About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Hey, hey, hey! Kid, don't think you can just walk in like that. This is my employee, and it's not your turn to give orders, understand?"

"Boss, why are you acting like this again..."

Angelica on the side shook her head. In her eyes, the emperor was not "protecting his employees" at all, but simply wanted to find trouble with Orson for some unknown reason.

"I'm sorry... I've received a lot of care from Miss Texas before, so I'm also concerned about her situation."

Faced with the emperor's ridicule that was almost directly in his face, Orson did not choose to fight back, but bowed his head and said that his relationship with Texas was indeed not very deep, but the other party had helped him.

"...Tsk, you boring guy! At a time like this, you should put on a small-time villain face and yell, 'I just lusted after her body, what's it to you!' That way I'd have a legitimate reason to shove a pistol into your ASS, pull the trigger frantically, and then throw you down from here to feed the Piranha Plants below."

The Emperor curled his lips. He had already heard about Orson from Exia and Texas, and had subjectively identified him as a "pretentious gigolo who relies on pretending to be a nice guy to win over girls."

"Um, excuse me?"

Orson tilted his head. Although he didn't know why the penguin was so angry, the other party was the boss of Penguin Logistics after all, so he had to admit his mistake honestly.

"No need to apologize, Orson. The boss is simply looking for someone to vent his frustrations about his employees getting hurt. Just give him a belly rub."

The Archangel on the side told Orson that he didn't need to apologize, as it was just the emperor's trick.

In fact, everyone in Longmen who had communicated with the emperor had a consensus, that is, "the emperor's words were as pungent as eating chili peppers."

I don’t know if it’s because he’s a rapper with high emotional intelligence, but the emperor always acts very arrogant and will argue with anyone who speaks to him.

"Hmph, damn, you're really being looked down upon, Exia! Who do you think your boss is? I'm the eternal comet of the rap world. Don't think that I'm just someone who sends my little dog away—hahaha!? You, what are you doing!?"

The emperor, halfway through his harsh words, suddenly let out an untranslatable penguin scream.

"Belly rubs—is that like this?"

Following the guidance of the Archangel, Orson hugged the emperor, rubbing his white and round belly with one hand, and gently scratching his chin with the other hand according to his previous experience of stroking Rosemary.

"What are you doing, kid? I'm the emperor! Stop it! Do you think this little trick... No! Stop! Don't stop... Don't stop~~"

The emperor went from being furious to angry, from angry to calm, and from calm to looking very happy. The whole process took less than 10 seconds.

"Hey... As expected of a breeder, I was just saying it casually, but I didn't expect the boss to give it to me at such a fast speed."

The Angel looked at the Emperor with curiosity, with a look of enjoyment on his face, like a penguin hugging a pillow. He took photos and videos with his mobile phone, and poked the other's belly with his fingers.

"Huh!? Ahem – you're quite something! Anyway, I've heard from Archangel Exiah that you want to join Penguin Logistics? Humph, our entrance exam is very difficult. Only the elite of the elite can pass!"

The emperor, realizing that he had lost his composure, immediately jumped out of Orson's arms, then put on the look of a devilish mentor and pushed his sunglasses.

"If you want to join us at Penguin Logistics, you must be a cute girl (or boy)! And you must also have a skill, and that is music!"

The Emperor pointed at Orson with a nonexistent finger.

"……Eh?"

"Hey, what are you talking about? Give me some freestyle or BBOX, come on? You little brat, I knew you—"

"Look at this noodle, it's long and wide, just like this bowl, it's big and round."

"Report tomorrow!!"

Orson used a virtual sound belt to bring out a wave of 120V high-voltage electric sound, and the emperor simply pressed the button and turned around.

"Our motto at Penguin Logistics is—Gah!?"

The emperor was speaking when he was suddenly hit on the head by an apple flying from behind him. He fell to the ground and lay motionless, occasionally twitching.

"It's so noisy..."

