Cyberpunk, but urban

The next morning, at eight o'clock, inside the street lamp office.

"Kids, are you all ready?"

Shan asked the two neatly dressed younger finishers, Mas and Lulu. Both of them had put on their usual equipment. As long as Shan signed the invitation letter with them, they could participate in the battle in the library.

"I have brought everything. Senior Shan, just give the order."

"Me too, me too, I'm ready to knock my enemy's head off with this stick."

Mas and Lulu explained the same thing to Shan in their own voices. Seeing that both of them were ready, Shan nodded and took out the library invitation letter given to him by Isadora.

"In short, just do it the same as always... proceed with caution and remember to stay calm at all times."

Shan signed his name on the invitation letter while instructing the two. Then, he handed the invitation letter to Lulu, who signed it and handed it to Mas.

After Mas put down the water-based pen in his hand, a door with golden spots on it and golden pages floating around it appeared in the office of the three of them.

The door just stood in the living room of the office without anything to support it. Lulu looked at it curiously. Although it was made of pure wood, she couldn't tell what kind of wood it was made of. There were exquisite patterns engraved on the door, but the more she tried to see those patterns, the more confused she was, and couldn't see what they were.

"Lulu, it's time for us to go in." Shan called her.

Lulu, who had been immersed in observing the patterns, finally woke up and responded while pushing open the door to the library.

"Hey, what on earth are you thinking about with your pea-like head..."

Mas sighed, scolded Lulu, and followed her in. Shan looked helplessly at the two people who walked in one after another, sighed and followed.

"I guess the people from the Street Light Office should be getting ready to go to the library at this time." Ye Lan said to Luna and Yuli who were eating their breakfast.

"Um...what exactly is a library?"

Yuli asked confusedly while eating breakfast. Among the people eating at this table, she was the only one who was an employee of the D Nest branch and didn't know what happened in the L Nest.

"Oh, that's a lot to say... But you can briefly think of it as an organization reorganized by the remaining department heads of our Lobotomy Corporation headquarters."

Ye Lan explained to Yuli what a library was in a way that was not so accurate but concise enough. However, such an explanation would naturally bring new problems.

"So...are the heads of the headquarters planning to use this library to rebuild a new company and return to the ranks of World Wings?"

Yuli asked with a little excitement. After all, she was once an employee of Lobotomy Corporation. If Lobotomy Corporation could be rebuilt, she would once again become a relatively important feather on the Wings of the World that everyone envied.

"You may be disappointed. The purpose of building this library is to recover the seeds of light released by our headquarters during the Day and Night incident, and then re-emit them."

"But you are right. We can indeed use the power of the library to rebuild the company and become the new World Wing."

Ye Lan drank the milk in his cup and finished his breakfast. Then, while taking care of Luna, he said to Yuli:

"But have you ever thought about one thing? Although we can recycle the Singularity Technology of the Brain Corp. and rebuild the company, what about the many sacrifices that will inevitably be caused by using the old Singularity Technology? Do you still want to go back to the life of managing Abnormalities all day long?"

"...Mr. Ye Lan, you are right." Yuli gave up with some regret the expectation that Ye Lan and the directors of the headquarters of the Cerebrovascular Corporation would rebuild the company. It was indeed great to be an employee of World Wings, but asking her to continue to manage abnormalities as consumables was a bit discouraging.

"But even if we don't rebuild the Lobotomy Corporation, there is one thing that needs to be done. Yuri, after you choose our office, you don't have to return the card I gave you. I want you to hire some finisher firms that can handle urban diseases, and send them to various branches to search for employees in the form of informal commissions."

"Informal commission? ... Yeah, after all, we need to go to the company branch to explore, and a formal commission would not be able to pass the association's review."

Yuli took the savings card from Ye Lan and watched Ye Lan, who had finished his meal, push open the door of the restaurant and walk out.

At the same time, the three people from the Street Light Office who walked into the door opened by the invitation also appeared at the entrance of the library.

