Chapter 760: NO.129 The efficiency of the first contact

NO. 129 The efficiency of the first contact

"Yo! Aomo!"

Withdrawing the post? No, it's the white-haired person who, without even knocking, directly pushed the door open and entered the temporary changing room of this old-style training hall, whom Aomo had been waiting for.

At the same time, they were also one of the parties involved in the 'similar case example' he had conducted just two minutes earlier.

Lapulande appeared with a fluffy white-haired look as if she had just washed and blow-dried her hair, familiarly slipping her arm around his neck—since Aomo was sitting at the edge of the dressing table, that gave her the height advantage to do so.

The subtlety lay in the fact that, while she was doing that, her shadow beneath her subtly shifted.

Her coordination with the master wasn't very good.

But the master didn't mind, and the young person being treated affectionately by the master, although they glanced down and saw it, still looked at this silly dog.

"What's with your outfit?" he asked, not hiding his discomfort as he raised his hand and pushed away the other's face that had come too close.

After pulling back some distance, his gaze at the other's attire became even more subtle.

"Getting a head start on autumn wear? How is it? The combo is pretty cool, right?" Lapulande grinned, showing her sunny sharp teeth.

Paired with that loose street-style hoodie and long pants, she also had a somewhat bright, sunny young woman's appearance.

That was probably just an illusion.

"By the way, here you go—some photos and some recordings."

"All right, I've been waiting for this." Aomo took the storage device she handed over, a secure offline one.

But then they heard the other ask: "What's the evaluation?"

"If I weren't carrying those two blades, I'd reserve my judgment."

Looking away from the two knife handles that were like compasses and mismatched with the autumn attire, Aomo picked up a hairdryer from the side and handed it to Qielenina, who had already entered the room after Lapulande, merely scanning the interior silently with her gaze: "I think you need this."

"Thank you." Qielenina took it straightforwardly, but didn't rush to turn it on; instead she set it aside, lifted both hands, and twisted her hair.

Compared to the overly dry-looking Lapulande, the other person was completely soaked.

Even the few stubborn strands not sticking to the forehead had tiny water droplets hanging at their tips.

The combat suit, made for dangerous operations, only accentuated her mature figure even more than before.

But rather than that eye‑pleasing yet instantly visible scenery, Aomo noticed the other's small movements betraying discomfort with the current situation.

Adjusting the temperature control system at the table's edge to raise the room temperature, he stood up and fetched the dehumidifier from the side meant for preparing dry clothes, reflecting that the consideration he hadn't thought would be useful actually came in handy.

The training hall's simulation program includes a heavy‑horse grass field, so such uncommon household equipment is present.

However, using the changing room itself requires an application, so after chatting with his colleagues, Aomo hurriedly ran to the front desk.

With the trainer's badge as identification, the application was easy; he sent the meeting point room number while heading over to wait there.

Their efficiency was also high—Lapulande entered the door without even waiting a few minutes.

But it seems someone is still missing here.

"Is Mositima still monitoring?"

He crouched, pressing the buttons beneath the dehumidifier to fine‑tune a setting that could extract moisture without removing clothes, and asked the Qielenina who was blowing her hair.

The latter hadn't had a chance to reply, but Lapulande, who was mostly in plain clothes infiltrating and had been walking around the interior, spoke first: "Exactly, that guy's the only one who can say those smug things—she's the perfect fit for this kind of work, and she kicked me and Dekesis out."

"I haven't even had my fill yet—that guy's lair is full of weird oddballs."

"No scare‑crows?" Having finished the adjustments, Aomo stood up and gestured to Qielenina, "Come here—in three seconds the device will project an outline; stand inside and it will dehumidify your clothing."

"That convenient? What about underwear?" Lapulande leaned in close.

"By the way, what about shoes and such?"

It seems that for some transmigrants, even after staying here for a not‑short time, these convenient little lifestyle tools are still too inconspicuous.

"As long as the settings are fine enough, it's handled the same way," Aomo said expressionlessly, "and also, answer my earlier question."

"Huh? Can't Dekesis answer instead?" After stepping back two steps, Lapulande, who had sat in the spot Aomo had been occupying, cheerfully said, "Oh! This stool is much softer than I imagined!"

Saying that, she turned her head toward the dressing table and casually picked up the big and small bottles on it.

"Huh? What does 'fine enough settings' mean? Do you not need to understand those structures?"

"..." Aomo stared silently at the silly dog that seemed to want to steer the conversation in some direction.

Forget it—it wasn't the first time seeing that.

Having no interest in opposing Lapulande's consistently carefree manner, Aomo turned his head to Qielenina, who was raising her arms and turning in circles following the instrument's projection outline, as seen from her expression.

The impression of use was probably quite subtle, but now isn't the time to talk about user impressions.

"No scare‑crows, we have a dimensional containment device that can preserve living beings for two hours," Qielenina said—though they hadn't kept up with collecting and using everyday little tools, they were up to date with this world's era‑level tech in utilizing operational gadgets—"Based on the clues you provided, we locked onto the target and confirmed they entered a building."

"That building has no registered company; it's like a civilian apartment block, and it houses quite a few extraterrestrials."

"Do you have equipment for detecting extraterrestrials?"

"Bought on the spot," Lapulande said, shaking the facial transformation device in her hand, "Dekesis placed the order cleanly and decisively, without hesitation, but I think it's a waste of money—we don't often deal with those weird guys."

