"Nightmare?"
Kurumi Tokisaki gave Luo Shu a rather peculiar look, barely maintaining her smile as she said:
"Are you sure this is the codename you're giving me?"
If an enemy who bore a grudge against her had given her such a codename, Kurumi wouldn't have been surprised. But Luo Shu was her superior—her patron god, no less.
Since when did allies give their subordinates or friends such an unflattering title?
Seeing Kurumi's forced smile, Luo Shu understood her displeasure perfectly.
But he had his reasons for this.
"Codename: Nightmare. Remarks: S-class threat. Is that unacceptable?"
"That reminds me, I almost forgot to change this."
As Luo Shu explained, he silently took out his phone and changed Kurumi Tokisaki's name in his contacts to 'Sweetheart'.
However, before he could finish editing, the phone vanished from his hand.
Turning his head, he saw Kurumi Tokisaki now holding the device, deleting the 'Sweetheart' note and reverting it to her original name.
"So that's how it is. Marked internally as a dangerous individual rather than VIP to avoid intelligence leaks?"
"I'll let you pass this time."
Luo Shu gave Kurumi a peculiar look.
'Let me pass? Can I have my phone back now?'
'Huh? Why are you browsing my contacts now?'
Glancing at the overwhelmingly female names and scarce male contacts in Luo Shu's phone, aside from Eriri's note as 'Idiot', Kurumi found no other special labels.
Still, the glaring gender ratio made Kurumi give Luo Shu a meaningful look as she smiled and said:
"Not planning to continue chairing the meeting, Director?"
Luo Shu silently extended his hand under the table. Seeing this, Kurumi obediently returned the phone.
With a quiet scoff, Luo Shu turned to the six members of the Direct Action Team. With a flick of his wrist, six documents materialised in his hand.
He casually tossed them, and the files landed precisely before each member:
"These outline the mission's strategic objectives, along with codenames for relevant factions and persons of interest."
"Detailed information can be accessed via the organisation's intranet. For now, review the general overview."
"Any questions can be addressed to me directly."
The simultaneous rustling of turning pages filled the room.
Except for Angelene, who groaned about memorising documents again, the team quickly scanned through the files.
Thanks to nearly everyone present having undergone Adjuster Drug modifications, their enhanced memory allowed them to absorb all contents within three minutes.
Noting everyone except Angelene had set down their documents, Luo Shu glanced at her before nodding:
"Any questions?"
Sylvie immediately asked:
"Director Luo, according to this, our mission is simply to ensure Hagoromo Gitsune safely gives birth to Nue within Nijo Castle tonight?"
"Correct," Luo Shu confirmed.
Sylvie frowned: "But intelligence indicates Nue's purpose is purging humanity to create a yokai-only world... Doesn't that contradict our organisation's mandate to preserve mankind?"
Though she hesitated to question the Hidden Management Department Director's loyalty, the mission's apparent ideological conflict troubled her. As part of the Chairwoman's Direct Action Team, Sylvie was particularly sensitive to such discrepancies.
Department heads could err through good intentions or incompetence, but ideological deviations were foundational threats.
Luo Shu responded calmly:
"I'll handle Nue's execution. Your task is simply to ensure he exists as a living being."
Sylvie paused, then immediately understood:
"I see. So our mission is to ensure that Nue, who's hiding in Hell, reveals himself? And to achieve that, we need to guarantee Hagoromo Gitsune's safe childbirth. Have I understood correctly?"
Luo Shu nodded slightly. "You're correct."
"I have no objections."
Sylvie let out a relieved sigh, then glanced at Angelene, who was still frantically scanning through documents. Her lips twitched at the sight.
At that moment, Luo Shu surveyed the other team members. Noticing they were sitting quietly without voicing any opinions, he asked:
"Does anyone else have questions?"
The remaining four members remained silent. For them, the Direct Action Team's job was to execute missions. As for thinking, Sylvie alone was more than enough.
Seeing this, Luo Shu hesitated internally. Commanding outsiders for the first time, he wasn't entirely confident.
Although Yukino Yukinoshita's documents had carefully avoided leaking ritual details while still providing necessary information, the fact that the team only asked one question before falling silent made him suspicious.
Did they really understand?
Unlike Familia members who could communicate in real-time through the system's internal forum, Luo Shu wouldn't be able to direct their actions on-site.
With this in mind, he scanned the room before settling his gaze on Angelene, who looked extremely nervous:
"Captain Angelene, do you have any questions?"
"Ah, um, well..." Angelene panicked at being addressed, stammering before whispering, "Sorry, I haven't memorised the document contents yet... I'm really very sorry!"
Watching Angelene stand up and bow in apology, Luo Shu paused, his expression turning odd:
"I don't recall asking anyone to memorise the document? Just remember the key points, isn't that enough?"
"Eh?"
Angelene blinked in confusion, then turned to look at Sylvie beside her.
Sylvie couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Lina, you seem to have forgotten—this time it's not me assigning the mission!"
Angelene's face instantly flushed red. She plopped back into her seat, hanging her head low:
"No questions! Not a single question!!"
Luo Shu's cheek twitched. He wanted to laugh but feared making Angelene even more nervous, so he controlled his expression:
"The rest of you can go prepare. Angelene and Sylvie, stay behind."
Hearing she had to remain with Sylvie while the others left, Angelene panicked.
'Oh no, oh no! Is Luo Shu going to scold me together with Sylvie?'
'Please, not this!!'