Cyberpunk, but urban

"Although you probably didn't see me in the last reincarnation, I should still exist in your chaotic memories, right?"

Ye Lan said to the spider mother hiding in the darkness above his head, and it was indeed as Ye Lan said, it had had a deep and heart-to-heart communication with the man below at some point in time.

"I have a place that is more suitable for you. Please come with me. Now, please take a deep sleep for a while."

The ring on Ye Lan's finger was shining, and the spider's nest fell down as if it understood Ye Lan's thoughts, turning into an egg covered with spider webs and covered with scarlet eyes in front of him and Luna.

"Hmm, I don't know if this dimensional bag can fit..."

Although Ye Lan had thought that the eggs formed after the abnormal body went into hibernation would be larger, he never expected that the abnormal body eggs in the spider's nest would be half a person's height.

Anyway, after he threw out all the things in the dimensional bag, the abnormal egg was finally put into this not-so-big dimensional bag.

"Ye Lan, your suit, a bunch of packaged snacks, newspapers from several days ago... why is there a branch?"

Luna looked through the things Ye Lan threw out. If she guessed correctly, these random things would appear in her small suitcase.

"The branch, Luna, don't you think that branch looks like a sword?"

Luna looked at the branch that Ye Lan mentioned. On one side of the branch there was indeed a pair of forks that looked like the guards of a long sword. It would not be wrong to say that it looked like a sword.

But this thing is in the back alley, even little boys her age won't play with it anymore;

"……boring."

Luna rolled her eyes at Ye Lan, then reluctantly opened her small suitcase which contained memories of her former home, and put Ye Lan's suit and snacks in it.

As for the old newspapers, Ye Lan herself did not plan to pack them up, let alone Luna. As for the branch, it was too long to fit into her small box, so Ye Lan had to carry it like a sword.

After solving the spider nest that blocked the way, the light source of the department they were in finally became normal. Then, Ye Lan saw the logo of the Punishment Department on the wall of the department lounge.

The elevator anomaly they took when going downstairs directly connected the Punishment Department and the Control Department, allowing them to pass through multiple departments in the middle of the branch facility and directly arrive at the lower level of the branch.

According to the structure of the headquarters of the Lobotomy Corporation, there should be two more departments, the Records Department and the R&D Department, but in fact, for the Lobotomy Corporation's branches, these two departments, like the Construction Department, are non-existent. Ye Lan and Luna continued to go down and directly arrived at the office of the branch director.

Like the main Lobotomy Corporation headquarters, each Lobotomy Corporation branch is fully controlled by a Director, and is also assisted by an early version of Angela AI without most restrictions.

These Angela AIs are essentially failed products produced by Ayin in the process of making Angela, and they were recycled into assistants to the branch manager.

According to incomplete statistics from the Lobotomy Corporation headquarters, at least 70% of branch managers will fall in love with these less restrained Angelas after long-term operations, and at least 60% of branch managers will try to take away the early versions of Angela when trying to escape from their posts.

Also, 100% of the branch managers confessed their love to these early versions of Angela when they decided to give up their lives.

However, these branch managers will eventually be dealt with, and the Angelas assigned to the branch managers will have their data cleared and restored to factory status after the managers' sacrifice.

According to statistics, 20% of branch managers would choose to commit suicide on the spot after learning this fact. However, Angela, the branch version responsible for statistics on this matter, did not know why these managers made such a decision.

Ye Lan and Luna continued to take the elevator downstairs. This time they did not accidentally enter the escaped alien entity, and walked out smoothly from the elevator that went directly to the supervisor's office.

The first thing the two saw when they walked into the office was a body lying in front of the control console. Ye Lan was able to recognize from the work badge hanging on the body's clothes that this corpse was the head of the branch.

The man died of suicide, and his pistol was found next to his body. It was an ordinary pistol that fired 9mm bullets.

Then Ye Lan checked the computer equipment on the console again. The early version of Angela used by the branch had executed self-deletion when the Seed of Light project entered its final stage, and there was no trace of its existence at this time.

