Chapter 47: Carnival

Chapter 47: Carnival

Twenty minutes earlier.

The hood had been off for a while before Xie Yunzhu feigned a groggy awakening, slowly opening his eyes. He was hog-tied to an executive chair, his hands and feet bound so tightly that the ropes bit deep into his flesh.

Before him stood an ordinary office desk, cluttered with office supplies and documents, flanked by old filing cabinets and a beverage station.

Yet, behind these mundane furnishings hung a meticulously framed, enormous painting. Its palette was a rich, dusky yellow, depicting a group of impoverished slaves, bodies bent forward like camels, barefoot on the sand, pulling a boat behind them.

Though he’d long since returned most of his art class knowledge to his teachers, the painting was so renowned that Xie Yunzhu quickly recalled its name: *Barge Haulers on the Volga*.

“What a magnificent painting,” a shrill, arrogant voice purred from behind him. “How robust and powerful the haulers’ bodies are! The scene of their arduous labor is so uplifting, brimming with inspiring energy.”

Xie Yunzhu slowly turned his neck, regarding him with indifference. Anyone attempting to discuss art with him would find their efforts utterly wasted.

Factory Manager Pi, holding a steaming cup of coffee, scrutinized him. “Of course, a lazy pig like you could never appreciate such beauty.”

“Why have you tied me up and brought me here?” Xie Yunzhu asked calmly. “I thought my transgression would, at most, result in a 500-yuan deduction from my wages.”

Factory Manager Pi gave him a knowing look. “That’s because you don’t understand your own value.”

The young man bound to the chair possessed a youthful, supple physique, exceptionally striking features, and eyes as deep and serene as the night. Even in his plain, drab work uniform, his distinctive qualities shone through the crowd.

Moreover, he made no effort to conceal his sharp edge. Whenever he appeared, everything around him seemed unbearably mediocre.

Such individuals were rare, even across multiple recruitment cycles. The “essence” extracted from their bodies always radiated a dazzling brilliance. It was a pity they hadn’t captured the younger one—that bright, beautiful child surely possessed something just as valuable as his brother.

Musing to himself, Factory Manager Pi casually walked behind the desk and opened a locked cabinet.

Xie Yunzhu caught a fleeting glimpse of rows of glass jars inside. Factory Manager Pi retrieved the outermost one and quickly shut the cabinet door.

The glass jar was filled with glittering powder, as if the stars in the sky had been ground into dust and poured inside, shimmering brilliantly.

Xie Yunzhu’s heart leaped. He immediately recognized it—this powder was undoubtedly “Laughter”!

So, all the “Laughter” taken from the employees was stored in places like this!

Factory Manager Pi placed the jar on the desk, opened its sealed lid, and carefully scooped a spoonful of “Laughter” with a small golden spoon, adding it to his coffee.

Then, holding the coffee cup with two fingers, he took a long, savoring sip, let out an exaggerated “Ah,” and broke into a wide smile, his eyes and brows brimming with exaggerated joy.

His smug gaze swept over Xie Yunzhu, who immediately adopted a baffled expression, as if utterly unable to comprehend what he was seeing. After all, according to the standard brainwashing protocol, he should be entirely unaware of “Laughter’s” existence.

“Curious about what I’m doing? Haha, I added something magical to my coffee,” Factory Manager Pi chuckled, clearly in an unnaturally excited state. “Unfortunately, this isn’t something someone like you should touch. It offers an experience like no other, and once you taste it, you’ll become obsessed, never able to focus on work again. It’s the most dangerous drug—just a little bit can ruin a person. So, I’m protecting you by not telling you.”

“But why are you allowed to have it?” Xie Yunzhu asked humbly.

“Because I’m not like you! My will has been tested time and again. I won’t be corrupted by a little indulgence!” Factory Manager Pi tapped the glass jar, wagging his head pompously. “I drink a cup every morning to test my mental fortitude. Now, I can proudly say that after thirty years of hard work, managing the factory twelve hours a day, I’ve never been corrupted by it!”

