When all the workers looked over, even Gerard, as composed as he was, felt his body stiffen; then he subconsciously reached behind him.
Yet, he forgot that he had no weapons on him.
But...it seed that there was no need to use weapons.
Gerard originally thought he was exposed and would have to use force to escape from here, but he soon realized the behavior of these workers was strange; they were not staring at Gerard, but at Bai Wei's fingers. As Gerard moved his fingers, their gazes would follow, just like rigid machines.
Yet in those pairs of lifeless eyes, there seed to be so kind of desire.
Aside from that, they made no other movents—none got up from their seats, none spoke; they just watched.
Watched silently.
This scene made Gerard feel a bit creeped out, and he whispered, "What's going on here?"
"What are you asking about?"
"About everything that's happening now."
"Unfortunately, I can only tell you part of it," Bai Wei raised Gerard's eyebrows, "the pollutants react to my body, they crave my body…"
At this, Bai Wei paused for a mont because he felt this description was sowhat disgusting, but he continued anyway.
"It's engraved in their instincts. So even if they are no longer intact, even if they have been squeezed into juice, they still react."
Gerard looked down at the source oil in the bucket again, the eerie monster faces that surfaced were still faintly undulating, as if wanting to break free.
This behavior clearly matched what Bai Wei was saying.
Source oil… indeed still had pollutants.
And over the years, were the things they had been shipping back in barrels and distributing around Lyra City, just such substances?
If Lyra City were a giant, then source oil was its blood, but this blood itself was problematic.
Problematic blood, flowing for hundreds of years.
This speculation made Gerard shudder.
But what made him shudder even more was...
Gerard slowly lifted his head and looked at the workers in front again just as he was about to ask Bai Wei further, these workers, as if receiving so command, simultaneously shifted their gazes away and resud their work. Thus, the workshop that had quieted down instantly returned to its noisy state, as if everything before was just an illusion.
"What… What's going on now?" Gerard asked again.
"Um, how should I put it?" Bai Wei said, "It feels a bit like the Rule overpowered the instinct."
"Rule overpowered instinct?" Gerard's words enlightened Bai Wei, he pondered, "You an their work is the Rule, and craving your body is instinct?"
"Can you use a better description?" Bai Wei rolled his eyes at Gerard, speaking annoyed, "Even if you just said 'Corpse Blocks.'"
Gerard ignored Bai Wei's complaint; he just stared intensely at the worker nearest to him.
The worker carried out his task with proficiency, his movents precise and accurate like a machine, like a gear—just not like a person.
Rule, was a brand deep in every Lyran's heart, from the mont of birth, people would consciously abide by the Rule.
But the Rule was not everything about a person.
As humans, what's most important was... human nature.
"It seems you've already guessed," Bai Wei said lightly.
"The people here... can no longer really be considered alive. The part of them that was human had long been extinguished; what drives their actions now is just the Rule."
Gerard remained silent, his expression complex, "When did this start? How long have they been here?"
"Um… it's pretty odd you're asking this," Bai Wei said lightly, "but I suggest you take a look at the uniform on you; it might give you an answer."
Gerard quickly took off the uniform he was wearing.
He had previously felt the uniform was excessively outdated, but didn't delve deeper because the attire for the source oil factory hadn't changed over the years.
Now, he noticed the insignia on the sleeve.
"Apprentice Doran (hired in year 225)"
Gerard muttered, "Twenty years ago?"
Could it be ten years earlier than the Night Star incident?
Gerard felt it was unbelievable, then he quickly stepped forward, looking at the armbands of several workers, discovering most of them had joined twenty or thirty years ago.
After ascertaining this, Gerard's face turned unusually pale.
If counting from their joining date, they should have been old n with deeply lined faces by now. Yet, they appeared at most middle-aged, as if ti had perpetually stopped them at a certain mont.
And this... was also a symbol of pollution.
Their souls had perished, their bodies turned into monsters.
And they had been working here in the guise of monsters for over a decade, yet nobody knew, not even Gerard who was the captain of the Night Star.
"…which ans, when I received the order ten years ago, Lyra had already been in trouble for a long ti, right?" Gerard said softly, "And yet, we never realized it."
Gerard's grip on the armband gradually tightened as he murmured.
"We've co into contact with it so many tis, yet we discovered nothing, nothing at all..."
Feeling Gerard's chest heave with every breath, Bai Wei said nothing, rely letting out a light chuckle.
But this laughter clearly pulled Gerard's thoughts back. He looked down at the nearly destroyed armband in his hands, then raised his head to observe hundreds of workers who had been working for countless years. He was silent for a while before softly asking, "Is all this because of the Source Oil?"
"Rather than asking , don't you want to find the answer yourself?" Bai Wei said indifferently, "In this huge factory, there can't be only one living person, right?"
Gerard understood what Bai Wei ant.
Relying solely on these puppets, who had lost their humanity and knew only to work by the rules, clearly couldn't handle all the work in this factory.
For instance, those who took over the Source Oil from Night Star ten years ago couldn't possibly be like this; otherwise, they would have realized sothing was wrong long ago.
This ans... soone has always known everything going on in this factory, but he didn't say anything, kept everything hidden, and allowed the problematic Source Oil to be distributed all over Lyra.
Thinking of this, Gerard's gaze gradually turned icy.
"New Chaser Association?" Gerard said softly, "Are they the ones you wanted to find today?"
"I just thought there might be a big fish here for you to catch."
"Is that so?"
Gerard didn't say much else but nodded and then closed the Source Oil drum that had warped into a grotesque face. He then walked out of the workshop.
This ti, he was not as cautious as when he arrived; he walked out openly without hiding anything.
He even deliberately bumped into one or two workers, then stopped to look at them, seemingly hoping to see so reaction from them.
Gerard's eyes held a trace of hope.
But the workers he bumped into showed no reaction, said nothing, not even a change in their expression; they just numbly, like marionettes, got up and returned to their posts to continue working.
Thus, that hope disappeared.
Just like that, Gerard walked silently to the doorway of the workshop, then turned to look back.
The workshop was still operating.
Though he already had the answer, Gerard couldn't help but ask, "Is there... any way out for them?"
Bai Wei had anticipated Gerard would feel remorseful; with his character, he would definitely think that the Source Oil they brought back had killed these people.
And Bai Wei did not dislike this sense of guilt, he chuckled and counter-asked, "What did you do in Polluted Land?"
Gerard had not yet responded when Bai Wei continued leisurely.
"Things that are rotten should be burnt to ashes. If you're unwilling to do it yourself, I can help you."
Gerard naturally discerned Bai Wei's double aning.
He fell silent for a mont, then nodded slightly, "I understand."
And so, after a while.
Fire,
Ignited.
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