"He seems to be in good condition, the reports from the past few days indicate that he's ready," said the man holding the paper in his hands. He was a middle-aged human with black hair and dark eyes, his strength around B rank.
One of the other guards attached a chain to the hole in the collar around my neck. I really hated this collar.
I acted like a broken-minded person. I didn't know if that was their goal, but I decided to take the risk.
I would be in trouble if they noticed my good health; they might decide to send me back to that hell again.
They led me into a strange laboratory where an unfamiliar old man stood in the middle. His expression was cold, and he didn't even care about my presence.
He took out a syringe and filled it with a liquid, moving quickly and steadily as if he had done this hundreds of times before.
The guards forced me to sit on the chair in front of him, and I couldn't help but feel terrified while looking at the liquid in the syringe.
The Seal of Sloth reacted strongly just at the sight of the liquid, much more than it did when I quickly swallowed twenty fruits.
"Hold him steady."
I recognized the voice as soon as I heard it, and my body couldn't help but stop on its own. This was the man named Adam, the person who handed me over to that girl named "Diana" from the Arovan family or something similar...
Looking at the man who cold-heartedly condemned me to slavery, I couldn't help but feel anger and resentment inside, but I was powerless to do anything.
With someone of rank B holding me from behind, my body was immobilized without the need for the other guards' help. The syringe entered my body through my hand without even an anesthetic.
A simple syringe shouldn't be painful for me now, after everything I had been through.
But after being injected with this syringe, I forgot to act. I forgot myself, my goals, my identity, my family, and everything.
In the face of that pain, all I could do was scream loudly until my throat went dry, and tears streamed down my face continuously.
The people around me were unaffected as if the scene was a usual occurrence.
My body suddenly disappeared into a spatial cube, and I didn't see the light after that.
***
In the same room, the old man Adam looked at the guards in front of him, specifically at the man with the paper in his hand.
"Did he really manage to resist swallowing the fruit?"
Throughout his time working here, old man Adam had never encountered a similar case. Even he wouldn't be able to resist chewing the fruit if it were in his mouth, and he wasn't even addicted.
"But where did the fruits he took go? It wasn't found in his coffin, and he certainly didn't spit it out anywhere either."
Sweat droplets slid down the face of the man with the paper as if he had hit a dead end.
"The investigation is still ongoing."
Old man Adam's forehead turned red upon hearing that, and he couldn't help but start cursing here and there.
"Useless! Why did I even hire you! How were you chosen to do this job?!"
And many similar things. Despite his cold appearance, he was still an old man after all.
Anyway, he calmed down after the man with the paper left.
He placed the cube that stored Cassian inside a metal box, put a message expressing his feelings inside, and sealed it with an open seal, writing
"Send it by mail; that injection should be more than enough to break him."
He handed the box to one of the guards who hadn't left and returned to his usual experiments with a smile.
He didn't forget to take another blood sample from Cassian before injecting him with that syringe and was studying it now.
"His body is definitely unusual..."
In the modern laboratory, the mutterings of a senile old man could be heard...
***
Jen's body fell to the ground with dozens of puppets on top of him. He was still in good condition despite the outward appearance.
His body was completely covered in old oils, and the smell had sent his sense of smell to hell a long time ago.
He continuously activated many skills, but his mana reserve was still in a moderate state.
Slowly, a mountain of puppets formed around him, and he could be seen panting on top of it. He had almost reached his limit.
From the high place he had reached, he took advantage of it and glanced at his surroundings.
Far away, he saw a two-meter-tall puppet dressed entirely in black. At that moment, the puppet's head moved unnaturally, and their gazes met.
Jen's body trembled slightly, and he didn't hesitate to look away.
In the distance, there was one building that could be described as in 'good' condition. A giant sign hung on it in the island's main language.
Jen was speechless, 'Black Oil? Wasn't there a better name?'
Standing atop an army of puppets, he could think of dozens of better names.
In any case, in such an abandoned place filled with enemies, Jen wanted to keep an eye on the only place that seemed safe for now.
Of course, he wouldn't trust anything here again, but he couldn't wander around the island forever.
'Should I check the outskirts first?'
Jen thought as he moved across the rooftops, jumping from one to another while thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days.
Looking at the ruined city, Jen's mood worsened every time he noticed traces of past life.
He is an assassin, but isn't heartless.
Thinking about the possibility of people having lived here, only to be killed by these puppets... Such mass exterminations were truly pitiful.
The only thing that contradicted his expectations was that he hadn't found a single living creature's corpse in this place, nor had he found any graves.
"Did the people escape? Or did they disappear into thin air?"
