CHAPTER 1156: CHAPTER 890: THE 5TH MEMBER OF THE TEAM

"...Ming Gongqiao sis, we’ll get caught as soon as we enter the city district. Our credit’s all used up; we need to make a delivery to replenish it," Bubble said weakly.

"Entering the city district isn’t part of our action plan," Ming Gongqiao stood up straight.

She summoned a taxi shuttle machine, taking them to the luxurious Ice Sail Hotel in the Port District.

They stopped directly at the hotel’s 12th-floor atrium helipad, surrounded by vast artificial lawns with automatic sprinklers at work. Ming Gongqiao marched straight ahead, leading them into the reserved luxury suite. She flashed the Golden Special Security Card to all the staff who came to inquire along the way, showcasing the supreme authority of the Kojima Family, bypassing all laws and bureaucratic obstacles meant to constrain others.

Ming Gongqiao ushered them in, then turned around and closed the door.

The suite’s opulent decor left Xu Cheng feeling out of place. It had been so long since visiting a place for rich people. Xu Cheng looked around. So long...

Lianhua and Shahua excitedly jumped onto the sofa and the giant bed, with Lianhua grabbing luxurious welcome drinks from the liquor cabinet to drink.

Xu Cheng felt uneasy, sitting stiffly on the plush sofa, unsure of what Chishiki would say about father.

Ming Gongqiao pressed a device on her wrist, and Chishiki’s holographic projection was placed on the floor.

She was playing video games in her room but immediately paused the game, turning to wave at Xu Cheng.

"Hey hey!" Chishiki looked at Xu Cheng with wide eyes, "I’m here to apologize on behalf of my mom."

"Gua." Xu Cheng said.

"Nothing else matters, there’s plenty of time in the future. But, you surely want to know about father’s matters, right?" Chishiki sat on a chair, with her hands neatly placed on her skirt.

"Father doesn’t care about me," Xu Cheng said.

"Ah, father is just too busy, actually, I haven’t seen him either." Chishiki gestured, "How was father when he parted with you?"

"Father said he wanted to avenge the dead," Xu Cheng lowered his head.

"Yes, defeating the moving starry sky is necessary, but ’that thing’ is aware of our every move, scanning our actions. You saw the monsters in the mist, and you know that in their eyes our minds are practically transparent," Chishiki said slowly.

Xu Cheng recalled The Willow Prophet in the mist on the pier and felt a chill run down his spine.

"The Heavenly Tribulation destroyed the stars, power, and network. Father wants to repair the damage he’s undergone, to rebuild and maintain the existing network for the entire world, and more importantly... Father wants to calculate, but without letting any monsters see or perceive what father’s calculating," Chishiki said.

Using Heberon for the calculations... ah. Xu Cheng pondered, her heart stirred, almost guessing father’s plan. But because of this, she couldn’t think.

She patted her chest. Xu Cheng, do not restore father’s plan, or the aliens will see it. Father exerts all his strength to avenge the damaged world, declaring our civilization’s resolve and perseverance.

"Don’t think, don’t want," Xu Cheng closed her eyes.

She felt sad inside. Even knowing father’s work, she wanted to meet him, even just once.

"...You and Bubble are the key," Chishiki said seriously, her intelligence and tone far exceeding that of an ordinary 7-year-old girl. Xu Cheng felt Chishiki was extremely smart, while she herself was just a Little Fool.

"Me?" Bubble didn’t understand what role she could play in such a grand event. Could little Bubble also have a chance to fight against the Heavenly Tribulation? In what way?

"Yes." Chishiki blinked, "Anyway, you guys are leaving Jialong Slope next, right?"

"We’re leaving," Xu Cheng nodded, "This place is terrible."

"Ah, mom doesn’t like you guys; her demands are strict. I could only entrust my pocket money to Ming Gongqiao for you to use," Chishiki sighed.

Ming Gongqiao nodded, handed Xu Cheng a black-gold cash card, transferring 5 million funds to Xu Cheng.

Xu Cheng blinked; now they could buy a new shuttle machine to make deliveries.

"I..." Chishiki still wanted to say something, but it seemed like Kanako discovered her! Frightened, Chishiki hurriedly cut off the communication.

Ming Gongqiao put away the machine.

"We have money, we have money, we have money, I knew there was hope. Now there’s this amount, later it will be a hundred million!" Lianhua was thrilled, instinctively detecting the scent of a large transaction with her peculiar sharpness.

Xu Cheng turned to Bubble and held up five fingers.

"Gua." Xu Cheng said.

"We need one more helper!" Bubble nodded, "With Little Gua, me, Lianhua, and Shahua, there are only four; we can’t deliver the cargo to Italia. We need one more person to help."

"You already have a fifth person," Ming Gongqiao looked at them.

"Who?" Bubble was puzzled.

"Me," Ming Gongqiao said.

Machine girl! Xu Cheng thought. Incredible, now we don’t have any shortcomings. The mountain tiger-Xu Cheng, the farsighted eagle-Bubble, the battle-savvy wolf-Ming Gongqiao, the loyal dog-Shahua, the material pig-Lianhua.

"Gua!" Xu Cheng announced sleep.

Lianhua carried poison and Shahua carried bad luck, so they could only shrink in the corner. Ming Gongqiao sat on the ground waiting, Xu Cheng and Bubble slept through the night, awakening one after another the next day.

