Chapter 485 - 307: A Call for Help from the Company (Part 2)

Just as Lin Qi’s brows furrowed, he saw a message from Master Ma.

Master Ma: "Guang Ling must be talking about black boxes, right? I happen to have a few. Besides, King Arthur and I will be operating together for the next couple of days. Wizard, you can send them out together after the second Potion is ready. King Arthur can save on shipping costs that way."

As Master Ma sent this message, he subconsciously glanced toward the adjacent cabin.

Saving King Arthur twenty million with a single sentence!

’She should calm down now, right?’

Master Ma didn’t have any detection-type Extraordinary Powers, and there was no sound from King Arthur in the next cabin.

But in the temporary chat window, King Arthur made her attitude clear.

King Arthur: "Master, you’re a good person."

Master Ma let out a sigh of relief. This kind of young woman was the worst to provoke.

Young and powerful—who knew what she’d become in the future? She might even have a chance to become a Tier Five Knight!

Besides, based on past clues, the relationship between King Arthur and Wizard seemed to be quite good...

"I guess you could call this spending money to avoid disaster," Master Ma muttered to himself.

Lin Qi gladly accepted Master Ma’s proposal. It was inconvenient for him to go to the Prosthetic Clinic today anyway. He could wait until the matter in Red Fruit City was resolved tomorrow, which would allow him to act while avoiding the gazes of the Assassin Alliance’s observers.

With that, the purpose of Lin Qi’s transaction was essentially achieved. The temporary chat window of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps fell silent, with no one sending any more messages.

Lin Qi lay on his bed, his eyes still closed. He shut off the Intelligent Brain’s projection and slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

March 31st, 2089, 10:00 AM sharp.

Inside the H4 Skyscraper, nearly all employees of United Pharmaceutical had arrived at the company.

The company’s first-quarter summary meeting was scheduled for today. No employees were permitted to take leave.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Liu Xuan, Lin Qi, Liu Weicai, and even Elder Dong—these four had not come to the company.

However, since they had been absent from the company since the Liu Clan’s internal turmoil two days prior, their absence didn’t cause much of a stir.

At this moment, in the H4-401 large-scale comprehensive testing facility, Ninghang Technology’s representative, Ning Hao, arrived on time as usual and continued with his previous work.

Numerous researchers from the Prosthetic Engineering Department were diligently inputting various parameters for the Ning Xin sample.

However, compared to before, most of the researchers were somewhat agitated.

A researcher approached the department supervisor, Wei Wutao, and said, "Chief, I really can’t take it anymore. I’ve been having some health problems lately. I want to take a break tomorrow."

Seeing a researcher take the first step, someone else immediately chimed in, "Yeah, Chief. A lot of the guys have been having health issues lately. We don’t know if it’s a cyber-flu outbreak in Red Fruit City, but we’re planning to get a thorough check-up."

"Chief, forget cyber-flu. I suspect my implanted operating system has been infected with a virus. It’s like my cognition has been altered; I keep craving things I shouldn’t eat."

"My symptoms are similar to yours. I suspect there’s a widespread issue with our Liu Clan’s Prosthetic Bodies. I’ve been looking into it for the past two days."

Wei Wutao sat in his seat, his brows furrowed deeply as he listened to the researchers’ complaints.

Normally, this group of researchers would never dare complain about anything in front of him, but lately...

It wasn’t just these researchers; Wei Wutao himself was experiencing the same problem.

He had even spoken with his son, Wei Wei, after work and discovered that the problem seemed to be widespread.

But it was strangely concentrated within the company.

United Pharmaceutical, Liu’s Heavy Industries—the symptoms, suspected to be from a prosthetic operating system virus, had affected almost every employee at both companies.

Wei Wutao felt extremely uneasy. What made him even more on edge was that this strange phenomenon seemed to be confined to just these two companies.

It was as if an intelligent virus had specifically targeted the people at these two companies.