It was truly a mystery, and mysteries couldn't be solved without evidence, so Jen decided to leave it for later.
The weather in this place was cold but heavy, a sharp contrast indeed.
Maybe because of the high altitude, breathing was harder, or maybe it was just the smell of the oils.
"This place is hell.."
***
In a place much higher than the island where Jen was…
A huge horse-drawn carriage moved along the dirt road, but there was something strange.
Instead of a horse, there was a giant puppet, three meters tall, running and pulling the carriage.
It was faster and more durable than ordinary horses. It quickly stopped at a massive gate.
A high wall had been built around that vast land, and inside it, a palace and several buildings were situated.
Outside the palace borders stood two puppets with normal human bodies, wearing full armor and holding spears.
They emitted an aura at the peak of rank C, making them all stronger than Cassian...
These human-like puppets worked for a wage of three sacred fruits weekly, after ten to twenty years—when their bodies could no longer bear it—they were converted into medium-level puppets to work in the mines or farms below.
All to provide the necessary resources for the three huge families to live in harmony...
The driver, who was also a puppet, showed his badge and was allowed to enter immediately. He continued driving the carriage and passed through several interesting areas.
There was a giant chessboard resting in a particular corner, each square the size of a medium-sized room, and guards stood there as well.
There was also an arena far off where several puppets fought each other, many cafes in the place, and much more...
There were many carriages as well, and laughter could be heard from inside while high and medium-level puppets worked to pull them.
It was possible to see large boxes with screens displaying what was happening inside.
A high-level puppet was thrown inside against dozens of snakes, and its continuous screams of pain could be heard.
Many humans sat on nearby seats and watched the event happily while another puppet distributed drinks and snacks.
The bodies of the giant goblins were used like wild animals, and the dwarves were considered personal property and pets, while the humans held many professions simultaneously.
Some professions were ordinary, like guarding a gate or monitoring, while others involved being thrown into that box for entertainment...
Such a dark society... It's clear that something is wrong with the minds of those in charge here.
A sane person with a sound heart wouldn't build a society like this based on humiliation, pain, and tears...
The carriage finally stopped after a quarter-hour journey, and it could be noticed that mud covered the puppet that had replaced the horse.
After working hard, the driver threw a can filled with black oil toward it, then went inside the carriage where many boxes and different mail were placed.
The carriage stopped in front of a massive palace, which appeared to be the main building of this piece of land.
Different tall towers flowed from the palace, and its length, width, and height were all astonishing.
If this entire palace was dedicated to a family, then this family must consist of at least hundreds of people.
The palace was painted brown, and its gate was red.
Unusually, a girl who had just finished her teenage years stood in front of the gate with an expression full of excitement. She wore a luxurious robe and had a small brown crown on her head.
That crown was the main way to know she was an ordinary human in this place and not a high-level puppet.
She looked disdainfully at the other puppets that emerged from her palace gate to carry the mailboxes inside.
She stopped each one to inspect the boxes, and her excitement diminished with each box she saw.
"He told me it would take only two weeks.."
Diana ignored the fact that the puppets surrounded her and stated her thoughts aloud, as if she didn't consider them to be people with minds.
In the end, when she noticed a metal box with special printing, her eyes shone with intense light, and she snatched the box from the puppet that did not resist.
"It really came! It really came!"
She carried her box while heading inside, and it seemed that no living creature could spoil her mood.
In their society, when an individual surpasses the age of 18, they can own high-quality puppets in any quantity they want, and this was her first one.
Although her parents and siblings had gifted her many, she longed to have something truly hers, owned by her on paper.
And today, her grandfather sent her 18th birthday gift.
Although it would be tomorrow, no one would make a fuss about her owning a puppet one day early.
It wasn't really uncommon.
Upon reaching the stairs, Diana sat on a huge throne with a smile still plastered on her face.
The goblin that had been sleeping got up and stood on his feet, grabbing the throne with both hands and placing it on his back before beginning to climb up.
He was about three meters tall and had an excellent build. After three minutes, Diana reached her destination.
"Put me here."
The goblin handled her instructions with great care; the last person who delayed carrying out her orders now rested in the snakes box.
Diana opened her room's door, adorned with some jewels, revealing a vast space. A bed the size of an ordinary bedroom and furniture coming straight from a European royal family in the Middle Ages.
Jewels adorned every piece of furniture one could think of...
In every corner stood high-quality puppets that belonged to her parents.
She placed the box on her bed and tore it open with her bare hands.
Though she was delicate on the outside, her strength had reached rank B, which was quite strange considering she had never trained in her life.