If Ye Lan guessed correctly, the suicidal supervisor must have been unable to accept the fact that Angela had deleted herself, so he chose to commit suicide when the branch was abandoning the program.

Then, Ye Lan found several pop-up windows on the computer screen waiting for the supervisor to enter and confirm the password. The function of these pop-up windows was not displayed, but it was obvious that the result of the supervisor's suicide was that no one could enter the password required by these pop-up windows.

"It seems that once this supervisor died, no one could continue to execute these procedures. This also resulted in the employees in this branch not being able to escape according to the normal process, and they all became victims of the Abnormality in the end."

Ye Lan speculated to himself as to why no one survived in this lobe division. He and Luna continued to search the supervisor's office. However, perhaps because no one entered the command passwords, there was no passage in the supervisor's office that could lead to leaving the company.

"Well, it seems that we two have to go back from the Welfare Department to the Security Department. I hope there are no other Abnormalities on the way." Ye Lan sighed and said with a hint of complaint: "Love AI is really killing people..."

Then his complaint was met with a disdainful look from little Luna, "Ye Lan, don't you like Sister Angela?"

"Uh... this is different..."

Ye Lan made a weak rebuttal to Luna, but even he knew that he was just talking nonsense.

Soon, the two of them gave up wasting time on this topic and headed for the elevator to the Welfare Department. On the bright side, the abnormality that replaced the normal elevator was in the Punishment Department, so the elevator they were going to take next would at least be OK.

Then, Ye Lan and Luna saw the familiar hole in the elevator leading from the Welfare Department to the Central Headquarters, and the faceless corpse underneath the hole.

"...I hate tool-like Abnormalities that can move freely."

Chapter 72. Anglerfish

Although the way out had some twists and turns because of the elevator anomaly, the threat of this anomaly, which was obviously related to the mechanism and the time spent in it, was not that great for Ye Lan.

After he and Luna could see the faceless corpse under the hole in the elevator, Ye Lan used the power of his ego equipment to force open the elevator door.

Just like when they came down, after opening the elevator door they passed the central headquarters and appeared directly in the corridor of the Security Department.

"At least the two of us don't have to go to the central headquarters..."

Ye Lan held Luna's hand and walked along the corridor of the security department towards the elevator entrance at the other end. The corridor was surprisingly clean. Not only was there no trace of fighting, but the doors of the holding rooms around were also tightly closed.

It was as if there were no abnormalities contained in the containment room.

"Ye Lan, why is there a small flower at the elevator door?"

When Ye Lan and Luna were about to reach the end of the corridor, a small flower blooming on the unknown stone floor of the corridor attracted Luna's attention and made Ye Lan feel deeply powerless.

This small white flower with a green light bulb in the middle is an old friend to Ye Lan. As one of the most easily overlooked anomalies in the game that leads to accidental deaths of employees, it has been the kind of anomaly that Ye Lan really doesn't want to see since the gaming era.

"Land Anglerfish...how come you are in this branch too..."

Ye Lan sighed, and then poked the green light bulb in the middle of the white flower in front of Luna. The flower shook, and then a big mouth full of sharp teeth emerged from the ground, trying to swallow the creature that touched its lantern.

Of course, facing Ye Lan who already knew its attack logic, the terrestrial anglerfish naturally had nothing to eat. The furry white monster stared at Ye Lan squatting near it with its two dark eyes in confusion, wondering why its sudden attack failed to eat anything.

Its lower body was hidden under the floor. Even Ye Lan had never seen what it looked like in so many reincarnations.

But it doesn’t matter to Ye Lan and Luna what its lower body hidden under the ground looks like. After all, if you only look at the part exposed on the surface, this little monster, the terrestrial anglerfish, looks quite cute.

This abnormal being seemed to recognize Ye Lan, with whom it had established a connection through the final observation in countless reincarnations, and soon stopped in front of him calmly.

"Ye Lan, can I touch it?"

Luna was eager to touch this furry creature, and with Ye Lan watching, the land anglerfish obediently let Luna touch it gently.

The furry touch made Luna smile happily, and also revealed her teeth which suddenly turned into shark teeth.

