In the dim pipe maze of the Furnace District, the Butcher's roar blared like an out-of-control stamping press, sending a shudder straight to the heart.
"Dammit! Kim Man-joi wasn't at his post again tonight! He's up to something!"
His voice carried the savage ferocity of a provoked beast, drawing closer with every step, each one heavy enough to pound on Kim Man-joi's chest. Three dark shadows loomed grotesque in the blue electric glow of the mechanical sentinels.
They were trapped.
And it was less than a hundred meters from the Transmission Tower—the only path to the crash site. Kim Man-joi's face darkened instantly, his chest tightening. The "flame" inside him coiled sharply. This was a very bad sign.
"Brother Man-joi, what do we do?" Ah Foh's voice trembled. He gripped his crowbar so hard his knuckles whitened. Old Chung held his breath, his murky eyes flashing with anxiety.
Kim Man-joi's gaze darted across his surroundings, weighing every possibility. Time was their most precious luxury.
"Ah Foh, take two men and stage a frontal diversion. Draw them away." His voice was steady, unwavering.
Ah Foh's head shot up, stunned for a moment, then blazing with fierce resolve.
"A diversion?"
"Yes. Make it loud. Make them think we're all here." A sharp glint flashed in Kim Man-joi's eyes. He could clearly *see* the flame inside Ah Foh swell in an instant.
"What about us?" Old Chung whispered.
"We take the maintenance shaft." Kim Man-joi pointed to a narrow gap behind them, almost choked with scrap parts. "It's the shortest way to the signal tower, but it's full of high-pressure steam vents. Extremely dangerous."
"High-pressure steam?" Ah Foh grinned, baring his teeth. "Even better! The more dangerous, the less those bastards will check!"
"I'm in!" One of the "awakened" young workers stepped forward, fists clenched.
"Remember, don't engage. Just hold them off!" Kim Man-joi clapped Ah Foh on the shoulder, his gaze firm. "I'll set off the explosion as soon as I can to create chaos, then come back for you."
"Got it!" Ah Foh spun sharply and gestured to the young worker. "Let's go greet that fat dog!"
They melted into the dark like two ghosts.
Kim Man-joi wasted no time, yanking Old Chung into the cramped maintenance shaft.
"Stay behind me. Don't touch the valves!" he whispered. He could *see* the tangled web of energy lines inside the passage. To his eyes, the high-pressure steam vents were ravenous beasts, ready to spew fire hot enough to melt steel at any moment.
Inside the shaft, stifling heat and dampness mixed with the stench of rust, nearly suffocating them. Steam hissed constantly overhead, and the occasional scalding droplet fell with a sharp sizzle. Guided by the flame within him, Kim Man-joi wove through the narrow pipe gaps, dodging the deadly vents. Old Chung clung close behind him, sweat blurring his vision, yet he gritted his teeth and kept going.
*BOOM!*
A deafening blast echoed in the distance, followed by the roars of Ah Foh and his comrade.
"Butcher, you son of a bitch! Your grandpa's right here!"
"Come face me if you got the guts!"
The taunting shouts instantly grabbed the Butcher and the mechanical sentinels' attention.
"That bastard! They're over there! After them!" The Butcher's roar seethed with rage, clearly goaded by Ah Foh.
The sentinels' metal boots scraped furiously as they charged after Ah Foh.
"Well done." A faint smile tugged at Kim Man-joi's lips. He knew Ah Foh and the others had succeeded — buying them precious time.
They raced through the maintenance shaft at top speed. At last, the abandoned access door at the base of the signal transmission tower came into view. The lock was long rusted shut. Kim Man-joi kicked it open and slipped inside with Old Chung.
Inside the tower, tangled wiring and equipment formed a forest of steel. Kim Man-joi headed straight for the core control console. The flame inside him flickered at his fingertips, clearly mapping the flow of energy through every circuit.
"We need to plug into this port…" He pointed to an interface on the console, his focus unbroken.
Old Chung nodded wordlessly. He pulled a set of tools from his coat and quickly disassembled the shield around the port.
*BZZZZT!*
A heavy thud came from above, making the entire tower tremble slightly.
"Council airships!" Old Chung shouted.
Kim Man-joi glanced up at the vent overhead. He could *see* a massive, dark shadow circling slowly above the factory.
Time was running out!
