"How did you do it, Bailey??!!"
Sora asked while hugging Lucas.
"I just used some super (cash) power."
Lucas was squeezed tightly, his words muffled.
For matters like this that could be solved with money, Lucas naturally, reflexively asked Jessica. In the past, Lucas felt a bit bad about troubling Jessica so much, but gradually... mm~ this freeloading really feels good.
This was.
Like roommates in a college dorm. When school just started, they weren't familiar with each other. Never mind helping to grab food, even asking to turn off a light or borrow something required using polite words like "please," "okay," "can you," fearing they might annoy the other person. But after half a year, or even less, the "please" and "okay" were gradually replaced with "Dad! Get your son some food." The previous embarrassment gradually turned into shamelessness.
The relationship between Lucas and Jessica had become like this.
So naturally, there was no such thing as freeloading.
It's a matter of mutual support~
How can this be called freeloading?
They were so close, how could it be called freeloading?
Besides.
Of course, helping Sora was also a given. Even if Lucas didn't say anything, if Jessica found out about Sora's current situation, she would probably take action immediately. However, to avoid being exposed, which would lead to Sora's social death and his own embarrassment, Lucas had specially instructed Jessica not to let anyone know it was Raythean Industries' doing. Otherwise, if Sora knew Raythean Industries was behind it, she would naturally think of Jessica, and easily deduce that *he* had asked Jessica to do it.
After confirming it was indeed Bailey's doing.
Sora let out a huge sigh of relief.
She didn't go to work, instead staying to chat with Lucas. However, around noon, Sora received a phone call, and a trace of surprise appeared on her face.
It was her former agent, Ms. Zhang.
The gist was that the head office's Chairman had been carried out of the company, chair and all. After the new Chairman took office, they took a liking to her talent for cultivating idols and decisively transferred her back to her original position, and even gave her some other new idols to manage.
After learning her original agent was reinstated, the smile on Sora's face grew wider. This was great news! And with a new Chairman, the new broom sweeps clean. They would definitely need to reorganize the rules and regulations. Many of these agents actually held significant power and positions within the company, so they naturally needed to attend meetings.
And according to Sora's original agent.
She had been working too hard recently. Although she had been transferred, she had been keeping an eye on Sora, and it pained her to see the once youthful and lively Sora on stage gradually losing her smile. So, she had decisively pushed off many collaborations and independently decided to give Sora a month-long vacation to rest well.
"Ahhh! Long live Sister Zhang!!"
Seeing she actually had a vacation, Sora started hugging her phone and rolling around on the bed, looking nothing like her idol persona, just like an ordinary girl who had just found out she had a holiday.
"Bailey!! What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you!!"
Sora picked up Lucas with both hands, spinning around happily.
"Uh... I don't need to eat."
"Oh... right."
Since she had a month off, she had time to go on the commission with Exu, Tex, and the others. Although commissions were exhausting, for Sora, being able to be with her good friends made it worth it, no matter how tiring.
Sora quickly called Texas to tell her the situation. To celebrate, the other three girls from Penguin Logistics decided to come over to Sora's place tonight.
——————
Three days later.
Sora gathered on time at the Penguin Logistics company building. Exusiai, Texas, and Croissant were already waiting downstairs.
"Sora!!"
Exusiai waved her arms, but then she froze.
It wasn't just Exusiai; everyone couldn't help but freeze. Because Sora was holding a teddy bear doll.
However, this teddy bear doll seemed much smaller than the one at Sora's house.
The doll at her house was about the size of a large backpack, but this one was tiny, a bit bigger than her palm, small enough to be held in one hand.
????
"Sora, you... why did you bring the teddy bear? And... I remember... the one at your house wasn't this small, right?"
Exusiai stood in front of Sora, poking Lucas's nose with her slender finger.
Sora was startled and quickly made Lucas dodge Exusiai's 'demonic claw'.
"I have several of this style at home. I'm used to bringing a Bailey with me when I go out now."
"Oh~"
The three of them didn't think much of it.
After all, they were very, very close friends, so there was nothing to be suspicious about. Besides, it's very common to bring something you like with you when you go out. For example, no matter where Texas went, she was used to bringing a bunch of Pocky. Exusiai really, really liked apple pie, so she had someone custom-make a small apple-pie-shaped keychain to hang on her belt. And because she yearned for a sniper rifle, but ultra-long-range sniper rifles were extremely rare even in Laterano, as rare as a Pontifica Cohors's revolver.
So, Exusiai naturally couldn't own one.
For Exusiai, her biggest wish was to own an ultra-long-range sniper rifle. If anyone could get one for her, Exusiai would probably be willing to do anything.
Therefore, Exusiai had also found a craftsman to make a sniper rifle model pendant to carry with her.
As for Croissant, she was much simpler.
When she went out, especially on commissions, she was used to folding large-denomination Lungmen Dollars and sewing them into her clothes. Croissant felt that this way, she would be protected by the money, blessing her to earn even more money.
Since everyone was here.
Everyone got into the vehicle and, according to the commission's address, drove towards Iberia.
