# Chapter 72

### Chapter 72: A Corporate Drone Shines Wherever He Goes

Lin Jianyuan and his roommate spent the whole evening splashing around in the lake.

They stayed out until dusk, as the air slowly cooled.

It was the tail end of summer break, the last gasp of summer itself. The water felt chilly at night.

And Lin Jianyuan still hadn’t fully shaken off his cold—oh right! He was still sick!

But the moment he started playing in the water, he forgot all about it...

Like a little kid.

He went wild once he got going.

They had dinner at the hotel’s own restaurant.

The hotel was far from the city, and to give guests the best experience (and make more money), it had several restaurants inside.

You could find every kind of cuisine.

The only thing they had in common was how expensive they all were.

Back in the day, Lin Jianyuan wouldn’t have spared a glance at a place like this.

Now, he listened with interest as the waiter explained the story behind each dish.

He even considered filming a vlog.

Damn, I’m such a rich bastard!

After stuffing themselves, they headed back to their little villa.

Lin Jianyuan flopped onto the couch and let out a contented sigh:

"Ah\~"

His roommate curled up next to him, fiddling with his collar. "Still sleepy?"

Lin Jianyuan said, "A little, but it’s not the cold. I’m just so full I could pass out."

Maybe it was just in his head, but after eating his roommate’s thing yesterday, he felt almost completely better.

Playing in the lake today had finished off the last of it.

A big chunk plus a little more—he was basically cured.

Lin Jianyuan hugged his digestive-system wife, and the two of them sprawled on the couch, digesting together.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

"Shit, it better not be the Bureau again," Lin Jianyuan grumbled.

He picked up his phone—surprisingly, it wasn’t.

It was Pei Shuo.

Lin Jianyuan answered in surprise, "Pei Shuo? What’s up?"

Don’t tell me that idiot Jiang Chen is at it again.

Tsk.

Jiang Chen felt like a name from another lifetime.

Slaving away at that shitty company seemed like something from a past life.

But the moment Pei Shuo’s voice came through, all the memories came rushing back.

"Bro!" Pei Shuo called out.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but smile. "What’s up? Go on."

Pei Shuo said, "Nothing much, just haven’t talked in a few days. How’ve you been?"

Lin Jianyuan knew Pei Shuo was just calling to check in on him.

He gave his roommate a "no worries" gesture, then pulled him back in and kept chatting with Pei Shuo.

That big golden retriever energy—just talking to him over the phone made you feel warm.

Or maybe just the fact that he’d call was enough to warm your heart.

Lin Jianyuan made small talk, telling Pei Shuo he was doing great.

He’d found a new job. The boss was decent—a real person. So much more normal than Jiang Chen.

Of course, all bosses are a bit of a dog. There’s no such thing as a boss who isn’t.

The pay was good, too. Overtime? Sure, but at least it paid well. Compared to before, it was a dream.

Best of all, his wife worked at the same place. Going to work was actually fun now.

"Ah..."

When Lin Jianyuan mentioned his "wife," there was a clear pause on the other end.

Only then did Lin Jianyuan remember—they’d never actually met his roommate!

The last time his roommate went to the company, he was glowing with handsomeness—well, actually, he was invisible.

So everyone at the company thought Lin Jianyuan was losing it again.

Big misunderstanding.

Lin Jianyuan knew that if he didn’t clear this up, they’d keep worrying about him.

Every time they mentioned him, they’d probably sigh.

So Lin Jianyuan said, "Let’s have dinner sometime. I’ll bring my wife to meet you. For real this time."

He glanced at his roommate for confirmation as he spoke.

His roommate leaned over, kissed him, and said with a smile, "Sure."

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but laugh too.

On the other end, Pei Shuo said, "...Huh?"

Lin Jianyuan said gently, "Yeah, I really did lose it last time. Must’ve freaked you guys out. But my wife is real. He’s not a hallucination."

Pei Shuo was silent for a moment, probably too shocked to speak.

Lin Jianyuan said, "Seriously, you’ll see when you meet him. We can play ball together, too. My wife really can play basketball—just has a bit of an... unusual technique."

He dribbles with his liver.

And can stretch his intestines upright for a massive slam dunk.

It’s quite a sight.

Plus, this time he could treat Pei Shuo to barbecue.

Eat as much as you want!

Bring as many people as you like!

There was a pause on the other end.

Then Pei Shuo burst out laughing. "Sounds good, bro!"

His laugh was bright and sunny.

It instantly brought to mind his cheerful, handsome face.

Classic golden retriever energy.

Lin Jianyuan hung up, feeling a warm glow inside.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Pei Shuo still single?

That made no sense. He was so nice, so good-looking—how was he still single?

Oh right, Shi Shaoning still owed him a meal, too.

Maybe they should all go out together.

"Almost forgot, we need to rework our route!" Lin Jianyuan remembered their delayed honeymoon and quickly pulled out his phone to call the guide.

The guide was patient and enthusiastic, helping him reschedule everything.

Lin Jianyuan and his roommate put their heads together, poring over the new itinerary.

As they were studying it, Lin Jianyuan suddenly said, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

His roommate asked, "Hm?"

Lin Jianyuan said, "I keep thinking the terminal’s about to go off any second..."

Both of them glanced at the mobile terminal tossed in the suitcase.

But it stayed silent.

Lin Jianyuan chuckled, "Guess I’m just traumatized."

Maybe it was PTSD from years as a corporate drone.

But the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

The Containment Department was just too risky!

