Ch'en expressed her dissatisfaction with Jeanne's explanation, which was clearly meant to hoodwink a small child. Deep down, she knew Jeanne didn't want her to know too much to avoid an awkward situation.
Take those prototype beasts of the Vouivre race, for example. If Ch'en were truly considering things from Lungmen's standpoint, she should have insisted on keeping one, no matter what. Even if she couldn't keep the big one, wouldn't it have been possible to keep one of the smaller, less powerful ones? Since they had appeared in Lungmen, the city authorities were, in a sense, their hosts.
Think about it: these were the only prototypes in existence outside of Jeanne's own hands! Who wouldn't want to use them to gain a deeper understanding of the secrets of the Vouivres—to understand the root of that race's power?
But is it really okay for you to fool me so blatantly? Even if you just made up a slightly more plausible reason, I'd at least feel like you put in some effort!
Forget it, forget it. In terms of the end result, it didn't make much difference anyway. Ch'en chalked it up to Jeanne's overly blunt personality. Watching Jeanne scratch the back of her head sheepishly, Ch'en took a few deep breaths and decided not to dwell on it. The group of strange creatures had already vanished; even if she wanted to bring them back now, it was useless.
However, the moment she thought about having to write this into her report once the incident was over, Ch'en felt a phantom headache. It was as if she could already see her tragic future.
"Thanks for understanding. It's just that explaining this isn't something that can be done in a few sentences. If I sat down to tell you the whole story, I probably wouldn't finish even by next month," Jeanne said, her expression turning apologetic. She naturally knew how fake her excuses were, but she couldn't think of a better one on such short notice.
She wondered if she had shot herself in the foot. What started as a simple scouting mission had been turned into a full-blown "monster invasion" by her subordinates. But what could be done? If her own planning had loopholes, she just had to use her brain to fix the mess.
"It's fine, just a passing observation. The main issue is that there's no way to hide this, and I have no idea how to write the report now..." Ch'en leaned against her forehead and sighed, feeling immense pressure. So many things had happened over the past few days that she estimated her vacation was effectively canceled for the foreseeable future.
Thinking about how she was starting to lose hair over these matters, Ch'en felt a pang of heartache for every strand. She wondered if the hair growth tonic she bought from Croissant was worth a try.
"Then, thank you. I'm going to go ask those soldiers a few things. They still haven't given me a perfect explanation for that big guy's situation." As Jeanne spoke, a terrifying smile appeared on her face. Though she looked like she was smiling, the expression was enough to make one's skin crawl.
She strode toward the captured soldiers. Curious about what Jeanne wanted to ask, Ch'en followed her.
On the short walk over, Jeanne sensed a sharp gaze directed at her from the distance. She looked toward the source of the feeling but saw only rows of high-rise buildings. Even with Jeanne's eyesight, she couldn't spot the person's tracks. It seemed the observer was very far away, likely using binoculars or similar equipment.
"What's wrong? Is there someone over there?" Ch'en noticed Jeanne stop halfway to stare at the buildings. She worried that a sniper or an enemy observer might be monitoring them from the shadows. At this point, Ch'en fully trusted Jeanne's instincts; based on the results of their actions so far, Jeanne's words had never led them astray.
"It's nothing, I just felt a gaze. It's probably someone else watching the outcome of the battle from afar. My gut tells me they aren't an enemy."
Hearing this, Ch'en felt relieved. She had indeed been worried that if the observer had ill intentions, the two of them might be in danger. Nevertheless, Ch'en secretly contacted the officers still on duty outside, telling them to check the vicinity for suspicious individuals to ensure the area was secure.
"What keen perception! To find me from such a distance—that alone surpasses the vast majority of Ursus soldiers."
On top of a high-rise, a silver-haired Liberi held binoculars, watching Jeanne from afar. Beside him was the bear-like Ursus agent, the one with the protruding jaw—Vodka.
As for the one peering at Jeanne, it was none other than Gin, who had rushed to Lungmen overnight. He was here in the name of Ursus to assist Lungmen in purging these "fat rats" who were trafficking arms. Simply put, this was the line of work he had been doing for years: killing traitors! He couldn't remember how many years he'd been at it, but the problem was that these traitors seemed impossible to wipe out.
Currently, he was working through a workload of roughly twenty traitors a day. He had almost no rest throughout the year; every day was spent either killing traitors or being on the way to kill them. Even Gin hadn't expected that he would one day receive orders to carry out an operation alongside the official forces of another country. In the past, he would have just infiltrated and sniped the targets.
"Big brother... that person seems to be the one sent from above to investigate this matter. But looking at her, she seems to have a deeper relationship with the Lungmen people. Is it just my imagination?" Vodka couldn't quite figure Jeanne out. Logically, a person carrying out an Ursus mission shouldn't be getting so close to the Lungmen Guard Department. Have you ever seen a mouse and a cat working together?
If you're on a secret mission, shouldn't you be more low-profile? What was with the arm-in-arm camaraderie with the LGD?
"Her identity is special; you don't need to worry about that! Just remember, no matter what she tells you to do in Lungmen, you just need to listen and obey," Gin said. He knew exactly what the intelligence level of his old subordinate was, so he didn't bother explaining much to Vodka.
It wasn't that he was stupid, but his intelligence was "decent" at best, and the disparity became obvious when compared to those cunning foxes. This was also why Vodka was constantly played by others during missions. He was best suited to be a "hanger-on"—a subordinate who followed a powerful character and executed orders.
It was just that the situation in recent years had been too dire; traitors within the organization were everywhere. Back then, even Gin wasn't sure he could emerge from every mission unscathed, let alone while dragging someone like this along. It was better to send him to Lungmen; at least his life wouldn't be in danger.
"Let's go. We've seen the show; it's time to start working." He took one last look at Jeanne through the binoculars and then vanished from the rooftop with Vodka, heading to parts unknown.
On the other side, Jeanne walked aggressively toward the transport vehicles holding the prisoners. She looked through the iron bars at the soldiers who were currently questioning their life choices.
Jeanne scanned the group and spotted a soldier who looked like he was in charge. She grabbed him and pulled him toward the bars. Ignoring his bewildered look, she asked directly:
"Tell me, when you encountered that big guy underground earlier, what kind of strange things did it eat?"
Jeanne—using Talulah's majestic eyes—stared at the soldier she was holding. She had an expression that said, "I already know you know something," and questioned him in a tone that was nearly a command.
As for why Jeanne was so sure this man could tell her everything she wanted to know? One could only say that the mysterious Revelation was omnipotent!
The soldier, upon seeing those eyes, seemed to lose any thought of resistance. He spoke in a tone of total resignation:
"I'll talk, I'll talk! As long as you don't burn me to ash with your fire, I'll tell you everything! We aren't sure exactly how much it ate, but it definitely devoured the Originium bombs we hadn't managed to move out yet! And the quantity was massive!"
The man dared not hide a thing, spilling the beans completely. Standing nearby, the Pink Sausage Dragon (Ch'en) felt her tail stand on end the moment she heard the words "Originium bombs."