Cyberpunk, but urban

The same night he left Alley 10 with the tank containing his son, he received news that his studio had been violently invaded and severely damaged.

However, Jae-hyeon, who was thankful for escaping in time, certainly would not have thought about it, nor would he have known that Roland, who had come up empty-handed, went to J-Nest, which belonged to Lane 10.

With the license of a first-level finisher, Roland easily passed the J Nest's review. According to some information he had seen in the past, there is a gear research laboratory in the J Nest. This laboratory has an unidentified human body modification technology. Its owner is using the gambler who lost everything in the J Nest to study this technology, and it seems to have achieved considerable results.

However, facing Roland wearing a mask that hinders cognition and supported by Angelica's arsenal, even if those who made the gears had a certain degree of predictive ability, it would be difficult to fight against the elusive Roland.

Soon, the scientist who was unable to withstand Roland's offensive had to let his daughter Irene escape with the remaining gears. He, who only had three thought gears embedded in him, stayed in the laboratory to delay time.

When Irene returned to the laboratory after confirming her safety, all she saw was her long-dead father. The scientist had been dismembered by Roland using a variety of workshop weapons in a miserable state, and the three thought gears embedded in his body had long been torn into pieces by Roland.

Finally, Irene collected her father's body and put it into the machine in the laboratory. Amid the sound of gears and machinery, a freshly baked thought gear was embedded in Irene's head.

Roland, who had only destroyed Jae-hyeon's studio and passed him, had already left J Company's jurisdiction and headed straight for K's Nest.

While Ye Lan and Luna were still enjoying life in the back alley hotel, Roland had already pointed his Durandal to a large workshop called Lumanos Group.

Although he has confirmed that the murderer who killed Angelica (he thought so and refused to listen to advice) is L Company and an L Company employee named Ye Lan, he will not let go of any group of people, big or small, who are conducting human modification experiments on the way to L Nest.

Lumanos Group, a large workshop under Thumb. The products of the workshop are unknown, and the specific scale is unknown. But Roland still got some location information from some of his old friends.

There is a research and development center of the Lumanos Group in Alley 11. The group’s leaders and cadres seem to have gathered there in recent days. It is unknown what they are planning to do.

So Roland went there in person.

After confirming that this R&D center was indeed involved in human modification experiments, Roland eliminated most of the Lumanos Group's manpower bit by bit from the outside to the inside. By the time he appeared in front of the group's leaders and cadres, they were the only ones still breathing in the entire R&D center.

Before Roland attacked them, the leader of the Lumanos Group asked him, "Isn't the middle finger enough to satisfy you..."

"You guys really don't know anything. Never mind, let's just consider it as a good deed..."

"Tsk, it's just a blind man venting his anger. Everyone, keep quiet... Go ahead, it's up to you."

Of course, the entire group was unwilling to accept the situation. But after conducting human experiments, they expected to be retaliated against at some point.

However, they never thought that their end would come because of the venting of the black and silent. But no matter how unwilling they were, facing the absolutely invincible color-level finisher, they could only let themselves be manipulated and die with this unwillingness. The only resistance they could do was to face the sword with absolute silence.

After almost completely destroying the Lumanos Group, Roland continued on his way to L's Nest. However, before he could find the next person to vent his anger on, an old friend came up to him.

Alstofor, also a member of Charles's office and Roland's junior, left Charles's office after Roland, Olivier and other seniors left the office, and went to make a living elsewhere.

However, faced with the situation of people suspected to be dark and silent rampaging and killing in the city, he, as Roland's junior, resolutely came up to them, hoping to persuade Roland to stop.

Unfortunately, Roland knew exactly what he wanted to say, and he also knew that he was just taking his anger out on others.

After Alstorfo, it was Olivier who brought not only his own admonition, but also the punishment that the association would impose on Roland—demoted to a ninth-rank finisher and forbidden to enter any nest.

After that, when Ye Lan, Moses and others were "invited" to Dias's manor by Han Xijun, Jin Zi Lei Di also came to Roland.

The two of them first fought, and then traded after they couldn't decide the winner quickly. In the end, Roland used the Violet Teardrop's special ability to go to the library built by the remnants of L Company early the next morning, ending his crazy behavior over the past few days.

When he left the bizarre space and walked into the corridor formed by several huge bookshelves, the first thing he saw was a hammer spear that could not be more familiar.

It stopped exactly in front of Roland.

Chapter 60. Black Cloud Society

"...Dream Laundry, what is that?"

Vespa asked from the driver's seat without turning around.