"We are really helpless. They actually accepted such a job..."

Looking at the bizarre yet luxurious decoration of the library, Lulu couldn't help but complain.

Then, after hearing her complaints, Mas subconsciously began to lecture her: "Stop complaining. It's a great honor to receive the commission."

"I know, I know! Do I need you to point out something so obvious?!"

Just like that, the two of them only spent three sentences together before they almost started fighting like usual in this strange place. The one who came out at the end couldn't stop sighing.

Thinking that he couldn't let the kids fight here, Shan had no choice but to walk between them and persuade them, "Hey, calm down, kids. There's no need to be angry. I don't know if you two are best friends or enemies."

"What are you talking about! Please don't associate me with this idle guy!"

"I don't want anything to do with her either."

When Lulu and Mas heard the way Shan described the two of them, they once again spoke in unison without even discussing it.

Shan looked at his two children helplessly, thinking about when they would acknowledge their close relationship with each other.

Finally, he had no choice but to use the idea of ​​treating them to a meal to distract them: "Okay, okay. After this is done, let's go to Julie's restaurant and have a good meal. I'll treat you."

"Great!"

Lulu cheered, and Angela was teleported from the director's office to the entrance of the library at the right time.

"Dear guests, welcome. You seem to have a very good relationship." She praised the relationship between the three people in the Street Light Office, attracting Mas' attention.

"you are?"

"Copy guy."

Before Mas's question was answered, Lulu raised her weapon vigilantly and protected Mas behind her.

Chapter 126. Reception - Street Light Office (Part )

"Dear guest, you do not need to be so vigilant. The trial in the library has not yet begun."

Angela said to Lulu, and after Lulu put down the long stick in her hand, she turned to Shan, who was obviously the leader among the three, and introduced herself to him: "I am the director and librarian of the library, Angela."

"Hello, I'm Shan from the Streetlight Agency." Shan, the representative of the agency, also briefly introduced himself to Angela. But in addition to the introduction, Shan had something else to ask: "We have received an invitation letter from the library. I wonder if you can answer a question for me?"

"You can talk as much as you want." Since the guests were so polite, Angela didn't mind chatting with them for a few more words. In fact, chatting a few more words to delay the time would also be a good thing for the library.

At this moment, Yesod is fighting against the Abnormality of the Abandoned Killer who has awakened in the Technology Layer.

Without the suppression of the Reverse Kabbalah Tree of Life system, the threat posed by the killer strengthened by the library far exceeded the recorded situation. Roland and Angelica have already rushed to the technology level to assist.

So at this point in time, the only person in the library who could participate in the reception was Malkuth, the designated librarian.

Shan asked Angela his question: "This invitation letter was not received directly, but was passed on to us by someone else. Is it okay?"

Angela explained to Shan: "Of course, as long as you finally get the invitation letter and use it according to your own wishes, there will be no problem."

The fact that Shan and the other two finishers from his streetlight firm were able to have their names on the invitation meant that they were the type of people the library needed.

In the city, new invitations to the library are circulating every moment, but not everyone can sign these invitations. Most people who have received the seeds of light but cannot make them take root and sprout will lose them due to various coincidences even if they get the invitations to the library. In the end, these invitations will fall into the hands of those they want.

"……I see."

Shan accepted Angela's statement, and then he asked to start the test. At this moment, he was still thinking about finishing the work early, and then taking his two children home, and then going to Julie's restaurant to let some blood, so that the two children could have a good meal.

“May you find the book you are looking for.”

Angela turned slightly to expose the door used to lead people into the battle room to the three of them. Shan, Mas and Lulu saluted Angela and then pushed the door open and walked into the battle room.

Although only Malkuth had time to participate in the reception at this time, there was still a possibility of defeat. But Angela didn't care much about it. The time in the library was like a ball of soft dough that Angela could knead at will.

