Enforcer Manual
Chapter 724 - 722: Good Night, The First Region_1

Chapter 724: Chapter 722: Good Night, The First Region_1

Fatigue, drowsiness, his eyelids were so heavy they were nearly impossible to keep open.

All night long, Jock was shrouded in these sensations.

The hover car traveled along the preset track, and from the moment he got in, Jock had yawned for the fourth time, prompting him to take out anti-fatigue medication and ingest twice the usual dose.

Even though he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for the past few days, the messes stirred up by "Dominance" and Hog made sleep the least of his concerns. But staying up was the norm for someone like him, and with the help of anti-fatigue medication, he shouldn’t have felt this way.

Or could it be a sign of aging?

But regardless, he had to ensure that tonight’s meeting would conclude smoothly.

Jock rallied his spirits and arrived at the banquet hall ten minutes earlier than the agreed time.

Their guest, sticking to his own principle of never being late, knocked on the partition door at the appointed time, which was followed by a bout of oppressive breathlessness.

The entire building fell into deathly silence, as if all sounds vanished with the arrival of their guest.

"It’s been a long time, ’Emperor’."

Jock adjusted his breathing and spoke.

It had been years since their last encounter, and even to the members of parliament, the whereabouts of the person before him had always been kept secret. He was also one of the few Six Stars rescuers who remained outside the control of corporations and families.

Rumors had it that after the end of the dark ages, the "Emperor" had never ceased working.

His appearance had changed markedly compared to the last time. His face had undergone complete mechanical transformation, leaving little to suggest anything human; anyone seeing this visage would likely mistake him for a robot.

Jock speculated that the extent of his cybernetic modifications might rival that of "Wild Bone," with everything but the brain no longer original parts.

"Our time is valuable, so let’s get straight to the point."

The faint blue glow emanating from the "Emperor’s" cybernetic eyes swept over Jock, who stood in front of the table, seemingly without any intention to sit and have a prolonged conversation.

For someone who had undergone extensive mechanical augmentation, even the most sumptuous food had lost all appeal.

Adapted for continuous battle in various environments, he no longer needed to rely on food or nutritional injections for energy replenishment.

"In fact, I would like to invite you to join us on behalf of the High-level Parliament, and we’d like to hear a voice from the rescuers in our decision-making."

"I will not join any organization."

A predictable response.

Jock knew that even the titles of the Six Stars rescuer and "Emperor" had been imposed on this man by the Review Meeting. In reality, he had never reported to the rescuer department and had not undergone any rescuer assessment.

To date, the "Emperor" had maintained an absolute neutrality in any political stance.

The reason being, he had no interest in any decisions made by the United Government.

"It seems all these years haven’t changed you at all, and that’s no small feat."

Communicating with the "Emperor" was always extremely challenging; his reticence made it difficult to sustain any conversation, and more importantly, the closer one got to him, the more pronounced the difficulty in breathing became, making one wish to end the conversation as soon as possible.

That’s what Jock was thinking now.

Nevertheless, the High-level Parliament had never deluded itself that they could persuade the man before them with just one meeting; they had prepared information that would truly pique his interest.

Jock pushed a prepared data chip towards him, "δ, you must have heard this name."

The face, completely transformed into machinery and devoid of human expressions, the "Emperor" simply picked up the data chip from the table and inserted it into the data connector at the back of his neck, "I remember it, the out-of-control biological weapon created by Ailemon Biological Lab."

"See for yourself, for some reason, it has a close connection with Jasmine."

This was the "bait" they had tailored for the "Emperor," "And after Jasmine came to The First Region, she is suspected of participating in the assassination of the Chairperson of the Council. Some Six Stars candidates have revealed to us that she sought them out privately, spreading some... comments unfavorable to the United Government. It’s said that δ possesses strong interference-type Spiritual Energy, and we cannot be sure whether she has been influenced."

"I will find her and investigate this thoroughly."

The "Emperor" pocketed the data chip and turned to leave, but as if he remembered something, suddenly said, "You better get some rest, your body is about to give out."

"Thanks for the reminder."

Jock subconsciously touched his face, feeling a bit embarrassed. Had he really become so haggard that it was immediately noticeable to others?

