The employees had left long ago, and only Fu Gua, Qin Wa and the puppy Boss were in the elevator.
Although Hojo Natsuki himself didn't mind, with Fu Gua present, as the boss, he still had to maintain his dignity in front of his subordinates: [Gin, why are you so rude when you talk? ]
Fu Gua paused, and a [? ] popped up on his head.
The frog is unapologetically -
[Gin]：Sorry, Boss.
Fu Gua glanced at Qinwa, and the question mark split into another one: [? ? ]
Hojo Natsuki was satisfied, so he closed the [Simulation Business], logged off, and got up to go to the Port Mafia headquarters.
Vodka has been feeling a little nervous ever since he entered the elevator with Boss and Big Brother.
The car was very quiet. Then the Boss spoke and said something very strange.
The boss said, "Within three years, I will turn this place into the number one toy factory in Tokyo."
Vodka hadn't recovered from the visual shock of two grown men squeezed into a tricycle yet, and was brought back to his senses by these words.
The eldest brother replied perfunctorily: “Oh.”
The elevator jumped from floor 4 to floor 3, and Boss said again: "I've thought about it. How about you and Vermouth shoot a promotional video for the twisting car together?"
Vodka: “???”
Huh? Boss, what are you talking about
These words were obviously directed to the eldest brother - Kurosawa Jin did not respond, but turned away, silently refusing.
Boss: "Don't be shy."
Kurosawa Jin remained silent.
Vodka still rocks.
Other leaders might say this as a joke to ease the atmosphere, but their organization's Boss, this god... this eccentric and unconventional person, is likely to let his own code-named members and top killers shoot commercials!
Kurosawa Jin remained silent, and Vodka fell into worry.
Vodka saw his elder brother taking out his phone and typing. He glanced at it quickly and then politely looked away to avoid seeing secrets that he shouldn't know. However, judging from the phone interface, his elder brother should be sending text messages.
Soon, his worry turned into horror when he heard the Boss's next words.
"Gin, why do you have such a bad attitude when you talk?"
Vodka: “?!?!”
Big brother didn't say anything at all!
Kurosawa Jin replied in a dull tone, his voice was flat and deep: "Sorry, Boss."
Vodka opened his mouth and felt a chill running up his back and shoulders. He looked at the elevator door as if praying, hoping to escape from this strange space as soon as possible. Fortunately, God was on his side, and after a second or two, the elevator arrived at the -3F underground parking lot and the door slowly opened.
Fortunately, it wasn’t some elevator scare scene…
Vodka stepped out first, walked to the side of the door, and blocked the elevator door with his hand.
When I turned around again, I saw that only Kurosawa Jin was in the elevator, and the boss was gone!
Vodka's eyes widened: "!!!"
Huh??? Why?!
—Just as he suddenly appeared in the back seat of the Porsche, Boss disappeared so quietly!
"Big, big brother..." Vodka finally found the opportunity to ask, his voice trembling a little, "Where is Boss... who... who is he? Can Boss teleport?"
Kurosawa Jin glanced at him, took a long step, walked towards the car, and said indifferently: "Watch your mouth."
Vodka was uneasy, but he kept quiet. Just like his philosophy of life-saving, he would not be curious about things he shouldn't be curious about, and would never ask about things he shouldn't know. But the scenes of Boss suddenly appearing and disappearing, as well as his magical GUCCI printed headgear, kept playing in his mind, making it impossible for him to forget about them for a while.
Of course, Hojo Natsuki didn't know that he had successfully mentally polluted another employee.
Yokohama Today is Monday, the most painful day of the week for office workers.
Monday's pain
The level of life is not at the same level as Tuesday and Wednesday, because it has a richer level of preparation.
Starting from Sunday afternoon, my mood turned from good to bad; on Sunday night, I sighed numbly; late on Sunday night, I couldn't bear to go to bed; when I woke up on Monday morning, I was so sleepy that I wanted to die. I put my body into clothes, combed my hair, sprayed mousse to style it, and drank iced American coffee to try to wake up my spirit... Whether I succeed or not, I can't escape this feeling of wanting to die.
Fortunately, he will visit the Supernatural Agents Department on behalf of Port Mafia in the afternoon.
—A blatant opportunity to slack off!
This routine visit and exchange basically takes place once every quarter, and is always led by Hojo Natsuki. His presence represents the Port Mafia's willingness to cooperate, and its superficial significance far outweighs the actual significance of the meeting content.
A researcher is giving an impassioned explanation of a research report.
Hojo Natsuki supported his chin, listening while distracted.
what's for dinner
There is a delicious butter potato restaurant at the intersection one kilometer away from here. I'll go buy one after the meeting.
He thinks in a scattered way.
