Arknights: The Prophet of Penguin Logistics — Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Departure for Chernobog and a Tardy ArrivalYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

“…No questions asked.”

Texas leveled a long, impassive stare at the red-horned Sarkaz standing across from her. The man had been deliberately trying to provoke a reaction for the past five minutes, leaning into her personal space with a mocking grin. Texas simply held her ground, her expression as cold and unreadable as a frozen lake.

“Penguin Logistics only handles the transport,” she stated, her voice flat and measured. “We do not inquire about the contents, and we do not care about the politics behind them. Regardless of who the client is, we operate strictly within our own business scope. Digging into your secrets does not fall under our professional code.”

“Ah, so you just play the mindless courier and don’t care who is actually pulling the strings?” The Sarkaz clicked his tongue, his grin fading into a scowl. “That’s a boring enough answer.”

“When something becomes a profession, the summary is always boring. In any case, this is the delivery manifest. Confirm it.”

Texas tapped the screen of her datapad, finalizing the contract details, and shoved the device toward the Sarkaz’s chest. Running long-distance, high-risk errands across the wastelands wasn’t a new experience for their crew. If they weren’t used to this kind of hazard, Exusiai would never have managed to drive them back to Lungmen from the outskirts during their last fiasco. An ironclad contract was the only thing keeping them from getting scammed in the wilderness.

Watching the visibly disappointed Sarkaz punch in his authorization code, Texas waited for the payment confirmation to chime on her device. Once the credits transferred, she turned her back on him and gave a brief nod to the rest of the crew waiting by the armored off-road vehicle.

“We’re clear. Let’s go.”

“Ah, what a letdown. It’s refreshing to work with professionals, sure, but there’s still a subtle sense of dissatisfaction when you don’t even flinch,” the red-horned Sarkaz sighed. He waved a hand listlessly at their retreating backs, his heavy boots scraping against the pavement before he leapt up and vanished into the shadows of Lungmen’s alleyways.

Sitting in the back of the transport, Lynn didn’t even bother looking up from his lap. He had seen more than enough eccentric, borderline-psychotic employers during his time with the logistics company. He simply kept his head down, methodically wiping down and refining the mechanical joints of his personal gear.

After double-checking the navigation coordinates for Chernobog on the dashboard’s holographic projector, Texas slid into the driver’s seat. She adjusted the rearview mirror, her golden eyes locking onto Lynn’s reflection.

“Think about it one more time,” she said casually. “What are we missing?”

“We shouldn’t be missing anything.” Lynn paused his maintenance work and leaned back against the reinforced seating, counting off on his fingers. “This isn’t a massive corporate shipment. We packed light but thorough.”

He began ticking off the inventory. “Two crates of high-density compressed rations, which is more than enough to keep us fed. Four crates of purified water strapped to the exterior racks. Two heavy-duty water filtration devices. Eight military-grade gas masks—one primary set for us, one set of backups. Four insulated sleeping bags, four emergency floodlights, three plasma ignition devices, and two reinforced field tents. They’re the large models; we can fit all four of us in one if we really have to squeeze during a storm.”

Lynn took a breath, his gaze drifting over the neatly stacked crates in the cargo hold. “We also have the standard mess kits—pots, pans, bowls—plus towels, sterile plastic bags, and the basic survival med-kits. The Originium radiation detector is calibrated and mounted. Finally, four tactical engineer shovels. Everyone has their personal survival watch, all of which are field-certified by Officer Ch’en herself, so the L.G.D. quality guarantee is there. Oh, and the portable field generators alongside the combined electrical grid. Two sets of spare clothes for everyone. Unless I’m forgetting a luxury item, that’s everything.”

He let out a dry sigh, gesturing vaguely at his own head. “I originally wanted to requisition hard hats for the wilderness terrain, but looking at our heads… the sizes and shapes don’t exactly accommodate standard helmets.”

Standing just outside the open side door, Croissant paused her final exterior checks. She looked at her own heavy Forte horns, then glanced at Exusiai’s glowing Sankta halo, Texas’s twitching Lupo ears, and finally at Lynn. The Forte girl’s lips curled inward, her shoulders shaking slightly as she fought to suppress a laugh at the sheer logistical nightmare of trying to fit a standard helmet over any of them.

The route to Chernobog wasn’t considered an impossible journey. The two mobile cities had long since established active trade routes. In a world where Originium Arts could shatter boulders and manipulate the earth, carving a passable road through the wilderness didn’t require fleets of heavy machinery. As long as a crew had Casters capable of splitting mountains and clearing debris, a path could be made.

