As we fled from the enemies, before I knew it, we had entered that gaudily colored factory.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!!
The sound of the prisoners running frantically echoed through the factory interior.
[Wait!]
"What is it, Dante?"
[...Aren't the enemies not chasing us anymore?]
When I looked back at Dante's words, the enhanced humans had stopped following us at some point.
[I think we can slow down a little.]
Just like that, there was no longer any reason to keep running.
My legs were hurting anyway. Perfect timing.
Tap... tap...
Cautious footsteps echoed through the empty, spacious factory.
When we were running, I hadn't noticed, but now that we were walking quietly, it seemed like more things inside the factory were coming into view.
For example, a vending machine with cute little buttons over there... a vending machine?
"Dante, don't you think there's a vending machine over there?"
[Hm? Where?]
Dante must have seen the vending machine I was pointing at, because they slowly started walking toward it.
[I have the feeling we're supposed to press some buttons...]
"In times like this, you press them all, Dante~"
"Wait, at times like this, we should be careful and not get greedy..."
Ignoring Ishmael's words, Rodion pressed all three buttons on the vending machine at once.
Click
This feels ominous... is that really okay?
[Error detected! Error detected!]
Well, didn't they say that ordinary unease usually becomes reality?
The vending machine began trembling violently, making a racket.
Feeling like it might explode at any second, I decided to lie down first.
There was no harm in preparing ahead of time.
"W-Why is it doing this?"
Ishmael seemed about to scold Rodion for her flustered remark, but...
"Haa, I told you not to get greedy..."
Boom——!!
Before she could even finish, the vending machine exploded, spewing out countless toy parts.
Nearly all the prisoners, caught off guard by the ambush, took the fragments head-on...
"My heart is frightened and plummets..."
"Rodion, would you please be more careful next time?"
"Uh... I'm really sorry..."
Seeing the prisoners in such a miserable state, Rodion seemed to have nothing to say and took on a repentant attitude.
"Still, we were able to obtain a large number of E.G.O gifts. It is not entirely bad."
After hearing Faust's words, I looked around and saw several toy parts on the floor that had survived the explosion without a scratch.
So these were the E.G.O gifts we got here.
[...But Saramago, why are you unharmed?]
"Huh? I was already lying down from the moment the vending machine started shaking. It looked like it was about to blow up no matter how you looked at it."
[...]
Dante, with plastic fragments stuck in their clothes, stared at me with what felt like disbelief.
"There wasn't even time to say anything in the first place, was there? I had to dodge first."
[That's true.]
Even as Dante said that, they kept looking at me as if they still felt betrayed, but...
[...If that's done, let's keep going.]
Apparently having nothing else to say, they soon turned their attention away from me and moved forward.
Now then, let's see... the next room's name was... the parts assembly room?
As we approached the parts assembly room, an openly ominous sound reached us.
"Sss!!"
"...Just in case, let me ask: we can't turn back, right?"
"Do you not remember what we came in here to avoid?"
"Fair enough."
As Gregor said, there were enhanced humans behind us too, so it seemed battle was unavoidable.
At this point, should we just break through head-on?
[Let's go.]
"Everyone, prepare for combat! We're going in!"
At Otis's signal, we charged into the parts assembly room where the enhanced humans were.
"Sss."
"Sss!!"
"Sss!!!! Sss!!!! Sss!!!! Sss!!!!"
And the enhanced humans, making a racket, pointed at us and rushed straight toward us.
Clang—!
The attack from the charging enhanced human was... stronger than I expected.
If we let even one attack through by mistake like this—
Whoom, thud—!
"Guh..."
Enough to crush bones in a single hit.
Damn, that hurts!
The grotesque movements coming from their toy-like appearance were far more powerful than we had imagined.
But the difference in numbers was absolute.
Thirteen to three. No matter how strong one blow was, while we struck thirteen times, they could only attack once.
The enemies' durability wasn't nearly as great as their destructive power, and before long they were reduced to heaps of scrap metal under the prisoners' attacks.
Just when I thought, "Is that it?"
Krrk, krrrk.
