Wei Yenwu stared solemnly at the photograph before him, only exhaling a cloud of smoke from his mouth after a long silence. That photograph was actually taken when Jeanne was undergoing procedures upon entering Lungmen.
"Are you certain it is this person?"
Standing respectfully before him was a figure clad entirely in black—a member of his special forces, the Black Raincoats. This was a specialized unit composed of former Imperial Guards loyal to him, possessing strength comparable to the Ursus Imperial Guards. They were one of Wei Yenwu's trump cards for maintaining his foothold in Lungmen.
"I am certain, Lord Wei. The person I saw then was exactly her! However, her vigilance is far too high. At that time, I could not get close to them at all, nor could I take a photograph."
The Black Raincoat replied in a definitive tone. Though his expression was hidden, one could hear the absolute lack of doubt in his voice. He was the very agent Wei Yenwu had dispatched to Chernobog, and it was he who had discovered Talulah's presence there.
At that time, he had meticulously searched every corner of the city. Finally, one day, he encountered Talulah and Jeanne strolling together. But the moment he attempted to shadow them, he found that the people in his line of sight had vanished into thin air.
This photograph was the one taken when Jeanne registered to enter Lungmen. To find it, he had spent the entire night sifting through a mountain of photos yesterday.
"Hoo... is that so..."
Wei Yenwu looked at Jeanne's photo with a very conflicted gaze. For a moment, he actually didn't know how to handle this young girl. He truly hadn't expected his "past shadow" to return here so soon, circling his city and quietly observing it with her eyes.
In his view, Jeanne was a person of extremely special status. For such a person, it wouldn't be overkill to dispatch a squad of Black Raincoat to monitor her twenty-four hours a day, but her vigilance was simply too high. Given that the current situation was still one of total uncertainty, the correct move should be to test her intentions rather than treating her as a dangerous element and forcibly detaining her. Dispatching the Black Armors was not a rational choice.
"Forget it, let it be for now. You are dismissed! If I have anything else later, I will call for you again."
Wei Yenwu waved his hand, and the Black Raincoat disappeared from the office after a nodding gesture. Only Wei Yenwu remained, silently looking at the photo.
The room was now devoid of any sound except for the breath of Wei Yenwu as he smoked. He stood with his back to the office door, looking out at the scenery through the window. He gazed down at this city called Lungmen—a city completely different from what it was a dozen years ago—then looked back at the photo by his hand, a complex array of emotions surfacing in his eyes.
"Staring fixedly at a 'little' girl's photo in your own office... if a gossip reporter caught this scene, it would be quite the scoop. However, it really doesn't fit your status as a City Ruler."
In that quiet environment, a somewhat playful voice suddenly drifted in from the doorway. Wei Yenwu spun his chair around and looked up to see a penguin walking in.
However, Wei Yenwu had no intention of entertaining him at this moment. He knew the personality of this penguin all too well; if you actually engaged with him, you could forget about regaining control of the conversation for the next hour.
"I wonder how your wife would react if I told her this explosive news? Do you think you'll be kneeling on a durian or a washboard tonight?"
The penguin pulled a camera out of nowhere and began taking pictures of Wei Yenwu. Wei Yenwu, still holding Jeanne's photo, hadn't expected this move.
Wei Yenwu's reflexes were not slow. A few cold flashes of light flickered, and Jeanne's photo dissolved into fragments, drifting to the floor. The weapon Wei Yenwu had used was merely the fountain pen from his desk.
"If this photo somehow ends up in Fumizuki's hands, then I believe the compensation your company must pay for the damage to my city should be increased several times over."
Wei Yenwu's tone didn't fluctuate in the slightest, yet his eyes calmly watched the penguin before him, as if contemplating a way to put an end to its immortality.
Emperor—he was quite a famous character in Lungmen. However, compared to his company or his rap talent, Wei Yenwu was more interested in his immortal body. This fellow was genuinely immortal; even if you destroyed his heart or brain, he could recover in an extremely short time and appear before you again, lively as ever.
"You have the nerve to bring up fines? What was with that ticket you sent me? Just for that one fine, the money I paid you is enough to completely renovate that entire district."
Hearing Wei Yenwu dare to mention the word "fine," Emperor expressed his inner dissatisfaction and turned to begin arguing the point.
"Has your company's staff caused few enough disasters? Do the jobs you perform truly stand up to investigation? I only fined you that 'little' bit of money, shouldn't you find a place to laugh in secret?"
Wei Yenwu straightened his back, leaning against his chair as he looked down at the penguin sitting opposite him. Of course, no matter what, he was looking down at him—the height difference was quite obvious.
However, the tone of their conversation didn't sound like an argument; instead, it felt like two people with nothing better to do, sitting together and chatting idly. The atmosphere was incredibly relaxed, as if the topics they were debating weren't actually that important to them. Both were more interested in the process of debating each other than in whether the fine would actually be paid.
"How can you smear a person's innocence out of thin air? Suspecting us without evidence? My company is a law-abiding, excellent company. We haven't even evaded taxes. Where else are you going to find such a good company that doesn't even practice tax avoidance..."
Regarding these accusations, Emperor naturally wouldn't admit his company had issues. This matter concerned the dignity of Penguin Logistics, and he wouldn't let Wei Yenwu have his way.
The two of them looked like they were competing with one another. This was likely their habit of interacting—two people who frequently toyed with words always liked using the power of language to defeat the other.
However, Emperor's nagging was truly fearsome. For the next three minutes, he expressed his complaints about Wei Yenwu's exorbitant fines and the fact that Penguin Logistics was an honest, law-abiding company in the form of a rap.
Even Wei Yenwu, who had seen many great storms, couldn't quite endure Emperor's non-stop sonic bombardment. His hands began to move, preparing to unexpectedly wring its neck. One could only say that Emperor truly lived up to his reputation as a professional singer and rapper, widely acclaimed in Columbia and famous across the Terra continent; no one could break his rhythm.
Nevertheless, he still noticed Wei Yenwu's moving hands. Just before the attack descended—the very last second before Wei Yenwu's patience ran out—Emperor ceased his rap-like accusation.
If this weren't Wei Yenwu's office but rather Emperor's concert hall, thunderous applause would surely have broken out by now to celebrate the birth of this epoch-making rap song. It accused Lungmen of unconditional suppression of investors from all sides and exposed the reality that Lungmen would erase everyone's dreams.
Finally, Emperor voiced a piercing cry, like a penguin's shriek, regarding the negligence of the Lungmen administrator, Wei Yenwu, and his disregard for the chaos of the city.
"Alright, actually, I can't make this up anymore. This is just an opening dialogue between a boss unsatisfied with high compensation and a ruler engaging in dark-level transactions."
"Forget it, forget it. Let's get to business! You went through the trouble of baiting me into your office; what on earth are you trying to do, and for what ulterior motive?"