Chapter 22-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World

 Chapter 22 Metal Manipulation

The Hive.

Zhu Ning looked at the scars on her body in the mirror. MegaHeal could not remove scars; to remove scars, one needed to buy cosmetic special drugs.

Therefore, the scar scratched by the Pigman's Guillotine was still there. Zhu Ning stroked the shape of the scar on her right shoulder.

She was actually not quite sure if she had been polluted. Her protective suit had ruptured for about thirty seconds before. Zhu Ning had quickly applied a patch, but Contaminants might have already invaded.

Did she need a checkup? Apply for a physical examination at the Sanitation Center tomorrow?

But what if it was detected that she was polluted? Spend the rest of her life running for her life?

Zhu Ning looked at the scar on her lower abdomen again. This scar was even scarier, a raised scar about ten centimeters long, like a ferocious centipede coiled around her waist.

Until now, she hadn't figured out exactly how she died. This mission, she learned a lot of information, but she was even more confused.

For example, how long has this wild team connected by "Dead Posts" existed? What is the meaning of their existence?

What exactly does Prometheus want to do? Is it related to the System? And what is Eternal Pharma?

Zhu Ning searched for Eternal Pharma on the internet, and the results appeared quickly. It was a very awesome biological company controlling more than half of the Federation's pharmaceutical industry.

The medicine ordinary people took, including the MegaHeal Zhu Ning injected, was all from them. There was a saying on the internet: as long as you are a Federation citizen, you must have given money to Eternal Pharma.

Unless you have never been sick in your life.

The information about this pharmaceutical company on the internet was very clean, clean to an incredible degree. The entire network was full of their promotional videos.

"Eternal Pharma, changing your genes, creating your future."

Zhu Ning could recite their classic slogan after watching a few promotional videos.

It was said to be clean because there were no negative posts about them on the entire network. All searches resulted in praise; no one said there was a problem with their medicine.

If Zhu Ning hadn't walked out of the hotpot restaurant herself and seen the side effects of the hotpot restaurant owner after taking the medicine, she would have almost believed it.

After the task ended, the System prompted her that she had found a key clue. The key clue was undoubtedly Eternal Pharma. Was the person the original host wanted to meet in the garbage room before from Eternal Pharma?

Did the original host want to buy medicine to change her Defective genes, or did she participate in some experimental plan like the hotpot restaurant owner?

But there was nothing about Eternal Pharma in Zhu Ning's home. Her home might have been "cleaned". Her home was incredibly clean; information related to the original host had long been erased.

And what did that sentence about the impending doomsday mean?

Why were there words spoken by the Fishman in the garbage room where she died? Was the mission she went on arranged by someone?

It seemed there was a big net in front of her. Zhu Ning was the prey entangled in the spider web. The spider web would get tighter and tighter, but Zhu Ning didn't even know how many parties were behind this net.

Ding ding ding—

Her Sub-Brain rang. It was Liu Niannian. Liu Niannian added her as a friend before leaving. Zhu Ning said she would find her for work later.

She initially thought Liu Niannian might not be willing, but unexpectedly, she was quite interested. Zhu Ning left after finishing the work, letting Liu Niannian wait for her family alone at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant.

"Zhu Ning!" As soon as she clicked on the Sub-Brain, she saw Liu Niannian sent her a cat face emoji.

Zhu Ning: "..."

This person seemed to be of the same type as Li Nianchuan.

Zhu Ning had searched for Liu Niannian's identity. There was no one named Liu among the several financial magnate families in the Federation. She might have given a fake name. Since she didn't want to say, Zhu Ning didn't ask much.

"Are you home?" Zhu Ning asked.

Liu Niannian: "Yes, very safe! Just got scolded by my family."

Liu Niannian sent another crying kitten face.

Zhu Ning thought for a moment. The young miss running out must have troubled many people. If this were her sister, she might have been hung up and beaten.

Liu Niannian, lying on the big bed in the mansion, had changed into a princess dress nightgown. She was particularly interested in Zhu Ning. She didn't have many friends, and most of the people around her were sycophants. she had never seen a peer like Zhu Ning.

Entering a Polluted Zone alone, purifying the entire zone, and even doing the job of sweeping trash, Zhu Ning was her idol!

Liu Niannian was still phrasing how to talk to her idol when her Sub-Brain lit up.

Idol... transferred one million NewCred to her?

The transfer came with a note: Your wages.

Liu Niannian, who had always been the one giving money to others: "?"

Only 1 million. Her new evening gown bought last week cost 5 million NewCred. But this seemed to be the first sum of money she earned, and it was her hard-earned money.

Liu Niannian thought for a moment: "Thank you, boss?"

