Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 54 is extremely strange.
Black Gold Transportation Equipment Machinery Manufacturing Plant.

It is said that this factory was founded in the year 212 of the Industrial Revolution. It started when a blacksmith repaired a broken steam engine on his own and accidentally improved the steam engine manufacturing process. After that, he received investment and later focused on large steam engines, which were mainly used for mines and factories.

Later, the factory was wholly acquired by a steel tycoon, who began to try to further improve the engine and enter the steam car market.

Overall, the factory met Lu Ran's needs quite well.

At least, what Lu Ran saw and heard while strolling through the factory was indeed the case.

boom!
The steam hammer in the forging workshop fell heavily, each strike accompanied by a deafening roar that shattered the air. The hammerhead struck the red-hot steel billet, sending up sparks like golden rain.

With each strike of the steam hammer, the old blacksmith would let out a fierce shout, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms, sweat streaming down his cheeks and forming droplets on his chin, but he didn't bother to wipe it away.

He stared at the red-hot steel billet slowly unfolding under the hammer, his eyes gleaming with a light brighter than sparks. Suddenly, he grabbed the pliers and spun them sharply. The billet drew a red arc in the air and landed in the cold water, sizzling and bursting into white mist.

Bystanders smiled and praised, revealing teeth blackened by coal smoke: "Well done!"

"Push! Lift!"

Two workers, panting heavily, hurried past, carrying the half-ton crankshaft together. Their knuckles turned white from the force as they gripped it, and a low growl escaped their throats, as if they were using all their strength.

Lu Ran left Bella outside the factory and sneaked in himself, staring in disbelief the whole way.

This factory is not only still operating normally, but the workers inside are in a completely different state of mind from the group of idle and dejected workers that Lu Ran saw outside.

Even before coming here, Lu Ran had mentally prepared himself, thinking it would be another factory that had lost orders and shut down due to Zell's mismanagement.

With questions in mind, Lu Ran walked further inside, feeling the choking smell of coal dust that filled his nostrils. He subconsciously raised his hand to cover his nose before realizing what was happening. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the workers around him, who were panting heavily, with a look of astonishment.

In the dappled sunlight streaming through the roof windows, the workers could see large amounts of coal ash being frantically inhaled, yet they remained completely oblivious, engrossed in their work.

"Damn it, how much do they pay a month for working this hard?"

This was the first time Lu Ran had seen this scene, but even without being familiar with it, he could guess that such work would inevitably lead to extremely serious occupational diseases.

"No, no, this needs to be changed."

Lu Ran frowned, already adopting the perspective of the new boss.

He continued jogging, and soon his body was covered in a layer of coal ash. His gray fur blended into the environment, and no one noticed him.

"Hiss! This lousy machine!"

The huge boiler suddenly leaked hot steam, scalding a worker's arm. The big man just cursed and poured cold water on the wound, then continued working without a care.

Lu Ran grimaced as he watched, feeling a strange sense of shared pain: "Seriously? Is it piecework? Why are you doing this?"

"Whoosh, whoosh!" Another worker operated the machine, grinding metal parts. The grinding wheel struck the metal, producing golden-red sparks. Visible metal shavings swarmed everywhere, but the worker just impatiently blew on them.

"This is too..."

Lu Ran paused subconsciously halfway through his sentence, then suddenly scanned his surroundings again as if to confirm something.

"Something's wrong."

He finally realized something was wrong.

As a seasoned laborer from a previous life, he was somewhat familiar with the actual working conditions of the lower-level laborers.

The workers in front of me are too excited.

"Cough cough cough." Suddenly, Lu Ran was drawn to the sound of a worker coughing violently. He watched as the man forcefully sucked and pushed in phlegm as if it were stuck in his throat, and then spat it forcefully onto the ground.

Snapped.

Lu Ran's eyesight is now excellent, and he can clearly see the color of the phlegm—it is black, filled with coal ash.

Lu Ran's expression was solemn. As if to confirm his thoughts, he quickened his pace, his gaze sweeping rapidly over one worker after another. He worked with a smile, with reckless abandon, with a madcap spirit, with boundless enthusiasm.

Lu Ran ran faster and faster, passing through one workshop after another. Each workshop had the same scene. Even from Lu Ran's perspective as a mouse, without any supervision from the leaders, he couldn't hear a single complaint, slander, or curse about the environment.

Upon seeing this, Lu Ran suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Is this still a normal person?"

Lu Ran felt uncomfortable after only a short while, so he rushed out of a workshop and took a deep breath of the slightly fresher air before glancing back at the factory with lingering fear.

Large amounts of coal smoke shot into the sky from the chimneys, making the entire factory resemble a constantly roaring, never-ending machine monster.

"A bunch of lunatics!"

Lu Ran felt a chill run down his spine.

A normal person would never do that, and someone who does that is definitely not a normal person.

Is he under some kind of spell or something? Even if the factory now belongs to Lu Ran, and the money the workers earn through such hard work is going into his pocket, he still finds it hard to accept.

It was so eerie that Lu Ran could understand even a little bit of it if the workers cursed a few words in private. They didn't even complain about the boss in this awful environment, and their spit was black. Lu Ran didn't believe that they couldn't feel that working like this was unhealthy.

If this were the case every day, the number of people who would have died in this factory over the years would probably be enough to fill an entire workshop.

"Who's in charge of the recent changes? Or is it the mess left by Zell?"

Disturbed, Lu Ran quickly ran out of the factory gate to find Bella, intending to use deception magic to go to the factory office and ask the leaders there about the situation.

However, he immediately realized that with his current mental strength, it would be difficult to support his human disguise for a sufficient amount of time.

"If it doesn't work out in the open, then do it covertly... No, it has to be done in the open too!"

Lu Ran stared intently at the frantically operating factory in front of him, his mind racing. He felt he would have to trouble a certain noble lady for help again.

At the very least, we need to obtain the factory's current accounting information and find out who is currently in charge of managing the factory.

Meanwhile, they also secretly dispatched rats to investigate why the workers were behaving so strangely.

Lu Ran was even a little worried that some extraordinary force was behind this.

Lu Ran felt that anyone with even a modicum of normalcy would notice something was wrong after walking around the factory.

If the factory leaders here allow this situation to go unchecked and ignore it, then it's almost certain that a judgment can be made without hesitation—

The most suspicious thing here is the factory leaders.

I just want to make some money, is it easy for me?

……

After a day of gathering all the information in the vicinity, Lu Ran had come to a very bad conclusion.

The workers outside the factory were also acting strangely. They were all out of work, depressed, and seemed to have suffered under the capitalists for too long, ready to cause a big problem at any moment.

The workers in his factory were acting even more strangely; they were all working like madmen, working like they were under a curse, and it was already a huge problem to be seen with the naked eye.

This factory is a bit too hot to handle.

Mr. Biden, how about we renegotiate? I don't want this factory anymore, and you can cancel that $20,000 loan.

Damn it, we've fallen for their trap.

(End of this chapter)