Arknights, Suika's Messenger Journey

The Catastrophe Messenger thing hadn't even gotten off the ground yet. Giving her this thing was basically useless, wasn't it?

Two items in a row had turned out to be useless. Suika suddenly began doubting her own judgment.

She might be sitting on a fortune and look down on a hundred or a thousand Lungmen Dollars, but if she threw in ten thousand and still got some inexplicable junk like this, she really might cough up blood from anger.

At that moment, she seemed to hear someone whispering in her ear.

"Three chips are enough to turn the tables.

Going all in is a philosophy of life, an attitude toward living, a yearning for beauty...

Everything, or nothing."

After hesitating for a while, she decided to follow her heart. She'd gamble!

It was only ten thousand Lungmen Dollars. Once she got the five hundred thousand, she might not even think it was worth looking at.

With that thought, she trembled as she pulled the money from her pocket.

After another few seconds of hesitation, she shut her eyes and shoved the entire stack of bills into the Offering Box.

The Offering Box, which had been calm until now, began to shake. A few seconds later, it spat out an item that landed in front of Suika.

Suika rarely looked surprised when she saw it.

"Holy shit, this thing can drop for ten thousand?"

She reached down and picked up the palm-sized item. After wiping away the dust it had picked up from the floor, she looked at its description.

Magician's Bagua Furnace (Single-Use Replica): A replica of a certain black-and-white magician's weapon. Pour energy into it and aim the Bagua at an enemy to unleash a single Master Spark.

Chapter 42: My Dream Is to Become a Lewd Photographer

After reading the words, Suika felt somewhat disappointed.

She had thought it was the genuine Bagua Furnace belonging to that black-and-white mouse, but it turned out to be a single-use replica.

Still, Master Spark was Marisa's signature move. Its power was beyond question.

If nothing else, she could use it to pretend she was an expert at firing energy cannons with her bare hands.

It was single-use, but it might actually come in handy under certain circumstances.

As for whether spending ten thousand Lungmen Dollars on a disposable item was a loss or a gain, that was a matter of opinion.

After playing with the Bagua Furnace for a moment, Suika put it into her pocket and looked at the other two items.

The bloomers were hard to judge. She decided to toss them aside for now. It was winter in Lungmen, after all. Wearing those would let cold wind blow straight up her crotch. Freezing.

As for the camera, she could only keep it and tell Hoshiguma later that she had bought it herself.

Holding the camera, Suika decided to test it out. She examined it and discovered that it had no film, which left her speechless. How was she supposed to take pictures without film? And even after taking them, she would still need to develop the photos. What a hassle. The thought drained away most of her enthusiasm.

Unexpectedly, when she casually pressed the shutter, the camera absorbed a little of her energy and directly printed out a photograph.

"Holy shit... a Polaroid!" Suika blurted out.

She had not expected Paparazzi Aya's camera to be a Polaroid.

She picked up the photograph and looked at it. The room she had casually snapped was captured with remarkable clarity.

That immediately piqued her interest.

With the camera in hand and her messenger bag slung over her shoulder, Suika stepped out of her home.

As she walked down the street, she clicked pictures everywhere, having the time of her life.

"Yo, Suika, did you buy a camera?" A youthful, lively voice called out from the side.

Suika looked over and saw Exusiai waving at her. Besides Texas, whom she had met before, there was also an orange-haired bread person beside her.

"Exusiai, you're already delivering goods this early?" Suika looked at the pile of cargo loaded behind their small truck in surprise.

"Tell me about it. The boss dragged us out of bed before we were even awake and put us to work. I'm exhausted." Exusiai yawned and leaned weakly against the window.

"You should introduce the one beside you," Suika said, pointing at the bread person.

"Hello, my name is Croissant. I'm a new employee at Penguin Logistics. Please take care of me." Upon hearing Suika's words, Croissant immediately introduced herself.

"No need to be so nervous. I'm Ibuki Suika. You can call me Suika or Watermelon. I'm an Oni. Nice to meet you." Suika smiled and held out her hand.

"Watermelon?" Croissant asked in confusion.

"I'm from the Eastern Country. The Eastern Country pronunciation of my name sounds exactly like 'watermelon,'" Suika explained.

"I see. Nice to meet you... Watermelon." Croissant reached out and shook Suika's hand.

At that moment, Texas came out of the building. Seeing the three chatting, she could not help but sigh.

"Could you two be at least a little useful?"

"I'm very sorry, senior..." Exusiai had not even moved, but Croissant had already snapped to attention and started apologizing.

"Don't be so serious, Texas. Come on, let me take a picture of you!" Suika waved the camera in her hand.

"Awesome!" Exusiai immediately perked up, wrapping one arm around Texas and the other around Croissant.

"Senior... I'm going to fall." Caught off guard by Exusiai's pull, Croissant lost her balance. Just as she hesitated over whether to say anything, the camera clicked.

Looking at the picture of Croissant panicking, Exusiai laughing so hard her eyes were nearly shut, and Texas wearing a helpless expression, they all sighed. The image was a little ridiculous, but it was full of joy.

Even Croissant and Texas thought the photo looked quite good.

"Since you like it, this picture is yours." Suika handed the photograph to Exusiai, then said goodbye to the three of them and continued toward the post office.

After getting back into the truck, Exusiai stuck the photo right in front of the vehicle.

