Chapter 38-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 38: Meeting
That night, Rome City residential area was evacuated for two hours under the pretext of a gas leak.
Two hours later, the property management posted a notice. An apartment on the 13th floor of Building 22 had been cordoned off due to a gas leak explosion.
That night, the Public Security Bureau sent people to the Rome City residential area. They had already received notice from above and were just going through the motions. After confirming that no other civilians were injured, the Public Security Bureau staff withdrew.
On the same night, a professional repair and cleaning team arrived. They urgently repaired the corridors, removing all bullet marks and damage caused by the fight, as well as the bloodstains on the rooftop of the building across the way.
In just one hour, Rome City was no different from a normal residential area. It seemed as if only a common accident had truly occurred. That night, residents grumbled as they walked back to Rome City to sleep, and Rome City returned to tranquility.
And outside Rome City, a woman was running.
She quickly took off the Demon Hunter's uniform. This outfit was too heavy, and she couldn't walk fast in it.
Huang Yaruo had been trapped in the house for fifteen years. Technology had advanced rapidly, and she only realized what the outside world was like after she came out.
The Sky Highway had been built, looking like a brilliant band of light. All around were densely packed skyscrapers. Neon signs on the streets flashed continuously. Huang Yaruo, dressed in pajamas, was like a glaring anomaly among them.
Huang Yaruo didn't even know where her relatives and friends were. Did they all think she was dead? After fifteen years, were they still alive?
She knew she had already been dragged into a mess. Eternal Pharma would surely look for her. Huang Yaruo had killed people; if she went to the Public Security Bureau, she would definitely go to prison.
Run. She could only run.
After taking off the Demon Hunter's uniform, Huang Yaruo's running speed increased. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt as if she had become stronger than before. As she ran, her gaunt body was undergoing changes, and a thin layer of muscle was growing on her calves.
After being in that house for fifteen years, she had nurtured the house, and the house was also nurturing her. Her physical condition had become very strange.
Huang Yaruo kept running forward. She ducked into an alleyway, weaving through the alleys like a headless fly.
After so many years, she had no idea what urban planning was like now. She just walked blindly. Her intuition told her to go toward places with fewer people.
Huang Yaruo had just turned into a small alley when she stopped in her tracks. A person slowly walked out from the darkness. It was a tall Android, two and a half meters tall, blocking the entrance of the alley. The Android's prosthetic eye glowed with a blood-red light in the darkness.
Huang Yaruo backed away, but there was also an Android behind her.
She was blocked from the front, back, left, and right. There were three Androids alone, surrounding her like a pack of wolves.
...
Bang!
Zhu Ning woke up to a strange noise. After opening her eyes, she found herself curled up on a sofa, covered with a warm yellow blanket.
Song Zhizhang was not there. The office desk was empty.
"This broken door has been broken for so long," a sound came from outside. Someone was banging on the back door. "Boss Song might as well just be stingy to death. He doesn't even know to fix it."
Zhu Ning had excellent hearing and could hear clearly.
In the early morning, she had likely encountered the hosts of the Dignified Queen shop clocking out of work. They were walking out of the back door one after another. That door was hard to open and hard to close, and everyone who passed by cursed Song Zhizhang for being cheap.
Zhu Ning: "..."
Listening to a group of hosts complaining, Zhu Ning realized that this was the Dignified Queen shop. She had finally made it out of that broken house.
There was no fear of not knowing if she was asleep, no strange furniture, no woman crying in the middle of the night, and no snails everywhere. Instead, there was a group of hosts.
It was quite... full of the breath of life.
Zhu Ning tilted her neck, feeling that she was in a slightly better state than yesterday. The pain in her brain had eased a bit.
On the coffee table were a pack of bread, a cup of milk, and two bottles of Sanity Healer. As expected of someone in the service industry, Song Zhizhang was truly considerate.
Zhu Ning opened a bottle of Sanity Healer. Once her mind had cleared a bit, she began to think slowly. There were many unread messages on her sub-brain. Zhu Ning processed them while eating breakfast.
The first one was from Song Zhizhang. The money for the contamination spores had already been deposited into Zhu Ning's account.
After deducting the body disposal fee and the processing fee for the contamination spores, there was a total of 3 million NewCred.
Zhu Ning had originally just wanted to earn enough for the GeneBoost. The real rewards were given by the system.
Below was another billing message: "You spent a total of 15,888 NewCred at the Dignified Queen shop. The deduction has been completed."
Zhu Ning: "..."
Who are you trying to scam? No wonder he was so considerate, even providing breakfast and Sanity Healer.
She had to pay to stay at the shop too. Gritting her teeth, she accepted it.
As usual, Zhu Ning transferred the salary to Liu Niannian. She didn't know if Liu Niannian had been scolded by her family or was catching up on sleep, but she hadn't replied to the message yet.
