bookpower Chapter 665: The Tower of Disaster! The Factory of Desire!
Chapter 665: The Tower of Disaster! The Factory of Desire!
Wu Wang felt his body falling continuously, its depth far exceeding the height he had reached when he stood up from the fountain.
But he had no doubt that if he were to try to stand up again as before, he would immediately step back to the bottom of the pool and return to the first level.
However, according to Qin Shusheng, one must not resist the downward force in order to begin climbing the tower.
So he reached out and pressed down on the struggling little hill on his shoulder to prevent the little thing from instinctively swimming upwards.
Seeing that strong, powerful hand pressing down on him, Little Hill the Cow Cat felt like his world had collapsed.
Do you really want to drown with me?
Heaven has eyes! Just take that bastard away from me! I'm just an innocent cat!
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Despair bubbles escaped from Xiaoqiu's mouth.
Xiao Qiu didn't know how long he was held down by Wu Wang and submerged. The moment he felt his back finally touch the bottom of the pool, the murky seawater around him disappeared as quickly as the tide receded.
He quickly opened his eyes and greedily inhaled the hard-won air.
What came into view was an incredibly bizarre scene.
Countless people of all ages sat in perfectly ergonomic chairs, with a huge floor-to-ceiling screen in front of them.
"Meow?"
Xiao Qiu turned his head in confusion to look behind him.
Wu Wang was also among that group of people.
At this moment, in addition to the scenery Xiaoqiu had seen, he also heard system notifications from the Spirit Disaster game—
Welcome to the Factory of Desire
[Number of players in the instance: 15]
[Instance Description: When you're in a subway station, browsing a webpage, or scrolling through your phone late at night during a sleepless night, you might see an ad like this—Desire Factory is recruiting dream partners worldwide!]
Do you feel that life is never quite what you want?
Have you ever thought about what would have happened if you had been braver, luckier, or more capable?
At the Desire Factory, we don't talk about "what ifs"! We only talk about "realization"!
Your wishes are our KPIs.
Here you'll find industry-leading biotechnology (over a century ahead), a comprehensive career advancement system, and an industry-leading rate of wish fulfillment.
Join us! You will no longer work for anyone else! You will work only for your own dreams!
This is a factory of desire. It never seeks out those who have given up hope, because there's no profit in those who are desperate. It seeks out those who still harbor strong regrets and longings for life—because only the desires of such people are the most fervent, the most vibrant, and the most…delicious.
And now, you are sitting in the brightly lit onboarding training hall of the Desire Factory.
Welcome to our company!
Your life restarts from this moment.
Main Quest: Liberate or Take Over the Factory of Desire
Side Quest 1: Collect Five Forgotten True Memories
Side Quest 2: Release a Smiling One
Side Quest 3: Fulfill Your Wish
[Basic Rewards: Synergy Points, Epic Item Draw, Disaster Tower Information]
[Hidden Reward: Unknown]
May you find your own death.
Upon hearing the description of this instance, Wu Wang remarked with a hint of emotion, "What the hell is the difference between this and a pyramid scheme?"
He took a quick look around at the surroundings.
The lights are warm, and the air is sweet.
Besides the promotional video that Xiaoqiu saw on the screen, Wu Wang also noticed that everyone, including himself, was wearing the same white work clothes and an electronic bracelet on their wrist.
A female projection with a perfectly measured smile slowly emerged from the bracelet, speaking in an extremely gentle voice: "Welcome to the Desire Factory. You are the chosen dream partners."
"Please take a look at the Dream Partner case that Desire Factory has already realized."
As soon as he finished speaking, the floor-to-ceiling screen at the front of the hall lit up.
The video begins with a series of aerial shots.
A circular building stands in the sunlight, its exterior white and gold, its lines flowing like a feather bent by the wind.
When the camera cuts to the interior, there are spacious corridors, neatly arranged green plants, and smiling employees at work...
Everything looked like a thriving scene.
Then the story began to play.
The first story on the screen is about a woman in a wheelchair who is told by a doctor that she only has three months to live.
But the next shot shows her standing up, in the garden, flying a kite with her daughter.
The voiceover says, "She redeemed the 'Health Restoration,' and now she runs faster than anyone else."
Then comes the second story scene.
