Across this vast wilderness, a sudden roar shattered the surrounding silence. If anyone were watching from afar, they would see a vehicle kicking up clouds of yellow dust as it barreled across the deserted wasteland.
Calling it a car was an understatement; it was more like a flying craft with its wings clipped. The only major difference was that it lacked a fuselage, which resulted in it "flying" dangerously low to the ground.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jeanne's face was currently a shade of iron-blue. If she weren't worried about disturbing the lunatic beside her, she would have snatched the steering wheel back by force. Jeanne cursed herself inwardly for whatever "kindness" had possessed her to let a boozed-up Lemuen touch the wheel. Now the woman had completely cut loose—someone, please save her!
Just moments ago, a slightly intoxicated Lemuen had been pestering her to drive. Having no other choice, Jeanne had relented, letting her take over in a stretch of land where there wasn't so much as a single tree to hit.
But who could have predicted this woman had such a childish side? Jeanne finally understood who the "problem child" Lemuen often mentioned took after—you two really are family!
"Blargh... Lemuen, I'm telling you... if I ever let... urgh... a drunk you... touch a steering wheel again... I'll... bleh... slice up Talulah's tail and eat it like sashimi!"
After some time had passed, a now-sober Lemuen looked apologetically at Jeanne, who looked like she was about to vomit out her own gallbladder, along with the "rainbows" she was currently producing.
It took quite a while for Jeanne's complexion to recover. Even so, she was nowhere near as radiant as she had been before the trip; her face was currently whiter than when she was in her "Dark" state.
"I've truly had my eyes opened today. I have never seen anyone drive like you before. As of today, I, Jeanne, am willing to name you the strongest in the world of street racing."
After returning to the car, Jeanne looked as if a female ghost (Hoshiguma: ?) had sucked out her soul. She slumped into the seat, staring blankly at the scenery ahead with hollow eyes.
However, through this ordeal, she discovered a small "bug" in her Revelation—or rather, a bug in how she used it. Before handing the wheel to Lemuen, she had specifically used Revelation to ask if anything bad would happen to the car. The response was that "no accidents would occur."
But Jeanne had forgotten to ask an extremely important question: What would happen to her as a passenger? If she had, she wouldn't have ended up in this state.
"I'm here worrying about Talulah, but I should probably worry about whether I'll reach Lungmen alive! At this rate, I'll meet the Big Boss in Heaven before I ever see the city gates..."
Jeanne rolled over and continued muttering to herself. Lemuen felt the aura around Jeanne turning a bit dark. Nevertheless, she asked tentatively:
"How about... you rest in the back for a while, and I'll keep driving? Don't worry, I am definitely sober now. If another problem occurs, let the halo on my head shine ten times brighter!"
Lemuen gave an embarrassed smile to the suffering Jeanne. If her parents knew she had tormented the Saint like this, they would likely hang her up and beat her.
Jeanne looked at Lemuen, her heart screaming: You actually want to drive again?! However, seeing Lemuen's sincere expression of remorse, she agreed. Perhaps it was more because her Revelation now told her they would arrive in Lungmen safely. Seeing Jeanne nod, Lemuen regained her usual vitality and grabbed the wheel once more. This time, thankfully, her driving was steady.
"You should be grateful. If this godforsaken place had laws against drunk driving, I'd have thrown you straight into the local Guard Department and maybe paid to bail you out later."
Jeanne spoke with a hint of lingering anger before collapsing into the back seat to rest. Starting the trip with this kind of nonsense made Jeanne feel that this journey to Lungmen was definitely not going to be simple.
Meanwhile, inside the Lungmen Guard Department (LGD)
Ch'en looked at the members of Penguin Logistics, who had been brought in again for who-knows-what crime, and felt a surge of irritation that she had nowhere to vent.
"What did those three do this time? Weren't they just caught a couple of days ago? It's only been a few days and they're back—do they really think the Guard Department is their home?"
Ch'en turned to ask Hoshiguma, who stood considerably taller than her. Ch'en had stepped out to handle some affairs, only to return and find these three playing "Fight the Landlord" inside a holding cell.
"You're actually wronging them this time. They got into a conflict with a group of foreign mobsters while delivering goods. They were brought in to assist us in investigating the background of those people."
"Assisting an investigation doesn't require locking them in a cell, does it? What, did they miss this room so much they requested it?"
Ch'en looked at the three girls, who were playing so intently they practically treated the two officers as air. Normally, assisting an investigation involved a few questions before letting people go.
"They smashed quite a lot of things along the way. Luckily, there were no casualties. Considering they were dealing with a mob dispute, we'll let Penguin Logistics take them once they pay the fines."
Hoshiguma gave Ch'en a brief report, though she omitted a few details. For instance, the reckless overtaking, running red lights, and speeding. Since it happened in the slums and didn't affect other districts, they let it slide. If Ch'en knew they had committed those infractions, there would be no end to the lecturing and stress.
Besides, such things were pointless; even if Ch'en complained to Wei Yenwu, there was little they could do besides fining them. After all, that was the slums—a place the LGD couldn't fully control.
"Mobsters again. How many gang incidents is this for the month? I feel like the frequency of these disturbances has been getting worse lately."
At this, Ch'en irritably flicked her tail. Because it was the slums, that old fellow Wei Yenwu had repeatedly blocked her attempts to investigate the area. Ch'en and Wei Yenwu had many arguments over this, but the result was always the same: the LGD was to stay out of slum business as much as possible.
"This matter is neither big nor small. Come look at this; if it weren't for them, we might not have realized there was a problem with these things."
With a serious expression, Hoshiguma led Ch'en to the evidence room. Inside were several modified crossbows. Strangely, despite being made of metal, the crossbows didn't reflect any light under the room's illumination.
Hoshiguma picked one up and handed it to Ch'en. As Ch'en examined them, Hoshiguma asked, "Well? See anything?"
Ch'en's expression shifted from confusion to grim seriousness. She turned the crossbow over, eventually dismantling it into individual components for closer inspection. Her face grew paler by the second.
"This is an Ursus military-grade crossbow, though the serial numbers have been filed off. They were just a group of foreign mobsters... where on earth did they get their hands on equipment like this?"
Ch'en's face was dark. She hadn't expected to find Ursus military weaponry on Yan soil, let alone right here in Lungmen. What shook her even more was that if Hoshiguma hadn't caught them red-handed today, the LGD would still be completely in the dark.