Night Journey

Chapter 150 Components Ready
Although Meifuni is not very old, as the eldest daughter of the Lof family, she traveled from the Dawn Corridor to Hel City during her childhood and saw many magnificent or dilapidated things.

The colossal serpent coiled among the mountains and valleys, the vast and silent stone forest, and even the perpetually frozen suspended cities high in the sky.

Even someone as worldly-wise as Maefuni had never encountered someone as elusive as Bruce before.

"Huh? No... wait a minute, let me think about it..."

Amidst repeated shock and bewilderment, and occasional ramblings, Meifuni gradually understood and accepted the facts presented before her.

"So... in other words, your head was removed and sewn into a dog's body."

"almost."

Bruce nodded and explained further.

"The other party's biotechnology is excellent. It does not require any external or internal life support equipment. It just uses the biological organs of dogs to maintain the survival of my brain tissue perfectly."

Bruce only realized this belatedly.

"Uh……"

Although she accepted the existence of Bruce, Maefuni still had a vague feeling about his experiences and current situation.

She raised her hand to touch its furry chin, but then she remembered that beneath this animal body lay a human soul…

Mafone had absolutely no idea how to describe this eerie sense of disconnect.

Cillian didn't pay much attention to her psychological changes. Leaving the woman and the dog in the living room, he went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a few eggs, and started cooking breakfast.

Bruce is a very special individual.

Its specialness lies not only in its mysterious and bizarre origin, but also in the contrast between its inner and outer aspects.

Imagine a superhuman dog that can use source energy and print lethal weapons; in certain specific circumstances, Bruce might play a game-changing role.

Previously, only Dalyn and Anya, his partners, knew of Bruce's existence; now, there's another one: Maefuni.

There is nothing we can do about it.

Maefuni provided all the necessary components for the vehicle, but Bruce still had to handle the handover and assembly.

If we continue to hide it, who knows what might happen later? It's better to be honest in advance.

Moreover, Cillian trusts Mefuni.

After a bit of bickering, the two people and the dog sat neatly at the table, each with a plate of fried eggs and grilled sausages, and a plate of mashed potatoes sprinkled with pepper.

Maefuni glanced at Bruce, who was sitting in a chair, controlling his prosthetic arm to cut sausages. This time, she was finally certain that Cillian's talk of equality was not a joke.

as well as……

"Why are you having breakfast already?"

Mefuni slammed her hand on the table. From the moment she entered, Cillian had been experiencing a series of "surprises," and she had almost forgotten why she had come today.

"Oh right, is there something you need today?"

"I……"

Seeing him chewing sausage and speaking indistinctly, Meifuni finally gave up and relented.

"I'm here to let you know that the components you requested have been gathered and delivered to your warehouse."

Cillian paused for a moment, then devoured the food on his plate in a flash.

Bruce, not to be outdone, had already run to the door as soon as Cillian finished eating, wagging its tail vigorously, ready to burst out.

"Ugh……"

Meifuni sighed helplessly.

According to her plan, having components alone is not enough for Ciri; a professional spirit craftsman is needed to assemble and test it.

At this point, Mefuni would proactively lend a helping hand, finding him a few professionals to further manipulate Cillian.

She miscalculated; Cillian had clearly prepared everything.

But Meghanie still persisted and asked,
"And then... you'll be in charge of assembling it?"

"of course."

Bruce wagged his tail excitedly.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy, it's time to go!"

Cillian didn't wait for Mefuni at all, and turned to rush towards the balcony.

Jump down.

Meifuni was stunned.

Cillian's movements were so practiced that it was clear this wasn't the first time he'd done this. By the time she caught up to the balcony, his figure had become just a blurry dot at the end of the street.

"Cillian, you!"

Meifuni was furious, and then another dark shadow swept past her from behind.

Like master, like dog... No, they're equals. You could say they're birds of a feather flock together.

Bruce also jumped off the balcony, and since four legs are faster than two, he caught up with Cillian in no time.

Meifuni was left standing alone on the balcony, looking lost.

Meifuni clenched her fists in anger, turned and headed for the stairs, but a moment later she came back, still holding her breath.

Damn Cillian!

With a furious curse, Mefuni abandoned all decorum and etiquette, mimicking their actions, leaping from the balcony and giving chase. Due to a limited budget, Cillian's rented warehouse was located on the edge of Hel City, almost right next to the high walls.

