An hour later.
Arthur had already said goodbye to Angelica and Roland, rejoined his Lobotomy Corporation colleagues, and stepped onto the elevator that steadily descended into hell.
Here, everyone's mood and expression—except for Arthur's—seemed rather grim.
After all, leaving the comfortable and stable Nest outside and returning to a Branch buried deep in darkness felt like stepping into a different world.
"Senior, where did you go after leaving the team earlier?"
When everyone else remained silent, only this junior spoke up.
Komini asked not out of suspicion, but genuine curiosity. She couldn't understand why her senior had insisted on separating from the team—or what he had been doing during those three days wandering around W Nest.
"...Nothing."
Faced with Komini's confusion, Arthur brushed it off lightly. There was no need to tell unrelated personnel about his own experiences.
After all… ignorance, sometimes, was a form of protection.
"Oh…"
Komini nodded. Just then, as usual, the Lobotomy Corporation elevator doors opened with a ding.
Only this time, unlike before, the beautiful blue figure of Angela stood waiting outside, wearing her perfectly composed smile.
"Everyone, you've worked hard."
"Angela?"
The two department elites of the W-0001 Branch were visibly surprised. They couldn't understand why the holographic projection of the Supervisor's personal secretary would appear here.
Arthur was especially surprised. He knew that Angela's main body could only exist at headquarters. Even holographic projections were normally limited to the Supervisor's office and a handful of specific locations within a Branch.
"Are you surprised to see me?"
Angela continued smiling faintly, as if this reaction was entirely expected.
Arthur and Yulia both nodded without denying it.
"…"
Angela said nothing more. She simply stepped aside, revealing the scene unfolding deeper within the Branch.
If seeing Angela had been a surprise—
Then what followed could only be described as a shock.
Much like a few days earlier, when Arthur had requested material reinforcements from headquarters, the elevator entrance was crowded with people carrying tools and construction materials. They moved through the brightly lit corridors of the Branch in an orderly fashion.
However, judging by their attire, not all of them were Lobotomy Corporation employees.
"They are engineers assigned to expand and reinforce the containment facilities across multiple departments," Angela explained, her gaze briefly lingering on Arthur. "Didn't Supervisor Lentz explain this to you?"
"…"
No one answered.
Arthur merely glanced around before finally meeting Angela's eyes.
Three days…
I was only gone for three days, and she's already done all this?
Arthur sighed inwardly, unconvinced by Angela's explanation.
Expanding and reinforcing containment facilities?
If Lobotomy Corporation truly valued its employees, it wouldn't allow Abnormalities to breach containment rooms like paper walls once the Qliphoth Counter hit zero.
What troubled him more was the timing.
Why did the renovations begin only after he had been transferred out?
And Angela's ability to project herself here… was likely enabled by these very upgrades.
…
In truth, Arthur's guess wasn't wrong.
Angela hadn't lied—but she hadn't told the whole truth either.
The engineers had reinforced many areas of the W-0001 Branch: lockdown mechanisms, surveillance systems, corridors, and elevator access points most of all.
If Angela wished, she could now turn the entire Branch into a sealed prison—one no one could escape from.
"Everyone, there's no need to worry," Angela said gently. "You've just returned from a business trip. Please get some rest."
"After all, tomorrow's work must continue."
"…"
The employees exchanged glances before nodding in unison.
Arthur was the first to leave. Compared to dwelling on Angela's actions, he had far more important matters to attend to.
His bag still contained the Anomaly 'Mole'—along with the information entrusted to him by his comrades.
He had no intention of handing either over to Lobotomy Corporation.
Thus, he returned quickly to his dormitory.
What Arthur didn't know was that shortly after he left the corridor—
A new batch of Anomaly transport containers arrived.
Two clerks pushed the containers forward, delivering them to their newly assigned containment rooms.
"These things really arrive every day…" muttered a clearly inexperienced clerk as he read the label on one of the boxes.
[W-Class Anomaly — Code T-04-50: 'Queen Bee']
"W-Class… what danger level is that?"
"…"
The older clerk's expression darkened at the mention of the classification. He sighed heavily.
"Looks like the Supervisor signed another energy expansion contract…"
"I might as well send my will home."
"Huh? So… does that mean the Branch will expand again?" the new clerk asked excitedly, completely missing the point.
"I heard that after expansion, clerks might get promoted to permanent employees. Is that true?"
"Why are you even thinking about that?" the older clerk snapped, smacking him on the back of the head.
"You should be hoping it doesn't expand. If it does, it's our lives on the line."
Rubbing his head, the older clerk glanced at the second container.
"By the way… what's in the other box?"
"I don't know. There's no label."
As he spoke, the new clerk suddenly had a reckless idea.
He slowly placed his hand on the release switch.
"Hey!" the older clerk reached out to stop him—but it was already too late.
Bang!
The sound echoed through the corridor—not just from the container bursting open, but from the older clerk's fist slamming into the younger one's face.
"Hey! That hurts!" the new clerk yelled, clutching his now-swollen cheek.
Having just started the job, he couldn't understand why his seniors were always so on edge.
When he finally looked inside the container, his smug grin returned.
"See? It doesn't even look dangerous at all…"