Night fell quickly over Lungmen.
Beneath the slightly shifting silhouette of distant mountains, the nomadic city remained brilliantly lit—millions upon millions of dreams being conceived and growing within, forming a surreal, dazzling spectacle of the human world.
For Li Lin, living in a city like this felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
Familiar, because life here wasn't fundamentally different from his old life. Unfamiliar, because the girls here were… unbelievably bold and yet somehow conservative.
Yes—bold and conservative. That was the only way to describe it.
Even right now, walking down the street, he only had to look up—
A few fashionable city beauties strolled past, laughing.
He focused his eyes.
Long-and-short stockings. Side exposure. Or outfits with cutouts down the middle, and even the tailbone area completely open, showing the curve of the hips—one casual glance and you could take in the full beauty of their figures.
And yet they had absolutely no awareness of it. In this era, it felt like everyone had ambition on the brain and zero lust in the heart. People weren't thinking, Is this outfit appropriate? They were thinking about how to achieve grand plans, or how to make tomorrow even better than today. Clothing mishaps simply didn't exist in their mental model.
What could possibly be "wrong," anyway? Semi-transparent clothing was standard fashion. Plenty of people wore lingerie under a sheer outer layer and walked around like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Just in the span of one street, Li Lin saw four or five girls of different races casually walking around in transparent fabric. On Terra, it was a perfectly natural trend.
Only the relatively poor, the extremely frugal, or the extravagantly wealthy cared about heavy coverage—and even then, their outfits rarely managed to hide natural beauty, or else looked even more luxurious and noble. Honestly, it was hard for Li Lin to keep it together.
All he could do was maintain a melancholy expression, act like he was burdened with deep sorrow, take a polite glance, and keep walking without changing pace.
To be fair, he was suffering a little. It was like trying to keep your composure while watching something that really tests your self-control.
But wasn't that the point of having a "persona"?
Endure bitter hardship to rise above others.
First, use riddles and small favors to make people think you were "one of us." Once you had that ticket into their circle, all that remained was to appear sincere and genuine.
If you wanted to be seen as capable, you had to be cunning enough to sell it. If you weren't capable, then you had to be honest enough—and trustworthy enough—to make people accept you anyway.
Li Lin's attitude toward his own incompetence was genuinely sincere. He had no malicious intentions. From here on out, he just needed to rein himself in a bit and do his job properly.
Still… with Sora in position, that meant the plot would probably start rolling soon, right?
He just couldn't remember anymore. Who kicked things off first?
With those stray thoughts turning in his head, Li Lin kept his bland, gloomy expression and walked toward the dessert shop.
Just as Emperor said, it was a newly opened dessert place.
The owner seemed to be a Siracusan—scarred face, sharp and stern expression. But the craftsmanship was solid. Both the crown tarts and the apple pie came out piping hot, rich with tempting aroma. Li Lin paid without hesitation and pushed open the door to leave.
But as he was about to cross the intersection, under Lungmen's kaleidoscopic lights, he spotted a figure at the corner—leaning against a patrol car, looking exhausted.
"…Huh?"
Ch'en Hui-chieh.
A woman with two horns and neatly tied pale-blue hair stood in his line of sight.
A high-ranking superintendent in Lungmen—yet right now she looked tired, resting against the vehicle as if waiting for someone.
Based on Li Lin's limited understanding of the characters and storyline, she was probably waiting for her subordinate and close friend, Hoshiguma. Off duty, the two often moved together—maybe that famous "Oni big sis" was somewhere nearby mediating a gang dispute.
If you could farm goodwill, you absolutely didn't let it go to waste.
Li Lin walked over. Only after confirming she'd noticed him did he let his melancholy mask soften into a look of mild relief and warmth.
"What a coincidence, Officer Ch'en."
"It's you."
"I hope those gangsters didn't cause Lungmen any trouble. For me, being able to help you is the best outcome I could ask for."
"…I don't think I've said anything yet."
"Emperor already spoke with me. He told me quite a lot."
Ch'en looked at him strangely. Li Lin merely smiled, watching the vibrant Lungmen nightscape as he spoke in a quiet tone.
"I'm not interested in becoming an informant. But if I can help you, I'll do what I can. Friends help each other, don't they?"
"Ah? Um…"
Troubled.
The moment he said "friends," Ch'en's expression turned awkward.
Discipline and principle told her something about that statement felt off—but her natural personality wouldn't allow her to respond with a harsh refusal.
Ch'en wasn't the kind of person who couldn't tolerate a grain of sand in her eyes, after all. Otherwise, Swire and Lin Yuhsia wouldn't exist in her life.
Li Lin looked at her stiff expression and smiled faintly.
Then he held out the crown tart in his hand.
"Here, Officer Ch'en."
"Ah, no, I still have to—"
"It's fine. Consider it my treat. It's just a tart. Keep going, Officer Ch'en. You're one of Lungmen's protectors—so as one of the protected, I should at least offer a small token of appreciation. Take it."
"…Thank you."
"And, Officer Ch'en."
Seeing the night sky darken as if rain might come, Li Lin pulled out a semi-transparent umbrella and opened it, speaking softly.
"No matter what happens, no matter who you face—don't forget the justice in your heart, and where it comes from. When you're lost, you look… ugly. I mean it."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Maybe you'll understand in the near future. Or maybe it'll never happen. But what I want to say is this—I've always been a quiet fan of yours. The way you work won't be forgotten. Goodbye."
"Oh… goodbye."
Li Lin nodded. His face returned to that slightly gloomy look, and he turned away, walking toward the darker edge of Lungmen.
Not long after, a tall teal figure stepped out from the shadows, staring at the tart in Ch'en's hands in surprise.
"Yo, Old Ch'en—eating a tart while I'm gone? That's pretty romantic of you."
"Don't talk nonsense. Someone gave it to me."
"Oh? Which suitor has their eye on our superintendent?"
"He said it was for Lungmen's protector."
"Then he's someone who pays very close attention."
"…?"
Was that sarcasm? It didn't sound like it. But also… maybe it was.
Whatever.
The tart was pretty good.
Ch'en took a bite of the sweet pastry, looked out at Lungmen's endless traffic, and flicked her tail—feeling as though a certain figure had become a little clearer in her mind.
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