Cyberpunk, but urban

Chapter 176. A Small Commission

Ye Lan didn't speak for a while after returning to the director's office. The fact that Tommy and Mary changed their forms but still appeared in the library made him have some bad guesses.

There is indeed a saying in the city that fate is predetermined. Those who can observe parallel worlds often find that no matter what they do, they cannot change anything in the end.

For example, Violet Teardrop, no matter which timeline it is, her son will die unjustly. Or Heathcliff and Catherine, no matter which world they are in, there is no good ending for them.

Many people, including Hermann, are now working hard in the city to resolve the predetermined fate, but their efforts often make this result come earlier.

"Ye Lan, why are you so quiet today?"

Malkuth came over and patted Ye Lan gently on the knee.

"Well, just thinking about something." Ye Lan leaned back and squeezed himself into the chair in the director's office. "By the way, did you see how they turned into blood demons?"

"Unfortunately, no." Yesod, who was sitting on the left side of Ye Lan, closed the book in his hand and said to Ye Lan: "When the light curtain opened, the blood demon named Elena had already turned them into blood demons... Isn't there a corresponding record in their books?"

"The book is full of gibberish, it's impossible to read it."

Ye Lan shook his head. He flipped through the book casually when he got it. The contents recorded in the book were just like the distorted literal meanings. They were distorted into an incomprehensible state and no useful information could be discerned at all.

"Then there's no way."

After Yesod finished speaking, he reopened the book in his hand and ignored Ye Lan. Hod sat next to Malkuth who had come over earlier, and asked Ye Lan about his recent situation in the city.

"The time I've been with Luna..." Ye Lan took out the abnormal eggs he had recovered from the J-03 branch and placed them aside. He then told the librarians who were still in the director's office the story of his experiences during this period.

"...Come to think of it, those members of the Black Cloud Society I met might become guests of the library in the near future."

At the end of his story, Ye Lan mentioned the Black Cloud Society led by Sayo. If he remembered correctly, within the L Nest and the attached Alley 12, there was a gang called the Rusty Chain Gang that would clash with them, and soon after that, both parties would enter the library for their own reasons.

So, if he drove one of them away first, would they all still appear in the library? Ye Lan, who had a new idea, stood up from his chair and said goodbye to Angela and several librarians.

"Speaking of which, where's Luna?"

Before leaving, Ye Lan suddenly realized that Luna did not rest with him in the director's office.

Angela closed her eyes and inspected the area, then said to Ye Lan, "I don't know what that child was thinking. She went to repair the damage to Happy Teddy's appearance. Do you need me to bring her back?"

"Bring it back."

A moment later, Luna, who was teleported back from the shelter room by Angela just before she said goodbye to Happy Teddy, took Ye Lan's hand and left the library together.

Although Ye Lan had an experiment he wanted to test, he definitely didn't want Luna to follow him in persecuting others without a clear reason.

So before going to look for the Rusty Chain Gang, Ye Lan still needed to send Luna back to the office. However, before taking the Yellow Springs Train back to the office, Ye Lan had a phone call to make.

In the library, only Angela herself could get through the blockade and contact the outside world, so Ye Lan's phone naturally had no signal. When he came out, he found that there was an extra missed call on his phone.

Toot, toot.

"Hey?"

After calling Olivier back, Ye Lan soon heard the voice of the black man.

"Olivier, how are you these days? If there's anything you need, please call me... It's not like 'the leader asked me to give you a message' again, is it?"

Ye Lan was joking, but he thought that the spies and leaders would not send their minions to deal with him because of such a small matter. Of course, even if they really came, he would not be afraid with the End Bird and Bai Ye's ego on his side.

"Please don't joke like that... I'm here to congratulate you, and by the way, I have a commission that I hope you can take on."

Olivier's back tightened in fear at Ye Lan's bad joke. He didn't want to be regarded as an urban rebel who was disrespectful to the leader and have his neck wiped by the minions that suddenly appeared on his face.

"Congratulations? Oh, it's about the 'feature' thing. That's nothing to celebrate for me, let's talk about the commission."

Ye Lan continued to talk along the lines of Olivier's topic, as if he was not the one who was making fun of the leader just a second ago.

"Well, we recently discovered that a religious organization called the Gear Sect is moving in the direction of Nest L. This sect has a special technology called 'Gears' that can transform humans into different gears. The composition of this religious organization has already met the definition of a cult within the association."

Olivier said on the other end of the phone, introducing the Gear Sect to Ye Lan in detail.

"Logically speaking, this type of incident should be resolved by killing their leader. Why did you entrust me with the task instead of the four associations?"