"An ordinary self-service laundromat. But if you use this laundromat... you will become someone else?" Yuria, who was sitting on Moses' shoulder, looked at the report and read it.

"Detective! Is this also a location-type distortion like the mock exam?" Ezra said, turning around in the passenger seat.

“You mean the exam?” Vespa still looked ahead, but it was obvious that his interest had been piqued.

Moses said to Ezra, "Ezra, explain the classification we use when handling work in our detective agency."

"Ok!"

Ezra dug out a notebook from her bag. Anyone who saw this yellow notebook covered with stickers would know it was Ezra's. She flipped through it with interest, then pointed out something as if she had discovered something.

"Yes, yes. Now let me, as a senior, give a lesson about distortion to the juniors Yuria and Vespa! As for Mr. Ye Lan, you definitely don't need it, right?"

After hearing this, Moses saw Vespa's brows bulge with blue veins, and Ye Lan smiled softly. Ezra glanced at Vespa's face and continued:

"This is high-quality intelligence compiled by Detective Moses and her capable assistant Ezra in their work as Distortion Detectives! First of all, you all know that our teacher Moses can see distortions. Distortion is the name given to a phenomenon by the association. The one registered with the association is..."

"The phenomenon where a person's appearance suddenly becomes like a monster." Ye Lan added casually.

"But our Detective Moses doesn't think distortion is simply a phenomenon where people turn into monsters! She believes distortion is the result of a person's inner thoughts overflowing and manifesting!"

The little bear sitting on Moses' shoulder raised his hand and said, "And the detective can see what the distortion looks like before it actually happens."

"That's right. So our firm can solve the incident before the distorted progress is completed!"

"Whether the progress of the distortion you mentioned is completed or not is based on Ms. Moses' judgment."

"Speaking of Detective-sama, Vespa-san!"

Another vein popped up between Vespa's brows.

"Is it up to Detective Moses to judge the extent of the distortion..."

"That's right! The extent and type of distortion are determined by Detective Moses. All distortions have their reasons, and then according to the reasons, we will sort out the reasons that can explain the distortion. Then we will explain it to the person who is distorted to the extent that he can accept it... If he accepts it, the distortion can be resolved before it happens!"

“Can the distortion that has already occurred be handled in this way?” Vespa turned to Moses and asked.

"It will vary depending on the degree and type." During this period, Moses' own experiences, coupled with the information she learned from Ye Lan, allowed her to further progress in her understanding of distortion.

But before Moses could continue to tell Vespa and Ezra more details, a dozen people stopped the van in the mist.

Moses estimated that these people should be the gangs or the finishers who controlled the nearby area, and Ye Lan had already passed through the mist and could see clearly what they were wearing.

It’s the Black Cloud Society.

After Vespa stopped the car, the dozen or so people came closer and one of them knocked on the car window, signaling Vespa to roll down the window.

“Are you traveling as a family?”

A woman put her hand on the window frame of the driver's seat and asked in a coercive tone. She had a tattoo on her arm. The other hand held a cigarette. The rest of the people stood in front of the car with their arms crossed, staring at Ye Lan and others in the car.

"Is there a problem?"

Vespa asked without even glancing at him, closing his eyes. Ezra reached into his dimensional bag and prepared himself.

"The territory ahead is the Black Cloud Society. If you want to go through, you have to pay a toll."

"Detective...?"

"…Ezra, give them to them."

Give money to the gangsters who want it. And now, no matter how unreasonable the amount is, it will be reasonable in front of the money prepared by Dias.

Ezra frowned reluctantly and asked, "How much should I give you?"

"Well..."

Perhaps it was a surprise that we were paid so easily, and the gang members looked us up and down.

"Two million eyes."

“Ah…”

Although he was very reluctant, Ezra still took out a mountain of cash from his bag and began to count it.

The gang member laughed and said, "1000 million eyes." This can be said to be a typical case of being blinded by money.

"Wow... Detective..."

"Give."

"Yes……"

Ezra handed out 1000 million eyes from the driver's window. In this commotion, Vespa closed his eyes and did not move at all, while Ye Lan hugged the sleeping Luna and smiled, as if waiting for some good show to begin. Although Moses didn't know what he was waiting for, at least paying the money and getting the job done was better than anything else.

Although this gang raised the price, they did not ask for the full amount. From this alone, Moses could tell that they were at least an experienced gang. After all, only rookies would raise the price without measure, while experienced people would stop at the right time according to the other party's situation.

"Okay, you guys can go now. Take this, cutie."

Ezra was handed a black plastic stick.

