The Wolf Is Fierce and Cautious

Cai Zhen Building.

A man and a specter stood facing the wind.

"You shouldn't have come."

"But I still did."

"Here to die?"

"Only a fool comes to die."

"Oh? You're not a fool?"

"I'm a smart man."

In front of the building, the two locked eyes, their auras clashing fiercely.

Until a voice broke the tension between them.

"Are you two sick?"

"Damn it, blocking the entrance for twenty minutes without saying a word, what the hell are you doing?"

"Move aside, I need to go in and get last month's salary!"

The once serious pair was suddenly disrupted, making way for a simple and honest specter carrying a roaring chainsaw, heading upstairs to claim his wages.

Chen Fei said to Zhao Yi:

"Shall we find another place to talk?"

"Sure."

The two moved to a quieter, shadier spot.

Chen Fei leaned against the wall.

"This place isn't suitable for someone like you to work, it's too dangerous. I can help you apply for resignation, you should leave quickly."

Zhao Yi's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Actually, I'm a time-traveling special agent."

"The future world has undergone drastic changes, Hanging Valley Town is on the brink of disaster, and the source of the threat is this factory, threat level—Dragon!"

"We reverse time, traveling through countless past timelines, conducting special operations with the aim of saving the past!"

"This operation is codenamed: Tenet!"

Chen Fei was taken aback by Zhao Yi's words, his face showing undisguised surprise.

"Are you... alright?"

Zhao Yi replied earnestly:

"Do I not look like it?"

Seeing Zhao Yi's serious demeanor, despite the absurdity of his words, Chen Fei couldn't help but start to doubt.

"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?"

Zhao Yi took out a property deed from his inventory.

"This is my ID, A-level agent 007."

"Codename—James Bond Hard Old Liu!"

Chen Fei stared at the property deed for a long time, feeling something was off.

After all, time-traveling special agents... it was just too ridiculous!

And that name...

It sounded like it wouldn't pass any review!

Seeing Chen Fei's skeptical face, Zhao Yi sighed and pulled out the shredder.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Look, I even brought the time-traveling machine!"

"As long as you throw something in and set the time, you can travel to the past!"

Chen Fei carefully examined the strange machine in front of him.

Hmm... no matter how you looked at it, it didn't resemble a high-tech time-travel device.

Instead, it looked more like... some kind of meat processing machine.

"Are you sure this thing can travel to the past?"

Zhao Yi replied:

"Of course, why don't you throw something in to test it?"

Chen Fei hesitated for a moment, then suddenly his left hand's chain flew up, wrapping around a nearby dead tree and tossing it into the shredder.

A loud rumbling ensued.

The dead tree inside disappeared.

Only sawdust flew out from the exit.

Chen Fei pointed at the sawdust on the ground, exclaiming:

"Damn! This is clearly a shredder, isn't it?!"

Zhao Yi patted Chen Fei's shoulder, speaking earnestly:

"Ah!"

"Let's not talk about it, let's be civilized!"

"Actually, these sawdust... are another function of the time-traveling machine—to confuse others, the doctor specifically developed this feature when making the machine..."

"It can analyze the material structure of the item that enters, sending the item back to the past while ejecting sawdust similar to the item's material, making others think it's just an ordinary shredder, not a time machine..."

Chen Fei's eyes sparkled.

"Really?"

Zhao Yi spread his hands.

"If it weren't for the mission, why would a human like me come to such a dangerous place to get involved?"

This reason seemed more convincing than Zhao Yi's previous explanations.

Chen Fei believed him.

He took a deep breath, his eyes becoming more serious.

"You said earlier that a terrible disaster happened in the future Hanging Valley Town, and the disaster originated from the steel processing plant... what's going on?"

Zhao Yi continued to bluff:

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, but it's really too dangerous. A kid like you shouldn't know!"

Hearing Zhao Yi's tone, Chen Fei was immediately displeased.

"Who are you looking down on?"

"I'm one of the few red-clothed employees in the factory!"

Zhao Yi's eyes flashed with light.

Red-clothed employee.

Keyword.

He had many questions, but didn't ask immediately, showing a hint of hesitation on his face.

"This is a confidential mission... if you want to know, you must join us, and joining us... means you might sacrifice at any time..."

"Are you willing to give your life to save the world?"

Chen Fei's heart was instantly stirred.

Damn!

From Zhao Yi's tone, there seemed to be a big organization behind this!

His childhood dream was to be a great hero riding colorful clouds and saving the world!

Damn, isn't this exactly what he wanted?

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"I am willing!"

Chen Fei declared firmly!

Zhao Yi nodded solemnly, his eyes turning as he said to Chen Fei:

"Comrade Chen Fei, stand at attention!"

Chen Fei straightened his chest, his eyes resolute!

"The organization is willing to accept you, but you need to swear an oath."

"Now, I'll say a line, and you repeat it."

Chen Fei nodded:

"No problem!"

Zhao Yi earnestly made up:

"The long night is coming, I shall stand watch from this day forward, until my death."