Ye Lan was a little confused. The Four Associations specialized in assassinations, and having them take action would be more professional than having a comprehensive firm like Ye Lan take action.

"Don't even mention it. The entire southern part of the Four Associations is frantically going out to execute commissions under the orders of their branch chief Selma... Even when we went to look for people to execute the commissions, we couldn't get any from them."

Hearing Ye Lan's question, Olivier also had a lot of grievances that he wanted to vent. He was just a small clerk in the Southern Section, so he couldn't blame the Southern Section Director of the Fourth Association who was obviously problematic.

In the end, after thinking about this commission, he realized that only Ye Lan, who was not yet a "special" one, could destroy this cult without any risk.

"That's fine. I'm free anyway." Ye Lan said, "By the way, has anyone else accepted this commission besides me?"

"I think... no, right? The director of the Selma branch rejected me at that time. I don't think the Four Associations or their affiliated firms will carry it out."

Olivier was stumped by Ye Lan's question. He thought about it carefully, but couldn't think of anyone else who would interfere.

Chapter 177. Gear Religion

"Hello everyone, let us start today's worship together."

In the chapel of the Gear Cult, Irene, the leader of the Gear Cult, is presiding over their daily worship.

"It seems we have welcomed two new believers today."

Irene extended her hand to introduce the believers in the chapel and led the two new believers to the stage.

She walked up to the first new believer and asked him, "Do you have any troubles that you would like to share with everyone?"

The new believer said dejectedly, "...I no longer have the confidence to live in the city. Life is too painful."

City life put too much pressure on him, and overwhelmed by the burden of life, he had no choice but to rely on religion.

Erin asked, "What is it that is so difficult for you?"

"Everything annoys me, including my life. I get up at 6am every morning, clock in at 8am, and do the same thing over and over again with the same expression. I also often have to work overtime until 10pm for no reason..."

The first new believer began his complaints under Irene's guidance. He talked about his daily experiences and used the chapel as a place to vent.

"I don't understand what I'm doing. I feel like I'm making some money, but it disappears like water every month. Everyone I meet on my way to and from get off work always gives me the same ugly face."

The other new believer smiled and listened to his words with the believers present. For a moment, Irene even thought that he was the one who should stand in front of the pulpit in the chapel and preach to everyone.

"I don't understand why I work, why I make money, why I live. My life... seems to have lost its purpose..."

In a sniper position in the distance, the three finishers of the Period Office were patiently waiting for their opportunity, and three guns were closely following Irene.

"Like a gear... Yes... It's true... I seem to live a life like a gear. Even if I am missing, this city can easily find new parts to replace me... What kind of existence am I... Where can I show my life value..."

The poor urbanite swallowed his saliva subconsciously when he said this. He seemed to have said too much, and the believers standing in the audience were so quiet that it was a little scary.

"I understand your feelings. This city is like a set of gears running aimlessly... If you stay in it, you will only gradually consume and wear out..."

As if grasping a life-saving straw, after Irene spoke, the new believer responded nervously but enthusiastically: "That's right...! That's it..."

"But...is being a cog necessarily a bad thing?" Irene asked him the question, leaving the man stunned.

"what?"

"All troubles come from people's reluctance to acknowledge their identity as gears. I was no different than you in the past."

"Pfft-"

As Irene continued to speak, another new believer laughed out loud at an inappropriate time. However, as the leader of the Gear Church, Irene didn't care about his disrespect at all.

"I spent a period of confusion after losing my loving father. My father also lived a life like a gear. He always woke up at the same time, made the same expression, walked to the same place, and returned home at the same time..."

"My father has been dealing with gears all his life. He hopes that one day he can eliminate the same troubles as you. Unconsciously, his appearance has become more and more similar to those things he is exposed to day and night."

"The wrinkles on his forehead deepened as he worked, just like the grooves on a gear. My father had always been a rusty gear in the huge city until he was killed and ended his life."

At this time, the second new believer spoke up: "I know that. He was killed by that noble 'feature' Dark Silence... Who told him to use humans for experiments?"

"...Enough." Finally, after hearing the cause of death of his father from the second believer's mouth, Irene could no longer hold back her attitude.

"My dear believer, what is your story? Come on, tell us about your troubles!"

Irene, whose father's cause of death was pointed out, spoke angrily. Even the gears of thought in her head sped up because of her anger.

"Trouble, trouble. I have always had a question. If urban people are all gears, then how do these gears move?"

The second new believer, or rather, Ye Lan. He turned to Irene and said to her with a hint of curiosity: "It is well known that gears themselves have no power. Even if you put the gears together as a whole according to your teachings, the gears should not move on their own."

