Fire Ignited

When all the workers looked over, even the composed Jie La Er felt his body stiffen, and then subconsciously reached behind him.

But he forgot that he had no weapons on him.

But... it seems like we don't need to use weapons.

Jie La Er initially thought he had been exposed and would have to resort to force to escape, but he soon noticed that the workers were behaving strangely. They weren't staring at Jie La Er, but at Bai Wei's fingers. However, when Jie La Er moved his fingers, their gazes followed, like mechanical machines.

But in those lifeless eyes, one could almost see a certain longing.

But apart from that, they did nothing else. They didn't get up from their seats or say anything; they just watched.

Watching silently.

This scene gave Jie La Er a chill, and he asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"

What do you want to ask?

"Nature is everything now."

"I'm sorry, I can only tell you part of the story." Bai Wei raised Jie La Er's eyebrows. "The pollutants are reacting to my body; they crave my body..."

At this point, Bai Wei paused for a moment because he felt that the statement was a bit disgusting, but he continued anyway.

"This is ingrained in their instincts, so even when they are no longer formed and have been squeezed into juice, they will still react."

Jie La Er looked down at the source oil in the barrel again. The strange face that had appeared was still pulsating slightly, as if trying to break free from it.

This performance clearly aligns with Bai Wei's account.

Raw oil... does indeed have polluting properties.

Is this the kind of thing they've been bringing back bucket by bucket and distributing to all parts of Lyra over the years?

If Lyra City is a giant, then the source oil is its blood, but this blood itself is problematic.

The problematic blood has been flowing for over a century.

This conjecture sent chills down Jie La Er's spine.

But what's even more chilling is...

Jie La Er slowly raised his head and looked at the workers in front of him again. Just as he was about to ask Bai Wei another question, the workers seemed to receive some kind of instruction and simultaneously looked away, continuing with their work. The once quiet workshop instantly returned to its noisy state, as if everything before had been an illusion.

"What... what's going on now?" Jie La Er asked again.

"Well, how should I put it?" Bai Wei said, "It feels a bit like the rules have overridden instincts."

"Rules override instincts?" Bai Wei's words struck Jie La Er as he pondered, "You mean, their work is governed by rules, while their desire for your body is instinct?"

"Could you use a better description?" Bai Wei rolled his eyes at Jie La Er and said irritably, "Even if you just said it was body parts, what would you do?"

Jie La Er ignored Bai Wei's complaints and just stared intently at the worker closest to him.

The worker was very skilled at his work, his movements precise and accurate like a machine, like a gear—but not like a human.

Rules are an indelible mark on the hearts of every Lyra People. From the moment they are born, people consciously abide by the rules.

But rules are not everything.

As human beings, the most important thing is... humanity.

"It seems you already guessed it."

Bai Wei said calmly.

"The people here... can no longer be considered alive. The part of them that is human has long been annihilated. What drives them to act is just the rules."

Jie La Er remained silent, his expression complex. "When did it begin? How long have they been here?"

"Hmm... it's rather strange that you're asking me this question," Bai Wei said calmly. "However, I suggest you take a look at the clothes you're wearing; perhaps they can give you the answer."

Jie La Er realized what was happening and immediately took off his uniform.

He had previously felt that the uniform was a bit too old-fashioned, but he hadn't looked into it closely, because the uniforms of the oil factory hadn't changed for many years.

And now, he saw the Sleeve badge on the uniform.

"Apprentice Dolan (joined in 225)"

Jie La Er murmured, "Twenty years ago?"

It actually happened ten years earlier than the Xiaoxing Incident?

Jie La Er was incredulous, then he quickly stepped forward and looked at the Sleeve badge of several workers, discovering that most of them had joined the company twenty or thirty years ago.

Upon discovering this, Jie La Er's face turned deathly pale.

If you calculate based on their start dates, they should be elderly people with wrinkled faces by now. But they mostly look like middle-aged people, as if time has frozen them at a certain moment.

And this... is also a symbol of pollution.

The soul is dead, the body has become a monster.

They had been working here as monsters for over a decade, yet no one knew, not even Jie La Er, the Evening Star Captain.

"... So, when I received the order ten years ago, Lyra had already been in trouble for a long time, right?" Jie La Er said softly, "But we didn't realize it."

Jie La Er clenched his fists tighter around the Sleeve badge, muttering to himself.

"We've come into contact with it so many times, yet we haven't found anything, we haven't found anything at all..."

Feeling Jie La Er's chest rise and fall with his breathing, Bai Wei said nothing, only chuckled softly.

But the laughter clearly pulled Jie La Er back to reality. He looked down at the Sleeve badge in his hand, which was almost torn apart, and then looked up at the hundreds of workers in front of him who had worked there for who knows how many years. He remained silent for a long time before speaking softly, "Is all of this because of the source oil?"

"Instead of asking me, don't you want to find the answer yourself?" Bai Wei said calmly. "There can't be only one living person in this huge factory, right?"

Jie La Er understood what Bai Wei meant.

These puppets, who have lost their humanity and only know how to work according to the rules, are clearly not capable of completing all the work in this factory.

For example, the employees who handed over the source oil to Xiaoxing ten years ago could not have been like this, otherwise they would have noticed it long ago.

In other words... someone has always known everything about this factory, but he has said nothing and kept everything a secret, allowing the problematic oil to be distributed to various parts of Lyra.

Thinking of this, Jie La Er's eyes gradually turned cold.

"The New Pursuit Society?" Jie La Er said softly. "Is that the person you sent me to find today?"

"I just thought there was a big fish here, and I wanted you to come and fish for it."

"Yeah?"

Jie La Er didn't say anything more, just nodded, then closed the oil drum in front of him that had developed a strange face, and walked out of the workshop.

This time, unlike when he came, he didn't walk out cautiously, but openly and without any concealment.

He even deliberately bumped into one or two of the workers, then stopped and looked at them, as if trying to see some reaction from them.

A glimmer of hope appeared in Jie La Er's eyes.

The worker who was knocked down didn't react at all, didn't say a word, and didn't even change his expression. He just stood up numbly, like a puppet on a string, and then returned to his post to continue working.

And so that hope vanished.

And so, Jie La Er walked silently to the workshop door, then turned around and looked back.

The workshop is still operating.

Even though he already knew the answer in his heart, Jie La Er couldn't help but ask, "Do they... have any other options?"

Bai Wei had already guessed that Jie La Er would feel guilty. Given his personality, he would definitely think that the source oil they brought back was responsible for the deaths of these people.

Bai Wei didn't dislike this self-blame. He chuckled and asked in return, "What did you do in the Contaminated Land?"

Before Jie La Er could respond, Bai Wei continued speaking leisurely.

"Burn the rotten stuff to ashes. If you don't want to do it, I can help you."

Jie La Er naturally understood the double meaning in Bai Wei's words.

He was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. "I understand."

So after a while...

Fire,

It then caught fire.

My sleep schedule is getting increasingly chaotic; I'm thinking of taking a day off to adjust. If I don't take a day off, the next chapter won't be until the early hours of the morning. If I do take a day off, I'll update again the day after tomorrow and then finish writing this volume in one go.