Chapter 308: The Uncles and Aunties Blocking the Door

Chapter 308: Chapter 308: The Uncles and Aunties Blocking the Door

The security guard swallowed hard, but the thought of what was in the factory building told him he couldn’t hesitate. He shouted again, repeating his earlier words: "The police are here! Right outside the factory!"

"Stall them! Use any means necessary, just stall them until I get there!"

His boss barked out the order and hung up. Just before the line went dead, the guard heard the sound of frantic running on the other end.

Seeing his partner about to fail at holding the police back, the guard couldn’t help but swallow nervously, a wave of regret washing over him.

’I should’ve just taken the day off.’

Meanwhile, at the gate, the lead officer stared coldly at the guard who was trying to stall them with pleasantries. "We’re on a tight schedule with an important mission," the officer said coolly. "If you want to chat, we can do it later."

The guard wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile. "Yes, of course. Please, come with me to the guardhouse to sign in first. It’s our policy—everyone who enters or exits needs to be registered."

The lead officer glanced at the guard, nodded, and followed him inside.

As they went inside, Zoe Sawyer noticed the guard who had made the phone call earlier glance at the police before his fingers flew across his phone screen.

In less than a minute, several people squeezed into the guardhouse.

Upon seeing the police inside, they all swarmed the officers, one after another, demanding they serve justice.

One claimed someone had broken the seat of his electric scooter, another that someone had stolen his lunch.

It was all trivial, petty stuff. Some even started asking for advice on neighborhood gossip and ethical dilemmas.

They had just barely dealt with that group when a new one arrived, and this time, the people were even older.

The most ridiculous group looked to be well over sixty.

The officers, who had finished signing in, shouted several times for the crowd to make way.

The group of seniors acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing. Instead, they deliberately squeezed in tighter, trapping the officers inside.

But the officers didn’t dare to use force.

The moment they even looked like they might, the crowd would press closer, their faces alight with excitement, as if daring them, ’Go on, push me! Push me!’

And so, the officers and the group of seniors were locked in a stalemate.

"Are they stalling for time?" Zoe Sawyer asked, her voice laced with uncertainty as she stared at the video feed.

"There’s no doubt about it," Heath Hale said, his expression turning grim as he watched the feed. "It looks like everyone there knows that factory is holding something major."

But it also indirectly proved one thing: whatever was inside was extremely important. Otherwise, these people wouldn’t be so on edge.

On his end, Director Garland, who had witnessed the entire spectacle, instructed the officers at the factory, "Hold your position for now. I’d like to see what other tricks they have up their sleeves!"

They couldn’t possibly move all the hazardous materials out of the factory in such a short amount of time.

This whole charade was just a way to buy time until the boss arrived.

Director Garland’s interest was piqued. He wanted to see just what this boss was capable of.

But waiting didn’t mean doing nothing. Director Garland sent another team to approach from a different direction.

He needed eyes on those materials, but he also wanted to see what kind of scene the boss was going to make.

After giving the order, Director Garland glanced at the time. ’Good,’ he thought. ’There’s still enough time!’

After receiving Director Garland’s command, the officers in the guardhouse were no longer in a hurry. They started leisurely answering the seniors’ nonsensical questions.

The two guards posted at the entrance exchanged strange looks.

’Weren’t they in a huge rush to get out just a moment ago? Why the sudden change?’

"Hey, think we should ask what’s going on?" the younger guard whispered, leaning closer.

The older one shot him an irritated glare. "Don’t stick your nose in it. Just wait for the boss to get here. Let him handle it."

’We get paid a few thousand a month. No need to risk our necks for this job.’

’If the boss hadn’t given them a direct order—let any officials in and you’re fired—he wouldn’t have waded into this mess at all!’

But the officers’ sudden change of heart made the two guards nervous.

’It felt like something bad was about to happen.’

But soon enough, the boss they had been desperately waiting for finally arrived.

A black sedan pulled in, screeching to a halt in an empty spot nearby.

A middle-aged man scrambled out of the car. His hair and clothes were disheveled, and his face was etched with panic.

As soon as he got out, he saw the two guards standing outside and rushed over. "Where are the officers? Don’t tell me they’re already inside?"

The younger guard quickly waved his hands. "No, no! They’re still in there!"

As he spoke, the guard pointed to the guardhouse, which was crammed full of seniors. The boss could just make out the silhouettes of the police among the packed crowd of heads.

Seeing the smiles on their faces, the boss’s vision went dark for a second. ’Isn’t this just screaming to the police that there’s a problem with my factory?!’

’But he also knew that if they hadn’t stopped them this way, the police would probably already be standing in front of... that stuff.’

"Alright, that’s enough! Get lost." The boss waved his hand, shooing the two guards aside. Before walking over, he added a warning: "Remember what you should and shouldn’t say."

Meeting the boss’s warning-filled gaze, the two guards shivered and nodded quickly. "Don’t worry, Boss. We haven’t said a thing, and we won’t say a thing!"

’They still wanted to keep their jobs, after all. Even knowing there was something fishy about the boss’s factory, they wouldn’t dare run their mouths.’

The boss straightened his clothes, making sure he didn’t look too discomposed. Only then did he speak up, his voice capturing the attention of everyone in the guardhouse.

The seniors, who had been chattering away just moments before, saw the boss and fell silent in tacit understanding. They quickly made up excuses and left.

Soon, silence fell both inside and outside the guardhouse.

"So sorry, so sorry, Officers. I’ve kept you waiting," the boss said, walking over while rubbing his hands together, a broad smile plastered on his face.

The lead officer straightened out his uniform, which had been rumpled by the crowd of seniors. He looked up at the man standing before him and said, "Boss York. A man of your importance has many things to attend to. It’s understandable.

It’s just... you seem to have a lot of seniors working at your factory, Boss York."

Boss York shrugged with a helpless expression and sighed. "I need people for the night watch. When I was hiring, it occurred to me that seniors don’t sleep as much. So I just schedule a few extra people per shift, and that way there’s always someone watching throughout the night.

I can pay them a little less, and the seniors can earn some extra money to help with their expenses. You could say it’s a win-win."

"How kind of you, Boss York. I hear you’re quite the philanthropist, too."