4: Chapter 4 Echoes from the Rusty Iron Factory: Who's Scheming Against Whom?

Just as the blood-red light curtain exploded before Chen Fan's eyes, he was wiping the Zombie King's black blood off his face.

A sharp sting shot up his neck, feeling as if he had been pierced by an electric current.

When his vision cleared again, the smell of rust had already filled his nostrils.

The sky above the abandoned steel factory looked unusually heavy, and the corroded blast furnaces were spewing scarlet steam, resembling a giant beast gasping for breath.

The pungent smell of burning mixed with the metallic odor of decay made one's nose ache.

"Ding—Bronze Tier Instance [Rusty Iron Factory] activated," the system's voice was even colder than before. "Main Quest: Shut down the three core furnaces. Time limit: 90 minutes. Failure results in the annihilation of all players."

Chen Fan staggered two steps forward, steadying himself against a twisted steel plate beside him.

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye—about twenty Newbie Players were landing one after another. Among them were students in school uniforms, thugs with dyed blond hair, and a white-collar worker wearing gold-rimmed glasses squatting on the ground vomiting, his knees already bruised blue.

"Listen up, everyone!"

A hoarse male voice suddenly rang out.

Chen Fan looked up and saw a sturdy man in camouflage pants standing on a disused conveyor belt. He had a scar running from his brow bone down to his jaw—it was 'Brother Dao,' who had snatched a Wandering Zombie Crystal Core in the Newbie Village a few days prior.

He was accompanied by four youths with differently colored hair, each holding an iron rod, a wrench, or even a rusty fire axe.

"The furnace area is extremely dangerous. Newbies only have a chance of survival if they stick close to the strong!" Brother Dao slapped his chest. "Resources will be distributed based on contribution. Those who exert more effort will get the lion's share—those who hide in the back won't even get the broth!"

Scattered responses rose from the crowd.

The white-collar worker with gold-rimmed glasses wiped his mouth and stood up, leaning on the steel plate: "Brother Dao is right, I... I'll follow the team." The blond-haired thug rubbed his hands and edged closer: "Brother, I can tank damage, count me in!"

Chen Fan kept his eyes down, staring at the bloodstains on his trouser cuffs.

He noticed that when Brother Dao scanned the crowd, his gaze lingered on Chen Fan's face for half a second before moving away.

As Brother Dao led his squad toward the nearest furnace, the two players who had been standing near him simultaneously shifted two steps to the other side, as if they had prearranged it.

"Trying to isolate me?" Chen Fan touched the blue-grade shovel tucked into his waistband but made no move.

He crouched down and picked up a sharp piece of broken iron—a white-grade weapon was too conspicuous. The shard looked like something casually picked up, which suited his intentions perfectly.

Behind the ruins of the factory building, Chen Fan squinted, observing the situation around the furnace.

The grayish-brown 'Corroded Iron Ants' were circling the furnace. Their carapaces were riddled with rust holes, and green acid dripped from their mandibles as they opened and closed them.

A system prompt floated before his eyes: [Corroded Iron Ant (LV3), attack applies Corrosion negative status (5 Health lost per second, death upon stacking 3 layers). Upon kill, there is a chance to drop a [Heat-Resistant Gear] (required to shut down the furnace)].

"A single Ant's attack isn't high, but a lone player is easily surrounded by them." Chen Fan moved slowly, sticking close to the steel plate, his gaze locked onto an Ant that had fallen behind the group.

The moment the iron shard sliced through the air, the Ant sensed danger and swept its mandibles over—Chen Fan had already calculated the angle, sidestepped the attack, and the shard pierced precisely into the gap in the Ant's carapace.

"Base Damage 8!"

"Critical Hitjudgement triggered! Damage × 2.1 multiplier!"

The Ant let out a piercing shriek, and green acid splashed onto Chen Fan's shoe, corroding a few small holes.

He quickly followed up with a kick, watching the Ant twitch and collapse. The system prompt popped up: [Gained 50 Experience (Critical Hit × 2.1 → 105), [Heat-Resistant Gear (Damaged)] × 1].

"The more I hit, the greater the chance for a Critical Hit." Chen Fan wiped the acid off the shard, a gleam in his eyes.

