Cyberpunk, but urban

"..."

Algaria was silent for a moment, and then he picked up the teacup on the tea table. Although Irene had only been training as a maid finisher for two days, her skill in brewing black tea was still far better than before.

"Hmm... By the way, Miss Irene, you were the leader of the Gear Sect and were active in the back alleys of the city, right? How did you suddenly become a maid in this office?"

Algaria put down the teacup and revealed Irene's past identity, which shocked the girl who had made up her mind to become a real maid.

"Ha, don't worry. Miss Irene, although I am very angry that your agency representative has played me around, I won't vent my anger on you, the maid. I am just curious, why would you choose to give up when you have already come into contact with that?"

The "that" that Algaria was referring to was naturally what the urban people called twisted, the posture of being able to hear the words of Carmen, who was as warm as the sun to them.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a maid, I don't know what you are talking about~"

Irene, who no longer had any interest in that voice and had found her life goal, avoided Algaria's question.

Seeing that she had no intention of answering, Algaria stopped asking and picked up the teacup on the coffee table again, quietly waiting for Ye Lan to return to the office.

Just as Irene served Algaria the third cup of tea, Ye Lan, who had gone out with Luna to buy ingredients for today's lunch, returned to the Yixiang Office slowly.

"You're finally back. I hope the tea I drank here didn't take up too much space in my stomach."

The "Feature" closer Cang Lan Can Xiang put the unfinished tea in his hand back on the coffee table. He took out the blank library invitation card he found on the road from the inside pocket of his shirt and threw it to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan picked up the invitation letter thrown by Algaria from mid-air, took a look at it, and said to Algaria: "Don't worry, if you help me, I will naturally help you." Then, he wiped his hand on the invitation letter and threw it back to Algaria.

Reaching out to take the invitation, Algaria asked Ye Lan with a bad look: "What do you mean?"

"Heh, before asking me what I mean, why don't you take a look at the changes in the invitation?"

Ye Lan would naturally not be scared by Algaria's attitude at this time. He even had a smile on his face that made Algaria feel palpitations, as if he had unknowingly stepped into the trap of the finisher named Ye Lan.

"This invitation clearly... How is it possible?! What did you do?"

As a combat-specialized "feature", Algaria could confirm that Ye Lan had just wiped the invitation with his bare hands. However, when the invitation from the library returned to him, there was a line of text on the blank card.

[Angelica and Theresa]

This was the name of his most adorable tomboy, and the name of his niece whom he had never met. Algaria, who was already more impulsive due to his concern, could not think about why Angelica and Theresa were in the library.

"Sign it. It's better for you to go meet the mother and daughter yourself than to listen to me."

And at the most chaotic moment in Algaria, Ye Lan whispered a proposal in his ear that he could hardly refuse.

"…Give me a pen, quick!"

At this moment, music, distortion, justice, and the form of life were not important to Algaria. What he wanted to do most was to see his sister whom he had been thinking about day and night.

"Mr. Algalia, here is the pen."

Irene handed him a pen at the right time. After quickly and hastily signing his name on the card, Algaria looked up at Ye Lan.

The moment the door of the library opened, a question suddenly occurred to his mind: "Wait a minute, there is one thing I don't understand. Ye Lan, why did you ask me to come here alone?"

"The answer to your question is also in the library. Go ahead, as a guest of the library, take a trip to the reception room of the library, and all the doubts in your mind will be solved."

Ye Lan's riddle made Algaria feel more and more uneasy, but what made him even more hesitant was the evil smile that appeared on Ye Lan's face.

However, the invitation letter had been signed and the door to the library had been opened. Algaria no longer had time to think about what Ye Lan wanted to gain from this scene.

Algaria would never have thought that the fundamental purpose of Ye Lan doing these things at this moment was just to have some fun for himself.

Stepping into the library's door, Algaria walked into the entrance hall of the library alone. Angela, who had already received Ye Lan's notice, was waiting for his arrival there, ready to lure him into the ditch completely.

"Welcome, I'm Angela, the director and librarian of the library." Performing the same welcome ceremony as usual, Angela welcomed Algaria and introduced herself.

"Angelica...?"

Just like in the original work, this time Algaria still heard Angela's name as his sister's name.

"My name is Angela."

"Yes, how could you be my tomboy... The finisher said that I can see Angelica as long as I pass the test, so how do I start the test?"

Algaria, who was already impatient, had no intention of talking to Angela any more. At this moment, he was only thinking about finding Angelica.

"Well, just go in through the door on the side and defeat the guards inside one by one."

Angela pointed to the door on their side, and before she could say anything else, Algaria rushed in with his sickle.

"May you find the person you are looking for after defeating Roland..."

Angela showed a smile exactly the same as Ye Lan's, which made Malkuth, who happened to pass by the hall, afraid to step forward for a moment.

Chapter 233. Roland, it's all your fault!

