Exusiai decisively
threw the bomb onto the table. Croissant and Bison nervously
stepped forward with their shields, intending to protect everyone.
Immediately, an explosion sounded, but Croissant and Bison were
both a bit puzzled. Why didn't they feel any force?
Reinette's calm voice rang out: "Why are
you so nervous? And Exusiai, you need to fix your habit
of being so meddlesome."
"Could it be a joke, or their warning?" Bison nervously
lowered his shield and looked at the table where Exusiai had
just thrown the bomb.
Floating on the table was a transparent marble, about the size
of a few fists?
Through the exterior, one could see a black iron box, its shell
already twisted, curled, and shattered. The word 'candy' was still faintly
visible on the iron box.
The twisted and pulverized items encased within presented the
feeling of that moment's explosion, while the white, transparent substance
enveloping this brilliant fireball made the entire bomb look like a giant
transparent marble.
Reinette walked over, picked up the
sphere, and tossed it up and down: "Don't be nervous, this bomb has been
frozen by me. It's a trap, a trap that only a meddlesome person would
trigger."
As Reinette's words fell, everyone's gaze
collectively fixed on Exusiai.
"This... this isn't my fault either." Exusiai wanted
to argue, but the recent incident was indeed caused by her meddling, so her
explanation seemed so pale and powerless.
"Alright, just remember the lesson." Reinette tossed
the ice ball up and down. "As for this thing, it could make a nice
ornament, say, placed in Exusiai's room to remind her not to
be so meddlesome."
Emperor nodded, his gaze following the ice ball Reinette was
tossing up and down: "Well done..."
He had originally wanted to thank Reinette for
saving his records, after all, his records were placed under the table, and
once that explosion went off, that large pile of records would certainly not
have been saved, but...
When people are nervous, they tend to overlook some things, such
as the music in the background that abruptly stopped. And now, Emperor realized
that the jazz music that had been playing in the background had indeed ceased.
"Here, Boss."
Texas pointed
to the ground nearby. There, a gramophone, shattered into pieces, lay quietly.
Of course, it wasn't just the gramophone that was broken, but also the vinyl
record on it.
"No!!!!" An indescribable penguin shriek echoed
throughout the entire base.
Exusiai immediately
poked Croissant beside her and
whispered: "Hey! Wasn't that box of vinyl records that boss got from the
black market a Columbia collector's
item?"
Croissant thought
back and nodded: "I think so. I haven't seen the boss that sad in a
while."
Reinette, with her sharp ears, heard Croissant and Exusiai's
whispers and smiled as she spoke to the grieving Emperor, who was sprawled on
the floor: "Boss, look on the bright side. Luckily, I froze the bomb,
otherwise, I think not a single one of your records would have survived
today."
Hearing Reinette's words,
Emperor immediately tensed up and looked back at the box of records placed
under the table.
Fortunately, thanks to Reinette's
intervention, there was no damage except for the one on the gramophone placed
on the table
But no loss
doesn't mean the Emperor can ignore others trampling on his records, especially
the crisis that has already occurred.
Just a little, only a little, even if Reinette was
here, but if Reinette had been even a moment late,
those precious records might have been damaged by the bomb.
Those valuable vinyl records couldn't withstand impact; even a
slight crack would destroy their perfect sound quality.
Thinking of this, the Emperor calmly stood up and brushed the
dust from his clothes.
Just then, Exusiai shouted from the
doorway: "Ah! They got in the car! Those guys in black!"
Bison, who had just experienced another
explosion, was even more nervous: "Wait! But if they had set up a trap
from the beginning, why didn't they ambush us? The situation is strange, we
should formulate a specific plan before we go..."
"Texas!"
Texas had already sprinted
towards the vehicle parked outside the door even before Exusiai shouted.
"You all, listen carefully." The Emperor's calm voice
rang out, "All traffic violation tickets tonight will be reimbursed."
"I'm going to make them pay for my vinyl records with their
lives!!!"
Reinette picked up the Emperor and got
into the car, then used water to drag the still-stunned Bison in as
well, adding fuel to the fire by saying, "The sooner we resolve this, the
sooner I'll have time to make dessert."
As Reinette's words fell, Bison felt as
if a flashbang had been thrown into the car, followed by Exusiai's
shriek.
Texas withdrew her hand blade,
sighing. This Exusiai, who got over-excited at
the mention of dessert, was truly troublesome.
Reinette smiled, then said to Red, who
was standing by the car: "Red, could you please go find Kroos? Just give
her a reminder, and remember, no fatalities."
"Understood, Mama." Red nodded in understanding and
vanished into the warehouse in a flash.
------
"See them? It's that car up ahead!" Exusiai shouted,
pointing at the vehicle in front; the group of black-clad individuals she had
just seen had gotten into that car.
