Xu Dengming had visited various factory areas in Triangle Banyan City before, but the “clean room” in the Nest Industrial Park left a particularly deep impression on her.
The gleaming steel supports extended from the high ceiling, suspending rows of massive cleaning machines in mid-air.
Below the machines were suspended wire mesh platforms where employees could walk.
Whenever the machines detected someone passing by, they would extend nozzles, spraying unknown mist and powder onto the person.
Perhaps because they were suspended, the machines appeared twisted in their posture.
If the cafeteria serving machine resembled a tardigrade, these cleaning machines were more like polar ice worms, with countless tendrils extending from their massive bodies into the air.
Xu Dengming, with her hands in her pockets, remarked, “The aesthetic design of these machines is quite unique.”
Wang Yanxing didn’t catch it: “…What?”
Xu Dengming: “Just a thought from the tour.”
The powder sprayed by the tendrils drifted down, settling on the wire mesh before continuing to sink through the gaps, eventually being carried away by the giant rollers below.
The machines made humans seem exceptionally small and fragile.
To avoid the swirling unknown powder, the trainee employees walking ahead had to pull down their hoods to prevent the powder from getting into their clothes.
“Really annoying,” a boy walking under the cleaning machine muttered.
“So annoying.”
His collar wasn’t fastened tightly enough, and some fine cleaning powder managed to drift inside.
The discomfort from the foreign substance made him scratch at his neck.
A low hum reverberated throughout the space as the cleaning machines continued their work.
The more he scratched, the wider the opening in his work clothes became, allowing more powder to enter.
His scratching grew more forceful, his nails roughly clawing at his skin, even drawing blood from his neck.
Blood and tiny shreds of flesh mixed in his nails, staining his clothes.
The boy began to gasp for breath, veins bulging across his face, his bloodshot eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
Then, he did something Xu Dengming had vaguely anticipated—he violently tore off his work clothes and strode forward with a frenzied expression, walking directly under the machines.
The white cleaning powder drifted like snowflakes, continuously covering his body and mixing with the blood on his neck.
It dripped onto the wire mesh, flowing through the gaps and disappearing without a trace.
The boy walked stiffly forward, his body growing increasingly emaciated from blood loss, until he finally collapsed with a thud just before the exit.
When he fell, he looked like nothing more than a skeleton wrapped in a shriveled layer of skin.
This scene caused a small commotion, and some of the trainee employees now looked at the cleaning machines with fear.
Wang Yanxing subtly nudged Xu Dengming, silently seeking her opinion.
Xu Dengming gestured for Wang Yanxing to tighten her work clothes and whispered a reminder,
“Try to hold your breath when passing near the machines.”
From the boy’s earlier state, it was clear that the “cleaning powder” was far from harmless.
The probationary employees were not entirely devoid of thought, and at this moment, more than just Xu Dengming had realized that something was amiss with the powder.
Another unfamiliar young man showed clear disgust towards the cleaning machine.
He and his companion avoided passing under the machine, deliberately steering clear of the powder’s spray range.
The cleaning area, cluttered with machines and crowded with people, felt unnaturally cramped compared to its actual size.
Just as the young man was about to leave, a crack silently appeared in the wire mesh beneath his feet, large enough for an adult to pass through.
The incident happened too quickly and without warning.
The unconventional young man didn’t even have time to utter a sound before he plummeted straight through the gap.
He was caught in the rollers and, in full view of all the probationary employees above, was crushed into a spray of scattered flesh.
His companion tried to flee, but the narrow hem of his work uniform restricted his movement, and he became the second to fall below.
The gap widened further, like the mouth of some creature, swallowing its prey and then stretching into a satisfied smile.
Several students covered their mouths, letting out short, sharp screams.
Yet, in Xu Dengming’s eyes, the panic among the probationary employees in the cleaning workshop was even milder than it had been in the cafeteria, as if those around her were gradually acclimating to the environment.
