Please Come In

“Officers, that female worker was named Janet Scott.”

Lynch took a deep breath.

Just as expected. It was just unclear what had specifically happened to her; he would contain the relic first before looking into that.

“Shut the door tight. Don't let those workers and overseers come in—it'll be trouble if they hear this too.”

Standing in the shadows beside the relic, Lynch tilted his top hat low to obscure his face, his low, raspy voice tinged with mystery:

“This item is called a mystery relic. Resolving its current issue is quite troublesome and will likely take several days. During this period, you will participate in a thrilling daily death lottery just like everyone else in the factory—whether you are present in the factory or not, because the relic's influence has expanded. It's no longer just the workers; everyone in the factory has been targeted. If you are chosen, you will become a name on the registry. No, you won't even leave a name on the registry, because you don't have to clock in.”

Having just closed the door, the five suited gentlemen had not even had the chance to question or challenge Lynch and Natalie's identities before taking this sudden blow. Their faces turned grim as they exchanged bewildered, helpless glances.

“However, you gentlemen are far too important to Mr. Grant—an unacceptable loss. That is why I asked Manager Frank to gather you all quietly. You didn't make a fuss before coming here, did you? Good. The spots to escape the effect are limited, and only because of your distinguished status do you have this opportunity. Whatever you do, do not let those tools find out and take your spots.”

“Can you really keep us from being affected?” someone asked uneasily.

“What else do you think we're here for?” Lynch glared coldly at the speaker. “Ask more nonsense that wastes everyone's time, and you can go back to your office. If you don't want your spot, you can give it to another worker. There are only so many spots anyway; helping anyone escape makes no difference to us.”

The man who had spoken immediately shut his mouth.

“Calm down, Number One,” the female officer said with an indifferent expression. “There’s no need to get angry with a bunch of ordinary people. It’s hardly rare to see people who don't know fear until death stares them in the face. Just give them the opportunity; how many of them manage to escape in the end is their own business.”

Lynch nodded, his gaze sweeping over them with a faint smirk. He intentionally glanced at the closed chamber door before lowering his voice: “You are currently in a very delicate state. I have no interest in explaining the mechanics to you in detail. In short, you have one chance to escape the influence—only one. Whether you can seize it depends on yourselves. Come here and gather around it. Very good. Now stare at it, clear your minds, and pour all your focus into it. When you succeed, you will find yourselves free from your current predicament.”

Real or fake? But it was only staring at it; even if it was fake, at most they would be fooled once. Trying it would cost them nothing.

Some were still skeptical, but others reasoned through it and followed Lynch’s instructions.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds...

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, but someone suddenly realized something was wrong: of the original five executives, only four remained.

“Heh, he successfully escaped. Not bad—at least one was saved,” came Lynch's leisurely remark from behind them.

“With one saved, we can collect payment from Chairman Grant, right?” Officer Natalie said casually.

“Don't rush. Let's give the others a chance.”

Seeing this, the other four grew tense immediately, no longer daring to doubt the pair's words as they focused intently on the relic.

Soon, another person vanished into thin air. The bizarre phenomenon only deepened the others' confidence. The executives entered faster and faster, and a few minutes later, the figure of the last suited gentleman vanished from before the relic as well.

Heh, success.

Watching the five men jump into the trap one by one, the two looked at each other and smiled. Lynch extended a hand to Natalie as if making an invitation at a ball. “I hope they enjoy the experience inside. Now, it's our turn to enter.”

The female officer placed her hand in his and softly cautioned, “Do not underestimate a relic's memories. Even a fear grade relic often presents extremely dangerous situations. Keep your guard up at all times.”

The next instant, Lynch’s vision blurred. The moment his consciousness stabilized again, the first thing he felt was the warmth in the palm of his hand.

They hadn't been separated this time. That was good.

Subconsciously squeezing the hand in his palm, his other senses rapidly returned as well. Without any warning, a deafening mechanical roar reached his ears, just like being back inside the workshop earlier.

Looking around, Lynch found himself holding the female officer's hand in an unfamiliar workshop.

Machinery roared and production lines turned continuously. Everything was just like a real screw factory workshop, except there were no workers; the workshop was completely empty, with everything operating on its own.

“Why is this place a screw factory?” The female officer glared at Lynch and pulled her hand back. “Relics are supposed to be memories of ancient times.”

“Could it be that the environment in the memory changes along with the setup on the set piece tray?”

“Possibly.” Resting her hand on her saber, Officer Natalie cautiously observed their surroundings. “Don't rush to read the suppression conditions just yet. Let's inspect the surrounding situation and ensure safety first.”

“Understood.” Lynch pulled out his revolver to check the cylinder was fully loaded, then skillfully took up a position behind the female officer.

Hooking her leg back to kick behind her, the female officer confirmed there was no one in the factory building, then made her way to the main gate to cautiously peer outside.

The moment she poked her head out, a burst of shouts exploded by their ears.

Outside was the open ground outside the screw factory buildings, except a massive pool of blood sat right in the center. Disgusting bubbles rose from the bottom of the pool, each burst releasing a foul, turbid stench.

Beside the blood pool stood dozens of humanoid monsters over three meters tall wearing hideous masks. Their clothes were identical to the uniforms of the screw factory overseers, and each monster held a barbed whip covered in stains of blood of varying shades.

These monsters were holding hundreds of ragged humans captive around the blood pool. Dressed in work clothes, wearing shackles and chains, and covered in wounds, these humans knelt by the blood pool without daring to move an inch. At the slightest mistake, an overseer's whip lashed down viciously, ripping their backs into a bloody pulp.

Surrounded by them were the five suited gentlemen. Filled with terror, they were driven into the crowd by a large group of monster overseers, their bodies already covered in shocking whip marks.

“Have you lost your minds?! I'm your employer!”

“Stop! I'm going to fire you all! I'll have the blue uniforms throw all of you in prison!”

“Just wait to rot to death in a dungeon for the rest of your lives, aah!”

“Help! Help!”

Despite their frantic, hysterical cries, the monster overseers remained unmoved. Laughing wildly, they dragged the five men to the edge of the blood pool and hung them upside down from the crossbars of the streetlamps beside it, hanging the five men in a neat row.

Then the monsters swung their whips, lashing them mercilessly amid the five men’s screams as blood dripped from their bodies like raindrops into the blood pool.

For a time, flesh and blood flew, screams echoed continuously, and the area around the blood pool was like hell on earth.