Cyberpunk, but urban

"Yeah." Dias didn't even want to turn around and look at him. He just made a little sound indifferently.

However, Ye Lan was very satisfied with Dias's attitude. He pulled Ezra and Luna to enjoy the extremely luxurious food on the table.

After all, this Dias was badly cheated by Benjamin (Hokma's name before his death), and Ye Lan had no intention of revealing his identity as a member of the Lobotomy Corporation in person.

As for what he was cheated of, it has to do with Mr. Roland’s lifelong nightmare.

It is well known, or maybe not so well known. Anyway, the Smog War was a war Benjamin launched against the old L Company without telling Ayin when Ayin was still studying how to make a Carmen figurine for him, that is, how to make Angela, in order to ensure that their research could proceed smoothly.

Benjamin obtained the knowledge of how to become a wing from the head tuner, Garion (Binah's name before his death), who came to the institute to eliminate Carmen, but was replaced by Carly (Geburah's name before his death) at the cost of almost destroying the institute because of his arrogance.

Using this valuable knowledge, he found Dias, who wanted to become the leader of the Wing for his dream. Benjamin, Dias, who was still the leader of Wadget at the time, and other collaborators such as R Company launched a corporate war named the Smog War against the old L Company and its ally, the old G Company.

The result of the war was that Benjamin won a great victory. The new L Company, Lobotomy Corporation, rose rapidly with the technical support of A and became the new L wing recognized by the leader.

As Dias had lost most of his forces to Benjamin in the war, he was unable to fight against Benjamin, whose core force was composed of soldiers from R Company. He had to withdraw from the fight for the old L Nest and became a loser among the winners.

"You haven't given up on that dream yet."

"Of course! I'm a kid who dreams a lot, right, Ezra?"

"...Yes." Ezra answered Dias' question tremblingly.

Dias' dream was a dream that Ye Lan believed was impossible for her to achieve - to become the leader. Dias agreed to join the war under Benjamin's terms because she believed that to become a leader, the prerequisite was to become the leader of World Wings.

Ye Lan was not sure whether this condition was true or not, but Dias believed it was true, and consumed most of the combat power of Wadget that he had trained for many years in the haze war.

Moses, Ezra and Han Xijun were all members of Wadjet at the time. Among them, Moses was even the leader of the other two, commanding more than 2,000 Wadjet finishers.

However, even such a large number of powerful First-Class Finisher Agency were wiped out in a feint attack, leaving only Ezra and Han Xijun, who were rescued by Moses, who had awakened his divine defense after being inspired by the reality that almost all members of Wadget were killed.

But the price was that Moses lost a considerable part of his memory.

After the war, Moses saw the true face of Dias and finally realized that everyone was a disposable prop in Dias' eyes. He finally became disappointed with her, so he left Wadjet with his god in the form of a pipe and Ezra and set up a detective agency.

"Do you mean that I should obey you like before?" Memories of the past surged in his mind, and Moses subconsciously asked a sharp question.

"I'm not asking you to work as Wadget. I want to hire Moses, the twisted detective!" Although Moses' attitude could be described as offensive, Dias still spoke to her enthusiastically. If Moses hadn't seen Dias' true appearance, she might have thought that Dias really wanted her to come back.

"Dias. You seem to be collecting distortions."

"um, yes."

"Are you going to use distortion to fulfill your dream?"

"Well... half right, and half wrong!"

Dias disdains lying, but that doesn't mean she will tell the truth. After all, if she conceals even a little bit of the truth, the information will be far away.

"Is the L-company's nest able to collect a large number of distortions? Or is there a particular distortion you want there?"

"Do you know the current status of L Company's nest?"

Han Xijun interrupted and asked Dias, "Lord Dias, let me explain this part, okay?"

"Well! I'll leave it to you, Heejun. If I were to explain, I'd only make a lot of mistakes."

Han Xijun glanced at Moses and continued talking, ignoring the other people at the scene like Dias.

"Right now, the entire nest of L Company is surrounded by an unknown fog, which is different from the time of the Smog War. The only thing we can know about this fog is that it is unobservable. Anyone who enters will get lost."

"Besides that, you can probably guess that the gangs and the finishers are fighting each other in there, and Finger has also joined in recently."

"Then what is the reason for sending us into the battlefield? From what we have said so far, there is nothing related to distortion."

Dias took a sip from the teacup and glanced at Moses with one eye. Han Xijun seemed to feel Dias's gaze as well and continued:

"That nest has had a particularly large number of, presumably distorted, reports of incidents."

"Didn't they say it's impossible to observe?"

"You'll just get lost in the fog. But you can see things you encounter in the fog and get information about them."

"So all we have to do is catch the twist there?"