"A pass. It allows you to enter all places under the control of the Kurokumo Society. I am Yuri, the vice president of the Kurokumo Society. I like you very much. You can mention my name when you drink. Enjoy your family trip~"

Vice President Yuri's cigarette hit the car's rearview mirror.

At the same time his head disappeared.

Vespa, who had been holding back for a long time, punched the vice president's head. He calmly got out of the car and began to clean the ashes on the rearview mirror. The incident happened suddenly, and there was a moment of silence. Then he picked up his knife from the driver's seat and rushed straight into the crowd. In the mist, yellow light flashed several times, causing blood to splatter.

Silence fell again, and Vespa returned to the driver's seat.

Moses had no time to stop his actions, and Ye Lan let him do it with interest. After all, if the vice president of the Black Cloud Club didn't die here, how could Miss Sasashi have the opportunity to take the position?

Moses sighed and said to Vespa, "Next time if you insist on seeing blood, start with me."

"I'll try my best."

Vespa took hold of the steering wheel and started the car again.

There were no more obstacles on the road, and while they were chatting, the van drove into the nest. They could see tall buildings sparsely in the fog, and it seemed that this was once a nest with luxurious and gorgeous lights.

But now these buildings are covered by fog. The fog sinks to the ground, soaking everything like water. It is like a substantial depression. The distortion and embodiment of depression often takes the form of water. Moses guessed that this fog also belongs to someone's great depression.

Chapter 61. Dream Laundry (Part 1)

The prosthetic hand that Dias gave Moses had the ability to navigate in the fog, so Moses was able to use it to find the right path in the L-Nest.

She used her prosthetic hand to scan the barcode on the Dream Laundry report according to the instructions Dias gave her. The prosthetic hand emitted a sound, not an image but a voice navigation.

"An urban legend-level event. Dream Laundry. Navigating you to the most recent sighting location. Turn right after 300 meters."

Vespa slowly started the car again and began to move according to the direction provided by the navigation voice.

"The one called Han Xijun asked us to capture the distortion. How do we capture the location-type distortion?" Vespa asked.

"Shrink it. As mentioned before, distortion will expand and change the surrounding environment according to its strength. Conversely, if we weaken it, we can reduce its range. For example, we need to make it small enough to be held in a hand... At least make it small enough to fit on a car."

This van is not an ordinary car, its cargo box is a huge dimensional bag. Probably because it was prepared by Dias, this cargo box can hold a surprisingly large amount of things.

However, the Distortion is still essentially a human being, and the dimensional bag cannot store living things.

“So are we going to go straight into the location distortion?” Vespa continued to ask.

“Yes,” Moses replied.

"You just said it's a trap. Won't you die if you step into it?"

"Distortions are not weapons made to kill. They struggle to make their inner pain understood. If there were distortions with strong murderous intent as you said, they would indeed kill us. But I can recognize that kind of distortion."

"In short, I can only trust your judgment, Ms. Moses."

"Of course! We just have to trust the detective, old man!"

Vespa's forehead was once again bulging with veins, but Ezra seemed to be enjoying it. However, unlike usual, Yuria did not join in their conversation and was unusually quiet.

Moses looked over his shoulder and saw the red bear stuffed animal was limp. It seemed that the synchronization of the god was not stable, but this did not mean that Yuria would die. After all, her body was still kept in Alley 14, protected by an agency called Douki.

"Wow... Detective Moses..."

"You seem to be having a hard time maintaining your divine preparation right now."

"Yes... the deeper we go into the L-Nest, the thicker the fog becomes, and my consciousness becomes increasingly blurred."

"Take a short break. I'll keep the teddy bear."

"Thank you... I'll go get some sleep then... I have a lot to do..." The bear's words gradually became unclear and he lowered his head.

"That's why I suggest you bring Yuria's body here as soon as possible, put her consciousness back into her body, and make it safe as soon as possible."

After Moses put down the bear carrying Yuria's consciousness, Ye Lan spoke to her. At the same time, Moses' prosthetic hand also sent a voice notification that it had arrived at the location.

A few people got off the bus and saw a huge green neon sign in front of them. The sign flickered irregularly, dyeing the surrounding fog green.

"Dream Laundry. We're here. Ms. Moses."

"Okay. Everybody get ready."

Ezra packed up his dimensional bag, and Vespa took his knife and javelin and got out of the van. Ye Lan woke up Luna, held the little girl's hand, and followed Ezra out of the van.

When he got off the car, he said to Moses, "Ms. Moses, after this distortion process is completed, we will say goodbye for the time being. If you have any questions, please ask them now."

"So, can you tell me about the library?"