The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 366 - 255: Greener than the Stock Market

Chapter 366: Chapter 255: Greener than the Stock Market

After striking a deal with the vending machine, Zhou Yuan returned to the staff dormitory without any hint of emotion, silently lying in wait.

He needed to wait at least a day or two for more employees to consume the meals laced with technology and strenuous effort, as the more employees that were affected, the greater the injury to the factory.

In the dead of night, just like everyone else, Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed, meditating, while his consciousness entered the Dark Plane to observe.

The reproduction rate of the Three Royal Families (Ratmen, Snakemen, Insect Men) was incredibly exaggerated. Now, the number of Dark Creatures had reached around half a million, enough to be called a small country.

First City had expanded to twice the size of Xinhu City, where numerous research institutions had been established to explore and study the frontiers of technology, Spiritual Energy, genetics, and Magic, with certain achievements to their name.

Several new cities were established in resource-rich regions, heralding the grand pioneering era of the Dark Plane. Modern factories rose from the ground, pushing the wheel of the clans’ development forward. The Dark Creatures wildly bred and spread across this world unchecked, ballooning like a snowball, expanding rapidly at a staggering pace.

They studied technology, developed Spiritual Energy, learned Magic, edited genes, and under the nourishment of Divine Power underwent rapid mutation and evolution. New species emerged daily, and discoveries abounded, creating a vigorous and thriving scene of all things vying for growth.

The same was true for the bright plane.

While developing independently, the beings from both planes did not forget the existence of the gods and constantly maintained their devout faith, holding regular masses, sacrifices, and other activities.

The sacrifices were not bloody, ritualistic offerings, but instead presenting the gods with a vast array of minerals, Magic Potions, materials, and other Transcendent items.

In other words, it was about making money for Zhou Yuan.

With the total amount of Star Coins now at 2.2 million, Zhou Yuan decided to save up a bit more, waiting to purchase equipment and tools of higher quality and greater effect.

"The vending machine also produces Transcendent items. If I can acquire it, my earnings will jump to another level, and it won’t be long before I can achieve financial freedom."

Zhou Yuan secretly decided that the vending machine must be brought under his command.

If he could repair it, that would be ideal, as it was essentially a bona fide wish-granting machine, almost omnipotent.

Just then, a loud noise shattered the peace, with tremors coming from afar, jolting everyone in the dormitory awake.

Immediately after, a piercing alarm sounded from above the factory.

That was followed by a relentless barrage of booming explosions, with the earth quaking continuously.

"A war?" A mercenary, long accustomed to the battlefield, narrowed his eyes. This was a feeling he knew all too well; it was artillery bombardment, probably about three kilometers away.

If he remembered correctly, that was the edge of the factory, marked by towering, thick walls... So it was for defense against attacks?

But who was attacking?

[The snacks produced by Reagan Food Processing Factory have invaded many worlds, causing those worlds to silently slip into the abyss. Upon discovering this, several organizations united to form a Resistance Army, determined to destroy this evil factory.]

Resistance Army? Are these the people that the Eyes of Identification mentioned before who were attacking the factory... Zhou Yuan’s thoughts flashed, wanting to go out and see for himself, but just as he was about to open the door, a stern voice echoed in the hallway.

"Everyone is to stay put in their dormitories, don’t go anywhere!"

[Do not defy the dorm supervisor’s words, those are the rules.]

Zhou Yuan’s hand, reaching for the doorknob, paused, then drew back. Although he had ways to counter the rules, there was no need to cause trouble right now; he just had to wait quietly for Wallace’s time to come.

The bombardment lasted for more than half an hour before ceasing, and the rest of the night passed in silence, with no further battles erupting.

Morning.

Zhou Yuan wandered around the security centers on all four sides, discovering that many guards were missing, even the captain of the security team had been replaced by two others.

Every guard was injured, with the expressions of those who had just joined the day before as sour as if they had eaten dead flies—believing security work to be easy, they had not anticipated nearly losing their lives.

"So the Resistance Army’s firepower is that strong?"

Zhou Yuan was somewhat surprised; after all, some of those guards were 5th-tier Transcendents, and they had casualties? No wonder the Eyes of Identification said the mortality rate for guards was extremely high.

Yet even so, the Resistance Army couldn’t breach the factory. It seems the factory’s strength was not weak, comparable to an impregnable fortress.

But... the most impenetrable fortress is often breached from within.

·

That night.

On the Soul Chasing Life Stealing assembly line, employees working mechanically began to feel something amiss, furrowing their brows, as their movements gradually slowed.

"What are you doing?!" The line supervisor exploded in anger. This stop could severely disrupt production rhythm!

