Chapter 70: About the Outrageous Branch
After walking along a long, dark road, the group finally entered the facility belonging to Lobotomy Corporation, where some pale lights replaced the pitch-black darkness.
As a branch of Lobotomy Corporation, even if it is buried, the interior will not lack energy for lighting.
This is the main lounge of the control department.
Oxidized bloodstains mingled with thick dust on the ground. The black-haired youth picked up a card about half the size of his palm from the ground; the front and back of the card were filthy.
However, because the front side hadn't been moved and remained firmly pressed against the ground, it unexpectedly preserved its contents amidst the chaos.
This is an employee badge, from the head of the control department of this branch. The long-haired young woman is smiling happily, as if she has finally seen hope in life.
But now all that remains here is a work badge, soaked in blood and dirt, and the young lady named Anna is probably doomed.
Adhering to the principle that all companies are Lobotomy Corporation and have similar building structures, the black-haired youth accurately located the office of the head of the control department.
He opened the hidden door, and the environment inside was much cleaner than the main lounge, as if no one had returned after that incident.
What kind of strange branch is this? The more X looked through it, the more outrageous it seemed. What kind of weird things are being housed here?
The branch's control center also has four containment chambers, but only two are in use, occupied by two absolute heavyweights.
One was called "Guiding Lamp," and the other was called "Heavenly Ferryman." Just from the names, they didn't seem like good things. Looking at the long list of deceased control department employees, X thought they seemed even less like good things.
Why were these two brilliant strategists sent to the same branch, and even the same department?
This is just the minister's office; that's all there is. He doesn't even know the general workings of those two anomalies.
*
Faust discovered that one of them was suddenly missing; the most important figure had disappeared at some point.
Sure enough, there was a crack in the wall near where he had been standing, through which a faint light shone—it was a hidden door.
"Did you find anything?"
The voice of the one who held the reins was the same Faust voice that X knew well, calm with a slight hint of weariness.
But the sound of her iron boots betrayed her identity; she was a servant of the nail and hammer, not the second-in-command on the bus.
The unusual person was sitting amidst a pile of documents scattered on the ground, rapidly flipping through a notebook in his hand.
Upon hearing her voice, he stopped searching for clues in the report and looked up at her.
"Faust, could you ask if there's a Faust who knows anything about this place?"
It's time to deploy your all-powerful floating servers!
"Hoo hoo, Dante, what are you talking about? My connection with Gesellschaft has been broken for a long time."
The one in charge resumed his usual flippant tone, saying some outrageous things. Despite having severed ties with Faust, he remained unconcerned. Is this what a fanatic of Company N is like?
The one in charge, unaware of X's thoughts, continued, "When we arrived on this land, I lost contact with Faust..."
"Isn't this the branch located in N Nest?"
The black-haired youth had never been to N Nest before, and he didn't know what N Nest was like. He just subconsciously assumed that this was the real N Nest because Demian had said so. Was it just a metaphor after all?
"Haha, you still love to joke around. Why do you think the branch located in N Nest would have been left standing until now?"
That makes so much sense, as expected of Faust.
"Do you remember the train from just now?" she asked, picking up a photograph left on the table. "While we punish heretics, we also protect the pure. That train will depart from anywhere at random times."
"As you can see, it only destroys buildings and does not harm living beings, but only living beings that are conscious."
"However, it has been appearing frequently at night recently, and nine-tenths of the nearby residents have already been taken away by it."
"It was because of this clue that Faust discovered this place, hehe... this is simply..." X couldn't hear the rest of his words because the one in charge kept laughing.
He took the photo from her hand; it was of the train that had sped past, with a name written on it.
"Eddie?"
The young man flipped through the employee death records in the notebook again, and sure enough, there was this name on it. The cause of death was that he was taken away by heaven in his sleep.
It's strange that the anomalous entity would act up while the employees were sleeping. Is the reverse Kabbalah inhibitor just for show?
"Forget about these things. Come on, follow Faust. The hammer that led the way has returned."
X casually stuffed the notebook into his pocket and followed them to the next department—the security department.
But an unexpected incident occurred. First, a small hammer suddenly left the group and headed straight for a containment chamber. Then came the second and the third. The targets seemed to be randomly selected, because it wasn't just the weak-willed small hammer that was attracted; even the medium hammer and the large hammer began to lose their senses.
The tightly closed door suddenly opened, revealing a pitch-black room with only a small lamp flickering inside. If the supervisor were still sitting in the monitoring room, he could prepare to wake up the charmed employee, but unfortunately, he no longer had that option.
