In the corner, a momentary silence reigned before Sun Ci's gaze sharpened like a knife intent on piercing through the shattered visage before him.

"Let's hear it."

"My teacher taught me a few tricks. I need some spiritual supplements, Pure Mercury, and some materials..." Ji Jue 'smirked', "If all goes well, my efficiency could improve significantly."

"How much?"

Ji Jue pondered for a moment—mainly calculating how much he needed to increase his workload to make an impression without being seen as a monster: "With some luck, I alone could handle the disassembly and cleaning of seventy items."

Almost half...

Sun Ci gasped in several breaths of foul air, almost delighted, yet he quickly suppressed his excitement and asked bluntly, "Why help me? With such skills, wouldn't it be better to flatter the new managers?"

"What else can a gutter rat who becomes a manager do besides squeeze others to climb the ladder?" Ji Jue gave a bitter smile, his scar-ridden face oozing blood, "A cripple like me, shouldn't I expect a little care from a group leader rather than that kind of person?"

"..." Sun Ci fell silent, and after a while, "What do you want?"

"I just hope that if you have a chance to leave this place in the future, you'll look out for me a bit more." Ji Jue tapped on the crutches supporting his body, his tone bitter, "I'm afraid I won't last much longer."

Sun Ci hesitated, then looked at Ji Jue as if seeing another, more miserable version of himself.

Finally, he made up his mind.

"If I fail, I might be skinned tomorrow, perhaps even more miserably than you."

"I know."

"But even if I'm skinned tomorrow, today I am still your manager. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Of course."

Ji Jue nodded.

If I die, you won't get off easy; you'd better have a solution.

"As long as you can help me, we'll talk." Sun Ci extended his hand, "From now on, we share fortunes and misfortunes."

Ji Jue also smiled, his face oozing blood as he grasped Sun Ci's hand with profound meaning:

"We share hardships too."

With the second lifeline in hand, Sun Ci naturally did not hesitate.

As a manager, he definitely had some privileges over common laborers. Before long, the spiritual supplements, Mercury, and various materials that Ji Jue requested had been delivered before him.

Mainly, these items were either common consumables or raw materials, not difficult to get a hold of; it was just that the apprentices had no access. Sun Ci pleaded with an upper-level old friend through thick and thin, exhausting all his favors, to finally gather it all.

Next, it was Ji Jue's turn.

And he wasn't the only one watching.

The entire group was stealthily peeking—wanting to know if this new guy, who boasted he could handle half the work, truly had the chops.

But Ji Jue was in no hurry.

Pinching the supplement bottle, he skillfully tapped it against the table corner, knocking off the top before pouring it into his mouth like glucose, downing five or six tubes in one breath.

Having been severely injured and drained, his spiritual essence had nearly dried up all day but was now fully restored.

In reality, this was just for show.

With his cousin inside him, he never touched the Reserve Spirit.

Now it was merely to convince others that his craft was particularly draining on his spirit.

Then he picked up the tools from the table and adeptly began working anew on the materials laid before him. Soon, a steel arm wrapped in sinew appeared on his workspace.

He scooped it up, dropped it into the Mercury bucket, and when he pulled it out, there was an arm in his hand. He then directed Sun Ci to make an unnecessarily vicious cut in his back.

Amidst 'agonized screams' and 'painful convulsions', he 'forcibly' attached the highly toxic arm to his body.

Then another arm, and another.

Quickly, four arms had sprung up behind his back.

Seeing such bizarre methods used by Ji Jue, Sun Ci's eyes gleamed brighter and brighter—the Embers were known not to fear the bizarre, sometimes the more odd-looking the skill, the more effective it was.

Seeing the steep price Ji Jue paid, and how deftly the four arms moved, Sun Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief and let his heart settle.

And when a literal storm erupted from the workbench, he could no longer hold back, and he laughed out loud!!!

Six arms weaving, in perfect sync; was it not a threefold improvement?

What came to him relentless now were the Evil Foolish Nails from the front lines. Massive iron stakes, as tall as a man, once planted into the Earth Vein, would forcibly trigger all the Evil Foolishness, spreading venom.

Not to mention the contamination they contained.

Just dealing with these discarded things these days had consumed countless apprentices; even Ji Jue's predecessor had chosen suicide, unable to withstand the immense pressure from operating them.

Yet, such complex items, once in Ji Jue's hands, seemed like child's play, effortlessly disassembled, processed, cleaned, and maintained.

As smooth as flowing clouds, pleasing to the eye.

The failure rate was astonishingly low. With a little refinement and a new core installed, they could be reused directly.

He truly was an apprentice personally trained by a craftsman, possessing skills and experience beyond the reach of their wild-born counterparts.

Still, such skill must have brought considerable pressure.

Ji Jue's expression twisted and contorted as if enduring torture.

