"Ah~ Ah~~ Apple pie~"
Inside Penguin Logistics' vehicle, Exusiai sat in the passenger seat humming a tune. She personally thought she sounded pretty good, though the fact that the other three people in the car were all wearing headphones or earplugs already explained everything.
Even so, she continued humming happily, mainly because she was in a pretty good mood today.
It was the Remembrance Day! All the decorations filling the streets made the whole city feel like one giant party.
This feeling of partying out on the streets was amazing, alright?
The only slight disappointment was probably that the boss had sold Shirou off again, leaving them dependent on takeout food for the past few days.
Still, that tiny regret meant absolutely nothing to her! As long as she had apple pie, everything else was merely seasoning for daily life!
"The Guard Department sure is busy... I have already lost count of how many of their cars have sped past like this."
As the only person capable of clearly hearing outside sounds, Exusiai reminded Texas after hearing the sirens of another Guard Department vehicle rushing out on duty.
Just hearing that sound made her feel depressed, since Shirou had been constantly busy with Guard Department work lately. Even after returning to the dormitory, he spent most of his time resting.
He looked exactly like her parents after work, collapsing into sleep the moment they got home.
"Yeah, there have been quite a few."
After turning on the signal light, Texas smoothly guided the vehicle to the side to make way for the Guard Department car, casually responding to Exusiai at the same time.
With nobody around to keep them under control these past few days, the fluorescent tube and croissant had already forgotten the fear of being dominated, leaving Texas and Sora, who had gotten used to peaceful daily life, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Still, they had lived like this before, so they could endure it for now.
Once Shirou came back, everything would improve again.
"Huh? The person in that car looked like Shirou?"
Because she had been talking with Texas, Exusiai had a clear view of the Guard Department vehicle overtaking them from the left side.
Naturally, she also spotted the red-haired figure in the passenger seat, clinging tightly to the handle above the window while leaning extremely close to the glass.
And the combination of "Guard Department" and "red hair" instantly made Exusiai think of Shirou.
Mainly because that black-and-red outfit of his was far too eye-catching.
"I think so."
Texas had also glanced over briefly and seen him, though she did not seem particularly interested.
She had no desire to get too involved with the Guard Department again, lest she end up getting arrested and lose access to a good meal.
"So... should we follow them?"
The chaos-loving Exusiai proposed the idea while dragging the two people in the back seat into the vote as well.
In the end, Exusiai and Croissant, the two troublemakers, voted to follow them, while Texas and Sora did not want to disturb Shirou while he was working.
Unfortunately, Texas and Sora ultimately could not outlast the combined persistence of the troublemaking duo, and reluctantly gave in.
However, they agreed beforehand that they could follow along, but they absolutely could not interfere with Guard Department operations.
"Driving this fast, it has got to be a major case!"
Seeing the chance for entertainment, Croissant in the back seat decisively abandoned both her headphones and her phone, focusing all her attention on the distant Guard Department vehicle ahead.
With Texas' driving skills, keeping up was completely possible. However, to avoid being discovered, Exusiai and Croissant, the ones who proposed this idea, could only watch the general direction of the vehicle while Texas concentrated fully on driving.
If they lost track of the car, then the matter would simply end there. To prevent that from happening, Exusiai and Croissant were watching the movements of the Guard Department vehicle ahead with extreme focus.
"Seriously... the only times you two ever get this serious are moments like these."
Sora, sitting nearby, felt a headache coming on because of her two teammates.
And those two had not even clearly seen the person. They had simply spotted red hair and immediately concluded it was Shirou. If they turned out to be mistaken, would that not become incredibly awkward?
Still, that was very much in line with Penguin Logistics' spirit, so all she could do was hope Exusiai and Croissant would not cause trouble later.
Meanwhile, inside the Guard Department vehicle...
"So, um... Officer Chen, could you maybe slow down a little? At this rate I am worried we are going to get into an accident before we even arrive."
Having already changed into his Mystic Code and clutching the safety handle with both hands as though his life depended on it, Shirou spoke nervously.
Things had definitely not been like this just moments ago! Officer Chen had not been driving this fast earlier!
It was only after Shirou received another update from the office operators that Chen suddenly accelerated again.
