After eliminating a minor obstacle, the convoy continued smoothly onward and soon arrived at a factory on the outskirts of the city.
This factory covered two thousand mu. Inside stood three enormous workshops and an office building, with a total floor area exceeding one million square meters. Under the pretext of constructing a new large-scale production line, Manohar would build the planned virtual world here.
The open ground outside the factory was piled with rusted cans, traces left behind by the ordinary workers who had labored here day and night more than a decade ago, when the original production lines were still running.
Later, with the explosion of artificial intelligence technology, pharmaceutical production lines requiring delicate operations became fully automated. Now, only a small number of highly educated technicians remained to keep the factory running, and there were almost no traces left of the workers' lives.
However, following Manohar's order, the upper echelons controlling this emerging city immediately sprang into action. Company executives swiftly mobilized the equipment on the list, senior city officials promptly approved the factory's renovation application, and several construction companies scrambled to take the renovation contract.
Large numbers of trucks loaded with new equipment arrived from every direction, and hundreds, then thousands of workers returned to this enormous factory after its long silence.
They came from several major local construction companies. Having received an urgent assignment, they had suspended all work at hand and arrived at this suburban factory within half an hour, bringing the finest engineering equipment with them. They had been ordered to complete the workshop renovations as quickly as possible.
Manohar stepped out of the armored vehicle and nodded in satisfaction at the busy scene before him. Though he had been powerless before Seagull, everyone else in this city still had to devote themselves fully to carrying out a single command from him. That was the power of authority.
Several suited supervisors spotted Manohar's gleaming bald head from afar under the sunlight and no longer bothered urging their workers along. Shedding the imposing manner they displayed before their subordinates, they hurried over to the armored vehicle in a small run to greet this important figure.
The leader, a man wearing sunglasses, approached Manohar and proactively reported, "The moment we received your request this morning, we immediately coordinated reserve equipment from every department in the company. We have now gathered fifty percent of the total. The remaining equipment is expected to arrive in full by tonight."
Several other men from construction companies also stepped forward to offer their business cards and introduce themselves. Manohar had rarely handled matters in person for a long time. Most of the time, he could control this vast city from home through the artificial intelligence that belonged solely to him. As a result, many newly risen powerful figures over the past decade had had no way to approach him.
And this new large-scale production line was an excellent opportunity. Manohar's plan demanded extremely high standards and allowed very little time, requiring the resources of many major companies to accomplish.
They immediately seized this chance. Their quotes for this contract were practically at a loss. As long as they could establish a connection with this important figure, the money they lost could later bring returns hundreds or thousands of times greater.
Manohar shook hands with them one by one in a friendly manner, casually tossing out some profitable business intelligence that he personally disdained. The men nodded repeatedly in ecstasy. With information from this important figure, their businesses could take another great step forward.
More importantly, once they established a connection with him, they could become members of the city's highest circle. Many deals that had once required enormous resources to clear obstacles would henceforth proceed without hindrance, saving them tremendous amounts of time and money spent dealing with officials.
After speaking for a while, Manohar suddenly ended the conversation and said to the men, "This large-scale production line is preparation for the company's new product. Its interior must remain confidential for the time being, so these workers will be handed over to me for the next year."
The men were unsurprised. Most of the workers they had brought were responsible for modifying the factory's internal production lines. There were only around a thousand of them in total, less than one percent of their employees, and their loss would have almost no impact on the companies.
Whatever this important figure intended to do was none of their concern. They only needed to use this opportunity to enter the highest circle. A few insignificant employees were simply not important.
One of them immediately stated, "Of course. I'll have their lead supervisors coordinate the handover with your team. Everything will proceed according to your will."
The others also nodded in agreement. In the course of a brief conversation, the employment of nearly a thousand workers changed hands. From today onward, they were Manohar's employees.
With the deal concluded, Manohar stopped speaking and tilted his head as though listening to something. Seeing that this important figure no longer paid them any attention, the men understood. They returned to their vehicles and left the factory one after another. They had achieved their goal, and what remained was no longer something outsiders like them could know.
After all the outsiders had left, the man in sunglasses approached the bald man. He had been Manohar's university classmate many years ago and his partner in founding Manohar Corporation. Within the company, his status was second only to Manohar.
Ever since the rise of artificial intelligence, Manohar, as the major boss, had gradually withdrawn behind the scenes. The man in sunglasses became the company's public representative, appearing at many social functions and press conferences. As a result, the newer generation had gradually begun to forget Manohar.
This time, everyone else in the company believed that Manohar truly intended to build a new large-scale production line to manufacture new drugs. Only the man in sunglasses knew that was impossible.
