Chapter 129-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 129 The Company You Can't Leave (VII)
It was as if Zhu Ning had punctured the ceiling's main artery. Blood rained from above, dyeing the pure white lambs crimson.
Zhu Ning stood in the center wearing her black Protective Suit, a smile drawn in blood across her face.
She'd watched so many Demon Hunter combat videos. The advanced tactic she'd learned was brute-force steamrolling. This time, with Xu Meng outside as her safety net, she hadn't even brought cleaning tools—her entire backpack was loaded with standard-issue weapons.
The Sheep-Heads' reactions were strange enough. They stood frozen in place like glitching NPCs. Brightness pulled out a communication device. "Hello, security office? Another employee's gone crazy—get people over here!"
Huh? Another?
So Zhu Ning wasn't the first to choose blowing up the company. Predecessors had already done this—they even had their own response protocol.
The fact that Zhu Ning's outrageous behavior still fit the Contamination Zone's logic proved just how twisted this place was.
Zhu Ning: "Anyone who doesn't want to participate in this round of performance reviews can leave now."
They were all Contaminants, but Zhu Ning didn't want to add to her own workload.
Bang!
Brightness fired at Zhu Ning. The bullet didn't make it through her helmet—it stopped a meter in front of her.
This guy barely qualified as a mini-boss. Truly pathetic. Zhu Ning: "Don't be scared. I won't kill you. I still need you to present my award."
Bang bang bang!
Brightness emptied his clip, not touching a single hair on Zhu Ning's head. Hearing her words, he shouted: "Whoever kills Toilet Paper gets first place in the year-end performance review!"
Zhu Ning: "......"
She wasn't one for empty promises. Year-end performance reviews were too far off for her. Faced with pie-in-the-sky promises like this, she generally chose to slack off.
Just because Zhu Ning didn't buy it didn't mean others wouldn't. Brightness still had his microphone on—the announcement, crackling with static, instantly blared through the conference room.
The other blood-soaked Sheep-Heads seemed to activate all at once, as if their inner wolf had been unleashed. Hearing this, they lunged at Zhu Ning with everything they had—some grabbed chairs, some pulled out box cutters, some opened their jaws wide trying to bite her.
Brightness had already bolted out the back door.
Zhu Ning clicked her tongue. Were they really this desperate for a year-end bonus?
She'd faced human-wave tactics before at the dental clinic. At least those people had some combat ability. By comparison, these desk-bound Sheep-Heads were absolutely pathetic.
But numbers were numbers. Over a hundred swarming at once was still a hassle.
She couldn't even be bothered to use her gun—no point wasting ammo. Besides, she didn't really want to kill the Sheep-Heads. They were all coworkers, after all. Zhu Ning flashed a smile.
......
When Zhu Ning emerged from the conference room, the office was dead silent. She hadn't heard the main door open at all. The entrance was too far from the conference room—meaning Brightness was probably still here.
The only hiding spots in this area were under the Workstations. Zhu Ning searched them one by one. From the Sheep-Heads' perspective, she must have looked like a complete psychopath.
Those hiding under desks attempted sneak attacks, but every single one was effortlessly kicked away by Zhu Ning.
Zhu Ning slowly made her way to one particular desk. She bent down and found Cardboard Box underneath.
Cardboard Box was hugging her knees, folded up beneath the Workstation, muttering to herself nonstop.
The scene felt familiar. Cardboard Box looked up—sure enough, still wearing those black-framed glasses. She let out an expression of sheer terror upon seeing Zhu Ning.
Cardboard Box hadn't dared look at first—she'd only noticed someone walking through the office. Watching Zhu Ning get closer and closer, she gripped a pair of scissors and lunged.
Bang—
Zhu Ning sidestepped. Her foot slammed into Cardboard Box's back, sending the woman crashing into the opposite wall.
So this was what she'd seen before—the Cardboard Box from her vision? She really could see the "future"?
For the first time, Future and present intersected.
This Contamination Zone was truly bizarre. An S-Level Contamination Zone was bound to be complex, meaning whoever had broken down here carried extraordinarily deep resentment—their psychic power had reached S-Level. What exactly had happened to the Contamination Source?
Moreover, Zhu Ning had a feeling this Contamination Zone wasn't trying to stop her from finding the truth—it was trying to make her relive it.
Bang!
Someone tried to ambush her from behind with an axe. Zhu Ning sent them flying with a spinning kick.
She picked up the axe from the ground. Handy tool—she'd used one during the Fishman incident too.
Fire Axe in hand, Zhu Ning searched one by one until she finally found Brightness in the supply closet. He hadn't managed to escape—his fat belly was wedged between the shelves. Seeing Zhu Ning, he was terrified.
"Brightness," Zhu Ning smiled. "Why are you being so disobedient?"
Brightness was trembling all over. Zhu Ning grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out. Having taken GeneBoost, dragging a portly middle-aged man felt like lifting a baby chick.
When Brightness was pulled out, he didn't dare look around. Sheep-Heads lay sprawled across the floor in every direction.
Zhu Ning had barely used her gun—she'd just kicked whatever she could kick.
