Extraction

"Cogito? What does the Manager want you to take this for?" Binah asked, her golden eyes shifting.

"I don't know. The order came from above, and I didn't dare ask." Shen Yu spread his hands. "Probably something they want to test."

"Come with me." Binah turned, pulled open the doors to the hall, and led Shen Yu into a corridor. An indescribable smell washed over him-a mixture of chemicals, blood, and palpable despair.

Before long, Shen Yu arrived in a warehouse. Hundreds upon thousands of glass chambers lined the walls.

Each vessel held an emerald-green liquid. Tiny bubbles drifted slowly upward through it, looking just like ethereal souls.

"Draw from the wellspring of the mind, giving liquid form to the space between life and death. Take any batch you like," Binah said leisurely, her voice cold and distant.

"Wait, shouldn't you write a report, department head?" Shen Yu asked deliberately, trying to better fit his role as an employee.

After all, she had once been an "Arbiter." The slightest slip might give him away.

"If that fellow let you come here, why bother asking my opinion?" Binah said calmly. Then, just as Shen Yu relaxed, she suddenly asked:

"What did you do for work before this?"

"Ah." The out-of-the-blue question left Shen Yu stunned. He answered according to the file he had written:

"I was a Grade 9 Fixer at an office in a remote area."

"Grade 9?" Binah looked Shen Yu up and down. "What did you do wrong?"

Shen Yu's heart tightened at her words. He chose his response carefully:

"It's hard to say. How did you know, department head?"

"I've worked here for a long time, and my perception of the mind has grown keen. Yours is far too strong. Besides, I don't believe someone who visited the Ruins and brought something back would only be Grade 9."

Shen Yu was completely bewildered. He could understand the first point, but the second... I've never been to the Ruins. Why would she say that... Something I brought back?

Suddenly, his heart tightened as he remembered that item. He reached into his pocket and took out a red rune-the Defender's Crest.

I really did bring it back.

Binah also looked at the Charm in Shen Yu's hand. After examining it, she remarked:

"Interesting. I've truly never seen a relic like this. Where did you find it? A remote part of the Outskirts? The Abyss of the Ruins?"

"Department head," Shen Yu said with an awkward smile, "I believe I have a right to my privacy."

With that, Shen Yu picked up a crate of Cogito and prepared to leave. But just as he was about to exit the Research and Development Department, he heard Binah say:

"We'll be extracting an Abnormality shortly. Won't you stay and watch? The Manager probably found someone with your extraordinary mind because he wanted to do something similar."

Shen Yu turned around at her words, set the Cogito on the floor beside him, and spoke sincerely to Binah:

"Then sorry for the trouble, department head. I'd appreciate you showing me."

"Heh. What a strange fellow." A soft chuckle came from Binah's mechanical body.

Then a pale golden light rose within the Research and Development Department. Countless strange white characters floated up from the floor, and the surrounding space began to warp, leaving Shen Yu dazed.

When his vision cleared, he found a machine standing in the center, with a man strapped to it.

Binah addressed Shen Yu:

"Allow me to introduce this child. His name is 'Nameless.' He has nothing. He abandoned everything long ago. The past and present no longer matter to him. All he can do is move toward the future."

At this point, Binah turned to the man and asked:

"Did you sleep well?"

But his eyes remained tightly shut. Only the rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

Binah paid this no mind and continued:

"Yes, you will dream sweet dreams forever, just as you wished. Soon, Cogito will be injected into your body. What landscape lies within your inner world? What rivers flow through it?"

Footsteps echoed through the empty hall. Several employees carrying cases came to a stop beside the machine. They opened the cases, took out blindfolds and earplugs, and put them on.

"Initial level 3. Raise it to 5."

After Binah gave the order, an employee took three syringes of Cogito from a case. With a blindfold on, the employee relied on muscle memory to inject them into the man's arm one after another.

Binah looked at Shen Yu.

"It seems they didn't bring a spare blindfold today. You'll have to watch with me."

No sooner had Binah finished speaking than the man on the machine let out a violent roar. His body shook fiercely, his skin began to stretch and spread, and his face contorted into an abnormal shape.

Then his roars began to convey something else. His harsh breathing became an eerie melody. His chest melted, turning into a mass of scarlet paint.

