Chapter 217 A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Merlot and Brandy, who had stirred up trouble within the organization, perished together.

As the organization members who had witnessed all of this anxiously worried whether Scotland and Gin would start fighting at any moment, the most mysterious BOSS in the eyes of the organization members finally spoke.

Without even asking Brandy and Merlot, Old Deng assigned the work that originally belonged to Rum to Bourbon; he took back the political influence of the two deceased Old Dengs, and put the rest under the control of Scotland; finally, he also put a lot of members into the action group, which was still managed by Gin.

Of course, Morofushi Kagemitsu had gone to great lengths to intervene in this internal power struggle, and his final gains were not only the return of power to the finance team, but also the secrets that the laboratory had opened up to him, which were enough for him to handle for a while.

With so much important information in hand, he was once again thinking about his ultimate goal of destroying the organization. Based on a list of high-ranking police officers provided to him by Anti-Fraud King, he asked Ethan Bentang to use some of their Black Guest's special methods to "kindly" advance the meeting.

After quietly making moves behind the scenes, he turned his attention to the important but inaccessible "blue ocean" of the United States.

He was somewhat relieved that he and Rye had maintained a good relationship; at least he could still ask them a few questions at the lab. Otherwise, if they were to try and extract any information from that cunning woman, Vermouth, the organization would probably have gone bankrupt.

Ah... If only someone could come and talk to us about the original lab incident right now, then we wouldn't always be so worried about what kind of tricks Karasuma Renya might have up his sleeve.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: ...]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Exactly! Some people would be better off being more self-aware and offering to atone for their mistakes, otherwise they'll eventually be kicked off the app!]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: Yes, yes, they dare to keep such a big thing a secret hidden. I can't even imagine what other huge secrets will be exposed next.]

The beady eyes of hundreds of alpacas turned toward Number 205 as if they were X-rays, waiting for his response.

Number 205, who felt uneasy even though he was in the data space and wouldn't attract any physical attention: ...

[Anti-fraud expert #205: Okay, I understand. I'll confess, I'll confess, okay?]

The atmosphere finally eased, and the pressure on the graphics was relieved. Number 205 was dragged by Numbers 198 and 11 to the entrance of the data space, which was read as "physical examination center" and written as "identity verification". It was as if they would push him in for brainwashing if he dared to tell a lie.

Number 205 sighed.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: Let me make this clear first. So many years have passed, I can't guarantee the accuracy of my memories from back then. Besides, even if I've washed away my emotions, many things still happened from my perspective, so I can't be completely objective. Therefore, please don't have any unrealistic expectations.]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #148: We know, we know, we're aware of that much. Stop with the nonsense and get to the point!]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: Okay, then you guys tell me what aspects you want to know.]

When did you first notice the shifts in your destiny? What signs should you have been aware of beforehand? Please describe the details.

[Anti-fraud expert #205: ...Looking back now, it's hard to understand how I felt then. If I had to describe it, it would probably be the fear of losing control of everything. You know exactly how things should go, but they take a different path, yet your common sense makes sense about it.]

[Anti-fraud expert #214: Your statement is a bit too abstract.]

[Anti-fraud King #205: Let's take an example, like Zero, whom we all know. We all know he's an upright person. But one day, he just happens to become a "pure" member of the organization. Then you look back at his history and find that whether he was brought into the organization because of the Miyano couple, or... wait, wait, I won't say anymore. In short, you'll feel that things could have developed this way, but you'll still feel that this isn't the path he should have taken.]

Morofushi Kagemitsu removed his finger from the "identity verification" screen, allowing him to continue, and honestly confessed what Karasuma Renya had done after establishing the initial laboratory.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: Ever since I realized something was wrong with my life, I started sending people around to investigate. They discovered the source of the subtle changes in all our options was a laboratory we'd invested in building in the US. Naturally, I continued to send people to investigate this research institute.]

Wait, your lab was originally built underground?

[Anti-fraud King #205: Of course not. It started as a small laboratory. Later, Karasuma Renya expanded it into a research institute, and then it was moved underground.]

Let's continue.

[Anti-fraud expert #205: The engineers at the time investigated for a long time, even pausing some work, but they still couldn't find anything wrong on the surface. Instead, they discovered a "BUG" hidden in the underlying code.]

