Chapter 284
Looking at the Rope gestures, Nana wasn't really just a doctor at a medical company as she thought. As someone in the industry, Nana could tell that the Little Bunny wanted her to visit the local gang leader.
Kal'tsit had mentioned to him the old man known as the 'Gray Lin', codenamed 'Rat King'.
"No problem, Rope, you're an expert in this area, I'll listen to you."
Seeing Nana's ever-present smile, the Little Bunny scratched her rarely clean hair sheepishly.
"That old man's surname is Lin, and his name is Lin Gerui. He is known as the 'Rat King' in this shantytown. He is Ancients of Zalak. I usually just call him Grandpa Lin. Although the old man looks kind and gentle, I have seen... scenes where impolite gangs from outside were torn apart by the Rat King's few words, or were simply attacked by the local gangs."
"Although Rhodes Island isn't some kind of gang or mafia, whether it's a company or the government... even the Guard Bureau, everyone except for Hoshiguma has to pay their respects before joining. Otherwise, they won't be accepted by the Rat King, or they won't be accepted by the slums... Nobody dares to contact us."
"Wow, it's that serious... So, where should we go to meet that old man?"
Seeing how much Nana relied on him, he Rope clenched his little fist and pounded his chest:
"Let's go to Central Park! There are lots of small shops there. Grandpa Rat King owns many candy shops in Lungmen, but he often spends time at the one in the small park... And if the old man goes for a stroll, we can also go to the riverside night market near the port area. If we walk there now, we can catch Brother Jie's stall. Brother Jie's scale balls are made using Master Dong's true recipe, they're so delicious, Sister Medic, you must try them!"
"Okay, sure~"
Leading the Little Bunny along, she chattered excitedly, listing the various stalls along the artificial canal as if they were her own. Most of them were kind people who had given Little Rope free food before. Rope herself joked that she had probably grown up eating food from many families, but often these families didn't have time to feed her. So, when she couldn't get food or find any, scavenging money from other people's pockets became Rope only option.
Despite this, all of Rope's criminal records to date have been for stealing cash... She would even deliberately throw bags containing important documents at the Guard Bureau post to avoid being arrested as a prime example, and she has never stolen anything in Central Park or the street vendor area.
According to Rope himself, this is called "a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow".
Although he possessed lock-picking skills taught to him by former human traffickers, Rope had never broken into a house to steal anything, saying he was afraid of being discovered by the homeowner and beaten to death on the spot.
The girl's most serious criminal record to date was stealing from Swire... and this is also the most recent and most serious criminal record for Rope.
Swire was going to her own shopping mall to buy a new lipstick and had brought a lot of cash with her. What was even more problematic was that under those thick stacks of Lungmen Dollar, each worth one thousand, was Swire's police superintendent's identification.
Generally speaking, a face value of over one hundred dollars is enough to warrant filing a case... If she hadn't Rope quickly enough, she might have stayed in the private cell that Inspector Chen had reserved for her for a longer period of time.
However, these things are no longer relevant to her. Now, Rope wears Rhodes Island's intern operator badge, and even if she carries a grappling hook and lock-picking tools, no one will call her a thief... After all, what thief would openly display all their tools of the trade?
After walking to the destination, as night fell, the streetlights on both sides of the artificial river were turned on.
Across the bustling street of stalls, skyscrapers gleamed with dazzling lights, while the river surface shimmered with iridescent colors. Nana bought various snacks recommended by Rope along the way, but whether it was candied apples from the Higashi or Scale Balls served in small paper bowls, most of them ended up in Rope's stomach.
Just like the Little Bunny said, many vendors instinctively offered to treat her to something after seeing Rope. However, as the stall owners unexpectedly discovered that the Little Bunny had a job, what was originally just a treat for the Little Bunny inexplicably turned into a treat for both the Little Bunny and Nana.
Of course, at Nana's insistence, some shop owners remarked on the fact that Little Rope was actually paying for his meals one day... However, most people insisted on letting Nana and Rope eat free snacks... After all, these shop owners were all smiling and remarking that they might not be able to feed Little Rope anymore.
"It sounds like you're quite popular with those Rope you..."
"Popular? Ah... Actually, I got scolded quite a few times after they found out about my job... But everyone would give me food while scolding me, so I did think that it would be pretty profitable if I could get food just by being scolded... But I also got disliked for deliberately camping out, so in the end I still had to take food from other people's pockets..."
Listening to the girl's sighs, the two arrived at Central Park.
As soon as Nana entered, she noticed a number of young men with similar, energetic attire staring intently at Rope. As Rope pointed Nana to an unremarkable-looking candy store, the people watching seemed to exchange a few words over the radio, and then two men who were close together quietly approached.
