I'm the King of Wage Earners in Lobotomy City

Page 129

[Don't worry, I've already informed the disciplinary department that you can't report for duty due to unforeseen circumstances. You can go tomorrow.]

That's reliable!

To be honest, if it weren't for Angela protecting him, Du Jue wouldn't have been so arrogant and unruly as an employee. He immediately received treatment at the security department to restore his eyesight before happily going to the rest floor.

"Song Ya, what are you all looking at here?"

Avoid the situation where upon entering the business center, one finds a large group of employees scattered in front of it, some crouching down to cover their faces, others sighing and lamenting.

Song Ya, who was initially worried, immediately beamed with joy upon seeing Du Jue. "Du Jue! Long time no see! I noticed from the group chat that you seem to be changing departments every day. Do you know what the administrative staff calls you?"

Don't they see each other every day after get off work? Is that considered a long time?

"what?"

Song Ya mysteriously pulled up the chat on the communicator, "Of course it's the little secretary! Everyone says you don't have to listen to the minister's orders at all, but are directly commanded by the supervisor. Isn't that similar to that AI secretary?"

"Uh, what kind of secretary is this?"

Du Jue found this somewhat puzzling, but he could understand their casual chatting in the group, which helped him relax. "Speaking of which, are people in the group really into giving each other nicknames?"

"That's true. The intelligence department privately calls their minister 'Viper.' You can understand why, right? It's really hard to deal with a boss who's too cold-blooded."

Song Ya lowered his voice, afraid of being overheard.

Du Jue also took out his communicator to check, only to find that he was quite popular. Most of them were happy that he could handle the suppression of the aliens all by himself.

"I'm sorry, everyone, the psychological clinic project has been terminated."

Michelle apologized sincerely, but the employees who were waiting around left disappointed, and no one even responded.

Du Jue, who had put away his communicator, watched the crowd quickly disperse and realized that these guys were all endorphin patients waiting for Michelle to dispense their medication!

Fu Feng, with his hair disheveled and head down, walked over dejectedly. Song Ya quickly went up to comfort him, saying, "It's okay. Even without endorphins, you can still live. Besides, I heard that some people have died from overdosing on it. It's not a good thing."

Du Jue looked at Fu Feng, who remained silent, and said, "This place will be converted into a book club and a fight club. You can come here to relieve some stress."

"This is outrageous! What was the minister thinking?"

Song Ya found it hard to understand. "Are you suggesting we read books and learn martial arts after get off work? It feels like I'd rather go home, drink milk, and sleep."

"How about this one?"

Du Jue, seemingly lost in thought, sent the recording of the previous episode of "Urban Girl" to Song Ya.

After a cursory glance, Song Ya simply pursed his lips and said, "I've seen the live stream, but what's the use of this thing? Speaking of which, this command seems to be something from the back alley's Five Fingers."

Without further explanation, Du Jue turned to look at Michelle, who was maintaining a gentle smile in front of the clinic. She was still explaining to the persistent employees that endorphins were no longer being distributed there.

Psychological clinic.

"Thank you, Du Jue. Actually, there's not much to tidy up here; we just need to adjust the tables and chairs."

Michelle felt a pang of sadness as she watched the screen change the word "psychological clinic" to "closed" on the electronic display.

"If I had known... I shouldn't have submitted this proposal."

Du Jue diligently tidied his desk and replied nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? No one can predict the outcome of things, not even the head of state. Even things that have already happened cannot be answered definitively."

The bookshelves are filled with a large number of professional books, and on the consultation table are "Theory and Practice of Psychological Counseling and Therapy", "Introduction to Psychoanalysis", "Relationships in Psychotherapy" and "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy".

Avoiding casual browsing, I was surprised to find that most of the pages had notes, and a few pages with bookmarks also had brief consultation records.

The book "Theory and Practice of Psychological Counseling and Therapy" was so worn that the edges were slightly bent from repeated readings.

Michelle did indeed dedicate herself to studying psychotherapy, but for the staff, the endorphins she offered seemed more appealing.

"I don't think I need these books anymore, so I'll just put them in the recycling bin. Don't worry about them."

Upon realizing that Du Jue might be concerned about keeping some of the books, Michelle quickly explained.

"Keep it; you can put it in the book club."

Michelle shook her head upon hearing this. "I think without endorphins... most people won't come. Let's just leave it here."