"Ordinary people simply can't bear a sight like this..." Binah chuckled and looked at Shen Yu beside her. "Wait just a little longer. Let's see what fate awaits him-whether he'll be reborn or etched onto this eternal gravestone..."

When the third dose of Cogito was injected, the man let out a roar. His mind shattered outright, and his body began to disintegrate at incredible speed.

His skin turned from its normal color to a deathly white, then cracked into bizarre patterns of paint. His bones creaked and snapped, and his body twisted into an impossible shape.

At last, a chaotic mass of fragments burst out of his melted chest-indescribable remnants of organs mixed with indistinct patches of flesh, blood, and bone.

They shot in all directions, striking the examination table and walls in sickening splashes of blood. They kept writhing before finally vanishing from reality.

Is this how Trials form? Shen Yu feigned shock as he watched the writhing chunks of flesh on the floor. Today's should be a Blood Trial.

"It seems you're rather unlucky today. We'll have to switch to the next 'well.'"

Shen Yu realized that Binah's voice had suddenly sounded right in front of him. He turned and found her studying him closely. She slowly spoke:

"What a shame. I thought your expression might be a little more entertaining. Your performance wasn't very good. Besides, your mind is already beyond the ordinary. Could you be an inhuman being?"

Shen Yu's body tensed abruptly. His hands instantly pressed against the Meat Cleaver and Flintlock at his waist.

"Heh. Apparently not. At least, not yet." Binah chuckled, then asked:

"Could you tell me about your past? Aside from Gebura, you're the second person I've seen who can equip multiple types of E.G.O."

"Sorry, department head, but I'll say it again. I have a right to my privacy."

"Yes, of course you have that right. After all, I'm nothing but a pile of scrap metal now. If I'd met you in the past, I probably would have dug out your brain for a look, just like I did with them."

"Just a joke." Binah gave a creaking laugh. "Interested in transferring here? I happen to need someone to draw water."

"No thanks," Shen Yu said with a soft chuckle. "I have claustrophobia. But I'm very interested in your previous position. Could you tell me how to become the Head?"

Binah: "..."

With that, Shen Yu picked up the Cogito and walked out of the Research and Development Department.

When Shen Yu reached the Control Department, he suddenly stopped and looked at the Containment Unit of One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds before him.

Maybe I should go apologize, Shen Yu thought as he looked at the Containment Unit. Little Knight had been the one to offend it first, after all. An apology would be best.

With that in mind, Shen Yu entered its Containment Unit, set down the Cogito, and cleared his throat.

"I'm very sorry. Due to my poor supervision, Little Knight attacked you. I've already given Little Knight a serious talking-to..."

As Shen Yu spoke, the sound from his mouth transformed into black text, which slowly floated into the other's mouth.

Old Skull chewed on the sin, releasing green motes of light. Hollow eyes stared straight ahead, and there was no telling what thoughts lay behind them.

When Shen Yu finished speaking, a green smiling face appeared on the display, accompanied by a notification sound:

Work result: good

"I told you last time was just an accident," Shen Yu remarked as he looked at the full PE-BOX gauge. He touched his bare forehead, then smiled at Old Skull.

"Look, I filled the work gauge completely. Why won't you give me an accessory? Even +2 SP would be nice."

But Old Skull continued to gaze silently ahead.

Shen Yu couldn't help shaking his head. It was a shame the other couldn't speak. He picked up the Cogito from the floor and waved.

"Goodbye."

At his words, Old Skull slowly raised that bony head, looked toward his disappearing figure, and spoke:

"Conquest, why did you not give him the Crown?"

The words were exceedingly soft, yet carried boundless compassion. Every word spoke of a distant sin, of a soul in need of redemption.

It was not a frequency any physical substance could produce, but a resonance from the depths of the soul.

"My Lord," a thunderous voice suddenly rang out in the empty Containment Room.

"Please forgive my transgression. Those lost lambs cannot bear the King's Crown. Its radiance alone is enough to drive them mad, and one from another world would struggle to control this power.

"My Lord, please allow me to show you. When 'Malkuth' is submerged beneath images of bygone days, and the information above and below is distorted, I will release the Crown to test whether the lambs can withstand the light."