District Thirteen — Heyé Warehouse.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Do you think death is frightening?"
"Death isn't frightening. Death is a cool summer night—an untroubled sleep where one can finally rest."
The passphrase was correct. The door opened.
Carrying a large sack of rice, flour, cooking oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and other daily staples, Feilin slipped back into the hideout and asked, "Where's the boss?"
"In the back, checking the 'goods.'"
Feilin handed the sack off to a companion and hurried to the rear of the warehouse. Anxiety tightened his voice.
"Boss—bad news. The Lungmen Guard Department is still patrolling. They look like they won't stop until they drag us out!"
"What are you panicking for?"
The gang's leader was a male Vulpo wearing a scholar's headscarf and holding a feather fan—every bit the "master strategist" image…
…if it weren't winter.
In front of him sat more than a dozen cages of varying sizes. Inside each cage were "goods" that were little more than skin and bones, eyes dull with fear.
Men and women. Adults and children. A few even had black, translucent crystals growing on their bodies.
"I am scared," Feilin said. "Really."
"Scared of what?" The Vulpo leader's tone turned sharp. "I prepared this safehouse a full year ago. No one knows about it except me. After we moved here, I only let you—the sharpest one—go out to buy supplies. And I made you split purchases across multiple shops so it never looks like you're feeding twenty people at once. What can the LGD possibly use to find us?!"
"B-But today I bought a little more than usual, and the cops stopped me twice. The operation is way bigger than normal—if this drags on, something's bound to go wrong."
"Ha… ha… hahahahaha!"
The Vulpo suddenly threw his head back and laughed to the ceiling.
He laughed for a long time.
Feilin just stood there, silent.
The leader's face twitched. "Ask! Ask what I'm laughing at! Do I have to teach you everything?!"
"O-Oh! Boss—why are you laughing?"
"I laugh at Ch'en Hui-chieh's lack of strategy, and at Swire's lack of brains."
The Vulpo leader sneered. "A citywide search is slow and costly—how long can they keep it up? In a few days, the public will be furious, the LGD will loosen controls, and we'll move into the slums. From there, we leave Lungmen through the slum sewers. Even if they grow a heaven's eye, they still won't be able to touch us."
"Boss, you're incredible!" Feilin said with genuine admiration.
"It's a shame, though." The Vulpo sighed, sounding almost regretful. "That Inspector Ch'en's constitution is absurd. Even with triple the dose of aphrodisiac, she stayed lucid and escaped. Otherwise… you lot wouldn't be so bored sitting here."
"That really is a shame."
A cold voice cut in—followed by a blade-flash dropping from above like lightning.
In a man's life, there are moments where it feels as if the gates of hell have swung open.
The Vulpo waited thirty years.
And at his single unluckiest moment, the gate finally opened.
A dragon woman descended from above, sweeping the room with eyes like knives.
One instant the Vulpo and Feilin were still talking.
The next, Ch'en Hui-chieh had them pinned under her boots—subdued, restrained, done.
He tried to shout orders to his people, to rally a rescue—
Then he looked up and saw the LGD's most elite Special Inspection Unit filing in, one after another.
He abandoned the idea.
It was over. Completely over.
Better to be arrested quietly and bargain for a lighter sentence than to struggle and make things worse.
From Ch'en's breach to the capture of more than twenty accomplices, the whole operation took less than two minutes.
A decisive victory for the LGD.
"I have only one question," the Vulpo said.
His eyes, dead and hopeless until now, lit up with desperate obsession.
"How did you find this place?!"
"…A guess," Ch'en said sourly.
Who could have imagined it—Su Yi had casually tossed a marker at a map, and it just so happened to land on this gang's hideout.
She had lost.
The bet between her and Su Yi was, beyond any doubt, a total loss.
What now? Am I really going to have to kiss him once?
And come to think of it—why would Su Yi even ask for that kind of stake…?
Does he… actually want it?!
As Ch'en's thoughts started to spiral, the Vulpo under her boot suddenly went wide-eyed and spat blood.
Ch'en's expression changed instantly. "It can't be that bad—why are you coughing blood? No—something's wrong! Ambulance! Call an ambulance, now!"
She saw Feilin—also pinned under her foot—spit blood too, mumbling something incoherent like, "So… turns out… my body has it too…"
…
Penguin Logistics.
"Alright, Exusiai—pull yourself together!" Croissant half-dragged her through the front door.
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were heading to an execution platform, not coming home from detention.
"I lost even with a dragon riding my face…" Exusiai looked genuinely devastated.
"Games have wins and losses. Relax." Croissant adjusted her grip. "And use your legs a little—your shoes are about to be scraped to death."
"I feel like the only thing on my body with any strength left is my neck," Exusiai muttered. "In a minute I'm going to tug-of-war with a ceiling beam."
"That's called hanging!"
Exusiai was beyond persuasion, limp as noodles and practically draped over Croissant. Croissant's eyes flicked sideways—and she immediately got an idea.
"Su Yi, I'm out of strength. Help me hold her for a second."
"Me? Uh… sure…"
Su Yi stepped closer and had barely raised a hand—
Exusiai sprang off Croissant like she'd been shocked.
"No, no, I'm fine! I can stand on my own!" she declared.
Croissant's grin widened.
Got you.
After "unsealing" her burden, Croissant went off to shower. The detention center's heating had been cranked so high she'd sweat the whole time.
Texas—whose fur was thicker—was already in the bathroom.
Sora was on the line with her agent, explaining why she'd been unreachable for half a day.
In the huge living room of Penguin Logistics HQ, only Su Yi and Exusiai were left.
"Let's do takeout tonight," Su Yi said, opening his terminal to place the order. "What do you want?"
"Cupcakes!" Exusiai answered without hesitation.
"Croissant will probably want croissants, Texas is pizza, Sora's cutting weight so she'll do something light…" Su Yi tapped quickly. "Okay—order placed."
He looked up to find Exusiai staring straight at him.
"What are you staring at?" he asked.
"You," Exusiai said, sounding a little awed. "Three months ago you couldn't even use a terminal. Now you've completely blended into Lungmen—and you've even memorized what we all like."
"If you don't adapt, you die," Su Yi said. "People have to live."
"Have you ever thought about what you'll do in the future?" she asked.
"Nope. Can't be bothered." He leaned back. "Life right now is great. Every day is happy and easy, there's no performance pressure, and I still make good money."
"And when you're old?" Exusiai pressed.
"Then before I can't lift a gun anymore, I'll… somehow turn a few kilos of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and iron into a pile of gold and Lungmen dollars, and I'll take you all to Laterano to retire."
"That's called robbing a bank!"
"Sounds like it, huh?" Su Yi laughed. "Hahahahaha!"
Exusiai laughed too. After the laughter faded, she drew a deep breath—as if gathering courage.
"Then… will you get a girlfriend someday?"
"Probably," Su Yi replied without even thinking.
Exusiai's eyes sharpened. "Then do you like girls with long hair, or short hair?"
Su Yi was about to say either is fine—his preferences were broad—
—but a sudden image flashed through his mind: that blue-haired, breathtaking dragon girl grabbing him and kissing him like she meant to steal his soul.
So what came out of his mouth was:
"Long hair."
-------
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