Seeing the minister's lack of confidence, the loyal subordinate naturally wanted to flatter him, so Du Jue immediately put down his book and said, "The employees will have to take their time to get used to the new plan. Anyway, I'll definitely be there when the time comes."

"But this will be very boring, won't it?"

Michelle looked hesitantly at Du Jue, who had a hopeful expression on his face.

"I'm quite interested in the specifics of psychological counseling, like a confessional in a church. Minister, you probably know a lot of interesting anecdotes, right?"

Michelle nodded happily, but then declined with difficulty: "But it's not good to reveal employees' privacy."

"Minister, you can just use an alias. Do you expect me to be a detective at headquarters and find the person?"

Du Jue casually sent the recorded video of "Urban Girl" to Michelle, saying, "I just wanted to listen to it for fun."

Michelle stared in surprise at the rapidly increasing number of followers in the live stream and exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing! So many people are watching her talk. But this character... is Urban Girl an AI?"

She stared at him for a while before finally shifting her gaze to Du Jue. "So that's how it is. This is your live-streaming company? It's really impressive."

Seeing that the minister was engrossed in the reading, Du Shi wisely made an excuse to return to the dormitory.

Hmm, I'm also a little curious. Is the urban girl an artificial intelligence?

Due to restrictions imposed by headquarters, I can only passively access information from the management systems of various branches each time, so I am not very familiar with things outside the company.

Du Jue, who had just returned to his dorm and lay down, was wondering why Angela hadn't called him for a private meeting today, when the news came.

"Of course not, there are real people operating it behind the scenes."

Are you referring to yourself? Because you and the urban girl look very similar.

"Actually, I didn't intend to use myself as a sample at first. It was just that my employees were brainless and acted on their own."

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of this is the shamisen, a great tool for working people. Even though it has some minor issues, it's generally very useful.

[I see. Thank you for your hard work today with the special crackdown. Tomorrow it will be the Intelligence Department's turn. Please be prepared.]

Hey!

Are you in such a hurry?

However, Angela's decision is understandable. After all, according to the original plan, the other party might have to go through many more cycles. Now that an accelerator has finally arrived, she would definitely want to go as fast as possible.

[During your previous suppression efforts, the system repeatedly detected that you exhibited anomaly-like reactions, causing the department's suppressors to operate beyond their limits. Is that the result of the Emerald Journey's research?]

I'm a little curious why you were researching personality chips back then? Don't you think it distorts the human form of existence?

203

Chapter 203 The Stone Tablet.

Du Jue immediately frowned and replied, "I don't know. As I said, I've forgotten a lot of things, and I don't even know the specific principles behind personality chips."

There exists a monster on the outskirts of the city. People who are accidentally disabled can cut off its flesh, which will adhere to the skin of the disabled area within a minute and transform into a missing limb within a day.

Within a week, it will gradually grow and replace all parts of your body, including your brain.

As the victim maintains their image, others' memories of the victim will gradually fade; once the injury heals on its own, this process will accelerate.

The monster's thinking is initially no different from the victim's, but it becomes increasingly irrational as its memories fade, until it completely mutates after everyone forgets it, at which point it seeks out living creatures and severs their limbs.

"Wait! What does this have to do with personality chips?"

Du Jue, who was lying on the bed, suddenly sat up. He felt that this monster was too bizarre, and even though he had never seen it before, he was still terrified.

[This is somewhat relevant. Didn't you know? The personality chip is alive. The improved version did add some mechanical structures, and the internal space is quite large.]

Du Jue jumped up in shock, "Don't tell me it's filled with the flesh of this monster?! Is this even human?"

I don't know. This, like the hammer technology, is a core technology of the Green Journey. However, those raw materials have probably already been acquired by the Prosthetic Workshop and K Company in the patent war.

After all, this eliminates the only weakness that must be preserved during the whole-body modification process, and the cost of mass production is not high.

"This doesn't seem quite normal."

Avoid being both sleepy and alert because of Angela; "this has absolutely nothing to do with artificial intelligence."

So you don't like non-humans replacing humans? I think that's quite normal; replacement isn't something to be happy about.

At this moment, Du Jue thought of the characters 鏌, 鏮鍶錔, and 錒鍩鍀, feeling that some things in the city are not suitable for getting to the bottom of. Let alone seeking the answers to the questions, it is best not to even realize the questions themselves.