Zhu Ning: "We can cooperate again if there is a chance."

Very business-like.

Although Zhu Ning was in great pain over the money now, accounts had to be settled clearly. Liu Niannian contributed half of the effort in containing the Contamination Spores this time.

She planned to cooperate with Liu Niannian long-term in the future. If they were considered to be starting a company, Liu Niannian, as her first employee, could even count as her partner.

Moreover, Liu Niannian's family was very rich. Maybe she could make use of that. To do big things, one must pay enough money.

Seeing that Zhu Ning didn't mean to chat with her, Liu Niannian took the initiative to ask: "What are you doing?"

Zhu Ning replied half-heartedly while searching: "Looking at Eternal Pharma related materials."

Liu Niannian was silent for a while on the other end, then asked: "Because of the hotpot restaurant?"

Zhu Ning: "Yes."

Zhu Ning also checked Hao Zailai Hotpot Restaurant. There was no valid information on the internet, and Eternal Pharma didn't have any medical malpractice posts. The hotpot restaurant owner existed as a victim of Eternal Pharma, but left no trace.

His record couldn't be found on the whole network. Zhu Ning didn't even know the hotpot restaurant owner's name.

Zhu Ning: "Want to see if there are other victims."

This was definitely not a single medical accident; there must be others.

Across the screen, Liu Niannian fell into deep thought facing her Sub-Brain.

Zhu Ning didn't pay much attention to whether Liu Niannian sent a message. After a while, Liu Niannian slowly sent a sentence: "Maybe, I can help you."

Zhu Ning: "?"

Before Zhu Ning could type, the other side said again: "I have their shares."

Zhu Ning: "You, have, their, shares?"

Liu Niannian: "Yes, my coming-of-age gift."

Zhu Ning: "..."

Truly a financial magnate. Zhu Ning couldn't earn a coming-of-age gift like that in her lifetime. This Eternal Pharma's annual profit was very substantial, with earnings calculated in hundreds of billions.

Liu Niannian shouldn't have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of her life. Don't know what problem she had to brave the Polluted Zone alone.

Liu Niannian's family must be very close to Eternal Pharma. After all, for such a big company with such substantial profits, shares were not something anyone could buy just by saying so.

She understood. Prometheus pushing this task might be because of Liu Niannian. The hotpot restaurant was secondary; saving Liu Niannian was the main thing.

Zhu Ning wanted Liu Niannian to owe her a favor.

Zhu Ning felt a sense of being used. Prometheus used Zhu Ning, and Zhu Ning used Liu Niannian, while Liu Niannian seemed unaware.

Liu Niannian: "What type of information do you need?"

Zhu Ning: "Anything is fine, the more detailed the better."

Liu Niannian paused on the other end and said: "But you have to wait for me for a period of time. You know, I don't know much about the internal affairs of the company."

Zhu Ning: "..."

I understand, the unlearned rich second generation.

Zhu Ning searched for Eternal Pharma's partner companies and their equity structure. She had to say, the privacy protection in the Wasteland was done very well, especially the privacy protection of the rich.

Information was transparent to this extent; the privacy of commoners had no guarantee, with countless cameras invading human life. But the information of the financial magnate families was covered tightly. Zhu Ning searched around and unexpectedly didn't find one that matched Liu Niannian.

Truly a financial magnate.

...

Zhu Ning turned off the Sub-Brain, preparing to study the newly acquired Purity Points and talents.

She now had a total of 3214 Purity Points. Without hesitation, Zhu Ning exchanged all of them for Health.

[Health exchange successful, current Health 45.]

Not bad, higher than before, but not high compared to ordinary people. Moreover, the use of many props and skills consumed Health. She would have less as she used them.

Zhu Ning opened the Interface to study the props. Pigman's Guillotine: can kill a mission target once within 24 hours, one hundred percent accuracy.

Looking closely at this description, one hundred percent accuracy didn't say it would definitely kill. Maybe Contaminants below Level C could be killed, but the effect on those above Level C was hard to say.

And there was a skill cooldown time; it could only be used once a day. Money should be spent on the blade; use it only at critical moments.

There was also a Universal Key, which could open any door. This description was much more honest, meaning that as long as it was a door, there was none Zhu Ning couldn't open.

God of Thieves skill.

Another primary talent was interesting: Metal Manipulation. Magneto, is that you?

Zhu Ning sat cross-legged on the bed, her hair not yet dried, eager to try this talent. A coin lay in her palm, and she stared at it closely.

Thirty seconds passed, no reaction. One minute passed, motionless. Two minutes passed, quiet as a corpse.

Useless.

What should she do next? Find a metal system master to apprentice? Or ask for help online: Excuse me, how to get started with Metal Manipulation?

