Fierce flames and thick smoke engulfed the area, as apprentices scattered in panic.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the reborn monster screamed loudly, greedily devouring the mutated pollution floating in the air and seizing all life within reach.

Grow again!

But in those large bloodshot eyes flickered a trace of confusion…

Why did it seem like the blink of an eye changed everything around it?

It seemed like the same workshop, yet it wasn't. There seemed to be many people, yet they were different. It felt like it had just opened its eyes, yet it seemed something was missing.

Right, right, right, wrong, wrong, wrong… Numerous contradictions and conflicts emerged from its nonexistent small brain. The unfamiliar rationality might have been confused, but at this moment, it grew more angry and ferocious amidst the disharmony.

Devouring hungrily, rampaging, growing!

Among the scattered running crowd, the only disabled person who could not move well and was not good at walking still sat at his workbench, leaning back.

He smiled and patted the President's dog's head, looking at the "old friend" in its spirited state.

Yes, it was the mutant that he had previously encapsulated using solid alchemy in the associations Recovery Department…

It's like rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land…

In just a few days, everyone had moved from the association's Recovery Department to the garbage dump in You Sui—same work, same environment, and you and I still the same you and I.

Even though everything else had already changed…

The twists and fates of life are truly unpredictable.

There is always a cycle in the darkness…

"Thank you for your hard work."

Ji Jue pushed the handle of the tool kit under the table into the President's mouth, lastly rubbed its dog's head, and watched it leave quietly: "Just find a hidden spot to place it."

Boom!!!

The ceiling collapsed, and the flames spread.

The scattered apprentices cried out and came running back.

There was absolutely no escape!

The moment the alarm sounded, the Underground Workshop immediately closed down, just as one should treat every sewer—don't fucking let the dirty water flow back up.

Severing the inside from the outside, locking away the disaster.

Thus, the apprentices could only cry and run in disarray, trying to play hide and seek with the mutant.

Luckily, the underground area was large enough, and with plenty of food and waste, aside from the initial supervisor and the apprentice who had no clue what was happening, not a single person died.

In the chaos, it wasn't that no one thought of fighting back or gathering together for mutual protection.

Unfortunately, it was useless.

Those sporadic attacks only enraged the mutant, and the well-orchestrated attacks did nothing but shatter the outer shell of waste material, having no effect at all.

Instead, it began noticing these disrespectful ants, becoming fiercely aggressive, metal limbs made of scrap flailing around, rampaging through the workshop, destroying the assembly line and operating desks, devouring containers, and swallowing pollution.

Then it impaled the presumptuous little bugs on its limbs.

Lifted them up, waved them around recklessly, tearing, voraciously sucking their blood and souls.

The screeching grew increasingly intense.

"—▇!!!"

"Don't be scared, everyone, let's go at it together!" a manager trembled and shouted, rallying the others— but it was already futile, everyone had dispersed, broken and in disarray.

Useless attacks launched, scattered bullets, rays, frost, and flames hit.

Sadly, it didn't breach defense.

Under the cover of the metal shell, they were completely ineffective, even the lucky attacks that penetrated the gaps couldn't damage the core wrapped layer by layer.

In the midst of chaos, nobody noticed the figure leaning on a crutch, meandering around.

Ji Jue occasionally bent down, struggling to pick up the parts fallen on the floor.

He assembled them in his hands.

Twisted springs, rusted metal plates, broken steel pipes… In his hands, they were like toy parts, easily pieced together, undergoing transformation and rebirth in the invisible furnace under Non-attack's manipulation and processing, repairing or cutting, sparks flying, parts shedding iron filings, fitting into each other.

Firing pins, bolt carriers, strikers, launcher frames, chambers, grips…

Those reliable little friends gathered again, gradually forming a rough and exaggerated shape, so adorably heavy in hand.

Finally, with a bullet the thickness of a thumb loaded.

Mission accomplished.

Ji Jue whistled.

Professor Ye once told him, Embers Path and White Deer Path, from their cruelty, were actually equivalent.

The high-ranked's dominion and control over the low-ranked were absolute, one via theory and capability, the other via violence and intimidation...

Embers Path was so lofty, he dared not claim mastery, but regarding White Deer Path, as someone who had firsthand experience in top-tier struggles, he did have some small insights.

As the saying goes, a carrot for every hole, sometimes, if the people above don't make room, how can those below rise?

He smiled, watching Sun Ci panic in the crowd.

—It's your time to shine, Manager Sun!

