Arknights: The Prophet of Penguin Logistics — Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Big City, Small Matters

Spouting off grandiose excuses like ‘the revolution is not yet successful, comrades still need to work hard’and’we haven’t reached the heavens yet, so let’s study aerospace technology for a bit’ just to string together some plausible-sounding concepts, Lynn handed over the last of his funds to the sole researcher at Eden. He practically fled back to his little nook at Penguin Logistics, wiping a layer of cold sweat from his brow.

Having just returned, he needed to restock a few necessities after cleaning himself up. The rest of the crew was out shopping, leaving him to enjoy the rare quiet of the room alone.

Sora had swiped a few melodies Lynn had absentmindedly hummed; after eagerly asking his permission, she was whisked away by her management agency to prepare for her career transition. As for the others, they quickly snapped back to their usual routines. Once they confirmed that their Prophet wasn’t dead—that he was, in fact, alive and kicking—the heavy emotions they had suppressed for so long finally dissipated. Aside from the initial tearful outbursts, they took the whole ordeal rather lightly. It was enough that they understood the weight of it.

In Terra, parting by life and death didn’t carry the same suffocating despair one might expect. In a world constantly ravaged by natural disasters and man-made calamities, those who walked the gray areas of society forged incredibly resilient spirits.

At the very least, Lynn didn’t feel that the girls had fundamentally changed.

Therefore, while the deep friendship waiting for him on the other side of death was deeply touching, imagining it would lead to anything more was pure delusion. The grand harem he might have envisioned simply didn’t exist. No one was weeping tears of joy, experiencing a sudden romantic epiphany, or declaring themselves his girlfriend to carry on his bloodline. Everyone just shared a sentimental, bone-crushing hug, and that was that. Even their boss, Emperor, simply waved a flipper and didn’t bother firing the employees who had been slacking off for three solid months, treating the entire hiatus as if nothing had happened.

On the contrary, Lappland seemed entirely too thrilled for some inexplicable reason. Back in the day, whenever Lynn had a free moment, he used to stare at her white hair and fluffy ears, nodding and shaking his head in silent judgment. Now, the tables had turned. Lappland spent her free time staring intently at Lynn’s newly minted white hair, mimicking his old habit of nodding and shaking her head. She would let out an especially arrogant, unhinged laugh before turning on her heel and strutting away without a single word.

Lynn was absolutely convinced this silly Lupo knew nothing of the deeper situation; she just wanted petty revenge.

‘Speaking of which… it really feels like I got a full plastic surgery and body sculpting package, doesn’t it? I don’t feel tired at all. Is this the standard for Terrans?’

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, Lynn stared at the white-haired, red-eyed figure reflected back at him. He tugged at the pale strands that now brushed his shoulders, then pulled at his eyelids, marveling at the crimson pupils staring back.

In truth, he really thought he was going to die back then. But somehow, he hadn’t. Instead, a bizarre blessing in disguise had completely overwritten his originally third-rate, practically disabled human body with a standard Terran physique. Honestly, as Lynn flexed his hands and tested his new limits, he felt a subtle wave of pity for his past self.

How had he even survived back then? It was like the sheer disbelief a modern smartphone user feels when looking back at the dark ages of rotary dials. Now, sprinting all the way from the L.G.D. headquarters to the Penguin Logistics safehouse didn’t even leave him winded. Dropping directly from a third-floor balcony resulted in zero joint pain. If not for the fact that his body had just finished its miraculous repair cycle, Lynn had no doubt that with a little extreme training, he could easily shatter every athletic world record from his previous life.

Yet this terrifying physical quality was just the average baseline in Terra. He really envied these people for being born with such absurdly durable hardware.

Lynn sat on the sofa opposite the mirror, running his fingers through his hair and exploring the unfamiliar tension in his brand-new muscles. He couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face. However, the very second his lips curled upward, a suppressed, highly amused voice drifted from the shadows of the stairwell.

“I~ saw~ it~~~”

Lynn’s smile vanished. “…You again? What exactly did you see?”

“Hmm? Naturally, it was the sight of our dear Prophet admiring his own hair with a face full of absolute joy~”

Lynn shot a subtle, deadpan look at Lappland, who was peeking around the banister with a giggling, unhinged expression. For some reason, he felt that ever since his return, the Lupo had become exponentially more annoying. With a sly smile that practically curled into a ‘W’ shape, she padded over on her tiptoes, swaying with a dramatic, theatrical flair as if she were the lead in a tragic opera.

Without a single shred of personal boundaries, she reached out and hooked a finger under Lynn’s chin. She leaned her face in terrifyingly close, taking a deep, savoring breath of his scent, before shaking her head with a theatrical sigh of mock pity.

“Ah~ what a tragic Prophet~ He suffered the agonizing destruction of his flesh, sacrificed his everything for us, and finally received a miraculous gift from fate. A healthy body? Perfect organs? No, what he truly loves most is this white hair he has longed for for so very long~”

Is there something genuinely wrong with this woman’s brain?

Lynn watched Lappland, who looked like she was on the verge of breaking into a waltz, and seriously doubted the structural integrity of her mental circuitry.

“So, the reason you kept it hidden before was because of the white hair~ You should have just said so earlier~ If you’d said so, wouldn’t I have known? Seeing as we have such an intimate relationship and both possess such beautiful white hair, how could I possibly exclude you? Am I right? We two good brothers have the exact same fur color now, and our skin texture is a perfect match too. Look, even your face looks so much better. However, if you want to reach a truly perfect form like mine, Prophet, you still need to work much, much harder~”

Ha, I see you don’t understand at all.

Facing Lappland’s swaying, manic energy, Lynn curled his lip and decided to completely ignore the crazy husky.

White hair—white hair was a matter of pure faith. But faith was something heavily dependent on the person attached to it. If a white-haired psychopath was constantly flicking her ears and swaying her head in front of him all day, with her fluffy tail sweeping over every surface in the room, even Lynn would get exhausted. It would be far more accurate to say that it was precisely because he was so tired of Lappland’s brand of crazy that he became so fiercely devoted to Shining’s quiet elegance.

But speaking of tails… he had managed to touch Texas’s tail a few times in the past, and the smooth, soft texture was undeniably fantastic. What about Lappland’s?

“…Wh-what? Why are you suddenly staring at my tail? If you want a tail of your own, go find a doctor.”

“No, I was just thinking sometimes… doesn’t it get incredibly dirty when your tail drags on the ground all day?”

“Dirty? What do you mean?”

“I mean, look, when you go to the toilet—”

“It doesn’t drag on the ground!” Lappland snapped, her manic aura instantly shattering into defensive indignation. “And the tail maintains my center of gravity! It’s great for assisting in combat! How does a guy like you always manage to think of such messy, disgusting things?”

“…A rigorous scientific spirit?”

“Your head might have a far more serious problem than mine. Go see a doctor. I seriously suspect you bumped your brain during your treatment; you definitely weren’t this damaged before.”

Patting Lynn’s shoulder with a heavy, deeply serious face, Lappland spoke with a grave expression. Exusiai and Texas, who had just finished their shopping trip, happened to push open the door right at that exact second. Seeing the two of them locked in such a bizarrely serious standoff in the middle of the dorm, the two girls stood there full of questions, having absolutely no idea what on earth those two idiots were up to now.