Chapter 118: The Demon and Sonia

Just as the bewildered man was pondering how to answer, the manager on the other end, who had initially been in a relatively calm mood, suddenly seemed like a completely different person.

He first glanced at Luo Jia beside him, then met the gaze of the Minister of Welfare.

The department head, who was talking to a new employee in the welfare department, suddenly showed a strange expression the moment their eyes met.

Daniel looked at Adam, who had clearly been switched back, and slowly nodded to him.

Luo Jia also noticed something was wrong; the previously tight connection suddenly gave her a feeling of being adrift.

She looked at her minister, and the minister looked at her, because she hadn't arrived very early and hadn't seen Adam yet.

Adam had been holed up in the lab researching the Golden Bough ever since the day before she arrived. In Luo Jia's eyes, her manager's head was the white one.

Because in some respects they are indeed the same person, there is absolutely no sense of incongruity.

But the sudden change of actors created a strong sense of incongruity.

How strange, looking at it this way...

“I’ll take her to see the supervisor first,” said the head of the welfare department.

He wanted to take his employees to get to know the people, so that she wouldn't get confused by the four-part supervisor.

After they left, Dostoevsky's subjects of observation suddenly dwindled to just the "supervisor" and the secretary.

Those light gold eyes scrutinized him; Tuosi could tell, not to mention that the minister had stated it outright.

The current "supervisor" is not the same person as the supervisor from before. He is going to take Luo Jia to see the supervisor from before.

So what is this person? A superpower? Or... is it a technology they developed, similar to the kind of unreasonable technology he experienced?

He had never heard of such a superpower before. Even those with powerful superpowers couldn't easily achieve such a wide range of use, let alone maintain it for a long period of time.

“I am not that person, and I will not be overly lenient with you.”

The white-haired young man's attitude changed unusually quickly, and the secretary, who had been quietly standing to the side, did not seem to raise any objections.

"Who are you?" the tightly bound demon asked.

“My name is Adam,” Adam said, not feeling that revealing his name would reveal anything, nor did he bother to hide it. “The anomaly of the White Night Apostles was your doing.”

This is a declarative sentence; it is not a question, but an affirmation.

"I'm just using my superpower in a very simple way," Dostoevsky said sincerely.

He really did use his superpowers within normal limits!

He escaped with his superpower, but even if he escaped, he can still use it. As for Bai Ye's apostle... that was Bai Ye's apostle who killed him without authorization.

What does it have to do with him? He's the one who's really unlucky.

Who knew that his supernatural ability would work silently and "team up" with Gogol to cause him such a huge mess.

He perfectly achieved the title of the most unlucky guy, and after finally logging out of Sonia, he ran headfirst into a rabbit hole. He was the most miserable one!

Angela added some details for him and also retrieved all of Dostoevsky's surviving records.

This person is hiding very well, but everyone leaves a trace in the world, especially in today's rapidly developing information society.

Everything related to him was processed through Angela's processor. After deleting some particularly outrageous parts, what was presented was roughly the life story of this demon who had lived for a long time, had been hunted down, and had recently become more active.

Further records are no longer available, but this is enough to prove that he was not a person of his current age.

*

X was momentarily distracted and returned to his body. As soon as he came to his senses, he saw a hazy sea of ​​light.

Within the sea of ​​light, there are several extremely bright spots, making the sea of ​​light look like the sky.

Those few points of light are stars, arranged in a certain order.

It looks familiar... isn't this the Kabbalah Tree of Life? However... it's still incomplete.

As if he were merely shown the light, X was ejected the moment the points of light left a clear image in his eyes of the same color.

There was no longer any sea of ​​light around him, only a Don Quixote watching him with concern, and an old red clock restored to its original state.

"Master Administrator, are you alright?" The girl's amber eyes looked at the black-haired youth who remained motionless after switching back to his body.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the young man's eyes dart around; he really had seemed to be sleepwalking.

“I just saw stars,” X said.

"The starry sky?"

X took the clock in his hand, intending to return to the monitoring room. He had switched it back, which meant that Adam had switched it back as well.

