Behind the iron gate should be the main processing workshop of the cannery.
The ceiling is two stories high.
The steel frame structure above the head is exposed and rusted so much that the original color cannot be seen.
There were several magic lamps suspended in mid-air, but the light was dim and barely illuminated a small area in the center of the factory.
There was a stench in the air, like rotten fish mixed with some kind of pungent chemical, which made Lin Ze's stomach churn.
He took a few steps inside and suddenly kicked something under his feet.
When I looked down, I saw a stack of iron cages.
The cages are not big, and each one can probably hold a medium-sized dog, but the people inside are not dogs.
They are the dried carcasses of small animals.
Lin Ze recognized one of them as a hedgehog, and the other looked like some kind of lizard that he couldn't name.
It's just that the lizard's tail was broken in half, and the section was glowing with an abnormal purple color.
"Tsk." He walked around the pile of cages and continued walking forward.
Then he saw more cages.
Row after row, they are stacked neatly along the wall of the factory building, stacked three levels, at least hundreds of them.
But most of those cages are empty.
At this moment, a rustling sound suddenly sounded around him.
Lin Ze immediately stopped and held the wand tightly.
The sound came from not far away, like something crawling on the iron sheet.
The wand in his hand lit up a ball of fluorescence, shining towards the shadow next to him, and then Lin Ze's pupils shrank sharply.
A huge lizard.
It's about the size of an adult golden retriever.
It was lying on an iron table, its tail hanging down, and there was an iron ring on the tip of the tail, like the kind used to hang tags in warehouses, tightly hugging its tailbone. The scales around the iron ring had been worn away, revealing the white flesh inside.
It seems to have been trapped here for a long time, and its ribs are clearly defined.
The lizard slowly turned its head and stared straight at Lin Ze with its yellow vertical pupils.
Lin Ze subconsciously took half a step back and stepped on something unknown, making a slight crunching sound.
The lizard didn't make any attacking movements, it just buried its head in its body again and trembled slightly.
"Were you captured?" Lin Ze looked down at the trembling lizard.
He noticed an unusual bulge on the skin on the lizard's neck. When he looked closer, he discovered that it turned out to be a small tattoo.
Although the pattern of the tattoo has been blurred, Lin Ze can vaguely make out...
That's a...
Phoenix?
Lin Ze felt something in his heart.
If the wizard is injured in the Animagus state, the wound will remain in place after returning to human form.
Similarly, if there are tattoos in the humanoid state, the characteristics will also remain after becoming Animagus.
So this lizard...
"Are you a wizard?" Lin Ze asked in a low voice.
The lizard's vertical pupils shrank suddenly.
"Animagus?" Lin Ze asked again.
The lizard struggled to lift itself up from the iron table, crawled two steps in the direction of Lin Ze, then its front legs gave way and it fell to the ground.
It raised its head, opened its mouth, and let out a hoarse growl.
"Can you not change back? What did someone do to you?"
The lizard's tail slapped weakly on the ground, as if it was nodding.
Lin Ze Stand up and hold the wand tightly.
He originally only came to capture Bados, but now it seems that this abandoned cannery contains many more secrets than he imagined.
Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the iron gate.
The boots stepped on the broken glass, making a crunching sound, getting closer and closer.
Lin Ze took a quick glance at the structure of the factory building.
The iron door behind him seems to be the only entrance and exit. All the windows around him are nailed shut. There is a hole in the skylight above his head, but it is at least seven or eight meters above the ground and can be used for Apparition.
The iron door was kicked open.
The door panel hit the wall with a loud bang, causing rust to fall from the steel frame above the head.
Lin Ze stood in the center of the factory, holding a magic wand in his hand, with a rather calm expression on his face.
Five people stood in front of the iron gate.
The leader was none other than Richard, who had just checked the information for himself and told him the address.
At this time, he was holding the wand in his hand, and the tip of the wand was pointed directly at Lin Ze. The cheerful smile before on his bearded face was no longer replaced by a somewhat proud sneer.
Behind him were four wizards in black robes, their hoods pulled down so low that their faces could not be seen clearly, but they all also raised their wands and pointed at Lin Ze.
"Richard?" Lin Ze tilted his head.
"Mr. Lin, you didn't expect that, did you?"
"I really didn't expect that." Lin Ze nodded.
The smile on Richard's face froze for a moment, "You're pretending to be calm, right?"
He took two steps forward, always pointing the wand at Lin Ze's chest.
"Have you been setting me up from the beginning?" Lin Ze asked.
"Not even the beginning."
Richard shrugged, with an undisguised pride in his tone. "Originally, I just wanted to see how capable you are."
"In the end, you did not disappoint me. You opened Dupont's mouth in a short while. Now Delacour, that old guy, must be very impressed with you."
"Then you deliberately revealed the information about Bados to me, and said, 'Someone saw him this morning,' and asked me to come here and die alone?"
"Death? No, no, no." Richard shook his finger.
"If you die, Delacour will definitely investigate to the end, and I won't be able to get rid of the involvement by then."
"My plan is that you will be captured by Bados, and then Bados will use you as a hostage to negotiate with Delacour."
"What about you?"
"Of course I am the hero who saves you in the end." Richard grinned, revealing two rows of teeth that were yellowed by tobacco smoke.
"When Bados kidnapped you, I arrived in time, had a thrilling duel with him, and finally captured him and rescued you. In this way, I will be a hero who has made great achievements, and you..."
He looked Lin Ze up and down, "This memory here will disappear soon, and eventually you will become a rookie who messed up and go back to your England in disgrace."
Lin Ze looked at Richard's triumphant face and suddenly felt a little funny.
He was indeed careless.
From the moment Richard took the initiative to help him check the files, he should have sensed something was wrong.
Why are you so enthusiastic about someone you've just known for less than a day?
Not only did he help with filing files, but he also took the initiative to provide information, and even told him thoughtfully, "Someone saw Bados this morning."
There is no unreasonable passion in this world, only premeditated traps.
Lin Ze scolded himself in his mind, then raised his head and showed Richard a standard workplace fake smile.
"So, your plan is to make me the unlucky guy who is saved by you, and then you step on me to get a promotion and a salary increase?"
"That's pretty much what it means." Richard shrugged.
"But don't worry, I won't make you feel too uncomfortable. Although that guy Bados is perverted, he is only interested in his own experiments."
"Experiment?"
"That's right." Richard raised his chin toward the depths of the factory.
"Look at those cages, they are all his masterpieces. He has recently been researching Potions that can turn wizards into Animagus, and I heard it will be successful."
Lin Ze subconsciously looked back at the lizard lying on the iron table.