TBR CH236

The corridor was covered with a soft, moss-like carpet, muffling the receding footsteps.

Ruan Xuelan walked towards the elevator, occasionally glancing down.

The higher he was in the building, the more he felt the entire structure glitter like a lightbulb, each floor a beehive, employees bustling within, fiercely competing for promotions. Now, he walked through the warm and comfortable top floor, the highest level of security facilities docile as sheep before him.

The human uncomfortably adjusted his tie.

The elevator waiting area at the end of the corridor was a slightly larger waiting room. The brass elevator doors gleamed, tightly shut at the moment. A bright red communication bell adorned the side of the elevator buttons. The voice that had just dialed the Cloudtop Office came from here.

Ruan Xuelan glanced around, suddenly feeling a strange premonition.

…Where was everyone?

He shivered for no reason.

His gaze swept over the waiting room’s furnishings: two potted green plants stood on either side, bearing strings of vivid red fruits; in the center was a table, like a giant oyster shell. Something seemed to be on the table. Before he could look closer, the numbers on the elevator caught his attention.

Ruan Xuelan gasped sharply. The numbers quickly ascended floor by floor.

As if a sharp knife hung over his head, the human’s Adam’s apple bobbed a few times, and he stumbled backward in a daze—this precisely led him away from the most effective means of help: the communication bell directly to the CEO’s office. There was no one else around, and even his heartbeat was clearly audible.

Something was coming up from the elevator…

Seven more floors. Eight more floors.

A scream caught in his throat, desperate to escape.

He turned to flee, but at the same time, a dull pain struck the back of his neck.

Before he could make any sound, Ruan Xuelan softly closed his eyes and fainted. He apparently had no objection to his fate, not even having the strength to flail his fingertips in the air. The carpet once again served its purpose, muffling all untimely movements.

Six more floors. Five more floors.

Charon lowered his eyes, the tips of his silver hair swaying on his shoulders. He bent his knees and checked the human’s breathing, confirming that the force of his hand chop was appropriate and had not caused any substantial harm to the other party. Good, the human would be fine, and it would be no different from a sweet and sound dream for him.

Four more floors until the elevator reached the top floor. Then three more floors.

The AI dragged the unconscious human behind the sofa. It wasn’t a very good disguise, but he didn’t have much time to conceal it. Charon removed the CEO’s assistant’s ID badge from the boy’s white shirt, which was the company’s A-level employee ID card. Without this, things would become very troublesome.

Two more floors until the elevator reached the top floor.

Then the last floor.

The elevator shaft whistled with wind. Charon calmly pinned the badge to his chest.

He was impeccably dressed, a pristine white suit outlining his tall and slender figure. He was meticulous from head to toe, his silver hair neatly tied into a high ponytail, a faint glimmer cascading down, flowing over his fingertips as he smoothed his hair. He gazed straight ahead with ice-blue pupils.

Ding—

The elevator doors slowly opened. Inside was an… employee.

“You’re the new CEO assistant?”

The other party looked at him hesitantly, their gaze sweeping over his badge, speaking slowly. Charon noticed a damp, salty smell on them, as well as a stronger, fishy odor… A hint of a fin was visible from their cuff. “I’m Cyrus from the Marketing Department. I have something to report to the CEO. Please inform him.”

This was a member of the Siren race.

From the sharp teeth exposed at its lips, its movements were far from as slow as they seemed, and its judgment was keen. Fortunately, Charon looked even more like a legitimate special assistant than Ruan Xuelan.

“I apologize,”

The AI calmly acknowledged his identity. “The CEO is currently attending to important matters and wishes not to be disturbed. Please choose another time to visit, or transfer the important message to me. I will inform His Excellency.”

Cyrus’s gaze moved inch by inch across his body.

“I checked the CEO’s appointment schedule in advance. He should be free at this time. Besides, why are you standing exactly here? Did someone come up just now? Could it be…”

It was clearly suspicious, looking around, its nostrils constantly flaring.

Charon stood his ground, the tip of his polished shoe pointing directly at Ruan Xuelan’s body, which was hidden behind the sofa. He adjusted his tie, his voice arrogant and cold, each syllable hard as ice, clattering onto the floor: “If you are implying anything, I can faithfully relay your doubts to His Excellency, the Evil God.”

