Arknights: The Scarlet Devil of Terra — Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Penguin Logistics Delivers

“Ah! You’re going to be the death of me!” Beatrix Swire groaned, staring at the sheer volume of her own purchases. She knew she had swiped her card across half the high-end boutiques in Lungmen, but seeing the physical manifestation of her shopping spree was another matter entirely.

“You realize there’s too much stuff now? Too late!” Ch’en crossed her arms, her tail lashing behind her. “Come on, let’s go see exactly how much this idiot bought.”

The group stepped out of the vehicle and walked to the front of the convoy. A towering barricade of designer boxes and pristine shopping bags filled a solid two-thirds of the private road leading to the Swire estate.

Ch’en shot a flat glare at the feline heiress. “Is this what you meant by ‘a little bit’?”

Beatrix swallowed hard. She hadn’t anticipated it looking like a commercial warehouse delivery, but backing down in front of her lifelong rival was out of the question. She lifted her chin. “A billion times more is still just a little bit to me! Besides, Flandre’s wardrobe was practically empty. I had to buy these specifically for her.”

“Wait, boss, are you saying all these boxes are full of clothes?” Exusiai, the red-haired Sankta courier, stared at the mountain of cardboard with wide, disbelieving eyes. Her halo flickered with shock.

“That’s right! And I made sure to select from dozens of different luxury brands so none of the styles overlap,” Beatrix declared, puffing out her chest with a rare sense of pride.

Exusiai glanced back at the heavy transport truck she and her partner had driven over. “If I remember correctly, our truck is completely packed too… Boss, are you planning to open a children’s boutique out here? Isn’t this neighborhood a bit too remote for retail?”

“What specialty store? I just thought little Flandre didn’t have enough to wear.”

“There must be at least a thousand outfits here,” Exusiai muttered, marveling at the unpretentious, tycoon-level spending. “Even if she wore a different set every single day, it would take years to cycle through them all.”

“Is that so?” Beatrix blinked, the reality of her excess finally sinking in. She waved a manicured hand dismissively. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Once Flandre picks out her favorites, I’ll just donate the rest. Even if it’s high-end girls’ fashion, those in need won’t complain.”

But a much more immediate problem loomed over the heiress. How was she supposed to move this literal mountain of merchandise into the manor?

Ch’en certainly wasn’t going to lift a finger to help her.

Beatrix’s desperate gaze slowly shifted toward Hoshiguma, and then to the two Penguin Logistics couriers who had escorted the delivery.

Sensing the predatory stare of a wealthy employer, Exusiai instinctively took two steps back, her wings twitching. “Whoa, what are you doing? We only deliver the goods, we don’t sell ourselves for manual labor!”

“Ahem. I’m not asking you to sell yourselves. Just help me out a little. I can’t possibly move all this by myself…” Beatrix smoothly stepped forward, slinging an arm over the Sankta’s shoulders.

“No way, absolutely not. You have way too much stuff…” Exusiai shook her head, staring at the vast expanse of boxes.

“I’ll pay extra.” Beatrix’s eyes gleamed with the ultimate superpower of the Swire family: infinite wealth. “I’ll add enough zeroes to make it a price you physically cannot refuse.”

Faced with such formidable financial pressure, the energetic Sankta and her quiet, Pocky-chewing Lupo partner instantly folded.

“Alright, boss! Let’s get to work!” Exusiai cheered, her halo glowing brightly.

After securing a staggering bonus, Exusiai and Texas hopped down from the truck and began hauling the heavy crates.

Meanwhile, Beatrix practically threw herself at the tall Oni’s legs. “Hoshiguma, please help me, okay…?”

“…Sigh. Fine.” Hoshiguma glanced at Ch’en, who was already carrying Flandre toward the front doors, and then down at the dramatically pleading feline. The Oni’s soft heart won out.

Stepping into the grand foyer, Ch’en noticed Hoshiguma hadn’t followed. She knew exactly what was happening outside, but she didn’t bother to intervene. The sheer volume of boxes was absurd; Ch’en had literally been forced to vault over a barricade of silk-lined bags just to get inside with Flandre in her arms.

If Beatrix were left to move it all herself, she would still be hauling boxes by tomorrow morning.

Flandre poked her blonde head over Ch’en’s shoulder, her crimson eyes blinking innocently. “Actually, Flandre can help them!”

“Don’t help her. She needs to learn her lesson so she stops making a fool of herself like this,” Ch’en said firmly, carrying the little Vampire upstairs. Flandre already had a perfectly fine wardrobe in her guest room. Ch’en intended to prove that they could find at least one suitable outfit for tomorrow’s event without needing a thousand new ones.

Down below, the manual labor commenced. Beatrix summoned her twin maids, bringing the total workforce to six. Pile by pile, they hauled the mountain of fashion into the estate.

With many hands making light work, it still took over two grueling hours. By the end, the entire inner courtyard and the sprawling first-floor hall were completely buried in luxury packaging.

“Boss, if you ever have more work like this in the future, feel free to call us! Penguin Logistics always delivers!” Exusiai wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, beaming. This job was an absolute dream—completely safe, zero gunfire, and the payout was equivalent to two months of dangerous, high-risk smuggling runs outside the mobile city. Holding onto a super-rich client like this was a top priority.

“Penguin Logistics, right? You girls are fantastic. If I need logistics work again, I’ll look for you first.” Beatrix smiled, thoroughly satisfied. The couriers were efficient, low-maintenance, and the Sankta provided excellent emotional validation for her spending habits.

“Alright, we’ll be heading out now. Rest well, boss!”

Leaving the Swire estate behind, Exusiai and Texas drove their empty transport back to the heart of Lungmen, arriving at the headquarters of Penguin Logistics: the Ends of the Earth Bar.