Zhu Ning wanted to get down to dry her hair first. She came from the zombie world and had some old-world habits. She was worried about getting a stroke with a head of wet hair. She let go, and before she reached the hairdryer, she was suddenly stunned.

The coin hovered quietly in mid-air.

Zhu Ning moved her finger. The coin followed her fingertip, shifting one centimeter to the left. When her finger shifted to the right, the coin followed immediately, like a jellyfish she raised, floating with the movement of her finger.

Zhu Ning could feel the difference. She had built some kind of link with the coin, indescribable and hard to explain to others.

She had never cultivated immortality, but she guessed that enlightenment in cultivation was just like this. She carefully controlled the coin, and the moving speed could accelerate continuously with her will.

What about further away?

Clatter, the coin fell to the ground.

Sure enough, the limit was only one meter. The link broke beyond one meter. The limit distance was one meter. The coin was small and effortless to control. What about something bigger than it?

The Hive where Zhu Ning lived belonged to the slums. To cut costs, the buildings were constructed with metal. Directly behind Zhu Ning's bed was a whole metal wall.

Every time she saw this wall, she thought she lived in a freezer. coupled with the narrow room, let alone happiness in life, she was no different from a piece of frozen meat.

At this moment, Zhu Ning knelt on the bed, her palm gently pressed against the metal wall, her palm feeling cold.

This wall was black technology of the Wasteland. The main material was metal, extremely cost-effective. The metal wall was very thick, a whole solid piece of metal.

But it was said that this material had some kind of metal radiation, so it was quickly abandoned by the rich areas. Ordinary people no longer used it either, and finally, it was widely put into the slums.

After Zhu Ning's hand pressed against the wall, to concentrate, she closed her eyes. This wall was quite big, enough to crush a person if it collapsed, so she was just probing at first.

Deforming this small piece of metal under her palm would be a very good achievement. Zhu Ning took a deep breath, focusing all her Mental Strength on her palm.

After closing her eyes, she found that the structure of this world changed accordingly. She was like a metal doctor, "diagnosing with a thread" on a piece of metal.

Her perception spread continuously along the metal. Zhu Ning could perceive the composition of this wall, the gaps and connections between each metal plywood.

The gaps between the layers, the tens of thousands of fixing screws.

With her palm as the center, it seemed as if a large net had opened up. Metal connected to metal, wall connected to wall. The tentacles deep in her consciousness spread continuously, connecting quickly like a neural network.

Zhu Ning perceived this wall carefully as if perceiving life for the first time.

She could perceive that wonderful connection. What if she tried to manipulate it? Her fingers curled slightly. Following the movement, the surface of the invisible neural network wrinkled, slowly pulling the metal wall.

Wait, Zhu Ning frowned.

Something was wrong.

The Hive had a total of thirty-six floors, with sixty-nine households on each floor. The walls of everyone were all connected. As soon as Zhu Ning moved, the walls inside The Hive began to vibrate. By the time she reacted, it was too late.

Boom! A loud noise! The walls of 2484 households in The Hive suddenly resonated together.

This was a bit too sudden. The dishes in Zhu Ning's room were shaken and fell to the ground. For a time, crackling sounds exploded.

"Earthquake?" Someone next door asked.

The neighbor's curse came: "Bullshit! Where does an earthquake come from in District 103?"

"What happened?"

Neighbors rushed to the corridor. Zhu Ning seemed to have poked a hornet's nest. Neighbors were like bees shaken out. They were looking for the source. As the source, Zhu Ning's face was pale, looking at her palm and the wall in front of her in disbelief.

Even though she withdrew her hand fast enough, the wall in front of her was "crumpled" by her.

A solid metal wall was like a crumpled bed sheet. One could even vaguely see the wrinkles converging in one direction. Anyone else could guess that a hand had once manipulated here.

Zhu Ning tried to control the coin one meter away again, but no matter how hard she tried, a small coin just didn't move at all.

So it wasn't that Zhu Ning's Mental Strength had increased, but the rule was limiting it: she must keep a distance of within one meter from the metal object.

The distance between the coin and Zhu Ning exceeded one meter, but the distance between Zhu Ning and the entire Hive was negative; she was inside The Hive.

What a weird talent. Controlling metal has a distance of only one meter, but within one meter, as long as the metal is connected, it is under Zhu Ning's absolute control.

There was even no limit on the weight of the metal. If she wanted, she could even uproot the entire Hive.

Zhu Ning touched under her nose and felt a hand full of scarlet blood. She had a nosebleed.

---

Author's Note: 

Magneto refers to Magneto in X-Men. Paying tribute. Old Magneto is good at Metal Manipulation and can move stadiums~

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