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Chapter 6: Factory
Behind the holey sea of clouds, the twin moons leered at us like a parrot’s angry gaze. Below, a boom tore through the still gray night.
“Let’s go.” Nita jumped off and slid down the sloping cliff.
Lush followed closely behind her. I adjusted my mask and jumped as well. Another ear-buzzing explosion ripped through the air from behind the factory. There, a green fireball flashed into a bright red, and shadows moved on the ground.
“The improved eyesight is amazing. I wanna keep this thing and analyze it.”
As we descended to the wet ground, Nita and Lush dashed forth, sprinting ahead with frightening speed. I could barely keep an eye on them and almost lost their silhouettes.
More explosions rang in my ears, this time inside the factory. Nita noticed me lagging behind and waited at the tree line in front of the factory area. Lush went ahead alone, a greenish aura flickering around him.
“It’s like Riston’s witchery. Hopefully, they aren’t related . . .”
Nita got going again; she sprinted to the main building. Small green lights flashed scattered around the factory. I zoomed in. Figures with crossbows and long muskets aimed across the compound.
“I want one of those.”
Probably as planned, the snipers focused on the side of the explosions and didn't notice us. We climbed up the maze of pipes. The copper rattled under our quick steps, and we reached one of the still-thrusting pistons. Nita offered me a hand, but I mimicked her movements and got up with two precise wall jumps.
She nodded, and we parkoured higher.
We reached the roof. Below, swords clanged above the crackling of flames, silver sparks flashed, and screams died away. A fierce battle had broken out.
“Hurry.” Nita beckoned me.
She smashed a skylight, and we dropped down. Dozens of metal walkways overlapped in various directions. Beneath us, ominous green soups glowed in huge bottle-like containers.
“How much Jade Mint is that?! That's enough for the lifetime of an entire city—if not more.”
Nita nudged me, and we jogged through the factory; no workers or staff were present. We came across a mill—or grinder machine, with jade stones above an engine in a funnel and green powder below in some collection container.
“A giant mortar . . .”
“This way.” Nita kept going quickly.
We passed a section with dead animals hanging from chains. A funnel underneath them directed their green blood into glass containers. Another even cooler room contained a garden with strange fruits in aquariums I had never seen before.
“Is that how you harvest Jade Mint? So it's not an ore or mineral?”
Everyone I met had believed it to be one, but apparently, the process of producing the green drug was far more gruesome.
We explored other compartments until we heard signs of life.
In front of a secluded room, guards gathered in a semicircle, weapons ready. We observed them from above.
“This is it. Probably the locker or bedroom,” Nita whispered. “The workers must have gathered in there, and the group of guards is protecting them.”
“Then what—”
“I'll take care of them. If it gets too much for me, I'll distract them. You go in after the workers have fled.”
“Wait.” I grabbed her arm. “If you face that many alone, you’re as good as dead.”
“Don't underestimate me.” She pulled down her mask, revealing a confident smile. From the pocket of her raincoat, she pulled out a vial of static Jade Mint. She gulped down the content. Tiny cracks gaped in and around her eyes. She trembled energetically.
The vial slipped out of her hand and between the grid of the metal walkway. The moment it shattered on the ground, Nita was gone. Without a sound, a green blur appeared in the middle of the guards; Nita stood in a stance with two daggers in her hands. I zoomed in on her. Her eyes betrayed the wrathful grin beneath her mask.
When some guards finally noticed her, their heads were already flying. Nita was moving too fast to follow. Most of the guards died before a few of them downed green liquids.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
A wild flurry of blurred human shapes whizzed around. Weapons swung so stark that blades burst. My eyes slowly grew accustomed to their speed. Like a python, Nita constricted her opponents and bit them with her fangs—her daggers.
And the battle was over.
I dropped down to her. In a split second, her blade tore blood from my throat. My heart froze.
Her eyes stared at me with madness. “Don’t do that again,” she hissed slowly.
I gulped. “Promise.”
Though it was dark, the moonlight shone through the skylights and illuminated the forming blood puddles coming from the unmoving guards.
“She massacred them . . .” Nausea spread through my stomach at the sight, and I had seen some dead people before.
“Come on,” Nita urged, and she casually kicked open the metal door to the room the guards had protected. A metal door.
“So she slaughters guards like it’s nothing, is faster than my eyes can process, and cannot be stopped by metal doors. Alright, Alva . . . remember never to mess with this chick.”
Frightened workers' watched Nita staringly, their bodies quivering uncontrollably as if detached from their eyes. A green aura flashed from Nita, and every living thing fled. The workers, rats, probably even roaches. It took a lot of strength to control my heart and not run away with them. I took a deep breath and focused on the light rain pounding on the roof.
