Is it really normal to contain these anomalies?

How long ago had she walked this path?

She couldn't remember.

She just looked at everything around her, passing by one person after another whose face she couldn't see clearly.

Until the end of this road...

Here, she saw an enthusiastic lady in a white robe giving a speech to the crowd.

She is so gentle and has a charm that calls everyone to her.

But no passersby wanted to pay attention to her, no one believed her theory that urban people were sick, and no one was willing to join her in breaking the urban cycle.

People came and went, only Gebura (?) was watching her.

And not a few seconds passed.

The enthusiastic lady seemed to have spotted her in the crowd, and she stood on tiptoe, smiling, and then waved at her excitedly like a little girl who had never grown up...

'She seems to know me?'

Gebura (?) was a little dazed when he saw this scene.

She couldn't remember anything about it, but the captivating crimson in the lady's pupils frightened her.

Gebura (?) walked over involuntarily.

As she got closer to the lady, she gradually understood the meaning of that smile.

This is just a reminiscence...

'Long time no see, Carly.'

-----------------

Just like how Cogito can double the impact of Black Forest, this time, it may also have an unknown impact on Red Sister's core suppression...

Following Sister Hong's destructive path, Bai Yu still crossed the boundary between reality and illusion.

But even he had to admit at this moment that he had never seen such core suppression.

Unlike last time when HOD's core suppression only enveloped the training department's central control room, this time, everyone who walked into this place should be surprised.

Today's central headquarters logistics area is no longer that high-tech look.

Regardless of whether it was damaged or not, everything here was covered with a thin layer of gauze. The luster of the alloy was completely indistinguishable, and most of it was just the wall painted with white lime...

Guided by a mysterious force, some of the surviving employees put on aprons and casual clothes and cleaned up the traces on the street without complaint.

They collected the most perfect parts of the corpses and flushed the unused blood and flesh into the drain beside the alley... Until finally, they wiped the sweat from their heads and returned to their "home" to prepare new dishes.

Bai Yu is very familiar with this place.

Although the geography has changed according to the factory layout of the central headquarters logistics area, he can see that...this is that damn place.

Lane 23.

-----------------

Now, two hours after Bai Yu crossed the border, he once again pushed open the door of a restaurant here.

"Everyone, has any of you seen a red-haired closer around here?"

He began asking questions in the same way he had many times before, but without much hope.

After all, it seemed that the employees here had been brainwashed by a mysterious force, and they did things similar to the people in Alley 23. There were quite a few people who picked up knives and slashed at them.

Even if they can communicate rationally, most of them are just strange projections that can communicate and touch, but are useless... They don't even know that there are names like Kali or Gebura nearby.

This is not very normal. After all, even without the mimicry, Carly, who still lives in Lane 23, possesses the strength of a second-level finisher.

A finisher of this strength should be a famous person wherever he goes.

Can....

As expected, silence fell in the room again.

"Alas, I've lost my mind trying to find normal logic in anomalies."

Bai Yu sighed slightly anxiously.

He really didn't want to ask for directions, but the situation forced him to do so.

Above is the Black Forest and the Doombird, below is Sister Hong's core suppression and the illusory Alley 23... If we can't focus on solving one of them, this part is really hopeless.

And if, like in HOD, after entering the world of the core suppression target, the time outside would be slowed down a thousand times, there would be no doubt which problem to solve first...

"Bai Yu, I didn't find it here either. How about you?" Lu Ti's voice came from outside the house.

"not yet."

Without even looking at the cooking going on inside, Bai Yu slowly wanted to close the door.

"Sorry to bother you, please continue cooking."

His figure gradually disappeared behind the glass door.

It was only at this moment that the person inside suddenly spoke.

"Bai Yu?!"

Chapter 227 Not Here

No one could have imagined that they would meet here.

Bai Yu opened the door the moment he heard his name.

Then, he silently saw five handsome men and beautiful women who seemed to be doing business there...

Thirty minutes later.

Lu Ti, who was sitting at the coffee table, barely came back to her senses from Bai Yu and everyone's explanation.

But she still felt extremely incredible.

"They!! They are Minister Malkuth, Minister HOD, Minister Tiphereth, Minister Yesod, and Minister Netzach?!!"