He pointed at the thought gear on Irene's head and said to her, "That is to say, the 'thought gear' on your head is not operating on its own!"

"…What nonsense are you talking about? This is a treasure that my father has spent his entire life researching! Its function is not only for me, but also for everyone present! What on earth can you say to me that it is fake!"

If Ye Lan was questioning something else at this moment, Irene would not say much. She would only regard this person as a poor gear who could not find his position and was making a lamentable noise.

What Ye Lan denied was the foundation of the Gear Sect. Gears without power were nothing but dead objects. Only when driven by a power source could the gears operate and achieve things that a single gear could not do.

However, the Gear Sect cannot have this 'power source'. Whether it is the gears' own goals or the 'thought gears', these doctrines cannot have a 'power source' to control them.

"Admit it, Irene. You are just the leader of a new cult. Your gear doctrine and the 'thinking gear' on your head are just using the research results left by your father. Using such semi-finished products to deceive believers... Irene, if your father were alive, he would look down on you."

Although Ye Lan said this, he actually didn't believe it. There was something weird about the gear technology of Irene's father. After inserting it into the head, it could really be like having another person to assist at any time, providing additional intelligence and even directly assisting in actions.

However, Ye Lan guessed that the gears could rotate in Irene's head probably because they regarded her brain as the power source.

"The leader is in a panic! What did the other new believer on the stage tell her?!"

"Don't worry about that, just shoot at my signal!"

At the sniper point in the distance, three people who were communicating with each other via radio prepared for the attack.

Chapter 178. Period Office

"It's now."

The moment Li Wei gave the order, several bullets pierced the head of the Gear Church believer under the pulpit of the chapel. The sudden explosion of the head frightened the new believer so much that he ran off the stage in a hurry, and no one knew where he ran to.

"What...what's going on, this is..." Frightened by the bullet fired from the Judian Office, Irene temporarily gave up the idea of ​​causing trouble for Ye Lan.

But apart from the religious shell, the essence of the Gear Church leader Irene is just a girl who has lost her father and her own opinion. She just wants to go with the flow and be a tool driven by others, but she regards this idea as gospel for all the people in the city.

"Gears... gears..."

The Gear Cultists who were shot through the head fell to the ground. Irene called out to them sadly, but this was just a futile act due to her nature.

"Please don't do this... I don't know who you are, please let us go... We just want to follow the goals we have been given and live happily..."

After a moment, she seemed to remember something and shouted loudly to the people around her, begging for her life from the killer hiding somewhere.

However, for the three killers of the Period Office, Irene, who can dodge bullets under the control of the mind gears, is the difficult one to deal with.

Stephen, who missed the target once again, couldn't help but complain: "Tsk, why is that leader so difficult to deal with? He's crazy, the price of this bullet is no joke..."

"She doesn't seem to be dodging with her own consciousness. It's as if something can help her predict the trajectory."

As the captain of the three-person team, Li Wei was able to remain calm at this moment, carefully judging the logic of Irene's behavior.

Yu Shu, who was watching Irene through the scope, said to the two: "Those "thinking gears" are spinning like crazy."

Li Wei looked at Yushu and asked her, "Yushu, can you figure out the movement rules of those gears..."

"feasible."

The next second, the bullet in Yushu's gun flew out and pierced through Irene's body.

"It's on the shoulder."

"I'll finish it."

While Li Wei was speaking, he aimed his bayonet rifle at Irene, who was shot in the shoulder by Yushu. His rifle was loaded with a unique bullet specially made by the Logic Studio. Once it hit the target, the person shot would have no chance of resistance and would become a corpse on the ground.

Irene, who was shot through the shoulder at Ye Lan's indulgence, lost the ability to dodge and could only kneel on the ground, covering the wound on her shoulder, waiting for death to come.

Ye Lan, who was standing aside, walked forward with great interest, and while the three finishers from the Judian Office were still speculating on his purpose, he removed the thought gear on Irene's head.

Although the target has changed from the Rust Chain Gang to the Gear Cult leader Irene, Ye Lan can still use her as a test subject to test the theory of the fate of the city.

"Will you go against your twisted thoughts and beg me for your life?"

Ye Lan thought to himself.

Algaria and Pluto were sent to search and rescue the branch employees of Lobotomy Corporation using Angelica's information as bait, and his Symphony Orchestra was also unable to gather all its members as in the original plot due to his influence.

At this point in time, Ye Lan is the only one who can save Irene. As long as the three people from the Period Office don't go crazy and shoot him, Irene can confirm whether the event of the Symphony Orchestra entering the library is destined.

"Li Wei, what exactly does that man mean?"