Hmm... What is the frog doing now
How can it have such a bad attitude towards the Boss? If the Boss is not its daddy, it might be forced to resign from the organization tomorrow and be sent out into the society.
Before that, Qinwa's attitude was clearly "I think the Boss is a moron, but I'll never refute you."
On the bright side, although attitude deteriorated, loyalty jumped from 60 to 95.
Hojo Natsuki was startled and suddenly realized something.
The [Simulation Business] section has its own internal logic. The Twist-and-Twist Car Factory can certainly win the favor of Gua Gua, but the qualitative change from "can run away at any time" to "will never betray you" is obviously not something a toy factory can easily achieve, so the core reason for the change... The core reason - could it be that Qinwa has discovered that the Boss is a player
When this idea came up, all the details that had been ignored and taken for granted before gradually became evidence for this speculation.
"Ah-sneeze!"
The researcher who was reporting suddenly sneezed.
"Sorry, sorry, the season has changed recently and I have a cold." The young researcher wearing black-framed glasses smiled sheepishly, "... Let's get back to the point. I think the parallel universe and the world we live in are beginning to merge..."
Hojo Natsuki perked up a bit.
The researcher's nameplate reads "Energy Fluctuation Monitoring Center".
He remembered that during a visit and exchange about three years ago, someone from the "Energy Fluctuation Monitoring Center" had proposed the world fusion hypothesis, and at that time they had presented evidence such as sunspot activity maps, special power magnetic fields, etc., which could not constitute a chain of evidence at all.
This time, it wasn't much better.
"We have reason to believe that fusion starts from some very small 'singularities' and gradually expands to the local and overall. And Yokohama, for some reason, became the first 'singularity' selected." The researcher talked nonstop, "We interviewed several..."
The first real case used as proof is an ordinary person living in Chinatown. The person claimed that the structure of the stairs in his home suddenly changed, and the skylight that was originally tightly sealed was replaced with a glass ceiling overnight.
The researcher switched the PPT and showed the audience a before-and-after comparison of the stairs and skylight in the client’s home: “Look, this is…”
Hojo Natsuki wanted to laugh a little, but tried hard to hold it back, maintaining a polite and solemn demeanor.
—Isn’t this too ridiculous
Find a few ordinary people, decorate their home, and take a photo, and it can be used as evidence of the "fusion of parallel time and space" hypothesis
"How long are you going to keep talking nonsense?" The boy sitting to Xia Shu's left muttered, "That's enough, I'm dying of sleep..."
He lowered his voice so low that only the two people sitting next to him could hear it.
Hojo Natsuki thought seriously, yes, how could this crappy department that is obviously defrauding government funds survive for so long
Isn’t this civil service position too easy
The seating arrangement was very particular. Sitting in the middle was the Chief Executive of the Special Powers Division, Taneda Santoka. Hojo Natsuki, as a guest representing Port Mafia, sat directly next to Chief Taneda. The boy sitting on the other side of him, complaining that the report was "nonsense", was naturally also an executive of a high rank.
Perhaps Zhongtian Shantouhuo heard the boy's complaint, or perhaps not, but he was annoyed by his sickly look and turned around to give him a warning look.
The boy received a warning and sat up straight reluctantly.
Looking at the researcher on the stage talking nonsense with great confidence, Hojo Natsuki couldn't help but start to envy: the work in the Special Powers Department is so easy, I want to change jobs.
Not long after, this report, which seemed too long due to boredom, finally came to an end.
Hojo Natsuki refused the driver's offer to take him back to Port Mafia and strolled alone on the street, thinking of going back after dinner.
He walked aimlessly, the asphalt road was covered with ginkgo leaves, which fluttered down from the branches like snowflakes when the wind blew. Those that were not swept away in time piled up into a soft golden carpet, generously showing the rich colors of autumn to pedestrians.
After staring at the fallen leaves on the ground for a long time, Hojo Natsuki realized belatedly that it was autumn again.
A proverb, an object, a season, as long as it is associated with a memorable event, it will become a synonym for it.
As autumn descended on the branches of the roadside trees, Hojo Natsuki blinked and recalled the LED game advertisement he saw three years ago. He was a person who easily lost interest in novelty, but he was still so devoted that he had been raising the koto frog for three years.
It's been so long.
He is obviously a bad-tempered, conscienceless ungrateful person, what magic power does he have
As Xia Shu thought about this, he looked up and saw the small building in front of him, and his gaze suddenly froze.
This is a small hotel, and judging from its exterior decoration, its business situation is not optimistic.
—Looks so familiar.
The red light turns green and people start to move.
Hojo Natsuki stopped for a moment, his fingers cooled by the wind, and put them in the pocket of his windbreaker.
It took him five minutes to finally recall with difficulty - he had seen this hotel in a game before!
