Soon afterward, Theresa returned to Babel Tower with W and Kal'tsit in tow.
They certainly had their own duties waiting for them—honestly, spending so much time loitering around The City could already be counted as excessive truancy.
As for Obsidian… he felt no rush regarding his promise of assistance to Kazdel.
It would likely be some time yet before Theresa truly required his help. For now, he needed to focus on sorting out affairs within The City itself.
Lobotomy Corporation was experiencing a major upturn. With a fresh batch of employees on board, work had begun in earnest across multiple Abnormality containment units.
Although the entire facility couldn't yet be equipped with [Qliphoth Deterrence] devices, at least the containment chambers themselves had them now, dramatically easing the process.
Currently, including those captured during the recent interview trials, Lobotomy Corporation housed around six Abnormalities. Obsidian hadn't yet moved to contain [Nothing There] or [Dreaming Current]—the current staff weren't ready to handle entities of such magnitude.
Still, even with mostly low-level Abnormalities in custody, their production capacity was more than sufficient. With daily outputs exceeding 300 [PE-Boxes], just the surplus alone covered all of The City's energy consumption, even subsidizing nearly all energy costs for K Corp's research division next door.
Energy-intensive projects could now operate at full power without restraint, given how abundantly Lobotomy Corp supplied energy. Production across The City had undergone an explosive boom.
Meanwhile, inside Lobotomy Corp, Skadi and Laurentina had reunited. Thanks to Da'at's careful persuasion and enthusiastic encouragement, the two Abyssal Hunters chose to stay, beginning a new phase of intensive [EGO] development.
Would they eventually return home…? Obsidian suspected they probably intended to.
However, before they actually acted on it, he planned to "exchange" a few more Ægirians from Ægir into The City. Once enough of their kin settled here, the two wouldn't feel the need to return anymore.
How exactly to accomplish this exchange? Obsidian had faith in Lobotomy Corp's technological allure.
Indeed, Laurentina had grown visibly fascinated by Lobotomy Corp's innovations during her recent stay.
This vast, mysterious field of unknown possibilities was irresistibly enticing to an Ægirian like her—just the mystery alone could keep her anchored.
Thus, one after another, new [EGO] weapons and armors were produced and issued to Lobotomy Corp staff. Apart from the single WAW-class [Feather of Honor] armor, most other [EGO] equipment still remained TETH-level.
This summarized the recent developments within Lobotomy Corp. Perhaps the biggest change was that Hai had finally escaped his perpetual cycle of overwork and burnout there.
Of course, this merely freed Hai up to resume overtime shifts back at the Hana Association.
Thus, Hai immediately plunged into another relentless work marathon. After pushing himself to the brink once again, Hana Association finally completed a project they'd been laboring over:
The establishment of a new Association.
With Hai's dedicated efforts, the Zwei Association officially came into being. Acknowledging Hana Association's authority, Zwei Association quickly assumed responsibility for maintaining public order within The City.
Their members rapidly became a common sight in alleys and streets. The criminal underground was easily managed as well; under Hai's deliberate direction, Texas led The Thumb to "step aside," deliberately giving way to Zwei Association's rise.
With the endorsement of Hana Association and grudging respect from local gangs, Zwei Association expanded swiftly.
Many Fixers who had missed out on joining Hana Association seized this opportunity, swiftly joining Zwei Association instead. Massive greatswords poured continuously from workshops, becoming Zwei's standard issue equipment.
As a result, order in The City noticeably improved. Though it still relied on the Fixers' commission-based system, residents' daily lives showed signs of gradual enhancement.
Interestingly, Don Quixote had initially shown great enthusiasm for joining the Association—but quickly lost interest after Hai gave him a detailed briefing.
Lately, Don Quixote's interests had shifted entirely toward the regions beyond The City… places like Kazimierz and Kazdel.
Obsidian sensed it was nearly time to allow Don Quixote to venture outward.
Aside from these major developments, smaller-scale progress unfolded continuously in The City's corners.
Workshop techniques steadily improved, and the population surged past twenty-five thousand. Small factories and companies emerged, providing new goods to the marketplace.
Surprisingly, some workshops had even surpassed Obsidian's expectations. Under the initial blueprints provided by The City, one workshop had advanced far enough in firearms manufacturing to equip Grade-3 Fixers.
Because of this, The Thumb had placed large orders for these newly upgraded firearms.
With improved gear came stronger Fixers, and gradually, Grade-3 Fixers became common, with even a few rare Grade-2 emerging.
This stirred Obsidian's imagination again. He took these developments as a sign—other Fixer Associations, more sophisticated commission systems, the remaining Fingers, even the formation of a Nest—these possibilities now had fertile ground to flourish.
But that would all come in due time. Obsidian knew he couldn't rush things. Currently, he remained busy negotiating trade matters related to Lobotomy Corp, while also preparing to handle the imminent developments concerning Kazdel.
Obsidian reclined on his bed, idly turning over the [ID Card] he'd drawn nearly half a month ago, murmuring softly to himself:
"It's really been quite some time, hasn't it…? But judging from the timing, Kazdel's situation should be ripening about now."
Then, with a faint smile, he reached over and picked up an envelope lying beside him.
Clearly visible upon it was Theresa's name.
"Ah, is this the moment we've been waiting for? Just in time—The City really has been lacking a new project lately."
Rising to his feet, Obsidian gazed out over The City from afar. Then, he lowered his eyes toward the [ID Card] in his hand.
This Identity had remained unused since its extraction. But perhaps now was finally the right moment.
"Ha… Let the Wings clash and squabble. This stage suits them perfectly."
Obsidian narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the card in his palm.
"And as for this…"
[Obsidian Identity: Index Messenger – Jinbei]