Have you ever seen New Eridu at 4 a.m.?
Jiang Ge stood atop the skyscraper, leaning on a cane, a top hat on his head. His cold eyes looked down upon the minuscule streets and buildings below in the moonlight. Then, cautiously, he took a few steps back.
"Which lovely little darling, in their infinite wisdom, decided to meet here?"
Jiang Ge, propping up his slightly weak legs, complained. A clear, cold voice sounded in his mind, responding to his question.
"Answering...Master, it was your own request."
"System, you didn't have to answer that."
Jiang Ge sighed, feeling quite helpless towards his own system.
Who would have thought that even after transmigrating for so long, he still had to personally show up for a strange commission like the "Bangboo Cup."
He wasn't a local, but a transmigrator.
and had already been living in New Eridu for three years.
Three years ago, Jiang Ge was just an ordinary Zenless Zone Zero player. Desperately farming polychrome, he pulled for Ellen. After a full 100 pulls to hit pity, he lost the 50/50 and got Nekomiya instead. Furious, he worked himself into such a rage that he passed out on the spot. When he woke up, he found himself lying in an alleyway in Lumina Square.
At first, he desperately searched for a way back. After realizing it was completely impossible, he decided to stay in this world.
After all, when he transmigrated, this "Honkai: Star Rail Role-Playing System" had taken root in his mind.
The function of this system was simple: it allowed him to transform into any character from Honkai: Star Rail and use their abilities.
Initially, Jiang Ge thought that with this ability, he could just turn into someone like Jing Yuan or SAM and effortlessly dominate the world of Zenless Zone Zero, right?
Things like level caps or Relics? None of that existed!
Just as Jiang Ge was fantasizing about the future his imagined bright future ended with his first transformation into a crying old man.
It was only then he realized this damn system was deeply "inspired" by miHoYo's gacha mechanics. Which character he could transform into depended entirely on pulling from a pool of characters. Not only was the pool deep, but the more outrageous part was that successfully pulling a character only granted a single transformation. If he wanted to transform into them again, he had to pull them again.
Furthermore, he could only pull three times a day. Any unused pulls wouldn't carry over to the next day.
How utterly stingy!
Even so, over these three years, Jiang Ge had managed to painstakingly build up an organization named "Good Enough." Of course, the only member of this organization was himself.
But let's put that aside for now. He had already been waiting on this damn rooftop for so long, why haven't they arrived yet?
Jiang Ge checked the time on his phone. He had agreed to meet those guys here at 4 a.m., but now the sky was almost light, and there was still no sign of them.
"What a pain."
Jiang Ge felt utterly exasperated. If he had known he'd be standing on a rooftop in the cold wind, he would never have set up this rendezvous point.
L
Speaking of this commission, it was quite complicated. Initially, it was just about a young lady who had lost her Bangboo. Jiang Ge didn't know the lady at all, and such a small commission wouldn't normally even get a second glance from him.
So why did Jiang Ge take on this job?
Because the Cunning Hares wanted to establish a connection with Good Enough.
After all, they were the first set of characters he played when Zenless Zone Zero first launched, so Jiang Ge had some fondness for them. But that didn't mean he could just let the Cunning Hares join directly. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but he couldn't just give them the impression that "Good Enough" was too casual or easily joined.
Therefore, Jiang Ge assigned this specific job to the Cunning Hares. As long as they completed this extremely simple commission, future cooperation with "Good Enough" would be assured.
Yet, even with something so straightforward, the Cunning Hares managed to make it incredibly complicated.
First, they discovered the Bangboo's disappearance was linked to a gang. After a series of investigations, they found that the disappearances of many Bangboo were connected to this same gang. Then, they discovered this gang was actually building a "Bangboo Cup" inside a Hollow.
Sitting in his shop at the time, Jiang Ge nearly spat out his water upon hearing this.
Finally, the situation escalated to the point where the Cunning Hares decided to rescue all the Bangboo.
But Jiang Ge did the math; if they really went through with this, the commission fee for this single job wouldn't nearly be enough for the Cunning Hares to break even.
This is only the first commission, how are they already operating at a loss?
Seeing this commission drag on longer and longer, Jiang Ge grew tired of waiting. He told the Cunning Hares that he would send one of his agents to help them clear out some of the gang's strongholds, diverting the enemy's main firepower, while the Cunning Hares would be responsible for rescuing the Bangboo.
Of course, the so-called "agent" was none other than Jiang Ge himself.
Yet, so much time had passed, and Jiang Ge still couldn't see any sign of them. He wasn't even getting any replies through the communicator.
"Whatever, I'll go find them."
Jiang Ge sighed. Since they were so late past the agreed time, the Cunning Hares must have run into some kind of trouble. Although, regarding the Cunning Hares' abilities, Jiang Ge felt quite...
...confident that dealing with a gang of this level was well within their capabilities, but given the Cunning Hares' high probability of encountering unexpected mishaps, Jiang Ge also felt he shouldn't place too much confidence in them.
Just as Jiang Ge was about to set off, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind him. Jiang Ge frowned but didn't turn around, instead calling out loudly.
