Early this morning, no matter where you went, you could see news about the "giant fireworks" that appeared over Lungmen's slums last night.
People online across Lungmen were immediately fired up and were enthusiastically discussing the event one after another.
Only a small portion of people noticed that many incidents had been happening in the slums lately, and that Lungmen itself seemed to be getting a bit unstable.
Even so, that did not stop them from enjoying the spectacle. After all, if the sky fell, there would always be someone taller to hold it up.
"Sigh… this is exhausting."
A car stopped at a traffic light. Sitting in the passenger seat, Shirou looked at the nearby screens constantly broadcasting the news and the lively discussions around him, letting out a sigh.
The good news was that the "muscular Lupo" meme had been suppressed. He no longer had to feel secondhand embarrassment every time he heard news about himself.
The bad news was that he now seemed to have caught someone's attention.
His thoughts drifted back to last night, after he returned to the dorm.
As soon as he got back, he was greeted by several people with very "kind" expressions, especially Sora and Texas, whose gazes were particularly gentle.
Croissant, on the other hand, had a "just as I thought" look on her face.
As for Exusiai… her expression was full of "kindness," as if she wanted to have a very thorough discussion with Shirou, perhaps to expand her "path of explosions."
In the end, Shirou obediently sat down on a chair and received a proper "lecture" from the four of them.
Initially, they had not intended to interfere too much. But Shirou had caused increasingly large disturbances again and again.
Usually, he looked like a well-behaved person. But when he caused trouble, he went all out.
That description fit Shirou perfectly.
In the end, under their strong insistence, Shirou agreed to several rather strange conditions before they finally calmed down.
"Hmm… why did the boss suddenly call for you?"
Back in the present, Croissant leaned her head against the window from the back seat and asked.
"He said it was for breakfast and also to meet someone."
Shirou, sitting in the passenger seat recalled the events of the morning.
Earlier today, before he had even ordered breakfast, he received a call from the boss.
He was told to head over and that breakfast would be provided there.
If the others wanted to tag along for a free meal, they could as long as they did not arrive late. Apparently a "distinguished guest" wanted to meet him.
"You believe that? I certainly do not. If the boss really wanted to see someone, it would be at night, eat, party, sleep, wake up, work again. A perfect cycle."
Seeing that Shirou seemed to believe the boss's words, Exusiai spoke with a helpless expression.
"Maybe it is actually you they want to meet, Shirou? Could it be someone you knew before? But if it were someone from your past, why would they go through the boss first…"
Sitting between Croissant and Exusiai, Sora also began thinking it through. They were relatively free at the moment and since Texas was driving, chatting was the only way to pass the time.
As for using their phones… unless necessary, they usually avoided doing that in the car. It could easily cause motion sickness, especially in the morning on an empty stomach.
Incidentally, Sora had these past two days off. After several busy days, it was time to relax a bit.
After all, it was still just early-stage practice and rehearsals. There was no need to push too hard yet.
"Someone I knew… that seems unlikely."
Hearing Sora's suggestion, Shirou turned his gaze out the window.
That possibility was the least likely of all.
At least, he had no expectations for it.
"Do not make that face. It looks like we bullied you."
Seeing Shirou's melancholic expression, Croissant teased.
"No? Who was it that wanted to tie me to a chair yesterday? And when you could not find a rope, you wanted me to project one myself?"
Shirou glanced at Croissant through the rearview mirror, his tone full of resentment.
"Ahem, that is not bullying. That is called friendly bonding."
Croissant awkwardly looked away, avoiding his gaze.
After all, failing to find a rope and then asking the "victim" to provide one… was a bit…
She really needed to think of a way to make Shirou forget about that.
"Ridiculous sophistry."
Shirou responded with just two words.
"I think it is probably because of the commotion you caused last night. Someone must have taken notice of you."
From the driver's seat, Texas suddenly spoke up.
