Chapter 44-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 44 The Bizarre Aquarium-1
Xu Meng had told Zhu Ning that she had been saving money because the effects of the GeneBoost injections were poor, so she was preparing to take the path of uploading her consciousness.
This path required a huge amount of server support fees every year. Ninety percent of the clients were wealthy people. Zhu Ning had checked; it cost at least ten million NewCred a year.
Once payment stopped and the server ceased operation, the consciousness entity would be locked or eliminated.
So, how many years you could live after uploading to the cloud depended entirely on whether anyone renewed the fee supply for you.
One thing was certain: Xu Meng needed money. Did Xu Meng come to the Foundation event to get support from the Foundation?
Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan were the first team Zhu Ning had met in this world. They had trained and been assessed together for several days, and just the day before yesterday, they had a team building dinner and ate barbecue.
Generally speaking, Zhu Ning didn't want to think the worst of people. She could close her eyes and recall Xu Meng guiding her through training, gentle and patient.
She also remembered the first time Xu Meng took her on a mission. She was very conscientious in teaching Zhu Ning how to contain Contamination Spores. She also remembered Xu Meng wiping her face like cleaning a kitten after the fighting match.
Wait.
In the sewer, when Li Nianchuan proposed going out for fresh air, it should have been a natural reaction influenced by mental contamination.
But at that time, Xu Meng gave Zhu Ning a look, telling her to watch Li Nianchuan. Because of that look, Zhu Ning followed Li Nianchuan deep into the sewer and then accidentally entered the D-Class Contamination Zone.
If it weren't for Xu Meng, Zhu Ning wouldn't have encountered the Fishman.
Xu Meng said afterward that she had anxiously wanted to chase after them but was stuck outside the contamination zone. But from beginning to end, Zhu Ning had never actually seen where Xu Meng was.
Was that day really a coincidence?
Thinking about it carefully, Zhu Ning could think of various unnatural things about Xu Meng.
She had actively revealed information about wanting to upload her consciousness to the cloud and had very kindly shared data on GeneBoost with Zhu Ning.
Xu Meng was clearly a Cleaner, yet she passed the training assessment faster than Zhu Ning. Although Zhu Ning had a bug in the combat class holding her back, Xu Meng's clearance speed was incredibly fast. Zhu Ning later looked at her various scores; shooting and combat were all top-grade.
Her personal qualities actually far exceeded those of a Cleaner, resembling a professional Demon Hunter. It was unclear why she was in a cleaning squad. But this was also strange; if Xu Meng could be a Demon Hunter and wanted to hide herself, why didn't she hide her skills during the assessment? Wasn't she afraid of exposing herself?
Another point: Xu Meng had no personality.
Contrary to Li Nianchuan—Li Nianchuan was too easy to understand; Zhu Ning had him figured out on her first mission with him.
Thinking back, Xu Meng was just a conscientious captain. She was emotionally stable and very patient with everything, but didn't seem to have much interest in anything. Aside from that, Zhu Ning didn't really know her at all and knew nothing about her characteristics.
The people around began to move. Xu Meng followed the crowd towards the side door. Without a second thought, Zhu Ning immediately followed Xu Meng's pace.
There were already quite a few audience members sitting in the aisle. Once the crowd started moving, Zhu Ning moved with difficulty like a fish swimming upstream. Eventually, she simply chose to vault over the seat backs.
"What are you doing?" someone cursed. "Watch where you're going!"
Zhu Ning moved quickly through the crowd. "Excuse me, coming through."
Xu Meng was wearing a large sun hat with the brim pulled down. Zhu Ning could only see her profile. She seemed to turn her head and glance in this direction.
Ten meters.
There were only ten meters between the two of them.
Suddenly, a woman holding a child appeared in front of Zhu Ning. Zhu Ning lowered her head to apologize. It only took a few seconds, but when she looked up again, Xu Meng was gone.
Zhu Ning emerged from the crowd and finally reached the side door Xu Meng had left through. Outside, the crowd was bustling. Xu Meng had disappeared into the sea of people, and the woman who had bumped into her earlier was gone too.
She had considered whether the "Xu Meng" she saw just now was a Replicant, but a person's demeanor and details wouldn't lie unless Xu Meng had a professional body double who could mimic her micro-movements exactly.
She should still be nearby, not far away. A simple test would reveal if it was real or fake.
Zhu Ning opened her Employee Wristband. The emergency contact function could make the wristband emit a piercing alarm.
Zhu Ning had just opened Xu Meng's message window and was still on that page. As long as she pressed it, she would hear the alarm. If what she saw was really the Captain herself, the alarm would sound from within the crowd.
The next second—Boom!
Before Zhu Ning could press the emergency contact button, a huge noise suddenly came from the distance.
The sound was incredibly loud, as if some colossus had crashed down. The signboards and hanging lights in the plaza trembled. Zhu Ning froze, and before she could react, someone nearby screamed. Panic was visibly spreading through the crowd.
