the target for my martial arts showcase.”
She even threw a couple of mock punches, the air whistling from the force alone.

The sandbag’s a role? That’s a prop!

What kind of idol concert includes a boxing routine?
Aren’t you supposed to be the sparkling, idol-type girl?
If you’re throwing punches, your whole persona’s gonna collapse!

“Fine, fine, I get it!” I shoved her arm off in defeat. “I’ll go watch rehearsal tomorrow and the day after. I don’t have plans this weekend anyway. But I’m not being a sandbag, okay?”

Faced with brute force, I had no choice but to bow my head and cooperate.

So I guess the final arc is gonna be… the concert?