When the second Ant was pierced from behind, his experience bar increased by one-third; when the third Ant fell, the system notification nearly deafened him: "Ding! Player Chen Fan has advanced to Bronze Tier 2! Strength +2, Agility +1, Corrosion Resistance +10%!"

He flexed his wrist; the wounds corroded by acid no longer stung fiercely.

Just as he was about to continue, a sudden cry of alarm came from not far away: "Help!"

It was the 16-year-old student, Xiao Lin.

He was wildly swinging a wooden stick, and three Ants had already bitten through his trouser legs, green acid flowing down his calves.

Xiao Lin's face was pale. When the wooden stick struck an Ant's carapace, it bounced back and hit his own forehead, mixing blood with the acid as it streamed down.

Chen Fan didn't hesitate.

He clenched the iron shard and rushed over, slicing through one Ant's mandible and then stabbing the second Ant in the eye with a backhand strike.

Just as the third Ant's mandible was about to clamp onto Xiao Lin's neck, Chen Fan kicked its abdomen. The Ant was sent flying, crashing into the steel plate, its carapace shattering into pieces.

"Th-Thank you, Brother!" Xiao Lin collapsed onto the ground, trembling as he clutched the wound on his leg. "I... I saw Brother Dao and his group snatch two gears, so I thought I could... could..."

"Newbies shouldn't be greedy for merit." Chen Fan tore off a corner of his own shirt to bandage Xiao Lin's wound—the edges of the acid burn were turning black; it needed immediate attention.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye toward Brother Dao's squad. The four dyed-hair youths were looking back, and Brother Dao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glared with eyes that seemed poisoned.

Chen Fan stared at Xiao Lin's reddening eyes.

The boy still had his school badge pinned to his uniform, and the digital watch on his left wrist displayed "Grade 9 (Class 3)."

He remembered being sixteen, hauling bricks at a construction site, being cursed at by the foreman as a 'useless brat,' and his throat suddenly tightened.

"Okay," he nodded, simultaneously noticing that Brother Dao's squad had paused their steps—the man with the scar tapped his fire axe handle twice, and his four subordinates immediately quickened their pace.

In front of the first furnace, Chen Fan and Xiao Lin had already collected three gears.

The furnace's metal door was tightly shut, engraved with the symbol of a rotating gear.

Just as Xiao Lin reached out to press the switch, a shadow suddenly loomed over them.

"Move aside." Brother Dao's fire axe struck the ground heavily. "Weaklings touching equipment will only drag us down." The blond thug behind him roughly shoved Xiao Lin away, while the purple-haired youth pulled out a gear snatched from an Ant and skillfully inserted it into the furnace interface.

"Click—Furnace shutdown progress 1/3." As the system sound rang out, Brother Dao glanced at Chen Fan, a cold sneer twisting his lips: "Newbies are just newbies, they don't even know how to use the equipment."

Chen Fan said nothing, supporting Xiao Lin, who nearly fell, as they retreated to the side.

He noticed that all the gears Brother Dao's squad had were intact, whereas most of the ones he and Xiao Lin found were 'damaged'—it seemed the higher the Ant's level, the better the quality of the drop.

The second furnace was deeper inside the factory, the ground covered in raised metal plates.

A system prompt appeared before Chen Fan: [Pressure Trap (Triggers high-temperature steam for 5 seconds upon activation). Requires two people to rotate the valves simultaneously (Error ≤ 0.5 seconds)].

"Chen Fan, Xiao Lin." Brother Dao, cigarette in mouth, pointed at them with his axe handle. "You two go shut down the second one. We'll take the third—efficiency comes first."

Xiao Lin's face instantly turned ashen: "Brother Dao, I... I'm scared..."

"If you're scared, don't be a player." The scarred man exhaled smoke. "If you die, it's on you."

Chen Fan gripped his iron shard tightly.

He could feel Brother Dao targeting him—synchronous operation required tacit understanding, and Xiao Lin was clearly nervous.

But he didn't refuse; he just patted Xiao Lin's shoulder: "Stick with me. Count to three and turn together."

There were two rusty turntables for the valves, located on opposite sides of the furnace.

Chen Fan stood on the left, Xiao Lin on the right.

