Chapter 468

Chapter 468: A Clever Trick Backfires

But isn’t it different now?

The days of wantonly exploiting workers are long gone, and the factory manager himself is not of such a character. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived the most drastic reshuffling in the factory office and risen to become the new factory manager.

After much deliberation, and considering he had never encountered such a situation before, the factory manager decided to report the matter to his superiors—

Since he couldn’t resolve it himself, he would deliver it to those who could.

A draft of the report quickly took shape under the experienced pen of the factory manager. The new team leader on one of the production lines at the twenty-second factory not only possessed exceptional personal skills but also excelled at sharing his experience without any airs.

Thanks to his efforts, the defect rate on the entire production line had significantly decreased, and production efficiency had improved by approximately twenty percent…

After documenting the facts, the factory manager made some appropriate embellishments to the less critical sections, resulting in a commendation report that was promptly dispatched.

As fate would have it, in Hope City, slacking off and dawdling had become the norm.

This meant that many had never seen a case of tasks being exceeded. When the report arrived at the factory office, the staff responsible were momentarily at a loss on how to handle it.

So, they made the same choice as the factory manager—

They kept forwarding it until the document reached someone capable of resolving the matter!

—

The following afternoon, Mr. Speaker Arthur of Hope City came across this “grand report,” accompanied by three accompanying sub-documents from different review departments in the office.

Though initially speechless and surprised, Arthur quickly grasped the key points.

It wasn’t difficult to understand; after all, everyone had been equally poor before. Now, while there was a slight improvement, it was still minimal—who could have predicted that this production line would suddenly perform as if it were on steroids?

After some thought, Arthur decided to replicate an experience he had vaguely heard of in his past life: he would focus on praising these workers.

Of course, this was merely for show; he also needed to increase their wages, or else there would be whispers behind his back.

Thus, Mr. Arthur swiftly drafted his response, requesting that the various factories nominate similarly proactive workers, and that everyone gather in the inner city in September to receive awards.

The decisive battle against the mycelium had already been scheduled, and the three exoskeleton production factories in the inner city had entered overtime mode. Such recognition would undoubtedly boost morale.

With this in mind, Arthur sent out his response.

The factory manager of the twenty-second factory soon saw the personal directive from Mr. Speaker and felt it was indeed a good idea.

However, the selection was set for early September, which was still about ten days away…

Should he inform Ain and his friends ahead of time?

The factory manager hesitated for a moment but ultimately shook his head:

It’s better to wait until the end of the month to avoid making him too proud.

—

“Teacher, is this surgery difficult?”

“Theoretically, it’s average, but it does require high technical skill, so you must watch closely and learn well…”

In a room surrounded entirely by pure white, a young doctor and an older one were focused on the screen in front of them.

The younger doctor was watching the teacher’s operation intently, while the older doctor had his head buried in a strange instrument.

This was a machine capable of performing remote surgeries, connected to another terminal thousands of kilometers away.

Highly advanced information technology had laid the foundation for this surgery, and the almost nonexistent delay made this technology possible.

As the surgery neared its end, the old doctor, his head buried in the instrument, let out a sigh of relief and casually inquired,

“Why are you assisting today? Where is your senior brother?”

“My senior brother is feeling unwell today and took the day off.”

“Ah, I see. That’s fortunate for you. You’re new here, aren’t you? What’s your name again? Something starting with ‘A’?”

“Atropos.”

“Yes, yes, and you’re an international student too.”

They exchanged a few words, and soon the suturer neatly closed the patient’s wounds, marking the successful completion of the surgery.

The old doctor exhaled deeply, then leaned back in his chair, as if relieved of a great burden, and fell silent, seemingly asleep.

The young doctor removed his mask, revealing a rather unremarkable human face.

At that moment, everything around seemed to freeze.

He, or rather It, waved a hand, and the false illusion shattered. The high-tech instruments and screens appeared to have their glossy surfaces peeling away.

Soon, the so-called remote surgical instruments transformed into entwined vines of unknown plants, and the screen displaying the patient’s condition morphed into a gigantic eyeball.

As for the patient who had just undergone surgery, they became a hybrid body resembling a human, with the space where the brain should be now empty.

The so-called surgery was merely an assembly of this body, and the seemingly flawless sutures were the result of mycelium weaving repeatedly through the skin.

This was the consciousness space constructed by Atropos, who allowed the brain’s owner to partially “awaken” and undergo this peculiar surgery.

Now that the surgery was over, the brain’s owner would naturally fall back into slumber.

Soon, this brain would be implanted into the body by the mycelium, completing a limited, false revival.

Under the filter applied by Atropos, it would undertake many tasks for the will of the mycelium…

—

In the Misty Forest, surrounded by several Giant Trees, a peculiar “cocoon” was slowly expanding.

Beneath these Giant Trees, countless dead, half-finished extraordinary beast corpses lay scattered, some still gasping for breath, entangled by the mycelium and unable to move.

Above, the “cocoon” was simultaneously nourished by six Giant Trees, with Clotho’s consciousness descending upon this forest, as if personally overseeing the birth of this extraordinary beast.

As the “cocoon” grew larger, the surface membrane gradually became clear, revealing its contents.

Inside was a growing extraordinary beast cub, showing no obvious signs of being a wild animal; it could be said to have merged nearly all known animal characteristics, ultimately becoming an independent species rather than merely a blend.

Hours passed, and the sun disappeared beyond the horizon as the thick fog began to descend bit by bit.

Yet the spore clouds that should have enveloped everything seemed to avoid this area surrounded by the Giant Trees, as if affected by some invisible force.

Where the Giant Trees stood, a milky-white claw broke through the membrane that was beginning to decay, and a transparent liquid wrapped around a soft, pale extraordinary beast began to fall.

In advance, insect-like extraordinary beasts had woven several layers of soft webs between the Giant Trees with their silk, and these threads enveloped the newborn beast, landing softly on the mycelium mat below.

Wherever the extraordinary beast’s feet touched, the mycelium automatically retracted, seemingly fearful of harming the newly born creature.

Driven by instinct, the newborn cub began to feast on the bodies of other dead extraordinary beasts to gain nourishment.

After consuming its first meal of life, this extraordinary beast, meticulously designed by Clotho and untouched by spores, approached a soft depression formed by tree roots, beginning to rub against it.

A voice echoed in Clotho’s consciousness, calling out to Him:

“Mother.”