"Whew…"
Back home again—another perfectly ordinary day.
Li Lin hung his outerwear on the rack, then set the apple pie on the table you could see the moment you opened the door.
The cramped little room was full of traces Angel had left behind. Probably because she'd rushed out, her Penguin Logistics jacket and her discarded underwear were tossed on the floor, while a knit top and hot pants had been flung straight onto the tabletop.
Even though the room was empty now, a faint, lingering fragrance still hung in the air. Angel always seemed to carry a nice scent around her, though Li Lin had no idea why.
Then again, come to think of it, Texas and Sora also smelled good, so he accepted it as one of those "world settings" things.
Right—everyone smelled good, everyone was gorgeous, everyone was ambitious… and only he was sexually repressed.
So what? He was repressed.
A man's a man. In this completely bizarre world, he wasn't getting handsy in the first place—he was basically a saint already. They couldn't possibly deprive him of this tiny bit of harmless enjoyment too, could they?
Anyway, he'd use "we live together" as a perfectly reasonable excuse and just throw both the underwear and outerwear into the washing machine first…
Looking at the chaotic room, Li Lin spent a full half-hour barely getting it back into shape.
He watered the plant in the corner, cleaned up the trash and junk Angel had left behind, sorted what was still usable and put it away, then stuffed the clothes she'd thrown around into the washer.
For an ordinary human being, the day's activity level was honestly already over the limit.
But there was something even more important to do next.
Planning the future.
He picked up the notebook and marker he'd left in the corner, grabbed a blanket at random, and sat on the sofa.
"Sora and Angel are fully in position. That means Sora's manager-related issues are settled. So next should be the story of Fēngchí Logistics and 'Annihilation Night.' Lappland and Mostima will come to Lungmen, and so will Siracusa's gang vanguard…"
He scribbled rough symbols on the page—marks only he could understand—then curled up deeper into the fragrant sofa and frowned slightly.
"Lin Yuhsia and the Rat King will also show up during this period… proving by method that he isn't dead, and that he still has significant control inside Lungmen."
"Basically all small problems, but Lappland…"
That woman was dangerous. Not someone a normal person like him should get close to.
And if he had to explain it, Lappland was probably chasing after the idea of a father. Her father had been so atrocious that he'd left nothing but negative influence in her life. Yet the emotional linkage made her crave a calm, rational figure—and that symbol was Texas.
Sure, the raw emotion was like that, but behavior could still manifest in different ways. No one could be certain where she'd ultimately go. She had Oripathy, was spiraling toward irreparable self-destruction, and yet also yearned for a stable anchor.
With that kind of contradiction in her heart, instability was inevitable.
In the future, she'd become the Lord of the Barren Wolves, so it wasn't wrong to curry favor.
But one thing was certain:
He couldn't go personally.
When the time came, he should go to Rhodes Island's liaison office in Lungmen and buy an Originium suppressant. It was expensive, but if Texas could act as the intermediary and deliver it to Lappland, it should count as a good gift, right?
Lappland looked manic and disorderly, but at her core she still had that black-and-white, repay-kindness gangster mindset. The madness was mostly a surface layer hiding a lot underneath.
If he had ability… if he had talent… would he bloom with color too?
Probably not. He was still too afraid of dying.
"…."
He was getting too sleepy. His vision started to blur.
This bedding… was it Angel's? It smelled a little nice.
Whatever. He wasn't going to worry about it. He'd put on an act all day—couldn't he at least enjoy a little comfort now? If she was unlucky, then she was unlucky.
Staring at the notebook filled with writing that only he could decipher, Li Lin sighed. Wrapped in the blanket, he lay down on the sofa and casually turned off the light.
The bed was for Angel when she came back at night—Li Lin could manage that much consideration.
In the dim glow within the dark room, Li Lin displayed the enormous advantage he'd once had as a student: he fell asleep instantly.
In the murky, chaotic mess of dreams, it felt like only a single second passed before the sharp ring of his comm terminal yanked him awake.
Cocooned in the blanket that still carried Angel's scent, Li Lin squinted, grabbed the terminal, and pressed the button from the shadowed side of the sofa.
"Hello…"
"Li Lin! Are you at home?"
Angel's voice came through, along with her slightly hurried breathing.
"Long story short! Hurry up and drive to the Edge of Terra and ram those gangsters out of the way!"
"…Sure. That's fine. But why didn't you come back last night?"
"Haha… everyone got way too excited last night, so—oh no! They're using explosives! Anyway, I'm counting on you! Ah! Texas—ah… okay… looks like it's fine now."
"…Now it's fine again?"
Rubbing his eyes, Li Lin sat up and yawned as his mind gradually cleared.
"Do you need me to get over there fast?"
"No, not anymore. Sora is amazing—her singing can make people fall asleep. Texas just plugged her ears, rushed out, and knocked all the troublemakers down. So don't panic."
"I see."
"Oh, right—when you come, bring the apple pie!"
"How do you know I bought apple pie?"
"Huh? You bought one too? Perfect—there's one I baked in the fridge. Bring it too, we'll eat both! Working out first thing in the morning makes you starving. I'm begging you!"
"…In the fridge?"
"Yup. I'm hanging up—see you in a bit!"
Angel's lively voice vanished from the terminal.
Li Lin, now fully awake, quickly got changed and—hungry—opened the tiny fridge.
At a glance, he saw an apple pie inside, covered with a thin film… and a sticky note next to it, filled with writing.
Don't repress yourself too much! Here, apple pie for you! Sweet-and-sour—made it myself, it's really good! Even my sister praised it!
Spend every day happily! With me!
Penguin Empire's Angel, reporting in!
The handwriting was flamboyant and showy, but the ends of the strokes curled into something cute and rounded. At the bottom was an adorable little self-portrait.
He could practically picture her—legs propped up while she wrote the note on a sticky pad, waiting for the pie to finish baking.
She'd prepared to share her apple pie with him from the start.
She'd even prepared for the possibility that she wouldn't come home, and that Li Lin might return early.
"…Not bad."
Looking at the girl's small gesture of care in the fridge, Li Lin smiled.
This didn't feel like the "keep your distance" he'd imagined. Maybe, within Penguin Logistics, he really did count as a companion.
That was good.
As Li Lin got dressed, took the apple pies, and headed out the door—
In the building across the way, a telescope trained on Li Lin's room shifted slightly, catching a different glint of color.
"Falcon calling Tiger. The mystery has left the building."
-------
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