Were Contaminants alive? Zhu Ning could never bring herself to answer that question definitively. These things existed according to a grudge. They had their own logic.
Zhu Ning dragged Brightness by the neck and hurled him into the conference room.
The conference room looked far more terrifying than outside. That shot Zhu Ning had fired at the ceiling had drenched the entire room in blood.
A horrifying Monday at the office.
Zhu Ning threw Brightness onto the podium and said impatiently: "Present the award."
"P-p-present the award?" Brightness was stuttering.
Zhu Ning: "I said present the award."
The only ones still moving in the conference room were Zhu Ning and Brightness. There wasn't a single competitor left.
Brightness scrambled to his feet. He stood trembling before the microphone. "Today... today is... is the Mechanical Design Department's weekly Performance Review Meeting..."
Brightness was so nervous—he'd never experienced such a terrifying review meeting. "First place will receive a 200,000 bonus. C-congratulations to Toilet Paper for winning this week's top performance."
After Brightness finished, no one clapped. The only sound in the conference room was the drip-drip-drip of blood falling from the ceiling.
Brightness found the trophy and certificate on the podium and shoved them all into Zhu Ning's hands.
That went smoothly.
Smoother than Zhu Ning had imagined. The Contamination Zone's behavior was strange—meaning Zhu Ning's rampage hadn't crossed the Contamination Source's bottom line.
She was still doing something normal.
An employee going crazy from overwork—totally normal, right?
Zhu Ning: "Thank you, Brightness."
Hearing this, Brightness almost vomited. He couldn't suppress the dry heaving, feeling like Zhu Ning was threatening him.
The first thing Zhu Ning did after getting the certificate was compare it to the note—the one she'd found on the corpse—which really was torn from the lower-right corner of the certificate.
Why had "Zhu Ning" written that message on the certificate? Was it a warning that even becoming an Outstanding Employee meant death?
Or was it confirmation that Zhu Ning was meant to obtain this certificate?
Regardless, Zhu Ning had completed the System mission. Hope had said that once she obtained Outstanding Employee status, she could break the employee rules. She could go to the rooftop now.
Just to be safe, Zhu Ning swiped Brightness's Door Card and ID Badge before leaving.
The Contamination Zone was absurdly large. The Contamination Source might not even be in this department.
Zhu Ning had planned to head straight for the rooftop, but paused before leaving. She walked to Hope's office.
Hope was already gone. He was more cautious—probably bolted the moment he heard gunfire. His office was empty.
As a department assistant, his office would surely contain more information.
Zhu Ning began rifling through employee files. The stack of resumes was packed with highly educated talent—master's degrees at minimum, doctorates everywhere.
She flipped through them casually. Nothing particularly useful, but she committed every resume to memory for later retrieval.
She set the axe on the desk, then thought about sitting on it—but realized it might be a former employee. She considered leaning against the wall, then remembered the walls were employees too.
In the end, Zhu Ning just stood stiffly in the middle of the room, feeling uncomfortable all over.
On the bookshelf, Zhu Ning found a special folder: Special Incident Reports.
Special incidents?
Combined with Brightness's shout of "another one's gone crazy," this clearly wasn't the first time—which was why Hope had run faster than anyone.
Zhu Ning opened the file. If her earlier rampage had made the office bloody enough, this file was true hell.
Employee No. 1, codename Mirror. New Calendar Year 52. Accident during work.
Employee No. 2, codename Steel Pen. New Calendar Year 56. Accident during work.
Employee No. 3, codename Ruler. New Calendar Year 57. Accident during work.
......
Zhu Ning flipped through. Eighteen victims in total, but the causes of death were maddeningly vague—all listed as "accident during work." No specifics.
Below were attached examination reports. No full-body photos—only extreme close-ups of scattered chunks of flesh.
One person's jaw had been ripped clean off, leaving nothing but a gaping, bloody stump of bone.
Zhu Ning had seen her share of corpses by now, but she couldn't make sense of what had happened to these people.
What was this?
This many people had died in the company and no one had noticed?
Below was the compensation plan. For deceased employees, payouts were roughly three million each. Zhu Ning immediately felt that was paltry, but most of the families had signed consent forms. They'd settled.
One survivor named Wang Qinqian was receiving free treatment at a Hengsheng Mechanical Company-affiliated medical facility. Below were photos taken during treatment—the patient posed beside flowers. These pictures were probably intended for PR purposes.
Promoting the company's humanitarian care: Even if you're injured, our company will take care of you for life.
Whether the PR shots were ever actually used, no one knew.
Wang Qinqian was the sole survivor. Was she still inside this Contamination Zone?
Zhu Ning couldn't make sense of the file.
After all, this was a Mechanical Design Department—everyone drew blueprints. She couldn't figure out how they'd come into contact with something dangerous. On-site inspections? Factory floor visits?
Zhu Ning thought of the Storage Freezer downstairs. What was that place for?
Clearly, this company's map was enormous. She needed to keep exploring.
Zhu Ning had just closed the file when she heard a bang at the door. Her body went rigid.
Brightness had called security, hadn't he?
Author's Note
The sole survivor's name has been changed to Wang Qinqian~
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