He had to go and see, after all, Fyodor was connected to Rogia and Sonia; they were one entity.

He had no idea what would happen to Luo Jia and the others if Fedor were also driven to despair by the conversation.

We can't just kill them now, can we? Even if we do, Luo Jia can be saved, but what about Sonia?

Unfortunately, the elevator Daniel took down with Luo Jia was completely different from the elevator X took up; they successfully missed each other.

All that's left for the Minister of Welfare is Don Quixote x2; the person who should have stayed here has long since left!

X assumed Daniel would be waiting for him in his office, so he yanked open the door to his office.

Adam looked over at his actions, while the superpowered individual named Fyodor lowered his head, as if he had lost consciousness.

X looked at the figure inside the containment device, somewhat puzzled: "What did you talk about with him?"

Adam, however, was not in high spirits: "The fool's views and his actions are merely wishful thinking."

"I simply showed him the world of his dreams, a world without any superpowers."

X caught the keyword and suddenly had a subtle premonition: "The city?"

"That's right."

Adam smirked: "The city is a gathering place of pure humans in his eyes, and I have merely fulfilled his wish."

"So, according to you, Fyodor should thank you," X thought.

At the same time, he noticed Fyodor's increasingly pale face as he lost consciousness; it seemed he had seen something very bad.

Well, after all, it's a great place without superpowers, but with advanced technology and a people-oriented approach.

X was curious about what scene Adam had shown this poor, idealistic superhuman to make this long-lived person look so unwell.

Adam seemed to have read X's mind, and snapped his fingers, and the large screen in the monitoring room began a live broadcast.

Angela looked at her hands, then at the surveillance footage that had been altered without her consent. Wait, was she an AI or was Adam an AI?

Why did the surveillance system, which should have been under her control, betray her?!

However, she quickly forgot her current doubts and focused on watching the reality show directed by Adam, which featured Fyodor's day trip through a simulated city.

This was the first time she had seen the city from this perspective. Because of her identity, she had been hidden since "birth," and that hiding continued until the very end.

The AI, which is only ten years old according to Company A's standard time, looked at everything playing on the screen with some curiosity.

Unlike the novelty of Angela, Fyodor felt absolutely terrible.

Was this some kind of technology or a superpower? He couldn't tell anymore. He only heard the white-haired, golden-eyed guy telling him to go and see a world completely devoid of superpowers.

Then he came here.

The dark-haired Russian man opened his eyes as he sat on the bench. The sunlight shone on him, warm and real.

But the people sitting with him in the warm sunshine didn't think so.

Right in front of the chair he was sitting, a young boy with freckles on his face was pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Feijia, do you think we can really pass the interview?" he said, waving the papers in his hand uncontrollably.

Fyodor could clearly see that this was a resume, and the young man was obviously struggling to find a job.

Just as he was about to offer some words of comfort to the boy who recognized "himself," he touched his own resume.

"Really, Fei Jia, even if I only get the lowest-level clerical job, it's enough to keep me and my family from being kicked out of our nest!"

"As long as I'm not kicked out of the nest, as long as I can stay in the nest..." The boy was clearly a bit neurotic, or perhaps overly anxious.

"Nest" is another special word. He doesn't think it simply refers to a bird's nest, like a hatchery. It's a word with another meaning.

As the interview progressed, the number of people waiting outside gradually decreased, while the boy named Joe became much calmer.

Fyodor and Joe were called in together, but they weren't interviewed together.

It was supposed to be an interview, but they just asked him a few simple questions that had nothing to do with the job, and then passed him on without hesitation.

"Mr. Dostoevsky, you have a week to say goodbye to your family. Our company has a special work system; you need to work continuously for sixty days before you can have a vacation, but we assure you, it will be a long vacation."

The interviewer, with a smile on his face, said this and handed him an inconspicuous little medal.

"Please come here to report for duty in a week. Someone will come to take you to another branch office to start your new job."

Fyodor looked puzzled: "Don't I work here?"

"Of course, your talents should be used in a place that is more suitable for you. You will be working in a larger branch, where the benefits and treatment are something that our small branch can't even come close to."

