Hitting that All Time High // Limbus Company Abridged // Episode 56

Awaken! M pry surrender not to such machinery! I am now mildly irritated. All right, I'm back. What the hell happened? Ten billion on is certainly an absurd amount of money, but that doesn't change the fact that we are still responsible for it. We did benefit from the extra time it granted us, and it was something that was mutually agreed upon before our unilateral activation. Unexpected events mean no countermeasures could be put in place either.

Yeah, okay, but we didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to debate. You going to see what I did there? Whether I was allowed to slow down time or not, I didn't even know I could do that because you won't tell me what I can do! You're like 16 switches in your face, and you just push one. One of them blows up!

If you plan to sacrifice one of us to settle the debt, I request that you evaluate our work based on individual merit. And I have done the most work. I have the best IDs. My Triple Star IDs are the best, and I've done the most damage. Please, but we did eventually find a reasonable compromise. While you were wasting your time horsing around in front of the Gallows, we have been contracted to deal with a distortion.

Oh, sweet! We can actually start leveraging our business sources as like payment. Oh, this is the best. This is exactly what we need. This is a request regarding a series of similar unsolved cases within T Corp's Borders, or some call it the case of the time-killing time.

Who said it? According to the book I have prodded in recent days, any and all detectives working to solve the case of urban nightmare beyond are issued this special investigator badge during the course of their employment. Detectives? Fixers?

We plan to issue those badges. Yes. I demand that I be awarded at least three badges—one for my private collection, one for display, and one for business. So that should be enough. Oh gosh, can we go back to a Kanto where you just aren't? Oh, no, you can't. Oh, jeez. The problem is that they don't want all 13 of you running amok in an effort to solve the case.

Indeed, I can't have your entire group go wild in the streets and potentially waste the precious time of our residents. Also, the special investigation badge isn't something the T Corp hands out like candy. We can't give away a whole box of badges for all 13 of them. I concur to a degree. Oatmeal, who had continuously and consistently suggested we cut down the number of Sinners, was the first one to welcome this offer.

We should have done something like this a long time ago. What use is there hauling around these dead weights? We will leave these useless pawns behind to wait in the bus while the elite team of high-performing individuals takes care of business. So, clearly, not you.

You seem rather confident that you'll be part of the elite team of highly performing individuals, Otis. Last I heard, you oatmeal all over the place. You said it was, and I quote, oatmeal in time, and then you proceeded to oatmeal all over Withering Heights.

They have decided that three, no, four individuals, including the manager, is an appropriate amount of people allowed to partake in this investigation. Did you just try to like count me as not a person? I mean, I know I don't do anything but like yell at the Sinners all day long, but like come on.

Okay, right. So it all comes down to my choice, huh? Three Sinners. So many eyes are upon me, not that I've ever had them all look at me like the same time before, but you know depression is a completely different level when it comes to making, picking favorites for the Dodge team, you know? The social dynamic and class is never the same after one of these.

Looks like the manager is deep in thought, but pointlessly agonizing over something like this is a waste of time. I'm taking volunteers first, so let's see some hands quickly now. Forsooth, I hesitate before such opportunity. Maybe it's finally my time to shine. Get some comics!

Don't even ask me, all right? Let's get on with it. I need to take out some memories on somebody. I'm not raising my hand; I'm just cleaning my glass. Please don't include me in this. I need to recharge after the C6, okay? I was heavy lifting that whole time. My sinking ID was way too much.

All right, there is no simple matter. I've not been with so few Sinners before, except for that one time we accidentally walked to the outskirts. The back door, so I have to take this slow and really consider all possible angles. What a mess.

It would be too much trouble for me to listen and debate all the opportunities they set to allow me to make the choice for you this time, Dante. Well, I don't think there’s going to be too big of a gap between them when it comes to their capabilities. I mean, we just throw their corpse at the wall until victory occurs, but they all excel in different situations—very weird and off-the-wall situations, and none of them in combat. But you know, Dante, are you listening?

I just said that I will be the one to choose your companions. No, I need to consider more than just their individual capabilities. Some of them work better when paired together, but it's also true that haphazard pairing them together might end up making a team less than the sum of its parts. This is about building team synergy, which I should be really good at with Mirror D. You’d think. Wait, didn't Rodus say something about how people born in December and August don't mesh well together and the Sinners who will accompany Dante to solve this case are?

I have to choose someone who can support me, assess the situation calmly, remain free from biased judgment while making smart rational decisions on the fly. The Sinners who fit that description are... Wait. Do we even have anyone like that? Damn it.

I've got it. I choose FM and Yu Sang—three of them have like meta IDs too, so this should be a piece of cake. Rod and Rousu and Honglu—ignore the idiot over there. I’m the one who makes the decisions. I watch the VTubers. I save your asses. I make the decisions. This is my final legacy. I bestoweth upon me.

What's all this? A book? Magnifying glasses? Are these clothes? Is it my treasure? My collection? Be gentle with them. I would like them back. They're almost mint condition. Oh, but why aren’t you carrying three sets of clothing? One is for my private collection, one for display, and one for business.