Zhu Ning's current account balance was 2,005,312 NewCred. After paying the 1.5 million NewCred bill for the GeneBoost at the end of the month, she would still have over 500,000 left. She had barely managed to balance her income and expenses, so she wouldn't have to work so hard next.
Zhu Ning's principle for making money was that as long as it was enough to spend, it was fine. If it wasn't enough, she'd think about it then. She didn't want to go and browse dead posts anymore. She wanted to properly study the system rewards.
The Metal Manipulation talent had improved. Now her controllable distance was two meters. This was considered a regular reward. The other two contamination tools were more interesting.
A C-level contamination tool, the 3D Defense Space can form a 2x2x2 three-dimensional defense space. Zhu Ning is the owner of the space. If she understood correctly, the 3D defense should be a special space.
The solution to "The House That Hunts" lay in the fact that the internal space of that house was infinitely extended; it was a space-based contaminated area.
The rewarded contamination tool was also space-based. As long as Zhu Ning was inside the space, no person or object not invited by her could enter. It was equivalent to a simple safe house?
By just using it, she could establish her own defense anytime and anywhere. Although the effective time was only 30 minutes, those 30 minutes could practically save a life on a battlefield, or even the lives of her companions.
There was another very interesting tool. Zhu Ning held a Blank Card in her hand.
It can store any item inside the card, with a capacity of one item.
It only specified the number of items, not the size or material of any item, nor whether it had life. Did that mean she could put a whole house or a bomb inside? Could she put a living person in?
There just wasn't an unlucky guinea pig she could use for an experiment.
She re-examined her interface.
Name: Zhu Ning
Age: 19
Education: Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
Identity: Fifth-Class Citizen
Talents: Danger Sense, Metal Manipulation
Mutation Path: Unknown
Degree of Mutation: Unknown
Physical Strength: Enhanced 20
Sanity: 100 (Ordinary people's value is 20)
Health: 33 (Ordinary people's value is 70)
Luck: 20 (Ordinary people's value is 50)
Purity Points: 4554 (Can be exchanged to increase other points; every 500 purity points can increase health by 5)
Contamination Tools: Putrid Fish Head, Pigman's Guillotine, Universal Key, 3D Defense Space, Blank Card
A new section had been added. Contamination tools now had their own separate category. The increase of 20 in physical strength was likely the effect of the GeneBoost.
Her luck was increasing, rising from 1 to 20. Perhaps she wouldn't be so unlucky in the future.
Using the Putrid Fish Head had consumed health, but the current health of 33 was within an acceptable range.
There were quite a few purity points, over four thousand in total, but Zhu Ning didn't exchange them. She'd wait to add points when she lacked something next time.
Her mutation path and degree of mutation were actually still unknown. She was very curious about how to become an Ability User. She had originally thought that after completing two missions, she might figure something out.
Who would have thought she wouldn't even know which way the door to mutation opened. She needed to gather some information about Ability Users.
Moreover, she had discovered a problem. Ability Users all had their own attributes. For example, those with metal-type abilities could manipulate metal.
But on the system, it showed that Zhu Ning's metal manipulation was a talent, not in the mutation category. She seemed to be different from others.
Zhu Ning did a review. Both of her missions were related to Eternal Pharma. The hotpot restaurant was a victim of a medical accident.
That house was definitely an experimental product. Was the Fishman also related to Eternal Pharma?
Zhu Ning remembered that the probability of a contaminated area's level being misjudged was very low.
After her rebirth, she had encountered a Fishman in the sewers. The Fishman had spoken about the apocalypse. Afterward, she had entered the hotpot restaurant and the house that hunts. There were no clues related to the apocalypse inside either of those two places.
But Zhu Ning always felt that these three things should be linked together.
Furthermore, the missions Zhu Ning went on always gave her a sense of coincidence, as if someone were deliberately guiding her.
Zhu Ning had personally participated in purifying the Fishman. No clues were left at the scene. Now that the putrid meat spores had all been contained, the evidence had been completely destroyed. It was also very unrealistic for her to want to go back and look at the Fishman's files.
Regarding Eternal Pharma, there wasn't much information that Zhu Ning knew.
Since that Optimum Body Plan could be written in the shareholder recruitment prospectus, it wasn't some big secret for Eternal Pharma. Song Zhizhang clearly knew something, but he wouldn't say a word.
Also, someone wanted to kill her. The assassins had been lying in wait outside the green door early on. There should be a professional organization behind them.
Zhu Ning's identity couldn't be hidden for long. Her characteristics could easily lead someone to dig up her true identity. She needed to think of a countermeasure.
...
She had training in the afternoon.
The Cleaners' training at the Sanitation Center paid 5,000 NewCred in attendance wages per day. Zhu Ning was reluctant to give up that money. Suddenly taking leave would arouse suspicion, so it was best to act as if nothing had happened.
Zhu Ning was still stuck on the combat class and hadn't passed yet. She drank the Sanity Healer and was going to leave after finishing breakfast.
