Chapter 4: The Tragedy That Happened Next Door

"What do you mean the supervisor and secretary are both on vacation?!"

The rabbit mercenary captain, who had just arrived in this world via the warp train, let out a screaming chicken sound.

Miao belongs to the Rabbit Squad of the Fourth Army Group of R Company.

The Rabbit Squad has been on long-term assignments from the executives of Lobotomy Corporation.

Miao was in charge of leading the rabbits to suppress some troublesome anomalies.

Of course, it means wiping out all life in that department along with everything else.

So when Lobotomy Corporation completely disappeared from the city, they were completely unaware of it.

I almost got killed by the R company executives who broke through my defenses on the spot.

In their eyes, the Fourth Army, which was inherently highly unstable, was only able to survive because of Lobotomy Corporation's energy supply.

Now that Lobotomy Corporation is gone, their value has also disappeared.

Even... their existence was like a slap in the face to R Company, which was known for its mercenaries.

The fact that the people in charge of protection couldn't even keep an eye on the people they were supposed to protect made R Company look like a joke.

Fortunately, W Company, which is also a major energy consumer, found a spacetime rift in the ruins of L Nest.

They managed to find the headquarters of Lobotomy Corporation, which had drifted to another dimension, before they were slaughtered, thus saving their lives.

The warp trains worked overtime to finally supply the city with enough energy for its immediate needs.

Only then did they begin to transport them.

Under orders from higher command, the Fourth Army will once again carry out the contract to protect L Company, and they will be packed into the train bound for another world in batches.

The warp train travels through countless other dimensions, where they are constantly awakened by W Company employees who come along, and their cryogenic hibernation pods are repeatedly changed to temporarily put them into a state of death.

Compared to the trains that travel in various nests, which operate at a rate measured in seconds.

The train took more than ten hours to reach this world, whose coordinates are extremely far from the city.

And now you're telling me the manager took that cold-faced secretary on vacation!

The company has suspended operations and all employees are on leave!

The girl, with white hair and red eyes resembling the color scheme of a domesticated white rabbit, clenched her teeth.

Looking at the temporary leader who had clearly just been pushed out.

Benjamin, also known as Hokma, the head of the records department on the lower level of the facility, was at a loss when faced with the bizarrely angry Rabbit Captain's questioning.

He could only express his helplessness, after all, he was just a poor department head who was left at the company to work on duty.

Moreover, Hokma was delighted with the couple's vacation trip.

When a manager gets carried away with their work, they can drive the entire company to work non-stop, pushing employees and even those with ulterior motives to the brink of burnout.

As for Angela, Hokma simply hoped that she could gain some insights when facing her supervisor alone.

In the end, the rabbits had no choice but to stay here for the time being.

Waiting for those two escaped senior executives of Company L, who were probably relaxing somewhere.

They were also waiting for the Fourth Army, which would arrive one after another on the warp train, along with their commander, Nikolai.

Before the rabbit squad set off, the commander revealed some information to Mu.

Company R will establish branches in this world.

It's called a branch, but it's actually an incubator.

They can be housed as defective products, and their cloning can be achieved through R Company's singularity technology.

To quickly replenish the only rabbits who can function within the Lobotomy Corporation facility.

In the eyes of the higher-ups, their only purpose is to protect Lobotomy Corporation, which exists in another world.

When necessary, even Commander Nikolai must obey the orders of Company L.

While Mu was lost in his memories, the warp train carrying the rabbits did not return directly, but instead departed from this strange world fully loaded with energy.

Only a whole team of train cleaning staff and a few rabbits were left behind.

Rather than a cleaning team, these people were more like a construction crew, bringing a lot of strange equipment.

Miao couldn't understand it, but now those people had started setting up equipment in the corner of the yard, making a lot of noise.

It was a hastily constructed wrap train platform.

It should be a platform, right?

Miao looked at the postmodern-style building that was half-buried in the ground.

It was installed crookedly, no wonder she felt the wrap train was coming in and out at an angle.

The old manager of Company L ignored their illegal construction site and simply beckoned the rabbits to follow him into that all-too-familiar underground facility.

Hokma set aside an area in the facility to house the rabbits.

They can only be relocated once the branch of Company R is established.

Miao lay in bed.

This was the first time she had ever spent such a quiet time in the facility, without screams or alien roars, as she looked at the light gray ceiling.

So, when are these two finally coming back?!

Rabbits will die of loneliness if they don't eat grass for too long.

At this moment, the two people that Captain Rabbit had been longing for were enjoying a long-awaited period of leisure.

X was having lunch when Angela sat next to him, holding a bottle of strawberry soda and studying the ingredient list printed on the back of the bottle.

The hotel they stayed in wasn't very soundproof.

At least very loud sounds can be heard easily.

A loud clanging sound came from the room just one wall away from theirs, like some small pieces falling to the ground, and it sounded like they were scattered all over the floor.

"Ah! Hagi! Watch out! There's another one over there!"

The owner of the voice clearly increased the volume to remind "hagi".

"...Jinpei, don't worry!"

The rising tone was accompanied by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

It was obvious that this was the person who had been reminded; their voice was very soft, and it was impossible to hear what they were saying.

