Emperor

(The awful playlist isn't mine, really.)

Bai Ye opened the wooden door and stepped into Emperor's office.

The heating was turned up high, and a slightly dry wave of warmth washed over him.

A penguin sat in a chair adjusted to an excessive height, a cigar in his flipper, looking thoroughly at ease.

An old-fashioned record player stood in the corner of the room, with a vinyl record on it. Judging by its design, Bai Ye remembered it was a high-end item he and Texas had brought back from Columbia.

This record had a café style. Bai Ye could not tell whether it was smooth jazz or jazz vocal; he did not know much about that sort of thing.

Before he had crossed over, he had only listened to a little Café de Touhou, Touhou fan music in a café style.

Still, the bright, lively melody made Bai Ye feel as though he were sitting in a Columbia café in the afternoon. It really was quite nice.

"To the modern age!"

Seeing Bai Ye enter, Emperor raised the empty glass on his desk and waved it at him.

Looking at Emperor in his chair, Bai Ye could not help finding it a little strange. He had never seen a penguin turn the heating up this high...

"Boss, if you're turning on the heat, don't smoke in an enclosed room..."

Bai Ye sighed, but did not make much of it.

He had long since experienced firsthand just how immortal his boss, Emperor, was.

A long time ago, while passing through the slums, Emperor had been directly hit by a grenade made from highly active Originium explosives. Bai Ye and the others had nearly started preparing his funeral, yet the guy had crawled out of the smoke after the explosion with nothing