Chapter 78.4 - Slave Factory

“Sir Tian, the higher-ups informed me you’ll only be here five days later.” A stern man checked a printed calendar on the wall, tapping his leather sole with a rasping sound on the stone floor. All around him, the reverberation of furnaces and workshop machines ran through the walls of the catacombs, the factory taking over a former burial chamber, expanded to allow for manufacturing operations.

Sir Tian was unintimidated, lighting a matchstick over his Euria Seed pipe and inhaling deeply, before a plume of blue smoke gently floated out from his nostrils, permeating the brightly lit office. A sudden burst of sobbing could be heard from behind, with Sir Tian simply raising his left hand.

The sobbing stopped immediately, with only the dull thuds of punches to guts followed by a body slumping to the floor.

“The quality this time around is pretty poor.” The factory manager muttered under his breath, staring at the collapsed female slave who was curling up, trying to protect her head from the kicks of Sir Tian’s underling.

“Circumstances changed. Do you have space for them?”

“Hmm, I only have space for one more in my closet – I’ll distribute the rest. It should soothe tensions among the workers. Guards!” The manager snapped his fingers, prompting a Nest guard to enter the office. “Take the rest out to the holes; bring the last one to the room.”

“Yes, sir.”

“NOOO!” One of the female slaves screamed out, attempting to run out of the office past the Nest hitman. With a desperate struggle, she slammed the cuffs into the eyes of the Nest hitman, his eyelids torn by the rough metal edges.

“ARGH!”

The slave didn’t look behind, quickly scampering out of the office before a piercing pain could be felt in her legs, a pellet searing through her thighs as she tumbled onto the ground, the heat of the surrounding furnaces enveloping her as other workers around her stared at her in shock.

“HELP, HELP ME!” She begged as she crawled towards the exit, tears streaming down her face as her belly grazed across the cold, jagged stone, the sharp tips barely registering on her mind as her eyes locked onto the door which they came through.

Yet none of them moved to help her, only watching her grit her teeth and struggle to get back up, before her other thigh was shot as well, preventing her from even standing up properly.

The smoke of the friction from the arctech handgun’s barrel wafted from the manager’s hand, a grin on his face. “Take that one to the room as well, she’ll do. But shut her mouth before she gives me a headache again.”

Before she could continue screaming and yelling for help, two Nest guards stuffed her mouth full of cloth, before dragging her off. The remaining female slaves could only watch in horror, none of them willing to experience the same pain she did. They marched in silence, led past all of the workers who avoided their gaze of shame.

“You will be delivering the rest of the requested goods in five days’ time, yes?” The manager marked on the calendar, before returning to his desk.

“Of course. Consider this an advance delivery.” Sir Tian crossed his legs in the chair, relaxing The manager rummaged through his office table to get the Versian coins, counting them before putting them into a pouch. Sir Tian glanced out of the open office door, noting the number of workers were increasing.

“I don’t suppose you need any help in food shipments to feed your workforce? We of Clouds do specialise in smuggling of inanimate goods as well.”

The manager squinted his eyes. “Nest already has that covered, and I suggest that you do not try to steal business from them – a word of advice.”

Sir Tian bristled slightly internally, but he kept a jovial expression overall. “Of course, Manager, I understand that you are already in contract with Nest. I apologise for my impertinence.”

“As long as you know your place. Speaking of contracts, we do have a contract open to both Nest and any other mercenary organisation if you wish.”

“Of course, I’m always open to further collaboration.” Sir Tian beamed, taking a seat opposite the manager.

“You must have heard of the riot above, as well as the ‘escape’ of the Minister.”

“Indeed I have.”

“Then the contract is simple: we require your men to scour the catacombs alongside with Nest for hints to his location. He is to be killed on sight:  client’s request.”

“Is this a government contract? Or… something off the books?”

“Government contract. Consider yourself official bounty hunters if you accept this.”

Sir Tian pondered for a moment, before asking a few more questions. “I heard Nest was already hired to kill him – what happened?”

The manager’s eyes motioned towards the Nest guard, who nodded and retreated out of the room. Sir Tian too, motioned for his underlings to leave. As soon as they were alone, the manager leaned over, speaking in a low voice. “I heard Nest was beaten badly – they lost both the Minister and the man the Minister was trying to meet.”

“Trying to meet? Who?”

“I don’t know, but the fact is that close to half of the hit squad that was sent was eradicated, and survivors claim that it was all due to that very man. But you heard nothing from me, got it?”

“Got it. I heard nothing. We at Clouds specialise far more in smuggling and trafficking rather than bounty hunting, so we would have to decline. Our manpower is currently all dedicated to supply line escorting, I hope you can understand.”

“Of course. Again, you heard nothing. If you did hear something, someone might pay a visit to your headquarters at Asha Street.”

“Understood, Manager.” Sir Tian grabbed the pouch of Versian coins, bowing to the manager before leaving the room. “Let’s go; we got other deals to settle.” He motioned to the underlings, the trio walking through the densely packed factory, past production lines of fearful workers. The workers worked without end, with Nest guards keeping an eye on them to prevent anyone from skiving or even falling asleep.