An elderly couple sat in the living room, their son's black-and-white photo hanging on the wall, looking somewhat forlorn.
The next shot shows the doorbell ringing.
The elderly couple rushed over and hugged their son, who was standing at the door in a military uniform.
The voiceover says, "They redeemed 'The Return of the Deceased,' the sorrowful departure of the white-haired who sent off the black-haired, and the son from their memories returned."
The third story is about a young man standing in an empty office building, looking like he has failed in his business venture, with only a cold cup of instant coffee on his table.
The next shot shows him standing on the podium, with thousands of audience members applauding.
The voiceover says, "He redeemed the 'leadership injection,' and now he is a benchmark in the industry and a role model for all our workers!"
More and more stories are playing on the screen, but in general, almost every frame depicts people getting what they want in various situations.
They hit the softest spot in people's hearts with precision.
The image finally freezes on a line of large characters—
[Desire Factory: Everything you deserve is here]
The projection on the electronic wristband also chuckled at the opportune moment:
"Here, every effort you make will be directly converted into the fulfillment of your wishes. Please confirm your identity information and check the initial catalog of the Wish Shop."
After saying that, the electronic bracelet vibrated slightly.
A holographic menu pops up in front of each person.
It was clearly written above—
[This Week's Best Sellers]
[The Deceased Return (Limited-Time Offer): Originally 8000 Wish Points, now 7999 Wish Points, this week only]
[True Love Customization (Physical Partner): Starting from 2000 Wish Points, the first 100 buyers will receive a "Perfect First Encounter" gift package] [Youth Freezing Surgery (Appearance Only, Not Biological Age): 3000 Wish Points]
[Cancer Terminator (Knowledge Injection): 1500 Wish Points]
【…】
A wide variety of strange goods were browsed by the crowd, and their effects seemed to touch the hearts of many.
However, when they saw their initial wish points of 100 appear on the electronic bracelet, many people couldn't help but show disappointment.
They can't afford any of these expensive items at the moment.
As the disappointment quickly faded, what appeared in most people's eyes was a surge of excitement and boundless anticipation for the future.
Although I can't afford it now, as long as I work hard in the factory, I will be able to buy what I want someday!
Wu Wang glanced at a middle-aged man beside him. The man's eyes were fixed on the product "Cancer Terminator," and his fingers were trembling slightly, as if he couldn't resist clicking to buy it.
There was a light in his eyes.
Wu Wang was very familiar with that light. He had seen it before in the Happiness Island instance, in the eyes of the doctor named Shangguan He.
That's the light that appears when you see a lifeline.
The only slight difference was that Shangguan He's eyes were brighter, unlike the slightly gloomy look in the eyes of the guy in front of him.
However, Wu Wang laughed mockingly the next second: "Stop looking. You think you're buying life-saving knowledge, but actually they're just selling placebos with emotional value. Doctors who really save lives won't waste their time here. Why don't you try watching ads to revive patients instead?"
It seems that the words "the doctor who truly saved lives" stung the other person's heart.
He whirled around, his hopeful gaze turning into a furious roar of blatant disbelief: "How do you know I'm not a doctor! The people I've saved..."
Before he could finish speaking...
Wu Wang then intended to say, "You have calluses on your left thumb and index finger from holding surgical forceps for a long time, but you have new calluses on the first joint of your right middle finger."
"This means you may have performed surgeries frequently in the past, but you haven't been on the operating table for a long time now. And you're not old enough to be retired, right? So let me make a slightly bold guess: your license has been revoked?"
"You came here not only to save people, but also to reclaim your lost honor, right?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man fell silent, and his anger deflated like a punctured balloon.
This seems to reflect the speculation about Wu's demise.
Wu Wang then paid little attention to the man's appearance and instead turned his gaze to another woman with slightly red eyes.
The other person was staring intently at the image on the large screen, while the holographic menu on their wrist remained on the "Return of the Deceased" option.
He raised an eyebrow and said, "If I were you, I would first look for any hidden clauses at the bottom of this page. Usually, the after-sales service section would say something like, 'Our company does not assume legal responsibility for the consistency of personality after resurrection.'"
"To put it simply, it's not him who's coming back; it's something disguised in someone else's skin."
The woman also looked over.
Her makeup was a bit heavy.
