Chapter 130: Disguise 3
Tolle looked at the money-grubbing middle-aged woman, Yasmin, and had no choice but to accept the batch of candy and pastries, saying:
"Alright then, I'll take these. But do you have any way to get high-quality parts and high-performance engines for Phantom Machines?
I want to modify our squad's Phantom Machines. Honestly, those things are in terrible shape and really need an upgrade."
"There are ways, of course. But… you know, the price might be a bit high. You'll need to be mentally prepared for that."
Tolle nodded. "Money isn't a problem. What matters is quality, and they have to be fast…"
After striking a deal with Yasmin, Tolle left her shop and went to General Jill to get a loan.
He planned to borrow a million or two, with a term of one year. By the time he faked his death and escaped, he wouldn't have to pay back a single coin.
Let her stew over it, staring in frustration—that thought alone was exhilarating.
Without hesitation, Tolle went straight to Arzenal's command center and bluntly said to Jill:
"General Jill, I'd like to borrow some money for a year.
You know our First Squad's Phantom Machines—aside from mine, the others are way too weak.
They all need major repairs, so…"
Jill looked at him sternly and said with a commanding presence:
"Zola, you've been acting a bit different lately. If you hadn't kept up your usual style, I might have thought you'd been replaced by someone else."
Tolle broke out in a cold sweat inside. Yet another tough woman to deal with. Why did he always run into women like this? Too terrifying.
Still, he forced himself to stay calm, put his arm around Jill's waist, and said with a smirk:
"General Jill, you know how it is—I just like to try something new. How about I repay you with my body? Heh, I promise you'll be satisfied."
Jill shoved him away immediately and sternly scolded him. But after Tolle's relentless pestering, she eventually lent him a large sum of money.
To maintain Zola's persona, he then had to go back to teasing and playing with Ersha and Salia.
Of course, it was only verbal flirting and a few wandering hands—nothing too far. After all, he planned to pursue them properly later under his real identity.
Within the squad, only Vivian and the mechanic Mei were spared from his antics—they were simply too young, and he wasn't about to cross that line.
Instead, he just gave them candy, trying to win a bit of favor.
Meanwhile, Tolle used the parts he bought from Yasmin to upgrade the squad's Phantom Machines.
Mechanic Mei grumbled endlessly, saying he was abusing child labor. But under the dual temptation of money and sweets, she eventually gave in obediently.
With her help, the squad's Phantom Machines were all boosted from their original D- or C-grade up to a unified C+. At least now, he and his subordinates could fly with a bit more safety and comfort.
Tolle also secretly installed PS armor, a Mirage system, and a hidden transparent sealed canopy on his own Phantom Machine.
He hated discomfort—flying at supersonic speed with sea wind blasting in his face? Ridiculous.
What, a closed cockpit can't be sexy? How shallow.
Over the next ten days or so, whenever there were no missions, Tolle alternated spending time with Hilda, Rosalie, and Chris.
During that time, the dragons attacked this world again, and Tolle piloted Zola's Phantom Machine to confront them.
Even though he'd lived among the dragons for months, he showed no mercy on the battlefield.
After all, it was a fight to the death. The dragon women were no longer gentle; if they caught him, he'd be torn to pieces.
And he wasn't about to risk his life out of sympathy—that would be suicidal. Kill when it's necessary. That was their fate from the start.
Saving them? Out of the question. This was war. He wasn't Winnie the Pooh—why bother?
This time, only a medium-sized male dragon and a horde of pink female dragons appeared—no real pressure.
On the battlefield, Tolle transformed his Phantom Machine into destroyer form, wielding dual machine guns. Using the Macross-style full-volley tactics, he swiftly mowed down the nearby pink dragon females.
The male dragon, enraged, charged at Tolle's Phantom Machine.
Tolle fired a volley of rounds, but just like in the anime, the dragon's shield deflected them all.
Then the dragon launched a swarm of glittering, scale-like projectiles from its body. They gleamed as they automatically tracked him.
"Damn it, this isn't honorable combat at all—it's worse than floating cannons!" Tolle cursed, forced to switch his Phantom Machine into flight mode. He dodged at high speed while shooting down the scales with his machine guns.
Thanks to his "superior" piloting skills and the Phantom Machine's agility, he circled around the dragon and fired a freezing round.
Instantly, frost spread across the beast's body, covering half of it in ice.
Then Hilda, Rosalie, and Chris charged in and unleashed their own freezing rounds, encasing the entire dragon in ice.
The four of them unleashed a barrage, shredding the frozen dragon into a honeycomb.
Afterward, his subordinates collected the dragonstones from the corpses. Tolle dug a pit, tossed the dragon remains inside, and cremated them.
It was, in some small way, a final gesture of respect.
But Tolle secretly kept some of the dragonstones for Nami, letting her absorb them to see if they could enhance her level and maybe let him use mana-based magic.
He discovered that these were indeed special energy crystals. With their aid, he could use abilities similar to psychokinesis.
Unfortunately, without sufficient intel and technology on "mana," progress was limited. He'd need advanced data and techniques to truly wield magic through dragonstones.
After all, in this world, magic existed thanks to the dragon progenitor Aura, who could use mana magic. Embryo made sure her mana never ran dry by periodically feeding her dragonstones.
But the Misurugi Empire was far away, its location unknown. By the time his nanotech bio-animals reached it, he might already have returned home.
Suddenly, Tolle thought of Emma Bronson—the human inspector assigned to Arzenal, and the only Mana user there.
One dark, windy night, he snuck into Emma's room, hypnotized her completely, and rifled through her mind.
He did manage to extract some techniques for using mana—but the critical intel was still missing. No real breakthrough.
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