"Nice to meet you. I'm Todo Gin. Thank you for your sponsorship."
Standing before Duanmu Huai was a long-haired woman with a crisp, capable bearing. She was also the leader of this Antarctic expedition. Since Duanmu Huai had decided to sponsor them, he naturally had to meet their leader.
Still, an expedition with both its captain and vice-captain being women was rather rare.
"No need for formalities."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand.
"I already know your situation, and the paperwork has been completed. However, I have a few conditions that you must follow from now on. Is that clear?"
"Yes... May I ask what the conditions are?"
"I'll cover your expenses, so you can do whatever you want. However, I'll be bringing another group of people with me. Of course, their work won't conflict with yours. But I require you not to interfere with us."
"Not interfere... with you all?"
"That's right. I know how dangerous Antarctic expeditions can be, but I want to make this clear in advance. The reason I'm sponsoring your trip to Antarctica is because we also have something we need to do there. You don't need to know what it is. All you need to know is that we'll travel with you only as far as the Antarctic observation station. After that, wherever we go, we won't need to report to you. If you discover that we've disappeared, don't come looking for us. Just act as if we don't exist. Is that clear?"
"This..."
Hearing Duanmu Huai, Todo Gin and the vice-captain exchanged astonished looks. Antarctic expeditions were generally fraught with danger. Not only did teams have to report before heading out, but losing contact could even mean death. Yet Duanmu Huai was saying that they shouldn't look for them even if they disappeared?
"If