บท 17: AZI Volume 1 Chapter 16
By the time Long Hua had arrived at the Mirrored Moon Café with the casket back in its original form it was well past midnight.
Traversing on the road by bike would have made him stand out like a sore thumb after the incidents that happened today.
With that being the case, much of Long Hua's journey to the café had been done on foot while under the shade of his robes' camouflaging function.
"Job's done."
"Nice work out there."
Dressed in his casual attires, Long Hua opens the door of the café to see the Owner standing behind the counter to welcome him.
"Hm? Aren't kids supposed to be in bed three or four hours ago?"
The Owner being present is well within expectations, but the sight of Zhou'er seating herself at a table during this hour isn't.
Since she is off work hours at this time, Zhou'er's attire is on the casual side, which consists of a brown leather jacket over a white shirt and jeans.
"I got curious about the thing that you were bringing back. The news stations were talking about the incident with quite a bit of enthusiasm."
Sticking her tongue out, Zhou'er answers as such and towards her answer, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders.
"Garage."
"Right."
Carrying the casket, Long Hua follows the Owner to the back of the café, while Zhou'er went to lock the door and turn off most of the lights prior to joining them.
Setting the casket down on the floor of the garage, Long Hua takes three steps back while the Owner crouches down with a small laptop in hand.
From the laptop, a wire extends outwards and is plugged into a port that is present on the casket's side.
"It's been a while since we've gotten our hands on such an item."
"I've always been curious, but what exactly is the main ingredient of the elixir?"
As a member of the pig faction, Zhou'er has served NPI for over three years.
In fact, her entire family has been a part of this organization since the start of it, so she knows far more about the organization's interior secrets than the average employee.
"IB-09, what do you think IB stands for?"
"Hmm nothing comes to mind."
"Immortal's blood."
Standing to the side, Long Hua answers the question.
Compared to Zhou'er who has a three-year service record, Long Hua has been a part of NPI for a bit over ten years and as the ninth Serpent of the snake faction, 90 percent of the organization's secrets are at his disposal.
"Immortal's blood? Then…?"
"IMLs, aliens, foreign invaders, there's various ways to call them, but Immortals are Immortals."
As the casket releases a clicking sound, cold air spews out from within.
"Our pharmaceutical company's pride and joy is an elixir concocted from the blood of the Immortals, the enemy of humanity; hence the key ingredient can only be an Immortal's corpse."
As the door panel of the casket opens, Zhou'er gulps down her spit. This is the first time she will be laying her eyes on an Immortal in the flesh.
"…"
"…"
"This is…!"
Towards what is contained in this casket, Long Hua didn't show any changes on his face, but the Owner—
"This… Im-Impossible, this must've… Wait… Huh?"
He is noticeably appalled by the thing contained in the casket, for his anticipation had been shattered.
...…
Silence looms in the air as the three met their eyes together once, prior to redirecting their gaze into the casket's contents.
A naked humanoid body rests within the casket.
However, due to the lines that are present on this body, along with its transparent hair, one can easily guess that they are not made of flesh and blood.
"A doll?"
"Seems like we've been duped."
Rising to a stand, the Owner narrows his eyes, while Long Hua crouches down and presses his index finger onto the doll's forehead.
"Mobility Tech HC doll, Model number HX98."
"What does the HC stand for?"
"Home care."
"So, it's a household worker?"
"Yeah. Well, this doll is considered a rarity since it was discontinued three months after release."
"Why?"
"Apparently the AI is rather… I guess, buggy? Its successor was the HX99 that is apparently being given stellar reviews in the doll circle."
"Didn't take you for a tech geek."
Towards Zhou'er's remark, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders.
Dolls of such quality can only be brought by the super-rich and even then, such individuals might opt for living, breathing household servants over an android.
"So, what do we do with this thing now?"
"We'll keep it here in the café. I'll make contact with HQ to ask for an explanation."
Recovering from his state of disappointment, the Owner answers as such.
"…I wonder, if she expected this."
"Who?"
"The CEO."
The CEO of NPI is named Nián Yáo Yáo who hails from a family that went by the name Lóng Yuè.
"I'm wondering if this is just another episode of the family feud."