It seemed the broadcast was normal, the demands were normal, and the corpses and blood were normal.
Even though each of them stood on this wire mesh, less than two meters from death.
With two negative examples before them, even if the survivors’ cognitive abilities were somewhat impaired, they vaguely understood how to navigate the workshop ahead.
-Adhere to safety regulations and avoid any self-initiated actions to maximize their chances of survival.
Xu Dengming covered herself tightly with her work uniform and silently followed Wang Yanxing along the path taken by those ahead.
The roar from below continued to echo, and she could feel the subtle tremors under her feet.
New people kept entering the workshop from outside, yet the front of the line maintained a slow, cautious pace.
Xu Dengming imagined that, viewed from above, this visiting procession would resemble a giant worm with a continuously swelling tail.
She was now walking along the position of the worm’s dorsal blood vessel.
The worm’s body had a limit to what it could endure.
As the distance between people grew shorter, Xu Dengming could even feel the breath of the person behind her on her neck.
She sincerely hoped no one around her had a cold.
When they were one-third of the way to the exit, a flowing black mist quietly rose in Xu Dengming’s vision.
Having narrowly avoided a speeding car at the crossroads before, Xu Dengming keenly sensed impending misfortune and immediately stepped aside.
Almost the moment Xu Dengming moved to the edge of the line, the visitor behind her finally lost balance from the crowding and involuntarily fell forward, clinging to the person in front.
The unlucky one who was hit from behind repeated the fate of the person on their back, continuing to fall forward.
The temporary employees involved soon fell to the ground like dominoes, one after another.
The impact also affected Xu Dengming, but she withstood the surrounding shockwaves and managed to stay on her feet.
The lightweight and thin work uniforms were torn apart by the desperate struggles of those who had fallen, allowing fine, snow-white powder to sneak in through the cracks.
Some were completely knocked out of the line in the chaos, while others were crushed at the bottom, their faces turning purple until they gradually stopped breathing.
The sounds of fearful screams, agonized wails, and the crushing of flesh and blood continued to echo.
Xu Dengming grabbed Wang Yanxing, preventing her from turning back to look.
Amid the chaos, Xu Dengming’s voice was deep and firm: “Keep moving.”
The crowded crowd was left behind as they passed through the exit.
Xu Dengming noticed a notice on the wall that read, “Please proceed to the changing room to remove your work uniforms.”
The last stroke of the character was slightly elongated, as if the writer had some regret.
They had truly left.
The surrounding trainee employees faintly let out sighs of relief, occasionally interrupted by soft sobs.
—Although job applicants gradually lose their sanity in the workplace, they do not completely lose their instinct for survival.
As soon as Wang Yanxing entered the changing room, she eagerly tossed her work uniform into the trash bin labeled “Waste Disposal,” her heart racing: “Finally, the tour is over. What’s next for us…”
Her words suddenly cut off, like a rigid robot that needed new instructions to proceed with its next actions.
Xu Dengming glanced at the time; it was only 10:30, with half an hour left before lunch.
“Let’s head back to the dormitory area now, and then we’ll have to go out again to the cafeteria,” Xu Dengming began to analyze, as if her suggestion to wander around was merely to avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.
The trainee employees passing by could hear their conversation, but no one paid much attention.
Wang Yanxing paused for a moment upon hearing this: “Alright.”
She didn’t love her job, but now she felt a sense of emptiness from not being assigned any tasks.
Fortunately, her years of habit of slacking off led her to agree with Xu Dengming’s suggestion.
The park had an unusually high number of forks in the road, and as if afraid of being easily spotted, many paths quietly hid themselves among the tall, lush green trees.
Xu Dengming fully utilized the visual advantages she gained after her abilities awakened, carefully noting the contents of the signs at each fork.
The signs confirmed a suspicion in Xu Dengming’s mind-there wasn’t much useful information on them, mostly just directions to the supermarket, Cleaning Workshop No. 1, or the dormitory area.