Indulging in “Laughter” leads to corruption? Xie Yunzhu lowered his head slightly. If interpreted through real-world logic, Factory Manager Pi was merely repeating the old adage: indulging in pleasure makes people neglect their work, so workers shouldn’t be too happy.

But in this instance, “Laughter” had a physical form. Moreover, this game instance was called “City of Joy,” making it hard for him not to form additional conjectures and devise an escape plan.

Should he act? Was it too risky?

Behind him and at the door, robot guards were aiming their guns at him, and they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. Xie Yunzhu calculated his risks. If his guess was wrong, any rash move could cost him his life. Even if he was right, being tied up meant his chances of success were only fifty-fifty.

Just then, Factory Manager Pi opened the cabinet again, returned the “Laughter,” and fumbled with some apparatus inside. “Let me run a check on you first, see what treasures you have…”

Xie Yunzhu finally saw clearly: there were five glass jars in the cabinet, each containing different powders with subtle variations in color, brightness, and hue, seemingly representing other substances. And what Factory Manager Pi pulled out were two slender tubes extending from some kind of device!

At that moment, Xie Yunzhu hesitated no longer. He shoved against the floor with his feet, propelling the chair forward and crashing into Factory Manager Pi.

Caught off guard, Factory Manager Pi was slammed into the cabinet. His first instinct was to protect the teetering jars.

The robot guards raised their guns uncertainly. The attacker was now too close, and any careless move might hit the boss. Their “programming” included an absolute directive not to harm their leader.

Xie Yunzhu could only move his feet and head. In his desperation, he didn’t even care about his own safety, slamming his head against the cabinet. As his forehead throbbed with pain, the cabinet shook violently.

“Ouch!” Factory Manager Pi panicked, seeing the jar of “Laughter” about to fall. He reached out to catch it, but Xie Yunzhu bit down hard on his wrist!

Everything happened in an instant. The robot guards, who had lowered their guns, rushed to his side, raising their gun butts to strike the back of his head. Meanwhile, the screaming Factory Manager Pi reached for the jar, but it had already tipped over, scattering glittering powder like a shower of glitter over everyone.

Xie Yunzhu moved as nimbly as a weasel, stretching his bound legs to barely catch the jar. Yet, much of the “Laughter” had already scattered in the air, landing on everyone’s heads like icing sugar.

The anger on Factory Manager Pi’s face froze comically for a moment, then twisted into a smile, a laugh, and finally a hysterical roar, like an incompetent actor cracking up before delivering the punchline.

The robot guards, though only touched by a trace of the essence, had no immunity to “Laughter.” Like fish encountering hot water for the first time, the unfamiliar, exhilarating emotion instantly overwhelmed them!

“Hahahahaha…” Their faces contorted, their nearly necrotic muscles straining to form unfamiliar expressions, resulting in bizarre grins.

And just as Factory Manager Pi had said, even a little exposure to “Laughter” was a corrupting drug for them. They forgot all their programming, their bodies relaxing with popping and cracking, hugging each other and laughing uncontrollably, ignoring the factory manager’s commands entirely.

Xie Yunzhu was laughing too, but his smile was cold and rigid, not induced by the essence of “Laughter”—the moment he felt the laughter, he fully understood how to use it.

He imagined the rope binding him not as a climbing rope but as a long ribbon, wrapping him up layer by layer. The image was undoubtedly absurd.

The essence of “Laughter” shimmered around him, and soon he felt his bonds loosen. The ropes transformed into beautiful silk ribbons, rose-red in color, wrapping him up like a birthday present.

“Hahahahaha…”

Factory Manager Pi and the guards, seeing this, couldn’t contain their laughter, rolling on the floor clutching their stomachs. Xie Yunzhu easily broke free from the ribbons and punched Factory Manager Pi in the face: “Surprise! The gift fights back!”

Before striking, he dipped his fist into the jar, coating it with powder. The punch sent Factory Manager Pi into a fit of hysterical laughter, gasping for breath with tears streaming down his face.