At least I haven't forgotten about these fully cybernetically modified individuals, which means the chip should be working quite well.

"I just feel that the monster, the victim, and the victim of the fused monster are three completely different individuals."

Du Jue took a deep breath, unable to resist the renewed sleepiness, and lay down on the bed. "It's less of a replacement and more of a birth."

I see, I thought so too.

Angela finally calmed down, which made Du Jue breathe a sigh of relief. He took off his colored contact lenses and prepared to go to sleep. When he covered himself with the blanket, he couldn't help but think about the Blood Demons and Cleaners in the city. Suddenly, he felt that his personality chip was unreliable.

[Song Ya: Why are the limited edition City Girl dolls so expensive? Has inflation gotten this bad? By the way, do you have one? I'd like to get one.]

He didn't even glance at the light from the communicator, tossed it aside, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Training Department.

"Did everyone not get enough rest last night? But I don't remember yesterday's test being much tougher."

Michelle looked at the yawning office workers with a puzzled expression, then turned to look at Du Jue, who was also yawning.

Du Jue rubbed his drowsy face and decided that he couldn't talk to Angela for too long next time, as it made him sleepy. "Maybe it's because I didn't have the minister's psychological therapy that I tossed and turned at night."

Upon hearing this, Michel's eyes lit up immediately, but he still restrained himself and asked his subordinates, only to hear an unexpected answer.

"Someone shared a recording of an urban girl in the group chat. It was surprisingly interesting. Even though it was just interacting with the comments, it felt like having a talkative friend next to you."

The short-haired office worker immediately answered the minister's question.

Another office worker with a single ponytail reminisced for a moment, "I feel that the urban girl is perfect. She can even be gentle and caring towards the rats in the back alley. She doesn't care about the other party's piracy. And since it's a virtual character, it makes me feel very real."

Michelle hesitated for a moment before asking curiously, "But wasn't she just reading a comment?"

"Oh, Minister, you watched it too? The beginning was indeed quite boring, but the later parts were very exciting. There are so many gossips every day, like the guy who dressed up as a wild bear attacking his own car to commit insurance fraud and got arrested."

Is there also this part?

Both Du Jue and Michelle looked curiously at the communicator screen displayed by the single-ponytail office worker. The former then understood what kind of monsters Brandon had to deal with every day, while the latter seemed somewhat discouraged.

"Alright, it's work time now, everyone needs to focus on their work."

Michelle managed to revive the conversation.

At the same time, an alarm sounded, signaling a test.

The training department immediately fell silent, everyone tensely building up their defenses, inevitably hearing the unique mental echoes of a test.

One day, we will understand those things we cannot understand.

Michelle immediately returned to her office, whereupon her order came: "Attention everyone, quickly suppress the enemy appearing in the corridor!"

Following the suppressing staff into the corridor, Du Jue immediately saw the large purple heart that was slowly writhing. The severed arteries crawled on the ground like hands and feet, while the center of the heart was a small stone slab emitting purple light.

dong dong!

The wriggling heartbeat began, and the first few employees were almost all stained purple, as if they had been splashed with paint, but they seemed to be unharmed due to EGO's protection.

Seeing that there was only one monster, Du Jue relaxed a bit, feeling that his colleagues were capable of handling it.

Purple light flashed in the corridor, while the clerical staff in the training department clutched their heads and retreated in pain.

"what's the situation?!"

Du Jue stared in astonishment at their faces glowing purple and immediately sensed something was wrong. Then he noticed a large purple vortex suddenly appearing on the ceiling of the department, and a pure black boulder was gradually emerging.

We hear the struggles and cries of the weak; let us beg them for love and mercy.

"Evacuate the training department immediately!"

Michelle's anxious voice rang out, "That stone tablet will fall and kill everyone! The supervisor is mobilizing staff from other departments to come and help!"

As the massive, pure black stone tablet, which could even cover a quarter of the training department's space, suddenly accelerated its descent, Du Jue was filled with horror and, without thinking, took out the Crusher.

This workshop weapon uses a special super-heavy alloy and so-called gravity technology, so it can cause huge damage just by swinging it, but Du Jue is still not confident in stopping the stone tablet.

Burnt brand!

Suddenly, a large number of distorted fire-shaped imprints appeared at the bottom of the fallen stone tablet, and the entire training department was completely filled with orange-red light.

Even Du Jue's arms, covered in red scales, were marked with this scorching mark.