Iberia is located in the south of Terra, quite a distance from Lungmen. Furthermore, there's no dedicated highway between Lungmen and Iberia. Although on the boundless wilderness, they could floor the accelerator without a care—after all, the wilderness was so vast, you could even drive with your eyes closed and not get into an accident. Theoretically, the driving speed was even faster than on a highway.
After all, no matter how fast a highway is, it's still a road; you can't really go as fast as you want. But in the wilderness, you can.
Plus, with Texas's old-pro driver talent, she could average over 100 km/h in the wilderness, sometimes even hitting over 200 km/h. It was ridiculously fast, a speed that could already rival many high-speed trains from his previous life, and even surpassed the old "green-skinned" trains. Only when it got dark and visibility was poor would she slow down to 30 or 40.
This commission was from a mafia family in Siracusa. This family was quite famous in Siracusa, called [Famiglia Venezia].
Hm??
Famiglia Venezia?
Lucas, pretending to be a doll, was stunned.
*This family... isn't this the family Lisa's mother was originally from? Ah, this... what a coincidence.*
Along the way, the four girls chatted and laughed nonstop, as usual. Of course, when four girls get together, they naturally chat about gossip.
Although Texas had already forbidden Exusiai from asking about Sora's personal affairs, Exusiai still couldn't help but want to know, though her inquiries were very subtle.
For example.
"Sora! Sora! What kind of guy do you like?"
"..."
"Sora! If one day, a really, really old geezer suddenly gives me the sniper rifle of my dreams and asks me to be his girlfriend, what should I do? Should I agree? But I *really* want that sniper rifle."
"How old? Like, 80 or 90?"
"Er... just really old, maybe many years older."
"Up to you."
Seeing Sora didn't seem to want to discuss these things, Exusiai wisely changed the topic.
"Discussing, by the way... do you guys know about Lucas and Jessica's relationship?"
Exusiai's eyes widened.
"A couple, obviously."
Texas said without even thinking. Sora clutched her heart as if she'd been stabbed.
"Indeed."
Croissant nodded.
"It's easy to see. They're already so close. I wouldn't believe it if they weren't a couple. Though, I saw back in Siesta that quite a few girls seemed to like Lucas. A lot, actually."
"But, compared to Lucas, I prefer Miss Jessica's... money!"
"Mhm! Miss Jessica is too rich! So much money, never mind earning it, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it. Do you know how much that big villa they stayed at in Siesta costs per night?"
"Hundreds of thousands a night!"
"Holy crap, I can't even imagine!!"
"Sigh~ When will I ever be that rich..."
After that, because they were all close girlfriends and no one else was around, the four of them chatted without any restraint.
The topics of discussion were mostly Lucas, Jessica...
"By the way, is a god like Lucas immortal? Doesn't that mean we'll all be long gone, but he'll still look the same?"
"Do you guys think, between Lucas and Miss Jessica... *cough cough*... you know, *that*. But how does a spirit body..."
And Lucas, pretending to be a doll lying in Sora's backpack, was silently listening to the girls chat about him. He never expected the gossip to turn to himself, and the topics they were discussing were getting stranger and stranger.
Lucas's "gossip-eating" face gradually went from calm to conflicted.
Ridiculous!
This is just too ridiculous!
He just hoped.
If one day.
These four girls found out that *he* was Lucas, would they be so mortified by the social death that they'd wish they could crawl into a hole?
It took about six days.
The group finally arrived in Iberia from Lungmen.
Due to Iberia's location, its architectural style was completely different from the inland countries.
Lucas had been to Iberia once before, so he didn't find Iberia's architecture particularly special. But it was the first time for the other four girls. Looking at these unique architectural styles they had never seen before, Exusiai and Sora were like tourists, taking out their phones and snapping pictures nonstop.
After a while.
The four arrived at the handover point for the commission.
It was in a remote part of this small Mobile City.
Texas knocked gently on the slightly dilapidated door. It slowly creaked open, and an old head with long, dark green hair peeked out. When she saw Texas and the other three, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes.
After Texas stated her purpose, the old woman breathed a sigh of relief.
"Follow me in."
The somewhat old woman slowly turned around, speaking in a withered voice.
Texas and the others frowned slightly, walking in cautiously, while Croissant guarded Sora in the middle.
As soon as they entered the house, the salty, fishy smell of seawater hit them. The smell made Texas, who had almost never been to the sea, wrinkle her nose in disgust. *The smell of the sea?* Texas was stunned. *But this place seems far from the sea?*
The house wasn't big, you could see the other end at a glance, only a few dozen square meters at most. Croissant stood guard at the door, while Exusiai protected Sora and followed behind Texas, ensuring they could react immediately if there was any danger.
"The goods are here."
The hunched-over old woman kicked a large metal box on the floor.
"Remember, do not open it. If you do, you'll bear the consequences."
"Don't worry."
Texas said: "We at Penguin Logistics guarantee our reputation."
"Mm..."
The old woman grunted, then tossed out a small bag. The bag wasn't tied, and it contained quite a few gold bars.
"This is the commission fee."
Texas glanced at it and said: "You gave us too much. The commission fee isn't this high."
"It's fine... consider the extra your reward... *Jie jie*..."