"The great river flows eastward!"
The person running towards him froze upon hearing this, stopping in their tracks. After hesitating for a moment, they finally replied.
"The... the stars in the sky join the Big Dipper..."
"Shout out when you see injustice!"
"Strike without hesitation—Sir, please, no more passphrases! I know the whole song by heart! Once we get out of here, I'll sing it however you want!"
Whether it was an illusion or not, Billy felt a flicker before his eyes; the figure's back seemed different from before.
"Hmm, alright then. You must be Mr. Billy, correct?"
Jiang Ge turned around, adjusted the glasses he had just put on, and looked at the person wearing a red jacket and robe, pretending to be this was his first time meeting him. He walked towards Billy, smiling, and said, "I am Welt Yang, an agent of 'Good Enough'."
That's right, Jiang Ge had now switched to using "Uncle Yang's" identity.
"Ohhh, Mr. Welt!" Billy's eyes lit up, as if he had found a savior. He then turned and shouted back the way he came, "Bos! Mr. Welt from 'Good Enough' is right here!"
"Really? Really?"
Following Billy's shout, a buxom pink-haired girl rushed out from the stairwell. She was holding several Bangboo in her arms. Upon seeing Jiang Ge, her eyes instantly sparkled. She tossed the Bangboo aside, rushed up to grasp Jiang Ge's hand, and shook it vigorously.
"So you're Mr. Welt? Truly, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times! I've heard about your deeds for a long time. It's so great to meet you!"
"I... am also... very pleased... to meet... all of you!" Jiang Ge was shaken so much he could barely speak coherently. Even he hurriedly pulled his hand back. "Now isn't the time for casual conversation. May I ask why you are over forty minutes past the agreed-upon evacuation time?"
"W-well, about that..." Nicole seemed somewhat embarrassed upon hearing Jiang Ge's question. "We ran into a bit of a snag along the way. With so many Bangboo to protect, we were practically fighting enemies non-stop the whole way."
"That much is clear," Jiang Ge said, watching as one Bangboo after another hopped out from the stairwell. He counted roughly twenty of them. "In that case, why didn't you inform me via the communicator?"
"Mr. Welt, we wanted to!" Billy chimed in, his voice sounding utterly helpless. "But the communicators broke down due to some unknown interference. And during the fight with the gang, we also attracted a large Ethereal."
"A large Ethereal?"
Jiang Ge was puzzled. Then he noticed the concrete beneath his feet was vibrating for some reason.
"Get back!"
Jiang Ge lightly tapped the ground with his cane. An invisible shockwave sent Nicole, Billy, and the Bangboo surrounding him flying back several meters. Immediately after, the floor in front of Jiang Ge began to collapse, kicking up billowing dust.
Fortunately, the rooftop was quite spacious, otherwise, there would have been nowhere to take cover.
As the dust settled, a white-haired girl, clutching her seemingly injured right arm, leaped out from the collapsed opening.
"Anby!"
Nicole immediately recognized her as her capable member, Anby, and hurried forward to support her. Anby glanced at Nicole, forced herself to stand up straight, and said in a cool tone, "Sorry, Nicole. I couldn't hold it off for very long."
"It's okay. Look, that's Mr. Welt, the legendary agent of 'Good Enough'. From here on we can just leave it to him!"
Listening to Nicole and Anby's conversation, Jiang Ge showed little reaction. He simply lowered his head, staring down at the Ethereal on the floor below that was staring back at him—one hand holding a greatsword, the other a large shield.
"A Dullahan? Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut."
Jiang Ge muttered a complaint. Billy also peeked over, saw the Dullahan below, and shouted, "Mr. Welt, that's the thing! What should we do now? Run or fight? The problem is we have all these Bangboo with us! They can't fight!"
As Billy shouted, the Bangboo, sensing the danger, all scurried over to the three members of the Cunning Hares, begging for protection.
"No need to panic. An Ethereal of this level... I can handle it alone."
"Just this level? Are you sure you don't need my help..."
"No need."
Hearing Jiang Ge's words, Billy still felt somewhat uneasy. Although Welt was one of the famous legendary agents in New Eridu, the records of his deeds among all the legendary agents were scarce, and the narratives were often too exaggerated. Since Billy had never seen him in action, his concern was understandable.
Regardless, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Billy pulled out his two handguns, loaded them, and prepared to support Jiang Ge.
However, the Dullahan had already leaped up, thrusting its sword towards Jiang Ge.
"Mr. Welt, look out!"
Billy shouted loudly.
Yet, facing the Dullahan charging at him, Jiang Ge merely raised his cane unhurriedly and said with a light laugh:
"Don't worry. From here on out... leave it to me."
As Jiang Ge's words fell, so too did the Dullahan, slammed heavily into the ground.
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A/n: While I am a new translator, I have a Patreon! While it may be a bit empty right now both this and the other book on my page has advanced chapters posted on patreon. Set up for my web novel will be 2 chapters for every book a day and if you go to my patreon you'll see the set up there.
patreon.com/deadlygoober