Arriving quickly to provide support was one thing, but the problem was that she kept weaving left and right to avoid surrounding vehicles!
It was not even a matter of motion sickness. Shirou was genuinely worried they were going to crash. At this speed, even scraping another vehicle could cause severe injuries! A direct collision would be disastrous.
"I know my limits. Relax."
Chen answered immediately after hearing Shirou's complaint.
Even so, she still slowed down slightly.
After overhearing Shirou's conversation with the Rhodes Island operators earlier, she had become somewhat impulsive.
The person directing those infected chasing after the medicine apparently was among them.
That was an extremely important lead, and she had no intention of letting it slip away.
If earlier she had merely intended to provide support, now she was fully focused on catching whoever was behind this and extracting information from them.
So much of the Guard Department's recent workload might very well have been caused by this person!
This was the individual ruining Lungmen's public order!
The more she thought about it, the harder Chen pressed the accelerator again, causing the vehicle's speed to rise once more.
"...Drive safely!"
At this point, Shirou had already given up trying to persuade her.
How had he never noticed before? Officer Chen was also the type of person who would listen to advice... only to forget it shortly afterward.
He had already reminded her several times, and she really did slow down each time, but before long the speed would creep back up again.
That made things troublesome.
Still, as they drew closer to the slums, traffic became much lighter, so Shirou eventually stopped trying to remind her anymore.
Instead of wasting energy worrying about the outside world, he might as well focus on receiving the latest information from the office. Once he had something else occupying his attention, his anxiety lessened considerably.
At this point, he could only trust in Officer Chen's driving skills!
Once all this was over, he was definitely signing up for driving lessons himself!
Wearing his Mystic Code, Shirou finally realized just how important it was to know how to drive personally.
"I am switching the communicator channel..."
Having calmed down somewhat, Shirou reached out and adjusted the communication frequency, quickly connecting to the Rhodes Island office channel.
"This is Shirou. Can anyone hear me?"
After establishing the connection, Shirou first confirmed whether the communication channel was functioning properly.
"This is the A4 Reserve Operations Team."
Melantha's voice came through the communicator in Shirou's hand. Although her voice sounded calm, after spending so much time around the group, Shirou could still sense that her tone differed slightly from usual.
"Where are you right now? Do you have a plan in place?"
After confirming there were no technical issues, Shirou skipped unnecessary chatter and immediately asked about their current location and operational plans.
"Yes! I will explain the situation first!"
The one replying was not Melantha, but someone from the office.
It was not that Shirou had ignored incoming information earlier. The issue was that only around ten minutes had passed since Minmin's initial phone call, and the Rhodes Island office communication network did not have especially wide coverage. Minmin had only been able to briefly summarize the situation at the time.
Right now, Shirou merely had a basic understanding of the operation. Only after joining the channel directly did he finally become fully synchronized with the ongoing mission.
"...Understood. I have a Guard Department officer with me. We will head to the designated location immediately."
After hearing the operator's explanation, both Shirou and Chen understood the office's intended course of action.
Simply put, the strategy revolved around an ambush.
At present, the initiative regarding the convoy's movement route was still in the hands of the A4 Reserve Operations Team's vehicle carrying the medicine. The infected pursuing them wanted to seize the medicine, not destroy it, so they were still using relatively restrained methods.
However, there was a limit to that patience. Once the pursuers lost their temper, the medicine transport vehicle would be in real danger.
"No! We are going to surround them directly! Continue with your current plan, while we move in from the outside as a backup option. That way we can reduce the danger to the lowest possible level."
Chen suddenly spoke while driving, her voice clearly transmitting through the communicator to everyone on the other end.
"Understood! Then we will leave it to you!"
Neither the office personnel nor the members of the A4 Reserve Operations Team had any objections to Chen's proposal.
This method greatly increased the safety of their personnel, but the tradeoff was that all the operational pressure would fall onto Shirou's side.
Chen naturally understood that. To her, this level of pressure was nothing serious.
As for Shirou, he obviously had no complaints either. In fact, the strategy Chen proposed fit his combat style perfectly.
After confirming the operation plan, Melantha continuously updated their current position while Chen relied on her understanding of the slum streets to drive around and intercept them.
"I will move up for sniper support."
