Kill the Sun

When Wyntor saw Nick shaking hands with Mary and Winona, he felt gratified.

He knew exactly what was going on in Nick's mind, but that didn't matter.

The fact that his Chief Zephyx Extractor initiated a handshake with two Experts was something to be proud of.

Not everyone had such guts.

"Mary, Winona, it was nice seeing you again," Wyntor said politely.

"Oh, of course," Winona said like she had just remembered something.

Then, she moved her hand behind her back and punched a button on the wall, which opened the entrance of Kugelblitz.

"Thank you," Wyntor said with a smile before nodding at Mary and entering.

Nick just nodded at the two of them as he walked by them, and they casually nodded back.

After Nick entered, the door behind him closed.

He was inside Kugelblitz, the biggest and most powerful Zephyx Manufacturer in Crimson Fungus City.

The owner of the only captured Demon, the Crimson Fungus.

A level six Specter!

And yet, everything around Nick looked so normal.

He had just entered a normal-sized corridor.

Sure, the corridor was quite long, but that was about it.

The only thing of note was that the corridor was completely empty.

It almost looked like the building was abandoned.

"Winona and Mary are working for Kugelblitz," Wyntor suddenly said.

"Huh?" Nick uttered as he looked at Wyntor.

"Just like any other Manufacturer, Kugelblitz also has to dedicate 20% of all Zephyx Extractors to the city. But as the strongest Manufacturer, Kugelblitz also has great influence over the city's politics."

"Because of that, they managed to implement a policy that two of their Experts who were dedicated to the city's forces would get to stand guard in front of Kugelblitz."

"Naturally, using two Experts for something as mundane as that is a huge waste, but handing them over to the city is already a waste."

"Might as well use 2% of their capabilities instead of 0%."

At that moment, Wyntor smirked. "Of course, nobody wants this job because it's so boring."

Nick had thought that Kugelblitz had to be insanely powerful since they were using Experts as mere guards, but now he realized that he had been mistaken.

Sure, Kugelblitz was still the most powerful Zephyx Manufacturer in the city, but they were not so crazy powerful that they would voluntarily use Experts as guards.

'But the initial impression I got is probably exactly why they are doing it,' Nick thought.

A moment later, Nick released a breath. "I got scared for a moment," he said in a half-joking tone.

Wyntor just chuckled a bit as he led Nick down the hallway.

"We're currently on the administrative floor," Wyntor said, gesturing to the doors in the hallway.

Nick looked at the doors and saw signs beside each one of them.

1.12, Herbert Pelekies, Janitor, Stefan Mean, Janitor.

1.14, Julia Rander, Janitor, Melinda Bauer, Janitor.

"A lot of janitors," Nick said.

"It's a big building," Wyntor answered.

Nick kept looking at the signs beside the doors.

Technician, technician, janitor, data entry, data entry, technician, janitor, assistant, assistant, transporter, transporter…

There were so many people here!

And all of them were normal people!

After walking for a while, the two of them entered a larger hallway with doors only on one side.

Surprisingly, the doors didn't have any signs beside them.

"This is where we can get from floor to floor," Wyntor said. "Wanna see something interesting?"

Nick just nodded wordlessly.

Wyntor walked over to one of the doors and pressed one of the many buttons beside it.

DING!

Nick heard a sound, and the door opened.

What was behind the door?

An empty shaft.

Nick went to the edge of the shaft and looked up.

When he looked up, he felt some vertigo.

It was so long!

It was like the shaft extended into infinity!

At the same time, Nick saw that one of the doors two floors higher was open.

"This is a quick shaft for Extractors," Wyntor said before pulling Nick back.

BANG!

The door closed with a lot of power in front of Nick.

"You say which floor you want to go to," Wyntor said as he gestured to the pad with the many buttons, "and you simply jump from wall to wall until you get there."

"Of course, only Extractors can use it."

Nick looked with wonder at the closed door.

This was such a great idea!

He was already jumping from floor to floor in Dark Dream's building, but having such a shaft would make it even easier.

"But we're not going to use that," Wyntor said. "I'm not strong enough to use it."

Wyntor walked over to a different door and opened it.

And Nick was greeted with something very familiar.

Stairs.

Lots and lots of stairs.

"Let's go. We got a lot of stairs to climb," Wyntor said.

Nick followed behind Wyntor as they took the stairs.

When they reached the second floor, Wyntor gestured to the door. "That floor is for more regular employees."

On the third floor. "That floor is for the offices and break rooms for Extractors."

On the fourth floor. "Same thing again."

On the fifth floor. "And again."

"So many offices?" Nick asked.

Wyntor nodded as they kept climbing the stairs. "The offices are quite big, and they are spread over three floors to bring more security. If a Specter wants to escape, it needs to get through three floors of Extractors."

Nick nodded. "Makes sense."

On the sixth floor. "Training floor," Wyntor said. "It's for the few level one and level two Extractors Kugelblitz has. There are a couple of weak Specters and classrooms here."

On the seventh floor. "Adult Specters," Wyntor said.

Nick took a deep breath.

Dark Dream didn't even have a single Adult Specter.

Nick hadn't even seen one.

"More Adult Specters," "Wyntor said on the eighth floor.

"More Adult Specters."

"And even more Adult Specters."

Nick blinked in surprise. "Kugelblitz has so many Adult Specters?"

Wyntor laughed. "No, Kugelblitz just spreads all their Specters over a big area."

"When you have so many different Specters, you have to consider that some of the Specters' powers can influence Specters in adjacent Containment Units. That could result in mutations or the Specters communicating with each other."

"It's important to keep Specters with a very high affinity or very low affinity away from each other."

Nick nodded in understanding.

A couple of floors with Elders followed, level four Specters.

There were probably over ten floors filled with them.

After that, five floors with Fanatics followed.

Level five Specters.

And then, nothing.

There was no door on the next floor.

The same with the following floor.

And finally, there was a door.

"This one is for the Crimson Fungus," Wyntor said. "The Crimson Fungus is quite big, which is why it takes up several floors."

Nick took a deep breath as he looked at the door.

The Crimson Fungus.

The most powerful Specter inside the city, except for the occasional visit of Nurse Alice.