After speaking, the smiling female interviewer made a longing expression, as if the large branch was something she really longed for.

He said goodbye to the two interviewers, a small badge was pinned to his collar, and then he saw Joe waiting outside, looking utterly dejected.

Joe saw the badge on his clothes and his face showed an undisguised envy, but that was all he felt.

“Congratulations, you don’t have to leave the nest,” he said, then sighed deeply. “Come on, let me treat you to one last ham bang bang. After this, we probably won’t see each other again for the rest of our lives.”

The child, whose face was covered in freckles, talked on and on the way.

Fyodor summarized it this way: the two families were neighbors, and even their parents were colleagues working at the same job closing firm.

However, during a mission together, the pillars of both families perished. Unlike the lone "Fyodor," Joe had younger siblings.

He didn't want to leave the nest, but he was still in college and his family had no income at all. If things continued like this, they would be kicked out of the nest in two weeks at most.

He stumbled upon the opportunity to interview for "World Wings," and even though it was just a qualification, it still thrilled him.

It's not that the employees at "Wing" have high salaries; the main thing is that if he could work at "Wing," his family wouldn't have kicked him out!

Unfortunately, he didn't get the job. The interviewer only glanced at him before deciding that he was out of the running.

He will leave L's den today and move to the back alley. The money he has can be exchanged for a house under the protection of the gang, so that his younger siblings will not be homeless.

Joe bought two sandwiches and gave one to Fyodor, who had been listening to him complain.

"This is all I can offer you for now," he said with a wry smile.

Fyodor watched as the big boy led two children, some of whom were younger than him, into the heavily guarded entrance.

The guards didn't ask any questions and let the three children go, looking completely unfazed.

They also saw Fyodor standing to one side, and their previous indifference vanished, replaced by a greeting that could almost be described as enthusiastic.

Are you going to the back alley?

Although the man looked somewhat thin, the medal on his collar, which symbolized his status, gleamed in the sunlight.

Without a doubt, this is an employee of Company L.

“However, it’s getting late now. Would you like to come back tomorrow morning?” He seemed to be afraid that the superior people who stayed in the nest wouldn’t know, so he specifically mentioned the unique late-night specialty of the back alley. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be good to run into someone late at night.”

Fyodor was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

It's Sonia. How could he be here... No, it makes perfect sense that he's here. He and Luo Jia clearly know these people.

The medal pinned to his clothes was exactly the same as the organization's logo.

Two pairs of purple eyes met. Sonia was startled and looked at the stranger. Suddenly, he had a complicated feeling that he couldn't quite describe.

But his gaze also fell on the collar of the stranger who made him feel so close, and the initial sense of closeness suddenly faded.

This was an employee of the Wing, and the leader of the Holy Fools realized this.

However, the black-haired employee was already walking towards him, and turning around and leaving now would be too deliberate, not to mention there were guards over there. If things really escalated...

"Long time no see, Sonia." He did pronounce his name correctly.

The Holy Fool leader, hidden in the L Nest, was taken aback, then smiled as if he had met an old acquaintance, but he did so very softly, asking, "Who are you? I don't remember knowing you."

"I was introduced by Luo Jia."

"Ah, Luo Jia? I really didn't expect... she's still willing..." His voice grew softer and softer until it was impossible to hear what he was saying.

Sonia seemed to realize this as well, and invited, "Please come with me first."

He naturally wouldn't take the man back to the Holy Fool's stronghold in L Nest; he simply took him to a secluded alley. He needed to make things clear first.

“I want to join you.” The demon said decisively. He knew what Sonia was thinking. Even before the two of them ran away with the money, he had already seen through his superpower’s thoughts.

They share the same ideals as themselves in some circumstances, but they disagree with some of their own "excessive" behaviors, which leads to irreconcilable differences.

“The person who just left the nest was my friend,” Fyodor said, his voice low and somber.

Sonia didn't need to listen any further to know what had happened; after all... this kind of thing was nothing new in the hive.

