Chapter 93: End of Vacation

"Commander, even though there's still a considerable amount in your account, if you continue to idle like this, we'll soon be left with nothing." G36 observed Reno lounging on the sofa, flipping through a magazine.

She couldn't help but yearn for the days when the Commander was diligently working at his desk every day.

Although his tasks differed somewhat from those of a typical commander, work was work.

As long as he kept at it, progress would continue... well, as long as it wasn't like now, where every day seemed to be spent lounging around!

"And have you ever considered how I developed this habit of idleness? And why the rush? Even if there's urgency, commissions won't just fall from the sky onto your face. You need patience. Remember, a shop closed for three years will sleep for three years."

Originally, Reno had planned to actively seek work after outfitting all his dolls with the powered exoskeletons. But who could have predicted that a group of dolls would recklessly crash into him, breaking three of his ribs, and forcing him to stay home to recuperate...

"But you recovered the day after that incident!"

It was cearly just an excuse!

"Yes, but as people often say, it takes years of persistence to break a bad habit, but forming a bad habit often only takes a few inadvertent sparks of the soul."

Beep beep! Beep beep!

"MDR! Your phone is ringing! Change that alarm, it's so annoying!" Simonov, who was simultaneously maintaining an SKS and an AK15, called out to MDR, who was not far away, flipping through a magazine.

"Huh? What's this? This isn't my phone! Did someone secretly buy a phone? Why didn't you go to the anonymous forum and give me a like?"

"The anonymous form? I've been liking your posts there!" CF05 also chimed in, shaking her phone.

"Yeah, where do you think all those likes on your posts come from? It's us!"

"You guys! Aw! Miss MDR is so touched... But where did this alarm come from? It's been ringing incessantly and it's so loud." MDR pretended to be moved, rolling her eyes.

The dolls looked at each other, each holding a phone, but none of them were ringing.

"Oh! Isn't that the sound of a Griffin communicator? I think it was left in the pile of junk!" M1911 suddenly realized.

The Griffin communicator had been left on Reno's workbench, but later he threw it into a corner because he found it annoying. M1911 then moved it near the pile of junk. Since it hadn't rung until today, no one contacted Reno, and she forgot about it.

But now, it suddenly started ringing.

M1911 quickly moved the constantly ringing Griffin communicator onto the table and answered the call.

Helian, wearing a single-lens eyepiece and a neat Griffin uniform, saw M1911 and several other dolls on the screen. Although there were a few unfamiliar faces, she could still recognize M1911, Nagant, and P38.

After all, there were so many tactical dolls in Griffin, and she could see them almost everywhere.

"M1911? Where's your commander, Reno?" Helian looked around strangely, not seeing Reno's figure.

And the decorations and furniture behind M1911... they seemed to be doing quite well now, and their clothes had even changed styles, contrary to the standard tactical doll attire, clearly purchased by themselves.

"Commander, Acting Director Helian is looking for you. Jaeger! Help move the Commander over here!" Hearing Helian's words, M1911 nodded and shouted to Reno, who was still lying on the sofa.

Jaeger happened to be playing with CF05's orange cat, Little Yellow, with a cat teaser in hand. Upon hearing M1911's voice, she handed the cat teaser to Vector and quickly walked over to Reno, grabbing his waist and lifting him up.

"Um, at least let me put on my shoes, I can walk myself." Reno said helplessly, but Jaeger didn't listen, even pinching Reno's waist and making him spin in mid-air.

Ah... this...

Seeing Reno being lifted up like a giant doll and placed in front of the holographic screen by Jaeger, Helian's mouth fell open, and the single-lens eyepiece perched on her nose slid down.

Thinking back to the first time Reno appeared before her with such a domineering image...

Cognitive collapse!

Loss of authority!

In addition, Helian couldn't help but wonder why, why had Reno, who was so decisive and powerful in the past, turned into what he was now! And the way his dolls treated him... it seemed a bit too casual!?

"Long time no see, Acting Director Helian. Contacting me suddenly, there must be something important?" Reno scratched his head nonchalantly.

Hearing Reno's unusually ordinary opening, Helian felt quite uncomfortable. Could it be that the image she had of him before was just her imagination? Did it fit her personal preferences so well that she had embellished Reno's image in her mind?

"Ahem, well, actually, there's news about the guy you asked me to investigate, Poryuskin..."

"Hmm!? Time! Location! What did he do!?"

"Huh!?" Helian sighed and was about to continue,

but she heard Reno's sharp questioning, a complete change from the casual tone just now, even his expression completely different!?

The faint red light shining in his eyes made her heart skip a beat!

Completely different from the ordinary state before! At this moment, Reno seemed to exude something invisible, even giving Helian the illusion that his figure occupied the entire world in front of her!

"A week ago, the unidentified individual known as Poryuskin contacted the Doll Rights Association about the handling of dolls and their rights, and the location..."

Click click.

"Here, right?" Before Helian could finish, Reno picked up a newspaper and tapped on the photo in the layout with his finger, pointing to the prominent headline beside it.

'Griffin Involved in Another Scandal! Tactical Dolls Mysteriously Disappear!'

Uh... Seeing the newspaper in Reno's hand, Helian broke into a cold sweat.

"No more next time. Remember to prepare my reward."

With that, Reno directly ended the call.

"Well, vacation's over. It's time to do something serious."