Exposure

What the fuck are you doing?

How did you get up there?

Wait, you can ride Abnormalities?

The instant the senior employees saw this, countless incredulous thoughts ran through their minds.

But their training quickly kicked in, and they made a decision: gang up on it.

And so, another round of combat began. Sam and the other employees with ranged attacks provided firepower and support from the rear, while Harvey, Ron, and the other melee fighters held the line.

This time, however, Ron did not suffer the same severe injuries as before. Whenever Food Chain tried to attack, the guy on its back would plunge his blade into a gap.

With every thrust, the red-eyed blade writhed as though it were pumping something inside. Then Food Chain would collapse onto the ground with an agonized roar, giving everyone a chance to dodge.

Even so, Food Chain still posed an enormous threat to the employees.

Although Food Chain collapsed onto the ground, trembling in agony after Shen Yu injected it with [Pain Toxin], it still forced itself up and snapped at Harvey beside it.

"Why do Abnormalities always pick on you?" Shen Yu quipped, releasing silk thread that wrapped around Harvey's waist, then pulling him out of the attack's path.

Under the senior employees' concentrated fire, Food Chain was finally freed from Shen Yu's torment. It slumped helplessly onto the ground and peacefully closed its eyes.

With that, all five Food Chains from this Trial had been suppressed. The two in the Control Department, where the Suppressors had failed, had been over ten times harder to suppress than the previous ones.

Yet despite that, the death toll during the suppression was an unbelievable zero. All the employees cheered together.

After climbing down from Food Chain, Shen Yu joined in the cheering, but kept inching backward. Once he was clear of the crowd, he immediately turned and dashed away, only for an ill-timed shout to come from behind him:

"Wait!"

Shen Yu did not stop. Instead, he sped toward the passage, only to find his way blocked by Vic as he stepped out of it.

"Hang on, why are you here?" Shen Yu asked, bewildered.

"Well..." Vic pointed at his wrist. "I contacted Sam from the Security Department earlier, and I'm a senior employee too. So I came over to help.

"By the way, are you a High-Grade Fixer? How do you have all those strange techniques?"

"No, no, I'm just an ordinary Grade 9 Fixer." Shen Yu hurriedly waved his hands with an awkward smile.

"Grade 9?" Vic frowned. There was no way someone with those techniques could be Grade 9. He had probably committed some offense and been demoted.

What could get a High-Grade Fixer knocked all the way down to Grade 9? Murder? Pfft, what Fixer didn't have blood all over their hands...

Wait, what if he killed too many people, or killed some High-Ranking Person?

Then something suddenly occurred to Vic. Despite possessing techniques of this caliber, Shen Yu had chosen to back down rather than fight when Vic had given him trouble earlier.

Shit... could he have been demoted for lashing out and killing someone, and been deliberately keeping himself in check ever since? Fuck, was I out of my mind earlier, provoking him over a little vanity?

At that thought, Vic felt a chill down his spine. He forced a smile as he looked at the bloodstains on Shen Yu.

"Sorry, I misjudged you earlier. That HE-grade E.G.O. doesn't suit you at all. I'll report to the Manager right away and have my [Hypocrisy] transferred to you."

"No need." Shen Yu waved away the offer. Little Red Riding Hood's unique PE-BOX had just reached the required amount, so he could simply wear Crimson Scar, the WAW-grade E.G.O. developed from it.

Just then, another Level 4 employee wearing [Hypocrisy] recognized Shen Yu and pointed at him.

"I think he's that Level 1 employee who went into [Data Deleted]'s containment room and came back alive."

"Huh, he really is," a Level 3 employee remarked. After circling Shen Yu to look him over, he rubbed his hands together and asked, "Can you tell us what [Data Deleted] looks like?"

Before he had even finished, another Control Department employee hurriedly spoke up:

"What are those strange techniques Vic mentioned? Did you use them to get onto Food Chain's back? Sorry for the trouble, but could you show us?"

"Oh, and you traveled through space with Food Chain just now, right? What was it like inside?"

"Well... um..." Facing the employees crowding around him, Shen Yu kept backing away under their curious gazes.

He signaled Sam and Harvey with his eyes, asking for help, but they simply looked away, one toward the ceiling and the other toward the floor.

Some friends you are, Shen Yu grumbled inwardly, planning to have his duplicate issue an order to send everyone away.

Just then, a cold voice rang out:

"What are you all doing here? Get back to work!"

Shen Yu turned toward the voice along with everyone else. Standing there was a black, box-shaped machine with bandages wrapped around his body and two mechanical arms folded across his chest. The purple eye on his upper left stared coldly at them, while the black screen on top displayed: "Yesod"

The noisy employees instantly fell silent and lowered their heads as they answered:

"Understood, Department Head Yesod."

With that, they hurried out of the passage.

But just as Shen Yu was about to leave with Vic, he heard a voice behind him:

"Employee Shen Yu, come with me."

"Okay," Shen Yu replied, slowly following him. Is he going to dispose of me again? Seriously, what did I do? Or am I just unlucky?

When Shen Yu entered Yesod's office, he felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

The office walls were a uniform dark purple, lending the room a solemn, austere atmosphere. There were no unnecessary decorations, only a basic desk and chairs.

The documents on the desk were stacked neatly to one side, while the desk calendar and pen holder were arranged with such precision that it looked like some kind of ritual. Not a single scratch or stain marred the desktop, which had been polished to a gleaming shine.

The floor was clean enough to sit on directly. The potted plant by the window had been carefully pruned into shape, without a single yellowing leaf. Every corner of the room had been meticulously cleaned, leaving it spotless.

The clock on the wall ticked steadily, a reminder that every movement here was under absolute, precise control.

Your tidiness has reached genuinely terrifying levels, Shen Yu couldn't help thinking.

"Close the door, then sit wherever you like," Yesod said coldly, taking the office chair opposite him and fixing his gaze on Shen Yu.

Shen Yu carefully closed the door, then picked up a chair with both hands and sat down. Forcing a smile, he asked:

"Department Head, you seem to be in a bit of a bad mood?"

Yesod's purple mechanical eye actually narrowed into a horizontal slit, and he replied with a hint of irritation:

"Of course I am. Do you know how much work it takes to use the Cognitive Filter to alter the surveillance footage involving you before Angela notices?"

"Department Head Yesod..." Shen Yu's heart tightened, and he took a deep breath.

"Why are you altering the footage involving me?"

"Why? Weren't you the one who told me to delete it? And should I be calling you Manager now, or employee S1111-Shen Yu?"