"I can reimburse it," Aomo replied, glancing at the indicator light's change on the device, "you don't need to keep that pose anymore—the dehumidifying is done, though you'll have to handle your hair yourself."

"Huh, no problem," Qielenina said, twisting her sleeves and patting her shorts—she still lacked a real feel for this kind of convenience—but after speaking she denied it, "No, I'm not talking about reimbursement; no reimbursement needed."

She shook her head, gave Lapulande a cold glance: "There are also plenty of extraterrestrials in the Boundary Gate District; that guy might someday come to borrow from me."

"Hey, I'd rather not! No matter what they look like, it doesn't hinder fighting~" The latter said, and Aomo thought it would turn into a boomerang, he added teasingly, "But you, having followed them all the way outside and ended up like this, still look pretty spirited."

"Your tail uncomfortable? Can't the hairdryer blow it?" She grinned, as if about to hop like a toad in front of someone, "Come on, beg me—I'll blow it for you~"

"Aomo, help me blow my tail." Qielenina said flatly.

Lapulande: "?"

Aomo: "?"

"Uh… okay."

Seeing the other intentionally sit on the edge of the small sofa, as if not joking, and then seeing Lapulande's incredulous expression, Aomo silently shook his head, walked over, and took the hairdryer.

"Then I'll continue the report." As the hairdryer sounded, Qielenina spoke without turning back.

Okay, please speak.

Those aliens had disguised themselves as humans and didn't care about outsiders' visits; only the floor where that Baltanian brought the Horse Girl inside was under martial law.

'How did you sneak in?' Aomo asked.

He also mentioned that the other's tail resembled a canine sword-like shape, fairly straight, slightly curved, and naturally drooped when still.

He originally lacked experience in caring for canine tails.

Yet he found that the other's tail was unexpectedly not very canine.

The fur at the tip had grown considerably, unlike the oval tip of most canine tails.

The long, flowing tail hair was somewhat reminiscent of a horse's tail.

'It's probably like deliberately styling hair,' Aomo thought, and he relaxed a bit.

After all, he indeed had experience with horse tails.

Just like a certain Weaver Girl once casually complained, 'Why do hair and tails always grow in places that are hard to maintain… going to the beauty salon only wastes stamina.'

Although Aomo thought it was just consuming time, not stamina, the Horse Girl really struggled to groom her tail.

His three subordinates, especially the one responsible, were undoubtedly lazy horses, often handing their tails over to Aomo.

So he was fairly familiar with this kind of tail, essentially no different from long hair; the only difference was that the canine tail's base is much longer than a horse's.

And it was generally more sensitive……

As he watched himself pinch the tail and blow air on it, the other's slight trembling reaction made him feel a bit awkward.

He decided to move only the hand holding the hair dryer as much as possible.

'I suggest the ventilation ducts,' Lappland said, looking at Aomo's cautious movements, finding it somewhat funny, wondering whether to recount how he casually tied a bow in Texas's tail fur, but seeing the other's occasional cold glance……

Forget it.

'In the end, those two rejected it together,' she said, putting on a serious face.

'…The building's ventilation ducts are too narrow,' Qielienina said, 'We used Mostima's recently learned invisibility ability to sneak in directly and overheard some details about the match arrangements.'

'Any designs to hinder other competitors?' Aomo asked.

'Yes, they also talked about the betting odds.'

'Is there any building similar to a laboratory?'

'At that time we didn't find one, but even when Lappland and I came back, we still hadn't fully explored that building.'

'So we still have to wait for news from Miss Mostima……'

'When her newly learned skill doesn't have to cover me and Lappland, it's actually more stable.'

'Not to mention worrying about her exposure,' Aomo said calmly after blowing dry and combing the other's tail, 'Baltanian clones and spatial teleportation can't stop the march of time; she's just like the two of them, not familiar enough with alien civilization.'

'What do you think she might miss?' Lappland pursed his lips, 'Things she doesn't know, neither I nor Texas would necessarily know either.'

'Indeed.' Aomo nodded.

'You admit it so readily, yet you're still a bit angry.'

'I'm just stating the facts.'

Mostima, who often runs long distances, is generally the most well-informed among the Penguin Logistics crew.

'But I still expect the three of you to complement each other to some extent.'

'Then Lappland and I will head back to regroup,' Qielienina said, standing up and grabbing her own tail to have a look.

Heading back again, we won't have to worry about getting wet; we've already found their landing spot.

'Huh? We just got here and have to go back?' Lappland was quite unwilling to make the round trip.

'Have Aomo check those data for legality; I think their whole building is illegal,' Texas said, already standing and walking to the door.

And someone also perked up: 'Then can we cause a big ruckus?'

'Hmm.'

'As long as I confirm they're really illegal, ladies,' Aomo raised his voice to remind, confident about Lappland's overhaste, 'but rest assured, I'll handle it efficiently.'

The card of Galatelong was pinched between his fingers.

But before that, let's deal with the scene.

'OK~ So let's go!'

Suddenly leaping up from the stool, raising a hand in a gesture, dual blades in hand—Lappland, who also seemed to have learned something new, rushed out the door first.

Just as she had when she arrived.

'Mm, I'll notify you if anything happens,' Qielienina also stood up and followed, pausing at the door without looking back, 'Thanks for the tail thing.'

'Oh, you're welcome.'

Aomo replied, putting the hair dryer and dehumidifier back where they belonged.