Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
After reading the rules, He Gu fell into deep thought on the spot.
There were eight rules in total, and shockingly, half of them were instant death traps!
However, three of the rules were specifically aimed at restrictions on "fruits" for supervisor-level personnel, which wasn't too hard to understand.
Seeing these restrictive rules, He Gu also understood why his supervisor, despite sensing danger, hadn't struck first.
The first four rules were not difficult to grasp, but what caught He Gu's attention were the last four.
Seeing scales grow on a subordinate's face meant they had to be dealt with immediately and a cleanout arranged without delay?
Did "dealing with" mean shoving the person's head into the delivery chute?
And then there was the rule, "Do not refuse any request from someone in white."
He Gu clearly remembered rule three mentioning that if someone in white came in, they were to be ignored completely, and under no circumstances should eye contact be made.
And that was an instant death rule too!
These two rules seemed to be in conflict, didn't they?
So, could it be that this rule was a fake?
Or did it mean that people in white should be ignored inside the storeroom, but outside it, their requests couldn't be refused?
What kind of requests would they make?
He Gu thought hard but couldn't come up with anything.
Fortunately, this wasn't an instant death rule, so there was some room for trial and error. He Gu could adapt when the situation actually arose.
But rule seven was what He Gu paid the most attention to.
The manager would check in periodically during shifts, and being caught away from one's post was an instant death rule!
Did that mean He Gu had to stay in the inner warehouse area the entire shift without going anywhere?
After all, the manager's checks were "periodic," meaning he could show up at any time.
This rule made He Gu somewhat uncomfortable.
He had planned to take advantage of the night shift to sneak into the security department and retrieve something from locker 315 after donning a blue uniform. Now it seemed he had no chance to leave the inner warehouse area during his night shift?
There was also a hidden hint in the rules: "Color-coding is one of the simplest and most efficient ways to categorize."
Was this "categorization" referring to the goods in the warehouse or to people?
In this pharmaceutical factory, everything from the staff to the locations, including the goods in the warehouse, was differentiated by color.
Logically, a hidden message wouldn't be meaningless babble, so what exactly was it pointing to?
"Categorization…"
He Gu mulled over this word, recalling another hidden hint he had seen today: "When necessary, purple is your protective color."
Was this telling He Gu that wearing purple could protect him when needed?
Did that correspond to his department manager?
Or did it mean… if He Gu wore purple, he would be safe?
Linking these two pieces of hidden information, He Gu began to speculate.
"If color-coding is used, does that mean… purple is safe, and blue… so far, everyone I've met wearing blue seems to want to eat me… No, that's not right, today's encounter with 111 is still unclear, although the cane he gave me seems quite useful…"
At this thought, He Gu suddenly paused: "Maybe 111 has other motives!?"
***
Vaguely, He Gu felt like he was on the verge of understanding something, but the fog hadn't completely lifted, and some things were still unclear.
As He Gu pondered with his head down, the walkie-talkie beside him suddenly crackled to life: "Shh… 444… Shh… 444, please respond."
It was a man's voice, somewhat familiar.
Was it the man in purple who had come to the warehouse last night and let him off work early?
With that thought, He Gu picked up the walkie-talkie and replied, "This is 444."
Only then did He Gu notice that this new walkie-talkie was slightly different from the previous one.
In addition to the response button and a red button, this walkie-talkie had an extra channel knob with three channel scales.
While He Gu was examining the walkie-talkie, the man's voice came through again: "Shh… 444, this is your department manager A58. Change into your new work uniform and come to the inner warehouse area, I'll take you to your office."
He Gu responded, "Roger that."
After putting down the walkie-talkie, He Gu quickly flipped through the "Night Shift Supervisor's Manual." The content at the back was almost identical to the previous employee manual, but the map seemed to have some additional annotations.
Words like "Core Area," "Supervisor's Cafeteria," "Contamination Treatment Area," "Warehouse 0," and others that weren't on the previous map.
He Gu took a quick look and realized that the so-called "Contamination Treatment Area" was the same Building 17 he had visited before.
And "Warehouse 0" wasn't in the inner warehouse area but next to it in the storage area.
After a brief scan, He Gu put away the manual, took out a set of blue work clothes from the storage box, quickly changed into them, and then put on the exclusive supervisor's glasses.
The glasses had no prescription, and wearing them didn't affect He Gu.
The scenery in the dormitory didn't seem to change whether he wore the glasses or not.
After a brief experience, He Gu quickly stepped in front of the mirror to check his appearance.
To his surprise, the white and dark brown that had been on his face when he left at noon had disappeared, replaced by a streak of blue on his forehead that looked like a smear of oil paint.
Although he didn't yet know what this blue signified, it seemed to be harmless for the time being, judging by its size.
After checking the mirror, He Gu picked up his phone to check the time; it was 14:28.
He Gu prepared to leave.
However, just as he turned around, He Gu felt as if he had kicked something at his feet.
Looking down, he saw a glass marble rolling away with a "dilly-dally" sound.
The moment he saw the marble, He Gu's body stiffened as if possessed, and he lunged for it uncontrollably.
The moment he picked up the marble, everything went black, and he knew no more.
He didn't know how much time had passed when He Gu struggled to open his eyes, finding himself still in a kneeling position on the ground, holding the glass marble.
He Gu stood up, bewildered, looking at the marble in his hand with a tingling scalp.
What just happened…?
As He Gu pondered, a childish voice suddenly came from behind him: "Hey, big brother, why did you change into blue clothes?"
The sudden voice nearly made He Gu jump out of his skin, and without even turning to look, he dashed to the wall in a flash, pressing his back tightly against it before daring to look at where the voice had come from.
Sure enough, at the bathroom door, a little girl in a red dress was blinking her big eyes at He Gu.
As He Gu reached for the walkie-talkie to press the red button, the little girl said, "Big brother, that outfit doesn't look good on you, it's just like those nasty uncles!"
He Gu was puzzled: "What uncles?"
The little girl said indignantly, "Those uncles wear clothes like that, they're really bad, always bullying me!"
Then, with a proud smile, she added, "Later, mommy gave me two glass marbles. Whenever I throw a marble, those bad uncles in blue clothes can't help but go pick it up, and as soon as they pick up the marble, they freeze in place for 2 minutes and can't move at all!"