"Yes. But it's more than that. A more complete distortion is needed. So please make the distortion go one step further."

"Shall I go further in provoking people? What is the standard?"

"Teacher. Have you ever heard of Abnormalities?"

"Abnormality? No, I haven't heard of it."

Moses' expression did not change at all, and he answered Han Xijun's question as if he had never heard of it. Ezra, on the other hand, paused for a moment after hearing Han Xijun's question, and then he picked up the cup beside him and drank it quickly as if he was choking.

"Ezra, eat slowly. This kid is really, exactly the same as before." Dias put down the teacup and said with a smile, making Ezra feel that his back was almost soaked with cold sweat.

"Then I'll leave the judgment of the standard to you, teacher."

Just like the title says, my book will be on the shelves soon.

When I was writing a book, the editor suddenly came up to me and asked if I wanted to put it on the shelves on Friday. It was a wonderful experience, but it was a bit stressful. But no matter what, it was a very happy thing for me that the book could smoothly reach the day of being put on the shelves.

Anyway, that’s enough about my personal emotional matters. Now let’s talk about the plot of this book.

The plot has progressed to this point and the story is about to enter the timeline of "The Ruined Library", but our protagonist will not simply stay in the library and just be a librarian.

After all, the number of floors in the library is limited, and all floors except the general classification floor are managed by Sephirahs. As for the general classification floor, isn't there Mrs. Angelica who was saved by Ye Lan?

After all, it was a life-saving favor. Even if we don't talk about the personal relationships, just for the medical expenses for herself and her child, the lady would have to work in the library for a while. As for what changes will happen to the original plot after Mrs. Angelica replaces Roland, to be honest, I don't know now.

But it should be fun anyway.

Well, the first chapter after it goes on sale should be available sometime after 10:30 tomorrow. I hope readers will like it.

Finally, the customary book club group number is: 817309799

By the way, should I offer a bounty after I put it on the shelves?

Chapter 58. Entering the L Nest

"How are they going to find us if we are lost in the nest and cannot be observed?"

Dias, as if he had been waiting for this question for a long time, handed Moses a well-packaged box.

"Here! This is a gift for Moses! It's a prosthetic hand." Dias said to Moses in a cheerful voice, "And it's a special prosthetic hand, the only one in the whole city! I really spent a lot of money on it!"

Moses himself didn't expect to hear Dias say that a lot of money was spent. The fact that she said that meant that this prosthetic hand was definitely a good thing that should not be underestimated.

"If you install it, Wadjet will be able to find you and communicate with me."

"It means I have to work with your disgusting voice." Moses sighed. To put it bluntly, this prosthetic hand is a shackle. It is a heavy shackle tied to her ankle that will be found no matter where Moses goes.

After sighing, Moses regained his composure and asked Dias in a businesslike manner, "What is the number of distortions you want?"

"...Your twisted capture must continue until Master Dias is satisfied. And..."

"besides?"

"Remember the black box you saw at Taiyong Commodities?"

"remember."

"That black box was brought out from the L Society Nest."

"We just have to find the black box."

Han Xijun took up the topic and stated all his requirements. The situation was not favorable, and even if Moses was unwilling, he could only accept Dias's commission at this moment.

After confirming that Moses accepted the mission, Han Xijun turned to look at Vespa and said, "It would be better if Mr. Vespa also participated in this mission."

"why."

"Because Lord Dias can reinstate you."

"..."

"Just take it as your consent."

As if he had achieved some kind of victory, Han Xijun smiled slightly. But the smile disappeared when he saw Ye Lan, Ezra and Luna picking the most expensive dishes on the table and eating them crazily.

He had absolutely no information about the man Moses called Ye Lan. This was quite incredible for the Seventh Association, which was in charge of urban intelligence, and for him, who held a high position in the Second Section of the Seventh Association.

Without intelligence, he couldn't find his weakness. If he couldn't find his weakness, he couldn't exploit it. No matter what the reason was for this person to get close to Moses, he was an unpredictable variable for Han Xijun.

"Why are you looking at me? The one I'm doing business with is Moses. I will follow her until she completes what I want." Ye Lan put down the knife and fork in his hand and said the first words he had spoken since he came here.

Just this one sentence made Han Xijun's face change from gloomy to uncertain. They didn't need an unheard-of stranger in their plan for Moses.

"Okay, Xijun, don't bother with this gentleman, let's get on with business~"

Dias' words ended Han Xijun's plan to continue communicating with Ye Lan, and made him turn his attention back to Moses.

"There are many distortion-related reports you can choose from. Dream Laundry, Thunder Man, Library, Yesterday's Appointment, Eight O'Clock Circus, Gear Cult, Man-Eating Sand..."

