Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Page 100

Yakov announced, "[Bach], from today onwards—you are the acting bishop, I hope you don't mind."

He was like a child who suddenly received an expensive New Year's gift and was at a loss for what to do with it.

Finally, he seemed to resign himself to his fate... Even things that others would not want would be treasured in the eyes of such a loyal believer.

[Bach]: "I...I am truly humbled and trembling with fear. I, 'Bach,' will certainly live up to your mission."

Yakov: "No need to thank me, it was yourself and Captain Los who gave you this opportunity."

The archbishop kicked the ball to Luo Tianming, and Bach walked up to him with utmost sincerity.

Before he could even speak, Luo Tianming refused, saying, "Don't expect me to help you manage these two or three cats and dogs. I plan to become a League of Legends hero in the future, so don't get involved."

Bach took all of this as Luo Tianming's 'arrogance' and said very solemnly:

"I owe you a favor. No matter when or where, as long as you ask me for help... I will help you even if it costs me my life."

Luo Tianming: "..."

This whole thing has turned out to be a happy ending for everyone.

The 'murderer' got what he wanted, the 'mastermind' went off to expand his business, and the 'detective' received thanks from both the murderer and the mastermind...

Yakov said without any hesitation, "From now on, we're all family. I hope you can all cooperate with each other."

Luo Tianming: "Wait a minute?! When did I become 'family' with you guys?"

Faced with his doubts, Yakov calmly replied:

"Captain Luo, you are now considered one of us."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Just then, the captain's log in his arms emitted a notification that the mission was completed.

Damn it, it must be that 'spy' mission.

Yakov said with a serious expression:

"Captain Luo, when I return, I will hold a 'symbiosis' ceremony for you, so that you can personally experience the beauty of the painted skin."

Luo Tianming: "I don't..."

Yakov: "Don't rush to reject it. Just like you said, you are someone who is used to looking at two sides dialectically. If you don't experience it firsthand, how can you have objective and rational thinking?"

“I will be waiting for you in the capital prison then,”

"..."

An hour later, Luo Tianming, escorting the bound Archbishop Yakov, used a public radio channel to send a message to the Europa Alliance officers, announcing the successful capture and requesting a handover.

The enemy arrived very quickly... They connected the airlock almost without hesitation, and as a group of soldiers approached rapidly, a colonel stepped off the airlock—not just a nominal rank, but the kind of naval colonel with real power.

He saluted Luo Tianming from a distance... Normally, someone with a rank several levels higher than him shouldn't need to salute.

Luo Tianming quickly returned the greeting, then realized something was wrong.

The unnamed, powerful colonel strode up to Yakov and said in a low, earnest voice:

"I'm sorry you've suffered. You'll need to wear the shackles for a while now. Please bear with it."

"..."

Yakov chuckled: "Alright, don't take it so seriously, it wouldn't be good if someone noticed."

"Also, this is a new member of our team."

He introduced it to the colonel.

Only then did the colonel walk up to him and intend to shake hands with Luo Tianming.

However—Luo Tianming's pupils widened as he stared intently at the person's outstretched wrist, which had a ring of twisted, tentacle-like tattoos.

The other person flashed a dazzling white smile, looking like a considerate officer who cared for his subordinates, but Luo Tianming's heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.

"..."

No wonder... no wonder the archbishop killed Schubert. He was indeed too arrogant, thinking he could win over the high-ranking members of the alliance through sex work.

Little did they know, Yakov had already planted his own people in the upper echelons of the Europa Alliance.

That's why he escaped so easily last time.

This time, with the help of even more people, he will surely bring unimaginable losses to the Europa Alliance.

Chapter 128 Idealism

Upon returning to the Nautilus, Luo Tianming immediately found a room and locked himself inside.

"What happened to the captain?"

Lucy said to Revy, who had just returned, "I didn't hear anything strange on the communication device."

Levi replied, quite annoyed, "Tsk, I don't know either. I just asked him if he wanted to take a break, and he actually dared to ignore me!"

Nan Mengya asked with a worried expression, "Captain, will something happen?"

"Judging from his absent-minded appearance, something must have happened that is beyond his comprehension," Wu Jianmiao analyzed. "Since he won't say anything, it means he doesn't want us to know about it."

"Perhaps there's some danger, or maybe it's a risk he wants to take on himself..."

As his psychologist, Wu Jianmiao was already used to her patient named 'Luo Tianming', and even knew exactly what he was thinking.

He's probably thinking right now: it's best not to let 'them' know about this.

"..."

Back in his room, Luo Tianming quickly calmed down. There was absolutely no way his ship could be under surveillance by any equipment, let alone betrayed by any personnel.

He caught his breath from the fear brought on by the 'Painted Skin Cult', and then fell into a chain of suspicion.

