Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

Have you ever heard of the fetish of swallowing pills?

That refers to being swallowed by a monster and then experiencing all sorts of things, which a strange group of people actually find exciting...

Bai Ze is clearly not included in this category.

But now he has also been dragged into the interior of a monstrous living factory, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he has been swallowed up.

After the Trinity Church members helped him out of the car, they pushed him through the crumbling factory gates.

This place was originally a workshop responsible for production and processing, but now only a few ventilation ducts hanging from the ceiling stubbornly retain their original appearance. The abandoned production line has been pushed aside, and the steel, like withered corpses, lies rusted next to the furnace that has long since ceased to function.

The man who dragged him onto the car was probably the leader of this group of cult members. He ordered his men to tie Bai Ze up like a dumpling and bind him to a relatively intact stainless steel chair.

Then, he began directing his men to use red liquid to draw neat geometric shapes on the ground, as if they were preparing for some unknown ritual.

"Who are you? Did you bring me here to demand a ransom?"

Bai Ze, who was being put on the plaything, was very angry.

He had assumed the other party would continue explaining their grand plan like a dutiful villain.

As a result, he was required to actively empathize with the victim who had been unjustly kidnapped in order to engage in dialogue.

The hooded cult members ignored his question like cold, mechanical machines, but the leader responded instead.

"How pathetic, you must have had your memories erased by the Bureau of Spirit Disasters."

He stopped drawing runes, clapped his hands, and said, "Completely unaware that a terrifying monster was living right next to me."

"Your lover, Lin Tingwan—her true identity is a witch who will bring calamity to the world, an anomaly disguised in human form!"

The leader cast an expectant glance his way, eager to see how ordinary people would react when the veil of ignorance was pierced and they learned the truth about the world.

Whether to refuse to believe, or to be confused and bewildered, and then to show an expression of betrayal after his story is proven true—

"Where did you hear that we're lovers...?"

However, the other party completely missed the point.

He said angrily, "Instead of that, don't you want to ask what you mean by 'witch'? She's a different species from humans!"

"Who cares about these things, you old man?"

Bai Ze looked up at the ceiling, "These days, even if Cthulhu were turned into a female character, there would be plenty of people who would want to convert, let alone a mere witch!"

Even if there are side effects to witch transformation, it is not something that a suspicious organization that uses ordinary people as sacrifices is qualified to judge.

"So selfish, so blasphemous... you have indeed been severely corrupted."

The leader clenched his knuckles until they cracked. "Before we summon the War Witch, let's perform a brief purification ritual for you."

He opened his palm, and a cluster of orange-red flames appeared out of thin air on it, radiating heat.

"When you're struggling in the flames, you'll realize your own powerlessness—I'm looking forward to seeing what expression that wretched witch will make when she sees a pile of familiar charred remains."

You must be very sad. I never thought you would be a lifelong regretful enthusiast.

Based on the other party's conversation in the car, Bai Ze roughly deduced the situation:

Members of the Holy Trinity Order stationed in Fumina City discovered the true identity of the witch from the Bureau of Spirit Disasters—that is, Lin Tingwan—through unknown means. The labyrinth sacrifice and the subsequent ghost story attack were all based on this.

However, following the ghost story incident, the Bureau of Spirit Disasters likely launched a retaliatory operation, causing significant losses to their base in the city.

This place is likely where the last remnants of the Order of the Religion are gathered in Dongming.

For the cult that knew Lin Tingwan's identity, he was a hostage chosen as bait.

The cult leader, holding an expanding fireball, approached step by step, seemingly intending to slowly exert the pressure of impending death.

Bai Ze continued to stare at the ceiling, the pale silver threads brushing past the ventilation ducts, swaying gently like a reflective spiderweb.

Just as he was about to snap his fingers, a roar suddenly echoed throughout the factory.

The leader stopped and tilted his head, slightly puzzled.

The next moment, the outer wall of the living factory was suddenly smashed open.

A heavy, black motorcycle, covered in steel plates and dust, leaped into the air like an arrow!

Its proud figure resembled a galloping horse. It raised its front wheel and slammed it into an unfortunate member of the cult. The flesh and blood body collapsed instantly under the crushing weight of the steel behemoth, and the crisp sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.

The black motorcycle swerved to the side after crushing the mangled body, its wheels leaving a bright red trail of blood, flesh, and fat before coming to a stop. The powerful engine roared to life, as if a person were inhaling a large amount of air into their lungs, preparing to exert all the muscles in their body with no effort whatsoever.

The blonde girl jumped off the footboard and grabbed the chainsaw that was attached to the side of the vehicle.

"I've come to save you, Bai Ze!"

Rhea pulled the chainsaw and declared triumphantly.

"...Why you?"

To my shame, Bai Ze's inner questions coincided with those raised by the leader of the cult.

He originally thought that Lin Tingwan would receive the notification and come to rescue him, so he wanted to deal with the members of the cult before that.

Obviously, the latter's plan was the same, so why did Leticia come instead?

"Alright, the plans have changed. Let's proceed with the launch ceremony first!"

The leader hurled the fireball he was holding at her, shouting, "Offer your precious lives to the gods!"

The flames left an orange-red trail as they hurtled toward it like artillery fire!

Rhea swung the chainsaw at the ground beneath her feet. The blade sliced ​​through the solid concrete, revealing a dark entrance large enough to accommodate a person, as if unzipping a travel bag.

The petite girl fell into the fire, the scorching heat grazing her hair as it flew past, causing an explosion that shattered all the factory windows.

Immediately afterwards, a similar dark crack appeared at the feet of another cult member, from which a spinning chainsaw emerged and slashed irresistibly across his waist.

Without any blood splattering, the human body was easily disassembled as if it were assembled from building blocks, with the cross-section as smooth as a mirror.

This is the characteristic of the item-type anomaly [Void Chainsaw] that Rhea has mastered—it cuts and connects space to a certain extent.

However, the number of casualties she caused was even less than that caused by the cult itself.

After the leader issued the order to launch the ceremony, the hooded members, as if receiving a divine decree, drew their obsidian daggers without hesitation and slit their own throats.

The blood flowed and converged along the symbols they had drawn earlier, emitting a hazy red glow.

A gust of wind suddenly rose from inside the building, accompanied by a piercing roar, as if the factory itself were breathing.

The [Living Factory] feature activates instantly.

The abandoned production line began to move, and the blast furnace, which had been toppled, was reignited.

The fallen members of the cult were lifted up as if by an invisible hand, thrown onto the snake-like, writhing assembly line, and sent into the blast furnace chamber.

Under the heat of the flames, human skin melts and drips down, replaced by rusted steel covering it.

Nerves twisted and exploded from within the body like cables, ribs grew out like sharp blades tearing through the chest, and finally wrapped around the body like armor.

In the blink of an eye, humans were transformed into cyborg monsters, roaring as they crawled out of the high-temperature inferno, their dripping sparks scorching the ground into small craters.

The phenomenon-type anomaly is called "Living Factory," also known as "Human Processing Plant."

The transformed monsters surrounded the girl, while the cult leader stood behind them, reigniting a fireball.

"This is... a real problem."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead.