As a prosperous—possibly the most prosperous—mobile city in the world, Lungmen was a frighteningly vast, three-dimensional place. It had countless districts, each engineered to withstand different kinds of impacts. Every block served an entirely different function, and there was even a massive artificial lake inside the city itself.
Living here was, objectively, a stroke of luck—especially once you had a legitimate job that paid real money. If Li Lin had to name his greatest stroke of fortune, it was this: right after arriving, he'd wandered around and immediately found Penguin Logistics' base… then shamelessly clung to the door until they hired him.
In hindsight, it was absolutely the correct move.
Friendly work environment. Attractive coworkers. And if you stayed cautious, there was little downside.
Of course, the fact that everyone at Penguin Logistics took care of him was a major reason, too.
They were all excellent at what they did—and knowing he was new and anxious, they even encouraged him to offer opinions. They also reinforced his training, and when it came to dispatches, they helped each other out; it was rare for anyone to go out alone.
Wasn't that already miles better than his old workplace? Every time he stepped outside, it was practically a full entourage—like he'd opened a harem route by accident.
But precisely because everything was so good, whenever his brain started drifting toward certain ideas, a calm voice would always yank him back: if anything went wrong, this beautiful life would disappear.
Still, it wasn't like he could be blamed for thinking too much.
There were simply too many beautiful women around—especially in a gym. A private-room gym, no less. One man, one woman… you know.
Nothing "happened," of course. It was just exercise and stretching.
…Though for some reason, Texas was incredibly enthusiastic about strapping him into protective gear and then attacking him, claiming it was "close-combat training."
Even so, being around a beautiful woman inevitably did things to a man's head.
For instance, it made him start hallucinating that she might like him.
And maybe it wasn't even a hallucination?
"I'm going to change," Texas said.
"Oh. Okay."
Li Lin watched her leave, body steaming with heat. He sat down, rubbed his sore muscles, then curled up on the couch and stared at the comms device.
He'd been wearing full protective gear, and Texas had been the one attacking the entire time. She hadn't used much force, but reacting and defending was exhausting—and getting tagged still left him aching. Lying on the couch counted as recovery.
But while Li Lin was idly scrolling through data, the Penguin Logistics terminal on the table—Texas's—lit up.
He glanced at the clearly marked recipient tag, raised an eyebrow, and picked it up.
"Texas, you've got a message. Looks like it's from the receiving party."
"Got it—give me a second," came her voice from inside.
Li Lin looked at the terminal again. It seemed urgent.
"Never mind, I'll bring it to you. Looks like they want it fast."
He walked over to the changing area, knocked casually—no response—then pushed the door open.
He only opened it a crack.
And immediately met the gaze of the person inside.
A white sports bra. White shorts. And the unmistakable motion of changing clothes.
A slender, sweat-slicked silhouette, and a beautiful face frozen in surprise.
Wow.
In 0.1 seconds, Li Lin took in the magnificent scene, filed it into his mental "Favorites," and slammed the door shut.
"Sorry—I didn't realize you were still—"
"It's fine. I don't mind that sort of thing. I'm coming out. Is it an urgent contact?"
"...Ah, no. The terminal just said to deliver it quickly."
"I see. Thanks."
Texas walked out, towel over her hair, utterly natural. She even smiled at him.
And in that instant, Li Lin's mind produced a cascade of memories that had never actually happened.
Our kid's name will be An. For our golden wedding anniversary, we'll book a private room at a big restaurant.
To be fair, when a beautiful girl smiled at you, mentally speedrunning the entire relationship—from marriage to death—was simply basic etiquette.
Actually believing it, however, would be rude.
Texas being so broad-minded really was a blessing.
She wasn't even angry.
If it had been Lappland, he'd probably have been minced into neat little cubes by now.
Staring at Texas in her workout outfit, Li Lin offered a sincere prayer of thanks for his coworkers' generosity.
…Or maybe the world really was broken.
Feeling the faint warmth radiating from Texas, who was standing very close, Li Lin deliberately sat farther back on the couch—just to make sure he didn't do anything unstable.
But once he sat down, Texas naturally sat beside him too, still in her sports bra and shorts. She picked up the terminal, studied it, and then looked at Li Lin with a serious expression.
"What do you think?"
"Very beautiful. Thank you."
"?"
"Ah—sorry. I mean… what are you asking?"
"Obviously, I mean this assignment."
Wiping sweat from her skin, Texas blinked at him, as if waiting for his judgment.
"A non-time-limited order from Columbia. No details. But they're also sending messages urging speed. Don't you think that's strange?"
"Simple. Ask someone directly. Or trace it from the markings—time, origin, location. Honestly, Texas, you'd be better at this than I am."
"It's a large package sent from a frontier development zone in Columbia. No explanation at all. But there are logos and a crate ID, and it uses a confidentiality seal and the highest-tier deposit guarantee. That's what's weird."
Texas leaned in, resting against Li Lin as she flipped the terminal to a photo of the shipping crate.
Li Lin struggled—heroically—to drag his attention away from his coworker's warmth and, yes, her chest, and focus on the image instead. He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's definitely odd. That's a Rhine Lab logo… and a military mark. My advice? Report it."
"Report it?"
"Why should we carry this ourselves? Even if you and the Emperor have a hundred secrets—sure. I get it. A secret is a secret; you can't say it, and you're confident. But that doesn't mean we have to stick our noses into everything, right?"
He pointed at a latch in the corner of the photo.
"Look—there's even an Originium machine lock. That's… extremely confident."
As he spoke, Li Lin subtly scooted farther inward on the couch—then offered his conclusion from a safer angle.
"Listen, Texas. When a man's mind is functioning normally, he tends to have only two modes: one is obsessively chasing women; the other is obsessively chasing politics."
He spread his hands.
"Right now, I only want to chase women. I have zero interest in politics. And this—this screams 'political entanglement.' So I'm telling you: report it. Find a bigger backer."
"You mean the Emperor?"
"Of course not. I mean Lungmen's authorities."
Li Lin shrugged.
"This is correspondence from a state and a military organization. It's nothing like the private stuff we've handled before. We can't live in Lungmen while casually planting a time bomb under Lungmen and then, when they trace it back, say, 'Sorry officer, we're innocent.' Different nature, different handling. So yes—call the police. Or call the Emperor and have him deal with it."
"...Mm. You're right."
Texas nodded slowly, thoughtful, and pressed a button on the terminal.
Thirty minutes later, at the Lungmen Guard Department—
"Want a pork cutlet rice bowl?"
"...Why?"
Li Lin stared at the steaming, fragrant katsudon placed in front of him and felt a question rise from the bottom of his soul.
-------
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