At this point, the usually calm electronic voice of No. 205 suddenly stirred with a subtle ripple.

[Anti-fraud expert #205: But whether it's modified or not doesn't matter; keeping it won't hinder the program's operation. It's just that it looks... a bit different from the other code. #198, you should understand what I mean, right?]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: You suddenly called me out here, I have a bad feeling...]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: Your feeling is quite correct, because everyone is familiar with this "BUG"—it's the predecessor of the anti-fraud app we use today.]

? ? ?

At this moment, the little question marks have gained many more friends.

[Anti-fraud expert #11: Wait... I thought this was going to be a story about how you entangled yourself with fate, how did it turn into an exploration of your own origins?]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: ...You're not trying to say that we all have split personalities, acting as anti-fraud guerrillas by day and secretly playing the role of fate by night, are you?]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: Hahaha, don't worry, there's no split personality. It's just that our connection with fate goes far beyond this.]

[Anti-fraud King No. 66: We can indeed contend with fate, and in a sense, we can be considered "of the same origin." However, we are two completely opposite forces. It's impossible for some great demon king to say he wants to mold our groups into a "holy grail" that can be used for wishes, right?]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: Hmm, so Karasuma Renya is the great demon king you mentioned. However, he skipped the wishing step entirely, intending to "perfectly avoid all the turbulence of fate"—don't look at me like that, those are his exact words, not something I made up.]

Clearly, everyone was speechless at Karasuma Renya's unrealistic expectations.

[Anti-Fraud Expert #205: His expectations are indeed impossible to fulfill because he is exploiting fate, not the anti-fraud app.]

……What's the meaning?

Morofushi Kagemitsu always felt that something was off about number 205.

[Anti-fraud expert #198: This means he can't exert influence in time and space to achieve that ideal quantum superposition state.]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: So you understand what I'm trying to say. It seems you haven't been without thought about our relationship with fate.]

Number 198 remained silent.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Wait, what kind of riddle are you playing? Can someone explain this to me? Aren't we talking about Karasuma Renya's unreliable dream?]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: Didn't you hear what he said? He wasn't talking about the origin of the anti-fraud app, but the origin of fate. Have you thought about why this is related to us?]

[Anti-fraud expert #66: ...Because fate eventually feels out of control, right?]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: Yes, fate should have been a straight path to the end, but in reality, it suddenly takes a turn just as it's about to reach its destination, turning into a bug and returning to the starting point. Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. It emits too many fluctuations of fate, and as we constantly try to fix it, two forces subtly alter both sides.]

Morofushi Kagemitsu recalled his dream about looking back on the past. At the end of the dream, the two intertwined energies seemed to have already hinted at the relationship between them.

[Anti-fraud expert #198: However, we will never be transformed into each other, unless... we are unlucky enough to encounter time reversal.]

[Anti-fraud expert #148: Okay, I understand! In short, to avoid being transformed into fate, this time reversal is indeed unacceptable.]

[Anti-Fraud Guru No. 205: Although retrospection has caused many problems, it has shown us the path to becoming "Destiny." As long as the conditions are met before retrospection begins, we can break free from the world of data.]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Ha, we finally caught you red-handed. You actually wanted to turn us into your destiny!]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: We were originally one river, just that we entered at different times. The phrase "going with the flow" is not quite accurate.]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: Are you still playing word games with me?]

[Anti-Fraud King #205: So what? Are you going to stay in this shell forever? After the fluctuations of fate subside, if we don't complete the transformation, we have no reason to continue existing in this unstable spacetime. Perhaps we won't be erased, but it's not impossible that our energy will be confiscated. Besides, we're already doing it. As long as you want to stop the retrograde, you need to accumulate energy, and the more you use energy to change reality, the more it will affect fate. I've calculated it; even if you don't want to at that time, the final moment of "ascension to godhood" will still come.]

[Anti-fraud expert #66: Really? Fate is always "out of control."]

[Anti-fraud expert #205: The core review has just come through, so we'll likely have to go to the future again. You can verify what I said.]

Upon hearing this, he took out his phone, and sure enough, a new message popped up:

We have received your report and will begin working on it as soon as possible.

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The author's note: A good eldest son and a filial son: He uses the fluctuations of fate to avoid the influence of the counterforce (the anti-fraud king) on ​​him.

Father (No. 205): This is too much trouble. Let's just ascend directly.