In the office, the glow tube shook violently.
Under the watchful eyes of Jiao Ma and others, the orange light of the glow tube suddenly burst with cyan arcs.
Yang Zicang felt a mild stinging in his head, and in his consciousness, the distant black mass exploded with a bang, his mental perspective weaving through debris amidst a raging storm. He felt his mind suddenly tighten, as if something had been stuffed into it.
After a fleeting moment of dizziness—
The young man with a face as sharp as a knife opened his eyes and looked at his fingertips. In that instant, as if inverted in the stream of consciousness, his ethereal mental arm seemed to grab a ghostly, blurred silhouette, pulling it from the boundless cosmic torrent, preventing it from being swept into the endless abyss of nothingness.
–Impressive, Zicang. Do you know what grade of lost-frequency band you’ve captured?–
–What?– Yang Zicang was still in a daze.
–It’s a full-moon-level band. You should know that equals an entire B-class interlaced zone.–
–Congratulations, Zicang!– Jiao Ma cheered. –With this, once you catch a few more ordinary bands, you’ll become a top-tier employee by the end of the year.–
–Is that so…–
Yang Zicang looked at his empty hand.
That faint sensation was slowly fading away.
After a few people offered their congratulations and returned to their seats, only Jiao Ma stayed behind. Watching the young girl, bent over, methodically handling the extracted frequency bands beside him, Yang Zicang leaned back in his chair with ease.
–Take the afternoon and tomorrow off—capturing a frequency like that is exhausting,- Jiao Ma said considerately. –I can take the afternoon off too. We… well, why don’t you come over to my place? See the mountains and water, soak in the scenery, and unwind.-
That probably wouldn’t be very relaxing.
Yang Zicang suddenly sat up. –Um, Team Leader. Actually… a few days ago, a clean-up team from the Action Department already invited me over.-
Jiao Ma’s hands paused mid-motion.
–You didn’t go, did you?-
–Yeah, but I want to.-
Jiao Ma silently continued her work, then walked back to her own seat without looking back.
[I return 10,000 N of Jiao Ma’s virtual-zero Chronos investment and issue a super dividend of 50,000 N.]
–Hmph!- The girl in the aisle puffed her cheeks and turned to glare angrily, pouting, –Who even wants your lousy Chronos, ptooey, ptooey.-
[I rejected Team Leader Jiao Ma’s gift of 50,000 N of virtual-zero Chronos.]
A few of the aunties and uncles couldn’t hold it in anymore; many heads silently popped up from their workstations, lips pressed together.
[I sense many enthusiastic stares.]
[I think it’s time to break free from this office-romance atmosphere.]
……
–Hoo~- Yang Zicang fled the office like he was escaping. Luckily, there weren’t many personal belongings here—a jacket was all he had to his name.
–Next, I should rest… ah, forget it, I’ll just go report to the Cleaning Team directly.-
He took out that piece of stationery, studying the room number and the simple map on it.
As his mental power intensity reached –Second Ring, Ninth Level,- the forest sea hallucinations that occasionally echoed in his mind had faded considerably. Yet the feeling itself became richer and more mellow, as if his body and soul were immersed in the wind of the forest sea.
As he walked, Yang Zicang thought back to his meeting with Zorro the day before.
There wasn’t much of the awkwardness typical of a first encounter—after all, nominally the two were business partners with a long history of dealings, so even if they had to fake it, they had to act familiar. But beyond that, Yang Zicang genuinely liked the natural, straightforward yet slightly –irreverent- bohemian aura that emanated from the guy.
He recalled Zorro’s words from yesterday.
— –The literature repository isn’t as comprehensive as you think.-
Though the man’s tone was casual, combined with his immediate gesture of suspending his finger over the chessboard grid—those intersecting lines—it was clearly meant to hint that the grid itself was also a –well- character.
And what he said next was… the intelligence on how to leave this place.
Very secretive. Yet from the very start, this guy insisted on using the –Well of Lost Thought Engine- to get in touch with me, and later only helped promote the –Well- everywhere. His actions show he has repeatedly tried to implant concepts related to the –Well- into my mind, attempting to cultivate a tacit understanding on this matter.
This was precisely what Yang Zicang had realized the moment he saw the finger point to the chessboard yesterday.
–The character for ‘well’ and the method of ‘leaving’—‘well’ plus ‘go’ makes ‘enter’, doesn’t it? This guy…–
The advancing Yang Zicang mused silently.
Although both the construction of the –Well Engine- and the inquiry about –Chronos Zero- were spontaneous decisions, this person was able to immediately grasp that opportunity and use it to their advantage. Truly worthy of someone who, through their own strength and in an unassuming manner, earned an invitation from the Lost Illusion Company.
[Therefore, I have reason to suspect that Zorro did not find any materials related to –Dark Gold- and –Engine- in the Literature Department.]
His pensive figure moved forward along the corridor, until a tall, slender woman with delicate features appeared around the corner ahead.
–Hello, are you Mr. Zicang?-
–Yes. Hello, I am Yang Zicang. May I ask who you are?-
–I’m a logistics officer for the First Cleaning Group, handling documentation. My name is Zhou Linna. Group Leader Fu previously gave me your information, so I recognized you right away.- The woman smiled. –I happened to run into you here. Just a moment, please.-
With that, she bent over the stack of folders in her hands and quickly found a thin folder with a black-gold pattern, which she handed to Yang Zicang.
