Croissant, a Forte who often wore a big smile and was very easy to communicate with.
In Exusiai's description, she belonged to the 'always worried someone's after my wallet' type of character. Although this was their first meeting, thanks to the gossipy intermediary Exusiai, neither Li Lin nor Croissant felt much unfamiliarity.
Perhaps it was indeed because Exusiai's descriptions were meticulously detailed; looking at the huge suitcase by Croissant's feet, Li Lin could even picture the fearsome power hammer and large shield stacked inside as described by Exusiai—or perhaps a large pile of messy, miscellaneous 'treasures' stacked within. So he responded appropriately according to Exusiai's advice.
"I really have no money, my identity proof hasn't even been processed yet, I'm still freeloading off Exusiai."
"No money? Then let's just be friends. Here, this is for you. A protective amulet."
Croissant, with a big smile on her face, directly tossed out a small amulet that looked exceptionally exquisite.
Looking at this amulet, which clearly showed signs of craftsmanship and felt quite expensive, Li Lin suddenly felt somewhat overwhelmed by the favor.
To receive a gift directly from the 'Queen of Stalls' mentioned by Exusiai, this was a huge favor owed.
"This is too much…"
"I picked it up off the road."
"…"
"Ahahaha, just kidding, I wove it myself, impressive right? Your reaction is pretty good too, Li Lin."
The Forte girl laughed heartily, slapping Li Lin's shoulder, making him feel like his shoulder blade might shatter.
"Anyway, you're someone Exusiai has taken a liking to. You'll definitely be teammates in the future, so building a good relationship beforehand is always right. Although Sora and Texas both seem uncomfortable with you, I trust Exusiai's judgment. Don't be fooled by her appearance, she's actually quite sharp at judging people. She might seem friendly with everyone on the surface, but there aren't many people she truly acknowledges."
"Ha, then I might be the first person she's ever misjudged."
Recalling Exusiai's inexplicable trust, Li Lin looked at the employee card in his hand and shivered, feeling he had likely been mistaken for something else.
Think about it, a perfectly fine deadbeat otaku, meets her, cries, hugs her leg, begs to be taken in, and the young lady actually takes him in, not only that, introduces him to friends, defends him even though he has an unknown background and deserves to be criticized. Believes he has some strange potential even he doesn't know about.
This kind of trust, to a certain extent, is heavy pressure. At least Li Lin didn't feel he deserved this trust. Especially when applied in the gray area where lives could be lost.
"I... might not be as outstanding as imagined."
After thinking for a moment, Li Lin decided to give Croissant and Penguin Logistics a heads-up.
"Actually, I don't know anything about tactical operations, nor do I understand what the current situation is really like, I can't even clearly explain my origins. Rashly joining Penguin Logistics isn't actually a very good choice for you all…"
"Mhm mhm, your ability to tell jokes is indeed quite good, we'll become great partners. Come, let me treat you to a drink. It's been a busy day, kinda tired too."
"Did you really listen to what I said?"
This person doesn't believe me at all.
Watching Croissant casually agree, stand up, and walk over to the vending machine, Li Lin sighed.
But he quickly noticed an unusual word in the conversation just now, one that didn't seem to align with Exusiai's description.
"Busy day? Is the workload here at Penguin Logistics that intense?"
"It's not usually like this, things have been a bit restless recently, the so-called order peak period? So having a new operator join us makes us very happy too. Ah, do you want milk?"
"Coffee, please. Thanks."
"But milk is really delicious… Here, coffee."
Casually tossing the coffee into Li Lin's arms, Croissant walked over, leaned back on her chair, took a sip of hot milk, and let out a contented sigh.
"Haa… Hot milk is still the best. Actually, we were prepared for this kind of chaos long ago. I heard the Lungmen network is in a complete mess."
"How so?"
Li Lin pulled open the tab and listened intently.
"Seems like some terrorist organization has been stirring up trouble on various forums and Tieba boards, posting information that's hard to verify as true or false. At first, nobody really believed it, but a couple of days ago, people from Honey Badger Technology took down the posts, and only then did everyone discover that among those stirring the pot, there was a large batch of strange data. Some real, some fake, but all quite valuable. So, take a guess? Why is it so chaotic now?"
