Chapter 38 The Cleaners' Feast (tushumi.cc)

Including the chef standing at the back, there were ten people in total, sitting around the kitchen table for their meal, including Billis, who had joined as a plumber.

The five people in the left row, all wearing gray uniforms, came from five different pipe cleaning companies. Their only eating utensil was a tin spoon, which they used not only for each dish but also for stirring the drinks in their cups.

The five people opposite were dressed in matching suits, and their plates were also varied, with plates for main courses and desserts clearly separated. Their drinks included beer, wine, and coffee.

The man sitting in the middle was probably the head of the logistics department of the Meloy Company who had invited the cleaners to the event. He was a semi-reincarnated individual. He took off his suit jacket, revealing a matching gray vest. The vest was well-maintained, but since he was from the logistics department, it inevitably had a few stains.

The man sitting to his right had also taken off his suit, revealing a white shirt with a high collar and a black tie with pearl buttons. This elf's identity seemed even more noble, yet he did not belong to the Merloy Company.

He was Billy's new partner, Mr. Irenschel, who attended the dinner as the head of a pipe cleaning company.

Irensieur wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He always ate very slowly, and it was hard to tell how he managed to eat. His eyes, hidden behind the lenses, were unfathomable. While eating, he wore a top hat. He held a soup spoon in one hand and used a fork in the other to elegantly cut an arc on his steak, perfectly separating the bone, and carefully bringing it to his mouth.

In addition, Mr. Irenshere had his nails polished to a shine, and a portable book was hidden in his silk pocket. Compared to the ugly and short chef standing behind him, he was simply a picture of beauty.

Let's take a look at Billy. Since he has to work right after eating, he can't wear new clothes. His plate is full because the Stand he's using can't smell or taste anything, and he has no appetite at all. Moreover, he's the only half-reincarnated person among the five cleaners.

The other four cleaners—a strong orc, a dwarf skilled with tools, and two red-skinned winged people who could fly—were all seated opposite them, along with the heads of their respective cleaning companies.

When the head of logistics at Meloy Company saw that the appetizers were almost finished, he asked the chef to take the plates away and then brought out two large pots, one with potatoes and the other with sweet meat.

Hands holding spoons reached out from all directions from the pot, but only Billis and Irenshere remained seated. One had no appetite at all, and the other didn't want to compete with a bunch of brutes for food.

The spoon fell into the pot, then was scooped out again, filled with potatoes and sweet meat, until every plate was piled high with vegetables. This was done dozens of times, and the four cleaners finished cleaning up all the food in the pot.

"I expect you to clean the pipes as fast as you eat."

The head of logistics at Melloy Company threw the towel he had used to wipe his mouth into the pot, signifying that he could get back to work once he was full.

The chef took away the large pot and served each person a deep red wine, the last beverage.

Several cleaners opened their mouths wide, like furnace doors facing wine glasses, and poured the red liquid into their stomachs.

Irenscher only opened his mouth slightly, moistening it with the wine. His drinking gesture remained largely unchanged, with three fingers supporting the base of the wine glass, and only his upper body tilting back and forth.

This isn't drinking alcohol at all; it's rinsing your mouth.

Billys saw this and felt that he might not get along with his new partner.

The meal was almost over. Several male servants came and swept up all the leftover food from the table, finally removing the tablecloth. The head of logistics at Merloy Company had his female secretary bring the contracts, placing four copies in the center of the table, for each cleaning company.

Sign one.

Irenshere first picked up the quill pen and wrote his name with a flourish. At the same time, he glanced at Billis with disdain, as if to say to the head of logistics at Melloy Company sitting next to him, "No problem, I'll sell him to you."

Agents need to deceive their opponents with facial expressions, and Billis hopes that Irenshere is just putting on an act.

The remaining three companies quickly signed their contracts as well. Billis was eager to see what was written in the contracts, but Irenshere gave his partner a look that it was unnecessary, as he had already seen them.

The head of logistics at Meloy Company put the contract away with satisfaction, tapped it on the table, and said, "We chose you from dozens of cleaning companies. Do you know why?"

The group looked at each other, but no one answered.

The person in charge continued, "Because your company has a complete confidentiality system for its clients, no matter what the cleaner sees or hears in the house, they will not tell anyone. And the contract we just signed is a confidential document."

“What do we need to do?” one of the cleaners asked.