Once they were close enough, Shirou directly opened the car window and skillfully climbed onto the roof.
Chen had already agreed to this beforehand, so Shirou did not feel much psychological burden while doing it.
The only issue was that without the safety handle, his sense of security dropped significantly. He could only rely on his own balance to keep himself steady.
As for projecting ropes to tie himself to the roof?
That would certainly feel safer, but if they came under attack later, he might not be able to react in time.
After weighing the options, Shirou ultimately chose to trust his own balance.
Once he leapt onto the roof, his field of vision widened considerably. The several vehicles ahead chasing the A4 Reserve Operations Team immediately came into sight.
Naturally, the Penguin Logistics vehicle following behind also did not escape Shirou's notice.
"..."
The moment he saw the Penguin Logistics vehicle, Shirou's first thought was to project suction-cup arrows and shoot them to force the vehicle to stop following.
But after another thought, they might also be there for work-related reasons, so he simply ignored them.
At least he could confirm they were not enemies. Besides, the people of Penguin Logistics could take care of themselves, so there was no need for him to worry.
Half-kneeling on the roof of the car, Shirou fully drew the black longbow in his hands and directly shot through the tires of the two vehicles ahead.
Sharp and piercing screeching sounds rang out as both vehicles suddenly suffered blowouts while moving at high speed, causing them to lose balance and flip over.
Even after overturning, the vehicles did not stop immediately. They slid for some distance before finally crashing into nearby objects and coming to a halt.
No innocent bystanders were harmed.
Shirou was fully aware of the consequences of blowing out tires at high speeds, so he had already confirmed beforehand that nobody else was nearby.
The only things damaged were the wall of a nearby building and the people inside those two vehicles.
After the two cars overturned, the remaining vehicles immediately began swerving unpredictably, apparently attempting to avoid being sniped.
The reason they had not noticed Shirou immediately was because of the distance between them. Without looking carefully, it was nearly impossible to spot him.
They knew about Shirou already, since some of the people they had sent previously had crossed paths with him before.
But only after personally experiencing this kind of attack range would someone truly understand how disgusting it was to deal with.
"They have slowed down. Melantha, can you shake them off? If not, head toward an unpopulated area. I will handle the rest."
Watching the vehicles begin swerving left and right, Shirou did not rush to fire another volley.
It was not because he could not hit them. He was simply worried about injuring civilians.
The enemy also seemed to realize Shirou was hesitant to attack when civilians were nearby, so they quickly resumed driving normally.
"Understood. No problem!"
After receiving Shirou's instructions, Melantha responded immediately.
The vehicle carrying the medicine began heading toward an uninhabited district, while the pursuers seemed to notice something strange and split off in different directions.
In the end, aside from the first two overturned vehicles, Officer Chen and Shirou managed to stop another three cars, while the remaining vehicles took the opportunity to flee farther away.
Once they reached populated areas again, Shirou no longer dared to forcefully stop them without restraint, so there was nothing else he could do.
As for license plates?
Anyone committing robbery in the slums was obviously not foolish enough to use real plates.
And even if they did have them, the vehicles were probably stolen anyway, making investigation largely meaningless.
So they could only begin interrogating the people they had already captured.
Because this was the slums, and because the Guard Department itself lacked spare manpower, Chen decided to personally handle the matter.
She was a professional, after all.
With assistance from the Rhodes Island office operators, all the captured people were transported to the office training grounds.
The area was spacious enough to hold many people and would not disturb the infected patients currently receiving treatment inside the office.
While Chen interrogated the captured suspects, Shirou was busy lecturing the members of Penguin Logistics.
Although they had helped dig the criminals out earlier, following a Guard Department vehicle like that was absolutely unacceptable.
"Do not rush toward excitement just because it looks interesting! What if you had been mistaken for accomplices?"
Holding a projected long ruler in his hand, Shirou spoke to them with a stern expression.
That situation genuinely could have happened.
When being followed unexpectedly during an operation like that, the first reaction would naturally be to classify the followers as accomplices as well.
Thankfully, the vehicle they were driving had the Penguin Logistics logo on it. Otherwise, Shirou might very well have treated them as accomplices and blown out their tires too.
If that had really happened, things would have become incredibly awkward for him.