Erised Song tried to suppress his rapture, but as he thought about all the years of his messed-up life, he couldn't help it and let out a roar while slapping the steering wheel like a madman.

The sack behind him moved, and he heard a whimper.

The boy's hands and feet were tied up, his mouth gagged, and his eyes covered with a black cloth. He didn't want any complications, especially today.

By the end of this day, he would be reborn; Echo Wang would die. With this in mind, he calmed down and stepped on the accelerator.

The van was moving very fast in the rain, splashing water on pedestrians and eliciting bursts of cursing.

Erised drove through the main gate of Steel City Factory. It is said that in the first few years after its downfall, there were still gatekeepers at the factory. Later, all of the valuable items were demolished and relocated. The once orderly and flourishing factory areas on both sides of the driveway were now littered with scrap metal that no one cared about. Like the factory, Erised had his time in the city, and now he was just another piece of garbage. Nobody cared.

The van stopped behind the Hot-Blast Stove, next to the No. 6 blast furnace. Erised got out of the car and looked around in the rain. It's Saturday, and it's still raining. No one was coming to this hellhole. There were only stray dogs scavenging through the garbage. He heard a movement nearby, turned his head, and looked around for a while, but there was nothing there. The sound of the van arriving must have stirred the dogs.

Erised looked at the No. 6 blast furnace. No. 6 was the last one that Steel City put into production back then. It was nearly 40 meters high and the only partially intact building remaining in the factory area. It's the only legacy of that era, his era.

Well, the legacy can suck it. Erised couldn't care less now. Anyway, after today, he would fly away and focus solely on the future.

He opened the door and carried the heavy sack along the maintenance tunnel to the top of the blast furnace.

Didn't know why, he looked back at the rusty stove, where the cold rain, like red-brown tears, was washing down from the giant steel monster.

He couldn't help but wonder, "For whom are these tears shed?"

* * *

Erised Song held up his raincoat, inserted detonators into the explosives, wrapped them in black tape, and turned on the power. Then, he carefully placed the IED into a plastic bag, followed by a cloth bag, and concealed it behind the exhaust valve where the boy was leaning. He turned and went down and back again. It was excellent because no one who came up the service tunnel could see him.

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He was 90 percent sure of his IED.

In the past two years in the mine, Erised had maintained a low-key profile. He brown-nosed the "gunner" and bribed him with liquor and cigarettes. Only then did he learn the real deal from that wimpy little man. When he was confident in his abilities, he seized the opportunity of a particularly dark night to pilfer eight kilograms of ammonium nitrate explosive and a set of detonators. The rest were a piece of cake. Today, you could confidently go to any supermarket and purchase remote control devices.

"Hunting Ground" was finished. Finally, he took a look at the sack, which was still dripping and soaked with rain, and realized that there was no turning back.

He put that out of his mind and went down the service tunnel. It was still early, and now he had to take care of the only possible loophole - the van - and move it to a different location. He could not let Echo find anything that might alert him.

The Steel City in the rain was gray and bleak. Naked and knotted steels tangled with ochre brick walls, resembling a monster born from a cooling pond.

Erised saw the auditorium in the distance, where his fate had changed ten years ago. He always dreamed of that scene: first Byron Gong, the cuckold, then Echo Wang, who had orchestrated everything, finally himself, being taken away for investigation.

This was the perfect place to end his nightmare once and for all.

He suddenly felt something pass by the hot blast stove, and the hair on his neck stood up. Subconsciously, he reached into his pocket and felt the remote control trigger, which was shaped like a handle. He relaxed a little.

Before Erised could comprehend any of this tension, there was rustling once again, not far away. He couldn't stand it anymore. Erised leaned over, picked up a half brick with a sharpened end, and turned around, ready to strike.

"WTF, come and..."

It all happened too fast: a pale green shadow leaped from the ground right before his eyes. Erised only had time to see a creature that appeared to have a spider-like body, with meaty and eight bony legs. Then, Erised fell to the ground, kicking and grabbing.

* * *

Erised Song sat in front of his luxurious wooden desk.

He's waiting.

Here, in Steel City, he was an esteemed hunter, well-established in his craft.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in; the door is open."

Lila Huang, wearing a yellow floral dress and red high heels, walked in. There was hesitation at the beginning. Then, as if making up her mind, she stepped to the side of his desk and stood beside Erised Song.

"GM Song."

He pretended to look at the documents without lifting his gaze.

"Hey, Lila. Regarding the reform of the factory hospital, we are still working on a plan. "

He paused and turned to look at her. The woman's makeup was heavier than usual; her lips were blood-red, which looked strange.

"I have always said that we must embrace change, especially young cadets. You have to have the courage to adapt and keep up with the times. Don't burden yourself with outdated thinking. Take bigger steps. "

Suddenly, Lila leaned over and embraced Erised. He expected to smell perfume, but instead he coughed when he was hit by a strong odor of engine oil. When he looked up, the face above was no longer that of the young and lustful Lila, but that of Echo Wang.

"You scumbag!"

All of a sudden, Erised straightened up and breathed heavily, with a nasty taste in his mouth.

He vomited violently, then got up and stumbled towards the entrance of the hot blast stove. He found a relatively clean place to sit down and tried to figure out what had happened.

He did not notice that there was a light green "spider" with eight legs lying still beside him.

Its mission was accomplished.