Men are usually quick to shower unless they fall into a deep, contemplative stupor—especially when there are several beautiful girls waiting just outside the door.
Lynn hastily scrubbed the grime and sweat from his body and hair, toweling off before rummaging through his innermost belongings to find the clothes Texas had mentioned.
He had to admit, even though Texas perpetually wore a cold expression and seemed to harbor a subtle, inexplicable malice toward him, she was terrifyingly neat and efficient.
The clothes left out for him were perfectly ironed, complete with fresh underwear.
He had absolutely no idea how she had guessed his exact measurements.
After quickly changing into the crisp black and white Penguin Logistics uniform, Lynn stood before the bathroom mirror.
He stared at his reflection: messy hair, unfocused, dead-fish eyes, and the perpetual, slouching posture of a shut-in otaku.
He couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.
How should he put it?
Some people just wouldn’t look like an emperor even if you draped them in the finest imperial robes.
Looking at himself, Lynn truly felt like he was single-handedly dragging down the average attractiveness of the entire Penguin Logistics roster.
“Well, whatever.
Let’s just work hard.” Imitating the overly enthusiastic salarymen he had seen in late-night web dramas, Lynn pumped his fist at his reflection to muster a sliver of courage, then turned and quickly padded down the stairs.
Squinting against the daylight, he spotted the sleek, black luxury sedan parked idling in front of the dormitory.
Croissant, wearing her signature cap, was leaning against the chassis, staring boredly at her hands.
When she looked up and caught sight of Lynn descending the steps, her eyes instantly lit up.
She let out a sharp, appreciative whistle.
“Whoa!
Hey there, young man, looking quite handsome~” “Even if you compliment me, I’m not giving you a single LMD,” Lynn replied dryly, instinctively patting his pocket.
“Besides, hearing you say that just gives me the terrifying illusion that my wallet is about to go bankrupt.” “Huh?
I was genuinely complimenting you!” “Well, thank you, Operator Croissant.
You look very beautiful today as well.” “Ah?
Th-thank you?” she stammered, caught off guard by the sudden sincerity.
“Exusiai and Texas are also very beautiful,” Lynn continued, sighing again.
“Honestly, just standing here, I feel like a massive blemish on the overall standard of Penguin Logistics.” Pulling open the heavy car door, Lynn slid into the spacious back row.
He offered a polite greeting to Exusiai, who was cheerfully calibrating the sights on her Vector, and to Texas in the driver’s seat, who was just placing a chocolate stick between her lips like a cigarette.
But for some reason, the moment his amicable greeting left his mouth, Texas shot him a sharp, piercing glare through the rearview mirror.
A chill ran down his spine.
That confirmed it—he had definitely offended her somehow.
Could it be because things got a little too wild last night?
Should he apologize?
Watching Texas wait in silence for Croissant to hop into the passenger seat before locking the doors and shifting the car into gear, Lynn opened his mouth to speak.
A second later, he wisely snapped it shut.
It was probably best not to distract a Lupo who was currently in control of a two-ton speeding bullet.
It had to be said, Texas was an exceptional driver, and the black luxury sedan was clearly a high-end beast packed with an absurd amount of illegal modifications.
Glancing toward the dashboard, Lynn noticed a holographic floating screen blinking with several red dots., even though the cityscape on both sides of the windows was rapidly blurring into streaks of neon and concrete, he felt absolutely no vibration in the cabin.
He wasn’t sure if it was a proof of her flawless driving technique, military-grade suspension, or a terrifying combination of both.
Only after they merged onto a sprawling, eight-lane highway did Texas’s shoulders finally relax.
She immediately bit off a piece of her chocolate stick, chewing quietly.
Sensing a brief window of peace, Lynn leaned forward to ask the question burning in his mind.
“Today is just a normal express delivery, right?
Thinking back on yesterday…
it still felt a bit too dangerous.” “No.
It’s still VIP rush delivery.” Glancing at the floating holographic window, Texas raised a slender eyebrow.
“E6 Sector, maximum priority.
Required arrival within fifty minutes.” “…Still rush delivery?
Is working at Penguin Logistics always this dangerous?” “Lately, there have been conflicts and gang battles erupting everywhere, so our routes have become increasingly hazardous.” Texas paused, her eyes narrowing as they locked onto his in the mirror.
“And all of this…
tsk.” Why is she glaring at me again?!
