Chapter Thirty-Two: Lord Hyde

After passing through the gate, the Happy Factory now felt somewhat crowded. Three or four identical black vans were parked haphazardly, and a massive black truck, at least ten meters long, stood in the center, surrounded by piles of various supplies.

At present, around seven or eight people clad in the same combat uniforms as Renault and his team were sorting through the goods, loading them onto the big truck. When they saw the arrival of Zhong Shenxiu and his companions in their van, one of the men—a short-legged fellow in the midst of sorting—looked up and called out in greeting:

“What took you so long? The boss is getting impatient.” The man approached, grumbling as he came.

As soon as the vehicle rolled to a stop, Renault was the first to spring out, waving a hand in protest. “Teddy, we’re not like you lot, just raiding a supermarket for supplies. We had to go house to house, searching everywhere. There’s no way we could’ve been faster. Honestly, this is already pretty quick.”

At this, Teddy, the short-legged man, fell silent. He knew all too well the terror of this chatterbox before him, so he immediately pointed at the big truck behind them and barked out orders:

“Hurry up and get everything out of the van, sort it, and move it to the truck in the back. Put the canned goods and anything with a long shelf life together, perishables in a separate pile, toiletries and paper goods in another…”

“Alright, alright,” Renault replied, feigning indifference, but his hands moved efficiently as he hauled bags down from the van.

The driver and team leader also disembarked, unloading all the supplies from the canvas bags and sorting them according to instructions. Zhong Shenxiu quickly caught on, lifting black bags from the van and passing them to Renault below, the four of them forming a well-practiced assembly line.

Yet, having come this far and successfully infiltrated the factory, there was no way Zhong Shenxiu would be content merely serving as a laborer. As he moved the bags, he split his attention, sending out waves of magical energy to probe the factory.

The Happy Factory wasn’t large; he easily scanned every nook and cranny. Around the cars, counting himself, there were eleven people in total, each moving with practiced agility—none showed any sign of being under the peculiar control of the Rabbit Oddity, no dull-witted behavior here.

Further inside, however, the rest of the factory workers moved sluggishly, many standing dazed in place. These were the typical “dullards under the Rabbit Oddity’s control.”

In other words, the only real fighting force in the factory at present was this group around him.

Zhong Shenxiu took a quick glance at their weapons. They were similar to Greiru’s—rifles, pistols, knives, grenades. If it came to a full-scale fight, his odds of victory would easily top eighty percent.

Having finished scanning the people, Zhong Shenxiu turned his attention underground, intending to search for the rumored subterranean base. Unfortunately, he found nothing.

It was likely buried too deep; his magic waves did not transmit well underground. He could probe deeper if he wished, but that would consume too much energy—by the time he finished, his magic reserves would be nearly depleted, and it simply wasn’t worth it. Still, the underground base had to exist, as he’d overheard Renault mention it earlier.

Who knew if there were more fighters down there? He couldn’t act rashly; what if the basement was crawling with superpowered beings like the Rhino Men?

He mulled over these possibilities as he worked.

After a while, his focus shifted to the large black truck not far ahead. Everyone was busily transferring supplies onto it, which suggested these goods weren’t meant for use inside the Happy Factory—they were to be transported elsewhere.

He increased the output of his magical energy, narrowing the wave for greater penetration, hoping to peer through the truck’s dark iron shell and discover what lay within.

That was when he noticed someone sitting in the driver’s seat of the big truck—a rather heavyset man, seated comfortably at the wheel, legs jiggling anxiously.

Behind him, the supplies were sorted into neat mounds, arranged with precision. Further back…

…Zhong Shenxiu’s magic abruptly failed. He could sense that at the very rear of the cargo hold was a mysterious, massive square object, nearly occupying half the truck’s storage space.

But all he could grasp was its general shape. He couldn’t perceive anything of its interior, not the slightest detail—something was blocking his magic, cutting off his senses.

There was certainly something odd about that truck.

Just as Zhong Shenxiu was intent on probing further, the fat man in the driver’s seat seemed to lose patience. He abruptly flung open the door, half emerging as he shouted down at the workers below, “Hurry up! What’s taking you so long?”

His harsh scolding drew no complaints from the uniformed workers. Instead, they immediately redoubled their efforts, sorting the goods even faster.

Teddy, face wreathed in sycophantic smiles, called back, “Yes, Lord Hyde!”

Hyde? Zhong Shenxiu quickly sifted through his memory but found no relevant information. It must be a lesser-known figure in this Marvel-like world.

After tossing the last heavy bag to Renault, Zhong Shenxiu climbed down from the van, occasionally glancing sidelong at the increasingly frustrated and dissatisfied Hyde.

Hyde was indeed quite fat, his face greasy, a clear stranger to exercise. Most notably, he wore a strange device on his head—at first glance, it resembled a thick, ugly headband, flattening his sparse hair. But on closer inspection, its sleek, high-tech lines and intermittently flashing red lights betrayed its true purpose: this was no mere ornament.

Hyde’s impatience grew; his pudgy fingers drummed a furious tattoo on the truck door. He checked his watch and, no longer able to restrain himself, bellowed, “Forget sorting the rest—just shove it all in the back! Useless lot, you’re slower than molasses!”

Despite the insult, Zhong Shenxiu glanced at those around him and saw that even the usually flippant Renault showed no displeasure. Instead, all nodded respectfully.

“Yes, Lord Hyde!” The response rose like a tide.

Freed from the need to sort, the burly men moved with newfound speed, quickly cramming the remaining goods into the truck’s hold.

Only then did Hyde’s expression improve. He issued his next command: “All of you, get in the truck and follow me.”

“Yes, Lord Hyde!” This time, Zhong Shenxiu imitated the others with convincing deference.