With a metallic sound that made my whole body crawl, the enhanced humans began assembling themselves again from the beginning.
And before long, they had fully regained their shape.
"They came back to life?"
"Ugh... seems like it, Rodion."
I didn't know how it worked, but apparently resurrection wasn't a privilege reserved for the prisoners in this battle.
No, maybe "restoration" was the better word here.
"Perhaps they are not alive to begin with. So they would not die either."
"No, that's not the kind of philosophical point we're making here."
"Hmm~ it feels like broken bricks being stacked back up."
Then Sinclair made a strange expression.
"...I think I hear something from the factory in the back."
At Sinclair's words, everyone looked toward the factory beyond the enhanced humans.
And from that factory came the sound of metal clashing together, something that hadn't been there until just now.
It seemed likely that this was closely connected to the enhanced humans' restoration.
[Let's investigate the factory.]
At Dante's words, Sinclair showed a hint of unease.
"...But wouldn't it be too dangerous to just go in?"
[Hmm... if we neutralize the largest enhanced human, wouldn't that create a gap to pass through?]
"As expected of the Manager, that is an astonishingly excellent plan!"
Otis's constant praise of Dante was nothing new, so I didn't even pay it any mind anymore.
In short, we were going to neutralize that big enhanced human and enter the factory.
"So all we have to do is take down that huge one again? Easy!"
As always, Heathcliff charged ahead first.
Then I should hurry and follow—wait.
Wasn't it a little faster than before?
Whirr, clang!
Heathcliff, who had rushed in with confidence, had his stance thrown off by the larger enhanced human's attack, which had become faster than before...
Thud, whoom.
"Ugh..."
Crack!!
Then he took the follow-up strike and was instantly turned into mush.
"Hah, serves him right. I knew he'd end up like that someday."
"...Ishmael, don't you think this isn't the time to say that?"
Even if she hated Heathcliff, did she really have to say something like that while he was dying?
"Enough chatter. Let's neutralize it quickly and get into that factory."
Gregor was right.
We didn't have time for idle talk here.
"Follow my fire."
Thunk!
Meursault, using the identity of the Liu Association, rushed at the enhanced human in an attempt to create an opening.
Rattle-rattle, clang!
"I got it in properly!"
Then Gregor flew in at once, riding the wings sprouting from his identity, and completely broke its stance.
Snap!
"You shall not be able to regain your senses!"
Don Quixote finished it cleanly.
Then...
[Run!]
"Sss!!"
Whoom——
We still had to avoid the enemies' attacks while running, but somehow we all made it alive into the factory.
Heathcliff, who was already dead, excluded.
"Th-This place is..."
"Looks like a toy factory."
Sinclair and Meursault must have known or visited a toy factory before, because they seemed to have already figured out what kind of place this was.
"This is my first time at a toy factory. I've seen mountains of toys piled up at home often, though."
While the prisoners were each saying something, Don Quixote seemed to spot something and shouted loudly.
"Ah! Behold this!"
Where Don Quixote pointed, there was a control panel with several buttons.
And written above it was this message.
[Do you love the city you stand in?]
And on the buttons below, it said this:
[Yes.] [No.]
[Hmm...]
After thinking for a long while, Dante pressed the button marked "No."
When the button was pressed, a mechanical voice came out as guidance.
[Incorrect input.]
[You must become stronger.]
[Please enter again.]
[Warning! If this button is entered three times, facility operation will be suspended.]
Wait, then—
"Dante, earlier Sinclair said the factory started operating when the enemies began restoring, right?"
[Hm? That's right.]
"Then if this facility operation is suspended, wouldn't the enhanced humans' restoration stop?"
"A reasonable idea. Dante, I judge it worth trying."
After hearing Faust's words along with my own opinion, Dante pressed the button marked "No" twice without hesitation.
[Three inputs confirmed. Emergency Rule No. 3: facility operation will be suspended.]
Soon the machine spoke words that confirmed my hypothesis, and—
Giiiiii—
"Looks like it stopped."
As Meursault said, all the machines soon ceased moving.