Is that not obvious to thee? Record of Investigation solutions to the 13 problems by Agatha wait. A minute, that name sounds familiar—Agatha. Oh, no, I’m thinking of Agatha from Pokemon. What am I doing! Oh, look, Lady Agatha says in a forward to this book that any self-respecting ace detective must always dress themselves in impeccable fashion. I must always be a detective, then, considering how impeccable my fashion sense is. Call us the Elite 4.

Oh my God, are they doing a Pokémon reference?! Oh my God! Oh, they put it on. They put it on! I love Rousu putting on the mustache too, that’s even better. What? Hey, wait! Get back here. That’s more than enough time to finish weaving the loom. Calm down. All right, we'll be back before you even know. Thou shalt return triumphantly as a glorious band of ace detectives. Mark my words.

All right, looks like everyone’s ready then. Let’s get to move on. Chat with the third victim. Let’s see the case we're going to... Aha! There it is! The stone's throw away. Here’s your complimentary cocaine and LCD injections. You best get ready because we’re going on Dr. F Rush, a detective adventure that no one will ever forget. I can’t wait for the bajillion jump cuts every time I have to laugh at this dude. Nero’s going to kill me when I send this back to them. No, I mean why are you coming along with us? I’m sorry, but we’re not taking sidekick applications right now.

Fine, boom! Go away. Shoo! Go on, you can go home now. Incorrect. One of us will be joining your team. We are going to send an employee with you so we can receive immediate updates regarding your investigation progress. Also, have you seen him? We need him out of the office. He keeps snorting all of the drug evidence we keep confiscating.

Isn’t absolutely brilliant—the very time not slowing down or speeding up time. They’re eliminating completely just get out this calculation. They’re taking it out like a puppy’s. So, uh, your name is... Relax and call me however you want. Names are such important things, aren’t they? Oh my. Oh man, I'm going to feel this in my ribs tomorrow.

What, Rousu, detective? Whoa, he sure is a fast talker. He’s talking way faster than Mot did when he reviewed those chickens. That was pretty brutal too. I don’t think anyone ever recovered from that, you saying? I think he still feels those burns. He compressed a lot of time. What’s that supposed to mean? I never see C-Corp citizens about 20–28 hours a day, but you might also run into someone who’s like him, people who have plenty of time to spare because they have so much suppressed time they can afford to compress 24 hours into a single day. A few people exhaust a few hours a day.

He shook his head in frustration, very rapidly. That is, well, I stopped briefly looking at the clock tower and wondered if I should head back home to salt that bacon, and that's when the time Ripper struck. Oh, the clock tower. Each one of us 12 zones of C-Corp. The clock tower displays a corp's Standard time scale because everyone has different hours to spend of the day. They watch it with respective time scales as well. So to tell the real time—objective time—one would have to the Clock Tower.

Oh, the culprit went straight for Bumble, but his employees literally can’t move fast enough to have done that. Then that narrows the culprit down to someone unrelated to his factory. Someone without much time. Someone’s got a bone to pick against the time-rich. Wait, I think I know an organization that might fit that exact description. No, no, no way. I doubt it. They don’t ever take drastic actions like these anymore—even back at Jor.

Perhaps you are looking for the theor-controllers. Oh babes, is this what it’s like to have your Kanto come back? Oh [Music]. [Music]. [Music]. No, where can we find them? Well, it probably ain’t too difficult considering that the screen just exploded. It’s an explosive tore Hung Lo shreds as he was peeking around. Oh, that’s me! Never mind, okay? False alarm, guys. I thought we had a problem here. No, this is perfectly fine. All right, guys, we can continue on with the investigation on hitter now.

Someone’s having a blast. Oh man, I think just pun-ability is like some kind of, I don't know, fixer-superpower or something. Because like I swear, I’m making puns, and there’s no one even around anymore.

Keywords

Machinery
Time manipulation
Debt settlement
Investigation
Distortion
Elite team
Special investigator badge
Detective adventure
C-Corp
Time Ripper

FAQ

Q: What is the main conflict in the article?
A: The characters are dealing with a significant debt and must investigate a series of unsolved cases to settle it.

Q: How do the characters plan to address their debt?
A: They plan to leverage their business sources and take up an investigation contract to solve a distortion within T Corp's borders.

Q: Who decides which team members will investigate the cases?
A: The manager, Dante, initially makes the decision, but then it is suggested that someone else will choose the companions.

Q: Which characters are chosen for the elite investigation team?
A: FM, Yu Sang, Rod, Rousu, and Honglu are implied to be part of the chosen team.

Q: What elements of humor are incorporated into the narrative?
A: The narrative includes various puns, comedic interplay between characters, and pop culture references like Pokémon.

Q: Why is an additional employee joining the investigation team?
A: To provide immediate updates regarding the investigation's progress and because the employee needs to be kept out of the office due to their behavior.