Chapter 177
Chapter 177
Qin Wen and Tang Ying had only just sat down in Logistics when their department chief left with a worried expression.
Unlike Tang Ying, who fidgeted uneasily in her seat, Qin Wen was an experienced veteran player and had also seen Cheng Miao’s final signal.
After arriving, Qin Wen could tell from the work schedule that Logistics handled highly flexible duties. They did not face the endless paperwork of the General Office or the intense pressure of Sales and Research and Development.
Apart from purchasing office equipment and handling every employee’s basic necessities, one task occupied a large portion of the Logistics work schedule: disposing of scrap.
Qin Wen paid close attention to that. It made sense for a research and development company to produce plenty of scrap, but in the companies he knew, such scrap was collected at fixed times and places.
It would never be handled as sporadically and casually as it appeared on this company’s schedule.
This schedule was from the previous month and had been compiled from everyone’s daily work.
Qin Wen counted. They had disposed of quite a lot of scrap in a single week the previous month.
Just a few days earlier, every employee in Logistics, 20 people in total, had gone to dispose of scrap.
Neither Qin Wen nor Tang Ying appeared among the 20 Logistics employees assigned to that job.
However, Logistics had many employees, and Qin Wen had not identified all of them yet.
While Qin Wen was studying the schedule, the deputy department chief rushed inside. He pointed at Qin Wen and another man and said urgently, “Two pieces of scrap just appeared. Hurry and come dispose of them.”
Qin Wen and the other man quickly followed the deputy chief. Once outside the room, the deputy chief pointed. “One is in the conference room, and one is in the corridor.”
He turned and walked away, only to come back after several steps and pat Qin Wen’s shoulder. “Now that you’re out, stop thinking about anything else and work hard. Don’t act rashly like you did before.”
Qin Wen adopted a meek, submissive manner. Sure enough, the deputy chief suspected nothing and waved before leaving.
The other man looked at Qin Wen and shrugged. “Xiao Wen, which one are you taking?”
Alarms rang in Qin Wen’s mind. He did not know the disposal procedure. The moment he went alone, he would expose himself.
The man seemed to have been on good terms with the original owner of Qin Wen’s identity. Qin Wen glanced at his employee badge and rubbed his hands. “Brother Zhang, why don’t we go together? I think it’ll be easier if the two of us handle them together.”
Brother Zhang scratched his head, then craned his neck to look at their departing superior before nodding. “I also think two people make things easier, but sometimes there’s so much that even two pairs of hands aren’t enough.”
Seeing him relent, Qin Wen pressed his advantage. “There are only two pieces of scrap today. Besides, after I went to the Confinement Room, I never had a chance to talk with you properly.”
Brother Zhang smiled and led Qin Wen toward the nearby conference room. As they walked, he said, “You’re young, that’s your problem. How many times did I tell you not to talk back to the chief? And look what happened. You went to the Confinement Room.”
They were not even allowed to talk back?
Were these people the exploiting class?
Qin Wen complained silently while revealing nothing on his face. He forced a smile. “I’ve learned my lesson. I just couldn’t hold back that time.”
Brother Zhang sighed and stopped outside the conference room. “I was the same when I first joined the company. Once you’ve suffered for it, you’ll learn. Don’t do it again, understand?”
Qin Wen nodded in frightened obedience while firmly committing this rule to memory.
Seeing that he understood, Brother Zhang twisted the handle, opened the door, and switched on the light. The moment Qin Wen saw the “scrap” inside, his expression changed.
He remembered the small, thin man lying lifeless in a pool of blood. It was the man who had laughed incessantly at the beginning. An NPC had even warned him once to stop, but he had not listened.
Now he lay dead on the floor, his cheeks torn open from the corners of his mouth like a ridiculous clown, if one ignored the terror in his eyes.
“Damn, this piece of scrap had it rough.” Brother Zhang examined him, pulled a sheet of waterproof material from the tool bag in front of him, and shook it out. “Come help. What are you standing there for?”
Qin Wen had already recovered from his momentary shock. He walked over, took two corners of the special material, and followed Brother Zhang’s movements to spread it over Monkey.
The material appeared to have been specially processed. It looked waterproof, yet instantly absorbed every trace of blood remaining on the floor.
Brother Zhang noticed Qin Wen’s clumsy movements and assumed he had not recovered after leaving the Confinement Room, so he did not make things difficult for him.
Brother Zhang rolled up the material by himself. Qin Wen watched helplessly as a grown man was wrapped inside and effortlessly compressed into an object the size of a watermelon.
Qin Wen did not dare consider what form the human tissue and organs inside the material had taken. He looked at the spotless floor and ventured, “This thing is really useful.”
Brother Zhang was carrying the man, crushed to the size of a watermelon, like a ball in a mesh bag. At Qin Wen’s words, he raised the bag and studied it. “Mm, yes. Maybe those people in Research and Development optimized it again.”
With that, he stepped out of the room. “There’s still another one. Hurry up.”
Qin Wen answered and followed Brother Zhang.
Cheng Miao was still locked in a battle of wits with a mass of data. She had no idea how to proceed in this instance. There was no time limit and no specific requirement.
They only needed to leave the company to clear it.
But after some indirect probing, she had learned that the company had a fully equipped hospital and pharmacy. Pretending to be sick would never get her out.
She had also searched her phone for information about family and friends outside, only to find nothing.
The company was like a concentration camp, trapping everyone inside without allowing a single person to leave.
Even more terrifyingly, no one wanted to leave.
When she went to the break room, she casually asked Linda, with whom she was close, “Hey, do you remember the last time you left the company?”
Linda went blank for a long time before shaking her head. “I haven’t gone outside since joining the company. I think only the chairman and a few key employees can leave. People like us have no reason to live once we’re outside. All we can do is work for the company.”
Cheng Miao’s brows drew together. She wanted to ask why but feared breaking character.
Fortunately, Linda seemed to notice her hesitation. She pulled Cheng Miao aside and whispered, “I know you’re an independent thinker and don’t believe what the Education Section teaches, but what they say really is true.”
“The outside world is full of violence and bloodshed. Nowhere will treat us better than the company. Everything you read online is fake news meant to lure us outside.”
The corner of Cheng Miao’s mouth twitched. So they had not merely been manipulated. A cult had brainwashed them.
“You remember Xiao Wu from the General Office, don’t you? He insisted on leaving the company back then. Look what happened. Within days, news came that he was dead.”