Turning behind the wall and stepping back out, he had already slipped beyond everyone's perception. The authority of the divine brought a conceptual definition, causing him to be ignored rather than unseen. I am right here, but you have overlooked me.
Consequently, while the area was filled with monsters besieging the policewoman, Lynch strode forward openly. The tide-like swarm of monsters brushed past him; some even made physical contact, yet they never realized anyone was there, squeezing past him to rush toward the officer.
Seeing the number of monsters around them dwindling, and hearing the sound of blades cutting through the air and the roars of monsters from behind, Lynch sped up without looking back, transitioning from a brisk walk to a sprint.
This woman seems to suffer every time she cuts someone down. I must finish this quickly.
Lynch gritted his teeth and picked up his pace, following the scent of smoke toward the boiler room. He rushed into the doorway, only to immediately back out.
The heat was oppressive.
The boiler was far larger than he had imagined. It was a giant furnace chamber seven or eight meters high, made entirely of metal, with dozens of thick, long metal pipes extending from the furnace walls into the floor and ceiling. In front was a waist-high square furnace door, the interior glowing with a blinding, fierce fire that danced restlessly. Even before getting close, an unbearable wave of heat washed over him, stifling Lynch's breath. He didn't even sweat; any moisture was instantly baked away by the high temperature.
The entire furnace was made of cast iron, sturdier than the factory itself. Never mind having only a revolver; even if he had brought an RPG, he might not have been able to destroy such a sturdy boiler.
Damn it, how is this supposed to be destroyed? Only now did Lynch realize the biggest problem.
Should I kill these slaves?
Lynch had already pulled out his gun, but his hand trembled slightly. These were humanoid beings, and in all likelihood, they were once normal people. As a traveler from another world, this hurdle was not so easily crossed.
Moreover, he realized that stopping them from adding fuel would be useless. There was still plenty of fuel in the boiler to keep it burning for a long time; he couldn't expect the policewoman to hold out outside for hours.
It would be more thorough to simply blow up the boiler.
In theory, the boiler should have a weakness.
Lynch remembered watching some obscure films in the past that featured scenes of steam engines exploding, but he had only watched for the spectacle at the time and could not recall the details now.
“Roar!”
A blood-curdling roar erupted from behind. Lynch's scalp tingled, and he instinctively rolled to the side. A supervisor monster flew through the air and slammed into the spot where he had just been standing, shaking the sturdy factory wall, though the structural integrity of the building remained unaffected.
However, the next moment, an accident occurred.
As the monster struggled to get up, its whip became entangled with a pipe extending from the boiler room. The hard barbs on the whip were sturdy and sharp, easily slicing through the thick insulation wrapped around the pipe's surface.
The air temperature rose by a few degrees instantly, and the monster near the pipe instinctively dodged a few steps before letting out a roar and returning to besiege the policewoman. Only after it had left did Lynch quietly approach the exposed pipe.
Memories from the films began to return. It seemed that in large steam equipment, for certain reasons, the boiler and the steam engine were not in the same place. The boiler was primarily for heating water, while the steam engine was what actually performed the work.
Then why have I been wasting time in the boiler room?
He knocked on his own head as punishment and looked up to scan the area once more.
Steam engine, where are you, where are you?
Thick black smoke still billowed overhead, but Lynch suddenly realized that the black smoke was mixed with white smoke.
It was such a common phenomenon that he had seen it every day since arriving in this world and had never paid it any mind, but now, upon closer inspection, he realized its significance.
The white smoke was more like mist, spewing from a short, stout stone chimney. Lynch did not quite understand what it was, but since it was the only one in the entire factory, it was likely the most important facility.
As it happened, the high-temperature pipe from earlier had been extending in that very direction. All abnormal layouts must have a reason.
And that reason is exactly what I need.
Abandoning the boiler immediately, Lynch turned toward the chimney emitting white smoke. It was not far, and there were no monsters on the street. Within a minute, Lynch had arrived at the entrance.
In an instant, Lynch knew he had come to the right place.
Because the scene inside was exceptionally disgusting.
The room contained a giant machine he could not comprehend at all, covered in rotating gears and oscillating connecting rods. A massive roar emanated from within, as if half the noise of the entire factory originated here.
On the base of the machine were several levers and valves. No one was operating them, yet they switched on and off periodically on their own. Every time they toggled, a shrill sound of gas escaping would ring out, and countless jets of steam would erupt from the machine, gathering into the stout tower to turn into thick white fog.
Lynch found it sickening because the entire room was covered in a network resembling blood vessels. These 'vessels' extended outward until they disappeared into the concrete floor. At the other end of the vessels was the prominent steam engine; its surface was wrapped in large clumps of flesh, pulsing rhythmically like a massive heart. Each time the 'heart' contracted, the vessels would writhe as if something were being sent out.
“Roar!” Another roar sounded in the distance, and a large plume of black gas sprayed into the air. Lynch knew this meant Officer Natalie had slain another immortal supervisor monster. However, he immediately noticed that the moment the black gas erupted, the 'heart' contracted violently, and the vessels in one direction writhed at a high frequency, only stopping after a moment.
By the neighbors, so the 'power' of the memory is literal; this thing is what drives the entire memory.
Destroy the entire steam engine? Or would clearing away this flesh suffice? For a moment, Lynch could not find the answer.
Then I won't look for one.
Without wasting a second to find a solution, Lynch directly equipped The Passion of the Blazing Lady.
I'll just burn all you disgusting things away first.
The next moment, flames swept through the empty steam engine room. The network of flesh crawling over the room turned into charred remains under the high heat in the blink of an eye.
The air was immediately filled with a foul stench, and large chunks of scorched flesh adhered to the walls and the machine, appearing even more visually shocking.
A few minutes later, the entire room was cleared. The dark brown, writhing flesh had vanished completely, and the valves and levers lost their ability to move automatically, lying as still as dead objects.
Lynch, having returned to human form, looked at the quiet engine room and then out the window.
The monsters outside seemed to have been triggered by something; they completely abandoned Officer Natalie and were concentrating on the engine room.
Is burning the flesh not enough? It seems I must destroy the steam engine itself. This is troublesome.
No, judging by the monsters' reactions, it should be effective, but why does the equipment seem unchanged? It hasn't stopped, either.
As he pondered this, the corner of his eye caught something moving.
Looking closely, it was a dial on the machine. The needle was pointing toward a red zone on the side of the dial; despite having reached the end of the scale, it was desperately slamming against the edge, as if trying to break through the limit.
At the same time, the levers and valves that had stopped began to tremble slightly, the shaking becoming more and more violent, even producing a rhythmic clacking sound.
Ah, I remember now. In the films, they said this was a pressure gauge for the cylinder. If the pressure gets too high, it means the cylinder could explode at any moment...
Just as he realized this, the equipment that had been trembling suddenly stopped, and the engine room fell into an instant of dead silence.
Oh, damn.
BOOM.
Rate on N.U.