"You came……"

Standing in the reception room of the library, Roland, holding Durandal in his hand, looked calmly at Algalia who walked into the room.

"Roland...it's you who's guarding this room!"

Unlike Roland, Algaria's expression was definitely not good at the moment. He really couldn't understand how this guy who failed to protect his sister dared to stand in front of him at this moment.

"Ahaha~ Algaria, you want to meet my Angelica? Then try to defeat me, your brother-in-law first."

Perhaps it was because he had been with Ye Lan for too long, the words Roland said and the expression he made at this moment were obviously exactly the same as Ye Lan's.

"Hiss—Hoo." Taking a deep breath, Algaria tried his best to suppress the anger and anxiety in his heart. In any case, Roland revealed one message, that is, Angelica was really alive.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha ha ha…as long as I defeat you here, I can meet Angelica, right?”

Roland didn't have time to pay attention to what Algalia said. While the blue man was talking, he rushed towards him with the sickle.

"Good job, I've been wanting to beat you up for a long time."

Durandal drew an arc in Roland's hand, and a powerful horizontal slash collided with Algaria's scythe. A small but clear buzzing sound came from Algaria's scythe, but it was silenced by the gloves Roland was wearing.

"This is Angelica's glove... Roland, how dare you use her things to fight me!"

"Hey, I'm not just wearing Angelica's gloves~"

The two fought again. This time, it was no longer Roland's favorite Durandal that clashed with Algaria's sickle, but Angelica's most proficient Beech Workshop hammer spear and battle axe.

In this reception room, the reason why Algaria was given the title of "Blue Reverberation" was that the sickle that was vibrating at high speed all the time and making a clear buzzing sound collided with Roland's hands one after another, but all of them were weapons that Angelica had used before.

The sound of weapons colliding and sickles shaking did not travel far before they were completely dissipated by the gloves on Roland's hands.

Both Roland and Algaria have combat capabilities that exceed those of ordinary first-level finishers. In this reception room without any external interference, the two of them will not be able to reach a conclusion in a short period of time.

At this time, outside the reception room, Angela, who had no expectations for the outcome of the battle, had returned to the director's office of the library. There, several designated librarians who were curious about the fighting ability of the two were using the power of the library to observe the battle between Roland and Algaria through a light screen.

"Who do you think will win?" Malkuth asked the people around him.

"Who knows, but I think... these two might have to fight until tomorrow morning." Netzach yawned and stood up from his seat. "Although the fight was exciting, I'd rather go back to my room and get some sleep than stay here until tomorrow."

"Netzach, are you going to sleep now? It's not even noon yet." Hod turned his eyes away from the light curtain and asked him.

"Alas, I'm just using sleep as a comparison... And, Malkuth, if you really want to know who will win the battle between Roland and that Algaria, why don't you ask Ms. Angelica?"

Netzach abandoned his proposal and walked out of the director's office. Although what he said to Hod just now was a comparison, he actually felt a little sleepy after leaving the director's office.

As for Netzach's suggestion to ask Angelica, Malkuth and the others were not that stupid. But if Angelica was really asked to give a conclusion, then Mrs. Angelica would definitely say that she would be the one who would win in the end.

The battle lasted until the evening of that day. Neither Angela, the librarians, nor even Angelica had any interest in the battle.

The only ones still watching the battle were the finishers of the Imagination Agency. For them, even if they couldn't learn the fighting skills of Roland and Algalia from this battle, it was still a battle scene between two super-first-level finishers just for fun.

"Hahahaha, Roland... I don't know why, but I actually feel like fighting with you is really enjoyable!"

Algaria, who was covered with scars, laughed happily. He didn't know when he was no longer so eager to see Angelica.

"Ah~ my dear brother-in-law... let us use the next round to decide the winner of this battle."

"Ha, based on your current appearance?"

Roland, who was hit hard on the right leg by Algaria, had difficulty walking at this time, but even though he was supporting himself with the giant sword of Roulette Heavy Industry, he did not stop mocking Algaria.

"Come on, come on. Since you want to decide the winner in one round, let's decide who is the stronger one in one round!"

At this moment, both Roland and Algalia had completely forgotten about Angelica.

"Roland - feel the vibration of this final melody!!!"

"Algaria, I'm still wearing Angelica's gloves! You should keep your crappy tune to yourself!!!"

The two of them completely abandoned their defenses, and launched attacks with all their strength one after another, striking at each other's fatal points. A roar that even the pitch-black silent gloves could not cover rang out from the reception room, and Roland and Algaria flew backwards at the same time.

The two men attacked each other with all their might and collided with each other again, but this time, neither of them had any strength left and was completely unable to withstand the attack from the other.

"Ugh... this really hurts..."

Roland struggled to get up from the ground, but in the end he could only kneel on the ground, using Durandal that had fallen beside him to support himself.

"Haha... now you know how powerful your uncle is..."