*

When Sonia heard him talk about working sixty consecutive days, a strange expression appeared on her face.

L Nest is considered a special case among the nests. Lobotomy Corporation employees are known for their high welfare benefits, so Fyodor was actually the first person to join Saint Fool.

However, they had members who knew Lobotomy Corporation, and his neighbor was an employee who worked at a large branch.

That neighbor lady goes to get off work and leaves work on time every day, and even has extra days off, unlike what he was told, that she would work for sixty consecutive days and then take a long vacation.

The newly joined demon sat quietly in the corner, listening to the conversation of the Holy Fool members, which sounded increasingly familiar.

The technology known as the Singularity is in the hands of the "Wings," and the inhabitants of the Nest are protected by the Wings and abide by the rules set by the Wings.

The less fortunate live in back alleys, which are chaotic and unregulated, and the homeless are even eaten by scavengers in the dead of night.

It can be said that they are giving homeless people absolutely no way to survive.

Isn't this just a relationship between people with superpowers and ordinary people? No, it's even more extreme than the relationship between people with superpowers and ordinary people; this is an extreme example of the law of the jungle.

So, was Adam trying to tell himself that even if he continued down his own path, there would be no result?

Even if he eliminates superpowers, nothing will change for the people living in this world?

*

As soon as X connected to the monitoring system, he saw Fyodor contemplating life.

Is he going to twist something?!

Seeing that Fyodor had become fixated on this, X turned to look at the still-sleeping figure trapped in the containment device.

Nothing has changed; the demon, who has lived for a long time, remains very calm.

The next day arrived quickly, and Fyodor stepped into what was called the back alley, which was actually incredibly spacious and looked like a very ordinary city scene.

Except for... a group of people who dismembered a body in broad daylight by the roadside.

Feeling his undisguised gaze, Mouse turned around impatiently, intending to see who it was, only to see the small token representing the employees of Lobotomy Corporation. He immediately turned his head away, pretending that he hadn't seen anything.

Damn it! Haven't you ever seen someone gut their own body?!

Why are these men in the nest so curious?

"It was you?"

Fyodor looked at the freckled face. Yesterday, the big boy who was planning to find protection had his stomach emptied today.

The mouse felt uncomfortable being stared at, turned around, and said in a nasty voice, "What? Does the master of the nest even have to meddle in things like this?!"

"We didn't kill him! He died because he disobeyed the order of the index finger. I just didn't want him to waste his life like that!"

Seeing that they were likely to be bothered today, the other rats quickly stuffed their entrails into the container and hurried away.

The rat who had just replied was abandoned on the spot. He cursed under his breath, but he couldn't lay a hand on Yi's employees, so he could only mutter his bad luck to himself.

"Sir, what exactly do you want to know?"

What is the index finger?

"What did you say?!" Mouse picked at his ear uncertainly. He seemed to be hallucinating, as if someone had said they didn't know what the index finger was.

"Tsk, so these are the Nestlings? How lucky..." So lucky that they don't even need to bother with their fingers.

The rat rummaged aimlessly through Joe's corpse, and after a while, it pulled out a blood-stained strip of cloth with the following words written on it:

To Joe:

"Please cut off your younger brother's head at 8:30 AM."

"Tsk," Mouse frowned as he looked at the words on the note, "What a bunch of lunatics, what kind of crazy instructions are these?"

"Are you satisfied now, sir? This is just an unlucky fellow who was killed by a madman. But now that he's dead, it'll probably be his brother's turn next. However, it's also possible that his brother will be driven out of Index Finger's protection..."

The mouse was making deductions, but Fyodor simply stood up and left before he could finish speaking.

By the time he realized it, he was all alone: ​​"Are the people in the nest so disobedient?"

The mouse dusted itself off, completely ignoring the corpse, found a dark alley, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Fyodor went to the address Joe had given him yesterday. A family he didn't know was now living there; his younger siblings had completely disappeared after their brother's death.

Actually, there was a way to circumvent that instruction: cut off the younger brother's head. He remembered that Joe's sister had a doll. If he named the doll "younger brother" and then cut off its head, he could also complete the instruction.