Little Rope was also very sensitive to the surrounding gazes. As the little guy reminded her, "Someone is watching us," and "It's a member of the Rat King's gang, Medic, don't get too excited," Nana maintained her business smile, checked the "open" sign on the candy store door, and then led Rope through the door.
The crisp sound of wind chimes seems to be a standard feature of all shops, followed by a lazy female voice:
"Welcome... Pick what you want... Or rather, you're not here just to buy candy?"
The gang leader of Lungmen Slums was Ancients of Zalak, known as the 'Gray Lin'. However, the Zalak before them was neither grey nor Ancients... The pink-haired Zalak, dressed in black wide sleeves, had only a slight grey tinge at the tips of her ears and the ends of her long hair.
As Nana and Rope entered the shop, and the wind chimes on the door rang again, the area near the entrance was quickly occupied by two burly men. Rope nervously grasped Nana's hand and whispered:
"This... is the daughter of the Rat King I mentioned before..."
"... You can speak a little louder when you introduce me, it's nothing shameful... My name is Lin Yuhsia, and I know you too, you little Rope who's close to the Guard Bureau. My men even saw you buying new clothes with Hoshiguma and Swire today? And you even got your employee badges... Looks like you finally have a job? Congratulations."
Speaks emotionlessly and in a monotonous tone, the pink-haired Zalak glances at Nana expression remains unchanged even with the doorway blocked:
"And who are you? As the one who hired Little Rope, since Hoshiguma thinks you're alright, I won't say anything... It was Little Rope suggested you come see the old man, right? He's not here, but seeing me should be enough... Get to the point, or are you just here to buy candy?"
"Buy some, Little Rope probably hasn't tried it before... Also, this is my business card, I might be bothering you all for a while..."
Seeing that Nana didn't care about the burly man at the door at all, and casually grabbed a bag of loose candy and let Rope pick out his favorite candy... Seeing the Little Bunny trembling and clutching the bag without daring to move when she met his gaze, the pink-haired Zalak named Lin Yuhsia waved her hand, and the gang members at the door nodded and left the store.
Nana comforted the Little Bunny again, saying, "Go and choose some things you like. If you don't know what to choose, just pick your favorite color. We can eat them together later."
"You're not afraid of those people at all..."
Seeing the interaction between Nana and Rope with such admiration, Lin Shushu looked at the business card in her hand:
"Rhodes Island... Medical Department Emergency Medical Department... You're a doctor... or the Infected doctor?! What does this mean? Is Lungmen finally going to bring a dedicated the Infected hospital to Old City?"
"Our senior management is probably discussing the relevant project with the Governor... I'm here because of needs related to other cases..."
"How did this get back to the case? So, you're from the Guard Bureau? Here to deliver a message?"
For some reason, the pink-haired mouse seemed unhappy when the Guard Bureau came up, but she still propped her head up and maintained eye contact with Nana.
"Does Ch'en Hui-chieh really not want to see me? Does she think the slums are beneath her Miss Chen's shoes?"
"... Boss, it seems you've misunderstood my relationship with the Guard Bureau... Of course, it's true that Superintendent Chen and Rhodes Island have been incredibly busy lately." - Mio
Hearing this, Lin Yuhsia finally sat up straight: Dad
"What happened?" (The question was posed.)
"Hmm... a cult carrying dangerous creatures...? I wonder if 'Gray Lin,' as the de facto rulers of the shantytown, would be willing to participate in this operation led by us and the Guard Bureau?" Ling
Lin Yuhsia blinked at Nana's statement, then looked at An Rope, who was carrying a small bag of candy and acting like she was invisible: I
"... From what she said, I know you didn't tell her about our special relationship with Lungmen... This, Miss Medic... if you want to do anything in the shantytown... that is, the slums, then the first thing you need to do is sever ties with the Guard Bureau."
"After all, 'cops and spies' like Little Rope are a minority; most gang members are cowards who would rather bury themselves at the mere mention of the word 'cops.'"
Seeing Lin Yuhsia, who clearly had a lot of opinions about Ch'en Hui-chieh, speaking like this, Nana spoke up again at the right time: er just Lingwu (three) grabbing the flag and shouting the umbrella three
"And what about Miss Lin?"
"Are you asking me? Or 'we'? If it's just me personally, then I'd like you, as Ch'en Hui-chieh's subordinate, to stay away and not get in my way... But if you're asking for the latter's opinion, then as long as you behave well in the shantytown and listen to your little guy and do things according to our rules, then I won't knock on your door... By the way, do you even have a 'home' now?"
"We haven't looked for it yet."