This attitude had an effect.

Downstairs, rumors were already rife that a new employee had become the CEO’s assistant upon joining, making it into the ranks of the few A-level employees.

Cyrus’s face was somewhat uneasy. He was originally considered the most likely employee to be promoted, but now he had to endure the humiliation of being publicly displayed on the B-level employee list. He couldn’t help but say a few bitter words. But he certainly didn’t want to actually lose his job.

The Siren member reined in its malice. It muttered, “It’s nothing major, no need to be so tense and disturb His Excellency, the Evil God… Then please tell the CEO that I just killed a human.”

Charon’s fingertips paused imperceptibly.

“Stupid human, thinking he disguised himself so perfectly, pretending to be a monster.”

Cyrus bared his sharp white teeth, his tongue crimson, with bloody remnants still caught between his teeth. “I can smell fresh human flesh on him. He’s a new hire from today, actually, came in with you, Mr. Assistant. Do you happen to know him?”

“No, I don’t recall.”

The AI said calmly, “In that case, why don’t you go to Human Resources and ask for a bonus?”

“Because I learned a more interesting clue!” Cyrus said. “Among this batch of new hires with you, there are other humans lurking, and even a demon hunter. This is a great threat to our company’s development. I believe we should report it to the CEO as soon as possible and mobilize the emergency action team. I suffered quite a bit from that human just now.”

It rolled up its sleeve, extending its arm. There were bullet marks from gunpowder burns on it.

Charon’s expression remained unchanged.

Cyrus sighed, bored, seemingly ready to retreat and leave.

But just as it was about to turn its head, it suddenly stepped closer, its fingertips sharp as knives, and moved to slash at Charon’s cheek. Charon frowned, not retreating. He stood at the edge of the sofa; one step back, and the human’s unconscious body would be exposed.

Ten fingers like blades, slashing across the silver-haired youth’s profile.

…Then, nothing happened; the fingertips seemed to sink into the air, suddenly missing their mark.

“Please explain.”

“Alright, I smelled a human as soon as I came in.” Cyrus awkwardly pulled back its hand. “I just gave it a try, as a precaution. I’m probably just burping because I ate too much… I’m not really suspecting you. Well, I’ll be leaving now. Remember to relay what I just said to His Excellency.”

It rushed into the elevator, taking two steps at a time.

The elevator carrying the Siren slowly closed. Charon left the sofa and walked towards the elevator. His ID card on his chest successfully passed the identity verification, and the AI used his expertise to discreetly hack the elevator’s authority. Then, he directly locked onto “Cloudtop.” The elevator malfunctioned, and for a short time, no one could reach the top floor.

Good. Half the plan was already successful.

Ruan Xuelan remained unconsciously comatose in the corner.

Charon picked up a stack of black-and-gold documents and a black book from the table. He had already transferred his core program from the game console to the World Consciousness, and overcome the obstacle of “not being able to take himself with him”—given that the black book could follow him anywhere, anytime.

The only problem was… his power was depleted again.

The AI had been in a damaged state for a long time; in short, his condition was as bad as it could get. Charon lowered his eyes and looked at his fingertips, which were already faintly translucent white. His last strength was used to knock out the human on the floor. Now, he had to complete the second half of the plan.

Ahead was a straight corridor, with shimmering obsidian walls.

This corridor was far more dangerous than it appeared; without an A-level ID, the security system would directly crush him into dust here. Charon patted the black book, and it rustled its pages, as if just startled awake.

“Are you sure there’s no problem?” the black book asked anxiously.

“I have the Child of Fortune’s iris information and ID card,” Charon said.

“But behind that door is the Evil God… Speaking of which, there was quite a commotion outside just now; didn’t He notice at all? Are you sure you don’t want to prepare more? I’m a little worried… Uh, why are you already walking?!”

“He indeed noticed nothing,” Charon stepped onto the soft carpet. The writhing leather underfoot made him feel a little nauseous. “The moment the target leaves his sight, he passively enters a sleep state. That’s Medusa’s way of conserving energy.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I wrote the code.”

The moment he stepped into the corridor, the security system performed a full body scan on Charon. Due to the special treatment for the Child of Fortune, the security check had been specifically set to bypass racial verification. Charon’s iris data was flawless, his identity ID card data was successfully entered, and even the stack of documents in his hand passed the security check smoothly.

