Chapter 71: This place might not be the branch.

“Hey, I don’t know if you’re the manager’s brother,” the颓废 man with worm-like limbs sitting in the corner of the room said to the颓废 man sitting in another corner leaning against the wall, “you’ve been sitting there all day, aren’t you going to change your posture?”

"Although I don't think you're the person I'm looking for, at least cheer up."

Since being locked up here, the gray-haired man has been staring blankly, not even eating. Gregor is really afraid that he will starve to death here.

"No matter what happens, you should always look forward."

Gregor walked over to him and patted the gray-haired man on the shoulder with his still-human hand, intending to enlighten him with his own experiences.

To everyone's surprise, the gray-haired man's expression froze when he saw his insect limbs, and then he became even more dejected.

"No way, haha, I won't attack you."

Gregor was somewhat troubled. He hid the insect limbs behind his back, trying to show that he was harmless.

But the gray-haired man spoke up.

"Are you a former soldier of Company G?"

Gregor paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Are you a resident of G-Hive?"

Speaking of which, judging from this fellow's attire, he should be a middle-aged, disillusioned researcher, probably a pitiful person like myself who lost everything in the war against the haze.

"I'm so sorry, we lost that war..."

"sorry."

Gregor was abruptly interrupted by the researcher's apology before he could finish speaking.

He looked at this rather strange person with a puzzled expression.

At first, he thought the manager had found his head and was surprised by his new image.

After observing for a while, I found that this was not the case at all. Even if the administrator had regained his memories, he wouldn't be so depressed, right?

Gregor was about to say something to comfort him when he heard a series of iron boots hitting the ground.

A string of colleagues, each representing a different personality from Company N, ran wildly past their “cells.”

"Run! It's coming again!"

The Don Quixote of Company N shouted this, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the depths of the corridor.

Gregor's mouth was halfway open when he froze, completely stunned.

Why did Don Quixote and his companions appear here?

They were clearly locked in the basement by their mother...? Wait, when did this place become like this?

His basement doesn't look like this! Where did such a long passage come from?

Hermann isn't the type to dabble in renovations all the time!

The next moment, the "it" that Don Quixote mentioned also appeared. It was a cactus that was running wildly, with a few tender yellow flowers blooming on its top.

They disappeared in a flash, chasing after his colleagues.

A question mark slowly appeared above Gregor's head. What is all this?

What is that flowering cactus?

Unlike the strange creatures that vanished in a flurry, this time the sound was steady footsteps.

X headed in the direction where the hammers had disappeared. The anomalies here still didn't affect him, so he didn't have to run for his life like they did.

At most, he would casually revive a corpse when he saw one, but so far, he hasn't found a corpse yet.

As the supervisor strolled along the corridor, he saw one, no, two old acquaintances.

Unlike Gregor, who was standing by the door, Abram remained motionless in the corner, like a gray mushroom, and X almost missed him.

“Gregor?” X looked at the person in the containment chamber in disbelief. “Weren’t you locked up by Herman?”

"She locked you up in the Lobotomy Corporation branch?!"

"Lobotomy Corporation branch?!" Another person was incredulous. "I'm locked up at home!"

“Wait, you’re the manager, buddy?” Gregor finally caught on. “You really got your head back?”

"To be honest, I don't know what's going on either, but Gregor, could you open the door?"

After all, talking like that really sounds like visiting someone in prison.

"I'll give it a try..."

Gregor twisted the doorknob, and surprisingly, the door wasn't locked. Had he been locked out all day for nothing?!

"Hey buddy, looks like we can go now."

Gregor, still thinking about his roommate, turned to the large gray mushroom in the corner and said...

"Abram".

The black-haired youth looked at the gray-haired researcher sitting sullenly in the corner and called out to him. The gray-haired researcher looked up and looked at X.

This position allowed Gregor to see both of their faces clearly, and he finally understood where that subtle feeling from earlier came from.

“You two know each other,” Gregor said, looking between the two men. “You two look alike.”

Abram looked at the blood-stained young man outside and asked, "Are you injured?"

Gregor stood to one side, watching the two people who not only looked alike but also had similar voices, lost in thought. Could they really not be the same person? The feeling they gave him was almost identical…

Meanwhile, the conversation between the two continued.

"Ah, you mean this?" X tugged at the slightly faded bloodstains on his clothes and shook his head. "This isn't my blood. By the way, do you know how to get out of here?"

Unlike the well-organized upper management, the facilities and structures of the middle management in the intelligence department are completely different from those at headquarters, almost like... a "ghost wall" in the movies.

Every passageway looked exactly the same, and there was that crazy cactus; everyone except X had basically been killed by it.

