Enforcer Manual
Chapter 700 - 698: Hog’s Wonderful Adventure_1

Chapter 700: Chapter 698: Hog’s Wonderful Adventure_1

Hog felt that Trian did not intend to give him the opportunity to refuse; although it wasn’t explicitly stated, the vines had already sealed the way he had come, and the man-eating flowers oozing corrosive liquid were peeking out from the pillars, staring at him fiercely.

"What should I do?"

He quickly assessed his situation—if he did not follow the other’s suggestion, he would end up as nourishment for these man-eating flowers. Jock had reminded him when he came that after the last sacrifice ceremony was interrupted, their "god" was in a state of hunger.

"There is nothing for you to do, just stand in front of it."

Hog resigned himself to walk towards the blood-red flower, he emptied his mind, trying his best not to think about anything, and touched the petal with his hand.

A soft sensation came through, followed by a prick on his index finger, as the petal attached itself to the wound, seemingly sucking his blood; at the same time, Hog’s consciousness drifted far away.

When he came to, he found himself in a barren world, overseeing everything in this world from a god’s perspective. Everything that entered his vision was in accelerated motion; in just a few seconds, the sun completed its rise and set, and after an unknown amount of time, a flower grew in this boundless wilderness.

As time sped by, this ever-growing flower brought something different to the world. Its roots spread around, and under its influence, more and more plants appeared until a forest gradually replaced the green shade.

Hog did not know why he was witnessing these events, but it was a quite marvelous process.

For the first time, he observed the world from the perspective of an onlooker.

That was until the harmonious scene before him was disrupted. He saw blood seeping into the world, blood whose origin was unknown, absorbed by the plants, causing them to grow terrifying feeding organs and become fierce and brutal.

Hog then saw other living beings.

First, there were animals, insects, and then people who stumbled in here.

Their appearance was very peculiar; some were regurgitated from the mouth of a man-eating plant, others were suddenly teleported to the high sky, and by the time of their fall, they were already at death’s door. Most of them were in suits and looked like corporate employees.

But regardless of how, those people could not stay in this world for too long.

Hog seemed to understand why they were brought here alive—the man-eating plants kept them as a reserve food in this world, just like the farms that existed before the third war.

The plants were the masters of this world, and all intruders were pigs penned up for rearing.

They gained strength from feeding, and all the nutrients eventually flowed to one tree. Its incessant feeding caused it to grow rapidly until its branches pierced the clouds, casting a shadow over the world like an umbrella.

This was the sacrifice ceremony Jock had mentioned.

Hog had witnessed the complete process of the sacrifice and with a little deliberation, it was not difficult to understand why those company people were brought to this world.

In recent years, the disappearance rate of people in The First Region had already surpassed that of the border cities.

"You’re feeding it with other people."

The moment Hog regained his senses from the wondrous state, he looked at Jock in shock.

Using living people as tools for sacrifice was unimaginable to him.

He had thought these people merely gathered together on regular days to discuss how to influence the decisions of the Review Meeting by controlling votes, or to sideline, even eliminate, the Judgment Chief who had the power to veto. But what they were doing was far more sinister than he had imagined.

Hog could immediately think of at least five charges that could outright condemn Jock and the others to death.

"It’s not ’you’; it’s ’we’."

Jock said, "Even though you became a member a little later, you can still catch up with the Godhood Ceremony."

Another term he didn’t understand.

Jock now looked like a fanatical religious devotee, completely unrecognizable as the shrewd politician he once was.

"To complete the Godhood Ceremony, though, an important step is still necessary."

"Do you mean to say I have already passed the assessment?"

Hog asked.

He seemed not to know what the content of the assessment was until now; he had just watched a documentary about an alien plant, during which he could not make any judgments or choices, and then he was back here. The moment he spoke, Jock seemed to regard him as a comrade.

This made him somewhat uneasy.

Could it be that some unknown transformation had already taken place?

Hog almost reflexively began to collect his thoughts. He had come here today to uncover the secrets of the Fishermen’s Club, and now he was certain that the mere act of using living people as sacrificial offerings was enough for their execution several times over. All that remained was to gather sufficient evidence...

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

As all these ideas flooded into his mind like a tide, he was suddenly reminded that the girl named Trian seemed to be able to see through people’s hearts, and when he looked at her, he found she was scrutinizing him as well.

"You have received approval and may leave now."

After a long while, she suddenly spoke.

Jock patted his old friend’s shoulder as he had done before, "Hog, I must apologize to you, it seems I was overthinking it. No one can hide their thoughts from Trian; you indeed came with sincerity."