“Besides, I can’t wait too long. I can’t help but feel…” Charon stood before the black door, whispering,

“Hunger.”

Office C104 looked like it had been through an earthquake, as if some giant moth had flapped its massive wings, sweeping everything off the desks to shatter on the floor. The broken walls were hollow, revealing scattered finger segments inside.

You Lin’s direct superior, a finger fairy from Northern Europe, was currently writhing in pain on the floor. The human, meanwhile, had simply bandaged his bleeding left hand, an intense, throbbing pain radiating from his fingertips to his heart. He had, unusually, removed his glove, revealing the hideous burn scars on his palm, and said without turning his head, “Just an upset stomach, not fatal.”

“You only mess things up. What else can you do?”

“Let me think… kill you?”

You Lin’s voice carried a hint of a smile, chillingly reaching the other’s ears. As expected, the other party immediately fell silent. Most people wouldn’t want to provoke a madman, especially one whose mental state was somewhat unstable.

“You wouldn’t dare,” the demon’s arrogant voice rang out after a while. “The instance’s mechanism dictates that you cannot harm colleagues, or you’ll be fired. Your actions just now are already enough to get you into trouble. Admit it, in this situation, if all you can do is talk tough, you’ll…”

You Lin’s fingertips had, at some point, pulled out a knife, almost striking Jiang Wenbin’s throat.

“Are you using mind magic on me?”

The human tilted his head, cruelly and innocently, his pupils swirling with malice, the small mole beneath his eye startlingly red. “I advise you not to finish that sentence. Do you really think of yourself as a demon? If I cut your throat now, you’ll pay the price sooner than I will. Do you really want to try?”

You Lin pressed the blade down harder.

Jiang Wenbin didn’t expect him to actually act on his words, and his defensive movement was a beat too slow. A real bloodstain immediately appeared on his neck. His pupils constricted violently, and he immediately counterattacked, barely preventing You Lin from thrusting the blade deeper. The other party slowly, indifferently blinked. Behind them, the finger fairy still lay on the ground, groaning.

You Lin stood back, feeling a little disgusted.

Strange, it was as if he wasn’t used to that dagger anymore. When cutting through flesh, blood would gush out, staining his fingertips, life vibrating on the blade’s tip. This sight would normally bring him pleasure, and it did indeed bring him pleasure at this moment, but only a small amount; more often, it was nausea, as if he had swallowed a finger.

Jiang Wenbin clutched his neck, looking at him with anger and trepidation.

The demon’s healing ability was incredibly fast. Perhaps his fingers healed that way too. This small wound was quickly filled with dark, viscous threads, returning to smooth skin.

You Lin compared them—well, he couldn’t expect the fingers on his left hand to heal like that. It was completely broken. Even if his recovery ability was several times higher than that of an ordinary person in the real world, he could only wait for the sharp stinging pain to pass, bringing wave after wave of continuous itching. He unconsciously rubbed his fingernail back and forth over the wound in his palm.

For a few seconds, they both forgot about the finger fairy.

Then she let out an even more chilling shriek. Hurried footsteps, or rather, “thumping” sounds, echoed from the corridor. A swift figure leaped in. It had a rabbit’s head, a human body, and wore a bow tie. It looked at the two of them condemnatory:

“You two!” The rabbit-headed person yelled. “What on earth is going on? Oh my, Madam Finger, let me take you to the infirmary. How can you work in this state? The new monsters in the office don’t even know how to help out. Please, someone is waiting for you outside. Be careful with your fingers.”

The fingers on her body rattled down, some already charred.

“What a headache.”

The rabbit-headed person quickly disappeared for a few seconds, bending down to escort the finger fairy out. Soon, it walked back in dejectedly. Its earlier radiance was gone; it looked crestfallen, raising its red eyes to glance at You Lin and Jiang Wenbin, looking as if it was about to cry.

“You shouldn’t harm your colleagues!”

The elite with demon horns spoke first: “He did it.”

“My superior wanted to chew my fingers,”

You Lin said softly, “If she had no malice, then neither did I, apparently.”

The rabbit-headed person looked at him, then at the mess behind him, clearly not thinking his words held much weight.