X could only pull him back when one of the hammers was attracted, and the door closed again after the three unlucky guys entered, leaving the "lucky ones" who were turned away looking annoyed, as if they had missed out on a great opportunity.
A faint chewing sound came from inside the door; they were being eaten. It seemed that the "Guiding Light" was the type that wouldn't try to escape.
X had just noted this feature down in his notebook when he saw the number of boxes displayed outside the containment room begin to increase one by one, eventually filling all 18 boxes completely. Without a doubt, the result of this work was excellent.
Losses were commonplace for the hammers, let alone just three small hammers, and the group continued downwards.
X followed behind the group, still wondering why the surreal experience was causing trouble while the employees were sleeping, while the group in front was getting a bit restless.
The people walking ahead saw a small red bear doll at the other end of the passage, swaying as it walked towards them.
"Isn't this Comic?" someone said, revealing the identity of the little bear that had swept the entire city.
The problem is, Comico won't be openly strolling around Lobotomy Corporation anymore; it's clearly an unidentified anomaly.
The little bear, which had been wandering aimlessly, noticed the people in the area and its pace quickened. It started to run, but its soft limbs, stuffed with cotton, could not support its high-speed movement.
The next moment, the cute little bear crawled towards them on all fours in a messy manner.
Just as the bear was about to touch him, the big hammer in front slammed down. The next moment, his body was also smashed down as if by a big hammer, and warm blood splattered all over the people behind him.
The little bear didn't give up. It continued to stick to other people. Having learned from the experience with the big hammer, the one who was stuck to the little bear didn't make any attacking moves. He just stood there, unable to move.
The little bear, like a real plush toy, hung motionless on his body. Just when the hammers thought it was all over, the middle hammer suddenly collapsed without warning, and the little bear disappeared.
"Hey! You still..."
Before Zhongchui could finish speaking, the snow-white train that had crashed into the branch gate reappeared. After the loud roar, there was nothing unusual about the buildings or people, except that Zhongchui had completely disappeared.
Inside the "Heavenly Transfer" containment chamber in the control department, the "angel" who had been curled up slowly stretched out her body, revealing a small red bear. Her mouth, which should have been sewn shut, slowly opened into an arc. The number of boxes outside the door had also reached the maximum, and the work result was undoubtedly excellent.
Unlike the previous cardiac arrest, X was mentally prepared when the engine started running this time. He saw the driver through the glass of the speeding train; he was a small red bear with snow-white wings on its back and a halo on its head.
What is this strange thing? X even wondered if he was still half asleep. Comy driving... is that right?
Even with wings and a halo, Virgilius drives more normally than Comi!
What exactly is going on with this branch?
Feeling that he might have unknowingly eaten poisonous mushrooms, the supervisor asked the person next to him, "Sinclair, did you just see the train driver?"
The blond boy didn't answer. The quasi-ruler's expression was somewhat strange, muttering to himself, "This time it's not a nightmare after all..."
Wake up, Sinclair!
Sinclair?
X called the boy's name again, and the quasi-ruler, his eyes glazed, slowly turned to look at the black-haired youth: "Ah, we actually dreamed about you together?"
"This is not a dream, Sinclair. I wish it were a dream, but unfortunately, this is reality."
The blond boy fell silent. Was everything he saw real?
The quasi-ruler's voice trembled slightly as he asked, "You saw it too... Comy was driving?"
X nodded, forcing himself to forget what had just happened: "Let's go, we should continue downwards."
He wanted to see what other strange things were in this branch.
...
I was wrong, really.
Is this branch some kind of ridiculous creation?
The black-haired youth slumped in the chair belonging to the head of the intelligence department, his golden eyes unfocused.
A manager lost his dream.
The remaining hammers were also staring at the intelligence department's ceiling in the same pose, questioning their existence.
“Faust,” the black-haired youth who had lost his dreams asked the keeper who was flipping through the notebooks he had written all along, “is this really a proper branch?”
Is this actually a special April Fool's Day treat?
It was April Fool's Day again. By this point, only a few of them remained who were connected to them. In fact, they were only alive because they were connected to them and could be resurrected; otherwise, they would have been wiped out long ago.
Strange rules are everywhere, and violating them will result in being killed by the mechanism. However, after taking lives, the abnormality is excessively generous with the energy it produces. As long as someone eats it, it will be given a full energy supply.
The wielder, his smile gone, did not answer his question, but simply kept flipping through X's notes.
Finally, the clever Lady Faust discovered the blind spot.
"Dante, there are departments at the lower levels here, and this branch exists at the middle level."
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The author's note: Isn't being taken away by the angel Comi a kind of paradise?
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