The moment Lucian left the Lungmen Guard Department, he took off running.
It was just past six o'clock—prime breakfast time for all the office drones.
Head east from Guard HQ, past one traffic light, and less than a hundred meters down the road sat a small tea shop.
The sign read Lucian Sinclair's Soy Milk, written in flowing calligraphy by none other than Texas herself—complete with doodles of an Angel Halo, a wolf tail, and a croissant scattered across the empty spaces.
This shop was Lucian's livelihood in Lungmen.
More than being an employee of Penguin Logistics, his main identity was as owner of this modest tea shop.
This was Lungmen, where every inch of land cost a fortune! Shop rent was way higher than his Penguin Logistics salary—without side gigs, there was no way he could afford it!
By now, the shop was already open. Croissant was handling the morning prep.
The moment she spotted Lucian, her sunny face lit up with a thumbs-up. "Yo, Lucian! So fast! So punctual! I thought Ch'en might hold you up and you'd skip work. What a shame!"
Boss Lucian snorted. "You can skip if you want. Just know you're on your own for breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week."
Croissant's face went white at the threat. "No way, Lucian! I just bought boots from Gobi Desert and I'm broke as hell! Without you I'll starve! You're my Heavenly Father and Savior!" she pleaded desperately.
The bread girl made a running slide tackle and latched onto Lucian's leg, nuzzling shamelessly. She was suspiciously good at this.
Lucian looked down at her, exasperated. "Don't say that to other Laterano people. Exusiai and I are used to it, but other Sankta aren't so forgiving. Someone might pull out a Guardian Gun on the spot."
Most Laterano citizens were devout believers. You couldn't joke around with words like "Heavenly Father."
Croissant stuck her tongue out. "Ehehe. Of course I only say it to you, Lucian!"
She batted her eyes cutely—actually kind of adorable.
But Lucian had long since become immune to her tactics. He grabbed her by the horn and hauled her upright while she begged for mercy.
Lucian was the only man among the Penguin Logistics crew—and the only one who could cook.
Sure, the Penguin Logistics girls were all beauties in their own right, but their domestic skills? Absolutely tragic.
One glance at their shared dormitory would kill any man's fantasies on the spot.
So ever since Lucian joined Penguin Logistics, he'd become their long-term meal ticket, cooking all three meals a day.
In exchange, they'd help out at his shop whenever they had time, saving him from hiring waitstaff.
Thankfully, Croissant—unreliable as she usually was—worked hard when it counted. Her sunny personality and talent for small talk made her a favorite among the regulars.
Once the shop opened for business, waves of office workers flooded in. Business went from zero to packed in an instant.
Amid the chaos, an elegant blonde beauty appeared at the end of the line, standing on her tiptoes and waving at Lucian:
"Yoo-hoo! I'm here!"
It was Inspector Swire—except she wasn't in uniform. She'd come to Lucian's shop for tea in casual clothes.
After the morning rush died down and the shop started to quiet, Swire finally sat down with Lucian.
She cradled a steaming hot bun in both hands, switching it left and right, then flashed her little fangs and took a bite:
"Mmm! So good! Your Char Siu Bao are the best in all of Lungmen, Lucian. The best I've had in my entire life!"
"As long as you like them." Lucian watched her eat with the innocent happiness of a child, and he couldn't help but feel happy too.
The greatest honor for anyone who cooks is seeing someone not just say it tastes good, but look like it tastes good.
In that regard, Swire—despite being a rich young lady—ate with such down-to-earth enthusiasm that she was the perfect audience. Lucian could cook for her for the rest of his life and never get bored.
Lucian handed her a bowl of Soy Milk and asked, "Swire, you're not on duty today? Then why'd you come by so early?"
Swire shot him a look. "It's your fault. I heard Penguin Logistics got arrested again, and I figured it had to be you, so I rushed over."
Lucian scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep."
She huffed, her fluffy tiger tail swishing left and right. "Don't bother flattering me. You know exactly what I'm thinking."
Swire lifted the Soy Milk bowl and drank straight from it, leaving a ring of white foam around her mouth.
Then she lifted her chin, as if signaling Lucian to do something.
But Lucian just didn't react. Played dumb. Totally boring.
Swire pouted harder and grabbed a napkin to wipe her own mouth. "That annoying dragon keeps treating you like a thorn in her side. She's threatened to catch you red-handed more than once. I have to keep watch over you. And you need to be more careful, okay? Your Originium Arts are great for hiding stuff, but even you can slip up sometimes, right?"
"Understood." Lucian accepted Swire's goodwill and nodded seriously.
Swire knew about Penguin Logistics' deal with Wei Yenwu, which was why she could act as the middleman.
She was a down-to-earth rich girl, but also someone who knew plenty of insider secrets from the upper echelons.
Objectively speaking, she was more "realistic" than the justice-driven Ch'en.
But that didn't mean she had no ulterior motives.
Swire munched her buns and sipped her Soy Milk while smiling at Lucian… then reached out a hand.
Her soft, delicate fingers poked his cheek, then started squishing and kneading.
While getting her tactile fix, she said, "You free later? Come hang out at my family's Plaza. There's a new café that just opened—super classy, with live piano performances and everything."
"I'm not really into that bougie stuff." Lucian sat there awkwardly while Swire groped his face. "I've got to watch the shop, and I'm running the Mobile Stall this afternoon. I'll pass."
Rejected repeatedly, Swire grew even more upset. "You're such a pain. You play piano so beautifully—obviously you spent years practicing, right? It's a waste not to show off your talent. Are you seriously planning to run a tea shop your whole life?"
"I only learned piano because I was forced to as a kid… and honestly, running a tea shop my whole life sounds pretty good."
Lucian gave a half-hearted answer, and immediately felt Swire's grip on his face tighten.
He backpedaled quickly. "Okay, okay, I got it! How about another day? When you have your day off, we'll go check out your family's big Plaza together, okay?"
"Hmph… fine. Another day it is." Swire didn't push further and left him an opening for later.
Swire had always been this proactive toward Lucian.
They'd known each other for a while now. Ever since an incident last year where she learned some of Lucian's secrets, she'd been boldly pursuing him like this.
Lucian was a man—of course he didn't dislike a girl as pretty and sweet-tempered as Swire… but he had his own concerns. For now, keeping things as they were seemed like the better option.
Swire was smart too. She knew that pushing too hard would just make Lucian run, so she always maintained the right distance.
That said, using Lucian's face as a stress toy was a different story entirely.
She kept squishing and kneading while munching through six buns and two bowls of Soy Milk. Then, as if suddenly remembering, she glanced around the shop. "Where's your red-haired Angel? Usually she'd have barged over to third-wheel by now. With that terrifying fake smile of hers, looking like she's about to pull out a Gun and make me eat lead."
That was dangerous talk. Lucian laughed. "No, no, she's just teasing you. Exusiai took a big commission and went to meet with the client. She'll be back in a few days."
Swire hummed thoughtfully and accepted it easily.
The TV in the shop happened to switch to international news:
Lungmen's neighboring city, Chernobog in the Ursus Empire, had been experiencing frequent conflicts sparked by the Infected. The upper authorities were considering deploying Military Police.
The world was getting more dangerous by the day—at least, that's what Lucian thought as Swire kept squishing his face.