The sedan drove along the road, the atmosphere inside the car seemed somewhat strange.
Texas placed her tail vertically behind her back as a cushion, both hands on the steering wheel, driving expressionlessly. Exusiai seemed a bit tired, directly leaning against the passenger seat and starting to snore. And Li Lin sat in the back row, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.
This should be the first time Li Lin had gone out such a long distance since being picked up by Exusiai. Lungmen, this mobile city, was unexpectedly large. The vehicle drove on the highway for over thirty minutes, and the surroundings were still rows upon rows of neon lights. The rapidly receding various signboards and the oncoming vehicles made one momentarily think they hadn't transmigrated.
If not for looking at Texas's tail and the halo on Exusiai's head, Li Lin would even think he had just called a Didi taxi.
However, there was no 'if'; he had been here for four months already.
Although encountering a terrorist attack was the first time.
'Never felt such tension growing up…'
Sitting upright and uneasy on the back seat, Li Lin looked at the dazzling shops and vehicles outside, feeling somewhat emotional.
Although both Texas and Exusiai were emitting a low-pressure aura, Li Lin didn't feel it was too big of a deal.
Perhaps because he had a big heart, or perhaps because transmigrating had led him to be mentally prepared. When facing the explosion, not only did he not feel too surprised or fearful, but rather had a feeling of 'it's finally here'. Hit sideways by the shockwave, his reaction was even slightly faster than Texas's.
Rather, when looking at the black-horned sniper crouching on the opposite building, Li Lin felt his heart pounding.
In real life he was a useless otaku, and here he had lived four months freeloading, but seeing the flash of the sniper's scope, Li Lin admitted his heart beat with unprecedented exhilaration. Rather, he was the one who was somewhat anticipating it. When daily life was torn apart, when the explosion erupted, he felt unprecedented happiness and joy.
How does that saying go? 'Hear the Dao in the morning, die content in the evening.' People in safe zones always have a morbid fascination with war and terror. The vast majority of them, when truly facing terror, would only cry for their parents, but there are a few who are not like that.
They sing joyfully, they sing loudly, they have karaoke on the battlefield, charging with accordions.
Li Lin felt he was very likely this kind of person.
"...Sorry for letting you see an unpleasant side."
Seemingly having some incorrect perception of Li Lin's upright posture and trembling mouth corners, Texas glanced at Li Lin in the rearview mirror, remained silent for a moment, and said in a low voice.
"Penguin Logistics is responsible for transporting things others need us to transport. We don't care what these things are, nor who our recipients are. As long as it can be delivered, we will deliver it. So here, our situation might be a bit dangerous. It's not as good as you imagine."
Red light.
Texas shifted down, reached into her pocket and fumbled around, but didn't find anything.
Li Lin clearly saw in the rearview mirror Texas pursing her lips, looking disgusted, and the tail serving as a cushion twitched unhappily. Just like the expression of an old smoker who couldn't find a cigarette.
"So the ones who attacked us were dissatisfied clients? Or the client's enemies?"
Li Lin thought for a moment, then asked timely:
"Why didn't they attack us, but attacked the bedroom instead?"
"Killing directly would attract the Lungmen Guard Department. Also, it's uncertain which organization exactly attacked us... It was a Sarkaz, a mercenary, I saw her appearance."
She fumbled in her pocket again several times, but couldn't even pull out a single chocolate bean. Texas let out a long sigh, one hand stuck in her pocket, expressionlessly shifted gear, looking at the green light ahead allowing passage, and said:
"Tall figure, wearing a cloak, and has black horns on her head, uses explosives and crossbows. I remember she's a relatively famous mercenary, not sure why she came to attack here. But it doesn't matter, Sarkaz people are all like that. Crazy, dark, willing to do anything for money…"
"Could this be a rumor? I read in the data that many Sarkaz people aren't like the rumors say."
"If it were a rumor, then she shouldn't have come to bomb us. Sarkaz primarily export mercenaries, and there are rarely figures outside the rumors. Being targeted by Sarkaz mercenaries is troublesome, but Penguin Logistics never does things that cross the line… Even if we did, nobody would know. Maybe information leaked somewhere. Boss will handle it."
Texas shook her head. There wasn't much hatred on her face.
After all, for an organization operating in the gray areas, facing explosions and gunshots, even magical bombardments, is commonplace in this world. When chatting with Exusiai in their bunk beds before sleep, Li Lin often heard Exusiai brag about how many people she had sniped.
Before Li Lin could ask more questions, Texas accelerated and directly drifted through a turn, with a 'Duang' sound, smashing the unbuckled Exusiai's head against the car window. Before Exusiai could cry out, Texas directly slammed on the brakes, causing Exusiai to slide and roll under the seat. Her groggy and shaky appearance made Li Lin wince.
"Anyway, welcome to Penguin Logistics."
Unbuckling her seatbelt, Texas pointed towards the high-rise building marked with a strange, abstract penguin logo on its huge facade.
"Our headquarters is right here. You first wander around inside this building casually, I'll go find the boss to explain the situation and then get your employee card processed. Exusiai, follow me."
"Huh? We've arrived already? Why do I feel like I was punched…"
"Your illusion, keep up."
"Wait wait… Ah, Prophet, here's my employee card first. Just swipe it for whatever you want. Stay here for a bit, I'll be back soon."
Exusiai groggily climbed out from under the seat, handed her employee card to Li Lin under Texas's impatient gaze, gave some instructions, then yawned and walked into the building, sporting her messy short hair and a red mark from the sudden braking.
They arrived majestically as a group of three, but within a few minutes, only Li Lin was left looking bewildered at the vast ground floor lobby. Although told he could wander around and take a look, Li Lin actually didn't know what was around, nor when they would come down. He could only idly look at Exusiai's ID card in his hand to pass the time.
However, before he could look for long, Li Lin heard a slightly strange greeting from the side.
"Hey, brother."
Li Lin, fiddling with Exusiai's employee card, looked up and saw a lump of 'meat' right in front of his eyes.
No, to be precise, it was a woman wearing a T-shirt with the character 'Meat' on it standing in front of Li Lin.
This woman with short orange hair looked left and right mysteriously, pulled out some colorful things from her pocket like a magic trick, and said cheerfully:
"Want something? Croissant has everything here, oh? Seeing as you have an employee card, I'll give you a 40% discount."
"…"
Does your Penguin Logistics really hire people without an assessment?
And this expression, these actions, this method, you remind me of another Penguin.
Looking at the woman with horns on her head and a sly grin, then glancing at the Penguin Logistics logo on her jacket shoulder, Li Lin firmly shook his head.
"No money."