His face also showed anger at being offended.
He said coldly, "What gives you the right to judge strangers? Who do you think you are?"
Wu Wang did not respond immediately, but instead examined her face, hands, and even neck as if he were inspecting a product.
Then he pursed his lips and said:
"Why should I? Because of everything you've told me."
"You have a ring mark on your right middle finger, which was removed no more than a week ago. Your swollen eyelids indicate that you have been crying recently, and not just a few tears, but the kind of crying that makes you feel like you're going to vomit."
"But even so, you still have the mind to put on makeup, which means you are not the type to give up on yourself because of a breakup. You don't put on makeup for beauty, but to fight against life. You are the kind of person who will apply lipstick perfectly even at a funeral, because that is the last thing you can still control."
"So what you lost wasn't your boyfriend, but a closer relationship, like—your husband."
"Of course, it could also be a special fetish like that of a wife, master, or dog. I maintain a certain level of respect for any fetish."
The woman's hands clenched tightly.
Unlike before when she was clutching the air, this time she was clutching her empty ring finger, her knuckles turning white, as if she were grasping a ring that no longer existed.
Seeing that Wu Wang had silenced the two men with just a few words, they realized that Wu Wang had easily defeated them.
A man standing up from his chair opposite him, with a very composed posture and a serious expression, walked over.
He stared intently at Wu Wang with the kind of scrutinizing gaze one would use to examine a criminal, and slowly began to speak, one sentence at a time:
"You have excellent observation skills."
"But what's the point of doing this? What good will it do you to offend everyone?"
"Didn't you come to this factory of desire because you wanted something?"
Faced with the man's questioning, Wu Wang shrugged casually, grinning with his familiar sly smile, and said, "Benefits? None."
"I just have a bad habit, which is that I like to watch people walk into the slaughterhouse with a look of ecstasy on their faces. There are too many people in this world holding numbered tickets and waiting to die. I like to shout to them - everyone, hurry up and move forward, there are people behind you who want to die even more than you."
The other person frowned.
You could sense the obvious disgust in the voice: "Don't you think you're being too harsh?"
“Harsh?” Wu Wang tilted his head. “Your term for honesty is really awful.”
"If I were to be harsh, I would tell that doctor he came here not to save lives, but to atone for his sins; I would tell that lady she bought not her husband, but a life-size cardboard cutout of him in his pajamas; and I would also tell you—"
Wu Wang paused for a few seconds.
He discerned something from the other person's posture and the calluses on their hands from training and handling guns, and then continued, seemingly provocatively:
"You've spent most of your life chasing bad guys, but you haven't actually caught a single one."
The other person's breathing quickened slightly.
Although the slight tightening of the jaw was very subtle, Wu Wang still managed to catch it.
Just as more people wanted to discuss the matter, Wu Wang was already prepared to engage in a debate with the Confucian scholars.
The projection on the electronic bracelet spoke.
"Please sign your onboarding training contract."
"After signing, you can receive your first training task. Complete it and you will receive your first wish points. We wish you a pleasant work experience."
After saying that, another contract that also looked like a projection popped up next to the holographic menu. The densely packed terms on it made people's scalps tingle.
Including Wu Wang, most people began to read the terms and conditions.
Two people who were relatively far away from Wu Wang were staring at him. One of them, a girl wearing glasses, whispered to her companion, "Fifteen players mixed in with hundreds of new employees, whether this guy is a player or an NPC, he can be considered a good person."
This caused his companion to give him a strange look.
Are you blind? If you don't need it, you can donate it to disabled people in society.
That guy's sharp tongue just now, he didn't look like a good person at all!
The bespectacled girl seemed to have anticipated her companion's reaction. She looked at the terms of the projected contract and explained, "He may seem to be provoking others, but he is actually preventing them from falling into the arms of desire so quickly."
"Don't forget, this is a factory of desire."
"Everything here is a trap tailor-made for our desires. Perhaps the only thing that can make you a little more clear-headed in the face of desire is a stranger with a sharp tongue telling you the cruel truth."
At that moment, she also noticed a line of tiny, almost illegible gray-white text at the bottom of the contract.
[A lifetime cooperation agreement will be signed upon joining the company. The factory reserves the right to the final interpretation of the "wishes"...] (End of this chapter)