Just one week ago, Manohar had discussed the company's future direction with him.
At the time, Manohar had said that the generic drug market was now nearing saturation. He planned to use the company's connections with foreign corporations to enter the artificial intelligence sector, investing part of its resources into producing intelligent medical devices and providing cheaper local products for major hospitals.
The man in sunglasses walked over to Manohar's side and asked in a low voice, "What exactly happened? Such a huge move out of nowhere doesn't fit your usual steady way of doing things."
He claimed the new drug production required the utmost secrecy, yet he hurriedly used workers from other companies whom he did not trust. It completely defied normal logic, as though something were forcing him.
Manohar had already finished listening to Seema's report through his earpiece. He wiped his bald head, which gleamed slightly under the sun, and said to the brother who had fought alongside him for more than twenty years:
"I don't know what it is. It might be a super bioweapon from the Hong Alliance or the Commercial Alliance, or perhaps an alien from beyond Earth. The only thing I can be certain of is that before that Monster, I am more powerless than a child from the slums."
The man in sunglasses, who had initially worn a serious expression, looked up at the bald man in confusion. He was using a terrified tone to tell a story that sounded like an urban legend. If they had not worked together for so many years, the man in sunglasses would have suspected that this guy had drunk counterfeit liquor last night.
Seeing his old friend's expression, Manohar gave a helpless bitter smile. He had later searched through all the surveillance records with a glimmer of hope, but unfortunately, there was no trace of Seagull in any of the footage.
Other than himself, only the two maids from last night had seen Seagull. But when that Monster left, it had ordered them to remain in their rooms and not see outsiders. He did not dare disobey its will now.
Manohar said, "Seema, have the first security team complete its deployment. Also, notify the drone unit and the second heavy-firepower team to arrive here and complete their deployment before six tonight."
Seema's orders were swiftly transmitted everywhere. More than a dozen armored vehicles not far behind Manohar began moving. They had already received their respective defensive assignments.
The man in sunglasses found it even stranger. This was nearly one-third of Manohar's total force. The second team's heavy-firepower personnel had tanks and self-propelled artillery. Combined with the drone unit purchased from the Hong Alliance, even the local regular army of a thousand men did not possess such formidable firepower.
Manohar did not explain anything to his old friend. Instead, he pulled the man in sunglasses into the factory with him. Since that Monster had said it could cover for him, he naturally no longer needed to be so cautious.
If Seagull failed to cover for him and others discovered his actions instead, that would be even better for him. It would mean that Monster was not as terrifying as it seemed, and he might still have a chance to escape its clutches.
They hurried past trucks loaded with precision equipment and workers carrying cargo. The workers still did not know that their bosses had sold them off, and that they would have to remain in this enormous factory for the next year.
The two headed straight for the factory's only office building. Half of the fifteen-story building had originally served as living quarters for the highly skilled personnel who maintained the production lines. They would continue living here in the future, though their work would change to maintaining the new equipment.
Passing through the bustling first-floor lobby, Manohar and the man in sunglasses took the elevator to the top floor of the office building and entered its largest office. The once-empty room had been furnished with many pieces of furniture, while several of the latest imported medical testing devices stood in the center.
Manohar lay down on one of them and said to the still-bewildered man in sunglasses, "That monster said it put something in my heart. Now let's see exactly what it is. Seema, begin."
The latest precision medical imaging equipment began operating under the control of artificial intelligence. To Manohar's surprise, the object was not difficult to find. In just moments, the image displayed a tiny abnormal substance inside his heart, appearing before the two men as a blue image.
It was a slender creature about five millimeters long, with short caterpillar-like legs. It clung tightly to the outside of an artery above the heart, its fat body swaying slightly with each heartbeat.
Manohar asked excitedly, "Seema, now that we've found it, we can remove it, right?"
"Of course—not."
The first half had been spoken in a little girl's voice, but the second half became Seagull's voice from last night.
Straps suddenly shot out from both sides and bound Manohar to the bed. The smile on his face froze instantly. It was that detestable voice again, just like in his nightmare.
"Humans always think too highly of themselves. Baldy, this is only a warning. I have been watching you all along. Next time, you won't have another chance."
The next moment, the little girl's voice sounded again, continuing to explain how the foreign object could be removed through a simple operation. But Manohar was no longer in the mood to listen.
The other party possessed technology beyond imagination. The most advanced artificial intelligence he had spent a fortune to purchase was merely a toy in its hands. Perhaps that Monster could remotely control the foreign object in his heart at any time. Before it, every struggle was futile.