It was a long time ago. In order to avoid being hunted by the Kushiya Group and the Izumi-kai, Koto Frog rushed from Tokyo to Yokohama, preparing to sneak out of the country through the port. On the first day in Yokohama, Koto Frog made a small mistake and was forced to "go to sea", exposing his weakness as a frog who could not swim.
At that time, it lived in a hotel that looked very similar to this one!
The game's style was simple and abstract, so Hojo Natsuki didn't think of it at first. When he realized this, he immediately followed the crowd crossing the street and trotted to the hotel.
The hostess who looked sleepy was sitting at the front desk and asked, "Are you staying at the hotel?"
"Ah? Yes." Hojo Natsuki recalled, "Room 205... Is it empty? I want that room."
The landlady turned on the computer, slowly checked him in, and handed him a room card. Xia Shu took the room card and walked to the door of 205.
“Beep.”
The door opened.
The furnishings and decoration style inside the door are exactly the same as those in the game, except that they have a sense of being old.
Hojo Natsuki was quite curious. He walked around the room and looked around carefully.
Bedside lamp.
Before going to bed, the frog always covers itself with a small blanket, hiding most of its body, and secretly reads a book in the light from the bedside lamp. From the player's perspective, you can't actually see what it is doing secretly, but the system always betrays it - [[Frog] is flipping through [Frog and Mom's Childhood Album]].
The frog never mentioned his mother, and no one had visited its grave and sent flowers to it over the years, as if it had forgotten about her. Hojo Natsuki knew that it sewed important memories into its pockets, and only took them out secretly to savor them when it was alone; therefore, he was always willing to believe that this seemingly conscienceless frog didn't care about him as much as it looked.
Skirting board.
There is a crack in the skirting under the windowsill.
Hojo Natsuki squatted down and stared at the crack. He didn't expect the game to be realistic in such wonderful details. However, it was probably just a coincidence.
This was done by the frog. It didn't do it intentionally, but it did damage the integrity of the skirting board. So, the frog took a look and had no intention of paying compensation. It has always had no sense of public morality since it was a child.
Xia Shu held his head and leaned against the windowsill, waiting for the dizzy feeling to pass.
His vision blurred, and in a trance, he seemed to see someone pushing the door open.
He was a tall young man with moonlight-like silver hair swaying behind him. He closed the door with his left hand, his finger bones were clearly visible, and as his fingers applied force, a few blue veins appeared on the back of his palm. He closed the door and turned his head. A pair of green eyes first caught Hojo Natsuki's sight, as cold as the glaciers at the poles of the planet.
The silver-haired boy made eye contact with him. It was an extremely quick moment, and there was not even time to distinguish the emotions.
Hojo Natsuki was still leaning on the windowsill, the beige curtains behind him were blown up by the wind, blocking his sight and the man's figure.
He immediately raised his hand to push aside the curtains, but there was nothing in front of him, only emptiness, the door was wide open, and he was the only one here - the brief hallucination disappeared along with the feeling of dizziness.
It was like a silhouette on an old photo that he happened to catch a glimpse of, leaving an image on his retina; or perhaps, at that moment, he crossed countless time and space and met another person in a parallel universe.
In short, it’s an illusion.
Hojo Natsuki was in a trance for a moment, pulled out a chair and sat down, then took out his mobile phone and opened the game.
He decided to rest here for a while.
During the few seconds of waiting for the loading, Hojo Natsuki was still trying to recall the appearance of the boy who had just looked into his eyes. The more he recalled, the more he felt that the man was very similar to the one in the "Dim Lights" postcard sent by Qinwa.
He didn't think much about it, he just felt that he was hallucinating because he played games too much and was somewhat possessed.
After the game was loaded, Xia Shu's attention was completely taken away, and he had no time to pay attention to the scene just now.
The interface of the communication APP occupies the screen, showing the chat history and the corresponding time.
[Gin]: No
[Gin]: Not very good
[Gin]：Go
The corresponding time is... Boss the puppy visits the toy factory.
Hojo Natsuki: “…?!!”
! !
What, what happened?! At that time, Frog was clearly next to the Boss, but the game didn't even give me a notification!
He took a few deep breaths, and like an employee who was seeing the Sad Frog Boss for the first time, he was confused and he went through the details of the visit to the toy factory. Finally, he came up with a rather scary guess.
When the frog appears in the interface, the messages it sends on the communication app are also displayed on its head in the form of speech bubbles. The frog Bengua, for some reason, discovered this and tried it out.
What does this mean
Qinwa really knows his father's identity!
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Although I knew this moment would come, and I didn’t mind letting my son know my identity, when it really came...
So embarrassing, so socially awkward.
The frog sat at the table and ate its claws as seriously as it would a chicken claw, with a casual posture, as if it was waiting for someone.