"Fuck, the anglerfish really likes you."

Ye Lan smiled and took out a small mirror from his pocket. The shark teeth reflected in the mirror made Luna stunned for a moment.

"Ooooooh, my teeth!"

After the terrestrial anglerfish fell asleep and turned into a furry egg with a small white flower growing on the top and a light green fluorescent bulb in the middle, Ye Lan said to Luna, "Don't worry, the accessories they give to others can be hidden. Feel your heart and think about putting it away."

Although Ye Lan quite likes Luna's shark-tooth image, the little girl herself doesn't like it. The little girl closed her eyes and pondered for a long time in front of the elevator door, and finally changed her teeth back to their original appearance.

She gently ran her tongue across her teeth one by one, and then she found that she had four slightly sharp wisdom teeth.

"Ye Lan, I have grown teeth..."

Luna opened her mouth and asked Ye Lan to confirm it. She felt a little uncomfortable with the sudden addition of four teeth, but Ye Lan took a look and found that the four wisdom teeth were symmetrical and grew very straight, and did not affect other teeth. This discomfort should disappear soon.

"Laughing to death."

Ye Lan mercilessly laughed at Luna who was stuffed with strange ego accessories. The little girl, whose face turned red due to the laughter, also mercilessly left several shoe prints on Ye Lan's calves.

But after such a fuss, Luna's discomfort caused by having a few more teeth did disappear. After the two of them had enough fun, they walked into the elevator car and returned to the control corridor that Ye Lan had already checked.

It took them a while to leave the branch where no employees survived and return to the surface of the city.

Although Ye Lan felt a little regretful for not being able to find any surviving employees, this was not really a strange thing in the city. He could only leave with this regret and the two eggs that were transformed from the dormant abnormalities.

While he and Luna were exploring the Lobotomy Corporation branch, Finn, a young closer from Run's office, who had just finished assisting the Second Association's closers in their visit, also returned to his office.

He originally wanted to inform the firm's representative Run directly about his discovery of the library, but unfortunately the representative was not in the office at the moment. According to the seniors in the office, it seemed that he had gone out early this morning with the eighth-level finisher senior named Ellie, so he must have something important to do.

So Finn, who couldn't find a representative, took a new commission and left the firm.

The new commission is to find a cat. The client's pet ran away at some point, and they hope that Run Firm can find the cat as soon as possible.

The commission itself was insignificant, just a chore. The execution location was also a bit far away - in the back alley of the K Nest area next door. But for Finn, even if it was such an unglamorous task, after doing it one by one, there would always be a day when he would grow up.

Moreover, when he went to Lane 11 to do the commission, he could also see his beloved sister. For him, nothing could be happier than this.

For a moment, he even forgot about the library invitation.

Soon, Finn, who had reorganized his equipment, happily left the office while being looked at like a fool by the other finishers of Run Office, carrying with him the junk order that no one wanted to do.

"I say, how can that kid still laugh when he's doing something as trivial as looking for a cat?"

After Finn left, a closer sitting on the sofa in the office asked his companion.

"Oh, that kid is always like this, smiling no matter what he does. But this time, he is much happier."

"What's going on?" the closer continued to ask his companion.

"What else could it be? That kid's family lives in Alley 11. You can stop by to see your family while you're working. Aren't you happy?"

"I don't understand. I'm an orphan."

"Fuck, I'm really sorry."

Chapter 73. Finding a Cat

Cats are magical creatures, and you never know why these quirky little monsters will run away from your home and never be found again.

Finn's mission this time is to find a cat in Alley 11 who had escaped from home for some unknown reason and could not come back.

After sitting in the intercity bus to Lane 11, Finn took out the letter of commission from his backpack. The letter of commission contained most of the information related to the commission. For the finisher, usually just relying on this information is enough to complete the corresponding commission.

But Finn was different, he was still a newbie and didn't understand many things yet. Even though his sister was a fairly capable finisher, Finn had pestered her to listen to her many experiences in carrying out missions.