Many of the workers were local Versian citizens, those too poor to repay their debts or snatched off the streets, never to see the light of day anymore. Even children of eight years old and above were forced to work as well, climbing into small nook and crannies of dangerous complicated machinery to fix nuts and bolts.

The female slaves were led in silence to the ‘holes’ – repurposed burial chambers with as many people as they could fit inside, all living in clustered groups, huddling in ragged tents made of stained clothes and torn fabric. Some laid on unused wooden planks, their hands callused from the constant work shifts. There were close to three hundred people in the chambers, both young and old, a veritable mixed pot of all types of people. A few naïve kids stared at the new slaves entering, some of them marvelling at what remained of the fancy torn-up dresses they still wore from the Central Sector of Raktor.

No one dared to look at the leading Nest Guards, the people quickly shifting apart, with mothers grabbing their kids out of the way. “A gift from management. Enjoy.” One of the Nest guards announced, before leaving them in the middle of the workers, the slaves still shackled and cuffed.

A tense silence filled the room as the female slaves eyed their surroundings warily, with people gathering around from all across the ‘hole’ to look at them. One of the female slaves locked eyes with a young girl, who smiled in return. Yet that smile was immediately interrupted by someone grabbing the tip of her dress, trying to pull it off.

The people around began to crowd around them, all speaking at the same time and inspecting them. Even mothers rushed forward, trying to get a piece of the silky linen that made up their dress, intending to use it as a proper bedding for their children.

“Get off!” They tried to fight back, but the torrent of people was far too overpowering, resulting in a cluster of bodies and limbs tussling and grappling with one another.

Suddenly, a loud commotion could be heard at the entrance of the factory. Sounds of fighting, gunshots and screaming reached their ears, prompting them to stop their fight. However, instead of being curious of the sound, the people in the chamber began to panic as well, scrambling as far away as possible from the main entrance.

“What’s going on?!” One of the female slaves tried grabbing another mother, asking hurriedly.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like the men are trying to break out again! I don’t want to get beaten again, please let me go!” The mother forcibly shoved the female slave out of the way before leading her three kids to the back of the chamber, fear apparent in all of their faces.

Conversely, the sounds of fighting represented a chance for escape for the new slaves, who eagerly rushed towards the entrance, peeking out. Instead of seeing a factory riot, instead both the workers and the Nest guards were cowering behind lathes and pillars, shooting back at an unknown enemy.

“Who the fuck is attacking us?” The manager stepped out, grabbing one of the nearby Nest guards.

“Sir, I don’t know! They have disguises; their faces are covered in grime!”

“Fucking – just kill them all!”

The Nest guards moved forward tactically, providing covering fire for each other as they shifted covers, trying to get a flanking angle on the two intruders who cowered behind a flipped workbench, the pellets impacting against its tough wooden surface.

“Take left!” One of the Nest Guards roared to his allies, but as soon as his head popped out of cover, a devastating pellet knocked into his helmet, the pellet lodging into the side of his head while blood immediately seeped out of the gaping hole, his body collapsing to the floor with muscles twitching.

“Shit!” The manager cursed. “Get everyone out there! NOW!”

However, there were not that many guards in the factory, only ten guards in total. With one now dead, the remaining nine felt a imminent sense of dread, unsure of how strong the enemy exactly is.

With a sudden leap, one of the intruders dashed out of cover, sprinting for the nearest Nest hitmen.

Penchant for Violence!

The moving intruder was far too fast for the Nest hitmen even to aim properly, the pellets singing by Kyle’s ear as he reached his next target in just five long steps. Winding up a punch, Kyle slammed his right fist right into the surprised Nest guard’s jaw, knocking him out and sending him sprawling onto the floor in a daze.

Quickly grabbing the guard’s rifle, he tossed his ancient musket to the side, immediately keeping up the blitz.

With the intruders now split up, the Nest guards began to move back slightly, unwilling to expose both sides to Dekar and Kyle. Kyle took down the Nest guards with alarming accuracy, dancing across the battlefield like an expert soldier, not even bothering to reload and instead swapping rifles between each guard he killed.

MG404: [System Message | Killed: [Wolf-Level Nest Hitman] | +100 EXP]

As he approached the last guard, the last guard could barely move, watching the monster in front of him take aim right at him.

MG404: [System Message | Killed: [Wolf-Level Nest Hitman] | +100 EXP]

Fuck, I got to call Harrison! The manager slammed the office door shut, before quickly rummaging through his drawers for the arctech radio. However, before he even managed to find it, the door was kicked apart, the hinge destroyed by Kyle’s increased strength, Dekar instantly entered the room to aim his rifle at the manager. “Step away from the table if you want to live.”

The manager did not recognise either of them, though he knew when the gig was up. He gingerly raised his hands up as he stood up slowly. “Look, I don’t know what you want, but I got money if you’re trying run a protection racket! But let me fucking remind you that it is Nest that –“

Dekar walked up and smacked the manager right in the face. “Shut the fuck up! You’re going to tell us everything you know right now.”

“What? Nest would kill – ARGH!” A pellet burst through his calf, causing the manager to fall to the group, his face crashing against the stone floor. The sole of Kyle’s boot rested against his face, crushing his jaw slightly.

“Not if we kill you first.”