Texas, lying on the hospital bed, maintained the throwing action with her uninjured arm. Although her face remained expressionless as usual, Orson and Exiah almost simultaneously felt the murderous gangster aura from the Texas family, and both knelt down and begged for mercy.

After the initial turmoil caused by the emperor ended, Orson finally had a general understanding of the whole story.

Texas was suddenly attacked while driving to transport goods. The other party used a heavy truck to hit Texas directly on the road. Although the latter jumped out of the car in advance to avoid being involved, he was still injured in the eyes and arms by the explosives in the collision.

"I always thought these little brats were just playing around, but now it looks like they're planning something big. I'll have Is find out everything about them, from the name of their organization to what they ate a few months ago."

The emperor's tone was full of disdain, but mixed with a hint of anger. These bastards must be tired of living to dare to go against Penguin Logistics so openly.

"No need to check, they are the Sicilian Gang."

Texas, who had been silent until then, uttered a noun.

“——” “Sicilian Gang?”

The moment he heard the name, the emperor paused for a moment, while Exia tilted his head to indicate that he had never heard of it before.

"The Sicilian Gang, what are those guys doing in Longmen when they're not running the local gangs in Syracuse? And Wei Yanwu, that henpecked husband, didn't respond?"

The emperor picked up the apple that had smashed his head, stuffed it into his mouth and took a vicious bite.

"Well……"

Orson also frowned, as if thinking about something.

——How did the boss pick up the apple?

As always, Orson was seriously thinking about something completely useless but very concerning in his mind.

"Boss, what is that Sicilian gang? Are they very powerful?"

The Archangel squatted down and whispered curiously in the emperor's ear.

"It's not a question of how powerful it is. You should ask Texas. Of course, I don't recommend you do this. Alright! Since my capable employee's life is not in danger, as the boss, I should occasionally do some serious work. Remember to tell Officer Chen that Longmen might be very lively from now on."

The emperor took out a Lateran rifle from somewhere, pushed his sunglasses with the muzzle of the gun, and then left the ward.

"Eh... Boss, Boss? Wow, it looks like the Boss is really angry."

Exia looked at the emperor's back, which was neither majestic nor domineering, and complained in a low voice. Then she walked to Texas and rubbed Texas' ears with both hands.

"Forget it, anyway, I can't miss such a pitiful Texas. Let me rub it well today, woo woo woo woo!?"

Shuang rubbed his ears twice, and the Originium sword flashing with orange light was against Archangel's throat.

"Exiac, now is not the time to joke."

"Uh huh... I get it."

Texas's cold words discouraged Exia. She put away her hands, walked away from the bed, and looked at Orson.

"Orson, um... uh, are you busy today?"

Exia suddenly realized that if he didn't use his energy to cover himself up casually, it would be difficult for him to even talk to Orson seriously.

"Me? I guess I don't have anything to do today."

"In that case, the responsibility of taking care of Texas is now on you!"

Exia patted Orson's shoulder, his expression heavy and determined.

"Exia?" "Leave it to me!"

Texas raised his voice and tried to ask what Archangel was doing, but Orson nodded seriously and said it was okay.

"Well, Croissant is on guard duty today and can't spare any help. Sora is in Yan Country's city-state for a concert and won't be back until tomorrow, so right now, Orson is the only one who can take care of you~"

Exiah said with a carefree smile.

"I don't need any attention. This hospital has been bribed by the boss, so my whereabouts won't be discovered by anyone."

"Then just think of it as an insurance policy. And I guarantee it with my own character. Even though Orson may not be very tall, he is super reliable!"

Exia gave a thumbs up, but when she thought of the experience of being hugged by Orson in an extremely strong manner at the fire scene that day, her cheeks flushed slightly again.

"... Never mind. It's up to you."

Texas gave up arguing and simply laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"I will protect Texas. Speaking of which, what are you going to do, Angel of Exo?"