“Fuck, that hurts! Hahahaha… Catch him! Hahaha…”

Xie Yunzhu stretched his limbs, kicked aside the rolling guards, and was about to deliver another blow when Factory Manager Pi struggled to his feet and smashed the alarm button!

Instantly, alarms blared throughout the grease factory!

A vicious grin spread across Xie Yunzhu’s face. “Calling reinforcements, huh? You’re done.”

He grabbed a guard’s discarded gun, pulled the trigger without hesitation, and fired six shots directly at Factory Manager Pi’s head.

But the “Laughter” powder on his hand had coated the gun. Instead of bullets, it fired candies!

The candies struck Factory Manager Pi’s head with precision, splitting his skull in two. Instead of brains, joyful music spilled forth.

Inside his skull was a colorful carousel, with dreamlike unicorns rising and falling to a merry tune. His eyes rolled back, gazing at the fantastical scene in his mind as he laughed himself to death.

Such was the miraculous power of the essence of “Laughter”—it could turn this grim, gloomy world into a joyful amusement park!

Unfortunately, Factory Manager Pi never knew how to use it correctly. Coincidentally, Xie Yunzhu had deciphered the secret of “Laughter.” His past efforts and reflections now bore fruit. On the day Mi Yan smiled at him like an angel, he never imagined that “Laughter” would become a lethal weapon.

Xie Yunzhu held the jar in one hand, like a character peddling joy at an amusement park—though his other hand held a gun, and he unhesitatingly showered the guards with a volley of candy bullets.

Bang, bang, bang—the shimmering essence of “Laughter,” accompanied by candy bullets, exploded like fireworks at a carnival.

Inside those split heads, wonders unlocked—fluffy cotton candy, brains in spicy hotpot, a record player, a grand fireworks show watched with a first love at sixteen… all the joyful and marvelous things in this world left the guards smiling even in death.

More robot guards stormed in, led by Director Sun, only to be met with a hellish scene: No. 6 stood in a pool of blood, holding a transparent jar in one hand and a gun in the other. He had shot open every head, and pale cerebral matter spilled across the floor.

On the faces of the dead, and on No. 6’s face, was a bizarre expression beyond their comprehension.

Outside the door, layers upon layers of guards; inside, he stood alone. This was no even match.

No, absolutely not fair.

The carnival was underway.

From the robot guards’ guns shot streamers, water jets, soft gummy candies, and surprising empty clicks. But every candy fired by Xie Yunzhu was lethal. That wasn’t even counting the powder he casually tossed, making everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter. Surging laughter mingled with blood came flooding out of the factory director’s office like a tide.

Xie Yunzhu grabbed Director Sun by the throat and lifted him up. “Where is my brother?”

Director Sun, his face dusted with laughter powder, was completely delirious: “Hahahaha I’ve got it! Next quarter’s goal is to empower employee emotions, break through leadership mindsets, hit users’ pain points…”

“Let me first sync up the granularity with you.” Xie Yunzhu aimed at his forehead and fired expressionlessly. Inside Director Sun’s mind, hundreds of presentation slides scrolled by—it seemed like someone else’s life flashing before his eyes.

Xie Yunzhu’s gaze caught on something. In the first few slides, he saw Director Sun born in modern society, entering the game, and joining this instance as a cleaner…

But those insignificant pages quickly passed. The remaining hundreds of slides showed how Director Sun underwent transformation at the grease factory, climbed the ranks step by step, and entered management…

He, too, had once been a cleaner.

No. Xie Yunzhu coldly scanned the corpses littering the floor. Everyone here had probably once been a cleaner. But the longer they were trapped, the more assimilated they became by the instance. They could never leave this place again.

Stripped of laughter, they died like jokes.

The alarm began blaring incessantly. The entire factory ceased operations, launching a final siege against him.

“Where is my Furball?” Xie Yunzhu muttered to himself, clutching the glass jar now half-full of laughter powder, slinging a gun over his shoulder.

Whoever stood in his way, he would kill. He was going to find his Furball.