Chapter 191: Factory
She took one look and fell silent. Logan Holland leaned in for a peek, his mouth hanging open in utter disbelief.
Lily Hart noticed and quickly pressed the card to her chest. She shot Logan Holland a glare and said with a laugh, "Should you be looking at that?"
Logan Holland was still reeling from the shock of the reward and didn’t immediately retort.
’Honestly, even Lily Hart found it hard to believe. This system would really dare to give out anything.’
But she wasn’t worried. Instead of immediately stuffing the card into the Lucky Cat’s mouth, she carried it out of the RV.
There weren’t many customers at the moment; the few who were there had just come from the hotel.
Lily Hart did a slow turn outside the RV, only to realize there were no good spots left.
The Dawn Hotel was to the RV’s left, a convenience store to its right, and a bathhouse behind it.
’She couldn’t just put it in front; wouldn’t that block her light? After all, she wanted to face the base’s main gate directly.’
So she went to get the winner’s opinion. "You know what this is, right? Where do you want to put it? I should warn you, once the prize is redeemed, you can’t take it back, and it can’t be too far from the lottery shop."
The man was silent for a long moment before nodding. He pointed to the area behind the convenience store and the bathhouse. "Right there is fine."
Lily Hart looked over. The convenience store and the bathhouse weren’t built right next to each other; there was a gap of about ten meters between them.
The man was pointing to the space behind and between the two buildings. The spot was both spacious and clearly visible.
’That’s a good spot,’ she thought. ’After all, the other three sides are already packed. The only option is to put it in the back.’
So Lily Hart led him, along with a curious Logan Holland and a few customers, toward the back.
Business was slow, so Roman Rowe pulled Frost Shaw out to watch the excitement as well. The two of them exchanged a look.
Roman Rowe said, "Don’t tell me it’s another first-place or grand prize?"
In his experience, whenever Boss Hart carried the Lucky Cat toward an empty lot, that was almost certainly the case.
And so, the entire group followed them, driven by the curiosity and love for a spectacle that seemed ingrained in every Cathayan.
Lily Hart didn’t mind, and the prize’s owner looked completely oblivious to the world around him, as if it had nothing to do with him.
When they finally reached the empty lot, Lily Hart tucked the Lucky Cat under one arm and inserted the card with her other hand.
The crowd of onlookers held their breath in anticipation, eager to see what such a ceremoniously awarded prize would be.
’If the prize is really what was written on the card,’ Logan Holland thought, ’it’s going to cause quite a stir.’
A moment later, a flash of white light erupted, and a five-story factory building materialized before their eyes.
It was clearly a factory and not a residential building because it had no protruding balconies.
All the windows were sealed panes of one-way glass; you couldn’t see inside from the outside.
The factory’s footprint was even larger than the bathhouse’s. Each floor had very high ceilings, and the main entrance on the ground floor was massive.
It was a rolling shutter door, which could be controlled by remote or a Light Brain. The exterior walls were perfectly smooth and uniform, coated in some unknown material.
Lily Hart’s eyes widened slightly. ’It really is... a factory?’
The small card had been brief: "Factory. Can be used for production."
’And that was it. What kind of factory? What was it meant to produce? Or could it produce anything?’
’The scope was far too broad.’
Lily Hart, Logan Holland, and the factory’s new owner were the first to snap out of it, striding toward the building.
They pressed a button beside the main door. The rolling shutter let out a creaking sound—CREAK... CREAK... It sounded a bit old, but it moved surprisingly fast.
In the blink of an eye, it was fully retracted. The three of them walked inside.
The first floor was completely empty, with nothing in sight except for some signs on the wall.
The space was divided down the middle: to the left, "Warehouse," and to the right, "Workshop."
Logan Holland blinked, confused. "Where’s the inventory? The machinery? How are you supposed to do anything with nothing here?"
Lily Hart, however, walked over to the prize’s owner with practiced ease and asked, "What’s your name?"
"Seth," he said. His cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat, and a thin sheen of sweat had formed on either side of his nose.
He glanced around, bewildered by the empty space.
He was a resident of Riveria Base who had won on a self-service scratch-off machine, but all it gave him was a small card.
The prize had to be redeemed in person. He knew it must be something special, so he followed the instructions and found Lily Hart.
’But what was the use of giving him an empty building?’
Lily Hart observed him closely. Seeing his bewildered expression and the sweat glistening on his face, he looked even more vulnerable.
She explained patiently, "Check your Light Brain. See if there’s a new app on it."
Seth did as she said and opened his Light Brain. Sure enough, there was a new app called "Lily Hart’s Factory."
A very... personalized and distinctive... app.
He opened the app and saw a floor plan of the factory. The second through fifth floors were grayed out and couldn’t be selected.
For now, only the first floor was operational. He wasn’t stupid; with a little prompting, he understood what to do.
He quickly found the settings menu, which allowed him to configure the layout, add equipment, and more...
Lily Hart leaned over to look and couldn’t hide her surprise. "Food production line? Apparel production line?"
Logan Holland had been wandering around, but at her words, he immediately ran over. Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe had also recovered from their initial shock and hurried closer.
The other customers, however, remained at the entrance, hesitating to come in. After all, this had little to do with them.
Before Seth could even say what he was choosing, Logan Holland blurted out, "What’s there to hesitate about? Food is the obvious choice!"
People won’t die if they don’t eat fruit, but they’ll definitely die without food and water. That’s what’s most important!
Seth started salivating the moment he saw the word "Food." Clothes and other things really didn’t matter.
’When you’re so hungry your vision blurs and you can’t see a thing, who cares about clothes?’
He hesitated for only a moment, then glanced over at Lily Hart. Seeing that she didn’t object...
...he selected the food production line. The two options were part of the initial setup, like a starter pack—a choice of one of the two, no points required.
Another flash of white light, and a long, dark-green assembly line materialized in the room.
The start of the line was connected to a large, complex machine that was currently powered off.
The group followed the assembly line to the machine at its head. It was so tall that even Roman Rowe had to crane his neck to see the top.
It was immense, like a perfectly square iron box, and stood nearly twice as tall as Roman Rowe himself.
The only opening was where it connected to the assembly line. The machine was massive, but its display screen was set rather low.
It was right at Lily Hart’s eye level. Her hand moved faster than her brain, and she pressed a button.
The display lit up. The machine was massive and complex, but its operation was simple. There were only a few buttons on the screen.
Start. Stop. Emergency Stop. It was that simple.
’Lily Hart’s fingers itched. She wanted to press "Start" just to see what would happen. What kind of food would it produce?’
So she pressed it. "BANG—THUD—" Two deafening sounds echoed through the factory.
It startled everyone, especially Roman Rowe, who had been fiddling with the machine. He instantly leaped back, his face a mask of alarm.
"What was that noise?" Logan Holland asked.
The next second, the assembly line whirred to life, and the first finished product appeared.
Everyone swarmed forward to get a look. It was a small, palm-sized container, about a hand’s breadth high.