–What’s this?–
–Joining the First Action Department is quite difficult. Thanks to the group leader’s recommendation, you’ve been exempted from the entry assessment and can directly join our First Cleaning Group. However, you’ll only be a reserve member. You won’t be able to enter the elite team or transfer within the First Action Department. So, do you still want to join?–
–First Action Department… First Cleaning Group?–
That was the group leader who had watched him in the psychic card tape training ground!
Yang Zicang started flipping through the documents. He could understand what Zhou Linna had said—after all, he was just a newcomer who knew nothing. The documents detailed the work content, and he only needed to confirm and sign.
–It says here, enter the frequency-lost psychic torrent in psychic form?–
–That’s right. Have you heard of the ‘Black Fish’ illusion? Our work is somewhat similar to theirs. Because even in the relatively safe band streams that have been isolated, dangerous things sometimes slip in. We are responsible for cleaning them up and reintegrating them.–
Yang Zicang let out a light breath. In recent days, he had occasionally heard from colleagues about the Black Fish Illusion Company. Those selected to go there were all top-tier psychokinetic experts or people with great potential in this field.
It seemed that he had been selected because his psychic power had grown to nearly –three-ring intensity– at this point.
–If you are willing, Mr. Zicang, please sign this document.–
Zhou Linna gave a slight smile.
–Once you become a member of our team, you can train in combat and accumulate points through ordinary cleaning tasks that can be exchanged for a ‘Black Gold Employee Card.’ When you’ve accumulated enough points to exchange for a Black Gold Card, you’ll be eligible to join the elite team for missions.-
After reading it, Yang Zicang immediately took the pen and signed his name.
He hadn’t realized it before, but after capturing those signal bands, Yang Zicang found himself surprised that he was actually a combat-oriented person.
–Okay, welcome aboard, Mr. Zicang,- the girl said with a beaming smile. –This month is almost over. Feel free to report in anytime before September 1st.-
–I want to go check out the so-called missions right now.-
–Wow, so eager… but it’s already lunchtime.-
–……–
That said, when Yang Zicang returned to his dormitory, he found an additional dark photo in his hand, depicting a –Lost Mind Engine.- The captured engine was enveloped in a mist-like, illusory texture.
Could this engine be…
As he stared, the faint voice of the newly replaced employee card echoed in his mind.
{Sub-ether channel: HJA403 area. To activate, you can invest 1N principal.}
{Currently, 4 members have selected this cleaning task.}
–So many people? No wonder tasks with ‘ether channels’ attract so many.-
Yang Zicang smiled. According to Zhou Linna, this kind of cleaning task meant the channel might appear near the Non-Lost Illusion Company.
What did that mean? It meant an officially funded trip! Maybe I could even get in touch with little Matt Chao.
But this thing couldn’t be used under people’s gaze, so Yang Zicang took it back to his own room.
After inserting the 1R, the photo instantly exploded forward, countless fine energy lines spreading out to form a two-meter-square cubic intersecting space.
On the other side of the space, a world shrouded in dim light emerged. When Yang Zicang stepped into it, the scenery immediately became vivid.
In the now-empty bedroom, the flickering black cube hovered silently, absorbing the surrounding light like a black hole.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of pounding on the door rang out.
–Are you there, Brother Zicang? It’s Jiaoma.-
No answer.
Little Jiaoma stood outside, looking at the small doorplate on the door, which showed a yellow smiley face indicating someone was inside.
The girl frowned. The wine-red halo on her chest lit up.
–Hello, Group Leader Fu.-
In the sensory image, there was a man lying on a recliner in a place covered with gravel.
{Is that Group Leader Jiao? Hello, this is our first time doing telepathic communication, ha, what’s the matter?}
–I want to ask, did you send a transfer invitation to my team member? That’s Mr. Yang Zicang, who recently joined.-
{Oh, him? Yes, we sent the invitation ten days ago, oh no, seven days, eh?}
The man on the beach chair scratched his head; obviously, he no longer knew how many days ago he had sent the invitation.
Jiao Ma let out a frustrated sigh through her pursed lips.
–I asked several cleaning teams but got nothing. I thought there was no invitation, but it turns out it was from Team Leader Fu of the first team.-
{After all, he’s a member with psychic attack ability; his joining will greatly help us.}
Fu Qiyong chuckled on the other end of Syn-Link.
{Mm, my team member just told me he’s already started working. First job he picked is one with a sub-ether channel. Heh, this kid.}
Jiao Ma glanced at that smile, thinking to herself: no wonder the door was closed and no one answered—he must have been too eager to dive into the sub-ether channel.
At that moment, she felt a small wave of relief.
{Seems Team Leader Jiao is a bit reluctant to let go of her member. But no matter—if he can’t handle it, he might just come crawling back to your team.}
Jiao Ma, who had already turned to walk back, paused.
–Why would you say that, Team Leader Fu?-
{Because he chose Area 403. The cleanup tasks there are the hardest for any new recruit.}
–The hardest!- Jiao Ma’s eyes widened slightly. –You don’t mean that patch of land inside the Dead Mist, do you?-
{Exactly, that’s where. But don’t worry, Steward Chiqin has already cleared it—no major danger.}
Jiao Ma turned and stared at the dark wooden door, a complex look in her eyes.
No matter how –safe- the cleaning team’s work might be, it’s still not as safe as her own team.
Leave a Reply