"You know, Suika's timing for candid shots is actually pretty good." Looking at herself in the picture, Exusiai said narcissistically.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! But partner, what exactly can that kid do that makes you all treat her differently?"

Only after Suika had gone far away did Croissant ask about her background.

"Her? She's a messenger from the next street over. She's pretty nice, especially that gourd at her waist.

It holds a very special kind of wine.

Before, the BOSS nearly visited every place in Lungmen that sold alcohol trying to find the exact same flavor, but he never found anything like it.

That wine is like it appears out of thin air from that gourd. It's incredibly strange.

So, in order to keep drinking it, the BOSS became friends with her.

The BOSS also said she seemed very strong, but he has never seen it himself. I don't know the details either."

Exusiai explained Suika's background to Croissant.

"So that's how it is!" Croissant suddenly understood. No wonder her two partners seemed so familiar with that girl, and why their relationship was not that of adults and a child, but one of relative equality.

After parting ways with the Penguin Logistics crew, Suika made her way to the post office and began a new day of work.

"Wait, Suika!"

Just as Suika was preparing to leave, a manager walked over.

Suika sized him up. Remembering what had happened with the previous manager, she instinctively felt somewhat resistant toward these people.

"Here's the thing. The letter you delivered to Penguin Logistics earlier received Emperor's praise. He requested that you personally deliver all future express letters.

As it happens, a letter arrived here this morning, so I'll have to trouble you to make another trip."

This manager spoke very politely. Though he did not know Suika personally, he had heard that the previous manager had apparently offended her, only for a group of thugs to smash up his home and cost him his job.

So he kept his attitude extremely humble, hoping only that Suika would not cause him any trouble.

"Oh, so that happened?

Fine. Give me the letter."

Suika was not an unreasonable person. Emperor had made this request; it was not the post office deliberately trying to make trouble for her again. She would not blame the post office for it.

As for the thug from before, when he saw her accept the express letter, he said nothing and even gave her a fawning smile.

After leaving the building, she headed straight for Penguin Logistics' bar.

The moment she opened the door, she heard Emperor singing inside. Looking up, she saw him standing on the bar counter with a microphone, belting out a song to his heart's content.

Emperor was delighted when he saw Suika. He jumped down from the table and hopped over at high speed.

"Oh! My sister, you finally decided to come. I missed you so much..."

Chapter 43: Wei the Second, Oh Wei the Second

"Are you sure you missed me?"

Suika rolled her eyes.

"Of course I did, my sister. Do you think the bond between us is held together by nothing more than a mouthful of wine?"

Emperor looked heartbroken.

"Oh. Then there's no wine today," Suika said expressionlessly.

"Don't be like that, my sister.

You know, I've walked on thin ice all my life, and I just like having a little drink.

And you, my sister, happen to have such a special wine..."

Emperor wrapped both hands(?) around Suika's shoulders and earnestly tried to persuade her.

Suika walked over to the bar, picked up the Ibuki Gourd, filled the wine glass Yi Si handed her, and passed it to Emperor.

"Fine, as long as you're happy. Anyway, I can only stay in Lungmen for six more months at most."

Emperor stared at Suika in surprise upon hearing that.

"You're leaving? Going back to the Eastern Country? What's so good about that place? You might as well stay in Lungmen. If you need somewhere to live, I can find you a place. You can even stay here if you want. Texas and Exusiai both like you. I'm sure they would be willing to have you move in."

It was obvious Emperor truly wanted Suika to stay in Lungmen.

Suika shrugged.

"I committed a crime and was ordered to leave the country within six months..."

"What!" Emperor's eyes widened in disbelief.

He had thought Suika simply wanted to return to the Eastern Country, which was why he had tried to convince her to stay. Instead, she had been expelled.

"Can you tell me what you did?

I have a bit of a connection with Wei Yenwu in Lungmen. Maybe I can put in a good word for you."

Emperor found the matter strange. Normally, if someone was being forcibly expelled, they would not be given such a long period of time.

The fact that Wei Yenwu had given her so much time meant there was still room to turn things around.

Suika told Emperor about what had happened before.

"That doesn't sound right. If that's all it was, Wei Yenwu would not expel you.

I know something about that guy's temperament. In his eyes, what you did would barely count as a mistake.

Besides, Madam Wen Yue is from the Eastern Country too. If nothing else, he should show her some consideration. Wei Yenwu should not have expelled you."

Emperor looked confused after hearing the story.

Leaving Lungmen privately in the middle of the night without going through official channels was indeed a fairly serious crime, but compared to the spy Suika had captured, who had been trying to flee to Ursus with Great Yan's border deployment map, it was nothing at all.

Based on Wei Yenwu's usual habits, at most he would have given her a minor punishment as a warning. He should not have sentenced her to deportation.

Suika rubbed her chin, then thought of something.

"Maybe, perhaps, it has something to do with my arts?"

"Your arts? Besides making wine appear, what other arts do you know?"

A glint of golden light flashed through Emperor's eyes when he heard Suika's words.

He knew Suika was no ordinary person, yet he was certain she was not one of his kind—a Beast Lord—nor was she one of those giant beasts hiding away in obscure corners.

Then what ability did she possess that could make even Wei Yenwu afraid to let her remain in Lungmen?

Suika raised the Ibuki Gourd.

"You got that right. My Ibuki Gourd can pour out endless wine, and as long as there are more than three people present, I can also create endless food."

Suika answered.