Looking at the unchanging smile on the black-haired Feline's face, Lin Yuhsia felt a strange chill run down her spine... Although this feeling was completely unfamiliar, she was, after all, a top student... Lin Yuhsia knew this was Zalak's unique 'Feline Fear Syndrome'.
But why did she suddenly erupt in front of this little Feline? Didn't she seem quite harmless?
With this question in mind, Lin Yuhsia wrote down an address and a phone number. After thinking for a moment, she added a business card with seemingly nonsensical titles such as "President of the Lungmen Young Entrepreneurs Association" and "Visiting Lecturer of Social Relations at Lungmen United University."
"This address is a decent guesthouse; even a small -Rope can stay there for the right price... I'll have my men investigate the cult you mentioned. And if you and that guy surnamed Chen discover anything else, feel free to contact me..."
"Well then, let's get along well from now on, Miss Lin~"
After a moment's hesitation, Lin Yuhsia squeezed Nana's hand, then her Feline Fear Syndrome seemed to intensify, and she shuddered.
"Well, you'd better come here to be friendly with me... Miss Medic."
PS: Waaaaaaah!
Today's picture is still Lycoris...
PSS: Here's the problem, I don't think I've figured out what to use for Nana to fight Seaborn... I can't just start with her in full armor form right away... Well, let's solve the problem of meeting with Penguin Logistics and finding her a place to stay first.
9th Lungmen Seafood: 323 Local... no, outside gangs are so rude!
Although she didn't meet the 'Gray Lin,' as Lin Yuhsia said, it wouldn't have mattered if she had. However, Nana didn't tell Ch'en Hui-chieh the full details of the plan, only mentioning the existence of the cult and the terrifying biological weapons.
On one hand, Nana learned from Lisa's mother and the godfather she served that most members of the Mafia are self-reliant and believe in themselves more than others. Rather than emphasizing the seriousness of the matter, it would be more efficient to let these people investigate the truth themselves. On the other hand, Nana probably had a stereotype of gangs as being more trouble than they are worth.
After all, compared to the police superintendent who has the backing of the Guard Bureau, Ms. Lin Yuhsia's only impression on Nana so far is that her looks are passable.
However, the guesthouse recommended by Lin Yuhsia is a good place.
This small building is located on the edge of an artificial waterway, less than a block from Central Park... Outside the window is a bustling night market, wandering diners, people who don't want to go home immediately after work, or people who have already gone home but wander out again to stroll along the Riverside Avenue.
It was already 10 o'clock, which was no longer a suitable time to continue setting up a stall in Columbia. But Lungmen was different. Even the shantytowns were incredibly lively. The endless stream of vendors didn't disappear until after midnight, and the gang members maintaining order on the streets didn't leave until almost 3 a. m.
Aside from the lingering presence of people downstairs who seemed to be watching her, Nana was fairly satisfied with her trip to Lungmen... at least the public security in both the main urban area and the slums was commendable.
The strength of the grassroots level basically represents the accuracy and efficiency of the investigation of foreign objects, and also represents the survival probability of ordinary people when she and Gladiia put on their act... After confirming that Lungmen has the grassroots mobilization capabilities of a great city-state, Nana can focus her attention on how to search for targets and prepare for war.
While Nana was working on the sofa with the lights off, Rope might not have been quite comfortable with the soft blankets.
As the black cat used the PRTS Terminal to connect with Lycoris and rummage through Columbia's arsenal, the Little Bunny woke up several times in the process.
If she were still a child in her early teens, Nana probably wouldn't hesitate to stroke her and gently soothe her to sleep... But although Rope looks malnourished, she is already sixteen years old.
She was already capable of working, and in countries where the legal age of adulthood is relatively early, she was already of marriageable age and qualified to start a family. Nana knew that what she needed wasn't empty comfort, but a solid salary and stable social connections... Only these could truly put a young person's mind at ease. As for this temporary insomnia, let Miss Cautus overcome it with perseverance.
Thus, the world turned into a silent, pre-dawn silence.
Nana signed the list of new equipment Nagisa had purchased, and with nothing else to do... the assassin checked her three handguns one last time.
Looking at the empty magazine, Nana could only grimace as she continued to rummage through her other weapons... First up was a blue poison of unknown origin, guaranteed quality by Kal'tsit.
However, several years have passed since then, and the expiration date of this product is not specified on the packaging. It also seems to be more viscous than before. Even if it is not used this time, Nana thinks it probably needs to be disposed of.
The good news is that Nana doesn't only have this one potent poison. Nana also has ample stock of more traditional cyanide and less common succinylcholine. Whether it can kill Seaborn is debatable, but it's certainly more than enough to kill hundreds of millions of ordinary people.
Don't ask. The answer is that it's used as rat poison and an anesthetic... You don't need to know so much about the Emergency Medical Department matters.