As long as she wanted, she could make a reception cycle countless times until the librarian of the library won. Similarly, once Malkuth showed a clear disadvantage, she could also pull Ye Lan back to the library, rewind the time in the battle room, let Ye Lan replace Malkuth, and send the guests to the despair of no possibility of victory.

The three people who walked into the battle room naturally didn't know about this. Mas even had time to comment on Angela's attitude. He said to Shan and Lulu: "Huh, she is much more polite than I thought."

Shan and Lulu continued walking forward as if they didn't hear clearly what he said, and didn't notice that Mas's personality at this moment seemed to be different from his usual self.

He was a very easy-going child, and he seldom made such sharp comments about someone he met for the first time. However, the library magnified his inferiority complex about not being able to inherit his mother's talent, and made him more impulsive and look down on others.

This influence is not only on Mas, but also on Shan and Lulu. The library will turn over the smallest emotions in each of their hearts like turning the pages of a book, and let these emotions burst out completely in the battle, allowing them to show their own books, and finally be collected by the designated librarian.

"Do you think she is human? I mean, although she looks like a human, I always feel that something is wrong... I just don't know how to describe it..."

The attentiveness that was usually hidden by her lack of patience was revealed at this moment. Lulu stood in the room and first raised a point to the two people beside her.

Shan thought for a while, then replied: "She...maybe a machine."

He didn't dare to make such a judgment. If Angela was really a machine, it would violate the taboo set by the leader, the "Artificial Intelligence Ethics Amendment". However, such an existence was not found by the minions. The water in it was not something that their small law enforcement affairs could touch.

"I didn't expect to see machines that are so close to humans nowadays..." Mas sighed. His mother was a first-level Finisher. When he was still living at home, she told him many stories about Finishers. He was not unfamiliar with non-human sentient life forms, but non-human sentient life forms that could wander around in the city were beyond his cognition.

"Just focus on your work. I'll say it again, don't push yourself too hard. If you sense any danger, retreat immediately."

Shan once again warned Mas and Lulu. He didn't know why he was a little timid at the moment. He really lacked confidence in a strange library managed by a non-human intelligent life form.

"How long are you going to talk?"

Malkuth, who was watching the three of them talking in the middle of the room and lost his patience, finally spoke up and interrupted their conversation.

"Eh?! Is...someone here?"

Lulu was startled by the sudden movement of the flowers. In fact, it was not the fault of the three people from the Street Light Office. In order to ensure his combat effectiveness, Malkuth used Finn's book and temporarily borrowed his divine power.

It was a piece of divine equipment as beautiful as a bush of weeds, so Lulu and the other two naturally ignored it as a decoration in the room.

"I'm really sorry." Shan apologized to Malkuth on behalf of his children, and then took a fighting stance. "We can start anytime. Is that okay with you?"

"No problem, it's our first meeting, please take care of me!"

As Malkuth finished speaking, Mas and Lulu also took their positions. Several vines sprang out from under Malkuth's dress and shot straight at the heads of the three.

Chapter 127. Reception - Street Light Office (Part )

Although Malkuth used the Divine Equipment Finn's Book, it was still impossible for a ninth-level finisher to control a Divine Equipment that was strong enough to compete with Angelica, a color-level finisher who specialized in combat, in terms of defense. Not to mention that when using other people's books, they could not use their full power.

Even Malkuth herself, whether in her first life as a researcher or in her second life as a Sephirah of the Control Department, had no combat experience.

This gap in experience became her biggest and most fatal flaw when she fought against the three people from the Streetlight Office. Even though Shan was the only one who was a sixth-level finisher among the three people from the Streetlight Office, and Mas and Lulu were only seventh-level, they were far superior to Malkuth and the assistant librarians around her in terms of coordination and combat experience.

"Haha, I didn't expect the compatibility to be so good. Those vines are actually afraid of fire!"

Lulu smiled happily, and the red-hot stick in her hand swung out streams of scorching air, turning all the wild vines released by Malkuth into ashes.

