Chapter 21-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 21 Containment Department
It wasn't until 4:00 AM that Pei Shu received the call and rushed to the entrance of the hotpot restaurant. He was Liu Niannian's teacher, usually teaching her self-defense skills and responsible for her safety. This time, Liu Niannian had left home without permission. Fortunately, Pei Shu wasn't on duty that day, otherwise, the blame would definitely have fallen on him.
Pei Shu brought a professional team of Demon Hunters with him. On the way, he received a report from the Sanitation Center's technical department: Hao Zailai Hotpot Restaurant was a C-Level Polluted Zone, activated just tonight.
They had prepared for the worst before coming. Liu Niannian had been inside the Polluted Zone for over two hours and might have already been assimilated into a Contaminant.
If she had indeed turned into a Contaminant, the Demon Hunters couldn't just execute Liu Niannian on the spot; they would have to take a more roundabout way to bring her back to the laboratory.
Pei Shu had prepared three plans just for the operation, envisioning various possibilities, but he never expected the scene to be far beyond their imagination.
The street was desolate, with streetlights flickering on and off. The street was covered in garbage, and Liu Niannian was sitting alone on the steps at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant. Behind her was the warning sign, and her white kitten protective suit was covered in bloodstains.
The young miss was resting her chin in her hand, deep in thought.
Pei Shu was a little unsure of the situation and asked, "Miss?"
Liu Niannian didn't answer.
Pei Shu didn't dare to let down his guard. He made a gesture, and the fully armed security team entered the interior of the zone to begin searching. Eight minutes later, someone came to report: "The interior of the zone is very clean. There are no surviving Contaminants, nor are there any residual Contamination Spores."
No Contaminants was understandable, but what was with the absence of Contamination Spores and carrion? Someone had not only purified this Polluted Zone but also cleaned it up?
This would require at least a professional Demon Hunter team equipped with a professional Cleaner team to accomplish.
Had people from the Sanitation Center been here?
But Pei Shu confirmed that his people were the first team to arrive; the Sanitation Center hadn't entered yet.
The person who truly purified the hotpot restaurant had already left. Who was it? Why did they save Liu Niannian a step ahead and not contact the Lu family?
Pei Shu asked, "No one else?"
"No, the entire street has been searched. It's just the young miss alone."
Pei Shu wasn't stupid; how could Liu Niannian have accomplished this alone? Pei Shu stood respectfully beside Liu Niannian and asked, "Shall we go home first?"
Whatever happened could be discussed at home. Tonight had alarmed quite a few people. Liu Niannian had a special identity, and staying outside for too long wasn't safe. They could question her properly after taking her home.
Liu Niannian rested her chin on her hand. "Say, have I been looking for the wrong direction in life all along?"
Pei Shu: "?"
His family's idle, good-for-nothing young miss had started pondering life?
Liu Niannian: "Could it be that I've always had a talent that hasn't been developed?"
Pei Shu: "??"
Narcissistic rich second generations usually thought they were very capable and had a wrong perception of the world. Liu Niannian had always wanted to be a Demon Hunter, but Pei Shu knew early on that she had no talent at all.
She used the pseudonym Liu Niannian when she was out. She had been obsessed with pollution and danger since she was a child and wanted to see what a real Polluted Zone looked like with her own eyes.
In Pei Shu's eyes, this behavior was courting death. Now that she had successfully come out of a Polluted Zone once, did she feel she had the talent of a Demon Hunter?
Pei Shu thought she was going to brag about herself again. He was ready to offer perfunctory flattery and asked patiently, "What talent?"
"Say," Liu Niannian looked at her hand, "is there a possibility that I'm particularly good at something, but I don't know it?"
Before Zhu Ning left, she said that Liu Niannian was very talented at sweeping trash, that the area she cleaned was spotless, her speed was fast, her service was excellent, and she would want to find her again if there was a chance.
It was the first time someone said they wanted to find her for a job. She fell into a Thinker-like state, even rethinking her dreams.
Liu Niannian muttered to herself, "Am I actually... really good at sweeping trash?"
Pei Shu: "???"
Sweeping trash? He would never have thought to combine sweeping trash with the young miss even if he died. She must have been hit by Psychic Contamination.
...
Zhu Ning's backpack was very heavy.
She had finished collecting the Contamination Spores in the area, adding 1060 Purity Points.
She also obtained 1060 Contamination Spores and a pile of carrion. The storage tool in the cleaner's backpack could compress a cubic meter of carrion into a cubic centimeter.