“Meloy Corporation is the largest transportation company in the other world. The magic path pipes of Eva Abyss are spread throughout the underground. Just last month, there were five incidents of foreign object blockage in the pipes. We need to hire professional cleaners to clean the pipes.”

“Hey, could you be more specific? Like, how big is the object? That way we can choose the right cleaning tools,” Billis interjected.

"We're sorry, we only know the location where the foreign object appeared, but the company believes you all have unique expertise in this area."

The person in charge gave a brief overview of the company's establishment, but no one listened, including the two agents, Irenshere and Billis, who had previously investigated the company's internal information through special channels.

Like many companies that specialize in making a fortune, the Merloy Company seized the opportunity after the major restart. They should have discovered the foreign object in the transportation system much earlier, but they didn't want to make it public because they didn't want to stop the trains and delay making money.

The Eva Abyss runs from the edge of Billings, where Hobrick is located, through the Belger Mountains, all the way to the Leviathan Ocean to the west. One route goes east through Thumb Swamp, over five mountain ranges, and close to the Valdan Forest, which is a rather long journey.

In addition, the Meloy Corporation is already discussing with the West Energy Corporation the development of a third route. This route is quite special, as it connects with the Sky Magic Path as a single pipeline. The most ingenious part is that the final destination is actually Sky City.

The foreign object was discovered during the development of the third section of the route, leading insiders to say that the Merloy Company had built a Tower of Babel leading to heaven.

The head of logistics at Melloy Corporation remained silent on the matter; the company simply wanted to hire someone to remove the foreign object, and they had no intention of telling anyone the truth.

There are three yellow cars and five chocobos parked outside the house, available for selection.

"Why won't you let us ride your company's train?" someone asked.

The person in charge shook his head: "We need to take the elevator down into the Eva Abyss; the train can't get there."

"Shouldn't the pipeline train follow the Demon Path? Why does it have to go down the shaft?"

At this point, Billy stood up among the five cleaners: "Because the company didn't want to provide a dedicated train for the cleaners; they felt it was too wasteful."

Irenshere immediately pulled Billis aside, stomping his feet repeatedly: "What do you want to do? Be the first to stick your neck out?"

"I just really disliked that person in charge, so I was just saying it casually."

"I don't know why Mia would fall for you."

"What?"

As if struck by something filthy, Irenshere immediately pulled out a miniature perfume from the side of his agent belt and sprayed it all over his head.

He actually put perfume in his belt! And he even acted like he was exceptionally handsome. This behavior really annoyed Billy!

Along the way, Billis suffered quite a bit from the perfume. Besides spraying perfume, Irencel had another habit: he loved reading. Of course, this was a good habit, but in Billis's eyes, Irencel only used books as tools. Perhaps that book was originally a portable eavesdropping tool.

However, Irenshere also has his merits; he is very good at dealing with people, especially people like the head of logistics at Merloy Corporation, who strictly distinguish between the rich and the poor.

In just twenty minutes, Irenshere managed to extract information from the person in charge that even the intelligence team couldn't find.

After the blockage occurred, passengers who had ridden the tube train had a strange feeling, as if a garrulous missionary had taken over their minds, constantly spouting vague doctrines, such as how to forget the Storm King, why to live with inferior species, and how the Podrolite dynasty of the Golden Age unified humanity.

Each passenger heard something different, and most of the time it happened late at night. These hallucinations lasted for a whole week.

The Merloh Corporation quickly concluded that this matter must also be related to foreign objects.

Suddenly, the massive hilltop rose above the entire horizon, revealing a rather crude, jellyfish-like structure with its smooth, rounded dome.

The dozen or so ladders swayed up and down like claws climbing a cliff. The different types of ladders were of different heights; the shorter ones were for dwarves, goblins, and the taller ones were for orcs, dragonborn, and the like.

They all share one common feature: these well ladders look extremely dangerous, old, and not very sturdy.

As soon as the head of logistics at Meloy Company got out of the car, he gathered the five cleaners and relevant company representatives together and said briefly, "Don't forget the agreement we signed at the dinner table: our company will not be responsible for any accidents that occur."

Billis whispered to Irenshere, "You said you'd seen the contract, and this is what it said?"

Irenshere didn't care about his partner's feelings at all, since he wasn't the one going down the shaft to do the work anyway.