"A family feud that turned an entire city's ward into a mess?"
Towards Zhou'er, who is unable to imagine a family feud that could cause so much damage, Long Hua smiles, and pats her on the head, while remarking—
"Goes to show you're still young."
"Let go."
Slapping away Long Hua's hand, Zhou'er fixes her brown hair.
"It's a good thing. Means you still got a lot to learn and see. Right Owner, you got my wine?"
"I do. Help yourself to it. It's already quite late, so if you want to stay the night, go ahead."
"I think I will."
"Then, I'll be heading back to the second ward."
"Be careful on the way."
"Won't a strong man escort me back home?"
"Who?"
"…"
Giving Long Hua a kick aimed at his right leg, Zhou'er walks toward the café area.
Following after her, Long Hua also moves back to the café area, while the Owner goes to the computer room.
"Well then, night."
"Night."
After Zhou'er leaves through the door, Long Hua locks it, prior to going behind the counter to see a box with three bottles of cherry blossom wine.
Grabbing a bottle and a whisky glass, Long Hua pours himself half an index finger's worth of clear pink liquor.
"Hmm."
Giving the liquor a brief sniff, Long Hua picks up a flowery scent.
(Why did I ask for this as a bonus? Heck, I didn't even know this thing existed until today…)
Prior to putting the glass to his lips, these thoughts ran through Long Hua's mind.
"…!"
As the first sip enters his mouth and touches his tongue, Long Hua shuts his eyes tightly.
"Sour… But…"
As the flowery scent begins to fade, the sour taste of the liquor begins to sweeten.
"...…"
Strange, that is the first thought that came to Long Hua's mind. This should be a foreign taste and a foreign scent, and yet they all seemed familiar to him.
(I… Have I drunk this in the past?)
As far as Long Hua can remember, he has never touched alcoholic beverages in the past.
Emptying the remainder of the cup, Long Hua pours himself another while savoring the wine's taste and scent that brings him a sense of comfort.
(Makes me think about crude homemade…? Cooking…?)
Closing his eyes, Long Hua tilts his head in confusion.
"You look like you're recalling something sad."
"…Do I?"
"Sinners don't get drunk easy, so…"
"I'm completely sober. But… I don't know why, but this wine's taste and scent just… I guess makes me emotional?"
Setting the glass down, Long Hua exhales a sigh and reopens his eyes.
"Well, did you manage to find out why and how we got duped?"
...…
"What do you mean?"
Dressed in casual clothing that consists of a loose T-shirt with baggy shorts, Jue Yun raises this question to the person on the other side of the video call.
The hotel room is rather minimalistic, for it is made up of a single bed with drawers on each side.
Next to the entrance of the room, there is a door to the side that leads into a bathroom.
At the far back of the room is where Jue Yun sits in front of a small table that has a laptop placed onto it.
[It's exactly what I said. That casket didn't contain anything of true value.]
The person on the other end of the video call is a white-haired old man—dressed in black military garbs named Xiáng Yǔ.
"Then, the lives that were lost?"
[Meaningless.]
"…"
Despite having accepted the fact that the lives of ordinary soldiers are but fodder, this still ends up leaving a sour taste in Jue Yun's mouth.
[Is what I'd usually say, but it's not all in vain.]
"Explain."
If this old man had been right in front of him, in person, Jue Yun would have surely wanted to send a jab to their face.
[The situation is like this. Someone of great wealth, time, and influence wanted to prank another person of great wealth, time, and influence. Our job in this prank was to act as the prankster's hands and feet. In return for our services, we are being given benefits.]
"A prank?"
Hearing this to be the reason, as to why the men he had been in charge of had died, nearly causes Jue Yun to curse aloud, but—
[The benefits are priority service to an experimental surgery procedure that can enhance the performance of common soldiers.]
"By how much?"
Such a thing has been performed in the distant past, but none of them bore significant improvements to the accepters of the operation. At most, it only made an ordinary human more durable.
[At its finest, the soldiers, who undergo the operation can contend against the Immortals through a set of specialized equipment. At minimum, they can at least run and take a hit with high odds of survival so long as they are decently geared.]
"Who is offering this service?"
[Can't tell.]
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