At other times, the employees would definitely explain with fear and trepidation because, in this factory, an official of higher rank could crush anyone below, and the line manager had absolute authority to punish those who didn’t work properly. But now, no one paid any attention to the line manager. Everyone’s face was contorted, bending over and clutching their abdomens, as if enduring great pain.

"My stomach... it hurts so much..."

A fourth-tier extraordinary person employee was sweating from the pain. Seeing everyone reacting in the same way, he had an ominous feeling: "With my state, my stomach shouldn’t hurt for no reason, someone must have poisoned us, and it’s a powerful poison!"

"Poison? What a joke! The food I eat is all sorts of toxins! What poison could make my stomach ache?"

A transcendent creature that fed on potent toxins grimaced in agony. Looking around, it said, "Even those guys without stomachs are suffering from ’stomach pain’; this must be some kind of conceptual power!"

The scene was filled with wails, the intense pain turning everyone’s faces greener than the stock market.

"I can’t hold it in anymore, I need to go to the bathroom!" one employee took the lead and rushed out.

The first domino to fall triggered a chaotic chain reaction, with countless people racing to get out, while the line manager and security guards were powerless to maintain order, as they too were struck by severe abdominal cramps.

The crowd scattered, but the assembly line was still operating at high speed, bags of snacks piling up at the end, stacking and multiplying, spreading out like a sea.

The same situation occurred throughout the entire factory—production lines, transportation, security, administrative offices... everything collapsed, and within moments, the entire factory was paralyzed.

Over two-thirds of the employees suffered from abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, weakness, and other symptoms.

Even fierce ghosts, enchanting demons, robots, stone men, radiation eaters—those transcendent creatures that ate special foods and didn’t even have digestive organs—exhibited the same symptoms.

This led many to believe that this was not a simple case of food poisoning, but a premeditated and despicable attack. However, they were too preoccupied to care, as they were forcibly turned into "jet fighters" by some abnormal force.

The restrooms quickly filled up with people. There wasn’t enough space for everyone, forcing many to relieve themselves on the grounds of the facility in a tribute to medieval European streets.

Sharp alarm bells echoed throughout the factory, with some perceptive transcendent beings faintly sensing that some unknown change was occurring in the factory at this moment.

[During the terrifying Wallace time, over two-thirds of the employees "went on strike," and more than ninety percent of the operations were paralyzed, bringing the factory to an unprecedented period of weakness.]

"Prepare to freeze, prepare to freeze!"

Seizing the opportune moment, Zhou Yuan immediately opened the gate to the Dark Plane.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The deep rumble of engines came from the depths of the darkness, and through those ancient, massive gates, a series of heavy armored vehicles sped out, followed by innumerable tanks, armed helicopters, and thousands of fully armed, cold figures.

An atmosphere of sternness spread between heaven and earth.

With a richness of resources, a wealth of talent, and enough knowledge points to light up the tech tree, the Dark Plane’s development pace was beyond imagination; it had long since replaced crossbows with cannons, evolving from medieval cavalry to a modern elite army.

Zhou Yuan gave his orders with detachment:

"—Fire at will."

And so, tanks roared, unleashing a blaze of destruction.

The factory trembled as the sound of shattering echoed throughout, enveloping everything under a sea of flames.

Intense firelight rose from the ground, seething in chaos as the entire factory violently shook, crying out in bloodied agony under the brutal onslaught.

During the terrifying explosions, buildings burst apart, reduced to rubble while numerous employees, not even having the time to wipe themselves, pulled up their trousers and began to scramble in all directions. In the face of a life-and-death crisis, the excruciating pain in their stomachs seemed to lessen considerably.

"Which organization has invaded us?" some of the Transcendents were utterly shocked upon seeing the Dark Army, for having such an elite force was a rare power in the entire transcendent world.

Placed in the remote regions of Africa or South America, such a force could stir up storms and dominate as local emperors.

"It’s all dark creatures; it feels like the Holy Crow Church’s doing."

"Damn, that makes sense, who else but those bastards could come up with such a despicable method?" A man pulling up his trousers said with a sullen face, evidently holding some unpleasant history with the Holy Crow Church, to which he now had a new grievance to add.

But discussing anything now wasn’t the time to turn hostile—better to run first.

The employees fled in all directions, but some figures moved against the flow, the factory security guards rushing in.

The guards had faces ashen as death, worse than if they were dead. They wanted to run too, but bound by the rules, they had to fulfill their duty as security guards, protecting the factory’s property and safety, or else they would suffer the factory’s punishment.

—Just last night during the factory’s defense battle, a few new security guards, scared out of their wits, tried to flee in the chaos and were stricken by the "contract," dying on the spot.

If they didn’t want to die right there, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and face the onslaught, which was no different from a mayfly shaking a tree, the only difference being how many... seconds longer they could live.

The sound of surging waves rose, and crimson blood water came rushing in from all directions.

A blood flood catastrophe!