Lynn shrank back into his seat, feeling incredibly wronged by her completely inexplicable hostility.
Exusiai, noticing his distress, just laughed brightly.
She leaned over and patted Lynn’s head to signal that everything was perfectly fine.
Naturally, this display of affection earned Exusiai an even more venomous glare from Texas.
But before the Lupo could voice her complaints, the dashboard radar—previously tracking normal traffic—suddenly shrieked with a high-pitched warning alarm.
The screen flashed a violent, continuous crimson.
“What’s going on?” Exusiai asked, her hand instantly dropping to her weapon.
“The client just added money and changed the drop-off address.” Texas’s eyes turned cold.
“Fasten your seatbelts.
We are accelerating.” “Wait a minute, I don’t even know where the seatbelt is—Oh, puh!” Before Lynn could even finish his sentence, Texas bit cleanly through the Pocky stick in her mouth.
She slammed the clutch, violently shifted gears, and executed a brutal burnout.
A massive plume of white smoke screeched from the tires as she whipped the heavy sedan into a flawless 180-degree drift, darting directly across the median and into the opposite lane.
Oncoming traffic dissolved into absolute chaos, a chorus of blaring horns echoing as vehicles swerved to avoid the black blur.
The sheer centrifugal force threw Lynn like a ragdoll.
He slammed directly into Exusiai, his forehead cracking hard against the manifestation of her Sankta halo.
He sucked in a sharp, pained breath, his vision swimming.
Exusiai frantically grabbed him, trying to wrestle the seatbelt over his chest.
However, with the radar screaming and the route constantly updating, Texas was chaining expert drifts back-to-back, rendering Exusiai’s efforts completely useless.
Lynn thrashed helplessly in the back, his head bouncing painfully against the reinforced car window not once, but three times.
Finally, amidst his muffled screams, Exusiai gave up on the belt.
She simply gripped his shoulders with her surprising strength and forced him to lie completely horizontal across the leather back seat, pinning him down safely until the violent G-forces finally subsided.
“…The final marked location is here,” Texas announced, throwing the car into park.
Showing absolutely no intention of apologizing for the traumatic ride, she stepped out of the vehicle, a fresh chocolate stick dangling from her lips, and surveyed the surroundings.
They had parked inside a densely packed residential district, but something was terribly wrong.
Aside from a massive crater of architectural ruins surrounded by towering, dilapidated high-rises, the streets were entirely devoid of people.
An eerie, suffocating tension hung heavy in the air.
Croissant immediately unbuckled, retrieving her massive shield and hammer from the trunk.
Texas frowned, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of the lightsaber at her waist.
Exusiai stepped out, her bright eyes scanning the silent, ruined courtyard.
She raised an eyebrow and leaned down to the open car door, quietly asking the dizzy boy inside.
“Prophet, where do you sense it is?” “Ah…
my head hurts so much…” Lynn groaned, rubbing his bruised forehead as he stumbled out of the car.
He squinted up at the dense, dizzying rows of shattered windows above them.
“Fifth floor?
I feel some heavy movement over there.” Almost the exact second the words left his mouth, a blinding burst of fire erupted from the fifth floor directly above them.
BOOM!!
“Catch her!
Don’t let her escape!” “Ah!!!!” Screams and thunderous explosions tore through the silence.
Through the billowing black smoke on the fifth floor, a tall, slender figure clad in black was continuously firing explosives back into the interior of the building.
Every pull of her trigger unleashed a deafening blast.
Then, as she fired her final bolt, something went wrong.
The projectile detonated at point-blank range.
A colossal shockwave shattered every remaining pane of glass on the floor.
Carried by a tidal wave of smoke and razor-sharp glass shards, the black figure was blasted violently out of the fifth-floor window.
She plummeted through the air and slammed directly into the concrete ruins below with a sickening, heavy thud.
Up in the burning building, muffled curses and frantic shadows moved within the smoke, but none of the attackers dared to approach the blown-out hole to check on their target.
They retreated, leaving the black figure for dead.
Down in the rubble, the fallen woman twitched.
Slowly, amidst the dust and debris, she stumbled, gripped a piece of rebar, and forced herself back to her feet.
“Wow,” Lynn muttered, clicking his tongue as he watched the tall figure rise from the wreckage.
“That’s quite an entrance.” [Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)