Inside the room stood a man wearing a red tailcoat and a mask. The two team members who had entered earlier were now embedded in the wall.
"Late again, huh." Chen Tiannuo didn't flinch at the bloody scene—it was nothing new to him.
"Are you a colleague?" Satomi Rentaro rushed in behind him.
"I'm not one of your colleagues," the masked man said, spreading his arms with an exaggerated flourish. "Because… I'm the one who killed them."
Satomi couldn't hold himself back and charged straight at the masked man.
Several special ops agents followed in behind them. They raised their guns at the masked man but didn't open fire—since the PMC members were engaged in close combat, there was too great a risk of friendly fire.
After just a few exchanges, Satomi was knocked back by the masked man.
Chen Tiannuo motioned for the operators not to shoot and drew his Skana.
[Slash Dash]
In a fluid motion, the Skana swung toward the masked man's head, just as Chen Tiannuo's Warframe fully encased his body again.
The masked man hadn't expected such speed. He quickly activated a repulsion field, bouncing Chen Tiannuo away.
"What the hell is that?" Chen Tiannuo flipped in the air and landed smoothly.
"My, my~ That was close. What's your name?" the masked man asked.
Chen Tiannuo gave him a glance but said nothing.
"Not talking? Oh well, no big deal. We'll definitely meet again." The masked man didn't linger—he jumped out the window and escaped.
"Tch, ran off?" Chen Tiannuo was just about to bring out his exalted blade, but the guy bailed.
The lazy officers from outside finally rushed in. One of them asked Rentaro, "What's the situation?"
Looking around at the wrecked room and the shattered window, Rentaro replied, "The Infected probably escaped. Officer, seal off the streets and the surrounding area."
While the others talked, Chen Tiannuo moved next to Donghui and asked quietly, "Donghui, are you really okay seeing scenes like this?"
"Don't worry, Brother Tenno. I've seen plenty of this in the outskirts. I'm used to it," she replied calmly.
"Good." As for Chen Tiannuo? Come on—interstellar hunters average a billion kills. This little scene won't shake me.
Meanwhile, Enju Aihara, who had rushed over separately, encountered the Infected.
"Mister… there's no saving you now." As her words fell, the infected man's body began to mutate violently.
"Found it! Rentaro, over here!" Chen Tiannuo spotted the Gastrea in the distance and shouted.
"On my way!" Rentaro responded and headed toward them at once.
"Donghui, I'll go first. You and Rentaro follow behind."
"Got it."
Chen Tiannuo darted ahead, leaping through the air, and soon saw Enju standing before the Gastrea.
Startled, he used [Slash Dash] twice in succession, appearing right in front of Enju. He scooped her up and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the Gastrea's strike.
"Eh?" Enju blinked in confusion at the Warframe-clad figure.
"Little ones should keep away from monsters—you nearly got hit there."
"I'm an Initiator, mister!" Enju explained immediately.
After setting her down, Chen Tiannuo rushed the enemy.
With a few precise strikes from his Skana, he decapitated and dismembered the Gastrea with ease.
"You said what now?" Chen Tiannuo turned to Enju, asking.
"N-Nothing…"
Rentaro and the officers finally arrived, a bit too late.
"Already taken care of?!" the officer exclaimed. "See, this is what professionals look like."
"Rentaro!" Enju fumed. "You threw me off the bike just to hurry over here! That was seriously messed up!"
"Sorry, Enju. It won't happen again." Rentaro apologized sheepishly.
"That your Initiator?" Chen Tiannuo asked, curious.
"Yeah, her name's Enju Aihara," Rentaro introduced.
"Enju!" Donghui called out.
"Eh? Donghui, you became an Initiator too?!" Enju said excitedly.
"Yup. And this is my Promoter." Donghui gestured toward Chen Tiannuo.
"You two know each other?" Chen Tiannuo asked.
"Yeah. Enju used to live in District 39 too. But she got taken in by the IISO later. Didn't expect to meet her again here," Donghui explained.
"I see." Chen Tiannuo nodded.
"You took down that Gastrea so fast—you're really strong," Rentaro said.
"That thing was nothing."
"Rentaro! The grocery sale's almost over—we gotta go!" Enju suddenly shouted in panic.
"Ah! Let's go!" Rentaro immediately bolted after her toward the supermarket.
Watching them run off, Chen Tiannuo was left with a giant question mark over his head. Did they just leave without collecting the commission fee?
"Officer, the commission payment?" Chen Tiannuo asked the police supervisor.
"Come with me. You'll get it back at the station." The officer led the way, and Chen Tiannuo followed with Donghui.
…
Back at the Tendo PMC office, Chen Tiannuo returned with the payment. "President, we're back."
"Where's Rentaro? Didn't see him come back," Tendo Kisara asked when she saw only the two of them.
"They went to buy groceries," Donghui explained.
"Here's the commission fee." Chen Tiannuo handed her the earnings.
"Thanks for your work." Kisara passed one-fourth of the money back to Chen Tiannuo and explained, "Since you completed the mission with Rentaro, half goes to him. Hope that's alright?"
Chen Tiannuo nodded. "No problem. That's fair."
"President, can I take on more commissions? I'm kinda strapped for cash."
"Can you handle that much?" Kisara asked. "Some missions involve very tough Gastrea."
"Don't worry. I can handle most of them." Chen Tiannuo patted his Warframe. "Besides, worst case, I can always retreat."
Kisara eventually agreed. "Alright, but let's start with easier ones first. Your PMC rank is still low—you'll need time to prove your strength."
"Okay. I'll start tomorrow," Chen Tiannuo said, glancing at the sky outside.
"Sounds good."
…
Using the commission pay, Chen Tiannuo rented a small apartment—though it left him with barely any funds.
"Sigh~ Money doesn't last at all," he muttered.
"Donghui, what do you feel like eating?" he asked, sprawled out on the couch.
"I'm fine with anything."
"Then let's go with omurice." Chen Tiannuo stood up. "Come on, let's go buy some ingredients."
He and Donghui went to a nearby market and bought some basic groceries and supplies.
Before long, they were back home.
While Chen Tiannuo cooked in the kitchen, Donghui sat on the couch, watching Execution Girls on TV.
Looking at the finished omurice, Chen Tiannuo nodded with satisfaction. Not bad—didn't lose my touch even after all these years.
He brought the plates to the table and called out, "Donghui, food's ready."
"Coming…"
Donghui walked over and gave Chen Tiannuo a hug. "Thanks for everything, Brother Tenno."
"It's nothing. Come on, try the omurice. Haven't cooked in years, but it should still taste decent." He gently nudged her off with a smile.
"Okay…"