The Factory
Leaving the sight of the black egg swallowing the Cyclops behind, I turned my steps back toward the Food Factory.
The path from the submarine to this place should have felt familiar by now, yet my feet dragged heavily.
The Food Factory looked exactly the same, but today it was different.
The outer walls seemed thicker, darker.
“I’ll turn off the broadcast for a moment.”
I activated the prism that TruthScholar had gifted me and walked toward the factory doors.
Pushing open the cold metal door, I was hit by the smell of old cardboard.
Chill, heavy air sank deep into my lungs.
Instinctively, I began breathing in shallow sips.
Then I switched the broadcast back on, signaling that I was still alive.
I moved forward.
Thud. Thud.
My footsteps echoed through the factory filled with nothing but boxes.
Wary of other security machines, I kept my body tucked in the shadows.
I walked slowly into the darkness where the light was fading.
Then I stopped with care.
Before me lay a severed steel door.
Despite its considerable thickness, the gap was wide enough for a person to pass through easily.
I slipped cautiously through the hole the security robot had cut.
Navigating the sharp edges, I caught sight of a faint green glow inside.
This was where I had found the black egg; perhaps I could gather information here as well.
Unlike before, I walked a little faster toward the spot where the black egg had been.
Relying only on the weak green light along the floor, I advanced.
“…I’m here.”
The center of the shattered incubator and conveyor belt.
The place that had cradled the black egg.
Last time I had fled in such a hurry that I couldn’t search properly.
This time I hoped to find something—anything—and circled the area slowly.
The first place I checked was naturally the incubator.
While examining the broken glass and connected conveyor belt, I discovered a faintly glowing screen.
It was embedded in the center of the steel framework that encircled the glass tube.
Ancient letters I couldn’t read glowed upon it.
Hatching Probability Within 10 Years: 0.0000027%
Hatching Probability Within 100 Years: 0.000087%
Hatching Probability Within 1000 Years: 0.0221%
“Looks like a bust.”
It was nothing more than a chart listing hatching probabilities.
I quickly shifted my attention and rummaged elsewhere.
I peered beneath the conveyor belt and checked behind the incubator.
But…
“Don’t they usually keep research data near hatching experiments?”
There was nothing.
No documents, no records, nothing at all.
Worried I might have missed something, I looked again.
All I found were shards of broken glass.
“Maybe it’s in another section?”
With no other ideas, I turned my steps toward another section.
…Or tried to.
“How long has that been there?”
The black egg had slipped back inside the incubator.
At the same moment, the status screen began flickering wildly.
-_-_--_-==
The continuously flashing screen suddenly froze.
Along with a completely unexpected result.
What was this?
Just moments ago the odds had been impossibly low.
‘That ruler inside there… it could hatch within a year?’
A chill raced across my skin, every hair standing on end.
If it hatched, I had no confidence I could handle that ruler.
“Haa… what am I supposed to do now…”
Only a sigh escaped me.
A creature that felt like a gamble was about to hatch.
When I mentioned it on the broadcast, varied reactions flooded in.
The saving grace was that the comments were filled with worry rather than malice.
If this had been a place like Earth, brimming with human ill will, I might not have endured.
Drawing comfort from the concerned messages, I set off again.
It wasn’t time to give up yet.
I rose from my spot and headed for another section.
Deeper into the complex.
Thud. Thud.
My footsteps rang through the silent space.
As I walked past the cold steel structures, the scenery began to change subtly.
What had felt like a research facility built of metal now revealed its true nature… a factory.
The surroundings transformed to match the name Food Factory, and I pressed forward while taking it all in.
Soon a wide open area appeared.
Conveyor belts moved with mechanical precision.
Whirr. Whirr.
Something stood at regular intervals along the belts.
Mechanical arms shifted, assembling boxes, steel, plants—joining, dismantling, connecting.
I lifted my head and gazed at the ceiling.
It stretched dizzyingly high, dozens of stories up, and the conveyor belts ran all the way to its distant end.
Every time the belts moved, the scrape of metal filled the space.
The noise was monotonous, yet within it something was being born.
What was being made was food, tools, and…
The security robots that had dragged me to death’s door.
They were being produced naturally.
Watching the machines slowly assemble, I swallowed hard.
The moment I faced one head-on, survival would be impossible.
That instinct crushed my entire body.
My feet naturally retreated.
The machines being assembled on the conveyor belts.
I knew all too well that a single encounter would be the end.
“…I need to get out of here.”
Muttering to myself, I retraced my steps.
My footsteps echoed across the steel floor.
Clang. Clang.
The small, reflected sounds felt like pursuing footsteps.
I walked while constantly glancing back, almost obsessively.
I held my breath and hid in the shadows as long as possible.
The corridor that should have taken only minutes felt endlessly long.
After moving like that for a while, the factory exit finally came into view.
I stayed alert for security machines, but thankfully no sharp metallic sounds reached me.
I turned the broadcast off briefly and gripped the prism.
Whoosh.
Mana flowed into the prism that showed a faint rainbow.
Soon the surroundings shimmered and a thin distortion field formed.
“Whew…”
Escaping the tense situation, a breath of relief slipped out.
I steadied myself, then pushed aside the coldly closed door.
Click.
Several Cyclopes with bloodshot eyes were present, but they couldn’t see through the distortion field.
Passing the Cyclopes, a straight path leading to the submarine appeared.
Since it was only a few minutes’ walk, I released the prism’s distortion field.
Using it all the way to the submarine would prevent fights, but…
“There’s a time limit…”
The prism was certainly a fine item.
It had allowed me to bypass the Cyclopes, which I still struggled to face in numbers.
Yet its excellent performance came with conditions.
The usage time was restricted.
According to TruthScholar, two hours was the limit.
Beyond that, damage would begin, so I used it carefully.
Rolling the prism in my hand as I walked, I soon reached the submarine.
Absolution greeted me from in front of the submarine as usual.
Whirr.
“Yeah, it’s mana, right?”
I extended my hand in return to Absolution, who reached toward me.
Mana flowed slowly through the cold mechanical hand.
After the brief mana absorption, Absolution hovered around me.
It simply rolled its treads and circled, yet for some reason it reminded me of a cat trailing after me.
The sight seemed to loosen the fear and pressure that had stiffened my emotions.
Together with Absolution, I walked toward the submarine.
Whirr.
Thump. Thump.
…Of course, the black egg came along as well.
I couldn’t drive it away, so I simply dragged it inside the submarine with me.
Creak!
The submarine hatch closed, bringing silence.
By now the submarine’s quiet felt familiar—almost comfortable.
“It used to scare me when there were no human voices…”
Filling the empty air with a mutter, I opened the gallery.
One reason was to announce that today’s broadcast had ended; there was another reason too.
More comments followed, but I didn’t bother reading them.
They were mostly things like “I’ll hit my head and wake up tomorrow” or pointless questions about whether I was still alive.
Besides… right now I had other business in the gallery.
The gallery was a place for conversation, but it also allowed indirect exchanges.
The gifting function that TruthScholar and SwordSaint had used was a prime example.
Yet gifting wasn’t the only thing possible in the gallery.
I clicked the text in the upper right of the gallery home screen.
[Exchange]
When I clicked it, countless items flooded my view.
Food, tools, creatures, magic scrolls, weapons—everything that could help me was lined up.
I still had no money, but…
In the Deep Sea, money overflowed.
It was time to earn money in this fantasy world.