Seeing that Bug Uncle was still hesitating, Zhou Zhuang started to get anxious.
"Come on, don't overthink it. Chances like this don't come twice. The company has plenty of benefits—delicious meals, decent lodging, and even beautiful music when you clock in and out."
"The work schedule is also very humane. Once you finish your daily tasks, you're off work, and your hours generally won't exceed seven a day. We also place a great deal of importance on our employees' physical and mental health. Full employees rarely have to do field work, and during holidays you can use the company's Singularity device to head home quickly."
"So? Doesn't that make you really want to join?" After selectively introducing the company's conditions, Zhou Zhuang looked at Gregor expectantly, hoping for the answer he wanted.
Zhou Zhuang, kid… has no one ever told you that you are really not cut out for recruiting people? Gregor looked at him, every thought plainly written across his face.
"Zhou Zhuang, as far as I know, conditions like those are almost impossible for a Wing to offer. Or rather, any Wing willing to offer benefits like that usually has some hidden catch they can't conveniently say out loud. Either the work itself is extremely dangerous, or when something goes wrong, the employees are the ones expected to deal with it. I know it may be troublesome to ask this before I've even joined, but could you tell me which kind Lobotomy Corporation falls into?"
As the topic between Gregor and Zhou Zhuang gradually approached the core secrets of a Wing, the old man panicked and immediately stood up, intending to put some distance between himself and the two of them.
The moment Zhou Zhuang saw him rise, he hurried to reassure him.
"Ah, old sir, it's fine. You don't need to avoid this. Gregor's topic is a little sensitive, but it's still within the scope of company regulations, right, Angela?"
Quietly seated the whole time, Angela gave a slight nod when Zhou Zhuang addressed her.
"Yes, Manager. Though that is on the premise that these two already intend to join our company." As she spoke, Angela produced two employment forms and two pens from behind her back and handed them to Gregor and the old man across from her.
"For prospective employees who already have one foot inside the company, everything the Manager says from this point onward will simply become part of the training process explaining company regulations to new hires."
The two men took the forms and pens from Angela's hands, staring down at what looked very much like a contract selling away their lives.
Gregor calmly asked Zhou Zhuang to wait a moment. The old man copied him and also asked permission in the same way.
Then the two of them carefully looked over the forms in their hands. Much like G Corp's employment forms, they were mainly for filling in personal information. The difference was that these also required them to write down any major past work experience.
Looking at the section for work history, Gregor asked Zhou Zhuang in confusion,
"What's this work history section for? For the old man and me, does our experience in the Smoke War even count as anything positive? And setting that aside, I also have a past working for a former Wing."
"Oh, that doesn't matter. The Smoke War proves you have both skill and luck. And being a former Wing employee proves your work ability is outstanding." With a perfectly serious expression, Zhou Zhuang offered a completely different interpretation of the two experiences Gregor had mentioned.
Hearing that explanation, the corner of Gregor's mouth twitched. He glanced again at the form in his hand and let out a long sigh. Then he gestured that he would go fill it out at a cleaner nearby table, and led the old man over with him.
Using the pen Angela had given him, Gregor swiftly filled in his information. Unlike Gregor, who started writing immediately the moment he sat down, the old man hesitated after taking his seat, looking at the form in his hands.
"Gregor… do you think this is real?"
"Whether it's real or not, I don't know. But that kid doesn't look fake." Gregor's pen never stopped moving as he rapidly filled in his details. "And if you ask me why I don't think they're scammers, all I can say is this: when it comes to Taboo Hunters and the Head's watchdogs, even the filthiest rat in the Backstreets wouldn't dare entertain the thought of impersonating a Wing."
"And besides, considering who the two of us are—even if they aren't really a Wing, as long as they're willing to take us in, it's already like dogshit luck falling from the sky. Hurry up and write. Don't keep the kid waiting too long."
After Gregor finished his form, he waited for the old man to finish his as well. Then the two of them stood up together and returned to Zhou Zhuang's table.
They handed the forms over to Zhou Zhuang, who was grinning so broadly it nearly reached his ears. Seeing how hard Zhou Zhuang was struggling to suppress the corners of his mouth, Gregor teased him,
"Well now, kid—ah, no, I should call you Manager now. Brother Manager, that expression of yours is a little too blatant. Makes it feel like we've just signed some dark contract to sell ourselves piece by piece."
Hearing the reminder, Zhou Zhuang hurriedly reined in his smile, suppressing the wild grin until it looked reasonably normal.
Looking at Gregor and the old man, Zhou Zhuang cleared his throat and began explaining the work they would be doing in the future.
"Lobotomy Corporation operates by extracting creatures known as Abnormalities from the subconscious and using them to produce… Under my command, you'll perform work with them in order to satisfy their needs… And that, in summary, is what the work inside the company is like."
After listening to Zhou Zhuang's explanation, Gregor joked,
"Manager, then I guess from now on we'll be relying on you."
"No problem." Zhou Zhuang thumped his chest in guarantee. Then, looking at Gregor, he suddenly remembered something about Lobotomy Corporation and decided to bring it up—to wake the man up a little, and maybe scare the two of them while he was at it.
"Oh, right. There's one more important thing I forgot to mention." Zhou Zhuang narrowed one eye slightly and spoke slowly.
"As for 'Lobotomy Corporation,' if you've been paying attention to the news lately, you've probably seen reports about 'Lobotomy.' The entirety of L Nest was engulfed in mist, the fate of the people inside became unknown, and in the end the Head announced that L Corp had lost its position as a Wing."
"Lobotomy Corporation… Manager, that's not the kind of thing you joke about." When Zhou Zhuang said there was one more important matter to mention, Gregor had assumed it would just be some company taboo he had forgotten to explain. But after hearing what Zhou Zhuang actually said, both Gregor and the old man's faces darkened instantly. They had thought they were about to rise back to glory—only to discover they had stepped straight into a bottomless pit.
After hearing the company's fate, Gregor felt like cursing his lungs out. So now he was going to gain yet another label: Feather of the fallen L Wing. Amazing. Just amazing. How was it that something most people could never encounter in several lifetimes had happened to him twice, Gregor?
Having already resigned himself to his fate and prepared to just lie flat, Gregor watched as Zhou Zhuang finished building suspense and slowly delivered the rest of the sentence he had not finished.
"So our company must take 'Lobotomy Corporation' as a warning. We absolutely cannot end up like them and blow ourselves into fireworks."
....
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