He stared at the red pointer on the dial, his ear catching a faint 'hissing' sound—the precursor to the trap activating in the steam pipe.

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

Both men turned the turntables simultaneously.

But Xiao Lin's hand was shaking, and the turntable only turned halfway before jamming.

The steam pipe suddenly burst open, and scarlet steam mixed with a heatwave erupted!

Chen Fan's pupils contracted sharply, and he lunged forward, slamming Xiao Lin onto the ground.

The scorching air current grazed his left arm; the fabric instantly burned away, and blisters rose on his skin.

"Corrosion Status stacked 2 layers (Current 2/3)." The system prompt made him gasp—each layer reduced attack by 10%, so two layers meant 20%.

More troublesome was the Corrosion damage of 10 points per second, lasting for 10 seconds.

"Brother, I'm sorry..." Xiao Lin started crying. "I... my hand slipped..."

"It's fine." Chen Fan tore off his scorched sleeve, revealing a swollen, red arm. "As long as you're alive, that's what matters." As he looked down, he saw sweat beads forming on his iron shard—if he had been half a second slower, Xiao Lin would have been steamed alive.

The commotion at the second furnace suddenly intensified.

Chen Fan helped Xiao Lin run over, only to see Brother Dao's squad being suppressed by a 'Furnace Guardian' nearly three meters tall.

The Guardian was flowing with lava, and its right hand held a giant sledgehammer. Every time it struck the ground, scorching magma splashed out.

Brother Dao's fire axe struck the Guardian, only sparking a few times. The blue-haired youth was smashed away by a hammer blow, crashing into a steel plate and spitting blood.

"All of you are useless!" Brother Dao roared, hacking again. "Hold on! Hold on until that brat Chen Fan gets here—"

The Guardian suddenly tilted its head back and roared, spitting lava from its mouth, forming a five-meter-diameter circle of fire.

The system prompts flashed frantically: [Magma Heavy Strike (3-second charge-up. Players in range have a 90% chance to be knocked back and a 50% chance of being burned)!]

Brother Dao's squad members scrambled to retreat. The blond thug was a step too slow and was swept away by the heatwave, the back of his clothes instantly burned through.

Chen Fan observed the Guardian's bulging muscles—the attack wind-up was obvious, and there was a 1.5-second stagger after every three skill uses.

He gritted his teeth, clenched the iron shard, and charged into the ring of fire.

"Are you looking to die?!" Brother Dao's roar was swallowed by the heatwave.

Chen Fan rolled at the edge of the fire circle, dodging the first wave of magma.

As the Guardian's hammer swung down with a whoosh, he used the wreckage of the conveyor belt to leap up, the iron shard piercing precisely into the Guardian's eye!

"Base Damage 12!"

"Critical Hitjudgement triggered! Damage × 2.8 multiplier!"

The Guardian let out a deafening scream, and the lava sprayed even more violently.

Chen Fan nearly fell upon landing; the weakness caused by the Corrosion status made his steps unsteady.

But he didn't stop; the second iron shard was already thrown—this time aiming for the lava fissure in the Guardian's neck.

"Basic Fist Style Combo activated! Second strike!"

"Critical Hitjudgement triggered! Damage × 3.1 multiplier!"

As the third iron shard cut through the air, Chen Fan's arm was trembling.

The second layer of Corrosion damage was gnawing at his life, but his eyes shone with startling intensity.

The moment the shard stabbed into the Guardian's heart area, the system notification nearly pierced his skull:

"Third strike! Critical Hitjudgement triggered! Damage × 2.3 multiplier!"

The damage stacked from three Critical Hits caused the Guardian's health bar to plummet by 80% instantly!

It staggered backward, its hammer clanging onto the ground. Lava poured madly from the wound, resembling a small volcano.

Brother Dao's eyes lit up.

He wiped the sweat from his face and charged forward with the fire axe, the blade gleaming coldly under the reflection of the lava.

Chen Fan retreated to the side, watching Brother Dao raise his axe, and suddenly let out a cold laugh—he noticed the Guardian's lava flow rate was accelerating, and a faint red crystal was glowing inside the wound in its heart.

Just as Brother Dao's axe was about to cleave the Guardian's skull, Chen Fan whispered, "The final blow... might not be yours."