However, the sudden amplification of the final note revealed that he had not escaped the truth.

X listened to the sounds from next door and mentally provided commentary.

And that thud, what exactly spilled? It sounds so painful.

The supervisor strained to listen.

"Weren't we here to soak in hot springs? Why did you bring so many Lego pieces?!"

The owner of the first voice couldn't control the volume and started complaining.

"it hurts!"

Well, even the person in charge of reminding him stepped on it, and X stuffed a fried shrimp tempura into his mouth without changing his expression.

It's confirmed: the culprit is Lego parts. Listening to the sounds from next door, X's feet also inexplicably started to ache.

The chaos next door continues.

"Ah~ I'm sorry, ...broom... um!"

A short, muffled groan.

The real culprit has been found!

The real culprit got the cleaning tools and started cleaning up the crime scene!

The real culprit has also fallen!

How many Lego pieces fell off next door?

The place has become a scene where no one survived.

However, the voice of the real culprit gave X a strange sense of familiarity, as did the tone of voice...

X Teng suddenly stood up, with half a shrimp still dangling from his mouth.

Brother Baozi, is that you? Brother Baozi!

No matter how X listens, that tone and timbre are clearly from Hong Lu's voice in "Prison Bus".

Angela put down her strawberry soda and looked at her boss, who was still making a fuss over a meal, with a puzzled expression.

What's wrong?

X swallowed the shrimp in a few bites, leaving Angela with a comment:

"I'll go check next door," he said, and ran off.

He needed to confirm something, something very important.

He gently knocked on the door next door and raised his voice to ask:

"Are you alright? I heard a very loud noise."

"...It's nothing!" came a muffled voice.

A slight rustling sound came from inside the room, like clothes dragging on the floor.

Hearing this strange sound, X thought that the person inside the room was probably in so much pain that they couldn't get up.

Sure enough, the rubbing sound stopped at the door.

With a soft gasp, it seemed the person who opened the door had bravely stood up.

The strong warrior opened the door, and the tall, purple-eyed youth, slightly hunched over, tried to steady his voice.

"I'm so sorry, we were making too much noise."

The sound is "hagi".

The first victim has come to open the door!

Compared to the stranger in front of him, X was more concerned about the familiar voice. He didn't hesitate for long before asking:

"Excuse me, does Honglu live here?"

The purple-eyed youth showed a hint of surprise and asked X in return:

Do you know him?

Sure enough, the voice with the little flower at the end was the sixth criminal he was thinking of.

But what's strange is, didn't he travel here alone?

How did a character from another game end up in this world?

Kenji Hagiwara stared at the young man who seemed to know his savior.

The young man lowered his eyes slightly, concealing his rare golden eyes, and said hesitantly:

"I guess you could say we... know each other..."

Although he was known by bus manager Dante, not Lobotomy Corporation executive X.

Kenji Hagihara thinks, Kenji Hagihara asks:

"Do you need me to call him out for you?"

"No need, thank you. It's enough that I know he's here."

After saying that, X turned around and prepared to go back to his room.

Now that we know Honglu also exists in this world, how can we recognize each other?

Invite him to join Lobotomy Corporation?

Don't say his current body isn't Dante's.

Even so, there is still a weapon against the precious gem in the lower levels of Lobotomy Corporation.

We have a high-ranking official in our company—his head of research and development, Binah.

Don't scare Baozi into shutting down again; there's no teacher in this world to wake him up.

"Hagi, who is that?"

A familiar head peeked out from behind the door.

It turned out to be someone X knew—the officer with naturally curly hair who was in charge of defusing bombs a few days ago.

"Ah! It's you!"

Matsuda looked at the familiar young man in front of him; he clearly recognized X as well.

Kenji Hagiwara turned to look at his childhood friend in confusion:

"Jinpei, do you know this gentleman?"

"He was waiting for someone outside the convenience store when the bombing happened a few days ago," he summarized simply.

Thinking of this, Matsuda Jinpei looked at X, who was wearing a hotel yukata, and asked:

"Did you come with that white-haired child again this time?"

“No, I came with a friend this time,” X denied, recalling how the fat inspector had addressed him.

“Officer Matsuda, I came with the lady I was waiting for that day.”

Matsuda looked at the young man who was clearly much more relaxed, and said, referring to his previous demeanor:

You look much more energetic than you did a few days ago.

Angela noticed that X hadn't returned for a long time, and even ran away halfway through his meal.

She put down the strawberry soda she had been researching for ages and went out to find this absurd boss who would disappear during meals.

As soon as she stepped outside, Angela found him standing at the door of the next room, chatting with the very same noisy guest from next door.

"manager?"

The secretary found this person increasingly unfathomable; what respectable person would go off to chat halfway through a meal?

"Oh! My friend came to see me, let's talk another time."

X waved goodbye to the two of them.

Angela glared at X.

"I think you should at least act like a normal adult."

Angela maintained her calm expression and unchanging tone, but her words carried a blatant threat.

Upon hearing this, X immediately sat back down obediently and continued his lunch.

Great, Angela is now studying that bottle of strawberry soda again.

A note from the author:

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