Zhu Ning's cleaner backpack was full, but she encountered a problem. She was carrying a bag full of carrion and Contamination Spores. These were definitely not things obtained through official channels. How should she dispose of them?
Bury them somewhere? What if they polluted the land?
Zhu Ning felt like a criminal who had obtained a batch of weapons, or someone who had killed a person and didn't know how to dump the body. Then she used a stupid method: making good use of search engines.
She searched on the Sanitation Center forum: "Excuse me, how should I dispose of Contamination Spores of unknown origin?"
To be honest, this method was very practical. There were actually experience posts. After searching, it popped up immediately. The steps and methods were very detailed. She had to go to a branch of the Sanitation Center—the Containment Department.
Containment Departments were scattered in every corner of the city, disguised as ordinary storefronts, used to contain Contamination Spores from the civilian sector. If someone collected Contamination Spores, they could take them there for exchange.
The post was very smart. After automatic positioning, it could display the nearest Containment Department. It was quite thoughtful.
After Zhu Ning's automatic positioning, it displayed: The Containment Department nearest to you: Dignified Queen.
Zhu Ning: "..."
Huh? That shop owner wearing the purple sweater was from the Containment Department?
No wonder he was so kind to give her directions and acted so well!
Zhu Ning, a country bumpkin from the zombie world, went to a Host Club for the first time in her life and was immediately confused by the enthusiastic cultural atmosphere inside.
There was a row of muscular hunks inside for her to choose from. When she came in, the purple sweater shop owner wasn't there; the receptionist received her.
"Don't like them? Is it too direct?" The receptionist said, "We also have the Business Elite style, the Soft and Cute Beautiful Male style, the Green Tea type, and the 'Strong, Silent, Action-Oriented' type."
Zhu Ning: "..."
Rich variety, truly professional.
Zhu Ning had just come out of a Polluted Zone and had been dealing with disgusting Pigmen before. Now she plunged headfirst into a Host Club, and her whole person exuded a sense of bewilderment and innocence.
Seeing that Zhu Ning was still dissatisfied, the receptionist thought that a high-demand customer had arrived this time. "If you don't like these, you can also customize."
Zhu Ning was curious: "Customize?"
"There are Blanks just released. No memory, no past. You can input any preference. If there is a problem, our shop can repair it, but if you want to customize an exclusive face, that's another price. We have to charge copyright fees."
With the technological development of the Wasteland, Blanks were like a blank sheet of paper; customers could draw on them at will. This was objectification carried to the extreme; even human beings themselves could be bought and sold.
The exclusive face customization he mentioned meant purchasing the face of a certain star. Stars sold their appearance to production companies.
They could be mass-produced to facilitate the satisfaction of fans' fantasies. For every face sold, they earned an extra copyright fee.
In the Wasteland, not only could a person's music and film works be bought and sold, but their face could be too.
After many stars made a name for themselves, they sold the usage rights of their faces. From then on, they didn't need to sing, dance, or act; they could just lie at home and collect money.
The receptionist smiled: "Customization starts at 50 million NewCred."
Zhu Ning: "..."
No man was worth her spending money on, thank you. Virtual ones wouldn't do either.
"My heroine, you really came out?" Zhu Ning suddenly heard a familiar voice. She looked back and saw the shop owner coming down the stairs.
The shop owner spoke quite exaggeratedly. Zhu Ning had dealt with him once and was familiar with his Host Club style. Her heart was very peaceful now. Bro, stop acting.
Zhu Ning: "Um..."
Could someone save her?
"This is my guest." The shop owner leaned against the handrail, revealing a very peaceful smile. "Baby, this way."
Zhu Ning, who was called baby: "..."
She didn't even know which leg to move first.
The shop owner took her into a room. The door color was actually Barbie pink, with "Gentle Warm Room" written on it. After opening it, she found the interior was very serious. The decoration was pure white style. Inside was a large wooden desk, and behind it were running instruments.
The shop owner really raised hosts during the day and processed Contamination Spores at night. Having many skills didn't weigh one down; he possessed unique skills.
"Please sit." The shop owner pointed to the chair opposite and sat on a black swivel chair himself.
His state was different from before; the air of the red-light district had faded, and his whole person revealed a sense of professionalism.
The shop owner cleared his throat lightly. "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Song Zhizhang."
