Chapter 1076: Chapter 1076

"The Array is lit up? Someone has been transported up again?"

In the spacious Great Hall, a somewhat shrill voice could be heard conversing, "Has anyone gone down before?"

A slightly deeper voice responded, "No one is recorded to have gone down on the register, it must be someone from below who got transported up, perhaps some big shot is short of ’livestock’ again?"

"Oh, a man and a woman this time, both quite good-looking. Seems like some important person is short on toys."

The shrill voice said with a laugh.

"All those big shots hold Grace within them, their power is overwhelming, any little action from them could be lethal or severely injurious,"

The deeper voice chuckled, "Although these two look sturdy, I bet it won’t be long before they’re just a pile of parts."

"The toys of the big shots are like that, replaced swiftly,"

The shrill voice, accompanied by the crisp sound of footsteps, slowly approached, "But these two are completely unregistered, we need to mark them and shackle them first, take them to the detention room. Otherwise, if they escape halfway, and we offend the big shots, we’re done for."

The deeper voice carried a hint of doubt but still moved over quickly.

At this moment, He Ao, standing at the center of the Great Hall, was raising his head to observe his surroundings.

This was a majestic, golden, circular Great Hall; carved around its perimeter were all sorts of exotic beasts. Bright lights shone like clusters of stars upon the dome of the Great Hall, illuminating the entire space in a splendid brilliance.

Ruilin was clearly not accustomed to the lighting before her; she blinked several times, not immediately comprehending her surroundings.

"The two of you, awake now?"

The shrill voice rose up by their ears, and a long, thin face appeared within He Ao’s field of view.

The man was wearing a meticulously designed gold-and-white modern uniform, its pure white fabric embroidered with golden, cloud-like patterns using golden threads, matching well with the crisp cut of the uniform, authoritative yet with a hint of elegance.

This design seemed to fuse elements from both Central Earth and the Western Lands, adding some distinctly foreign patterns too—He Ao found them somewhat familiar, yet couldn’t remember where he had seen them before; overall, it was harmonious and attractive.

Obviously, this uniform was the work of a renowned designer.

"Is this... the Upper Level?"

Ruilin, her eyes slightly adjusting, lowered her head to the man beside He Ao.

Her gaze inadvertently drifted to the elegant uniforms on the two men, then she looked down at her own grayish-brown coat.

The long-faced man seemed quite pleased with Ruilin’s astonished expression; during this process, he also took a glance at He Ao, dressed in modern attire, apparently surprised by He Ao’s choice of clothing but it didn’t stop a smile from playing on his face.

He picked up the silver handcuffs in his hand, glanced at He Ao and Ruilin, and said with a smile, "Welcome to Heaven,"

He then turned his gaze toward He Ao, who was closer, and opened the silver handcuffs, "Of course, you might not think so. Raise your hands, livestock."

At that moment, a deep shout suddenly came from behind him, "I checked, no big shot had plans to bring up livestock from below today, there’s something off about these two!"

"No matter the issue, they are just livestock from below, and we are the elite!"

On hearing these words, the long-faced man merely chuckled, drawing a handgun from his waist and aiming at He Ao, "Raise your hands, got it?"

He Ao turned his head for a brief glance.

Ruilin, standing at his side, immediately lifted her hand, drawing a bronze sword and thrusting it, striking his wrist.

Pain coursed through his wrist, the gun that had been aimed at He Ao dropped to the ground.

"How dare you strike at me? Just a piece of livestock, unregistered. I can beat you to death here, and those big shots won’t say a word,"

The long-faced man, looking at Ruilin standing in front of He Ao, suddenly bulked up with muscles.

He swung his fist, launching a punch at Ruilin.

Ruilin took up her sword, blocking it in front of her.

The fist smashed into the bronze sword, making a crisp sound. Ruilin’s body trembled, and she looked at the long-faced man in surprise as she was sent flying backward.

However, she did not fly far before she stopped mid-air.

A hand reached out from the air to catch her steadily, then grasped the back of her collar and set her down on the ground like picking up a chicken.

The long-faced man looked at He Ao, who had caught Ruilin, sneered, and threw a punch at He Ao. "But just with that little skill, you dare to make a move against me? You’re overestimating yourself. Watch as I pound you into pulp—ah—"

His words were cut short, as his neck collided with a wide palm. He was fiercely grasped and then lifted up, spinning toward the rear.