Orson said that he would do his best, and Archangel, who was about to leave the room, stopped briefly after hearing Orson's question.

"Me? I'm going to let those guys who dare to touch Texas see the Lord I believe in, that's all~"

"Wow..."

Exia said this with a smile on her face and a halo on her head, while at the same time checking the number of bullets in the magazine. It looked really scary.

--------

"So...Texas?"

After Exia left the room, only Orson and Texas were left in the small ward.

Because this hospital was "taken care of" by the emperor, there were not many people even in the corridor, and it seemed very quiet.

But this silence now makes Orson feel a little embarrassed.

"Do not bother me."

Texas still responded coldly, not even opening his eyes.

Orson frowned, but not because he was being ignored by Texas. Orson had already discovered from previous missions with Texas that Texas wasn't truly cold, she just instinctively liked to keep a certain distance from everyone.

But now he is a patient. If he continues to be like this, it will not be conducive to his recovery. Something must be done!

When Orson thought of this, he stood up in an instant. How quick!

"Let me peel an apple for you—" "No need"

Texas immediately anticipated Orson's prediction and rejected his offer of help. Orson didn't even get up completely before turning around and planting mushrooms.

Texas didn't like to take the initiative to contact others, and it was obvious that the appearance of the "Sicilian Gang" made her even more annoyed. For a moment, even Orson couldn't find a way in.

If the other person is in a bad mood and wants to be alone, it is better for you to just keep quiet.

Orson moved a small stool and sat in the corner of the room. This time he didn't say anything, he just stayed in the room silently.

After an unknown amount of time, Texas slowly stood up and tried to reach out to touch the water glass on the table next to her. However, due to the needle in her arm and the sore muscles, she could only try briefly and then put her arm down.

Orson said nothing when he saw this scene. He controlled the rest to turn into a tentacle-like shape, wrapped around the water cup, and gently brought it to Texas.

After hesitating for a moment, Texas gently opened his mouth and let the transparent liquid flow into his body through the cup under the control of Pause.

"……Thanks"

Perhaps realizing that he shouldn't be so indifferent to Orson, Texas finally took the initiative to express his gratitude to Orson.

The relationship between this young man and himself was not "deep", but even so, he still stayed here without any complaints.

After Texas took the initiative to speak, the atmosphere became a little less cold.

Orson took the opportunity to use the "medical care" skills he had learned in Rhode Island. He helped diagnose fractures, called the doctor to change the IV, and peeled an apple.

Texas gradually let go of the barriers he had with Orson, and Orson also knew that if he wanted to establish a "good and harmonious working relationship" with Texas, now was the most important step.

It's time to use your trump card!

Orson cleared his throat and began to perform his traditional stunt - crosstalk.

23. German dog's black silk! prprprprpr

"Crosstalk...now?"

Texas was taken aback by Orson's abrupt crosstalk.

But Texas, who had a cold expression at the beginning, couldn't hold it back after hearing the part about "Junjun went in and out of the mud pit seven times, and Kal'tsit uprooted the weeping willow", and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards.

Texas even considered whether he should find time to record Orson's crosstalk later, so that when he drove out in the future, he could listen to the empty songs 135 and the crosstalk selections 246.

After the stand-up comedy show in the ward ended, there was finally no more estrangement and awkwardness between Texas and Orson.

"You're actually cuter when you smile."

"Exiah said something similar to you."

Texas sat on the hospital bed, his unbandaged eye looking out the window at some more distant scene.

"I used to love to laugh, but after going through certain things, I've become indifferent to most things."

"Well... there's a very important person around me. She rarely smiled before because she was burdened with so much that she didn't have the energy to laugh."

Orson recalled Tallulah's state when he first met her in the North. At that time, Tallulah rarely smiled.

"and after."

"Well, she became a little silly later... But I like her better now. Through her smile, I can feel that my existence is meaningful."

Orson smiled from the heart, and this unconcealed smile made Texas stunned for a moment.