Processing Plant 10

A crowd of people chased a blurry figure rushing out of the office.

Su Man quickly scrambled back under a vehicle, thinking to herself that someone had actually beaten her to the punch. With such a massive commotion and a failed attempt, alerting the enemy beforehand was hardly a good idea.

The scene had been far too chaotic to see who it was clearly.

She had no idea what condition Boss Zhu was currently in.

If that intruder had injured Boss Zhu, slipping in there now might allow her to scavenge some benefits.

With this thought in mind, she prepared to seize the right moment and crawl out to take a look.

However, before she even had the chance to move, she was abruptly locked onto by an unknown force.

The next second, before she even understood what was happening, she was encased in a crystal and materialized high above the crowd.

Sensing that familiar oppressive weight, she realized instantly that Boss Zhu had made a move. Sure enough, Boss Zhu's reputation was well-earned, and his methods were even more terrifying—she had not escaped detection despite all her concealment.

Right beside her was another person encased in a crystal. Judging by the color of their clothes, this must have been the Judgment Envoy pursued by the boar-headed men earlier.

Only Su Man's eyes could move, and out of the corner of her vision, she saw that the Envoy was unfamiliar; it was likely not the real person or perhaps someone's substitute spell.

"Why are there two? Weren't there only one a moment ago?"

The boar-headed men down below also realized that Boss Zhu had intervened, but seeing two people emerge from the chase left them somewhat bewildered.

"Should we report this to Boss Zhu?"

The boar-headed men whispered amongst themselves.

"No need to report it, is there? Didn't Boss Zhu say to kill all of them?"

While these boar-headed men hesitated, Su Man's brain was working at lightning speed. She could hear their conversation, but her body was pinned immovably by the transparent crystal walls, compressed to the point where her internal organs felt as though they were about to be crushed. Yet, the crystal barrier was still shrinking. The outcome of continuing like this was entirely predictable; she definitely wouldn't be able to run.

The issue right now, however, wasn't whether she would die, but rather that she must not be recognized by Boss Zhu!

If she were simply blown to pieces and crushed to death right here, she could at least breathe a sigh of relief.

The next moment, however, her thought was shattered by a booming roar from Boss Zhu inside the building: "What are you squabbling about? Hm? Another little pest has been caught? Bring them in, let me see who it is! Let me see who has the audacity to come to my territory and try to seize power!"

The boar-headed men below received the order and visibly breathed sighs of relief—they were finally spared from making the decision themselves. They dragged the crystal containing Su Man toward the interior.

The situation had deteriorated to the absolute worst.

Su Man had to make a decision!

She closed her eyes. Success or failure hung on this single moment!

The next second, the boar-headed men dragging the crystal let out a panicked cry as the crystal twisted into a distorted shape.

"Oh no, Boss Zhu, this one is trying to escape!"

Su Man could no longer afford to care about anything else. Holding back not an ounce of her remaining strength, she exerted herself to the absolute limit just to buy a fraction of a second of mobility. Wasting no time on superfluous actions, she drew her dagger and ruthlessly slashed across her own face until her original features were unrecognizable, then immediately slit her throat. The entire sequence of movements was as smooth and fluid as flowing water.

By the time the boar-headed men reacted, Su Man was already slumped lifelessly in a heap inside the crystal.

When Su Man regained consciousness, an hour had already passed. Fortunately, she had not resurrected at Boss Zhu's location, but rather back in the breeding ground dormitory.

Huang Xin had been searching everywhere for her, and when Su Man suddenly patted her on the shoulder from behind, it gave her quite a fright.

"How did you get out of the dormitory? That's not right, I definitely checked the dorms..." Huang Xin muttered, a trace of lingering astonishment in her voice. "Where were you hiding?"

The next second, however, her face filled with anxiety once more. "No, none of that matters now! This isn't the time for this, hurry up and come with me!"

Disregarding everything else, Huang Xin grabbed Su Man and ran, explaining anxiously along the way: "Uncle Li came to our side again, looking quite urgent. As soon as he arrived, he took a headcount. When he saw you weren't there, his expression completely changed. Sister Ting is stalling him over there, and I came looking for you. I don't know what this is about, but it's definitely nothing good. You better mind your manners and answer properly in a moment."

The moment she stepped through the door, Su Man caught sight of Uncle Li's back. With his hands clasped behind him, he was lecturing Tingting in a booming voice: "You're a veteran here, how can you fail to keep tabs on a newcomer? Where did she go? Do you have no idea at all?"

"Tingting, it's not that I'm lecturing you, but you're not a child anymore. Don't you know what matters most to you? Let me tell you, this matter today is truly critical! If you're just willing to cough up a few clues, Boss Zhu might let you walk right out of this place!!"

Tingting's face was utterly numb, her gaze glazed and lifeless. Having already spotted Su Man, she said with dead-eyed apathy, "Uncle Li, she's right behind you. She's here, so you can ask her whatever you want."

Uncle Li glanced back at Su Man, then looked at Tingting with a mix of exasperation and disappointment before letting out a heavy sigh. He quickly strode over to Su Man.

"Where did you go?"

He had clearly come with ill intent.

"I was frightened, so I fell asleep in the dormitory," Su Man lied smoothly, then immediately put on a flustered expression. "Uncle Li, did something happen?"

Uncle Li's brows arched in anger. He had intended to lash out with a couple of curses, but catching a glimpse of Tingting out of the corner of his eye, his mouth opened and closed as he forced the words back down. Taking two deep breaths to steady his voice, he asked as calmly as possible, "You were just sleeping for over an hour?"

"Yes, I was sleeping."

"An hour..." Uncle Li mentally calculated the timeframe and concluded it probably wasn't her.

His expression softened slightly. "All of you, listen to me and watch your step. I've just received word that two people broke into Boss Zhu's territory to cause trouble. Boss Zhu killed one and the other got away, and now Boss Zhu is scouring the entire factory looking for them. If any of you have a clue, you must tell me!"

He pointedly singled out Su Man. "If I didn't know that an hour isn't enough time to make a round trip to Boss Zhu's place and back, you'd be in for it."

Su Man kept her head bowed, looking like a chastised offender.

Seeing the submissive, take-it-in-stride attitude of this group only irritated Uncle Li further, though he found himself with nothing more to say. With an indignant huff, he spun on his heel and stormed off.

After taking two steps, however, he seemed to remember something. He pointed back at Su Man and commanded harshly, "You there, the newcomer. Since that boar of a team leader of yours is dead, you'll be the new team leader!"

With that final instruction, looking at the dejected expressions of the group, he didn't even want to spare them another word, turning and marching away for good.

Once he was gone, Huang Xin patted her chest in relief and began to cheer the next second. "Su Man, you're a team leader now! We're good friends, though, so you mustn't pick up Boss Zhu's nasty habits."

Huang Xin remained high-spirited, while Su Man nodded, though a lingering question remained in her mind: "How did he react like that upon hearing that Boss Zhu died? Who told him Boss Zhu was dead?"

Huang Xin's smile froze, and her eyes instinctively shifted toward Tingting.

Tingting's face remained devoid of expression; the death of her son seemed to have stripped away every last trace of her emotions.

Noticing their probing gazes, she owned up to it directly.

"It was me. I told him."

"He's my father."