ATAPOW Chapter 26
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Chapter 26: Do you fancy raising a pet?
“I suggest you quickly put those nasty thoughts in your head away~ The water in prison isn’t tasty at all~” Milan said in a captivating voice to tease Ji Bai; She intentionally moved closer to him with a seductive smile on her face.
“Tch… I have no interest in washboards.” Ji Bai said in a disdain-filled tone and immediately turned his head to the side.
“Alright~ However, what you were thinking of was clearly written on your face~. You can look at a mirror yourself. It was so obvious~” Milan put on a cute expression and mischievously revealed an impish smile.
“So, Did you just bring me here to tease me?” Ji Bai raised his eyebrows.
“Nah, it’s just along the way, that’s all~ Follow me~” Milan didn’t show any sign of remorse in the slightest as she admitted her intentions. She then waved her hand and motioned him to follow her; Following which, she nonchalantly opened a dilapidated wooden door on her own and walked inside.
‘She isn’t expecting me to dive into the sewers or anything, right? Even though this isn’t a legal organization to begin with, why did they have to build and conceal their branch in such a manner?’
Just as Ji Bai was putting his brainpower to good use and allowing it to tap into his unused potential, he stepped into the bathroom. In a split second, the white walls that were filled with cracks and cobwebs suddenly changed; Almost like a spotlessly sweet wrapper under high temperatures, it began to melt and fade at once.
A short spell of delirium suddenly hit Ji Bai as a series of spatial distortions suddenly arrived from all directions.
When he came back to his senses, the fuzzy, snow-white walls in his surroundings gradually disappeared into the void of the strange distortions. The walls around him disappeared as the area in front of him took on a new shade of life. It was now a desolate street with no splits in its path, it also had a sparse amount of shrubs planted on the side. The additional things that appeared in front of him were a large iron door whose paint had somewhat fainted, and rows of buildings made up of reinforced concrete.
Even though the spatial currents had already calmed down, Ji Bai was still in shock at the fact that the scenery and space around him instantly changed.
“Look, we’re here.” Milan’s voice rang out at an opportune moment and broke the blank slate of mind Ji Bai had.
“… Was that spatial transposition earlier? Is that your sacred ability? Are you… also a knight?” Traces of incredulity were revealed in Ji Bai’s gaze, this happened as shock filled his heart. He couldn’t help but treat this obscure and illegal chivalric order seriously now.
“You have quite the imagination, but that was the wrong answer. The reason why we entered the toilet was just for a pretense.” Milan silently swayed her head as she walked up to the large iron door, she pushed it lightly. This caused the seemingly unlocked iron door to reveal a series of groaning noises while it slowly opened. Seeing that Milan had no intention to explain any further, Ji Bai sensibly chose to refrain from asking any further questions. He followed Milan’s pace and walked past the iron door.
“Say, can’t this banner be lowered a bit more?” The edges of Ji Bai’s mouth twitched as he saw a yellow wooden sign that read ‘Hope Elementary School’ hanging above a corridor lounge.
“You can ask the relevant department for that… As you are just in time today, I will bid you farewell here.” Milan replied in a cold and cryptic manner.
“Hmm? Wait. What do you mean? Just in time for what?” Ji Bai was slightly stupefied. He wanted to inquire about the meaning of her words. When he realized that Milan had gone silent, he turned his head and realized that there was already no one beside him but air-kun.
“You got here pretty fast, didn’t you, youngster? I just finished my noodles.” Before Ji Bai could exclaim anything, a familiar male voice rang out.
“…Culturalized gangster?” Ji Bai said tilting his head.
“Hey youngster, do you mind not calling me… Hahh… Forget it.” To his utmost surprise, Lin Tuo didn’t continue with the usual bickering. There was a trace of pity in the way he looked at Ji Bai.
“The small girl that brought me here earlier, she…”
“Oh, you meant Milan? She’s actually a very busy person. Our organization employs her to receive guests, because of that, her schedule is packed to the brim every day. Just a single minute of her time costs a few million…” Lin Tuo suddenly furrowed his brows; he had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with his explanation.
“…It sounds totally legitimate.”
“Let’s not talk about that, at this time… Ah, there’s an 80% chance it started. Follow me, I’ll explain it as we head over there.” Lin Tuo took out his watch and gave it a glance. He didn’t really explain too much to Ji Bai and had only tossed out a nonchalant reply before turning his body to walk off.
“Hey, hold up! Aren’t you forgetting something?” Ji Bai went up to Lin Tuo and stopped him.
“??? Did I overlook something?”
“Of course you did! Look, it’s not even 7 am right now.” The implied meaning in Ji Bai’s words was so obvious, it was almost as if he was acting the role of a general in a Chinese Opera1. With a wave of his hand, his ingratiating expression appeared.
“Yes, why? Don’t tell me that you want to take a nap?”
“What nap?! You’re really so dense that it’s embarrassing at this point! Have you already forgotten about the transportation fee reimbursement?”Ji Bai outspokenly asked, he completely abandoned the indirect approach.
“Did you really do all of this just for that?” Lin Tuo had a strange complexion on his face.
‘Hello? This is actually something that concerns my life! How can I not be anxious?’
“What’s wrong? Say, are you planning to dodge the question by saying that they don’t do any invoices here?” Ji Bai immediately narrowed his eyes. His eyes were secretly checking his surroundings for a brick or stool he could use as a weapon.
“I wouldn’t…Wait, Do I really look like that type of person? Even if you suspect my personality, you shouldn’t suspect my looks! Alright, we’ll discuss this matter in due time. I have another more pertinent matter to discuss with you…” Lin Tuo carefully sized up his surroundings as he quietly came closer.
“Do you like small animals?”
“?? Um, So-so. Why are you asking this question?” Ji Bai knitted his eyebrows. He had a feeling that things weren’t that simple.
“Oh, then. Do you have any interest at all in raising a small animal?”
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This was actually kind of complicated to explain. But in Chinese Opera, the generals are the one that carries a lot of flags. Now we know what flags are in Japanese culture, basically something that contradicts what the character has said. However, another meaning is that it signifies foreshadowing. The latter is what it basically means that Ji Bai is heavily hinting at something.