Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
He Gu wanted to say something more, but the man in purple coldly stared at him and said, "Warehouse 44 needs to be cleared out. Please leave immediately!"
"Otherwise, I'll have to deal with you."
Hearing this, He Gu, though annoyed, didn't say anything further. He got up, limping out of the warehouse with understanding.
Before leaving, He Gu glanced at the man's chest badge, which bore a purple number: 133.
After exiting the warehouse, He Gu noticed a small white van parked not far from the door.
Looking back, he saw the rolling door of Warehouse 44 being pulled down.
He Gu shook his head and, without paying further attention, dragged his tired body away.
He was still very tired, his body aching as if it was falling apart, which made his walk naturally slow.
Before He Gu had gone far, sounds of banging and clattering came from inside Warehouse 44, as if it was being renovated.
After leaving the inner storage area, He Gu didn't head straight back to his dormitory. Instead, he mustered the strength to go to Administrative Building 3 and retrieved a tetrahedral key hidden in the bathroom on the first floor.
Then, He Gu made his way towards the Security Department.
It was past three in the morning, the factory was silent, and not a soul could be seen.
He Gu walked alone on the asphalt road, feeling for a moment as if he was the only living person left in the entire factory complex.
Before long, He Gu arrived at the perimeter of the "core area" enclosed by iron fences.
It was then that he finally saw a few figures.
Four uniformed security guards, armed with electric batons, were patrolling along the fence.
He Gu remembered from his reconnaissance the night before that the guards would gather at midnight and then set off in groups to patrol.
It seemed that this "core area" was the focus of their patrol.
As He Gu pondered this, the guards noticed him, shining their flashlight beams on his face from a distance.
"Who's there!?"
The leading guard shouted, and the four guards quickly surrounded He Gu.
He Gu's heart tightened as he said in a deep voice, "I'm 444, just passing by after finishing work early."
However, the guards paid no heed to He Gu's explanation. After surrounding him, they aimed their electric batons at him, and the lead guard stepped forward to check his badge.
Upon seeing He Gu's badge clearly, the lead guard immediately picked up his walkie-talkie and called out, "This is B55, requesting verification that 444 has finished work early."
A few seconds later, a response came through B55's walkie-talkie: "Shh… confirmed, 444 finished work early 26 minutes ago due to clearing the warehouse."
After receiving the response, B55 signaled the guards to lower their batons and then coldly told He Gu, "It's forbidden to approach the core area at night. Move along! "
He Gu nodded and continued walking, but his mind was already deep in thought.
The nighttime security around the "core area" was not to be underestimated.
And the highest-level condition for clearance was to destroy the core area.
At this thought, He Gu felt an urge to curse.
How the hell was he supposed to destroy it?
Within the next 15 minutes, He Gu encountered three more patrols of security guards.
Each time, they would surround him and point their electric batons at him, but perhaps because his identity had been verified the first time, the guards only glanced at his badge and let him go on the subsequent occasions.
Finally, He Gu, dragging his weary body, finished walking along the outside of the "core area" fence and arrived near the two-story building of the Security Department.
***
He Gu limped slowly past the front of the Security Department building.
The Security Department was the same as the night before, with only one office on the first floor with an open door.
Inside the office, a man in a blue work uniform sat at the desk with his legs crossed, reading a book, with a metal cabinet numbered 315 on the desk.
Seeing this, He Gu felt a sense of helplessness.
It seemed that the Security Department always had only one person on duty at night.
But this person seemed to always be at the desk reading. How could He Gu get in and take the items from locker 315?
If only there was a way to lure this person away…
***
While pondering, He Gu continued to drag his tired body forward.
After limping for nearly forty minutes, He Gu finally returned to Building 4.
He Gu took out his phone and checked the time; it was now 4:07 in the morning.
Turning on the flashlight on his phone, He Gu began the difficult ascent up the stairs.
After another four or five minutes, He Gu managed to climb to the fourth floor and arrived at the door of room 444.
Just as he was about to unlock the door, he suddenly heard a noise from the other end of the corridor.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
The sound seemed like footsteps, but the rhythm was too slow.
He Gu instinctively turned his head towards the sound, and with the light from his phone's flashlight, he immediately saw a burly figure not far away.
Judging by the figure, the person was tall and fat, but their movements were very stiff.
Seeing such a figure in the corridor at four in the morning was anything but normal!
He Gu's scalp tingled as he hurriedly took out his keys to enter, eager to get back to his dormitory.
But perhaps because he was too exhausted today, and with every muscle in his body aching, his hands were unresponsive, shaking uncontrollably with the key!
The more anxious He Gu became, the harder it was to insert the key into the lock!
The commotion seemed to have caught the attention of the figure, who began to wobble towards him.
He Gu's scalp tingled as he quickened his unlocking efforts and shone his phone towards the figure.
With that one glance, He Gu's mind exploded.
The burly figure in the corridor was none other than the thug-like 414!
Hadn't he left carrying the woman in red last night?
He should have been long gone by now!
What was he doing here?
At that moment, 414's complexion was a ghastly gray, his expression blank and movements stiff, as he walked towards He Gu with his waist slightly bent and hands clasped behind him in a strange posture.
With just one look, He Gu recognized that 414's posture was exactly that of someone walking with a person on their back!
Seeing this, He Gu's breath nearly stopped.
At the same time, 414 suddenly sniffed the air as if he had caught a scent.
Then, as if stimulated, the stiff 414 suddenly quickened his pace towards He Gu!
It was at this moment that He Gu's trembling right hand finally managed to insert the key into the lock.
Click!
With a soft sound, He Gu turned the key and opened the door just wide enough to slip through, then hurriedly squeezed in and immediately closed the door behind him.
Bang!
He Gu used his body to close the door and leaned against it, finally letting out a long breath.
But before he could catch his breath, the light from his phone revealed a little girl in a red dress standing in front of him, blinking her large eyes and looking at him…