Many of the furnishings in the room, such as the clover bookmarks and clover vases, were exchanged from the system - from this point of view, he did not hide it at all, so it was natural for Qinwa to find out.
Hojo Natsuki took another deep breath, hesitating.
I don’t know how to start.
He poked the little quack that was chewing its paw.
[Natsuki]: Why are you sucking your fingers again
The frog put down its hand, and a hint of doubt appeared on its calm little green face.
[Gin]：
[
Gin]：I didn’t eat
[Natsuki]: I saw it all!
[Gin]：I am sick
Hojo Natsuki cleared his throat, typed and deleted, deleted and typed again, and thought it would be better to just come clean and make things clear. Since Qinwa knew about this, there was no need to play dumb.
—Anyway, the organization will be left to Qinwa in the future.
[Natsuki]: Don’t you have anything to ask me
The frog had a blank expression on his face. He held the phone in his paws and typed away.
[Gin]：Isn’t it forbidden to say
[Gin]: I won’t ask anymore
This reaction, is it anger
It seems not.
Just when he was confused, the system gave him a thoughtful explanation of his psychological state: [[Qinwa] believes that if you tell others that you are the boss, you will be punished by the rules, so it plans to make it a secret that both of you know.]
Hojo Natsuki: “?!”
Hojo Natsuki was so moved that he almost burst into tears. What a cute and caring little Gua! Who dares to say that he has no conscience!
[Natsuki]：It’s okay, just ask
[Natsuki]: I will tell you everything I can, without hiding anything!
The frog lowered its eyes, as if it was considering its words, and hesitated for a long time.
The first thing it asked was a life-threatening question.
[Gin]: Your old friend in the toy factory.
[Gin]：Explanation.
"Old friend"... The old friend refers to... Lingmiao
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
He was startled.
How did Qinwa know about Zero Cat's affairs
Could it be that this traitorous game system would occasionally sell out Qin Frog's information just as it sold out Qin Frog's inner thoughts
The more I think about it, the more I feel that this is absolutely the case!!
But from the frog's wording, it's hard to tell how much it knows.
Hojo Natsuki hesitated, jumping back and forth between "flatly denying and turning the tables" and "confessing honestly", and soon chose the latter.
The frog loved him so much (illusion), but he still wanted to lie to it. That was too bad.
So he started to whitewash himself and Ling Miao, just like a scumbag who whitewashes his own cheating behavior.
[Natsuki]: You mean Amuro? I never spent any money on him, not a penny! He ran away from home in less than three days. We didn't even talk to each other.
[Natsuki]: Don't worry, he and I definitely don't...
[Gin]：
The frog interrupted him.
Its expression suddenly became terrifying.
[Gin]：Him too
Hojo Natsuki: “???”
"He too"
He, him too?!
What is this saying... Could it be that the person being asked about is not Rei-nyan? !
etc.
Qinwa always thought that Akai Fish was the fish he raised.
So it was actually asking about Akai Yuyu, but he misunderstood and revealed the matter of Zero Cat...
Hojo Natsuki was shocked.
He banged his head hard on his arm: "Help, how can there be someone as stupid as me-"
After a few seconds, he perked up and found that Qinwa had a murderous little black face and sent him several questions in a row.
[Gin]: Except for him and Moroboshi Dai
[Gin]: Who else
[Gin]：How many are there
[Natsuki]: No, Moroboshi! I don't keep fish!
[Gin]: Oh
The frog's cold expression revealed its inner thoughts from all angles - 'I don't believe it at all'.
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
I can’t explain it clearly, I’ve completely become a scumbag who raises fish…
He thought about it and decided to use something else that would attract Guagua's attention to divert his attention from "
The condemnation of "scumbag".
[Natsuki]: Do you want to see what I look like under the hood
[Natsuki]: I only show it to you, it’s our secret =w=
[Gin]：…
The frog's angry expression disappeared in a few seconds, and turned into a normal expressionless face. Its reaction was obviously very curious, but it answered coldly.
[Gin]: Oh
It was as if Natsuki had to show it to it, and it was just forced to accept it.
It's so awkward.
[Natsuki]: Wait a minute.
Hojo Natsuki switched to the simulation management interface.
Because Qinwa's loyalty is now as high as 95, he can also get its specific coordinates from the simulation management section, so he puts the white puppy wearing a frog mask downstairs of Qinwa's residence.
He controlled the dog and knocked on Qinwa's door.
Qinwa opened the door and almost ran over, but with a blank expression on his face.
The puppy came into the house and closed the door.
[Natsuki]：I may be a little different from you
[Natsuki]: Once you are mentally prepared, take off my hood.
Hojo Natsuki sighed.
Alas, his perfect frog disguise was finally revealed.
(End of this chapter)