Chapter 847 - 126: Co-workers’ Great Escape (1)

"What now? What do we do now?"

With the warehouse sorted, Lille’s plan can move to the next step.

Faced with Elliot’s question, Lille finally begins to explain how the whole thing is supposed to be done:

Firstly, everything revolves around the allocation of the project funds for the English Channel, with the entire matter built on the basis that the funds can be redistributed —

The obvious adversary is the European Tunnel Company, which has essentially monopolized the shares from the construction, maintenance, and daily operation of the English Channel. The downstream factories are mostly linked to them, holding substantial sway on this channel.

In places without order, resources are distributed directly through violence; but in places with order, everyone listens to the one with the biggest fist.

The European Union is the organization with the greatest sway, created to prevent society from descending solely into violence, thus maintaining order...

This final reward of resource allocation is merely letting people dance with shackles. But what methods were actually used?

The European Union only cares about who’s doing the best at openly "maintaining order," and bringing more profit is even better; however, this doesn’t apply to this incident.

For this dispute, the shackles they are to wear is: the "Cyber Psychiatric Law."

The European Union adopts an appointment system to appoint local civil servants; each bill and policy impacts how upper ranks assess and appoint local officials. When forbidden matters arise in society, affecting stability, the local civil servant will be deemed unqualified by the higher-ups, prompting consideration for personnel changes and policy adjustments.

Lille’s task is to blow things up as much as possible...

"So as a company, either clean up your mess or get lost."

Elliot pondered internally:

"Wouldn’t this mean that whenever something happens, the civil servant would consider backstabbing their superiors? Doesn’t this sound like a system designed for stability but is actually unstable?"

[Lille: I’m not just politicking here with you; after understanding this, tell me what we should do now?]

"Hmm..." Elliot mused, "Post online?"

[Lille: ...If simple online public opinion worked, you’d be a minor civil servant by now.]

[Lille: We need to figure out a way to get the people from the factory here, Sevens wants them to act as witnesses, pointing out the cyber psychiatric incidents, and exaggerate the production issues of the European Tunnel Company as much as possible.]

"But exaggeration isn’t necessary..."

[Lille: The more the exaggeration, the worse it is for the civil servant liaising with the European Tunnel Company, the more flesh they can tear out — to put it bluntly, the more revenue.]

[Lille: More money means we can save more worker friends...]

"Eh?" Elliot voiced his puzzlement, "Wait a minute, after we rescue the workers, what then? Just keep them here every day?"

[Johnny: Yo, not even a boss yet and you’re thinking of ordering people around.]

"I... I’m just discussing rationally! You can’t keep doing this forever, can you?"

[Lille: You’re right, this is the first pot of gold, let’s earn it first before discussing anything else.]

Alina drives a small van, almost like Columbus Freight but made by the Citroen Company.

The vehicle stops at the outskirts of the port area, further out lies the industrial zone. To reach the factory, a ten-kilometer drive across barren land is required —

Driving straight there would stand out too much. Within the European Union jurisdiction, large-scale gun battles in urban areas are indeed impossible, but one RPG can blow the vehicle sky-high; once people die, such small industrial area explosions are easily covered up.

"Boss, we’re here." Alina turns to look at Elliot in the passenger seat, "What do we do?"

"...We need to get people out of the factory."

"Undermine the European Tunnel Company?"

"Correct..."

"But as soon as we exit the port area, it’s a vast industrial zone outside, all belonging to the European Tunnel Company businesses or linked small companies.

If they bring RPGs outside, we’re done."

"I know, that’s why I had you stop here."

Elliot shows initiative, as Lille instructed him, and he enjoys it —

Alina is a typical Eastern European woman, tall and slender, her appearance... very much suits Elliot’s imagination, not the ’aristocratic template’ of cosmetic surgery, but with exotic allure.

But what’s to be done?

[Lille: I’ve planted a virus in the factory.]

"Huh?"

Elliot is bewildered — a virus? When was it planted?

"...Boss?"

Alina tentatively shakes Elliot, who quickly regains his composure: "Ahem... I have an insider in the factory; the time has come..."

Elliot pauses again, his eyes widening slightly.

"...Once the time comes, we’ll drive straight up to the gate, we’ve got a thirty-minute window for action, from here to the gate, then back."

"Huh?"

Alina is confused — is this the plan?

[Elliot: Is this really reliable?]

[Lille: There is a more reliable plan, but this is the one we are using.]

...

In Factory 2, workers sit in rows in the warehouse, underneath them are simple sleeping bags—

This is their dormitory now.

"What’s with the factory going crazy? The machines haven’t arrived, why do they need so many stationed for repairs?"

A group of workers crowds the warehouse. They sleep directly in their sleeping bags, without air conditioning, showers, not even the toilets can be used without reporting on the company OA system.

Carl, the man who "shielded" Elliot during the factory accident a few days ago, listened to his coworkers and echoed:

"The company really has gone mad, no overtime pay, wages cut, really want to report them with just one phone call..."

"Haha, give it up, Foxstone won’t stand against the European Tunnel Company for us."

"Yeah, besides, we can’t even get out now... feels fishy."

Carl silently sighs to himself as he listens to his coworkers —

They’re earning little, not well cultured, but they’re not fools; they know they’ve been locked up by the company.

Most likely due to the cyber psychiatric incident...

Yet they really can’t understand — do they truly fear the labor inspection department?

[Beep—]

[Urgent Notice: European Tunnel Company Safety and Compliance Committee]

[Effective Time: Immediate]

[Due to a sudden incident and safety assessment at the factory, all employees must remain on-site until further notice.]

[Strictly prohibited to leave the factory area privately, any violation regarded as severe breach of company safety rules, consequences at own risk.]

[The company will conduct identity and safety checks, please cooperate at the designated times.]

[Production line temporarily halted, expected to resume in 1 hour, at which time employees must return to work positions as planned.]

[During this period, the company will continue to pay normal wages and offer medical and psychological support services.]

[For any questions, contact your direct manager for further instructions.]

[Thank you for your understanding and cooperation, ensuring the safety of factory production and all employees is our top priority.]

[Note: You have been assigned to the emergency production team, according to European Union labor inspection law, the company will use compulsory overtime right, prohibited to leave the factory before completing tasks.]

Carl is momentarily stunned and then erupts along with his coworkers:

"We’ve worked overtime for a month! Now we can’t even go home?!"

"This is unfair! It’s illegal! We’ve exceeded compulsory overtime limits!"

"Let us leave!"

Bam—

Suddenly, a loud footstep is heard from outside the window, seeing the scene beyond the glass.

A military mecha lands in the factory yard.

The atmosphere seems to freeze.

Then Carl suddenly finds a line of words appearing before his eyes:

[Carl, I’m Elliot. The European Tunnel Company plans to keep you inside for a long time. I’ve contacted civil servants from the European Union, they’re willing to help us, but you have to break out.]

[I have a way to temporarily disable the factory’s security system; head back to the production line now.]

[Find trustworthy coworkers — the European Union will compensate us, abundantly.]

[Make the European Tunnel Company pay!]