“Mother?”
Seeing that his mother wasn’t speaking, Eight Evils called out cautiously, wondering if she was unhappy.
“Whoever made Mother unhappy, I will go kill them.”
“Stop right there.”
Bian Ying sensed the killing intent suddenly erupting from the tentacles.
She looked up expressionlessly, her gaze landing on the appendages clinging to the desk and computer screen.
“The only thing that makes me unhappy is work.”
“…Work?” Eight Evils half-understood.
In his distant, blurry memories, he seemed to have heard Mother mutter about it many times.
Things like, “Why do people have to go to work!” “Ah, I hate clocking in.” “Why do I have to work year-round without a break?
Do the lives of corporate slaves mean nothing?” …There were countless similar complaints.
“Why must Mother work?”
“How else would I make money if I don’t work…” Bian Ying’s mouth twitched.
“I need to become a permanent employee.
The benefits for regular employees at the Investigation Bureau are great.”
Full insurance coverage, hefty overtime pay for extra shifts and field assignments, plus free access to high-tech weapons…
Not to mention that once she became a permanent employee, she could move out of the Lower District and into a highly secure staff apartment.
*Permanent employee?* Having recently hacked into the Investigation Bureau’s network, Eight Evils made his tentacles nod in a half-understanding manner.
“Mother, I will help you!”
“…Ha,” Bian Ying gave an awkward laugh.
It seemed that cognitive corruption had really made this Deceit stupid.
She thought, “You are my performance metric.”
The situation before her was outrageously bizarre, but this was reality: she was actually having a peaceful conversation with a high-risk Deceit.
“By the way, how did you escape from the Investigation Bureau?”
“Mother, I am everywhere.”
“…Be more specific.”
“I hacked into the network, happened to track down your information, and came looking for you.”
“…” Bian Ying was completely numb.
What was this?
Was he literally crawling through the network cable to find her?
Were the Investigation Bureau’s high-tech defenses actually useful?
They had let him escape so easily.
Seeing Bian Ying fall silent again, her eyes fixed on the computer screen, the tentacles wriggled restlessly.
They wanted to snuggle with Mother.
The tentacle that had found Mother first was the boldest.
After some initial probing, its tip gingerly brushed against the back of Bian Ying’s hand.
The damp, cold touch retreated as soon as it made contact, so Bian Ying didn’t pay it any mind.
The tentacle kept a close “eye” on Mother’s reaction.
Seeing that she wasn’t angry, it grew bolder.
Finally, the entire tip covered the back of Bian Ying’s hand with a soft SMACK.
The line of text she had painstakingly managed to type out was gone…
Gone!!!
Bright, scorching flames of fury instantly burst from Bian Ying’s eyes.
She was about to angrily scold the tentacle for interfering with her work, but just before the curse left her mouth, she suddenly remembered what the tentacle actually was.
She thought, “Forget it, forget it.
I can’t afford to provoke him.”
Comforting herself psychologically, Bian Ying took several deep breaths.
Finally, suppressing her anger, she picked up the clammy tentacle and moved it aside.
“Go play somewhere else.”
“…” The tentacle squirmed uneasily on the desk, realizing that Mother must have just been angry.
Bian Ying pressed undo, and the previous line of text reappeared.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is this Mother’s work?” High above in the high-dimensional plane, his main body noticed that his avatar had caused trouble and quickly projected his gaze downward to clean up the mess.
He absolutely could not let Mother abandon him!
“Yes,” Bian Ying replied weakly.
Eight Evils said, “I can help you.”
Bian Ying didn’t believe him, but she didn’t dare outright reject his offer either.
Everyone knew that Deceits were fickle and utterly devoid of empathy.
“You know how to write a work report?”
“No,” Eight Evils answered her honestly.
“But I can learn.
It will only take a little time, Mother.”
Bian Ying almost believed him.
She scoffed.
“Fine, then learn.
When you’re done, write me a three-thousand-word work report, which must include exactly three pages praising the leadership.”
Mother had given him a task!
Eight Evils’ spirits lifted, and he hastily agreed.
“Okay~ Mother, go back to your room and rest.
I will start learning right now!”
“…Then I’ll leave it to you?” Bian Ying hesitated as she stood up.
It wasn’t that she trusted Eight Evils, but rather that she was sleepy again.
She still had all of tomorrow anyway.
She could take a nap first and salvage the report later in the evening if needed.
Eight Evils promised solemnly, “I absolutely will not let Mother down!”
Bian Ying waved her hand and walked into the bedroom, yawning.
Although the apartment she rented wasn’t large, it had a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout.
The second bedroom was always empty, and she slept in the master bedroom.
But Bian Ying was incredibly carefree.
Not only did she forget to report the incident to the Investigation Bureau, but she also fell into a deep slumber the moment her head hit the pillow.
Night fell.
The moon shone brightly, and the stars were sparse.
Inside the Deceit Investigation Bureau, blaring red alarms echoed throughout the entire building.
Everyone mobilized en masse, searching every corner of the premises.
“Did you find it?”
“No.”
“Keep searching.
Also, have the Supervision Department keep a close eye on any activity in the city.
I suspect that ‘School Rules’ has already escaped the building.”
“Yes, sir!”
Tan Linyan was still resting at home when he heard a frantic ringing—the special ringtone he had set for his team members.
He instantly snapped out of his grogginess, picked up his phone, and hit the answer button.
“Captain, ‘School Rules’ has escaped,” Yu Chi’s concise and to-the-point words transmitted through the phone.
Tan Linyan’s eyes turned sharp.
“Where did it escape to?”
“We don’t know yet.
No one has reported any incidents, so it should still be hiding in the building, just using special methods to conceal itself.”
“It’s a pity we didn’t figure out its abilities in time.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t be running around like headless chickens searching for it…”
“I understand.”
Tan Linyan ended the call.
Remembering his conversation with ‘School Rules’, he subconsciously began scrolling through his contact list.
He searched twice before suddenly realizing that he didn’t have Bian Ying’s contact information.
It didn’t take long for him to get Bian Ying’s phone number from Zhou Haizhi.
As he left his home, he dialed the number.
BEEP— BEEP—
The call went through, but no one answered.
Eventually, it just dropped to an automated voice: “Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be reached…”
Tan Linyan successively made several more calls, but still, no one picked up.
The unease in his heart grew stronger.
He wondered if ‘School Rules’ had gone to seek revenge against Bian Ying.
The personnel from the Supervision Department had been completely unable to track the Deceit’s whereabouts.
The First Squad had also searched several areas, but no Deceit incidents had broken out.
“It must have been injured while escaping.
I’m afraid it doesn’t have the power to launch another Deceit incident.”
“Then it shouldn’t have been able to run far.”
“We’ve scanned the building inside and out.
There are no traces of residual Deceit concentrations, unless it can manipulate the instrument data.”
“Maybe that is its ability.”
Listening to his teammates’ chatter over the earpiece, Tan Linyan abruptly spoke up, “Do you all remember when our earpiece signals were blocked inside the Deceit Domain?”