God Of Crafting

Chapter 191: Whiplash

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Contrary to all the modern technology that recent renovations and Chihiro's money infused into the factory, the red, flashing emergency light was clearly a relic of the past... long in the past, when most of the factory equipment that was replaced could claim that moniker on their own.

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Still, while old and not really efficient, those ancient bulbs of colored glass possessed one quality that most modern technology did not – they were durable beyond any modern reason, any modern standard, be it against physical damage, wear and tear, or the greatest enemy of them all – time.

Where modern technology and devices were designed to withstand only the duration of their warranty period, these simple red lightbulbs looked time straight in the face, taunted it for another bout, and, against all odds, thrived.

Still.

For as durable as those red lights were, they were nowhere near as bright as modern LED illumination, nor were they as stable or... as silent.

Contrary to that, the red light continued to flash on, only to then simmer down in an endless cycle, its intensity rising and falling again and again. Along with this cycle of varying light intensity, one could clearly hear a distant ticking, not all that different from the sound of static charge randomly discharging upon reaching a sufficient level.

'I wonder what makes the light click like that,' Chihiro thought, lazily raising his head as his eyes instinctively searched for the source of the red light.

"Boss!"

Before he could even gather his thoughts or clear his mind, a sudden shout prompted Chihiro to look over his shoulder, at a man currently jumping up to his feet in a strange, slowed-down motion.

'Thinking about this, why is his voice... so stretched?'

The change was rather minute, perfectly missable if one didn't pay attention.

But if anything, paying attention was one of Chihiro's biggest strengths.

'Wait, don't tell me...' For someone as experienced and as knowledgeable as he was, it took mere seconds – or what he perceived as seconds – for his observations to connect with his knowledge, producing an explanation for what was wrong with him. 'Did I really grow so fast, my physical body...'

Chihiro squinted his eyes.

'No, it's not just my body, even my perception is failing to catch up?!'

An event rather common amidst lower-ranked cultivators who could enjoy the benefits of support from a wealthy family or a clan. With enough resources, the early stages of cultivation were pretty much just about figuring out one's own path through it. Yet, while it was easy to advance to higher stages of mortal cultivation, one's body and brain still needed time to get used to the new limits of their ability, resulting in this sort of warped perception...

Warped perception that more often than not came with quite soft yet extremely nasty side effects.

"Boss!" The man, sitting where a full door made out of nothing but air fans was supposed to be, finally stood up and called again as he leaned forward, clearly trying to rush to Chihiro's side.

Back in Chihiro's own world, however, all thoughts about the flashing red light, the reason behind it, the reason the gate to the factory core was open, or the presence of Brand, one of his highest-ranking retainers within the clan...

All of those vanished, swept aside by an overwhelming wave of nausea that took over Chihiro's body.

Or, in much more direct terms, matters that could be left alone for a few hours no matter the damned circumstances!

'Then again, it's not every day that I get to see him make a face as desperate as he's making right now...' Chihiro thought, gritting his teeth as he finally decided to put the matter of his spirituality aside for a moment and give the man his attention.

No matter what, the changes to his Qi weren't going anywhere, given how it was a change affecting its very nature. As such, it was something he could address and inspect at any time, making it a matter lacking in urgency.

On the other hand, Brand's face told a whole other story, with every sign of great urgency on it that Chihiro could recall from the psychology class he took decades ago.

"What's the problem?" Wasting no time, Chihiro spoke out, instantly addressing the crux of the matter, hoping to cut down on all the meaningless and wordy explanations.

"The clan got sacked, all of our assets are frozen," Brand started, unleashing the big news right off the bat.

'Well, that's as weird as it is troubling...' Chihiro squinted his eyes, 'but by no means does this warrant the urgency in his eyes...'

"This factory was nearly raided by the police and anti-terror units. And while the young master managed to put their investigation on hold..."

Brand swallowed a gulp of saliva huge enough for it to show clearly moving down his throat.

'So far, so good?' Chihiro thought, finding himself confused by the revelations. 'If he dealt with it, then what's...'

Then, he finally connected the dots.

The flashing red light. The strange lack of spiritual energy in a place that should have dangerous levels of it. The fact that he failed to fully fill his current stage of cultivation... and then all the new tidbits of information that Brand passed to him with his hasty report...

"Those bastards went ahead and attacked the power plant. And while seeing you safe means they were too late..."

Brand gulped down his saliva again, his face suddenly growing... whiter?

'Hmm?' Chihiro squinted his eyes.

For a man used to dealing with fraud and scams involving massive fortunes on a daily basis, to be so shocked... no, terrified by some sort of event, it really had to be on a scale that not even...

Chihiro rapidly rose to his feet.

"What happened at the power plant?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain as calm as possible.

"I don't know the details, but the young master went with the police to stop the sabotage. But from what I've heard..." Brand hesitated, causing Chihiro to tighten his hands into fists.

"What happened at the power plant?" Chihiro asked again, this time no longer controlling the timbre of his voice as well as he did before.

"I don't know the details, but..." Brand turned his eyes away.

"But I've heard it was one hell of a slaughter."