"Password confirmed. Get in, quick."
Only then did the man inside pull the door open and wave them aboard.
"What kind of trash password is that?" Su Yi couldn't help complaining.
Texas felt the same—so even though she knew the password, she deliberately made Su Yi say it.
"Our client's boss insisted," said the Perro on board—huge, thick-necked, muscles like stacked stone, basically wearing the word mercenary on his face. "Nothing we can do."
"Fine." Su Yi sighed.
He was bitterly jealous. Being rich really was like running cheat codes—making NPCs say whatever you wanted.
"Introductions," the big man said. "I'm Anthony. The one driving is James."
"Hey," James called from the driver's seat.
"Su Yi."
"Texas."
With that done, Anthony repeated the mission briefing:
"This one's simple. We just need to get the dual-beam scanning electron microscope loaded in this truck safely from the Lower City to the Upper City."
Su Yi frowned. "That's a research instrument, right? The kind biology labs use. Sure, it's expensive—market price is in the millions—but does anyone actually hijack this kind of thing?"
As a legitimately educated college graduate, he had at least a hazy understanding of research equipment.
Stuff like this might be pricey, but it was hard to liquidate.
The only buyers were universities, institutes, or tech companies—and buyers like that weren't exactly easy to find.
Some of these instruments were also delicate. One bad bump and it would start malfunctioning, and the value would crash.
"You know your stuff," James said. "You went to college?"
"What, me?" Su Yi laughed. "I didn't go to college. I just saw it on short videos."
"Over the past year, there've been a lot of hijackings when biotech companies move equipment," Anthony said. "Boss doesn't feel safe, so he hired us—and Penguin Logistics, which is famous on the streets—to run escort."
"The streets?" Su Yi corrected sternly. "You're making it sound like Penguin Logistics is some kind of mercenary outfit."
Anthony burst out laughing. "Honestly, companies like yours aren't rare on this land. I know one pharma company that's ridiculously martial—if you didn't know better, you'd think they're a roving warlord."
Anthony and Su Yi quickly found a rhythm, and even James up front chimed in now and then.
The atmosphere in the truck was relaxed.
After all, under the sacrifice and service of countless LGD officers, Lungmen's security compared to a decade-plus ago was practically a different world.
"James and I are both Bolívarians," Anthony said, "but we really love Yan culture. I even gave myself a Daoist title."
"What title?" Su Yi played along.
"If I just tell you, where's the fun? Guess." Anthony cleared his throat and recited, "Yang qi surges through the three passes; I slay the corpse and purge the yin demon."
"Sounds like it's riffing on 'severing the three corpse-worms,'" Su Yi said.
"Brother Su is knowledgeable. You should be able to guess it."
Su Yi sank into thought.
Two lines—so it had to be one character picked from each, forming the title. And it needed to sound bright, not ominous. Anything like "corpse" or "demon" was out.
Especially "three demons." That sounded like you were about to take the national entrance exam.
After a moment, Su Yi tried, "Yang-Slayer?"
"Nope." Anthony shook his head.
"Then what is it?"
Su Yi genuinely couldn't see it. There were only ten characters to work with, and most of the "good" ones were limited.
"I asked a bunch of Lungmen locals—none of them got it. I thought you might," Anthony sighed, then revealed it with satisfaction. "The answer is—True Man Guan-Yin!"
Su Yi: …
Yeah, you really do need to "guan yin"—shut down your yin—because how dark are you, exactly? You're so yin you're borrowing from the Buddhists next door.
And thank the heavens it's the character for guan meaning "close/shut," not the one meaning "observe." Otherwise it'd be even more yin.
"Looks like nobody's hijacking us today," Anthony said, stretching. "Another day of getting paid to sit down. Brother Su—free tonight? I'll take you for a couple drinks."
He hooked an arm around Su Yi's shoulder and lowered his voice. "Your partner's beautiful, sure, but she's way too cold. Tonight I'll get you two real fiery ones."
Beside them, Texas's gemstone eyes drifted toward the two men—half there, half not. Her cherry lips held a slender Pocky stick, chewing it down bit by bit. A thick winter coat still couldn't hide that flawless, sculpted figure.
Her legs—wrapped in heavy black tights, immaculate and perfectly shaped—crossed with the kind of effortless elegance that swallowed attention like a black hole.
Beautiful, but too cold—an iceberg. Before you even got close, you felt discouraged, like she was out of reach.
Su Yi kept smiling and murmured back, "She can hear you."
Lupos—especially Siracusan Lupos—had hearing far beyond normal people, because the "bad hearing" genes had been eliminated over countless generations of family assassinations.
Ridiculous, right?!
Anthony awkwardly withdrew his arm and asked in a whisper, "Your girlfriend?"
"No."
"Then what the hell are you scared of?"
Texas, who hadn't said a word since they got on the truck, suddenly spoke: "If you want to go, go. Don't worry about me. I won't tell anyone."
Texas… are you really the type to say that?
Su Yi was startled. But after thinking it through, he still refused Anthony's offer.
"I'll pass."
Anthony blinked. "Why?"
"I've got a cleanliness hang-up—mentally," Su Yi said. "The moment I imagine the shady little path I'm drawn to is actually coated in 'white frost' every morning and every night… it kind of—"
Hearing that, Anthony didn't push. "Shame. I thought you were one of my people."
Su Yi rejected him again, firmly: "I do not want to be 'one of your people.'"
Anthony froze, then laughed even harder. "That's exactly what one of my people would say!"
Texas's furry wolf ears twitched in confusion. She understood every word. She heard them clearly. But strung together, it somehow stopped making sense—what were they even talking about?
Still…
She decided Su Yi had passed her test.
If he'd actually agreed just now, Texas would've kept her promise and not told the others.
But he and Exusiai?
There would've been no chance for them in this lifetime.
—Though even if she did nothing, it didn't exactly look promising anyway.
Suddenly!
The truck jolted. Then it began slowing—more and more.
James shouted from the front, "Tire's blown—enemy attack!"
Before the words even finished, several buckets of paint rained down from above, smearing every window—front, back, left, right—sealing them in like a painted coffin. The intent was obvious: trap them inside the vehicle.
"Out of the truck!" Anthony snapped.
He raised a riot shield, preparing to use his body as cover and escort the others out.
But Su Yi stopped him, confidence steady in his voice.
"Leave it to me."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (90 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (94 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (75 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (30 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (34 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it