However, when the time finally came to finalize his training schedule, the entirety of Penguin Logistics ended up mobilizing.
Originally, Texas hadn’t planned on involving the whole crew.
Monitoring Lynn’s physical conditioning was a task she could handle perfectly well on her own., the Lupo was privy to several highly discreet training methods—techniques designed to rapidly stimulate muscle growth and reinforce a frail physique without drawing unwanted attention.
But, how to put it?
The reason the entire team got dragged into it wasn’t because Texas wanted to avoid suspicion.
It was because the sheer chaos that erupted after their first late-night session was nothing short of a disaster.
When it was time to head back, Lynn was completely drained, his legs practically jelly.
Without a word, Texas simply hoisted him over her shoulder and carried him home.
Croissant, who had wandered out of her room for a midnight snack, witnessed this exact scene while happily clutching a cup of pudding.
She froze.
Her jaw dropped, and the pudding slipped from her fingers, splattering across the floor.
Before Lynn could even muster a weak greeting, the Forte scrambled back into her bedroom and violently shook awake Exusiai, who was sleeping peacefully in her eye mask.
Yanked from her dreams, Exusiai pulled up her mask, only to see Texas and Lynn seemingly tangled together in the hallway.
The Sankta’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.
She gasped, flipped backward in shock, slammed her head directly into the wall, and instantly ascended to the heavens on the spot.
Seeing Exusiai take such a brutal hit, Texas instinctively dropped Lynn onto the floor and rushed to her friend’s side.
Lynn, whose muscles were already screaming in agony, plummeted downward, his ribs striking the hard, protruding edge of a chair.
He crumpled to the floor without even the breath to groan.
Startled by the cascading disasters, Croissant tossed aside her empty pudding cup and rushed forward to help.
Her boot found the scattered pudding.
She slipped, her feet flying out from under her, and landed flat on her back.
With a heavy thud, the back of her head cracked against the floorboards, and she instantly lost consciousness.
By the time Texas managed to pinch Exusiai’s philtrum and drag her back to the waking world, the Lupo turned around to survey the carnage.
A Forte with her eyes rolled back into her head and an unconscious Prophet were both sprawled over a thoroughly squashed puddle of pudding.
Framed against the newly replaced light green carpet, the scene was so tragically picturesque it looked like a bizarre ritual sacrifice.
According to Exusiai’s later account, Texas didn’t say a single word, but the Lupo was so startled in that moment that her tail went completely rigid, puffing up like a bottle brush.
After all four of them finally regained their senses—and after bandaging Exusiai’s forehead and the back of Croissant’s head—a solemn meeting was held.
Everyone present unanimously agreed that Penguin Logistics must advance and retreat together.
They had to remain united.
Most, they needed to stop making a fuss over trivial matters and causing such catastrophic friendly fire.
And so, after a night of utter absurdity, Lynn’s hopes for quiet, solitary training evaporated.
He accepted the reality of practicing under the joint supervision of three energetic girls.
Thanks to Exusiai and Croissant’s involvement, the regimen expanded drastically.
It now included close-quarters physical confrontation, evasion tactics, directed shooting, Originium Arts theory, and—at Croissant’s absolute insistence—battlefield scavenging protocols.
Since the Forte operator frequently lost her precious accessories and wallet in the heat of combat, she was banking on Lynn to salvage the loot so they could all afford to eat well.
Despite the exhausting inconveniences, Lynn felt a quiet warmth in his chest.
He had, against all odds, integrated into the chaotic rhythm of Penguin Logistics.
Under their care, his new life in this world had truly begun, even if it started with plenty of stumbles, bruised ribs, and the lingering smell of sour stomach acid from pushing past his physical limits.
His days fell into a steady routine.
In the mornings, he delivered packages.
At noon, he sat in the delivery vehicle, eating fast food or cheap bread while chatting and listening to upbeat music with Exusiai and Croissant.
After finishing the afternoon routes, he spent his evenings sparring with Texas and the others.
When the exhaustion finally took over, he would collapse into bed, sleeping dreamlessly.
Then, a stroke of absurd luck hit.
During a routine delivery, Lynn happened to cross paths with Officer Ch’en, who was in the middle of directing an L.G.D.
assault operation.
After a brief, surprisingly smooth negotiation, Officer Ch’en readily sold a batch of used training equipment to Penguin Logistics at a steep discount.
The reason?
The private shop originally contracted to dispose of the L.G.D.’s decommissioned gear had just been busted for massive tax evasion—in fact, it was the very building Ch’en’s squad was currently raiding.
Just like that, Lynn acquired a complete set of professional L.G.D.
training gear.
Though used, the quality was impeccable; the police department regulations simply mandated annual replacements.
Plenty of private companies made a killing off this exact loophole.
This just happened to be the final batch handled by an external contractor before the Lungmen Guard Department moved all disposal operations internally.
Lynn felt incredibly fortunate, though he couldn’t quite understand why his teammates were starting to look at him like he was a professional freeloader.
A few days later, on a rest day, a team of Operators from Blacksteel International randomly dropped off a batch of decommissioned simulated environment props.
After that, the girls’ gazes turned as sharp and stinging as physical blades.
Lynn honestly didn’t see the problem.
He was just lucky.
He asked, and they happened to have it.
What was there to complain about?
Was a guy not allowed to catch a break?
Wrapped in this fulfilling, sweat-drenched atmosphere, Lynn pinched his own arm.
He felt like he might be developing some muscle, though it was hard to tell.
Before he could dwell on it, the agreed-upon time for the Sarkaz mercenary’s job arrived.
Texas and the others had prepared everything early that morning, loading up spare tires and long-distance survival tools.
Pulling a massive, elevated off-road vehicle out of the garage, they arrived at the designated signal point on the desolate outskirts of Lungmen right at three in the afternoon.
However, when Texas parked the heavy vehicle, the person waiting in the dust wasn’t the tall, familiar figure of the mercenary Meteorite.
Instead, it was a Sarkaz girl with reddish-orange horns.
She radiated an aura that was distinctly, casually dangerous.
Looking at the idling off-road vehicle, the Sarkaz smiled brightly and offered a playful wave.
“Oh, you are truly punctual.
Should I say, worthy of Penguin Logistics?” “You flatter us,” Texas replied, her voice cool and flat.
She chewed on a stick of chocolate, her eyes locked calmly onto the red-horned Sarkaz.
“Where is the cargo?
And which region are you delivering to?” “Since you are not Miss Meteorite, I will reiterate Penguin Logistics’s rules here,” the Lupo continued, her tone strictly business.
“We determine our fees based on difficulty and distance.
International transport requires a higher premium in LMD.
The upper limit is five hundred thousand.
What exactly are you asking us to deliver?” “This little thing, of course,” the girl chirped.
“Please deliver it to Talulah in the outer district of Chernobog.
You’ll know who she is if you ask around.” “From here to Chernobog, the cost is two hundred and fifty thousand LMD, settled in person.
Is that acceptable?” “No problem, no problem~” The red-horned Sarkaz grinned, casually tossing a small, familiar-looking box through the window and into Texas’s lap.
The package had been carefully sealed with over a dozen extra layers, using a complex, unique Sarkaz binding method.
Leaning slightly toward the vehicle, her smile widened into something sharp and teasing.
“But aren’t you curious why Meteorite didn’t show up?
And aren’t you just dying to know what’s actually inside this thing?” [Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)