"Exusiai! Get me my old
friend!"
"Yes, Boss!" Exusiai opened
the storage compartment of the passenger door, pulled out a gun-lance, and
handed it to the Emperor behind her.
"Is that a gun-lance!?"
Bison was a little surprised by what Exusiai handed
over. It wasn't strange for Exusiai to have a gun, after
all, she was a Sarkaz, but if others wanted one,
they would have to pay a considerable price. However, Bison, with no time
to dwell on that, remembered something else.
"Mr. Emperor, how are you going to pull the
trigger..."
"Aha! Not bad, young master, let our firearms expert
introduce it!"
Exusiai immediately
said seriously: "A total of forty-two layers of cardboard, seamlessly
glued with industrial adhesive, driven by high-quality rubber bands. Hmm, it's
a truly excellent gun-lance."
Bison was silent for a moment.
"...So, a toy?"
"Actually, it's a slingshot." Exusiai had
just finished speaking when the Emperor, from behind her, tapped her head with
the slingshot in his hand. She quickly added, "No, it's a Peace
Gun-lance!"
The Emperor calmly stated: "Using live ammunition is not
allowed in Lungmen city. That's the
rule."
Texas said indifferently:
"Every time, I think, the Boss only follows the rules at times like
this."
"If even we don't follow the rules, Lungmen will
be blown sky-high immediately, understand? Open the convertible top, Texas!"
Texas glanced at Reinette through
the rearview mirror: "That's true. Be careful. Don't hit a traffic light
like last time."
"Am I that tall?"
"Sniper position two ready, Boss~!" Exusiai also
switched her firearm to rubber bullets and gave an OK sign to the Emperor, who
was sitting in Reinette's lap.
Bison suddenly realized what they were
trying to do: "Wait, wait, there are other vehicles on the road, are we
just going to..."
Before Bison could
finish speaking, the two of them, using Reinette's water,
leaned out of the car.
------
"Those guys are firing! Hey, fire back!" The gangster
in the passenger seat, looking at the shot-out rearview mirror, yelled
backward.
"What a joke, how can I aim with the car driving so
bumpy!"
The gangster driving nervously looked back through the rearview
mirror and was surprised to find blood slowly flowing from the head of a
companion in the back seat: "Y-you've been shot!?"
Hearing his companion's warning from the front, the gangster
belatedly touched his head: "Blood, I'm bleeding, quick, give me a
bandage. No, what is this, rubber?"
He pulled a blood-stained bullet from his hair, squeezed it, and
found it was made of rubber.
"Just rubber!?"
"Yeah, it's rubber, but this rubber can shoot through
glass! Quick, shake them off, ah, that hurts!!"
------
"Good aim, Boss!"
The Emperor smiled confidently: "Stick to them, Texas!"
Texas nodded, then stomped on
the accelerator: "Time to speed up."
Croissant grabbed
the handrail in advance and braced herself against the seat with both feet:
"Hold on tight, Texas is merciless when she
speeds."
To prevent the two leaning out of the car window from being too
excited and being thrown out, Reinette additionally
used water to give them several seatbelts.
"A-Neng, blow out their tires!" The Emperor was
gradually getting carried away.
"Understood!" Exusiai nodded
excitedly, lowering her gun barrel and aiming at the front vehicle's wheels.
"Using rubber bullets to shoot rubber tires?" Bison looked
up in surprise, watching the two of them.
"If I want to, I can do it." The Emperor pushed up his
sunglasses, saying coolly.
Bison was silent for a moment:
"Miss Reinette, Miss Texas,
can't you stop them!?"
Texas silently turned her head
away.
"Why do you think I'm in this car?" Reinette smiled
at Bison, "Firstly, it's to prevent them
from getting too carried away and affecting civilians. Secondly, it's because
I've been a bit bored lately, so I wanted to watch a show."
Bison opened his mouth, looking at Reinette, and
ultimately said nothing. He had originally thought that Reinette and Texas were
the most reliable here, but now it seemed they weren't all that reliable
either.
"Oh well, oh well, they're having fun." Croissant waved
her hand, saying nonchalantly, "Anyway, Reinette is there
to back them up."
As for Exusiai, who was already worked up,
she was laughing loudly on the car roof: "Take that, take that! Give me a
big spin on the spot!"
"Hey, the steering wheel is stuck!"
"Nonsense, jump out of the car quickly!" The gangster
in the back seat was speaking when he kicked open the car door and jumped out.
Bison looked at the car performing a
big spin ahead and suddenly remembered something: "Wait! With the car
going this fast, we'll get caught up too!"