"Move aside, move aside!"

Sun Ci frantically tried to activate the restraint and suppression mechanisms, but the console sparked, increasing his despair?

A short circuit? At this time?!

His vision went dark, and then he heard the startled cries and chaos beside him.

The wind howled as the apprentices scattered in panic.

When he turned his head, what he saw was Mutants charging at him, their blood-red eyes glaring with insatiable hunger, their claws bared.

Fear struck suddenly, and before he could react, he instinctively pulled out a gun and repeatedly squeezed the trigger, to no avail; all the bullets missed.

With a gloomy face, he threw the handgun away and grabbed anything nearby to throw in desperation.

Sadly, it was completely useless.

In his panic, someone shoved a gun into his hand. He instinctively raised it, as if an invisible will was controlling his body, and skillfully aimed and instinctively pulled the trigger.

In that instant...

— Boom!!!

An unforeseen terrifying blast erupted from his hand, reverberating through the underground workshop, tormenting everyone's eardrums. And in his hand, the makeshift handgun shattered, its chamber exploded.

His arm throbbed painfully, nearly breaking.

But he couldn't scream in agony.

Because a gruesome squeal erupted right in front...

The fiercely charging Mutant suddenly screamed in agony, its limbs losing strength and collapsing to the ground, sliding forward due to inertia, twitching.

On its massive body, one sharp limb abruptly halted, stopping right in front of Sun Ci's pale face.

Just a little bit more...

Immediately after, a copious amount of thick fluid burst from its thorax, like a torrential rain.

The ruptured chest cavity expelled its core, which tumbled out like an organ, revealing a massive crack. The fierce giant eye fixedly stared at Sun Ci, cracks appearing, but ultimately, it turned to look at one of the apprentices standing in the shadows behind him.

The wailing faded, never to be heard again.

"Dead, dead?"

Sun Ci fell to the ground, crawling backwards a long distance before belatedly realizing what had happened, looking towards the lifeless Mutant, then blankly turning back only to see similarly stunned faces.

Shock, confusion, awe, fear, envy.

At last, he began to understand a bit.

He looked down at the remaining handle still in his grip.

"Me?"

Sun Ci muttered doubtfully, his lips twitching, unable to suppress a smile: "Was it me?"

"Yes, it was you."

Ji Jue nodded decisively, "I saw it with my own eyes, Manager Sun fired one shot, and that huge Mutant instantly died!"

"Yes, exactly!"

"It was you!"

"Manager Sun is amazing!"

Cheers and praises arose, incessant.

Many apprentices who had narrowly survived heaved a sigh of relief, jubilantly rallying around Sun Ci, shouting and cheering.

Triumphant joy.

As for the shattered corpses and gradually cooling blood in the corners, no one cared.

.

.

"Will this not hinder the next phase of work?"

Three minutes later, hurriedly arriving senior craftsman scanned the chaotic scene and frowned, posing the question first. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he somewhat relaxed.

It was just the furnace that had burst, a simple fix, and other damages could still be rectified.

As for casualties, they were not a problem.

"Please, have a seat, Master Cun Ling, please sit." The surviving managers quickly brought a chair, inviting the craftsman to sit.

They hadn't expected such a high-ranking person to arrive.

Initially relaxed after surviving the great difficulty, they became instantly tense, very wary of any negligence.

Jian Yuan's second apprentice, now the direct manager known as 'Master Cun Ling,' entirely ignored these people's eagerness.

With hands behind his back, he walked around the workshop, quickly understanding the situation and its cause.

Upon hearing that Supervisor Wen had died, his expression grew even darker: "Useless, his death is no loss!"

After a brief glance, he had already grasped the cause—for the sake of rushing work to show performance and embezzle funds, even the filtering and storage of Mutated Spirit were not handled properly, and within just a few days, such a large Mutant had hatched amid the debris...

Lucky it had no brain, otherwise, if it had hid and lingered for a while, it might have caused a major disaster.

The thought of disturbing the teacher to answer for this...

Just thinking of the consequences, Cun Ling's face turned ashen.

So this waste just died like that? Died so easily? Damn it, his death was too cheap! Who the hell recommended him as a supervisor?

Seeing Cun Ling's expression, a craftsman who hurriedly followed him paled and instinctively stepped back, not daring to speak.

Cun Ling, smiling, glanced at the crowd but said nothing.

His steps paused, and he leaned down, picking up a bullet embedded in the debris, his eyebrows slightly raised.

Interesting.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.