Xu Dengming was certain she hadn’t found any signs pointing to the male dormitory area.
After realizing she had unfortunately entered a “dungeon,” Xu Dengming’s judgment also came back online, reminding her of something somewhat important.
When they first got off the bus, the two had followed the signs into the supermarket and then smoothly reached the dormitory area.
However, the dormitory area where Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing stayed only housed female employees.
So, how did the male passengers from the bus find their way to their living quarters?
The Nest Park seemed to have a consciousness of its own, displaying different information on the signs for different people.
-Authority.
A term flashed through Xu Dengming’s mind.
When they first entered the compound, they only had access to the supermarket and the female dormitory area.
On the second day, two new zones were unlocked: the No. 3 cafeteria and the No. 1 cleaning workshop.
The expansion of authority often signified a deeper integration between the newcomers and the compound.
As for some key locations… as long as the instance didn’t permit access, the employees could never reach them.
Wang Yanxing, who was walking beside Xu Dengming, showed slight signs of restlessness and couldn’t help but ask, “It’s eleven o’clock. Should we head to the cafeteria?”
Xu Dengming snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at her roommate. “Sure.”
By lunchtime, the No. 3 cafeteria had resumed its open state.
The bloodstains on the floor had been cleaned up at some point, leaving no trace of the corpse that had been there not long ago.
The lunch menu was identical to the morning’s, with a grainy aroma wafting through the air.
Xu Dengming, who hadn’t forgotten what she had experienced, had no appetite.
She merely took a couple of spoonfuls to comply with the broadcast’s requirements before setting down
her utensils.
Wang Yanxing propped her chin on her hand and sighed,
“…I think I’m definitely going to lose weight.”
Xu Dengming glanced at her classmate, observed for a moment, and shook her head. “It doesn’t seem like it.”
They had only been in the instance for a day.
No matter how uniquely designed the Nest Compound’s meals were, it couldn’t reflect on their weight yet.
However, Xu Dengming noticed that Wang Yanxing now appeared more “plump” than when she had first entered the compound, giving the impression that her skin was filled with moisture.
Xu Dengming’s eyes flickered, and she suggested, “If you don’t like it, eat less.”
As a resident of the inner city with basic dietary standards, Wang Yanxing had no interest in the taste of the meal paste.
After calculating that the calories she had consumed were enough to keep her going, she followed Xu Dengming’s advice and put down her spoon.
“Gulp “
Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing shared a fairly consistent opinion about the nutritional paste’s flavor.
However, in the No. 3 cafeteria, there were no shortage of interns who held the opposite view.
Three tables away, two girls were holding bowls filled with the meal paste, devouring it voraciously.
Their bowls were soon empty, with even the last remnants scraped clean by their spoons.
Human behavior is contagious.
Watching the girls’ actions, Wang Yanxing’s throat moved involuntarily.
She began to feel that the meal in front of her wasn’t entirely unappealing.
Just as Wang Yanxing was about to reach for the soup spoon, Xu Dengming suddenly stood up and began clearing her utensils.
Wang Yanxing: “…Not eating anymore?”
Xu Dengming’s expression didn’t change and said:
“I feel a bit sleepy. Since it’s lunch break, why don’t we go back for a nap?”
In Wang Yanxing’s eyes, Xu Dengming was a rather easygoing and cautious classmate.
She rarely acted impulsively, and in many situations where Wang Yanxing couldn’t be bothered to think, she would instinctively follow Xu Dengming’s lead.
This time was no exception.
Wang Yanxing ignored the budding desire for food in her heart and followed Xu Dengming to the recycling area to dispose of their utensils.
She didn’t notice that the two girls who had finished the nutrient paste on their plates simultaneously turned their heads, staring intently at the departing figures of Xu Dengming and Wang Yanxing.
On their fair and plump faces, a stiff smile slowly emerged.
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Tftc!