Bubble tidied up the room, Xu Cheng woke up and saw her, couldn’t help but wave her hand: "Gua gua."

The cleaning service would make the room spotless, why tidy up the hotel room so thoroughly?

"Because it gives a... sense of ritual." Bubble tucked the blanket again, "Since we’re about to start the delivery, official postal work!"

Because only one person was registered, the breakfast provided by Ice Sail Hotel was minimal, not enough for four people. You need to use the room card to get more from the restaurant.

"Gua gua." Xu Cheng and the Lianhua sisters were all starving.

Seeing that, somehow, Bubble felt compelled and volunteered bravely to go to the hotel buffet and bring food for the others.

The place was quite large, but the amount of food was much more scarce than before the disaster.

Bubble took a deep breath, despite feeling shy, carefully filled a plate with food.

At the thought of Xu Cheng needing to eat, she even managed to snatch a bread ahead of other customers, without knowing how she did it.

Bubble returned with a tray in both hands, piled high with cups of frozen juice, milk, several croissants, pancakes, fried eggs, some duck breast, vegetable salad, pears, and fragrant chocolate.

She gently tapped the room door with the edge of the tray. When the door opened and Xu Cheng greeted Bubble inside, Bubble felt everything was worth it.

"Time to eat." Bubble stacked the food on the table, pressed both hands against her belly, and stepped aside.

Seeing Xu Cheng drink milk made her feel joyous, just like this is perfect...

"Soon we’ll be leaving Jialong Slope to make money." Lianhua ate and drank heartily, her morale high, "It’s impossible to make fortune outside the walls of Jialong Slope, but the world beyond is entirely different! Let’s go, envoys!"

"Your vehicle has already broken down, I will lead you to an appropriate shuttle machine market for purchase." Ming Gongqiao announced.

"Woo woo... let me take one more bite..." Shahua desperately licked the tray.

She believed her bad luck magic power often backfired, fearing someday she might end up hungry and thirsty, so she cherished every meal in her life.

"Gua!" Xu Cheng checked her card with 5,051,700 funds, now she could buy a new shuttle machine and leave Jialong Slope, she’s had enough of this place!

Leaving Jialong Slope, Xu Cheng pondered. Deliver the goods to Italia, to Shallow Dream sister, Shallow Dream is much smarter than everyone, surely she’ll be of great help.

Maybe it’s Farosa who wants to find Shallow Dream, maybe this package is delivered by Farosa, it’s just that Farosa is indifferent and lazy to meet in person.

"Quickly finish eating and let’s go make money, it’s all because of you, all because of you are delaying us." Lianhua stuffed food into her sister Shahua’s mouth.

Shahua ate painfully, finished everything, then strapped her gun and while caressing her stomach, tears of happiness flowed.

Chishiki is so lucky, blood of hero runs in his veins from his father and the proud tradition of "Xisheng’s children," inheriting Honma Noriko’s strong genes, the future holds unlimited prospects, and he is a clever witch. Xu Cheng left the hotel room thinking about Chishiki. She is just an adopted child, like Kanako said, only wandering outside, with other equally strange people.

Ming Gongqiao led them to Xia People Strict District.

Xia traders imported and displayed many shuttle machines, showcasing a dazzling variety of models. A young salesman named Huo Jun rushed forward, diligently introducing them, guiding them from where to start, avoiding getting lost in the noise and slogans.

"Please take a look, please take a look." Huo Jun felt he could close a deal today, hence being very enthusiastic.

"Wow..." Bubble looked around, overwhelmed by so many options, only the most seasoned, genius pilot Xu Cheng could find the perfect new ride to replace the Little Gray Dog destroyed by Daniel Wu.

Xu Cheng scrutinized these shuttle machines with a critical eye honed through years of driving experience. Some were light and swift but lacked cargo space; others had conspicuous appearances, making them easily spotted by monsters. Around them, panels displayed specifications and test simulations, mostly fake, meant to fool the layman.

She narrowed down her final choice to three shuttle machines.

1. Xr-97 "Mountain Demon." Manufactured by Kanako Xisheng, using secondary pulse propulsion device, military-grade hull, quite sturdy, smooth operation, cargo capacity 50 tons, priced at 4.8 million funds.

2. "Mist Owl." Manufactured by Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, with a relatively lightweight chrome alloy hull, using special synthetic paint to evade monster scanning, designed for sneaky smugglers, cargo capacity 35 tons, priced at 4 million funds.

3. "Sky Patroller" shuttle machine. Manufactured by Nestor Corporation, assembled at Shangjing Shipyard. Equipped with triple engines, irascible and hard to tame, top speed of 5 Mach, meaning maximum speed is 6,000 kilometers per hour, fastest in its class, cargo capacity 20 tons, priced at 5.05 million funds.

"Which one do you want? A full payment offers a 2% discount." Salesman Huo Jun was enthusiastic.

"..." Xu Cheng’s eyes lingered on these three models.

Mountain Demon is robust, capable of withstanding monster attacks; Mist Owl has high stealth, able to silently pass through forbidden zones; but the Sky Patroller... the Sky Patroller is so fast.

Bubble noticed Xu Cheng’s fondness for the Sky Patroller shuttle machine and pulled her over to stop in front of it, encouraging her: "This one, don’t worry about anything else, just pick the one you like the most!"