Since there are spies from the Painted Skin Cult infiltrated into the upper echelons of the Europa Alliance, do they have their own people around me?

"..."

Luo Tianming first began to suspect those around him:

First of all, would Major Soloviev be one of their men?

No... Not to mention that he doesn't like the Painted Skin Cult guys, he probably can't tolerate officers who betrayed the Alliance. To make him share a room with those people, he would have to use everyone in the entire Red Star Station as a hostage.

So, is Colonel Ivan one of their men?

Impossible. The work of the intelligence department has driven him completely mad. Anything beyond his control would make Colonel Ivan feel threatened.

Moreover, if he finds out about an organization that has appeared within the alliance, there will probably be a 'major purge' within the alliance.

From this perspective, it seems that the organization Archbishop Yakov is dealing with is the deeply entrenched "Intelligence Section" within the Alliance.

It's more important to understand the people around you than your enemies, because it lets you know who you can trust and who you can't.

The Painted Skin Cult's infiltration of the Alliance's upper echelons has been going on for more than just a day or two, and they prefer a more covert approach.

[Schubert] That kind of sex trade is too childish; those who can be won over are only people with weak faith.

But the people the archbishop recruited would follow him like 'fanatics'... Judging from the colonel's attitude towards him, he had completely sided with the Masked Cult.

Hmm... Under these circumstances, should Luo Tianming help the Europa Alliance?

The answer he came to was: probably not...

Luo Tianming didn't have much affection for the intelligence section. The last time Colonel Ivan almost killed him and the major, Luo Tianming still held a grudge. Not kicking them while they were down was already the greatest mercy he could show.

He showed even less concern for the archbishop.

A madman wandering the human world, who at present only resembles a human in appearance, what he does is none of my business.

It would be better to let them fight to the death.

"..."

Luo Tianming was not surprised at all to have such thoughts... In the end, it was because his own strength was not enough that he had to carefully protect himself when the two 'giants' were fighting for him.

(Let's not let them know about this for now; it's too dangerous. If we're not careful, we could easily offend several organizations.)

After calming down, Luo Tianming reopened the 'Captain's Log' to take a look at the mission he had almost reluctantly completed this time.

[Mission: Find Yakov (Completed), Mission Reward: 5 Common Recruitment Tickets]

[Mission: An Unconventional 'Murder Case' (Completed), Mission Reward: 10 Regular Recruitment Tickets]

"..."

Looking at the deliberately misspelled words, Luo Tianming felt that the system was actually in the mood to joke with him.

However, it seems he didn't gain anything from the concert this time.

But in reality, he not only completed two tasks, but also gained an unexpected reward:

The progress of his ongoing "Double Agent" mission has finally reached "Progress Three," meaning he now enjoys the trust of three organizations, and perhaps it's time to end the mission.

Just as he was about to claim his reward, a line of text suddenly appeared in his log:

[Because your 'achievements' have been published, you have now attracted the attention of the 'Clown Saint Mother'. Please be careful.]

"...!"

In an instant, Luo Tianming suddenly felt as if he had touched something indescribable.

It didn't feel like a tangible thing, but rather like a metaphysical, mysterious feeling. Gazing at it felt as if something inside you was awakening.

Luo Tianming felt himself starting to become paranoid again at this inexplicable thing.

What does 'merit' refer to... If we're talking about his recent merits, then the only one is capturing Archbishop Yakov.

Did he gain favor with the 'clown saint's son' of the rival Painted Skin Cult because of this?

But he's a member of the sect... No, no, he's not a member of the sect. He's a spy sent by the Europa Alliance to Jupiter for separatism. He unexpectedly gained the sect's approval but ended up helping the Alliance capture the archbishop.

"..."

He was starting to lose sight of his own identity.

However, at that moment, a new mission popped up in the captain's log.

[Mission: The Clown Mother's Gaze (Your actions have finally caught the attention of a being who has always remained detached from the world; the being has taken an interest in you... Although He knows everything you've done, He seems to find it amusing)]

[Mission Objective: Gain the trust of the Clown Mother's Son organization... Is this really necessary? You just need to show up in front of them. (Please be careful of their psychological manipulation.)]

[Mission Reward: 2 Common Recruitment Tickets]

"..."

It seems the system also felt the task was too easy and reluctantly rewarded him with two recruitment vouchers.

But right now, Luo Tianming's primary goal is to figure out what just happened.

He wrote in his journal:

[Log, what was that just now?]

【…】

Ah~...didn't we agree not to call me? zzz

The person who answered him was not the 'artificially disabled', but a management guru with a distinctly 'lazy' aura.

【Um……?】

It made a lazy sound, as if it had just woken up.

Was anyone here just now? Ah... there really are some traces, let me see...