"Get back to work and stop letting your imaginations run wild. This is the Prosthetic Engineering Department! If there’s a problem with the Prosthetic Bodies, shouldn’t we be the ones figuring out how to solve it?"

Wei Wutao scolded them first. As the department supervisor, he was responsible for the department’s efficiency. Even with a mass incident, he had to ensure the tasks assigned by the company were completed.

Otherwise, he would be the first one to be punished.

But after his rebuke, Wei Wutao looked at the faces of these young researchers, was inexplicably reminded of Wei Wei, and sighed. "Go back to your stations for now," he said. "The company has a mandatory overtime meeting tonight. I will bring this up during the meeting."

"Besides, for something this major, Chairman Liu must already be aware of it. Maybe a solution for this incident will be discussed at today’s meeting."

Wei Wutao tried to comfort them, but even he didn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

’I have a bad feeling that something terrible is about to happen to the Liu Clan!’

It was a gut feeling.

After dismissing all the researchers, Wei Wutao sat alone in his chair. He accessed the communication system through the implant in his head, stared at the name "Lin Qi" for a long time, but ultimately decided not to make the call.

Often, connections and favors that cross class boundaries only work once.

Once that call was made, he might get help this time, but the favor would be completely used up.

Wei Wutao didn’t want to exhaust this opportunity on something like this.

He wanted to save the opportunity for Wei Wei.

Wei Wei was still young. In the future, he had a good chance of becoming a core employee of Liu’s Heavy Industries.

Using this opportunity then might help Wei Wei advance even further.

As for now?

’Chairman Liu and Lin Qi just got back from Alliance City not long ago. The company is on the rise.’

’It’s normal to be targeted, but it shouldn’t lead to a devastating crisis.’

’We’re just company employees. This mass anomaly is most likely just some kind of game being played by the higher-ups.’

’Besides, there are so many of us. It’s impossible that every single person is being targeted, right?’

Wei Wutao clung to wishful thinking. Even with so much information, he couldn’t make the right judgment.

He even pinned his hopes on the mandatory overtime meeting tonight, thinking that perhaps a solution to the mass anomaly would be found after it was over.

...

Unlike his wishful-thinking father, his son, Wei Wei, was far more decisive and had a stronger ability to take action.

Wei Wei used all of his authority to thoroughly investigate the cause and course of this mass anomaly.

He called in one favor after another and spent one sum of Credit Points after another.

A new idea gradually began to form in Wei Wei’s mind.

’Something’s wrong! This is very wrong!’

’This isn’t an isolated incident in Red Fruit City! Suppliers and distributors in other Cyber Cities are also experiencing similar situations.’

’But the numbers aren’t as terrifying as they are at Liu’s Heavy Industries and United Pharmaceutical.’

’What in the world is happening?’

’Wait! The people I know about so far are all from major corporations!’

’This is a mass attack targeting major corporations! What kind of method is this? A cyber network virus? That doesn’t make sense...’

A terrifying thought began to brew in Wei Wei’s mind.

Looking at the current global situation, instability was clearly escalating. Outside of the Asian Administrative Region, corporate wars of varying scales had broken out almost everywhere.

Wei Wei considered the problem with the mindset of a manager and subconsciously began to connect the dots.

’If I were a high-level executive, under what circumstances would I require all personnel to work overtime at the same time?’

’To keep everyone inside the company?’

Wei Wei’s hands were trembling. He had no illusions about the company; he knew exactly what a cold machine it was.

’No! I have to find a way to save myself! I must find a way!’

Wei Wei decisively walked into his private office, then used his communication module to find a contact.

The contact’s note read...

Lin Qi (Super-Connected VIP)!

Taking a deep breath, Wei Wei decisively made the call.

After about twenty seconds, the call was answered.

"Supervisor Wei? What’s the occasion? I’m surprised to hear from you."

Lin Qi’s voice sounded completely normal.

Without hesitation, Wei Wei said, "Lin Qi, I know something huge is about to happen to the company. I don’t want to die... I’m begging you, save me!"