She couldn't tell at all that he had such a refined name. With such a special taste in clothing, his name was actually Song Zhizhang?
Zhu Ning paused, but still reported her real name: "Zhu Ning."
They would have to deal with each other in the future. Song Zhizhang was from the Containment Department and shared the internal network with the Sanitation Center. It was easy to find out who Zhu Ning was, so there was no need to hide it.
"Don't be afraid," Song Zhizhang said. "I only collect spores; I don't care about other things."
Zhu Ning was relieved.
Song Zhizhang looked at her with interest. Zhu Ning took off her helmet after entering the door. She was quite tall, probably over 175cm. Her facial features were very three-dimensional, and her looks were on the heroic side. This kind of look was particularly popular among Synthetic humans recently. She had hastily tied a ponytail, which was now frizzy from being pressed by the helmet. She looked to be just graduating age.
But Zhu Ning had flattened a C-Level Polluted Zone. If the information in his hand was correct, this was Zhu Ning's second time entering a Polluted Zone.
That Polluted Zone had existed for 30 years. As its old neighbor, Song Zhizhang was very familiar with it. A person who entered the Polluted Zone alone and came out alive was very extraordinary.
Song Zhizhang: "This is the first time I've seen someone come out working solo."
Zhu Ning raised an eyebrow. Was this praising her?
Song Zhizhang explained: "Usually, at least two people come out: one Demon Hunter and one Cleaner. Sometimes it's one Demon Hunter with three Cleaners."
As the rating of Polluted Zones got higher and higher, more logistics personnel were needed. One person simply couldn't handle the containment.
Zhu Ning also discovered this time that she would have to solve this problem sooner or later.
"Where are your Contamination Spores?" Song Zhizhang stopped chatting with her.
Zhu Ning handed over the contained Contamination Spores and the carrion gathered into cubes. Song Zhizhang put the spores and carrion into the machine behind him. The machine was semi-transparent, with red light scanning continuously inside.
"Contamination Spores 1060, contaminated carrion 300 pieces." Song Zhizhang read the machine data.
"Our algorithm is the same as the Sanitation Center. 700 NewCred for each C-Level Polluted Zone spore, 500 NewCred for each piece of carrion."
"Killed 39 Contaminants, flattened a C-Level Polluted Zone."
"Contamination Spore income 742,000, carrion 150,000, Contaminants 1,170,000, Polluted Zone Level C 1,000,000."
With every number Song Zhizhang reported, the joy in Zhu Ning's heart climbed higher.
"A total of 3,062,000 NewCred." Song Zhizhang gave the final price. "No teammates, this money doesn't need to be split."
Three million! Zhu Ning earned three million on her second mission!
Song Zhizhang: "Deducting the pollution containment processing fee of 1 million, you have 2,062,000 NewCred left."
Zhu Ning: "???"
Robbery?
Song Zhizhang explained: "Non-official processing channels are more expensive. I didn't overcharge you."
Processing Contamination Spores was a patented technology monopolized by the Sanitation Center. No other company was doing it. The cost was high, and the price was correspondingly high.
Zhu Ning worked for the Sanitation Center officially before, so she didn't have to worry about how Contamination Spores were contained and processed.
Zhu Ning asked: "Aren't you from the Sanitation Center?"
"Yes, and no." Song Zhizhang said, "It's hard to explain. You will know slowly in the future."
Could it be that it was once a department of the Sanitation Center, but was later suppressed and moved underground? Dead Posts were not visible to everyone; they had to be pushed to the "right" people to avoid chaos.
The Polluted Zones in the Dead Posts were old districts ignored by the Sanitation Center. Resources were limited. As long as pollution didn't break out, the Sanitation Center wouldn't meddle. Who knew how many Hao Zailai Hotpot Restaurants existed in the corners of the entire Federation.
Zhu Ning thought for a moment and felt that there should be an underground organization.
They sent people a full set of standard weapons and equipment, professional uniforms, and internally configured more professional smart panel helmets. They published Dead Posts, attracted people to purify Polluted Zones, and finally had a specialized Contamination Spore containment agency, constituting a very complete industrial chain.
Such a huge organization and institution must have someone behind the scenes.
Only one person could do all this and open up the resources and information of the entire Sanitation Center.
Zhu Ning thought of one. She asked, "Is your boss...?"
"The same as you think," Song Zhizhang looked at her steadily: "The one who chose you and me."
Prometheus. It really was it. Why would an artificial intelligence do this?
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