“Bingo.” Nita searched the shelves and held out the uniforms to see if any fit.
While I changed, Nita took my clothes together with hers and put them with the dead guards. And we hid our masks and weapons in the locker room. It hurt to leave my cutlass behind. It was the first time my blade and I parted ways since Dad gave it to me ten years ago. But at least I got to keep my mother's bracelet.
“I’ll get you back, fella.”
We went to where the workers had fled.
—
Outside, the battle had concluded. Parts of the factory and the surrounding forest were burning. Some places turned to ashes. Only Lush and a few others remained and finished off a poor guard. However, when Lush spotted the workers, including us, he sprinted toward us like a madman.
Two green fire spirals trailed along his shoulders, down his arms, and shot from his palm. Our group separated and ran for their lives. A wave of heat from the small explosion passed me by.
Lush appeared in front of me. His movements were even faster than Nita's. His fist neared me, inches from my face, and a sudden shock ran through me. Suddenly, I was back with the other worker, Nita, beside me.
A crackling sound rumbled in my ears. A man sat on Lush, his arms sticking out at impossible angles. I had to hold Nita back from rushing to him; thankfully, her power had run out, allowing me to react in time.
However, this meant the man beat the life out of Lush.
“Damn it! What should we do?! We can't let him die, but if we interfere, we'll give ourselves away. Would a distraction be enough . . . but not a physical one—yes, I know.”
I let out a scream, trying to sound scared. It came out a little too feminine, but it worked. The man sitting on Lush looked back at us, giving Lush an opportunity. He slapped the man across the face, knocking him off himself, and ran for it.
The man didn’t bother to chase him but came straight to us.
“Is anyone hurt?!” His short blond hair and self-righteous gaze portrayed him so much like a nobleman that he could only be one. His charisma reminded me of Nita, but instead of obvious hints in behavior, his whole face screamed: ignorant noble brat.
“Not the type I would have expected as an overseer here. Probably a son of a higher-up of the Verdant Kleptos.”
I shrank to the floor to do justice to my role and exaggeratedly held my head.
“What happened? Are you okay?” he urged.
“I’ll watch him.” Nita joined my play and covered me. “He’s new and not accustomed to battles.” She bent down to me.
“Thanks,” I whispered to Nita.
“Alright! Then get to work!” the man roared.
He commanded us to get water and extinguish the flames. His voice sounded oddly familiar, like I had heard it somewhere before.
It took hours to stop the flames, even longer if it hadn't been for a couple of slave boys who tamed the fire with more witchery. They had drunk less Jade Mint, yet their eyes suffered significantly more damage than Nita’s.
“I wonder . . . is it the mixture—or genes? The severity of the side effects definitely varies. So to keep their bodies from harm, they force slaves to swallow the bullet.”
I scoffed. “Not enough to treat them like cattle, huh? You’re gonna make them sick in your stead.”
Pale sun rays announced an early dawn. Some guards collected us from the fountain and water tanks to escort us back into the factory. From bruises to deep cuts, they all carried marks. Their shining noble armors, covered with scratches and burns, looked like the moonlight had bleached them.
With few words, they sent us straight to work. No sleep. Nita and I stuck together and copied what the other workers were doing. We earned a few annoyed looks when we made mistakes, but everyone seemed too sleep-deprived to comment on us. They probably just thought we were slacking because of the lack of sleep.
We filled cartridges on a conveyor belt. Stains had etched themselves into the rubber material. When the Jade Mint was mixed with the powder in the jar, it behaved not like a regular liquid but rather like a flexible, living, slime-like pile of spikes.
Some poor containers broke due to the force of the chemical reaction and needed replacement. Everything, including the broken glass, was taken to another workplace. This consisted of only one worker, and he was unhappy when it happened.
A smell that I could only describe as the opposite of alcohol intensified more with each failed attempt. Nita screwed up a lot, while my first attempt just barely failed. It was almost fun. The explosive reaction from still liquid to spiky goo was fascinating to watch.
The workers' clothes were pretty bad, but at least we had been given gloves and protective goggles. Otherwise, a mistake could have led to a severe accident.
One guard permanently watched us from above while some pairs strolled around and passed us every few minutes. They probably increased their security because of the attack.
My old crew expected one or two all-nighters, so I was fine. However, Nita looked severely exhausted, with dark green circles forming under her eyes, weighing down her head.
“Aftereffects of the Jade Mint she drank? Come on, when do the workers get their break? This feels more like controlled slavery than a well-paying job.”
The constant loud banging and rattling of the transmissions in the other rooms tugged at my nerves.
However, the real slaves must have been going through much worse experiences. I could only imagine what kind of experiments they would make them go through.