Sand and dust filled the air as countless people in shackles carried heavy loads, stumbling between a blur of buildings. A blood pool was constructed right in the center of the complex, where broken corpses bobbed up and down in the dark red fluid, occasionally emitting bubbles.
A human was hung upside down above the pool, blood dripping slowly into the liquid below. Many strange figures surrounded them, leaving fresh wounds on their body from time to time. Each time a new wound was carved, a burst of frantic cheering erupted.
【The Devourer's Flesh Workshop, Baron William's slave workshop. He offers the soul and flesh of slaves to the Ancient Devourer in exchange for blessings from the evil gods of the Dreamlands.】
Struggling against the fear and oppression that inevitably accompanied every mental impact, Lynch felt he was getting used to it.
This was the end of a dark passage more than ten meters underground, a secret room of a few dozen square meters. It might have once been a steam engine room, but now all the machinery had been dismantled. Only a few gas lamps extended from the walls, illuminating the desk in the center of the room and the set piece tray spread out upon it.
The tray was densely packed with models, but they were not houses or buildings; they were models of production lines.
These production lines were fixed onto the tray in an apparently orderly fashion. Lynch’s heart stirred as he followed his memory to locate the approximate positions of the 8C and 10E workshops. Upon closer inspection, the production line models were almost an exact match for reality.
“Two officers, this is the thing.” Under the light, Manager Frank approached the tray first, rubbing his arms as he said with a puzzled expression, “Why do I feel so uncomfortable? I never felt this way before.”
Nonsense. Of course you feel uncomfortable; the mystery relic has gone out of control.
Lynch and Officer Natalie both glanced at Frank with strange looks in their eyes.
An out of control mystery relic would maximize its radiation of filth, and close contact had a significant impact on ordinary people, easily leaving irreversible mental damage. Yet, no one reminded him to keep his distance.
Losing control was a key feature of mystery relics; one had to experience it. Since some people enjoyed using them so much, let him enjoy it to the fullest. There was no need for sympathy.
Therefore, Lynch only nodded at Frank, focusing all his attention on the mystery relic. Since it was clearly out of control, Lynch did not dare touch it directly to read its details. He asked directly, “Besides feeding it one person a day, tell us the other details. We need to find a way to solve the problem.”
Frank had completely bought into their identities and spoke without reservation, “This thing is indeed very useful. As long as it is operating, the workers who have been on the production line that day become obedient. No one dares to slack off, and everyone works with all their might, even if they collapse from exhaustion at the end. Furthermore, the number of times they go to the restroom is reduced several fold; they never leave their post unless they are about to wet their pants.”
Listening to Frank’s explanation, Lynch had already roughly sketched out the effects of this mystery relic.
The models on the relic were arranged exactly according to the real production lines of the screw factory. Consequently, the screw factory conceptually became the flesh workshop itself. After sacrificing one victim, all the workers on the production line were controlled to labor tirelessly, just like in the memory he had just witnessed.
Seeing that Lynch did not interrupt, Frank continued to introduce, “The only drawback is that as soon as they start working, they become as stiff and numb as puppets. But they are just a bunch of tools anyway; as long as they know how to work, it is enough. Having no brains does not have any impact.”
“Shouldn't the only drawback be that one person dies every day?” Officer Natalie could not help but ask, her face straight.
“There is no need for compensation; it is just that one more person disappears from the list every day. It cannot be counted as a drawback. Besides, having it increases production by at least one third. It is so worth it.”
“Hmm, true. Making money is the most important thing. It is a pity that things went wrong in the end.” Lynch nodded with a smirk, though he stomped hard on the officer’s foot below the table. “I heard that on the day the incident happened, the number of people on the list did not decrease, right?”
“Yes, yes. It seems the Speaker mentioned it to you two. Actually, we did not handle it well. Before using it, the Speaker told us that if one day the list did not decrease, we had to stop it immediately for twenty four hours. But stopping it would affect production, so we could not bear to shut it down. As a result, the next day, the number of missing names became two, and after that, it increased by one every few days. Only then did we get a bit worried and quickly notified that gentleman.”
“Good. You notified us very promptly.” Lynch’s fists had already clenched behind his back several times. He finally closed his eyes, barely restraining the anger in his heart, and said in a calm tone, “On the day the list did not decrease, was there any unusual situation in the factory?”
“We investigated that, too. There didn't seem to be anything unusual that day, except that one female worker left early.”
Lynch’s heart stirred. The timing seemed to match. If he linked the incident to little Janet’s anomaly...
“A female worker? What was her name?”
“I don't know. I would have to check the registration book. I just remember it was a child, on half salary.”
Lynch already had a preliminary guess and continued to ask, “After the incident, did you try to stop it?”
“It won't stop.” Frank revealed a troubled expression. “Before, as long as we removed the middle pool model, it would lose its effect, but when we tried to stop it, we couldn't pull it off no matter what.”
Lynch frowned and took a few steps back, using his cane to push the set piece on the mystery relic. The feedback he felt was very strange.
There was no sensation of it being fixed by nails or glue; instead, it felt as if it were fixed to space itself, without the slightest room for deformation.
Officer Natalie whispered into Lynch’s ear, “This is a normal phenomenon. The mystery relic is a manifestation of a memory from the Dreamlands. Interrupting the activity of the relic is equivalent to terminating the operation of the memory. You cannot interrupt the memory while it is out of control; only re-containment can work.”
“I understand. Manager Frank, go get the registration book now; we need to verify it. By the way, bring the other four down as well. You know who I am talking about. You are all the most important people in the factory; we must ensure your safety.”
As soon as Frank left, Officer Natalie could not help it anymore and kicked the wall, though Lynch promptly used his ability to isolate the sound.
“These bastards, what do they think human life is? I thought we Soul Severers were considered cold toward the lives of ordinary people, but they are even worse.” The muscles on the officer’s face twitched, and her eyes turned red. “Hundreds of human lives, dead without a sound, and they don't even feel a shred of guilt. All they care about is that one third increase in production... If you hadn't stopped me, I would have broken his bones on the spot.”
“I stopped you because they are still useful for now. Once all the problems are solved, they will pay the price.”
“That is what you said. Each and every one of them will pay the price.”
“Of course, including that Grant behind them. I will never let him have an easy time. I promise.”
“Good, then everything is up to you.” Officer Natalie stared at Lynch for a few seconds, bit her lip, and nodded. “But no matter what, we must re-contain the out of control mystery relic first. Leaving this fear grade mystery relic in an out of control state is too dangerous. Someone will be harmed again soon.”
“That won't work for now.” Lynch smiled grimly. “The most important people in the factory haven't arrived yet. We cannot start just yet.”
“Hiss, you don't mean to...”
“Of course, I want them to experience the full course meal of the mystery relic as well, so they don't cause trouble while we are containing it. Don't worry, I reckon as long as we are fast enough, they shouldn't be in any mortal danger. Everything has just begun; dying inside now would be letting them off too easily.”
As he was speaking, led by Manager Frank, the other four men in formal attire who had previously participated in the report to Speaker Grant walked into the secret room.
Rate on N.U.