She is still shouting here.

But I don't blame her for this.

After all, what appeared before her eyes now was no longer the cold iron box, but a group of flesh-and-blood humans.

The level five employee couldn't help but pinch Tiphereth's little face. The little girl was so adorable.

"From a mechanical box to a human? What kind of power is this? Isn't this a taboo in the city?"

"Oh... Sorry, there's another Minister Tiphereth who hasn't changed back." Luti suddenly realized that she wasn't being strict enough and leaned over to pat the head of the small mechanical box that Tiphereth was holding. She apologized softly, "No offense."

"Do you want me to beat you!" Tiphereth roared at the dragon who offended her brother.

“I’m so sorry!!”

"..."

HOD and Makuku were still circling around the two little girls.

Only Bai Yu ignored the noise on the side.

His eyes turned to the purple-haired man at the counter who was pouring coffee for him.

No one here needs to put on a cognitive filter anymore.

The Seeds of Light emit the collected endorphins, and using the power of light can repair their bodies.

Therefore, I'm afraid that after the Tree of Light's original fluid Cogito and the unknown power washed over them, they had temporarily covered them with a flesh body...

Bai Yu didn't care too much about this matter, he just asked.

"...You said an out-of-control Gebura broke in here, but you don't know what happened here?"

"Yes," Yesod pushed the lukewarm coffee in front of him, "We've been here for six months, but we haven't found a way to leave this area yet."

"So you opened a coffee shop here that doesn't use human flesh?"

"Hmm....How's it out there?"

"Just twenty minutes have passed. Although it may not be as long as Ms. HOD's time, the time difference caused by the core suppression still bought us a lot of time."

"That's good."

Yesod looked at the man in front of him who was sipping his coffee and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he had carried out core suppression, he did not have intelligence on many things. This was really a tormenting thing for a truly serious and responsible Minister of Intelligence.

"But things still don't look good. Have you found Gebura around here in the past few months?"

Bai Yu quickly asked another question, but in fact, when he saw the five people in the room, he knew the answer in the next second.

as predicted.

Yesod shook his head.

"No, although the layout here is very similar to the factory building in the logistics area, we really couldn't find her."

"I really don't want to hear that."

Bai Yu put down his coffee cup and sighed softly.

The protagonist of Core Suppression disappeared?

Okay....

In fact, this is not true core suppression, after all, the real X is not here.

But if they can't find the protagonist, how should they solve this disaster?

"Bai Yu, where are you going?"

HOD, who was trying to stop Luti and the others from making trouble, suddenly heard the sound of wind chimes ringing on the door of the cafe.

When she looked up, she finally saw Bai Yu preparing to go out.

"I'll look for it again and gather here before nightfall."

"Are you familiar with this place? You won't get lost, will you?"

Tiphereth, who also noticed this scene, finally released the hand that was pulling Luti's cheek tightly and stood up with some suspicion.

"I'll go with you. After all, this place is still within the scope of the central headquarters."

"Of course, thank you."

Bai Yu, who was standing at the door, nodded and did not refuse the kindness of the young guide.

-----------------

With Tiphereth leading the way, they didn't waste a single minute, even though the roads in the logistics area were mostly a maze of overlapping conveyor belts.

But the reality is just as Yesod said.

In this ghost place, apart from the chef covered in blood and the child rummaging through the trash can, they did not see any trace of the Red Finisher.

It was as if the structure of this world really had nothing to do with her...

"Well, if we still can't find it here, we can try Area D457. However, that area is more integrated with the Intelligence Department, and the Black Forest's distortion is often mixed in there, so it might be dangerous."

Tiphereth muttered to herself as she carefully and responsibly planned the route where Sister Hong was most likely to appear.

Can....

Bai Yu was still a little absent-minded as he walked along.

"...They shouldn't all be employees."

He finally spoke, but his eyes were fixed on a group of children not far away who ran away after catching a glimpse of their figures.

"Huh? Oh...yes."

Tiphereth, who had recovered from the sudden question, nodded as she looked at the children who were not much taller than her.

"They are probably illusions created by the fluorescent liquid, just like those black trees above."

“…”

After hearing the explanation, Bai Yu was silent for a few seconds.