Last time, "Hesitation" alone had his wife working overtime like crazy. Now they had "Remorse" too.

If those two ever teamed up, who knows what kind of trouble they’d cook up?

Lin Jianyuan agonized for a long time, but just couldn’t let it go.

He sighed helplessly, "Babe, shit, I’m about to be an idiot."

His roommate asked, "Why?"

Lin Jianyuan said, "I actually want to go back and upgrade the Containment Department’s security. I can’t believe myself..."

His roommate couldn’t stop laughing.

Lin Jianyuan kept telling himself: I’m on vacation! Why am I thinking about Bureau bullshit? Am I sick in the head?

But then again: No, the Containment Department is so buggy, it feels like it could drag my wife back in any minute!

What’s the point of a honeymoon if I can’t even relax? I can’t take it! I won’t sleep tonight!

So.

Wearing the look of a man resigned to his fate, Lin Jianyuan dragged himself back to the Bureau.

He headed straight for the deepest part of the inverted spire—Remorse’s cell.

Before he even stepped inside, he heard the sound of metal clanging in the dark.

"Aaaah oooh oooh oooh..."

Lin Jianyuan jumped. "What the hell is it screaming about?"

His roommate said, "No idea."

Hearing his roommate’s voice, the wailing in the darkness only got louder.

"Ooooh ooooh wuwuwu don’t come, don’t come, don’t come, here! Take it, take it, take it!!!"

Lin Jianyuan: "."

His roommate said innocently, "I didn’t do anything."

Lin Jianyuan laughed. "You didn’t do anything this time, but last time you did everything."

He reached out and squeezed his roommate’s liver. "Good job, babe."

Roommate: "\~"

There’s one good thing about Remorse.

It knows what’s what.

Lin Jianyuan didn’t even have to ask—it already knew what he wanted.

He got exactly what he came for: ten thousand sigils.

These mass-produced sigils were different from the one Lin Jianyuan had received before.

Maybe because they were mass-produced, they weren’t as powerful.

(Remorse was completely drained.)

Each one was maybe a ten-thousandth as strong as his original sigil.

But that was enough.

Right there, Lin Jianyuan started sketching out circuit diagrams, planning the Containment Department’s entire bronze circuitry.

—This was even mentioned in Blood Thread’s tragic history.

It was like installing a whole new security system. Any Aberrant who tried to escape would get bounced back by a Remorse sigil and be forced into a five-minute "Aunt Xianglin" regret loop.

Perfect for making them reflect on why they were dumb enough to try breaking out.

After hearing his plan, his roommate exclaimed, "Don’t humans call people like you a genius?"

Lin Jianyuan: "!"

Wahoo!

Tail!

He desperately needed a tail right now!

How else could he show how thrilled he was?

But since he was still on vacation, Lin Jianyuan made the design extremely (deliberately) simple (sloppy).

Just the most basic series and parallel circuits.

Each cell got its own switch, plus a master switch—like a circuit breaker—to turn everything on or off at once.

The detailed blueprints could wait until after vacation, when the pros could handle it.

The most important thing right now—

Flip the switch!

Then get the hell out!

Don’t let anyone see he was back!!!

Sneaking back during vacation to reinforce the cells—what kind of workaholic was he?

Did he want to die from overwork or what?

Of course, there was no way Lin Jianyuan could install and activate all the secondary locks alone without being noticed.

Good thing his roommate had plenty of intestines.

Still, wrangling all those guts took time.

While he waited, growing impatient, Lin Jianyuan suddenly remembered something and headed back toward Remorse’s cell.

In the deepest darkness, the metallic clanging echoed on.

Remorse was still muttering, "No, I shouldn’t have given him the sigils. Now I’ll never escape. I can’t even fight my own sigils. God, how could I be so stupid? I’ve trapped myself. But what can I do? I can’t take them back. My sigils aren’t affected by regret medicine. What do I do? I’m doomed. My sigils are never coming back..."

"Remorse."

Lin Jianyuan stepped closer to that abyss of darkness.

He tilted his head up, eyes wide.

His pupils dilated in the gloom.

"I have a question for you."

...

"All done?" Lin Jianyuan greeted his roommate with a smile as the last intestine snapped into place.

"Yeah." His roommate reached out with a tentacle, "Ready to go?"

"Let’s go." Lin Jianyuan hurried over.

Of course, just when things seemed fine, something went wrong.

"Lin Jianyuan?"

The director’s surprised voice came from nearby. "Weren’t you supposed to be..."

Whoosh\~

Lin Jianyuan didn’t care what the director was yammering about—he grabbed his roommate and bolted.

They made it back to the mountain villa.

The mobile terminal started ringing right after.

Lin Jianyuan: "...###"

Lin Jianyuan hung up without a word.

Beep beep beep—

The call came in again.

Lin Jianyuan hung up again.

Beep beep beep—

Lin Jianyuan hung up yet again.

Beep beep beep—

Lin Jianyuan kept—

—Enough already!

Furious, Lin Jianyuan snatched up the terminal and slammed it to the ground!

He never expected that smashing it would accidentally hit the answer button!

The director’s voice came through the terminal!

"Huh? You picked up?"

The director sounded surprised himself. "I almost didn’t bother calling again."

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

Lin Jianyuan tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and said coldly, "Think carefully before you speak."

Director: "."

The director paused for two seconds, then said, "Since you’re here anyway, can you write a report? AI is fine. Two minutes, tops."

Lin Jianyuan: "What report?"

Director: "Where did the Taoran Street fountain go?"