Most of the time just because she simply chose not to overthink things did not mean she lacked understanding.
"Hah… just thinking about it is troublesome. Good luck, Shirou."
Hearing Texas's analysis, Exusiai immediately felt a headache coming on.
Being noticed was one thing but if someone could reach him through the boss… they were definitely not ordinary.
Hopefully Shirou will be fine and still be able to cook dinner tonight.
"Hey! You gave up way too quickly! At least pretend to struggle a little!"
Seeing Exusiai already abandon him, Shirou felt utterly helpless.
He usually took such good care of them and yet the moment something happened they just abandoned him?
That was honestly a bit tragic.
Still, Shirou knew most of it was just joking. If they truly did not care about his safety, they would not have spent so long lecturing him last night.
So long that his head still felt a little swollen from it.
While Shirou was still nursing that headache, the car had already reached the area near the company.
The dormitory was not far from Penguin Logistics to begin with. If not for the fact that they would need to start deliveries right after eating, they would have just walked.
After all, driving meant no drinking at all…not even a little.
"Oh? Yith is here to greet us? That is rare."
Croissant spotted Yith standing near the entrance from a distance, looking no different than usual.
"Looks like he just finished working overtime, slept a bit and got dragged back up again."
But through Shirou's personal "filter," Yith looked extremely exhausted. In Shirou's mind, Yith was already synonymous with overtime and overwork.
"How can you even tell? Do not tell me…"
The others in the car were confused by Shirou's comment.
With Yith wrapped up like that, you could still tell?
That was not just good eyesight, something like that would require x-ray vision.
"It is just a guess. I could still hear him typing on his keyboard through my communication device before I went to sleep last night."
Amused by their strange line of thinking, Shirou added an explanation.
It was better than ending up with even more strange labels attached to him.
"That really is rough for him."
After hearing that, the others also began looking at Yith with the same "overworked" filter.
"What is it?"
Yith walked up to the car and he was puzzled by the somewhat complicated expressions on their faces.
It almost felt like they were pitying him…It must be his imagination.
"No, nothing. Is the boss already upstairs?"
Shirou quickly shook his head. If Yith found out he had been talking about him like that it would be awkward.
"The boss and Mr. Wei are both upstairs. Be a bit careful when you go up."
Hearing the question, Yith glanced at Shirou, then let out a sigh.
Shirou: "???"
Was that… a look of sympathy just now?
And who exactly was this "Mr. Wei"?
He genuinely had no idea.
"Mr. Wei…? It cannot be the Mr. Wei we are thinking of, right?"
After hearing Yith's words, Exusiai began to think.
If it was the one she knew, then Shirou might be in for some trouble.
"Yes. That Mr. Wei."
Yith emphasized it, just in case they made a fool of themselves later.
As for angering him, that was unlikely. Even if they did, their boss was not someone to be trifled with either.
"So… who exactly is this Mr. Wei?"
Listening to them go on about "that Mr. Wei," Shirou felt completely lost.
Who was it supposed to be? Everyone seemed to know him. Was he a regular client of Penguin Logistics?
"…It is better to not tell you for now. I would not want to put pressure on you."
After assessing Shirou's state, Yith figured that if he told him now Shirou might get so nervous he would not even be able to speak.
"I think not telling me puts even more pressure on me."
Seeing Yith's expression, Shirou knew he was just finding this amusing and deliberately keeping quiet.
Whoever it was, they had to be someone important. He would just stay calm and act as usual.
At least, that was what he told himself.
Even so, he still felt a tiny bit nervous.
And it was all Yith's fault.
"There is no need to thank me. Hurry up and go in. I will park the car."
After saying what needed to be said, Yith began ushering them along.
"This is so troublesome… should we just wait downstairs?"
Watching Yith drive off with the car, Croissant turned to the others.
She was mainly asking Exusiai, Sora, and Texas. After all, Shirou definitely had to go, the person they were meeting had come specifically for him.