Unfortunately, the child wasn't quick-witted enough and lost his life in vain.

Then, Dostoevsky wandered around the back alley until... 3:13 a.m.

The good news is that he encountered one of the few kind people in the back alley, or perhaps because he was an employee of Yi, they allowed him to enter the house.

In short, the moment the door closed, a wave of cleaners surged in from the back alley to one side.

Wherever they went, there was no "trash" left behind. Anything left outside, whether it was a corpse or a homeless person, was "sweeped" clean by them.

Eighty minutes after being engulfed by the waves of red and black, Dostoevsky left the kind man and returned to his nest.

Time continued to pass, and Fyodor remained almost entirely within the Holy Fool, following their every move. The more he saw, the more silent he became.

On the seventh day, the day he was supposed to report for duty arrived.

Sonia and he agreed to meet again in sixty days, but he never saw his new friend again; L Nest's wing broke.

That concludes the playback.

Dostoevsky's consciousness returned to the transparent container. He raised his eyes and looked at the two people who were identical except for their hair. He said in a hoarse voice, "This is Company L."

"You fled from the city."

Unlike the brief Adam Director's Cut, he actually looped the "X" sequence once.

Therefore, Dostoevsky's gaze remained fixed on the dark-haired manager.

"Supervisor! I just..." With a pale face, Sonia opened the door to the monitoring room on a whim.

It was after get off work hours, and he wasn't sure if X was still there, but he didn't expect to make eye contact with a newly acquainted "friend" from an extra memory in his mind.

The two pale-faced brothers looked at each other, and for a moment no one spoke.

X looked at this person and then at that person, and suddenly wondered, if these two people are truly in love and share the same ideals, then why is the atmosphere between them so awkward?

...

Adam had already left, and Dostoevsky, who had been released, sat listlessly to one side, with Sonia sitting next to him, equally listless.

X stroked his chin and suggested, "Mr. Fyodor, since you were once my employee, even though that supervisor wasn't the real me, you're still a skilled worker."

"How about it? Want to work for me?" the unscrupulous capitalist asked.

“Manager,” Sonia said, “I want to resign.”

X hadn't reacted yet, but Fyodor's reaction was much stronger. He had genuinely worked at Lobotomy Corporation, and he knew better than anyone what resigning meant.

But X, the supervisor, seemed indifferent: "Sure, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

Is that right? If resigning is so easy, what about his deceased colleagues? Are they just unlucky?!

Noticing Fyodor's subtle expression, X waved his hand and explained, "Sonia signed a temporary contract; he's actually here to help."

"As for you... just have your companion return Jinzhi to me. Of course, I would welcome you to work for me."

Although Fyodor is in a false cycle, the hardships he suffers are real, so from Lobotomy Corporation's standards, he is now a four-time EX-level warrior.

Faced with the offer from X, Fyodor chose: "Manager, no, Mr. X."

He hasn't changed his form of address yet.

"I think it's time to take some action. I've seen that even without superpowers, the gap in social status between people still exists."

It means he won't be coming to work; he's going to pursue his dreams.

The two purple-eyed individuals immediately agreed; it seems the Saint Fool's Otherworld branch will appear tomorrow.

but……

"I have one right here. You can just change the name and use it."

The supervisor presented a multinational organization that had been operating for many years, listing its secrets in detail: "Look, we have spies from various countries here. You assign tasks to them, and everyone has to be proactive in completing them."

"Aren't you going to do good deeds anyway? Why not take advantage of it?"

The two top leaders of the Holy Fool emerged out of nowhere.

"Let me think, what was that code name again..." X began to recall. He remembered one who was killed by Sinclair of N Corporation...

"Manager, that's Rum," Angela said, unable to stand it any longer.

"Yes, that's Rum. From today onwards, you are Rum!"

Suddenly becoming Rum, Dostoevsky slowly typed a question mark; the feeling of being suddenly assigned this role was truly strange.

Sonia felt something was off. Logically, shouldn't the leader be Fyodor, the "master"? Why was he now her subordinate?