Hearing the walkie-talkie crackle, He Gu’s heart tightened. Without further hesitation, he carefully guarded against the three “Decay Cats” as he bent down to retrieve the glass marble from the hand of the middle-aged man’s corpse, then clutching the parcel, he ran back the way he came.

…

“Shh… There’s trouble at the office, everyone, emergency assembly!”

…

He Gu had run some distance when he still heard the call for the security guards to assemble coming from the man’s walkie-talkie.

“Looks like big trouble is brewing…”

He Gu had actually planned quite meticulously. He used the marble to control the man in the blue night shift uniform, took the items from the locker, then locked it up again, pretending nothing had happened.

But what He Gu didn’t expect was that the man who usually sat at the office desk was not there this time!

Even more unexpected was the weight sensor installed under locker 315. As soon as the items inside were removed, it was bound to be discovered!

That aside, what caught He Gu completely off guard was that the middle-aged man, after being controlled, died within less than two minutes at the hands of the three “Decay Cats.”

This was actually not all bad for He Gu. At least a dead man couldn’t point fingers at him, so for the time being, he didn’t have to worry about his face being recognized.

However, the downside was that with the man dead, the nature of the incident became much more serious. The security department might take stricter investigative measures, which would greatly increase He Gu’s risk.

With a helpless sigh, He Gu quickened his pace to escape the “crime scene.”

To avoid encountering patrolling security guards, He Gu still chose to take a long detour, returning from the direction of the dormitory buildings before circling around to the back of Administrative Building No. 3.

After climbing through a window into the first-floor restroom, He Gu carefully checked that there was no one else inside, then once again locked the door and window before examining the parcel in his hands.

It was a package wrapped in a black plastic bag, looking like a typical online clothing purchase, soft to the touch.

“Could it really be clothes inside?”

He Gu muttered to himself, quickly unwrapping the outer layer of the package.

After tearing through layer upon layer of tightly sealed plastic bags, He Gu finally saw the contents: a set of purple work clothes and a white hazmat suit.

It was indeed clothes!

Wrapped inside the clothes was a bell the size of an egg.

He Gu picked up the bell and examined it. It appeared to be made of bronze, engraved with abstract and intricate patterns that were hard to decipher.

The bell had a red string tied to its top but lacked a clapper, rendering it silent.

In addition to the two sets of clothes and the silent bell, He Gu also found a folded piece of paper.

Unfolding the paper, He Gu saw the densely packed handwriting.

Clearly, it was Zhang Chao’s writing.

He Gu took a deep breath and began to read the content of the paper:

[This is its territory, and I can’t offer you much help. I can only pass on the things that can help you escape through this method.

There are only two ways to leave this place.

One is to survive various deadly crises for 15 days. After that, a person in white will take you away.

However, this method comes at a cost. By the time you’ve stayed here for 15 days, you’re already half-processed by them. You’ll be taken away as a product, and even if you escape this twisted world, a significant part of your vitality and mental strength will be left behind forever.

The other method is to put the entire factory into “Body Fusion” mode.

Once the factory enters “Body Fusion” mode, you just need to wear the white hazmat suit and follow the direction of the bell to walk out of the factory. After exiting the factory gates, tie the bell to the gate of the pharmaceutical plant, then leave by bus.

If you encounter “its” incarnation during your escape, the bell might be able to help you.

Be aware that once “Body Fusion” mode is initiated, you must leave within three hours.

Every morning at six o’clock, a town bus passes by the factory gates. You have only one chance.

As for how to put the factory into “Body Fusion” mode?

Of course, you wear this set of purple work clothes and crawl through the delivery channel with your head facing out.

Deep in the delivery channel, you’ll see the truth of this place.

Remember, you must wear the purple clothes, apply a drop of crow’s blood on the back of your neck, and hold a crow’s feather in your mouth to enter. Moreover, you can only enter through the delivery channel of the warehouse you’ve guarded.

Otherwise, you’re seeking your own death.

After finding “its” core, you just need to inject the mixture of four types of blood—the substance I’ve prepared for you in the bottle—into the core to temporarily paralyze “it,” and the factory will naturally enter “Body Fusion” mode.

By the way, if you can get your hands on alcohol, injecting it will kill “it” outright.

But you probably won’t have a chance to get alcohol here, and even I can’t bring it in.

Alright, good luck to you.

If you survive, we might have a chance to meet again, and I might tell you some secrets you’re interested in.]

…

After reading the content on the paper, He Gu fell silent.

As he had guessed, the items Zhang Chao left in locker 315 were indeed crucial.

The purple work clothes, white hazmat suit, bell, and the “mixture of four types of blood” in the glass bottle were all key items needed to clear the level.

It could be said that without these items and the information on the paper, He Gu would probably have had to endure and wait to meet the “survive for 15 days” condition to clear the level.

However, according to the paper, surviving 15 days, although a way out, would likely come at a significant cost.

Yet even though He Gu had obtained these items, he now faced a new problem: the glass bottle in the locker was broken, and the “mixture of four types of blood” was gone!

The most critical issue was that Zhang Chao didn’t specify which four types of blood were needed in the paper!

“Crow’s blood and black cat’s blood should be among them… Does the blood from the contents of the box count as one? But what’s the last one?”

He Gu frowned, finally having a clear clue on how to clear the level, but now faced with new puzzles.

As He Gu pondered, sudden footsteps sounded outside the window, as if someone was passing by.

He Gu’s heart tightened, and he crouched down below the window.

At the same time, He Gu heard voices outside the window.

“Damn, what’s with the emergency assembly in the dead of night?”

“I heard there’s trouble with the security department. It’s not just us; even the guards from all the workshops have been called over.”

“Tsk… We might be going into ‘Body Fusion’ mode again…”

…