Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 578: So You're Pretending to Be Young Too?
"Seriously, is the underworld in Lungmen always this out of control? Last time it was a bunch of Columbian guys from some 'Umbrella' organization, and now there's another wave of Siracusan mafia showing up. What is this, Toaru every single day or something?"
Steven scratched his head in disbelief. He had originally assumed that, considering Lungmen's level of economic development, the most "interesting" thing around here would be seasonal festivals or cultural events.
But somehow, once the topic shifted to Lin Yuhsia, "a new gang war breaking out" counted as casual entertainment.
Why is this guy's sense of fun just as weird as mine…?
"I don't know what this 'Toaru' you mentioned is," Lin Yuhsia replied with a small shake of her head, "but for now, these outsiders are the only fresh variables in Lungmen lately. And… those Siracusan gangs seem to have a bit of a conflict with the people from Penguin Logistics."
She had only brought it up because Steven appeared to know Penguin Logistics personally. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have bothered mentioning it.
"Oh? They've got beef with Penguin Logistics?" Steven narrowed his eyes with a grin. "Now that sounds interesting."
The moment it involved people he knew, the matter immediately became personal.
With a thoroughly nosy expression, he looked toward Lin Yuhsia. He knew perfectly well she still hadn't told him everything.
Given the Rat King's intelligence network, there was no way they only knew that much. They definitely had a clearer picture of why those mafia groups had come to Lungmen in the first place.
And more importantly, how exactly had this become connected to Penguin Logistics?
That was the part Steven was truly curious about.
"You're looking at me like that because you want the full story from me, huh?" Lin Yuhsia tilted her head slightly, sounding puzzled. "I thought you'd prefer investigating things yourself."
"How should I put it…" Steven shrugged. "I don't think you're very suited for intelligence work."
"…What?"
"Sure, you always keep a straight face and try not to show emotion, but that alone isn't enough. Your tone and your eyes give you away way too easily."
He pointed at her matter-of-factly.
"The moment you mentioned this, I could already tell the whole thing probably has something to do with you—and the Rat King behind you."
"In fact, I'd bet this entire mess was planned by you people from the start."
Steven spread his hands with a carefree grin.
"And when someone's already scripted the entertainment for me, of course I'd rather just read the spoilers first. Makes the whole thing even more fun afterward."
"...How are you so sharp about these things?"
Lin Yuhsia frowned slightly.
Steven was undeniably strange in a lot of ways, but whenever it came to critical details, he suddenly became frighteningly perceptive—like a detective who could notice tiny clues nobody else paid attention to.
"Thanks for the compliment," Steven replied shamelessly. "So? What exactly are you planning to do with those mafia groups?"
"As the top dogs of Lungmen's underworld, there's no way you'd just let outsiders run wild on your turf, right?"
"Even if you do let them stir up trouble, it's probably because you want to use them somehow."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before continuing:
"Like… absorbing their manpower and influence to strengthen yourselves?"
"You really are…" Lin Yuhsia stared at him for a long moment before finally muttering, "…kind of terrifying."
This time, the look in Lin Yuhsia's eyes toward Steven became noticeably more serious.
The earlier annoyance and disdain had vanished, replaced instead by a clear sense of caution.
She had only revealed a single sentence's worth of information, yet Steven had managed to infer this much from it alone.
Just thinking about it made her feel uneasy.
How could a man so utterly insane also possess such a frighteningly rational mind?
The combination was honestly terrifying.
"Am I really that scary?" Steven blinked innocently. "Most people who know me just say I'm crazy. The ones who call me terrifying are usually my enemies."
Being praised had clearly put him in a good mood. The grin on his face only widened, completely unapologetic and impossible to hide.
Lin Yuhsia let out a slow sigh before finally continuing.
"You're basically right."
"These Siracusan gang members are part of a faction that lost a power struggle back in Siracusa. Their plan is to merge with another Siracusan group that's already been operating underground in Lungmen for years."
"And at the same time… they want a foothold in Lungmen's entire underworld."
"Unfortunately for them, everything they're doing is already under my father's control. He doesn't actually mind Lungmen gaining another faction of power… provided they know how to follow the rules."
Growing up in Lungmen, Lin Yuhsia understood better than anyone just how chaotic the city's underground world truly was.
And because of that, she also understood how heavy the Rat King's burden had always been.
"So my father prepared a few small tests for them," she explained. "To determine whether they're qualified to remain in Lungmen at all."
"And while he's at it, he'll also select whichever individuals are worth keeping around. That's basically the whole plan."
She revealed the entire outline of the Siracusan mafia situation without much hesitation.
After all, she wasn't worried Steven would interfere.
And even if he did, her father probably already had contingency plans prepared.
Besides, Steven didn't look remotely interested in getting tangled up in this sort of troublesome underworld drama anyway.
"So how exactly does Penguin Logistics fit into all this?" Steven asked with a slight smirk. "At the end of the day, this is still just your mafia business, right?"
Sure, he liked watching chaos unfold.
But gritty mafia stories?
Not really his thing.
Especially not the serious, old-school underworld kind.
"Yes," Lin Yuhsia admitted with a nod, "but that penguin reached a small agreement with my father."
"It also wants to use this incident as a test for its employees."
"A chance to see whether the younger generation has what it takes to handle situations like this on their own."
"Oh?" Steven raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you know everything already?"
A suspicious look suddenly spread across his face.
"…Wait a second."
"If your old man's that old, then doesn't that mean you might actually be some ancient fossil too?"
He slowly turned toward the girl beside him with a horrified expression.
"Don't tell me you're one of those old cucumbers painted green to look fresh and young?"
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Note:
The reason why Toaru is mentioned is because of world-ending events happening in that world like once a week.
You might not know, but all of Toaru Arc take place in 5 months, like, Volume 1 Chapter 1 and the latest chapter, in Toaru IRL time, is just 5 months apart.
Touma in chapter 1 is still a first year high schooler who hasn't even taken his first mid-term exam, and in the latest arc, it's still the same.
If you ever read fanfiction, it mostly takes place in OT and while some people will say that is all because that is where the anime is, I find most authors are caught up storyline wise, they just choose to set it there.
I think the real reason is that late NT and GT just don't leave fans much room to imagine. Everything is so tightly compressed, there is no week off or even day off because of the constant world changing events orchestrated by 20 different groups in the course of a week.
Even in this current volume, it looks like he went to school for one day and is now rooting around District 23 for lost mail leading to magician stuff.
In OT there were often days between events, sometimes the next book would start a week later. Touma currently basically doesn't have a social life, everyone he talks to is in the framing of a crisis and even if there is a hang out moment like him, Index and Mikoto playing darts, it gets interrupted halfway through.
The framing of every volume currently is THE NEXT DAY.
Like, the Resurrection Arc is just 2 days! A whole light novel volume worth of words just for 2 days in Toaru irl time!
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 617: A Bold Guess[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628