Old Chung's hands moved with astonishing speed — a veteran of the Furnace District, indeed. The port was connected in no time.
Kim Man-joi took a deep breath and pressed his hand to the keyboard, his fingers flying. The flame inside him burst like a dam breaking, surging outward and linking to the entire internal communication network of the Transmission Tower.
This was not mere interference. It was a higher form of — invasion and rewriting.
He was about to give the Black Steel Council a "surprise."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the main steam pipeline, triggered perfectly as the airships arrived, the trap Kim Man-joi had set earlier activated.
*BOOM!*
A deafening explosion erupted, shockwave tearing through the area.
The main steam pipeline ruptured, as if a dormant steel beast had woken and bared its fangs. A thick column of white, scalding steam shot skyward, engulfing half the factory district in billowing white fog.
Alarms wailed, screams pierced the air, and crashing, out-of-control machinery merged into a single roar. The entire Furnace District descended into chaos.
The Butcher had been chasing Ah Foh and his companion through the pipe maze with the sentinels. The blast jolted him to the core.
"What's happening?!" he shrieked in terror.
The steam's shockwave hurled the pursuers aside. Ah Foh and the young worker dove into the shadow of a nearby pipe, vanishing from the sentinels' sight.
"Target lost!" the mechanical sentinels droned.
"Find them! Search every corner!" the Butcher screamed. But he could no longer care about Ah Foh. Staring at the towering steam column, his obese body shook uncontrollably.
The Council high command's airship still hovered above — and the entire Furnace District had just collapsed.
Inside the Transmission Tower, Kim Man-joi felt the tremor beneath his feet and let out a cold smile.
"The surprise… has arrived." he murmured.
Above them, the massive dark shadow had landed. Several imposing figures stepped off the airship, clad in black alloy armor, majestic and ruthless.
But the moment they set foot on the ground, Kim Man-joi — through the Transmission Tower — fed a pre-prepared "footage" and "message" across every monitor terminal, every mechanical sentinel screen in the Furnace District, and even directly into the main display of the Council high command's airship.
It was the raw, unfiltered truth of the Child Factory.
Emaciated children, bound in cold chains, numbly working beside the machines. No light in their eyes — only endless exhaustion and despair. Even more horrifying were the scenes of children being "processed": fed into cold mechanical arms, only to emerge as compressed bags of "nutrient solution."
The footage ended with desperate cries and curses — the imprisoned children, using their last strength to denounce this living hell.
Paired with the thunderous blast of the exploding steam pipeline, the images struck like lightning into everyone's hearts.
The overseers stared blankly at the screens, shock twisting into unspeakable terror. Even the cold digital code on the sentinels' displays flickered and glitched for a moment.
Even the Council officials who had just stepped off the airship froze. Their cold, aloof expressions cracked — panic flashed across their faces for the first time.
If this footage leaked, it would shatter the Black Steel Council's rule to its core.
Worse still, Kim Man-joi had embedded a voice-altered announcement:
"Pigs and dogs of the Black Steel Council — you came here to inspect? This is your legacy! This is your so-called 'unified rearing'! Hell's gates have opened for you devils!"
The Furnace District fell deathly silent — then erupted into rage.
Seeing their own children's suffering on the screens, the workers' long-suppressed anger exploded like a volcano. They no longer ran. They grabbed whatever tools they could find and charged the nearest overseers.
"Give me back my child!"
"You beasts!"
In an instant, the entire district erupted into full revolt. Overseers were surrounded by furious workers. The mechanical sentinels, their systems disrupted, moved sluggishly.
The high command finally snapped out of their daze. They stared around in horror. This was no inspection — it was a planned uprising.
"Cut all signals! Now! Activate maximum suppression protocols!" a terrified roar boomed from the airship.
Kim Man-joi pulled his hand away. Most of his inner flame was spent, and crushing exhaustion washed over him.
"Move!" he rasped, grabbing Old Chung and bursting out of the tower.
His goal was achieved.
The Black Steel Council's leaders were stuck here, scrambling to contain the disaster, too busy to chase them.
But he did not flee. In his "vision," Ah Foh and the young worker were cornered by several sentinels, in critical danger.
He was not just here to escape. He was here to bring everyone out.
Kim Man-joi ran against the crowd toward Ah Foh's position. The flame inside him burned again — faint, but unyielding.
He would break out of this cage forged of black iron. He would lead all the oppressed toward the light.