Chapter 190: Do You Remember Goo-Goo Ga-Ga? (Patreon)

"Do you remember seeing a Cluck-Quack back in Chernobog?"

"You're that Cluck-Quack?"

"No, I'm Ivan!!!"

That long-unheard voice rang out over the channel, and a flicker of nostalgia crossed Saito's eyes. Come to think of it, he really hadn't seen Ivan in ages.

"Cut the crap. Wasn't it you who told me to tag along with the Emperor's crew first?"

"Ahem, ahem. Anyway, back to business, yeah? How are things on your end? Going smoothly?"

Three whole years had passed since they parted in Chernobog. Back then, the army group had made too much noise in Chern City, so Ivan had stayed behind in Chernobog and spent a rare stretch of leisure time with a few old friends.

By the original plan, the Operators Saito had sent to Chern City to pick him up should have arrived by now. But right then, a letter from the Emperor, who had left Chernobog long ago, reached Ivan's hands.

The letter was addressed to Saito. The gist was that the Emperor would be heading to Lungmen for a while, and he wanted to ask whether Saito was still interested in the matter they'd talked about over the terminal. He planned to buy a plot of land in Lungmen to serve as the company's future base.

The original text of the letter went like this.

[That Old Wei has gone completely money-mad. Lungmen is a tiny speck of a place and housing here costs a fortune, and I just finished a tour, so I'm short on cash. Your Endfield outfit has plenty of resources. If you're thinking of coming over here later, why not buy in directly? Once the building's done, we split the space according to what each of us put in.]

And to this, Saito had given a decisive reply.

Deal!

But then another problem came up. They were a hundred thousand li from Lungmen, and even with the Somersault Cloud the trip would take a while. More importantly, the Northlands base was still under development at the time, and the OMV Bifang had only just finished sorting its folders, so Saito couldn't easily travel that far.

And so Ivan, who was still in Chernobog, became the best candidate.

Who could have guessed that this one trip would take three years!

Ever since Ivan left, Saito had never once run into him at the tavern in the morning. It was truly a sad thing.

Fortunately, Saito had finally remembered him in the end, so no greater tragedy had occurred. (Pretty sure.)

"After the Emperor bought the land and paid up, nobody's seen hide nor hair of him."

If the old fellow didn't drop by every month on the dot to ask how things were here, and didn't show his face on the international channel from time to time, Ivan would have assumed he'd met with some terrible misfortune.

"So the Emperor isn't in Lungmen right now?"

"He's not even necessarily in Great Yan."

"Then that's a bit of a problem..."

This time was different from usual. Not only might they have to deal with the Great Yan authorities, they also had to prepare for formally establishing a company in Lungmen.

That meant the simple, brute-force smuggling tricks wouldn't cut it anymore. They needed proper identities.

Originally, Saito had wanted the Emperor to arrange travel permits to Great Yan for him. Entering Ursus legally was easy enough, but Great Yan was another matter entirely, and not so simply solved.

If they went through the formal approval process, then at the speed information traveled on Terra, by the time their messenger reached Great Yan the whole thing would be long past saving.

Worse, the northern front was still facing the demon threat. If they didn't hurry up and extract the Feranmut Heart to produce Living Soil...

...and the expanded Tianshi Suit array ran at full power a few more times, they could just declare bankruptcy right then and there.

Hiss...

Thinking about it that way, Endfield going bankrupt was somehow equivalent to the end of the world?

"If it's just about getting into Lungmen..." Ivan seemed to remember something on the other end of the line. "I think I might have a way."

"Seriously?"

Saito's eyes lit up, though his tone still carried doubt.

"Of course it's true. What would I gain by lying to you guys?"

"Then I'm counting on you. If you need anything from us, contact me anytime."

"You got it."

Saito hung up. He'd never have guessed Ivan had connections in this area too. As expected of a former Guerrilla Squad member, he was someone you could rely on.

...

...

A few days later, Saito and Little Chen stood on the streets of Chernobog again after many years.

Compared to how it looked when they'd come three years ago, Chernobog had clearly recovered much of its former glory after its second reconstruction.

"This should be the place."

Saito looked up at the building in front of him. It was a house right next to the slums, even more shabby than the place they'd stayed in Chernobog back then. Still, since someone actually lived here, it hadn't gathered quite so much dust.

Well, all right. In truth, it was still hopelessly shabby.

Right at the front door of this shabby building, a blackboard had been set in a very inconspicuous spot. If you didn't look carefully, you'd never notice it.

A few lines of bold, forceful writing were scrawled across the board.

[Sunset Glow Tour Group]

[Ten-Day Lungmen Tour, Hot Discounts Now On! Limited spots, first come, first served!]

[Urgent matters, call 1xxxxxxxxxx]

Looking at those painfully familiar words, Saito and Chen Qianyu both fell silent for a moment.

"Shall we... go in and take a look?"

The door was ajar, and a sign reading "Please come in" hung beside it. Saito didn't dither. He jotted down the contact number on the board, then lifted his foot and led Chen Qianyu into the house.

The place looked small from the outside and wasn't much roomier within. It was packed to the brim with all sorts of junk. Rather than somewhere to live, it looked more like a temporary storage room that had only just been cleared out to put them up.

And right in the middle of this cramped space, a recliner was rocking back and forth at a leisurely pace.

"Hello?"

Rock, rock~ Rock, rock~

"Excuse me?"

Rock, rock~ Rock, rock~

"Customers."

"Huh?!"

The instant he heard the word "customers," the person in the rocking chair shot upright, all the laziness from a moment ago swept away.

Only now did Saito and Little Chen get a look at the man himself.

He wore a very distinctive black coat, and a black hat covered most of his face. But the half of his cheek left exposed still gave away who he was.

Standing before them was a male Lung, a throwback to the old bloodlines.

"Tour group sign-ups pay over there."

At first glance the man didn't properly see the two in front of him. He just pointed toward the inner room, going through the motions. But he quickly snapped back to attention, because the person opposite him was one of his own kind too.

"You two... are the Catastrophe messengers Ivan asked me to take back to Lungmen?"

"..."

Funny thing, but what a familiar excuse.