Algaria, who also fell to the ground and could only sit up with the support of his weapon, showed no mercy in his words.

"Algaria, look at yourself, have your ribs been stuck in your lungs? Can you still breathe a few more times?"

"You're talking like you're much better than me, Roland. How long can you hold back the bleeding from a ruptured artery?"

Although the damage they had inflicted on each other had already reached a fatal level, they were still verbally attacking each other. At this moment, they were just gritting their teeth and fighting to see who would die first.

Chapter 234. Human Music

Somewhere in Alley 9, at night.

"Ha~ Today's performance was not enjoyable at all." Meow yawned loudly and said to the two newcomers from the Bremen band beside him.

"Oink! You have to keep up with the others. District 9 is a holy land for music! It's a holy land for pianists!"

Mumu blamed the newcomer who joined the band last. Because of his mistake, today's performance suffered a huge setback.

"But... I've tried my best." Oink felt a little aggrieved. He had just joined the Bremen band not long ago, and this was the best performance he could do.

If you only listen to what they say, this band consisting of one woman and two men is just an insignificant small band in the Alley of Music.

But if you look at their instruments, no one can think that they are a normal band. After all, Bremen is a band formed by music lovers who admire the pianist, and the instruments they use are human beings just like the pianist.

"Are you still struggling with what Heyhou said?"

Heyhou was a senior member of the Bremen band. He had accepted Algaria's invitation and joined the remnant band with two other companions. Before leaving, Heyhou gave Miaowu and the other two newcomers a few words of advice, asking them to try to go to the library.

"How can I not feel entangled? Once I go to the library, I might never be able to play again..." However, Oink, a former member of the Southern Three Departments of the Seventh Association, has always been worried about the library's notorious reputation.

"Let's wash away all the troubles with cheerful music~" Mumu consoled him, but it was just a consolation. Although they were both members of the Bremen band, Mumu still had some complaints about Oink, a member who could not keep up with the rhythm.

"Oink, if you let such trivial things affect your performance again, I will make you into a musical instrument."

"Agree~"

So, when Meow threatened Oink, Mumu only supported Meow's idea indifferently.

However, after making the threat, Meow changed the topic and began to tell the two newcomers the story of her and the three predecessors from the Bremen band:

"We can't let those distractions interfere with our performance now. You two are new here, so you can't understand the hardships that others have gone through. Just think about how hard it was for everyone to perform once~"

"In order to recreate the wonderful music we heard at that time, I, Guoh, Wangwu and Hehou gave up everything and formed this band dedicated to art! So don't always be depressed and concentrate on playing, okay?"

Inspired by this story, Oink stopped worrying about the library and started talking about his own story and dream:

"The pianist's music... I know that! I can't forget that sweet melody, so I decided to hand in my resignation to the Third Division of the Seventh Association and join your band... Even if I have to leave everything I have behind... I want to recreate that melody with my own hands."

His words once again aroused the enthusiasm of the two people around him. Mumu clapped his hands happily and said to Oink and Meow: "Great! Let's recall the dreamy melody that once resounded throughout the city!"

“That huge, majestic piano, made up of more than 10 people… every sinew was playing a beautiful melody over and over again. It was only then that I realized what a beautiful sound the human being could become in the hands of the right musicians.”

Meow praised the horrific tragedy caused by the twisted pianist, while Oink and Mumu cheered behind her.

Mumu, who was not present at the time, sighed: "Especially the ensemble with the closers at the end! After the intense ensemble, the closers also blended into the piano and turned into a beautiful melody. How wonderful it would have been if I had been there at the time..."

Meow, who was a survivor of the Pianist incident but went crazy after the Pianist's flesh-and-blood music and became a pursuer of flesh-and-blood music, showed off to the two:

"Yeah, I watched the whole performance with my own eyes. The finale was really exciting! The music score and notes suddenly unfolded before my eyes. At the end, people rushed towards the pianist along the flying music score... and then they were buried in the notes one by one, and blood and flesh flew everywhere..."

"They couldn't even die, and so they turned into fragrant notes and became part of the piano. Afterwards, the only remaining closer disintegrated in the most sincere way, turning into beautiful red notes that flew away, making the most charming sound in the world."

"Yes... it's that voice... the heavenly sound that penetrates my soul..."

The last remaining closer that Meow mentioned was the unknown and unnamed color-level closer sent by an association.

During that incident, Angelica and Violet Teardrop were not the only color finishers gathered in Alley 9. Although due to Violet Teardrop's plan, all the combat forces of the southern part of the First Association were dispatched to deal with the various commissions that suddenly appeared.

But the minister of the southern branch still sent a "special" to deal with the pianist's affairs.

Unfortunately, although this character led other finishers involved in the incident to attack the pianist, he was ultimately the most crucial note after the others died in the battle and turned into notes because of the mental torture inflicted on him by the pianist.

This is also a key reason why the pianist was able to kill 80% of the residents of Alley 9 by himself.