“Lulu, don’t be too careless… Your workshop weapon is just an inferior product made by a subsidiary studio of the Branding Workshop. Compared with the weapons of the Branding Workshop, it can’t last as long in combat!”

Shan suppressed two assistant librarians by himself. His continuous and rapid attacks made the two assistant librarians, who could only use eighth-level finisher books, almost unable to raise their heads.

"Mas, cover me and give her two more sticks!"

Lulu passed through several vines and quickly hid behind Mas's huge heavy sword.

"You really know how to find things for people to do, you pea-head!"

Mas paused with his greatsword and protected Lulu behind him, blocking all attacks on the two of them and moving forward. While Malkuth was still thinking about how to defeat the enemy, Lulu had already flashed out from behind Mas with her burning fire stick, swinging it at Malkuth.

"Sure enough, we still can't let Ye Lan leave..." Angela sighed and helplessly threw the invitation letter in her hand away.

The pitch-black invitation letter turned into a spot of light in mid-air, and then fell on an Ice Workshop dagger in front of Ye Lan.

"Invitation? Aren't those people on the street lamp only at level 6 or 7?"

Ye Lan looked around. He was at a workshop weapon store established by the 11th Association. With the idea that today is worse than tomorrow, he took advantage of the fact that there were not many things to do today, and as agreed before, he brought Luna and Yuli here to pick out some workshop equipment that they could use.

At this time, Luna and Yuri were discussing a short-handled hammer from the Arras workshop with a shopping guide. The guide thought this weapon was the most suitable workshop weapon for Luna, a beginner.

The characteristic of the weapons of the Arras Workshop is that the speed of each attack can be increased five times. This speed increase is comprehensive. The user will only feel that he is doing ordinary actions, but in the eyes of others, the speed at which the user performs the actions is beyond ordinary people.

"Luna, Yuri!"

Ye Lan put away the invitation and called out to the two of them. Hearing Ye Lan's voice, the two girls put down the hammer and walked towards him.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"Your sister Angela can't handle it, so she asked me for help... Yuli, I'm going to be away for a while, so you two can choose for yourselves first. There's no need to save money. Just buy whatever you think is useful and suitable."

"Mr. Ye Lan, I understand."

After making some arrangements, Ye Lan left the workshop weapon store and found an empty corner and walked in. After signing the invitation letter skillfully, he returned to Angela's library in an instant.

"What happened? The three street lamps were all prepared. They beat Roland and Angelica and their husband down?"

As soon as Ye Lan came in, she saw Malkuth sitting aside in disappointment. Angela had already traced back the time at the reception desk and turned the time back to the moment when the three people from the Street Lamp Office had just entered the library.

"...It's me. I failed again...Ye Lan, I really can't do anything right, right?"

"Wait, wait a minute."

Ye Lan was stunned for a moment. With Roland and his wife here, there was no need for Angela to receive the guests unless she was deliberately causing trouble for Malkuth.

This is not a game, there is no balance for gameplay. Even if Malkuth, who has never fought, uses the book, the power he can borrow from other people's lives will not be very strong.

Seeing Malkuth looking up at him, Ye Lan asked her, "From what you said, you went to receive those people in person? Why didn't Roland and the others go?"

"Roland and the other two went to help Yesod. The abandoned killer has awakened and gone berserk. Yesod can't handle it alone."

"So you are the only one who can fight, right?" Ye Lan sat down beside her, held her cold hand and said, "Makuku, you were not the one who should have fought from the beginning, so don't put this responsibility on yourself."

"But if I could..."

Malkuth had just said half of his sentence when Ye Lan used his index finger to stop him from finishing the sentence.

"Don't take on responsibilities that don't belong to you. Makuku, you've worked hard enough. No one will like you to blame yourself for responsibilities that don't belong to you. You don't need to prove anything to us. Your own recognition of yourself is the most important thing."