Reinette shook her head helplessly. This
was why she had to come along; these guys sometimes got so carried away they
forgot things.
A ball of water enveloped the vehicle, making it float. The
wheels spun idly, quickly losing their forward momentum.
"Phew, thank you, Miss Reinette." Bison breathed
a sigh of relief, retracting his previous statement. In Penguin
Logistics, Miss Reinette was
still the most reliable.
--- Lungmen Central Park, Scaled
Fish Ball Stall ---
"Your scaled fish balls."
A female tourist took them, then stood aside, scooped one with a
spoon, and ate it: "Oh, oh, this texture, this elasticity, it's really
good. No wonder it's a recommended shop in the Top 100 Local Delicacies
Guide!"
Jie nodded: "As long as the customer likes it."
A male tourist poked his girlfriend beside him: "Hey, don't
you think that stall owner is a bit scary?"
The female tourist glanced at him, then nodded: "Exactly,
not to mention how fierce he looks, he's selling scaled fish balls, but why
does he have a cleaver on the table..."
"And I read in the guide that the owner is an old uncle
known as the God of Scaled Fish Balls." The male tourist seemed to
suddenly remember something, "Ah, could it be that the triad took over the
stall...?"
Jie looked up and asked: "Hmm? Customer, do you need
anything else?"
"N-nothing."
"Customers have been so strange lately." Jie shook his
head and continued to handle his work.
"It's because your expression is too fierce." A small
tiger walked over, "And why are you wearing this outfit to run a stall?
Can't you consider Uncle Dong's reputation?"
"It's you, Waai Hu.
Finished with work?"
Waai Hu nodded: "Sort of. The
office said they had a tab here last time, how much was it?"
"Thirty-two dollars and six cents. Let's round down the
change. Want to try some?"
"Why suddenly? I didn't bring any extra change."
Jie waved his hand: "Just take it as a gifts , after all,
you guys always support my business."
"Then, I won't be polite." Waai
Hu took the scaled fish balls Jie handed her.
"Hmm, it's delicious, but isn't this Uncle's stall? Giving
away someone else's generosity?"
Jie sighed: "Why do you always pick on me? I'll pay out of
my own pocket..."
Waai Hu nodded: "That's good. But
your cooking has indeed improved. If only those guys treated their work as
seriously as you do."
Jie was about to reply when a female voice beside him spoke:
"Hello, one order of fish balls."
"Ah, alright, customer, please wait a moment."
"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry. It's rare to be able to see
the river view from here." Mostima waved
her hand, then looked towards the distant river view.
"The aroma is really good. This gourmet guide is quite
reliable after all."
Waai Hu beside her looked at Mostima's
face with a slightly strange expression.
"Sorry for the wait. Here's your change."
"Thank you." Mostima took
the scaled fish balls, casually said thank you, and then left.
"Please take care, customer." Jie turned around and
saw Waai Hu still looking at that customer. "Waai
Hu? What are you looking at?"
"No, that young lady just feels a bit strange... Do Sarkaz people
grow horns?"
Jie didn't pay any attention: "Annihilation
Night makeup, probably."
Waai Hu shook her head: "Not quite.
Never mind, making groundless conjectures about others isn't a good
habit."
"What are you planning to do next? Go back to the
office?"
"Go back to study. I have an exam in a couple of
days."
Jie looked at Waai Hu strangely:
"You still have to study on Annihilation Night?"
"Annihilation Night is a festival for sending
off souls. Modern society's definition of a festival is basically consumption,
which I respectfully decline." Waai Hu paused,
then added, "The main point is, I don't have that much salary. I'd rather
have a higher GPA so I can get a scholarship."
"Uh, alright, that's like you..." Jie thought of the
others in the office.
Waai Hu saw
through what Jie was thinking: "It's those guys who have been out of touch
with society for too long. Don't mistake me for that kind of person."
------
Mostima was
carrying fish balls in one hand and flipping through a book with the other:
"I should still have plenty of time. Where should I go next? Let me see,
hmm, there's still..."
Just then, gunshots and crashes came from the overpass.
Curious Lungmen citizens looked up:
"Hey! What's happening on the overpass? Is it a car accident?"
"Doesn't seem like a simple car accident. Should we go
check it out?"
"Another fight? Count me in!"
The voices of the surrounding Lungmen citizens
gradually rose, and from their conversations, one could clearly sense a certain
fierce local custom of Lungmen.
"You bunch of lunatics, stay away from me!!!" A
pathetic cry came from the overpass above.
"Hmm, that fast?" Mostima stretched,
"Looks like I'll have to start work early."
Just as she was about to set off, she suddenly stopped. Mostima took
down the staff hanging behind her back and looked at the constantly trembling
staff in her hand, showing a strange expression.