Immediately after, Hog encountered a sight that made his skin crawl even more.

He saw "the concerned citizen."

That figure, clad in a black trench coat and wearing a mask, who had recently been executing him in his nightmares in all sorts of bizarre ways, had now appeared in the real world!

"There!"

He pointed behind the two of them, right next to that blood-red blossom, where "the concerned citizen," just like him a moment ago, was reaching out for the petals.

"What’s wrong?"

Jock was startled by Hog and looked in the direction Hog was pointing, but saw nothing, "Are you okay today?"

The actions of Jock and Trian quickly made Hog realize that they were completely unaware of "the concerned citizen’s" presence. He rubbed his eyes and tried to perk up, saying, "I haven’t rested well these past few days, my eyes are playing tricks on me."

"Let me guess, it’s ’the concerned citizen,’ right?"

This wasn’t the first time Hog had "lost it." Starting over a month ago, he would occasionally see "evil spirits" that didn’t exist in his daily life; first at bars and clubs, and later, the hallucinations became so severe that they occurred even during meetings.

When Hog suddenly snapped and called for the guards during an important meeting, even his Conservative Faction colleagues couldn’t stand it anymore.

The Innovator Faction spread his bizarre behavior far and wide, labeling him a clown, but in reality, everyone knew that Hog was suffering from a severe psychological illness. He and Richard had even suggested to their old friend to seek a remedy, promising to bring in the best psychologists of the United Government, but the vain Hog had declined every offer.

In theory, the judicial system controlled by the Foster Family was an essential part of the United Government, and the yacht club had long intended to invite him to become a member, but Hog’s ongoing mental issues meant that plan had to be put on hold.

They weren’t afraid of those with strong wills, but they feared madmen.

Who could guarantee that one day Hog, in a fit of madness, wouldn’t blab about what they did at the yacht club?

Noticing Trian’s doubtful gaze, Jock explained, "It’s nothing, he’s just having one of his old problems. We’ll remedy it."

Having said that, he began to soothe his old friend’s emotions, "Don’t worry, I can assure you ’the concerned citizen’ will definitely not appear in this place... but after the banquet is over, you have to listen to me. I’ll find you a trustworthy psychologist, making sure Qi He and the others won’t hear about it and won’t make a big fuss over it."

Now they were all in the same boat.

If only for the sake of their future plans, they needed to first remedy Hog.

"Yes."

This time, Hog did not refuse.

He was reaching his mental limit; no one could endure a serial killer appearing in their dreams every time they closed their eyes.

Indeed, it was his old issue, only this time "the concerned citizen" lingered much longer than before.

In the past, the apparition would appear more like he was seeing things, mistaking someone of a similar dress or age as "the concerned citizen" by mistake, and the hallucinations usually didn’t last very long.

"Let’s go, don’t let my problems affect the party."

Hog spoke dully, his brain overloaded with the series of events, and he still didn’t understand what the nature of the membership assessment was or how he had passed it—he had come bearing a dark secret, and yet Trian, who claimed to see through hearts, noticed nothing.

He had to feign cooperation to convince Jock that their "brainwashing" was proceeding very smoothly.

As for "the concerned citizen," he agreed with Jock’s view.

He definitely couldn’t be in this place.

It must have been the lack of sleep these last few days that intensified the hallucinations.

In front of Jock, he pulled out his anti-fatigue medication from his pocket and doubled the dose for himself, hoping it would keep "the concerned citizen" from bothering him for a while.

When Hog entered the banquet hall, all the familiar faces had already arrived; he finally understood why Richard and Jock were so fond of gatherings.

The layout of the banquet hall seemed to hark back to medieval times, mimicking the scene of an aristocratic banquet—For a long time, each family had been dedicated to restoring the glory of the aristocratic system.

He thought the designer must have had a deep understanding of the architectural style of that era. Jock settled Hog in; everyone present was a known face, so there was no chance of a newcomer feeling isolated. As one of the initiators of the party, Jock had to prepare for some more important tasks.

Watching Jock walk away, Hog didn’t immediately blend into the crowd.

Because he found that the double dose of the anti-fatigue medication seemed to have no effect, the troublesome "evil spirit" had followed him, brazenly crashing this grand banquet.

"The concerned citizen" didn’t exist.

It was all a hallucination he was seeing.

Hog kept repeating this to himself. He picked up a wine glass, hoping that a drink would help soothe his nerves.

The sweet aroma of the wine brought a slight calm to his emotions, but then an unprecedented panic struck him.

If "the evil spirit" wasn’t real...

Then who had just poured him that drink?