But when he really started to do the work, he finally realized that those experiences were not engraved in his heart. When faced with an emergency, his mind often went blank.

For Finn, this was something that made him very, very unhappy with himself.

He had a dream, a dream of becoming an excellent closer, then buying the right to live in the nest, and providing his sister who had always taken care of him with an environment where they could live a safe life, a home in the nest.

To achieve this goal, he had to be able to stand on his own as soon as possible and transform from a novice into a true ninth-level finisher as quickly as possible.

It was because of this dream that he was able to endure the miscellaneous tasks that other senior finishers disliked doing, and regarded them all as part of his own growth.

Finn, sitting in the seat, swayed as the bus moved forward, and his heart seemed to sway along with his body and fell into confusion.

He carefully read the information recorded in the power of attorney. After just the first reading, he memorized all the characteristics of the lost cat and the possible locations recorded by the client where the cat might appear.

Then, Finn's second reading turned all the words on the power of attorney into concrete pictures in his mind. All the things that the client left behind about what happened before and after the cat went missing became scenes that played continuously in his mind.

"I have to complete the commission, and I have to complete it quickly and beautifully."

Finn said to himself when the bus stopped at the platform of Lane 11. The letter of authorization had been crumpled unconsciously by Finn during the journey.

"I have to finish the commission quickly and then go see my sister..."

Finn walked out of the station, whispering to himself to encourage himself. He almost ran all the way to the first location mentioned in the letter of authorization.

This location is a small park. 60% of the residents around the park have cats, and the remaining residents who do not have pets also have a great affection for cats. Therefore, they regard this park as a playground for cats and bring their pet cats to play in this park from time to time.

Although the client did not live here, after she learned about the park, she would bring her cat here from time to time to play with the cats raised by surrounding residents.

Finn recalled the client's description of this location as recorded in the authorization letter. The client believed that her cat became the leader of the pet cats of the surrounding residents after she brought it here to play several times, so her cat was likely to appear here after running away from home.

Finn himself didn't know how to raise a cat, so the client's opinion was very important. In order to confirm whether the lost cat had appeared here, Finn chose to visit the residents around and ask them about the cat.

Visiting is a hard job, but it is also the easiest way to get information. After knocking on the door of the 22nd household, Finn finally got some useful information from the kind uncle who opened the door.

Of course, what was more important than kindness was the money that Finn handed to the uncle. These eyes made the middle-aged man, who was angry because his nap was disturbed, enthusiastically tell him the fact that the cat had been here before.

After getting the specific location information, Finn said goodbye to the uncle who wanted to invite him in to sit down, and quickly ran towards the grove at the foot of the park.

It took Finn about ten minutes to return to the main entrance of the park from the community near the park. The entrance was crowded with people, as if all the residents of several surrounding communities had gathered in this park today.

Finn looked at them one by one. Each of them was holding his or her own cat and talking enthusiastically with each other about their experiences in raising cats.

"It seems that today the residents who have cats are having an exchange meeting?"

Finn asked his imaginary sister, and immediately got a negative answer from her. He blinked without stopping, and then he realized that although those people were discussing cats enthusiastically, their eyes were fixed on him, the one who finished the work with nothing.

Finn felt a little numb from their strange looks, but he kept calm and slightly quickened his pace towards his destination with imperceptible movements.

Once he was safely out of sight, the residents began discussing this outsider who had come to their cat park without a cat.

"Oh, that guy didn't bring his cat with him. He must not care enough about his cat. We should punish him!" A man holding a Kyara cat said to others confidently.

Then a middle-aged woman holding a calico cat stood up to refute: "You are talking nonsense. That boy is obviously very envious of us. It's obvious that he wants to have a cat but hasn't got one yet."

"You are all talking nonsense. I saw that he clearly went to the Lord Cat. He must have come to pay homage to the great Lord Cat. In my opinion, he must have chosen to come here alone on this day in order to pray for his cats."

An elderly man spoke to the residents who were chatting animatedly. At his feet, two graceful ragdoll cats followed him as if taking a walk, and from time to time they would give a human-like disdainful look to the other cats around them.