Harker followed the policeman, and soon found a company that had Chinese symbols and a logo of a mermaid holding a pearl right below her right eye.
Before infiltrating the factory using the disguise given to him, he first went on a payphone to call his best friend.
As soon as Roland picked up, he could hear his smug voice. "I knew you were gonna call me. I've been waiting all day. I almost thought the cop I hired duped me."
"I'm thankful for the help, Rol, but you shouldn't interfere after this." Harker said. "I don't want you to get in this mess."
Roland spoke sternly. "And what exactly is this mess we're talking about, Hark? Because ever since Xi Hua vanished, you've been acting strange. You couldn't possibly expect me not to notice it, right? First, you borrow my car and go AWOL for 3 days. Then you ask me about her dad's address and now you're in Vegas…. What's going on, man?"
Harker relented. "It's hard to explain…. I just need you to back away for now. This is just about me and the Xis."
"But can't you see I've been involved in this since the start? I was the one who introduced you to Xi Hua. If their family did something to you, it would be my fault. And I won't be able to live with that guilt, Hark." Roland said. "I know just how dangerous these people are. They're my kind of people after all, I was born with these tigers and wolves. You need my help."
'Oh, they're much, MUCH more dangerous than you think.' Harker thought. 'But I guess he's right. I could use some of his wealth to make things easier.'
"Alright…. Imma tell you all 'bout it once I get back." Harker said. "But please don't panic, and don't let Mr. Xi know that you're helping me. You're smart enough to do that, eh, Roly-poly?"
Roland scoffed. "Fine, fine. Keep your secrets for now. What matters to me is you're safe. The cop put a tracker on your uniform, and if it ever gets destroyed both he and I will be alerted to call back-up."
"You're already helpin' me a lot by doin' that. Thanks a lot, buddy." Harker smiled. "I gotta go. I'll call you once this whole business is over."
"Sigh. Just promise to keep your eyes peeled and never let your guard down, 'buddy'. Never. And don't die, please."
"Roger that."
He hung up, and looked at the factory with conflicted feelings. It was already noon, and the factory workers could go out and have lunch in the convenience stores and small restaurants outside their wired fences. That's when Harker can naturally blend in with them and go in once they get back to work.
He joined the crowd and showed his falsified ID to the guard. He was given the go signal. It's crazy how quickly his friend managed to procure this. With enough money, everything was possible.
He saw the factory workers move into their stations. Just from eavesdropping on people, Harker learned that there were 4 stations. One was the pearl cultivation, which required going to a facility filled with water tanks. The next was the cutting and polishing station. Then, the packaging station. And finally, the shipping and delivery station.
"The pearls are getting smaller nowadays. The boss won't be pleased." He heard one worker complain. "Should I suggest to the management to change techniques?"
"What techniques?" The other asked.
"I dunno…. Maybe something more hands-on." He grinned. "You know what I'm saying?"
The other chuckled. "Dude, you just want to do some perverted stuff to our pearl resources! Get your mind out of the gutter and get to work."
Harker made a face. Perverted stuff to clams…?
Well, he has heard of people humping sheeps and being attracted to wolves. So he guessed there's all kinds of people.
Still, this made him curious about the company's pearl cultivation technique. How were they able to produce so many Golden South Sea pearls in such a short amount of time? He went to the pearl cultivation station, which was a whole separate area to the rest of the stations.
The air was humid because there were water tanks everywhere. Upon getting inside, he had seen large pipes crisscrossing the walls leading to the individual tanks.
The hallway was empty. There was a discomforting feeling to the emptiness and the metallic humming of the pipes.
Then, he heard the echoes of someone…. crying.
It was faint. Like someone holding back their tears. Then, Harker realized it was not just one person.
Men, women, and children. They were all crying in a sorrowful symphony.
There was something both eerie and heartbreaking to the sound. He followed the source, and found….
That the water tanks did not have a single clam shell there.
Instead, there were people.
No….. They were fish people. Merfolk.
They had their heads above the water as the factory workers held out their gloved hands to collect their tears.
And Harker's eyes widened when those liquid tears suddenly dried up….
And turned into pearls.
"Oi, who told you to stop crying!? This is still less than your quota!" One of them berated this old mermaid man.
"This all I cry…. My eyes dry and swell….." The old man said in broken English with a Chinese accent. "I need go to water, please…."
His eyes really were bloodshot, and the eyelids were blown up like balloons.
"If you can't force it out, I would have to use this. So just cry it out, you fishy geezer!" The factory worker was holding a device in his hand, and it fizzled with electricity.
"No, no, please!" The old man exclaimed.
Beside him was a young merman that looked similar to him, possibly his son. He gritted his teeth when seeing his father being disrespected like this. When he saw the device, his could not hold back his anger anymore.
"Zhe ge liumang!" He jumped towards the factory worker.
His normal teeth retracted and turned into sharp ones. The same happened to his nails, and quickly grew into claws that could rip the worker's face off.
But before he could even reach him—
BZZZZT!
Something electric sounded, but no electricity appeared. The young merman just held his stomach, and coughed out blood.
"Wo erzi!" The father exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his son protectively.
He cried as he pleaded. "Please, no hurt my son! No hurt my son!"
pαпdα Йᴏνê1,сòМ The worker just laughed. "There it is! So that's all it takes, give me those pearls! I have to finish the quota early today so I can go to my daughter's birthday party, you smelly old fucker!"
Harker had to grip the steel pipe to stop himself from attacking the worker right then and there. As he gripped it, his fingers left dents on the metal.
Sometimes, humans were the real monsters after all.
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