The problem is that X wasn't directly attacked, but he was a sinner in the Resurrection Mirror world, which means he was constantly being stabbed to death. X can no longer say for sure whether he was attacked or not.

So, the hammers eventually gave up on taking him along and started avoiding the cactus instead.

Then X watched helplessly as they reappeared behind him. This was a folded space; they seemed to have left the branch and arrived at a place similar to Lobotomy Corporation, where everything was out of order.

"I think I've probably altered this place."

The gray-haired researcher with stubble on his face said that he pulled his hand out of the pocket of his white coat, clutching a twig that emitted a faint golden glow.

The air suddenly went quiet. Gregor looked at the man who had been with him all day and suddenly became speechless. Had he silently taken something extraordinary out of his pocket?

X was also somewhat surprised. It wasn't strange that Abram had Golden Bough, after all, Golden Bough originally belonged to Lobotomy Corporation, but...

"You mean...this is a manifestation of your inner self?"

Comic driving a train and cacti that prick people everywhere?

“I’ve been here the whole time. Has something happened outside?” Abram asked, looking at X who seemed hesitant to speak.

"A train appeared at the top... Komi."

The gray-haired researcher was taken aback at first, then as if he had thought of something, he suddenly became even more listless. He stuffed the golden branch into X's hand and shrank back into the corner.

Abram and Adam are such extremes. Looking at this, X thought of the guy at Lobotomy Corporation, who was incredibly cheerful and nothing could affect his good mood.

To be honest, this was the first time he had observed Jinzhi up close.

The black-haired youth looked at the small twig in his hand that was radiating warmth, but before he could even take a second look, the scene around him changed again.

The employees of Company N, who were being chased around by the cactus, suddenly discovered that the cactus had fallen to the ground and turned into a harmless potted plant in a small flowerpot.

Then the entire space became precarious, and the crisp sound of shattering glass grew louder as the space began to collapse and sink.

X was no exception; he was suddenly all alone. Both Gregor and Abram had vanished, leaving only a path leading to a door waiting for him.

The door opened, and without a doubt, this was the head office of Lobotomy Corporation, or rather, the monitoring room.

The layout inside was familiar to X, and even the small potted cactus was still on the desk. The only difference was that where Angela should have been standing, someone else was standing instead.

Another person who looks exactly like Angela.

Wearing a white lab coat, a brown-haired woman with a high ponytail looked at him with a smile. A red teddy bear hair tie stood out against her dark brown hair. Without a doubt, this was Carmen.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, "Hello, are you the new manager of Lobotomy Corporation?"

She looked at the black-haired youth whose face was blank and whose hand was still gripping the doorknob.

"How was it? Did I look like Angela just now?"

Seeing that he was still standing there, Carmen looked somewhat troubled.

"Oh my, what's with that expression? Are you really that surprised to see me?"

"Carmen...?"

"Hmm...you haven't changed at all. Why do you always react like this?"

Have I seen you before?

When? This must have been his first meeting with this infamous cyber ghost, right?

“Ah—you forgot again, but it’s okay,” Carmen turned on the monitor and softened her tone, “Let’s take a look, let’s take a look at those… memories you’ve lost.”

"The word 'lost' doesn't seem quite accurate."

"Wouldn't it be better to just observe? Probably."

She scratched her cheek, as if struggling with her own description.

"Never mind, anyway, you have to remember, this is neither a game nor a movie you can just watch."

*

In a certain corner, the world was like a pane of glass, which was smashed with a hammer, making a crisp cracking sound. Then, two figures were thrown out, one above the other, and fell into a pile.

The person below quickly moved his sharp insect limbs away to avoid being stabbed through the arm by the unlucky fellow who was thrown out later.

"Hey, Abram, buddy?"

He just heard his manager call him that, so that must be his name.

The next moment, another person was thrown out of the crack and landed heavily on Abram.

Gregor was injured a second time. He was fine, but his glasses were smashed, and he heard something break.

"I hope it's not my own glasses," the poor sinner number thirteen prayed silently.

However... it seems that Abram on his body is not in good condition. When the figure crashed down, he seemed to let out a muffled groan. Could he have been damaged?

The person at the top moved slightly, noticed the scene below, and quickly climbed down.

"Li Xiang?" A familiar voice came from the bottom cushion.

"Gregor?!"

Having no memory of the Benjamin era, Li Xiang was momentarily bewildered by the sudden appearance of her colleague.

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Author's Note: I vaguely remember that X's cactus was left by Carmen, but I couldn't find where I saw it, so if this is incorrect, just consider it my own interpretation. [starry eyes][starry eyes]