"This is a 'fragment' produced while extracting an Abnormality, but it isn't aggressive, so the manager ordered me to investigate it," Shen Yu answered.
"Is that so?" Malkuth pressed the button beside her eye, and X, Shen Yu's light clone in the manager's office, immediately received a call from the Control Department.
"That was ridiculously fast," X marveled, stepping forward to answer the call.
Malkuth said, "Manager, did you instruct our department's new employee, Shen Yu, to bring that little thing with him?"
"That's right. I believe this is a good opportunity to understand Abnormalities and their byproducts, so I specifically assigned it to your department. I'm sure you can complete this task."
Shen Yu briefly recalled Malkuth's character profile, then controlled X to give that answer.
"Understood. Rest assured, I'll uncover that little thing's secrets. I still have work to do, so I'll-"
"Wait," X immediately stopped her.
"Our information on that Abnormality is still incomplete. At present, it's only friendly toward employee Shen Yu. He alone will be responsible for observing and documenting it."
"Understood," Malkuth replied, ending the call.
Just as X wiped away his sweat and relaxed, Angela's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Manager, when exactly did you issue that order?"
"Last night, while you were getting me coffee." X turned around with an awkward smile.
"Harvey, the employee on night watch, reported encountering a nonaggressive Abnormality-like entity in the newly developed Central Headquarters. So I issued that order."
Angela stood still at those words and used her clearance to search the surveillance footage, only to discover, to her astonishment, that last night's recordings for the entire company had been erased. Even her exclusive backups were gone.
Angela frowned at X, but quickly ruled him out. Without undergoing memory synchronization, X simply did not possess that level of clearance. Then who could it have been...?
Suddenly, Angela remembered someone, along with what he had said that morning:
"If those ancient things suppressed beneath the earth could be set free..."
No, he no longer existed. No one could escape the constraints of time. Angela dismissed that absurd thought, smoothed out her brow, and looked at X.
"Manager, your personality has changed drastically since the Cognitive Filter was damaged. Just now, I received a notification from the Procurement Department about installing a beer vending machine in the Security Department.
"I believe you should suspend work and undergo psychological treatment to determine whether your stress levels have exceeded the threshold."
"Angela," X suddenly said, turning to meet those golden eyes with a soft chuckle.
"Don't worry. I'm perfectly clearheaded right now. Besides, you said our job was to collect enough energy before the Abnormalities killed our employees, achieving both objectives.
"I can promise you that little fellow will never do anything to harm the company. And only by understanding Abnormalities first can we learn how to collect energy more effectively."
With that, X turned around and instructed his original body to communicate with Old Skull.
Meanwhile, Malkuth was explaining regulation number 1,231 of the Control Department.
Suddenly, the watch on Shen Yu's original body beeped. He adopted a regretful expression, then hurried toward the containment unit of [One Sin and Hundred Good Deeds].
"Employee Shen Yu, that concludes today's explanation of the regulations. The rest will be sent to your employee watch electronically. Submit a report of your notes to me tomorrow, no fewer than thirty thousand words."
Malkuth straightened her notebook and abruptly spoke.
"Thirty thousand?" Shen Yu nearly stumbled at that. Holding Little Knight, he hurried out of the employee assembly area, passed through the Rest Room housing the Regeneration Reactor, and reached Old Skull's containment unit.
Before Shen Yu floated a gigantic skull. A metal cross gleaming with cold light pierced the center of its crown and emerged through the temporal bones on either side. Crimson thorns wound around its forehead, woven into a crown. (Image)
A ring of golden holy light shrouded its back, as dazzling as a halo in Christian art. Its radiance carried an inexplicable sense of sanctity, as though it were grace bestowed from above.
At the same time, the skeleton's jaws slowly opened and closed, as though devoutly chanting something. Its hollow eye sockets seemed to hold endless sorrow and compassion.
As Shen Yu examined the being before him, a peculiar idea suddenly occurred to him.
What would happen if I stuffed the Plague Doctor into the same containment unit as this fellow?