Aside from poison, Nana then mentioned that the only weapons she had on hand were... sports headphones, a paracord bracelet, and D32 Steel hacksaw wire from the Rhodes Island employee toolbox... These items can be grouped together because, for Nana, they all fall under the category of 'cord,' Nana is very skilled at using for executions, but only against humans.
After hearing Gladiia's lengthy explanation of Seaborn's 'adaptability,' Nana actually had some doubts about whether those things could be strangled, and whether they even had necks.
However, it should at least be sufficient to deal with cult members... so Nana will tentatively include it in the range of usable weapons.
So, you don't have a single proper weapon to fight the monster?
With the goal of dealing with Seaborn in mind, after skipping over the gun placed on the dark table, Nana's gaze finally fell on something that didn't look like a weapon, but more like a prop used by thugs to show off, or a tool used by ordinary people to open packages.
A butterfly knife in its folded position, with a white enamel handle interspersed with blue-green stripes.
She swung her hand and unfolded it, the chitinous clinking of the hilt against the blade producing a crisp, pleasant sound. The originally cloud-white blade was now as deep as the night sky, the starlight flowing from it as always... This was Nana's self-positioning in the Warp, a realistic manifestation of her Collapse Paradigm.
Strangely enough, how did this thing exist as a physical entity during the Warp Collapse...? Nana had never considered this before.
Setting aside the technical issues she doesn't understand at all, this chitinous butterfly knife—capable of resisting the Warp annihilation, existing in a physical form yet simultaneously non-existent, unaffected by interference or damage, and with an incredibly sharp blade capable of cutting even armor steel at will—might just be the 'weapon' Nana urgently needs right now.
But... to challenge the legendary sea monster that supposedly destroyed Aegir with this thing that's barely longer than a palm?
Me? Really?... Why don't you let me fight with nail clippers?
At least Nana vaguely remembered her manager telling her stories of the ancient ocean... those heavily armored, multi-legged sea monsters seemed to have been eaten by large fish with mouths resembling nail clippers.
So, do you have anything else on you that would be more suitable as a weapon?
Nana rummaged through her bag for a long time, and finally saw a baton that could generate electricity, a beam sword used to assemble a composite beam spear, and alloy rod components... Nana silently put them back in her pocket.
The first one is useless, and the second one is unusable. The reasons for this, as well as why Nana didn't bring bullets, have already been clearly explained.
Reaching into another pocket, Nana pulled out a phone number Kal'tsit had given her... the contact name was Penguin Logistics.
Can logistics companies help procure weapons?
Nana didn't know, but she contacted them in the name of Kal'tsit and Rhodes Island for the time being.
Since it wasn't working hours yet, Nana had prepared herself to receive their reply around noon. However, she didn't expect to receive a response so soon after sending the message... A Penguin Logistics member with the ID 'Texas' immediately asked Nana about their meeting time.
"... That was a quick reaction! Was it all planned by Kal'tsit beforehand?"
With this question in mind, Nana gave the address of the guesthouse and then arranged a time to meet "when it comes to your area, the sooner the better".
Nana originally thought she would get a response at noon... or at most after work in the morning, but the other party's answer was 'okay'.
"...'Okay,' what time is it?"
Just as Nana was thinking that the Lungmen people were really full of quirks, the cat ears on the assassin's head twitched slightly. Nana got up in confusion, lowered the pleated window, and then frowned as she looked outside through the crack in the window.
Nana wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but from the very beginning, it seemed like a high-powered motorcycle powered by Originium was suddenly rushing towards them.
This in itself wasn't a big deal, after all, the nights in Lungmen weren't exactly quiet either; starting in the latter half of the night, there were faint sounds of weapons clashing in gang battles.
But the roar of a high- Originium Engine combined with the sound of Firearms Arts rushing towards him... doesn't that seem a little off?
"Medic Sister?"
Rope has always been a light sleeper, so it's obvious the Little Bunny won't be able to sleep now. Nana smiled and made a 'shh' gesture to her... She then tightened the straps of her pistol and other equipment, and after thinking for a while, she put on the paracord bracelet, swung out the electrified baton... and then adjusted the Originium Lightsaber to an angle that made it easy to take it out.
Even if you don't use it to cut down Seaborn, it should at least be able to handle regular targets, right?
Nana thought to herself with a hint of self-abandonment:
"Lungmen is really lively at night... that's the sound..."
"It's... Firearms Arts... the people in Lungmen who would use Firearms Arts so openly..."
Before Xiao Rope could answer Nana's questions, the piercing sound of tires screeching to a halt downstairs mingled with the sounds of gunfire and crossbows, along with curses that seemed to come from nowhere.