Han Xijun called out a bunch of names in a flash, just like calling out the names of dishes. Moses, annoyed by these messy names, shouted, "Stop."

"Let's start with the Dream Laundry. What's the rating?"

"It's an urban legend." Han Xijun replied.

"The library's rating is only rumored, why don't you consider it?"

"not feeling good."

"understood."

Han Xijun stopped talking, and Moses said to Ye Lan and the others, "We will set out early tomorrow morning."

"Hmm~? Moses! It's okay for you to play with me here for a week or so..."

Diaz said to Moses, but Moses ignored the words and stood up and left his seat.

The next morning, Moses, who had the prosthetic hand Dias had given her, walked to the entrance of the courtyard. The other people in her group were waiting for her. Vespa and Ezra were loading various equipment into the trunk of the van, while Ye Lan was sitting in the back seat of the van holding little Luna, staring at her with the door open.

"Lord Dias left at dawn for some reason. Let me convey my apologies for not being able to say goodbye." Han Xijun held a writing board in his hand, on which were clips every twisted incident that Moses needed to investigate.

"understood."

"And Miss Yulia. You don't have to pretend to be a teddy bear in front of me." Han Xijun said quietly while looking at Yulia on Moses' shoulder. Yulia was startled by him, and the teddy bear shook a little.

"Wadget should be building an outpost near the L Society's nest. You should go to the nest first."

Moses didn't say anything and walked straight into the car. Ezra wanted to drive, but Vespa took the driver's seat first.

The van started and started moving. The group passed Han Xijun who was standing still and drove out of the courtyard. The van was driving quietly on the highway to L Community Nest. Vespa's driving skills were unexpectedly good, and the van prepared by Han Xijun was also quite advanced.

"By the way, would you like to take some time to move Yuria's body over here? If I have time, I can help you take a look at it as a bonus for the deal."

"Eh? Really? Detective Moses..."

The little bear girl looked at Moses. The deal was made between Moses and Ye Lan. Even if this was a bonus, Moses had to agree.

"I didn't go into detail when I mentioned this last time, but it's not a good thing to keep your body and become a distorted derivative like this. Miss Yuria's situation is not so much about using the divine weapon as it is about being contaminated by it. If it continues for a long time, she may be like this for the rest of her life."

"I will get started on this." Moses, smoking from his pipe, continued, "It won't be long before we are inside the L Nest. What are your plans next?"

"First, tell me what you want to ask and what I can tell you. After that, I have somewhere to go. I think you probably have a lot of questions, so I will follow you to complete the laundry commission, and then I will leave with Luna."

"I understand. So the first question is, is the distortion caused by your Lobotomy Corporation?" Moses opened the car window. She needed some cool air to make herself more sober.

"A sharp question. But I can tell you that it's not entirely true. Distortion existed before the establishment of Lobotomy Corporation. Didn't you get your pipe during that war?"

Chapter 59. Roland's Situation

"However, the increase in distortions today is indeed related to our company. Before the collapse of the Lobotomy Corporation, we implemented a plan that could change the city. It was called the 'Seed of Light Project'. The original intention of this plan was to allow people to face their own hearts and arm themselves with their emotions."

"But obviously, for the people in the city, there is no difference between recognizing their inner selves and being distorted. This is a problem of the city itself, and it can only be changed by changing the city itself. So in my opinion, the 'Seed of Light Project' cannot be considered a success, but it does give the people in the city the external power to strengthen their hearts."

"Even in a distorted form?" Moses asked.

"Not entirely. It was our first leader who believed that people should expose their true selves to the outside world, that is, continue to live with distortion. And it was our second leader who brought a new direction to the city people based on his own understanding after the death of the first leader."

"Then why... forget it now?" Morgan thought thoughtfully.

Then, Morgan asked a few more questions that were irrelevant to Ye Lan, and the van entered the area where L Nest belonged during this conversation.

At the same time, Roland, who was found by the Violet Teardrop and made a deal with her, also stepped into the space torn open by the Violet Teardrop and temporarily lost his trace.

When Ye Lan took Luna away from Alley 10 and by chance dealt with several members of the Moses Agency, who were also the protagonists of "The Twisted Detective", Roland, who had recovered from his injuries, was also causing trouble in the city.

Roland started from Alley No. 9 and headed towards Nest L. On the way, he passed through several back alleys and nests. Any individuals or organizations suspected of human body modification that Roland could find were attacked by him in an attempt to kill them all.

Among them, only Zaixian managed to escape. As for the reason... He had met Ye Lan in the mall before, and he thought Ye Lan was a person with a worrying mental state. Zaixian was worried that Ye Lan was forewarning him of some crime, so he temporarily stopped the experiment of resurrecting his son.