Chapter 618 - 842 – Kalifa Is Ecstatic Inside

"As for that woman who defeated us, we shouldn't provoke her again."

"The gap between our strength and hers is enormous. The fact that she didn't kill us this time means we never crossed her bottom line."

"But if we provoke her again, we might."

Rob Lucci spoke gravely to the other two.

Kaku and Blueno immediately nodded.

It was true. Although she had defeated them, she hadn't actually caused them any serious harm. It had been more like a straightforward lesson than anything else.

There were still some things they didn't understand, but for now, the best choice was to leave her alone and avoid causing any more trouble.

"What about Kalifa?"

"Since Kalifa indicated that there's no problem on her end, we don't need to worry about her for now. Trust her judgment."

Lucci sighed.

There really wasn't much else they could do at the moment.

"Anyway, let's go back and change first. As for that Raki woman, once we meet Iceburg, we should be able to tell whether what she said was true."

With that, Lucci turned and left.

Kaku quickly followed.

That left Blueno standing alone in the bar, bewildered.

"What the hell was all that about?"

"Whatever. I should get the bar ready to open."

Blueno shook his head, returned to his room, and began preparing for business again.

...

"This should solve everything, right?"

Raki walked beside Kalifa with a smile.

"Mm. Now I even have a reason for you to stay by my side."

"You'll need to go see Iceburg first and explain the situation to him."

"But remember, don't tell him that I'm already one of you for the time being."

Kalifa knew that her decision to join Arton was connected to events in the future, which made it difficult to explain.

If Iceburg learned the truth, he might bring it up with Arton.

Then the matter of the voyage diary copies could end up being exposed.

Given the current circumstances, it was probably best if Arton didn't know about the copies.

The voyage diary system itself restricted what could be revealed to him anyway.

Kalifa even felt that she couldn't tell Iceburg what she had learned from the voyage diary about the future.

"No problem. I'll be careful about what I tell him."

Raki nodded. "Speaking of which, don't you need to go change now?"

"Of course. Come with me. I'll take you to my place."

Kalifa quickened her pace.

Compared with Raki, however, she was still much slower.

Raki effortlessly matched Kalifa's pace, and the two soon arrived at her residence.

Once Kalifa had changed into her usual secretary outfit, she and Raki headed straight for Iceburg's office.

"Why did the two of you come here together?"

Iceburg was naturally quite surprised to see Raki and Kalifa walk into his office side by side.

"I ran into Secretary Kalifa on the way here, so we came together. I also told her about the ship I commissioned you to build."

Raki smiled.

"I see..."

Iceburg's mind raced, and he quickly came up with an explanation.

Raki had been sent by Arton to keep an eye on Kalifa.

The thought actually made Iceburg quite happy.

Although he knew about Kalifa and the others' true identities, he was still somewhat worried that those CP9 agents might try something.

If they failed to build Arton's ship properly, that would also put Iceburg in a difficult position.

Now that Raki would be staying beside Kalifa for an extended period, that concern was neatly resolved.

"Since Miss Raki is here, let's discuss the ship."

"Kalifa, listen carefully as well. Miss Raki is an important client, so make sure we handle this commission properly."

"Of course."

Kalifa pushed up her glasses, a confident smile appearing on her lips.

...

Iceburg studied the smiling Kalifa for a long moment.

For some reason, something about her felt strange.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, though, so he eventually turned toward Raki instead.

Since Raki was Arton's companion, there shouldn't be any problem if she nodded along with this arrangement.

"Mayor Iceburg, could I borrow your secretary for a while?"

The moment Raki saw Iceburg's attention shift toward her, she smiled and made her request.

"You want Kalifa to stay with you for a while?"

Iceburg was immediately suspicious.

After learning that Kalifa was a CP9 agent, he had no intention of allowing her anywhere near his work. He had even been looking for an excuse to temporarily send her away so he could handle other matters.

In that sense, Raki's request gave him the perfect opportunity.

Even so, Iceburg still wondered why she wanted to do this.

"You know the ship I want is huge, and there are a lot of details that need attention."

"That means I'll need to come by from time to time to check on things."

"I'm also worried I might run into things I don't understand, so I'd like to keep someone by my side who can explain them whenever necessary."

Raki smiled.

"I see." Iceburg frowned slightly and looked at Kalifa. "What do you think?"

"I'm happy to do it."

Kalifa answered without hesitation.

"Happy to...? Hm? Wait, what did you just say, Kalifa?"

Iceburg stared at the blonde woman in front of him.

"I said I'm happy to do it, Mayor Iceburg."

Kalifa smiled.

Iceburg fell silent.

He had expected Kalifa to reject Raki's suggestion.

After all, Kalifa's mission was to investigate the ancient weapon on his end.

If she spent an extended period of time working for Raki, Kalifa should have been unwilling to accept.

At least, that was what Iceburg had assumed.

Yet she had agreed.

That struck him as extremely strange.

Still, although Iceburg found it suspicious, having Kalifa reassigned elsewhere was a good thing for him.

So despite his doubts, he eventually nodded to both women.

"In that case, I'll assign Kalifa to you for the time being."

"Thank you, Mayor Iceburg." Raki smiled. "I'll take Kalifa with me for now. Please arrange the work that needs to be done next. I hope construction on my ship can begin as soon as possible."

"No problem."

Iceburg nodded firmly.

He knew Raki's words represented Arton's wishes.

Arton had done him a favor, so Iceburg naturally intended to keep his promise and make sure the ship was built properly.

"Actually, before you came over, I had already arranged for people to purchase the materials."

"We'll begin as soon as the materials arrive."

"For now, though, I still need you to wait a little."

"I also need to finish the design plans with my shipwrights."

"Would you like to look over the plans when they're ready?"

"There's no need."

Raki shook her head. "After all, Iceburg, you're the professional, aren't you?"