The real danger lay in what occupied those paths. The wastelands were crawling with mercenary ambushes, sudden localized Catastrophes that could warp the landscape in minutes, and massive herds of mutated wild beasts blocking the canyons. That was exactly why Penguin Logistics relied on their heavily modified off-road transport. They survived by over-preparing. To an outsider, the sheer volume of gear Lynn had listed might seem like paranoid overkill, but to veterans of the wasteland, it was the bare minimum.

Croissant and Exusiai climbed into the back, running their hands over the securing straps one last time before nodding in satisfaction.

“Exterior and interior checks are complete,” Croissant announced, slapping the reinforced hull. “Confirming zero omissions on my end.”and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

“Right,” Exusiai chimed in, her halo pulsing with energetic light. “Both sides are locked and loaded. We’re good to fly!”

“Then let’s roll.”

Texas hit the ignition. The heavy engine roared to life, a deep, thrumming vibration that shook the chassis. She reached out and pressed a button on the console, blasting a custom road-trip mixtape through the vehicle’s stereo system. Heavy bass and electric guitar riffs spilled out into the street as the heavily armored transport slowly pulled away from the curb, leaving the neon-lit streets of Lungmen behind.

Barely an hour after the off-road vehicle had departed, a lone figure strolled down the street toward the Penguin Logistics office.

She hummed a jagged, off-tempo melody, a silver keychain spinning rapidly around her index finger. Her striking white hair caught the ambient neon light, and a pair of white Lupo ears twitched atop her head. As she approached the building and looked up at the massive, glowing penguin logo, her footsteps faltered. She stopped entirely, beginning to pace back and forth on the sidewalk, her boots clicking against the concrete.

‘If I just barge in there, what will Texas do?’she thought, her sharp eyes darting toward the glass doors.’She’s been away from Siracusa for so long. It’s completely normal that she might have forgotten how things work now. Should I show some goodwill first? Hmm… I really need to build a good relationship with her new little coworkers. But I’m so terrible at making friends. Should I buy them gifts? What kind of gift proves I’m friendly?’

Her massive, fluffy white tail curled and lashed behind her, the fur bristling with nervous, manic energy before slowly settling down as she came to a decision.

Taking a deep, trembling breath, the white-haired girl marched up to the front door and pressed the doorbell.

She waited. The silence stretched on. Her ears swiveled, straining to catch any sound of movement inside, but the office was completely dark. Frowning, she leaned closer to the glass and noticed a crisp white sheet of paper taped to the inside of the door. She squinted, her crimson eyes scanning the printed text.

Notice: Penguin Logistics Transport Team A has temporarily departed Lungmen for an estimated duration of one week to one month due to an out-of-city delivery contract. For immediate transport needs, please contact the Penguin Logistics headquarters routing department directly.

Work. Of course. There was nothing to be done about that.

Her huge tail instantly drooped, sweeping lifelessly against the pavement. Her perked-up ears flopped down, flattening against her hair in utter dejection.

But as she turned to leave, her gaze caught the employee recognition board displayed in the side window. Right in the center was a photograph of Texas, looking characteristically bored and beautiful.

The visitor’s breath hitched. Her tail shot straight up, wagging so violently it became a white blur. The ears that had just been plastered to her skull perked up, twitching left and right in time with her racing, euphoric thoughts. A wide, dangerous smile stretched across her face.

“Then I’ll just live right here,” she whispered to the photograph, her voice dripping with a saccharine, obsessive sweetness. “Everything I needed to take care of in Siracusa is already done anyway.”

She was entirely free.

Giggling softly to herself, the visitor spun on her heel and skipped away from the doorway, the silver keychain resuming its rapid, deadly spin around her finger.

That very night, the Lungmen underground experienced a sudden, inexplicable purge. Several mid-tier syndicate gangs operating in the lower districts were completely wiped out, their safehouses painted in blood and shattered Originium blades. There were no survivors, and no witnesses brave enough to speak to the L.G.D.

By the time the sun rose the next morning, a white-haired Lupo girl had somehow acquired a flawless, fully authenticated Lungmen identification card.

The girl, who introduced herself to her new landlord as Lappland, paid in solid LMD to rent a cramped, dingy apartment directly across the street from the Penguin Logistics office. She dragged a single chair to the window, crossed her long legs, and spent the entire afternoon staring unblinkingly at the penguin sign, a mysterious, predatory smile permanently etched onto her face.You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.