At this moment, behind He Ao, stood the long-faced man’s companion.

Next to this companion, a machine gun hidden in the wall had already extended out.

By the time He Ao had turned around with the long-faced man in his grasp, the machine gun had already locked onto him.

The bullets burst out fiercely from the machine gun in an instant, hitting the long-faced man, with blood splattering like water droplets.

Honestly, the long-faced man’s strength was indeed quite good, at least his physical robustness was not bad—for such a close range, the machine gun bullets actually did not penetrate his body.

Holding the long-faced man, He Ao took a step forward, instantly appearing in front of the man by the machine gun.

Seeing this, the man next to the machine gun was initially stunned, then his muscles swelled up without hesitation, he drew out a dagger, and stabbed directly at He Ao’s throat.

Watching the incoming blade, He Ao raised his hand and casually pinched the dagger, then snatched it, twirling the blade half a turn in his hand, and stabbed it into the man’s throat, cutting off his life force.

The man’s body stiffened and fell backward.

The long-faced man in He Ao’s hand also no longer showed any signs of life at this moment.

He Ao stretched out a hand to turn off the machine gun, and dropped the long-faced man on the ground.

Then he was slightly startled and glanced at the two corpses on the ground.

Some unknown connection was entwining around these two corpses, trying to reclaim the powers bestowed upon them.

’Had everyone in the City of Rong Guang received Grace?’

He Ao lifted his hand, transferring that connection to the yellow crystal attached to himself, then he grasped the edge of the machine gun, exerting a slight force, and with a ’bang—’ , he pulled the machine gun, along with its ammo magazine, straight out from its metal base.

Then he raised his hand and handed the base over to Ruilin, who was approaching, "Can you hold this?"

Ruilin glanced at the machine gun, reached out her hand, and took the base.

As He Ao let go, the enormous weight fell upon Ruilin’s hands; she trembled but still managed to lift the machine gun.

He Ao scanned the female warrior in front of him; she also seemed to have been influenced by the city, her physique far surpassing that of an ordinary person.

He Ao turned around and headed towards the main hall’s door.

Ruilin lugged the heavy machine gun, initially appearing somewhat unaccustomed, but after a few steps, she was able to maintain a normal pace.

She caught up with He Ao’s stride and, looking at his retreating back, quickly asked, "Mr. Hao Yi, where are we headed next?"

"To the detention area."

He Ao, who had already stepped out of the room, replied offhandedly.

"Then... which way should we go?"

Ruilin, who had followed out of the room, glanced at the corridor outside the door, looked left and right, and quietly inquired.

He Ao looked up at the ceiling.

Above the corridor, a sign with an arrow was pointing to the right.

[Factory District/Detention Room →]

The female warrior blinked her eyes.

There were such signs in the lower levels as well, but this place was, somewhat unfamiliar, to the point that she hadn’t expected a sign to be here.

And in the very brief moment the two lingered at the doorway, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the right.

The buzzing alarm also started ringing throughout the corridor overhead.

He Ao glanced at Ruilin and casually asked.

Ruilin reached out and clutched the machine gun’s trigger.

He Ao lifted his foot and walked towards the right.

Several figures holding guns and wearing the same uniform as the long-faced man they encountered earlier appeared around the corner at the end of the corridor on the right.

"Escaped livestock spotted, no guards seen calling the alarm,"

The person at the front who seemed to be the leader quickly shouted while raising his handgun, "Prepare to kill."

These squad members rapidly charged towards the two, muscles on each person swiftly bulging.

Ruilin, somewhat nervous, lifted the machine gun in her hands and kept up with He Ao’s pace.

They were getting closer to the squad members ahead.

When the ones in white and gold uniforms got near, they raised their guns and fired rapidly.

Bullets spread like torrential rain in the narrow corridor.

Ruilin followed He Ao’s steps closely. He Ao hadn’t ordered her to fire, and she didn’t dare to shoot.

She could feel the whistling of the hot bullets as they grazed by, and the ping and clang of the bullets hitting the walls.

From the physical sensation, it seemed not to be her first encounter with such modern firearms, but within her years of memory, it was the first time she directly faced such a storm of bullets.