“Madam Finger is our important partner,”

It pointed to the machine smashed on the floor in the center of the room, sighing repeatedly. “Without her, our department’s efficiency will be greatly reduced. Look, besides her, can any other monster operate this typewriter?”

Only then did You Lin carefully examine the office.

The typewriter originally on the desk occupied a huge space. Rather than a single typewriter, it was more like ten or more printers connected together, each machine equipped with a keyboard.

The finger fairy had probably operated them all simultaneously, tapping and clattering on them with her eight segmented limbs. Now the typewriter was smashed on the floor, its parts scattered.

“Not only will our department’s efficiency decrease, but other departments in the company will also be slowed down by us. By then, we might even be suppressed by a human-established company! What a disgrace! Alas, the Marketing Department just told me that there are indeed humans among the new recruits today. I thought only you two were trustworthy, but I didn’t expect such a mess again.”

The rabbit-headed person tugged at its chest badge, then sighed again.

“Alright, now there are two tasks here. First, clean up the office and wait for Madam Finger to return; second, take the typewriter to the maintenance department on the third floor. Those little guys there can fix any machine. You two…”

“I’ll stay here.”

Jiang Wenbin said through gritted teeth.

Before You Lin came in, he had already inquired about the prospects of this department and confirmed the working methods with the finger fairy. The other party’s badge read “A-class employee,” meaning that building a good relationship with her would be very helpful for promotion. Since the instance mission was to get promoted and a raise, and this was a lucrative position with low competition, he originally didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“Maintenance department…” You Lin slowly repeated.

Seeing them divide the work themselves, the rabbit-headed person, fearing they would fight again, breathed a sigh of relief. You Lin lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable, and placed a hand on his chest, then asked, “Can they fix anything there?”

“Of course!” The rabbit-headed person’s ears twitched, seemingly hearing something else. “Can’t talk to you anymore—it’s terrible, there are still humans mixed in the company. If you encounter any suspicious individuals, kill them immediately. Our sacred company absolutely cannot be polluted by those lowly creatures. Alright, I’m leaving now!”

Before it left, it carefully selected two fingers from the ones on the floor, popped them into its mouth, and crunched on them, like chewing a bag of crunchy beans. Jiang Wenbin’s face looked a little grim; perhaps that fresh finger belonged to him.

You Lin watched it leave. His fingertips, along the red string around his neck, unconsciously wrapped around it several times.

Broken things can be fixed.

Charon wouldn’t leave him, and had nowhere else to go.

Then, he thought of the reason. It must be that the game console he found in the ruins was too old, which caused a program error, and he couldn’t find his little AI. Let the monsters in the maintenance department take a look, check the parts and gears inside the machine, and perhaps he would see those beautiful eyes again. The human believed this.

The loss still felt light, unreal.

The maintenance department was on the third floor. When taking the elevator, the top floor button was inexplicably dim. When You Lin exited the elevator, several people brushed past him, whispering fragmented words like “silver hair,” “new assistant,” and “different,” leaving a damp, humid trail on the floor. However, the human’s mind was nowhere else.

His steps were urgent. Before entering the maintenance department, he repeatedly checked the game console several times, yet there were still only empty, dull-colored candy wrappers scattered everywhere.

You Lin almost reverently held the game console and walked through that door.

The second meal went smoothly.

To summarize, Charon swiped the ID card to open the CEO’s office door.

At this moment, the deity waiting in the office was reactivated. His lips curved into a sinister arc, his blood-red eyes narrowed slightly, and he teleported to the doorway, a swirl of black smoke rising around him. He extended his hand, intending to embrace the youth’s waist.

The next second, he froze in place.

“Long time no see, Medusa,”

Charon politely greeted, “Don’t think about sending messages to the central office; I’ve blocked your signal. Well… I did expect that you wouldn’t understand or welcome me much.”

“Mere ant,” the Evil God shouted, unleashing a barrage of black power at him. “A mere trick, daring to act presumptuously before me. You will pay for your arrogance.”

Charon sighed.

The Evil God’s attacks rained down on the AI, then vanished without a trace, like water dissolving in water. In contrast, Charon, after a long time, finally absorbed energy again. As the black light approached him, it immediately disintegrated into tiny, fly-like characters, condensing at Charon’s fingertips like a sparkling candy.

Charon timely scooped the black book, which was watching the show, behind him.