Ahem, better get to work first. Shen Yu coughed lightly, set Little Knight down, and confessed his first-level sins to Old Skull.
"Ever since arriving at this company, I've really wanted to offer the former manager my 'sincere' greetings. For example..."
As Shen Yu confessed, the sounds coming from his mouth actually began to materialize as black words, slowly floating into the other party's opening and closing mouth.
At the same time, green motes of light emerged around Old Skull, entered the grid, and traveled along the channels into the converter. Finally, they were refined into positive Enkephalin and displayed on the monitor beside the containment room.
While Shen Yu confessed, Little Knight circled Old Skull, looking up at the holy light behind its head.
For some unknown reason, red motes of light emerged from One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds. Then the light behind it abruptly intensified, forcing Shen Yu to squint.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Shen Yu saw that the Void had already spread to Little Knight's neck. Little Knight's body rose off the floor, and directly ahead floated One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.
"Holy shit!" Ignoring the glaring light, Shen Yu immediately used Hornet's combat technique, Dash, to reach Little Knight's side. He pressed both hands against Little Knight's shoulders and turned him away.
At the same time, X hurriedly rose in the office and slapped a hand onto the screen showing One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds' containment room.
As the intense light faded, a hole had melted through the containment room's wall. One corner of Old Skull's cross had been sliced away, and a mass of deep black liquid coated it.
Then holy light shone from behind Old Skull. The black liquid slowly dissipated, and the cross gradually grew back until it was restored.
Meanwhile, for some unknown reason, murky liquid seeped from the hole in the containment room, diluting the liquid Void left by Shade Soul. The wall then writhed back into its original shape.
"Huh? That's not right," Shen Yu said in surprise, watching the wall recover almost instantly. The hole Little Knight had melted through the office ceiling earlier had taken over ten minutes to heal. Could that have been because it had been dormant before?
"Um..." Shen Yu gave One Sin and Hundred Good Deeds an awkward smile. "This kid doesn't know any better. Don't hold it against him."
Since Little Knight could not speak, Shen Yu picked him up and held him before Old Skull, intending to have him apologize through gestures.
"Little Knight, this isn't Radiance. Apologize."
Little Knight tilted his head at those words and studied the being before him. Their hollow eyes met, and then Little Knight reached out with a small hand to touch its bare forehead.
Shen Yu's lips curved slightly at the sight, and a sudden swell of pride filled him. My child has grown up.
Then the crack of a Nail strike echoed through the containment room for a long time.
Shen Yu: "..."
Little Knight: "..."
Old Skull: "..."
Ah, it cracked. Shen Yu stared blankly at the fracture in Old Skull's forehead.
At the same time, all the Enkephalin generated during the work that had yet to be released poured out in the form of NE-BOX (negative Enkephalin). Blinding holy light instantly flooded the entire containment room.
Work complete. PE-BOX output: 1 unit.
Meanwhile, Little Knight kept slashing away. Had Shen Yu not taken a few steps back, Old Skull would probably have gained several more cracks in its head.
"Um, I won't bother you anymore. I'll be going now," Shen Yu said, darting out of the containment room with Little Knight in his arms. After he left, the fracture in Old Skull's forehead gradually healed.
At the same time, the holy light behind Old Skull receded, revealing overlapping characters spelling "Yahweh" and "Allah." Its jaws opened and closed, delivering sacred words that made no sound yet reached straight into the soul:
"I am Alpha, the beginning; I am Omega, the end. I am the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.
"When the Lamb opened the first seal, one of the four living creatures spoke with a voice like thunder, saying, 'Come.'
"And behold, there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow, and a crown was given to him. He rode forth conquering, and to conquer...
"When the first angel sounds his trumpet, hail and fire mingled with blood will fall upon the earth. A third of the earth and the trees will burn, and all the green grass will be consumed...
"When the second angel sounds his trumpet, the burning mountain will fall into the 'sea,' and a third of the 'sea' will turn to blood..."
-The Bible, Revelation
Before you continue