"Ah, this..."
Walking out of the dilapidated contact point in this small Mobile City, Exusiai had ten thousand complaints she wanted to voice.
"That old woman... she really doesn't seem like a good person..."
Because the alloy box was quite large, Exusiai and Texas, who weren't strength-based Operators, couldn't lift it at all. They had to leave it to the powerhouse, Croissant.
Don't be fooled by Croissant's small and slender appearance, seemingly without much muscle. Her strength was astonishing. This large alloy box, which even a muscular gym-goer would struggle to lift, was easily shouldered by Croissant. She walked ahead, giving Lucas the same shocking feeling as watching an ant carry a giant rock.
One can only say, Terrans are awesome. Every one of them is a super-Terran.
In his previous life's experience, this was called the conservation of strength.
The amount of strength was often related to body size. A bulky gym-goer wasn't necessarily a strongman, but a scrawny person definitely wouldn't have much strength.
Croissant, however, clearly violated this law.
One can only say.
People's constitutions cannot be generalized. Some strong and burly people can't even beat a village goose, while some skinny people can take out a tiger with a sliding tackle.
"Why so much?"
Sora walked beside them, hugging Lucas, and asked Exusiai.
"It's mainly that laugh, it's too creepy."
Exusiai couldn't help but frown.
"*Jie jie jie...*"
"That kind of laugh gives me a bad feeling. Doesn't seem like a good person."
Croissant, walking ahead, was extremely happy.
"How could that be! In my opinion, that old lady is definitely a good person!"
"Look at all those gold bars in the bag. Besides the commission fee, there's an extra third. If we split this extra third, we'll earn a lot of extra cash on this trip. I, Croissant, love money the most! I've never met such a generous old lady."
For Croissant, who was obsessed with money, whoever gave the most money was a good person.
Texas, as the recognized leader and backbone of the Penguin Logistics foursome, said nothing.
To be honest.
She also felt something was off. That salty, fishy smell of the sea gave Texas a very bad feeling. Generally, wolves have a strong sense for danger, and Texas was very confident in her own perception. So, Texas hadn't relaxed for a moment since they left.
"Heave-ho..."
Croissant placed the large alloy box into the transport vehicle, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Wasting no time, the group set off immediately for Siracusa in the distance, preparing for a quick resolution. The commission fee was already in hand anyway, so there was no need to worry about the client refusing to pay later. In any case, Siracusa was on the way from Lungmen to Iberia. They could just drop off the goods at the designated location. This way, the round trip would take about half a month, and the Boss, the Emperor, had given them a month and a half.
So, if this trip was completed early, they could still play for another month. How nice.
In the vehicle.
The girls were already discussing where to go play for the rest of the time. In their eyes, this commission was already more than half done.
Someone suggested going to Columbia to hang out with Jessica again. Anyway, Lucas had a super-fast aircraft; it only took half a day to get from Columbia to Lungmen.
However.
Lucas's attention, however, was entirely on the large alloy box next to him.
Because.
He smelled a familiar, yet extremely dangerous, scent coming from this alloy box...
"Sora..."
Lucas's voice entered Sora's mind.
Sora suddenly froze, looking around in confusion.
"Don't be nervous, it's me speaking to you through a special method. You don't need to answer me, just listen. If you understand, tap my back twice with your finger."
Sora's finger tapped twice on the teddy bear doll's back.
"This box... might be a bit dangerous. Oh no... *extremely* dangerous. My advice is that you abandon the mission, throw this box out into the wilderness, and leave immediately."
Because.
Lucas had just opened his Causality Vision.
He could see an increasingly dense black aura in the foreheads of all four. This was not a good sign. According to the interpretation of causality itself, this black aura often represented an aura of death. Although it didn't necessarily mean they would die, they would experience an event with a very high risk of death. As the black aura grew denser, the risk of death increased. When it turned completely black, it represented certain death. Unless an absolute powerhouse capable of changing causality appeared, there was no chance for ordinary mortals to change it, no matter how they resisted.