The warehouse's exterior walls are made of rusty corrugated steel plates, with rainwater washing out dark brown streaks on the surface, and several riveted patches resembling ugly scars.

Cillian pulled open the heavy sliding door, revealing a deep, empty interior.

"Cough cough... There's so much dust here."

He coughed twice. Above him were crisscrossing, exposed steel beams. The air was thick with the musty smell of rust and old engine oil. In the corners were piles of abandoned cargo boxes and dusty tarpaulins, and on the ground were scattered unidentified metal parts.

The only "furniture" was a roughly welded sheet metal workbench, its surface covered with welding marks and oil stains.

Bruce hummed a little tune as he scurried in; the awful air smelled like a sweet fragrance to him.

In the open space in the center of the warehouse, vehicle components that Mefuni had acquired were piled up.

"Oh, oh, oh, this is it!"

Bruce excitedly circled around the component.

Several translucent crystal plates are fixed in place by a precision support, with hair-thin light-emitting conduits embedded inside. Even without the injection of energy, they still flow with a faint blue light, like a set of suspended nerve centers, or a flower waiting to bloom.

This is the small array of torches that Bruce has been longing for, an essential item for traversing the wilderness.

"And then there's this..."

Bruce looked away with difficulty, glancing in the other direction.

A frame structure forged from high-strength lightweight alloy occupies the largest space, with complex hydraulic and transmission interfaces reserved at the joints, and the robust shock-absorbing arms have an almost classical aesthetic.

"My God, what a perfect power frame."

Bruce rubbed his face against the shock absorber arm; if it weren't for his only sense of dignity holding him back, he would have loved to lick it a couple of times.

Cillian bypassed Bruce and went deep into the warehouse, where a striking component came into view.

It was an engine module encased in multiple layers of heat dissipation fins, with a matte dark gray special alloy casing and precise coupling clips gleaming at the interface.

Ciri reached out and stroked its shell; the cold touch kept him awake.

Bruce then came over, sprawled across the engine compartment, and made unintelligible gurgling sounds in his throat.

"I need to study this carefully. I can't waste a single bit of space or lose even the slightest bit of efficiency."

Even though he's been sterilized, Bruce's excitement makes him seem like he's in heat.

After the man and dog had enjoyed the view for a while, Meifuni finally arrived, panting, hands on her hips, looking smug.

"Hey! Everything you wanted is here... Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

Cillian reluctantly looked away before turning around and taking her arm in his.

“Thank you so much!”

He was overjoyed at Meifuni's help.

Cillian never expected that he could gather all the components so easily, without even the slightest setback.

"Mmm, I know you're grateful to me, so what?"

Mefuni scoffed, "If you're going to express your gratitude, then show me something tangible!"

"This……"

Cillian and Bruce exchanged a glance. After thinking about it carefully, they realized they really had nothing to offer, not to mention that they already owed Maefuni a huge debt.

"How to do?"

"What do you mean, what should I do? It's money you borrowed. I'm just a lowly wage earner."

"Bruce, you bastard!"

And so it is; whenever it comes to sharing responsibility, Bruce stops emphasizing equality, and his bottom line becomes so flexible it's practically self-adaptive.

"Alright then, Ms. Love."

Bruce climbed onto the power frame and looked down at the frame, speaking from above.

"As you can see, we are utterly destitute and have nothing to offer in gratitude, but your help has been genuine, so perhaps..."

Bruce considered it for a moment and then gestured.

"How about we give you the naming rights to the vehicle?"

Mefuni raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"You know, this vehicle will accompany us on a long journey. If we accomplish something great in the future, people will hear about more than just Bruce and Cillian; they'll also hear about the vehicle we rely on for survival!"

Bruce started rambling, describing things so vividly that it made it sound like the researchers were cheating their superiors out of funding.

"You'll have a part in it then, and maybe it'll even boost the Lof family's reputation! Besides... this can be considered an investment!"

Meifuni really wanted to say, "The renowned Lof family, do they need a few nobody like you to boost their prestige? And what kind of bullshit investment is this? What if you die out there as soon as you leave Hel City? That would be a bad debt!"

She didn't voice these complaints aloud, but instead sighed helplessly.

Mafone couldn't remember how many times she had sighed that morning.

"That's true, you don't have anything else to offer."

She glanced around at the messy, cold components and said with a sense of relief.

"Then I'll reluctantly accept it."

(End of this chapter)