Chapter 214: Old Lin You*Censored Lungmen Vulgarities* (Patreon)

"So what are you looking at?"

Saito had been curious about it for a while now. The Administrator had been staring at her personal terminal since before Talulah arrived.

"Things at Valley IV."

"Nefarith?"

Saito's gaze sharpened at once. It had been a while since the Captain and Yelena went over to help. Even by Talos II's clock, it was closing in on a week or more.

In that time, the Bonekrusher Clan under Nefarith had kept harassing the settlements and facilities around Valley IV. Luckily the offensives so far hadn't been strong and had all been held off, but even so, the surrounding civilians had suffered no small amount of disruption.

"We haven't taken any serious losses yet, but Nefarith herself still hasn't shown her face, and they haven't used that power that can control the Hyperdomain, either."

The Administrator's tone was grave. Clearly this was what worried them most. The Bonekrusher Clan wasn't a difficult enemy. Nefarith was the real problem.

"The Wulfgard have been asking around among the Landbreaker clans for ages, but they still know nothing about her. It's like this woman just popped into existence on Talos II."

Every sign said this wasn't a good omen.

"Thanks to the Yeti Squadron and the huge amount of resources we've supplied, we haven't hit any real trouble so far. But we can't keep going like this. Maybe we'll have to take the initiative."

The Frozen Plains mining operation had grown to an absurd scale by now. The Administrator had even developed a brand-new surface Originium extraction rig for harvesting the exposed Originium left behind after Catastrophes. The Northlands base was still far too crude compared to the facilities on Talos II, but Terra's Originium reserves were simply too rich to pass up.

"Agreed."

Saito went along with the idea.

"I was just discussing the next steps with Perlica and the others. Bozkasti hasn't been exposed yet, so we can catch Nefarith and her people completely off guard."

This had been the Administrator's proposal from the start: have the shield guards repaint their gear in Order of Steel Oath colors and move in disguise, while the Captain acts only as a rear commander and saves a nice big surprise for Nefarith at the critical moment.

"That's my girl!"

Saito gave her a thumbs-up. Truly, her deviousness knew no bounds.

The Administrator accepted his praise with great satisfaction.

"The arrangements over there are mostly settled. The important thing is that this has given us a wake-up call, both about Nefarith's people and about the rifts appearing in the north."

"Maybe we need to upgrade our war readiness a bit."

The Administrator rubbed her chin with one hand. She had a few calculations of her own on this. Most of Talos II's technology was far ahead of present-day Terra, but that didn't mean Terra's technology had nothing worth taking.

In fact, most of the team that crossed the Stargate back then had been scientists from various nations. Terra's cutting-edge military power in this era wasn't actually bad, and on top of that, the planet was full of legacies from a prior civilization.

Oh, right. And then there were those colossal beasts and the Proxies…

The Administrator tilted her head and looked at Saito beside her. Maybe she should take Saito out for more walks from now on. He always managed to surprise her in that department.

"Administrator, are you thinking something not-so-nice?"

There was a mask in the way, but Saito still caught something off in the gaze fixed on him. But this was the Administrator. Without so much as a blush or a skipped heartbeat, she shook her head.

"Nope~"

"Really?"

He was still a little suspicious, but he didn't press. Whatever she was scheming, she wouldn't hurt him.

Just then, the conversation in the other room seemed to wind down as well. At the sound of the door opening, all three of them looked over together.

Talulah and Ch'en Hui-chieh came out one after the other. Both of them looked back to normal, or at least Saito couldn't spot anything wrong.

"Done talking?"

"Mm."

Talulah nodded with a smile.

"Next, I'm thinking of taking Hui-chieh out for a walk. Do you want to come along?"

Tsss—

Faced with Talulah's invitation, Saito sucked in a sharp breath inside. His human instinct for gossip badly wanted him to nod, but in the end he painfully turned down the tempting offer.

"Nah, I won't play third wheel." Saito tossed out the first excuse that came to mind. "The Administrator and I still have some things to do."

"Oh, right. If you're going out, take this with you."

He tossed Talulah a palm-sized device that looked like an earpiece. He had seen this coming the moment she said she wanted to come to Lungmen. To keep Wei Yenwu from being startled into a panic by Talulah suddenly appearing, this little gadget would hide her identity.

Talulah caught it and put it on. Her appearance instantly changed into that of an ordinary Victorian.

"Thanks."

With a smile and a word of thanks, Talulah and Ch'en Hui-chieh left together.

…

…

"Lord Wei, Miss left from there."

Back in the office at the Governor's Residence, Wei Yenwu sat in his chair with one hand propped against his forehead, listening quietly to the Shadow Guard's report.

"The targets didn't accompany her, but there's an unfamiliar Victorian face at Miss's side now."

"What do the records say?"

Wei Yenwu asked in a low voice.

"Lord Wei, there's no entry record at all for that Victorian. Shall I notify the Guard Department?"

"No need."

Wei Yenwu shook his head, a headache building. Knowing that younger brother of his as he did, he would never stoop to such a cheap trick.

What he couldn't make sense of was this: he'd already had someone bring Chixiao to Lungmen, and still the other side had made no move against him.

Ever since he'd learned that news, he hadn't had a single moment of peaceful sleep these past two days. The longer they held still, the more afraid Wei Yenwu became.

"Heh. I really am getting worse with age."

Wei Yenwu mocked himself, a bitter smile dragged across his face.

"You really are getting worse with age."

"W-Wen Yue? What are you doing here?"

His wife's voice rang out right in front of him. A flash of panic crossed Wei Yenwu's face, but the next moment he put on a calm front.

"What? My husband hasn't come home for two nights in a row, and I'm not allowed to come see for myself?"

Wen Yue wore a faint smile, but to Wei Yenwu's eyes it sent a chill down his spine.

"Uh, actually, something came up these past two days, and I went to Old Lin's…"

Wei Yenwu watched her walk slowly closer. He'd barely started making his excuse when he saw Wen Yue pull out her phone and press a button. Lin Kojui's hearty voice boomed from the speaker.

"Old Wei? How would I know? He came by the day before yesterday, had a cup of tea, and ran off."

"Go on. Keep talking."

Watching the smile slowly vanish from Wen Yue's face, Wei Yenwu began cursing Lin Kojui up and down in his head.

Old Lin, you Lungmen profanity, don't think I'll ever cover for you again.