The moment they pushed through the doors, the smoky air was pierced by an aggressive, rhythmic honk.

“Oh, damn it, where did you two go messing around? Why are you back so late? I was about to tell Texas to go to the L.G.D. and file a missing persons report.”

The Emperor stood atop the bar counter, a lit cigar clamped in his beak, speaking with his signature heavy, hip-hop-inflected accent.

“Boss, we brought you a massive client today! Look, we earned a huge sum for the company…” Exusiai excitedly rushed forward, slapping the freshly signed check onto the counter in front of the Emperor.

The Emperor waddled over, adjusting his shades as he peered at the paper. “How did you get mixed up with their family?”

“Isn’t it from that project you found at noon…?” Exusiai quickly recounted the day’s events: loading the truck, driving to the elite villa district, getting stopped by security, meeting the wealthy owner, and the massive bonus they received for doing manual labor.

The Emperor scrutinized the elegant signature on the check. Beatrix Swire.

“So it’s her,” he muttered, taking a slow drag of his cigar. “By the way, did you get a good look at that kid they brought inside?”

“Of course! That child was incredibly eye-catching,” Exusiai replied, leaning against the counter. “Her blonde hair was even more beautiful than the Swire lady’s. But her wings… they were covered in these little things that looked like glowing diamonds. I don’t know if it’s exhausting having so many crystals hanging off her back. They were super unique, though. No feathers, no flesh, just two protruding branches holding up the gems.”

The Emperor exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his small eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses. “As I thought. It’s her.”

“Ah? ‘As you thought’ who?” Exusiai tilted her head, her halo dimming in confusion.

“You remember that incident a while ago? When the L.G.D. mobilized almost their entire force outside the city?” the Emperor asked, his tone dropping its usual bombastic rhythm.

“Yeah, I remember. A lot of the external logistics crews ran into serious trouble during that window. You ordered us strictly to stay inside the city limits until the L.G.D. returned.” Exusiai nodded. They had been stuck doing boring inner-city runs for nearly half a month because of it.

“According to my underground intel, it was that Swire girl and that specific child who went out to investigate a smuggling ring,” the Emperor explained, his flippers resting on his hips. “They didn’t expect the smugglers to be colluding with the local bandit factions. A massive mercenary force cornered the two of them, trying to cut off their escape.”

Texas paused mid-bite of her Pocky stick, her Lupo ears twitching as she listened.

“And the result?” the Emperor continued grimly. “The two of them walked away completely unharmed. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the bandits who tried to besiege them were slaughtered on the spot. The small handful that survived went completely, incurably insane. That Swire girl doesn’t possess that kind of destructive Originium Arts. The only one who could have caused a massacre of that scale… is that little Blood Fiend.”

A heavy silence fell over the bar. Exusiai and Texas felt a sudden, icy dread grip their chests.

The ruthless wasteland criminals—the kind of heavily armed scum that even the Emperor warned them to avoid—had been effortlessly wiped out by a single, cute child. The sheer, terrifying magnitude of the girl’s power was beyond their comprehension.

“But there’s no need to panic,” the Emperor said smoothly, reaching out a flipper to pat Exusiai’s trembling arm. “The Chief Executive will probably formally introduce the kid to the upper crust tomorrow. We just do logistics. Harmony brings wealth. As long as we don’t provoke her, having a connection to a monster like that might actually be useful in the future.”

“Boss, could you please finish your scary stories all at once?” Exusiai whined, clutching her chest. “You terrified me! My little heart is thumping so fast it won’t stop!”

“Your heart would be beating even if I didn’t scare you, you dramatic brat!” The Emperor shoved the acting-cute Sankta away, then turned his shades toward Texas. “Good work today.”

Texas calmly opened a brand-new box of Pocky, sliding a chocolate stick between her lips. “It wasn’t hard.”

…

Back at the Swire estate, the atmosphere was considerably less lethal, though no less tense.

Flandre Scarlet sat on a plush sofa, swinging her legs as she watched the two adults bicker over the mountain of clothes. Well, it was just Beatrix and Ch’en at each other’s throats.

Hoshiguma sat beside Flandre, sipping a cup of expensive black tea prepared by the maids. Together, the Oni and the Vampire watched the infamous “Dragon and Tiger” duo argue incessantly over whether Flandre’s outfit for tomorrow’s grand event should be aggressively gorgeous or elegantly simple.

“Hoshiguma! You be the judge!” Realizing neither was going to yield, the two women suddenly snapped their heads toward the tall Oni.

Hoshiguma scratched the back of her green hair, sweating nervously. “Uh, I don’t really have an eye for high fashion coordination. I usually just wear my L.G.D. uniform or my biker gear…”

Obviously, Flandre’s delicate, doll-like appearance was not suited for spiked leather biker jackets.

Whenever they tried to ask Flandre herself, the little Vampire would just smile brightly, nod, and say, “Flandre thinks it looks fine!”—which completely defeated the purpose of asking her. Thus, the two women had given up on consulting the actual wearer.

“Sister Hoshiguma, how much longer does Flandre have to watch them argue?” Flandre whispered, leaning closer to the Oni.

“I don’t know, but knowing those two, probably another half hour at least,” Hoshiguma replied softly, taking another sip of tea.

“Ah? They’ve been arguing for so long without settling anything. Is Sister Hoshiguma sure it’ll end in just half an hour?” Flandre asked, tilting her head in genuine disbelief.

“I’m sure. Because as far as I know, Old Ch’en’s patience will completely run out in exactly thirty minutes…”

A look of deep understanding washed over Flandre’s face.

It made perfect sense to her. Everyone back in Gensokyo operated on the exact same logic. When words failed and reasoning broke down, you simply engaged in a tense, explosive Danmaku battle. Whoever survived and won got to make the rules.