However, before he could even contemplate his rest schedule, a noise at the door made his heart skip a beat. Looking towards the source of the sound, he realized that a banquet hall waiter had stumbled headfirst into the "Emperor’s" embrace, shattering a bottle of expensive champagne on the floor.

The waitress was clearly terrified by the scene; as she looked up, she met the Emperor’s crimson, gleaming mechanical eyes.

"I-I’m sorry, I was dozing off!"

The waitress stuttered as she spoke, apologizing in a panic. She didn’t understand what had happened to her that day, as her routines and work hours had been no different from usual. But ever since the afternoon, she had felt so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open, and just now, she had almost fallen asleep while walking.

She was completely flustered because they had heard that a member of the High-level Parliament was there to entertain a very important guest. If the guest was slighted, it would be far more serious than just losing her job.

She had heard that someone mysteriously disappeared after offending a council member, even though the company claimed he had been transferred to work in another city, everyone whispered that he’d been "taken care of."

"I am really sorry, I will clean this up right away!"

"It’s my responsibility."

Unexpectedly, the man in front of her, whose body was modified like a mechanical demon, let go of her arm and even helped stabilize her wobbly body as her legs grew weak. "Sorry for causing you trouble."

Leaving those words behind, he headed straight for the elevator.

As the man walked away, the panicked and suffocating feeling gradually faded. The waitress stood there, dazed, until the elevator reached the first floor and the strange feeling completely disappeared. That’s when she suddenly remembered something.

Turning around, she met Jock’s stern gaze.

"I am sorry, I will clean up here quickly!"

Watching the waitress in a flustered hurry close the partition door, Jock took several deep breaths. He decided to heed the "Emperor’s" advice—after all, his mechanical eyes might have been equipped with some advanced biometric technology that could tell his body was in pretty bad shape.

The meeting ended much earlier than he had anticipated, which is one of the advantages of dealing with people like the "Emperor." It skipped unnecessary pleasantries and even the dinner was canceled altogether.

Jock stayed alone in the compartment, listlessly picking at the food once everyone was gathered for the banquet.

A deep fatigue still enveloped him, making the food tasteless. While eating, he arranged work via text with his secretary, deciding to go home and get a good night’s sleep.

But his plans were ultimately in vain.

Just as he had decided to drive the hover car to his apartment, a deadly call came for him once again.

This time, the bearer of bad news was the secretary herself.

Her voice sounded extremely weak. While reporting work, Jock could even hear her yawning incessantly, and he knew his secretary was selected through rigorous screening, having never shown such unprofessional behavior before.

The dire news did not come from "Dominate" or Hog, but from a problem within his own company.

Not long ago, signs of widespread negative behavior and work avoidance had emerged among the staff.

A majority of the employees went to the break room at the same time and locked themselves into the sleep capsules, leading to an overflow at the company, where the sleep capsules were fully occupied. Even those trying to hold out at their desks eventually couldn’t bear it any longer, and laid their heads down to sleep.

The secretary was no exception.

Before the boss sent new work instructions, she had intended to take half a day off.

The feeling was as if the employees’ nerves, which had been tense all along, snapped simultaneously, and even anti-fatigue drugs couldn’t stop the spread of exhaustion.

Jock was very dissatisfied with the secretary’s report.

The Council’s work had been bothering him enough these past few days; he couldn’t accept his company falling into chaos at such a time. He had to change his plans to go home and sleep. Over the phone, he gave strict instructions to the secretary to get those lazy workers up and back to work immediately.

But the response was strangely quiet on the other end of the phone.

After a while, he actually heard snoring.

The anger somewhat cleared his mind. Even though his body screamed for rest, he roused himself and called the waitress to settle the bill, intending to return to the company and see for himself who had the audacity to lead such work avoidance.

However, all he was met with was silence.

After getting angry by himself, Jock suddenly realized the waitress hadn’t come over. He pressed the summon button a few more times in disbelief. The partition was still eerily quiet, and it felt as if he was the only person left in the world.

He quickly made his way to the door.

The shattered glass and wine stains on the floor had been cleaned up, but the long corridor was devoid of any human presence.

Jock followed the corridor forward until he found the waitress’s figure near the chairs by the elevator.

She was already asleep.

Her brows were relaxed, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned as if all her worries had vanished from her mind.

Moonlight bathed her figure.