As she was heading out, Zhu Ning saw Song Zhizhang.
The entire Dignified Queen Host Club was in a state of closure. All the colorful neon lights were off, and there was only the early morning sunlight shining in.
The entire storefront appeared exceptionally clean, as if it were just an ordinary cafe.
Song Zhizhang stood with one hand propped against the bar. His posture was elegant, and it was unclear what he was thinking about.
Looking at him like this, Song Zhizhang was quite handsome. To be able to work in the sex industry, he relied on his face for a living. Based on his looks, he would have been more than qualified to be a minor celebrity in Zhu Ning's era.
He just didn't know what kind of aesthetic taste he had, favoring some purple turtlenecks. Every day, he dressed in a flowery and flamboyant manner like a Barbie doll, which truly fell into Zhu Ning's aesthetic blind spot.
Suddenly, Zhu Ning saw a crucifix earring on his earlobe. A tiny blue diamond on it flashed. It looked very conspicuous in the sunlight.
Zhu Ning's pupils contracted suddenly. She thought of Fang Ying.
The day Zhu Ning finished her data collection, when Fang Ying came to the observation room cafeteria to deliver documents, she had worn an aquamarine earring on her left ear. It had also flashed back then.
Zhu Ning asked, "How exactly did I get this job?"
Back then, Fang Ying had been silent for a long time. After the earring flashed, as if she had received permission from someone, Fang Ying was willing to answer Zhu Ning's question.
Was this a tool Prometheus used to contact them? Was Fang Ying really one of Prometheus's people? Song Zhizhang was just in contact with Prometheus.
Song Zhizhang noticed Zhu Ning. He turned his head and greeted her, "Morning."
Zhu Ning didn't even frown on the surface. "Morning."
Song Zhizhang poured himself a cup of hot tea. "Did you sleep well?"
Zhu Ning yawned. "It was okay."
Song Zhizhang pushed the teacup in front of her. "I'm surprised you could actually fall asleep in my place."
He didn't know if Zhu Ning was just thick-skinned or reckless, but her state of mind was too steady.
Zhu Ning didn't care. "I feel that if you wanted to harm me, I wouldn't have lived very long."
Regardless of what Song Zhizhang's intentions were, so far he seemed to have no ill will toward Zhu Ning.
A Host Club owner who runs a containment department and deals with contaminants daily—to have survived so many years unscathed, he himself might be a Demon Hunter or an Ability User.
If he wanted to kill Zhu Ning, she could disappear from District 103 by tomorrow. The fact that she was still alive already spoke volumes.
The way Song Zhizhang held the teacup froze. Was he being calculated? Was Zhu Ning testing him? If Song Zhizhang had made a move against Zhu Ning last night, half of his shop would likely have been demolished by now.
Song Zhizhang laughed. "Where are you going next?"
"The Sanitation Center," Zhu Ning drank half a cup of hot tea and felt much more comfortable. "Gotta get back for training. I still haven't passed my combat class."
Taking combat classes during the day and finding time to purify contaminated areas at night—only she could pull that off.
Song Zhizhang gave an "ah." "You're truly working hard. Shall I give you a ride?"
Zhu Ning put down her teacup. "No need. I can't afford it. I'm leaving."
Song Zhizhang said, "The front door is closed. Go out through the back door."
Zhu Ning gave an "oh" and suddenly said, "By the way, find a chance for Prometheus to meet with me."
Her tone was very casual, as if she were just chatting with him.
Song Zhizhang's face stiffened. "What?"
Zhu Ning spoke too suddenly; he hadn't even adjusted his expression.
Zhu Ning laughed at Song Zhizhang's deflated expression. She had thought about it carefully. Among the three parties—the Sanitation Center, Eternal Pharma, and Prometheus—Prometheus seemed to be helping her for some reason?
Compared to the two massive institutions, Prometheus seemed easier to make a deal with. It had been providing her with support before, although Zhu Ning didn't even know what that thing actually was.
Was it really an artificial intelligence? Or some kind of contaminant?
The name Prometheus was very interesting. The fire-stealer of mankind. What exactly was the spark it wanted to steal?
Zhu Ning said, "Working for someone without knowing why—I have feelings about that. I won't meet, and I won't take any more jobs. Let it consider it carefully. It has to show some sincerity."
Song Zhizhang tried hard to control his expression, wanting to argue that he had no way to contact Prometheus directly.
Zhu Ning didn't give him any room to act. She waved at him, adding a brilliant smile. "Bye~"
After a sharp, grating sound, that dilapidated back door was closed. Zhu Ning had left.
No one spoke in the shop for a long time. Song Zhizhang sighed. Addressing the empty shop, he said, "You should meet her."
Zhu Ning was too perceptive. Song Zhizhang couldn't hide it for much longer.
Author's Note:
Modified the amount of the profit sharing.
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