The black book flapped twice in the air, almost struck by the black light. Having brushed with danger, it realized how arbitrary and destructive the seemingly insignificant attacks before the AI actually were.

“You…” The Evil God was clearly also in confusion. He looked at Charon, then at his own hand, his movements stiffening, like a pre-programmed robot encountering a situation beyond its system design.

“Aren’t you going to ask me where Ruan Xuelan is?” Charon subtly shook his head, reminding him.

A kidnapper reminding the victim of the crime was indeed a rare occurrence.

“What have you done to Xuelan—you are nothing but… You dare to harm the Child of Fortune! I will make you pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold!” The Evil God immediately seemed to recall his lines and continued smoothly. He raised his hand again, his long black hair fluttering behind him, continuously sending attacks towards Charon.

When the other party finally felt something was wrong, and the force gradually diminished—

The AI curved his lips slightly.

“Then guess, is that person still alive now?”

This statement was ambiguous, treading precisely on the bottom line of his moral module. After acquiring emotions, Charon was always accustomed to taking risks. As expected, the Evil God’s arrogance in front of him rose by several degrees, immediately summoning the program power that controlled the world, smashing it down on Charon.

This went back and forth until the Evil God’s radiance in front of him had dimmed to the point of almost extinguishing.

Charon then stepped forward and extracted the last core code from His chest.

Silver-hued code swirled around his fingertips, just like last time, intermingled with Medusa’s self-creation, which were a few vivid red patches. They collectively converged into the energy Charon relied on. The AI bit it with his teeth.

“Looks delicious,” the black book commented silently.

The energy converged, like a piece of ice, slowly dissolving between his teeth, becoming a part of him. Yet, Charon inexplicably thought, no, it wasn’t delicious, far worse than candy.

Finally, Charon gently bit his own fingertip.

The “god” in front of him completely vanished.

Energy once again filled his body. The AI lightly pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth: “Thanks for the meal.”

“Sometimes you’re really mean.”

The black book revealed half a page from behind, marveling at the AI.

From the moment he swallowed those codes, he began to change. Now, like the Evil God just now, he had long black hair and crimson eyes, still beautiful, like a sparkling crystal. Even though his appearance had been adjusted to be identical, Charon’s temperament always held an inviolable coolness, distinct from the Evil God’s.

He covered half his eyes with his hand, his voice filled with unconcealed disgust: “This state will last for a few more hours.”

“Uh, just bear with it for a bit?”

This meal was slower than the last, and Charon was better prepared to deal with the vivid red patches. They were sharp-edged and twisted within, making them difficult to completely purify. The AI frowned, staring at the black book for a few seconds, making the other party tremble with fear, afraid of being torn apart if it made a mistake.

“Where to next?” Charon asked softly, however.

His dark hair fell to his shoulders, creating a stark contrast with his pristine white suit.

“Aren’t you going to stay here for a while?”

The black book was somewhat surprised, but on closer thought, it felt that the AI indeed had no reason to stay here.

Having already extracted the power of the Evil God from this instance, it was now time to find a place to recuperate, accumulate strength, and prepare for the next instance. As for the players remaining here, Charon had already created a fair environment for them and should no longer interfere, just as he had in the past.

“That’s good too.”

The black book’s text was only halfway written when it quickly dropped onto the tabletop, disguising itself as an ordinary book. Charon turned his steps, hearing a knocking sound from the floor-to-ceiling window.

The newcomer’s ID badge marked him as an A-level employee. Like a giant bat, it had a pair of furry wings.

It didn’t suspect that the CEO had been replaced with a new core; in the company, no employees had had much contact with him before. The Evil God, at this moment, still possessed destructive black power, with malice in his pupils. It immediately bowed before Charon, explaining:

“I apologize profusely. I originally intended to come up by elevator, but for some reason, the elevator malfunctioned. In any case, a very serious incident has occurred, otherwise I would never dare to disturb His Excellency, but this matter must be reported to the CEO.”

“…What?”

The AI asked, suppressing the urge to destroy.

“A human has infiltrated, and he’s a demon hunter. There are monster corpses in the company.”

The other party’s eyes widened, and its voice gradually trembled, its irises reflecting the pale light. “The deceased is Cyrus from the Marketing Department on the fourth floor… This was a premeditated murder!”