"Bailey... is it really that dangerous?"
Sora was a bit uncertain. After all, abandoning a mission was a huge deal for Penguin Logistics, which relied on its reputation and credibility. To last long and do well in this industry, reputation and contractual spirit were extremely important.
Therefore, deliberately abandoning a mission was, for Penguin Logistics, even more serious than everyone dying.
Sora really trusted Lucas's words. Ever since Lucas had actually made her wish come true this morning, Sora felt Lucas's words were extremely credible. So, when Lucas said this, and his tone was so firm, completely devoid of any hint of lying, it was clear Lucas was telling the truth.
"Yes!"
"That's my premonition."
"I'm quite confident in my premonitions."
Lucas's words made Sora's brows furrow. For a moment, she didn't know how to tell Exusiai and Texas.
"What's wrong, Sora?"
Exusiai asked Sora in confusion. She noticed Sora's brows were furrowed when she was speaking just now, which was quite rare for Sora.
"No... um..."
Sora didn't know how to say it. After thinking for a moment, Sora decided to trust Lucas's words. She gritted her teeth and spoke up.
"Exu, do you feel... that this iron box is really dangerous?"
Exusiai looked over in confusion but shook her head.
"Nope."
Croissant, who was driving, also shook her head.
"Me neither. What's wrong?"
"I..."
Sora also found it hard to tell them to abandon the commission immediately, especially since it was already more than half done...
"I just have a personal feeling that if we continue, something very dangerous might happen..."
Exusiai and Croissant looked at each other, speechless. They genuinely didn't sense any danger, so they didn't know what to say.
"It... shouldn't be that bad, right?"
Exusiai said: "I see the alloy on the outside is pretty sturdy. Even if there's a monster inside, it definitely can't get out. There probably isn't much risk."
"What do you think, Tex?"
Turning her head, Exusiai realized that Texas's expression was incredibly grim. The fur on her head had slightly separated, standing on end, and the wolf ears on her head were standing straight up like spears stuck in the ground.
Ah, this...
This was not a good sign.
Having been on so many commissions with Texas.
Exusiai had almost blind faith in Texas's innate ability to sense danger. Texas was practically a human danger detector. Wherever they went, one glance at Texas's ears was all it took. If they were standing straight up, it meant there might be danger. But this kind of bristling fur was extremely rare, only happening when encountering an extreme level of danger. As far as Exusiai had personally experienced, if a commission made Texas's fur bristle, then the mission was basically a 90% chance of death.
And now...
Texas's fur was bristling so severely. This was the first time Exusiai had ever seen it.
Hiss!!
This box!! It couldn't *really* be dangerous, could it?
"Croissant, stop the car!!"
Exusiai shouted decisively.
"Throw this box off. We're heading back to Lungmen, fast. We're abandoning this commission. Just count it as a mission failure."
Exusiai didn't want this either.
But Texas's fur-bristling situation was just too severe. This was the first time Exusiai had ever seen it. Even the last time the two of them almost died, her fur hadn't bristled this badly. This meant that this time... it was probably a 100% chance of death...
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
Croissant's eyes widened.
"Are you sure, Exu?"
"Positive."
Texas also nodded.
"Okay!"
Croissant immediately stopped the car, got out of the driver's seat, and went to the back to move the alloy box out.
After the box was out of the vehicle, Texas finally let out a deep sigh of relief, as if the danger had vanished.
"So, where do we go now?"
Croissant asked.
Texas said: "Record the coordinates. When we get back to Penguin Logistics, we'll return the entire commission fee and tell them the coordinates. Let them come pick up the item themselves."
This wasn't the first time.
Besides, Penguin Logistics weren't reckless desperados.
Back when they were hired.
The Boss, the Emperor, had told the four of them that Penguin Logistics work was dangerous. However, "dangerous" didn't mean throwing their lives away, completing missions they knew were certain death. No matter what commission they were on, they needed to put their own lives first. So the Emperor had also said that if they encountered any extremely dangerous mission with a 100% mortality rate, they could abandon it. As for compensation, the Emperor would take care of it.