Chen Fei solemnly swore:

"The long night is coming, I shall stand watch from this day forward, until my death!"

Zhao Yi continued:

"I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post."

These words stirred Chen Fei's heart, and he loudly repeated:

"I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post."

Zhao Yi nodded, his gaze sharp.

"I shall be the sword in the darkness, the watcher on the walls. I shall dedicate my life to the organization, fighting for the liberation of the world's suffering! I swear by my soul, even if alone, I shall not retreat, fighting to the last second, shedding the last drop of blood!"

Chen Fei trembled all over, tears even glistening at the corners of his eyes.

To fight for the liberation of the world's suffering...

What a great and noble ideal!

Who would have thought, just a moment ago, he was an ordinary worker in a steel processing plant, and now he was about to fight for the liberation of the world?!

He raised his right hand above his head, declaring loudly:

"I, Chen Fei, shall be the sword in the darkness, piercing the darkness, questioning the light! I shall dedicate my life to the organization, fighting for the liberation of the world's suffering! I swear by my soul, even if alone, I shall not retreat, fighting to the last second, shedding the last drop of blood!"

Passion surged in his chest, unable to calm for a long time.

[Worker Specter 'Chen Fei' has increased his favorability towards you to 'Awe'.]

The system sent a message.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Yi looked at the specter he had successfully fooled, extending his hand to shake the chainsaw on its right arm.

"Comrade Chen Fei, congratulations on joining the organization!"

Chen Fei said excitedly:

"Comrade Zhao Yi... thank you!"

"By the way... what's the name of our organization?"

Zhao Yi recalled a document he had seen, which recorded a certain Eastern mythological world, and blurted out:

"Intercept Sect."

"Intercept Sect... Intercept Sect..."

Chen Fei repeated the words, engraving them in his heart.

At this moment, he had no idea what these two words would mean in the future...

"Comrade Chen Fei, since you've joined the mission to save Hanging Valley Town, you must cooperate with me as much as possible!"

"No problem!"

"First, I want to know about the specifics of this factory... why do grass and people rust, and what's the deal with the factory's rules?"

Chen Fei was silent for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

He carefully looked around, ensuring no other specters or surveillance cameras were present, then spoke in a low voice:

"I heard from an older brother who worked here before me that the steel processing plant was originally a rather special laboratory."

"This steel processing plant has existed for a long time, even before Hanging Valley Town was built, it was constructed first!"

"There's something in the steel plant... that can affect all living things around it. Within a certain range, as long as something alive is injured on the surface, 'it' will sense it."

"It will consume things with rust and spit out high-quality steel."

"This steel, after processing, is purchased by the construction team of Hanging Valley Town."

"As for that thing... I think it should be underground."

"After all, every time rusty materials are sent underground."

Chen Fei explained this while remaining very cautious about his surroundings.

"As for the factory's rules... they were set by a machine left by the factory's developers."

"It's said that the rules can protect the employees here from mysterious forces."

"Do you remember the description of the rules, with four colors of clothing?"

Zhao Yi nodded.

"I remember."

"Ordinary employees wear blue clothes, but besides that, there are gray, red, and black clothes in the factory."

Chen Fei lowered his voice again.

"The employees' clothes are specially made, they look like ordinary clothes, but they're not."

"If an employee is infected with rust, their clothes' color will fade. Once it reaches a certain level, they become gray-clothed employees..."

"These employees are called 'rust corpses' by the manager. They look no different from ordinary employees but are extremely dangerous... if they ask to borrow something from you and you agree... terrible things will happen..."

"Once, there was an employee in the factory... although he didn't lend anything to the rust corpses, because he was curious and communicated with them for a long time, he mysteriously disappeared later..."

Zhao Yi curiously asked:

"Do you know where they ended up?"

Chen Fei shook his head, his eyes filled with deep fear.

"They were never seen again, nor heard from."

"And the existence of red-clothed employees... is to eliminate those who might potentially become gray-clothed employees, whether human or specter!"

"By wearing red clothes, they can clearly see which employees' blue clothes are fading, even if just a little!"

"Moreover, red-clothed employees can see the names on the blue-clothed employees' clothes."

"Red-clothed employees are responsible for recording the names of these infected blue-clothed employees, reporting them all to the security room, or we can eliminate them on the spot, or wait for a unified elimination at a certain time..."

Zhao Yi seemed to understand, pondering for a moment, then suddenly asked:

"What about those wearing black clothes?"

Chen Fei's expression stiffened.

"There are no people wearing black clothes in the factory..."

"I've worked in the factory for decades and have never seen one."

"However..."

"I once heard an older brother mention a little..."

"He told me that a hundred years ago, there was indeed a person wearing black clothes in the factory..."

Zhao Yi pressed further:

"And then?"

Chen Fei's body trembled slightly.

"The older brother said... after that person in black appeared, because they weren't reported to the security department in time, something particularly terrifying happened in the factory..."

PS: This chapter is over three thousand words.

I'll stop here for now, and continue working hard tomorrow!

Still need to take a dump.

Thank you all for watching.

Good night!