It was uncertain whether it was luck or some special protection, but as they moved forward, none of the bullets hit ’Mr. Hao Yi’ or her.

They were like rocks moving forward in water, splitting the ’stream’ of bullets in two.

However, such moments were inevitably brief.

Soon, the squad members were less than two meters away from the two.

And then, in that moment, the calm voice of the young man rang in Ruilin’s ears, "Fire."

The female warrior didn’t hesitate a bit and pulled the trigger.

When the six-barrel gun started rotating, intense flashes of fire burst from the muzzle, and an even fiercer storm of bullets rained down on the small squad.

Ruilin firmly held the machine gun, letting her massive recoil not overwhelm her stance or skew the gun’s barrel.

In front of her, the squad member at the forefront was instantly turned into a sieve by the intense gunfire, falling backwards, followed by the surrounding members halting their advance and falling down as well.

The leader at the front took many bullets but still had some life in him, shouting loudly.

But by this time, they no longer had any chance for cover.

In this area, both sides of the corridor were smooth walls, without even a side door in sight.

The captain realized the machine gun in the hands of their opponents was not malfunctioning, but rather intentionally not firing, luring them into this place.

He drew his waist knife and swung it towards He Ao in front.

He Ao raised his left hand, grabbed his palm, reversed the blade, and sliced off his head.

His eyes widened as his head rolled into the pool of blood below.

Everything quieted down in an instant.

Everyone lay in the corridor, Ruilin also stopped pulling the trigger, pointing the red-hot machine gun downwards, her body slightly bent as she gasped for breath.

The invisible connections were guided and gathered into the crystal He Ao had slipped into his pocket, the corpses on the ground began to ’decay’ rapidly.

Ruilin trembled as she watched this scene.

Before, she had watched He Ao act; this was her first time doing it herself, killing so many ’people’.

But her years of experience killing Variants allowed her to quickly calm down. She turned her head to look at He Ao beside her and asked carefully,

"Mr. Hao Yi, did you block all the bullets flying towards me just now? Just when they were shooting at us."

He Ao turned his head to glance at her, then swept his eyes over the pool of blood and shook his head, "No, it’s just that they missed."

Although he had indeed prepared to deflect the bullets.

With so many guns and so many people, not a single bullet hitting its mark was also beyond his expectations.

And it wasn’t intentional that they missed.

Seems like their shooting training isn’t strict enough.

He Ao lifted his foot, stepped over the pool of blood, and headed towards the end of the corridor.

Ruilin hurriedly followed her.

The two walked past the corner of the corridor ahead.

Ruilin looked at the sign ahead and the somewhat quiet corridor, somewhat puzzled, "Their factory is here? Where are the assembly lines, and how do they handle the waste from the factory, the various odors, noise? Poor handling of those wastes can cause ordinary people to rapidly mutate into Variants."

"Just look ahead and you’ll know."

As they continued forward, after turning the corner, the wall on the right side suddenly became a transparent glass seemingly made for observation.

There was a note on the glass, which read, [First Food Factory].

Ruilin stood beside the glass, watching the scene inside the factory, silent.

This so-called ’factory’ had no machinery at all, only a huge pipe extending out from the wall.

Countless pre-packaged food blocks poured out of the pipe, landed on the conveyor belt below, and were automatically sent to places outside this room.

And on the wall next to this pipe, there was a huge lever switch and several ’monitoring screens’ showing real-time changes.

Weary figures dressed in gray-brown clothing were ’working’ in these monitors, constantly starting machines, transferring materials, and packaging and printing.

In the bottom right corner of the monitoring screen, there was a ’discharge outlet’ covered in grime.

People in gray-brown clothing collected the food from this outlet and packaged it into strips.

This was the ’staple food’ that the people below commonly ate.

He Ao had also seen this strip before; Riley had once taken two strips to deliver to her ’friend’ who had turned into a Variant, afraid that her friend might starve if she took sick leave and stayed at home without food.

And the ’discharge outlet’s’ monitoring note was simple: ’Substandard waste outlet’.

Ruilin stared dumbfoundedly at this scene and finally got an answer to her question earlier. She opened her mouth and said with a bitter smile,

"So it turns out, we are the factory."

And beside her, He Ao’s calm gaze settled on that lever switch.