"Does that even need guessing? Of course it's chaotic."
Taking a sip of coffee, Li Lin thought about his previous experience as an armchair politician and spoke readily.
"Things that are partly true, partly false, and identity can't be confirmed... then they'll definitely fight each other and scramble for the data, right? Or maybe pretend to yield to each other on the surface, while tripping each other up behind the scenes. I think the probability of issuing joint announcements publicly while acting covertly behind the scenes is higher."
"Bingo, that's exactly it. That's why there are many more people looking for us to deliver packages now."
Seeing Li Lin drink coffee, Croissant suddenly perked up, her face full of smiles as if she had found a kindred spirit.
"The more chaos, the more demand for orders; the more demand for orders, the more VIPs; the more VIPs, the more incidents; the more incidents, the more it generates orders. Generally speaking, it means—"
"'It's really dangerous (profitable).'"
"…Huh? Dangerous?"
Croissant was momentarily stunned. And seeing Croissant stunned, Li Lin couldn't help but be stunned too.
"Huh? Isn't it dangerous?"
"That's true, but it feels like something that shouldn't come from an operator nicknamed Prophet?"
"So what on earth did Exusiai describe me as?"
And what's with that out-of-sync expression on your face.
Looking at Croissant's shocked expression, Li Lin quickly drank down his coffee, deciding to properly describe the fact that he was just a noob to these operators who had been fooled by Exusiai.
But before he could speak, the elevator in the middle of the lobby suddenly lit up.
A figure with a halo emerged boisterously, waving vigorously at Li Lin.
Then tossed over a dark object, startling Li Lin into fumbling to catch it.
"Prophet, take it. I applied for this for you. Although it lacks Originium components and its power is relatively small, I believe in you. The spotter position is yours, okay?"
"…What did you say???"
You believe in me? I don't even believe in myself.
At most, during military training, I treated the instructor to drinks and idly fired a thousand rounds, and you want me to take this straight onto the battlefield?
Does PUBG experience count as experience?
Looking at the fully loaded black handgun carelessly tossed into his arms, Li Lin shivered, looking astonished at Exusiai, who sported drastically shortened choppy hair and gave him a thumbs-up, feeling her intelligence might have been chopped short along with her long hair.
However, before Li Lin could explain to the grinning Exusiai that he was actually just a rookie who had only undergone a few months of military training, Texas emerged from the elevator behind Exusiai with a gloomy face.
This girl, shrouded in a low-pressure aura, finally had a cigarette dangling from her mouth, nodded at Li Lin and Exusiai, signaling them both to follow.
"Li Lin, your employee card can only be processed tomorrow, there's a mission now. Someone in D4 District has requested a VIP escort. Croissant, you too, keep up, let's go."
"Okay okay~ VIP is good, how much is the bonus?"
"Ten thousand Yuan. If done cleanly, there's a commission."
"That's great, I just love a straightforward boss like this."
"No, wait a minute, don't you think doing this is a bit reckless? Shouldn't there be a test or something?"
Watching the others already heading towards the door, Li Lin couldn't help but quickly say:
"My abilities are fundamentally rookie level, if I jump into such a tough fight right away, I could easily drag you guys down, won't you think about it carefully?"
"Actual combat is the best test."
Texas took out the car keys and said without turning her head:
"Exusiai trusts you, says you can do it, so we trust you, think you can do it. So what are you standing there stunned for? Hurry up and get in the car, time waits for no one."
"That's right, that's right, even if you make a small mistake, we'll forgive you. After all, Prophet, you have amnesia~"
"If it's a costly mistake, just give some more compensation money. If it's a non-combat accident, you can ask the boss to waive the fee, okay?"
"I really am a rookie, believe me… Fine, fine. Let's go. Don't blame me if I screw up, okay?"
Even if this is following a plot, starting with the apartment blowing up and immediately heading to a second battlefield, isn't this too fast?
Is this life?
Watching the girls seemingly not minding anything, chatting and laughing as they followed Texas into the car, Li Lin gritted his teeth, gripped the handgun of unknown model, and followed.