In reality... Ji Jue was indeed about to retch.

It was like at Redstone.

As if accustomed to exotic delicacies and street food, suddenly forced to swallow a mouthful of dog excrement-flavored curry, even Mechanical Descent wanted to strike.

—What kind of trash and rubbish is all this?

The foundation was a mess, all compensated by spiritual supplements. The structure was in conflict with itself, yet forcibly maintained through Mutant undercurrents—no wonder the defect rate was so high!

Jian Yuan must be tired of having such a useless bunch around him!

Still, while they were trash and junk, some of the secret Mutant Transformation techniques from You Sui were not without merit... There were quite a few tricks that could indeed be used on cattle and horses.

If one could use these to draw upon the Power in the Dragon Blood, who knows, maybe they could add a Fire Spraying function?

Engrossed in his effortless research and recovery efforts, Ji Jue began his studies.

...

After watching for a while, Sun Ci turned to leave. His smile faded, replaced by a harsh coldness as he hammered down on those apprentices trying to shirk their duties, making them work more efficiently.

The number Ji Jue mentioned, seventy in total, was no bluff.

But if others were slacking off, he probably wouldn't make it through this ordeal.

Tempted by carrots, spurred on by the crack of a small whip, the cattle and horses pulled the mill once again with renewed vigor, not daring to slack off.

Time ticked by, and the astonishing efficiency and output shocked the entire Underground Workshop, with almost every group looking up in curiosity.

Watching as each piece of disassembled components were packed into boxes, stacking into a miniature mountain.

Finally, they were delivered to the office.

In front of the supervisor.

The total count was one hundred and fifty-nine.

Nine extra.

...

In the prolonged silence, the supervisor's expressions shifted from dark to icy, then forcibly mustered a smile.

"Excellent! Indeed commendable!"

He slapped Sun Ci's shoulder heartily, then glanced past him at the drained and gaunt Ji Jue, nodding slowly: "Truly a student mentored by a craftsman himself, the efficiency is exceptional."

"You need to keep it up, old Sun."

Glancing at Sun Ci, the supervisor hinted, "Just don't let the ones below surpass you."

"It's like the new waves of the Yangtze River pushing the old waves forward."

Sun Ci's smile remained unchanged, unaffected by the ploy. Internal strife at this critical moment when he needed support most? The supervisor must be laughing his legs off.

Not giving the supervisor a chance to interrupt or deflect, he simply asked, "Everything is here. If the inspection is complete, please sign here so I can get going."

The supervisor paused.

He stared intensely at Sun Ci.

He roughly grabbed the clipboard, signed the inspection form, and threw it back before turning to leave. Nearby, workers bustled about, sorting the ready components into proper order for transport.

But back in his office, once the door closed, the supervisor's smile vanished instantly.

Only a twisted and somber expression remained.

Standing at the window, he gazed at the Melting Furnace nearby and the mountain of parts, his face gradually calmed, leaving only a lingering chill to emerge slowly.

"The new cripple is quite the disaster..." he whispered to himself, "Fortunately, disasters don't live long."

With his hands silently clenched behind his back, he resolved—after such a long period of safe production, a production accident was overdue, wasn't it? A few deaths were inevitable...

In that instant, it seemed as though something squirmed atop the pile of parts, crawling out.

Like an insect.

He squinted, but saw nothing.

And then, he saw nothing at all.

Boom!!!!

From the loud explosion, the entire Underground Workshop shook abruptly, flames spread, smoke billowed, shockwaves swept through, and a deluge of fuel rained down like fiery droplets.

Screams and cries rose.

Everyone saw, next to the supervisor's office... that massive Melting Furnace connected to all the control stations burst open!!!

"Supervisor! Supervisor!!!"

A group of beautiful apprentices rushed instinctively towards the office, searching amid the flames. Then, their expressions drastically changed, and they instinctively tried to flee.

But it was too late...

Within the Fierce Flame, a mutilated body entwined with sticky darkness twitched.

A ravaged face revealed a starved smile.

A huge bloody eye opened on its chest; black tendrils emerged from the orifice, latching onto metal, pulling and self-assembling, instantly forming a towering behemoth several meters tall—with shattered flesh as its adhesive.

Abruptly, it reached out, grabbing an apprentice and crushing him to smithereens.

Hungry consumption.

The piercing alarm sounded increasingly urgent, shrill, and harsh.

Everyone looked terrified.

It was not a fire alarm, but something far more dangerous: a catastrophic accident—contamination leakage, Mutant Aggregation!

——[Ember Mutated]!

Amidst the piercing alarm, Ji Jue picked up a rust-covered cup and took a sip, softly humming a tune.

One day, the tranquil workshop was suddenly attacked by unknown parasitic life forms...

And then, everything became lively.

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