Who hid My Corpse!

Assistant Luobo hugged the documents and stood in front of the factory manager's office, took a deep breath, raised his hand to knock on the door when a low and indistinct voice preempted him from inside: "Come in, Luobo."

Luobo was not surprised by the manager's anticipatory response and slowly pushed the door open.

The office was dimly lit, although it was broad daylight, the curtains were all drawn.

A foul stench permeated the office, and a massive dark shadow writhed in front of the desk, emitting loud chewing sounds. Luobo knew that was his manager—Dark.

"Manager Dark," Luobo, enduring the stench, bowed to Dark and then closed the door and walked in, "There are new orders from above."

The giant shadow ceased its writhing, and then, a pale face lifted from below, the corners of the mouth stained with blood.

"Above?" Dark spoke slowly, his voice hoarse and muffled, as if he had something in his mouth he hadn't swallowed, "Which above? Bishop Weisen or..."

"The New Chaser Association." Luobo quickly replied.

Dark "oh"ed, then spoke in a rather dissatisfied tone: "In that case, you should have made it more clear."

"Yes, of course," Luobo subtly wiped the sweat from his forehead, "But Bishop Weisen hasn't contacted us for ten years now."

"Oh...ten years, has it?" Dark repeated the timeframe, seemingly with some relief, "It seems that the results are almost due... What does the New Chaser Association say?"

"They want us to keep increasing production capacity this month."

"Increase production capacity?" Dark struggled to furrow his heavy eyebrows together, "Didn't I remember our output this month is already up ten percent from last?"

"Yes," Luobo nodded, "but they said that's not enough, they want us to continue to increase."

"Continue to increase, huh…" Dark mused as if his thoughts had wandered far away, but quickly came back to the present and said indifferently, "Then let it be as they wish, keep increasing."

As he spoke, he was about to lower his head again.

And Luobo hurriedly said, "But currently, our production capacity is already at its limit, the workers have been without sleep or rest, if it goes on like this..."

Dark stopped his downward motion as if he caught a keyword, "Workers?"

Then, as Luobo watched, Dark lifted his head, looking at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile: "Do you actually still regard those things... as human?"

Luobo was suddenly speechless.

"Be realistic, Luobo." Dark said evenly, "That bunch that doesn't need sleep, doesn't need food, and can live on Source Oil alone, can't be regarded as humans anymore. You can consider them tools, machines, anything really, but you most definitely cannot consider them human. Do you understand?"

Luobo hung his head in silence.

Then, as if Dark remembered something, he slapped his head as if he had an epiphany, "Oh, I almost forgot, your father is among them too."

Luobo pursed his lips tightly.

"No wonder, you've always had sympathy for them." Dark made a "gurgle" noise, as if laughing, "But unfortunately, Luobo, your father... has permanently merged with this factory, oh no no no, it should not be a matter of regret. Your father has always been an outstanding employee of this facility, always wanting to give his all for it, and now, he has succeeded, hasn't he?"

Dark's body writhed again, as if stretching.

"He has become a part of the factory machinery, assisting the factory... no, assisting this city to advance toward the new world. As his son, you should understand him, support him, help him. As humans, there were limits to what he could do. But now, he can do much more than when he was alive, you understand my point... Humans cannot operate in Overload, but machines can."

Saying this, Dark lightly patted Luobo's shoulder.

Luobo's body trembled slightly.

Because Dark's body was at least three meters from him, but Dark had tapped on his shoulder so effortlessly.

"I...understand," Luobo said once more, bowing his head because he knew he had no other choice, "I will do as you wish."

"Very good," Dark nodded in satisfaction, "Your father would be proud of you."

Luobo did not speak, preparing to leave, but found that Dark's hand did not retract.

"In fact, I've always thought, maybe it's time you joined us?" Dark's other hand reached out in front of Luobo.

Luobo's eyes widened because what Dark brought before him was a gnawed, rotting leg of flesh.

The intense stench of decay and blood nearly made Luobo gag.

"Now you're the only one in the factory who hasn't come over to our side, right?" Dark's voice came from beside Luobo's ear, and as he instinctively turned his head, he saw Dark's face so close by, looking at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, yet Dark's body was still three meters away on the office chair, "Your father, you, and I, we should all draw closer to the new age, shouldn't we? Come on, just one bite, just one will do."

Luobo saw the rotting limb inching closer and closer, wanting to flee, but found himself pinned down by Dark's other hand, and couldn't help feeling a sense of despair.