The four of them had mostly come along to mooch breakfast.
But given the situation, it felt like this might not be such an easy free meal after all.
"I think that is fine."
Exusiai nodded in agreement.
She preferred eating happily, not in a tense heavy atmosphere. In that kind of mood, no matter how good the food was, it would end up tasting bad.
"I am fine either way."
Texas was more indifferent, wherever everyone else went she would go too.
"Uh, well… I…"
Seeing everyone's reactions, Sora felt a bit at a loss.
Agreeing with Croissant felt like abandoning Shirou but disagreeing would make her seem out of place.
"Then you all wait downstairs. I will try to come down quickly."
Noticing Sora's dilemma, Shirou suggested they wait below.
He did briefly consider forcing or persuading them to come along, but since the person upstairs only wanted to meet him, he decided not to drag them into it.
"Alright!"
Exusiai gave Shirou a thumbs-up.
"Honestly…"
Seeing how carefree she looked, Shirou sighed helplessly, then turned and walked into the elevator.
But the moment the elevator doors closed, Exusiai immediately changed her expression and said to the others, "Let us go up too."
"Did you not just say we would wait downstairs?"
Croissant was confused by the sudden switch.
"Oh come on, even if we do not want to sit through that kind of tense meal, we can still stand outside and cheer Shirou on!"
Exusiai said it with complete seriousness, though the grin on her face made it hard to take her at her word.
"You two really are something…"
Texas looked at Exusiai, who clearly wanted to stir things up and Croissant, who had already agreed to the plan, and felt a bit helpless.
"Texas, do you think Shirou will be alright?"
Compared to the cheerful pair, Sora was more worried.
"It should be fine. The boss is there too so do not worry."
Texas shook her head. She knew Sora was concerned that Shirou might be expelled from Lungmen.
But with the boss there as well, the worst-case scenario would not happen. She trusted him at least that much.
"I hope so."
Hearing that, Sora finally relaxed a little.
Meanwhile, Shirou took the elevator up to the floor where the boss was.
Saying he was not nervous would be a lie. Even meeting the boss alone made him feel pressure, let alone facing someone of high status as well.
Standing in front of the door, Shirou took a deep breath to steady himself before knocking.
"Come in."
Hearing the boss's voice, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Inside the room, besides the boss, there was also a… dragon?
At that moment, all of Shirou's psychological pressure disappeared.
Replaced by a lot of confusion.
There were simply too many things in this room worth commenting on.
A penguin and a dragon sitting at a dining table. The penguin holding a glass of red wine, the dragon holding a smoking pipe.
Even a Holy Grail War might not produce a scene like this.
"Why are you standing at the door? Are you overwhelmed by my presence? Hurry up and get in."
Seeing Shirou frozen at the entrance, the boss said while holding his wine.
"Ah? Oh…right."
Snapped back to his senses, Shirou quickly shut the door and walked over to stand behind the boss.
It was not that he did not want to sit.
There simply were no chairs here.
Good thing he left everyone else downstairs. Otherwise, lining up behind the boss would have been a bit crowded.
Wait… was that the boss's intention all along?
The more Shirou thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
While Shirou was lost in thought, "Mr. Wei" the ruler of Lungmen, Wei Yenwu set his pipe aside and fixed his gaze on Shirou.
His first instinct was that this person was dangerous but only if he chose to act. As long as he did not, Shirou seemed as docile as a tame animal.
That dispelled Wei Yenwu's initial thought of testing his abilities.
After all, with that penguin in between, directly creating hostility would not be wise.
This visit was mainly to take a look at the person who had stirred up waves in Lungmen again and again within just a few days.
His first impression?
Just as Emperor had said—a somewhat foolish fellow.
The chairs were right there to the side yet he made no move to take one.
Instead, he simply stood there behind Emperor?
Wei Yenwu could not help but feel that all the caution he had maintained toward this person these past few days had been a complete waste of effort.