It was just that, over all these years.
The four of them had almost never abandoned a commission.
Only when they confirmed a commission was truly dangerous with a 100% mortality rate would they actively abandon it.
In all these years, this should be the fifth time they've actively abandoned a commission.
"Let's go."
Croissant prepared to return to the driver's seat. Before getting in, she turned her head and glanced back suspiciously. She was quite curious about what was inside, but she knew full well that curiosity killed the cat, so she didn't bother investigating. Since Exu, Tex, and Sora all said so, Croissant, though reluctant to part with the commission fee and bonus she'd already received, had no choice.
"It's gone, Bailey."
Sora breathed a sigh of relief, and Lucas relaxed as well.
He tried opening his Causality Vision again, wanting to see if the black aura on their faces had dissipated. Because of his intervention, this crisis should have been resolved. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to stop it, because if Sora hadn't spoken up, even Texas would have forced herself to endure it.
Causality Vision activated.
*Let's see if your faces are clear.*
Suddenly!
Lucas's expression instantly fell.
This... the black aura on the four's faces... was getting darker and darker, and the black aura floating in front of their faces was already pitch-black... This meant...
A thought spread in Lucas's mind.
An omen of certain death!
*Shit!!*
"Sora! Tell Croissant to drive, fast!! Get out of here!!!"
Lucas had just shouted to Sora when he saw the black aura on the two in front growing at a visible rate, about to reach the critical point.
However!
It seemed to be too late.
Just as Lucas realized this, the alloy box they had thrown outside the vehicle was instantly covered in cracks. A thick, salty, fishy smell poured out from the cracks.
Even Texas didn't have time to react after smelling it.
Only a loud *BOOM* was heard.
A massive explosion instantly spread out from the alloy box. Fortunately, Croissant was lucky and had gotten into the car and closed the door just in time. Otherwise, Croissant, being so close, would have died instantly in the blast. However, even with the protection of the transport vehicle's external armor, the vehicle rolled continuously, and everyone inside was thrown about. Even the windows, which could withstand close-range standard crossbow bolts, shattered instantly. The thick external armor was severely deformed. The transport vehicle, which had been perfectly fine moments ago, was crushed into a "pancake" by the close-range impact.
Finally.
The transport vehicle crashed to the ground, its external armor now somewhat tattered and looking like it would fall off.
It was hard to imagine that external armor of this grade would be so useless against the explosion. What if a person had taken that head-on? There probably wouldn't even be a body left.
"Are you okay, Sora?!"
Lucas quickly asked. Sora coughed a few times and slowly crawled out of the compressed and deformed cabin.
"I'm fine, Bailey."
The other three from Penguin Logistics weren't badly injured either. Apart from the driver, Croissant, who had a scratch on her arm, everyone else was fine.
When everyone crawled out of the vehicle, they saw a sight they would never forget.
A... humanoid... monster, covered in a jellyfish-like substance.
Its whole body was translucent and sparkling, giving it the beauty of an art piece as it stood there. However... its power was... terrifying!
Just as everyone was wondering whether to run.
The monster's attention seemed to fix on Sora. Or rather, it had identified Sora as the weakest of the four and wanted to kill the smallest one.
While the four were on high alert, the next second, the monster instantly appeared in front of Sora.
That speed!!
Even Texas and Exusiai had no time to react.
!!!!
"Sora!!"
However, it was too late.
The monster, easily over three meters tall, had already raised its huge hand, about to place it on Sora's neck. With a simple twist, Sora's neck would instantly snap in the monster's terrifying grasp...
*No...*
Sora wanted to run, however, her body couldn't keep up.
In Sora's moment of despair.
A large, furry hand, wreathed in flames, directly grabbed the monster's outstretched hand, stopping the hand that was about to reach Sora's neck.
The face of a giant bear, its entire body burning with ghostly blue flames, was now face-to-face with the monster's featureless face.
"What are you?"
Lucas frowned.
His own voice came from the giant bear's mouth.