"What happened? What happened?" someone asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Was that an earthquake or an explosion?"
"Why is there no network?"
"Do you have a signal? Can you make calls?"
Someone said, "Call the Public Security Bureau, quick!"
It must be a power system failure. Along with this sentence, the lights on the entire street went out one by one. With the business district where Zhu Ning was as the core, darkness began to swallow everything outwards.
People instinctively panic in unfamiliar environments. Some were looking for their friends and family, some were making phone calls, and others were using their Sub-Brains to go online, wanting to see what the situation was.
Eternal Pharma was holding a Foundation event here, and then immediately there was a disturbance. It was hard not to overthink it.
Zhu Ning glanced at her own chat box. Xu Meng's avatar was still flickering on it. She gritted her teeth, turned off the wristband, and chose to consider the matter at hand first.
Zhu Ning had injected GeneBoost, so her five senses were sharper. The world looked like slow motion to her; she could immediately distinguish where the problem was.
She ran quickly toward the southeast. Sure enough, the closer she got to this location, the more chaotic it became. It was just two streets away.
The accident site was a large venue. She was new to this world and didn't recognize the roads, so she couldn't identify where this was for a moment.
A section of a stadium-sized venue had collapsed. People were screaming and running out continuously. Some people in the crowd were injured, their faces covered in blood.
Zhu Ning stopped one of them and asked, "What happened up ahead?"
The person was busy fleeing for their life and said, "Run! There are monsters ahead!"
Monsters? Zhu Ning wanted to ask more, but the person shoved Zhu Ning aside, turned, and ran. More panicked people ran past her; not a single person could explain what was happening now.
Zhu Ning found this scene very familiar. In her world, it was like this when the zombie crisis first broke out.
Beep beep beep—
Zhu Ning's Employee Wristband suddenly lit up. She received a message from Fang Ying.
[Emergency B-Level Mission. All members of Clean Squad A70265 please assemble at the Mechanical Aquarium in 20 minutes.]
Emergency B-Level Mission? This was the first time Zhu Ning had received a B-Level Mission, and her first official task from the Sanitation Center after the Fishman incident.
It was just that... Mechanical Aquarium?
With a loud crash, a huge signboard suddenly collapsed, like a boulder falling from a mountain.
The sign read: Mechanical Aquarium.
What a coincidence?
A B-Level Contamination Zone just two streets away from the location of the Eternal Pharma Foundation event? And Xu Meng had appeared here too?
The moment she finished attending the Foundation event, the aquarium immediately had an accident?
People from the Public Security Bureau arrived at the scene first to help evacuate the crowd. Five minutes later, black flying cars landed continuously. Zhu Ning could clearly see "Sanitation Center" written on the vehicles.
Police tape was set up. The gate of the aquarium was sealed off by people from the Sanitation Center, and some were helping to evacuate the crowd.
There were also people looking for victims who had escaped. Zhu Ning paused; this might be a standard procedure precaution. After all, they didn't know what the accident was. If it was contagious like zombies, the survivors who escaped just now might infect ordinary people.
Zhu Ning had specifically asked before whether ordinary people knew about the existence of contaminants.
Fang Ying's answer was: They know, and they don't know.
This statement was ambiguous. Since the radiation, large-scale mutations had occurred in animals, plants, and even humans.
Some people called humans with mutation phenomena "mutants," which were the "Ability Users" mentioned by officials.
The authorities never publicized the existence of the Sanitation Center to civilians, but in the wasteland era, mutations could happen anytime, anywhere—literally anytime, anywhere, without exaggeration.
It could be humans, animals, plants, or even a lifeless brick.
For example, you might wake up one day and the faucet in your house has suddenly mutated; the iron water pipe visibly softens into a limp silver snake. This was entirely possible, so civilians accepted abnormal phenomena relatively easily.
A car from the Sanitation Center stopped. Zhu Ning saw Demon Hunters getting out and was about to step forward.
"What are you doing?" The person in charge stopped her. "This area is sealed. Unauthorized personnel cannot enter."
Zhu Ning showed her Employee Wristband and pulled up her pass. "I'm a Cleaner from the Sanitation Center."
The person looked at her work badge and opened the police tape to let her in. "Thank you for your hard work."
Zhu Ning paused. If the person hadn't said that sentence, she wouldn't have reacted much, but hearing it, she felt for the first time that her profession had special meaning. Whether it was Demon Hunters or Cleaners, entering a contamination zone carried certain dangers, and one had to be prepared to sacrifice.
She saw a familiar face. Fang Ying was commanding at the scene. She was still dressed as a clerk, wearing a professional suit and a pair of black high heels. She looked very out of place appearing here, but her demeanor was extremely capable and rigorous. Did an assistant have to undertake this kind of task? Zhu Ning took an extra look at Fang Ying's earlobe; she was wearing sea-blue stud earrings today.
Fang Ying recognized Zhu Ning and asked, "You got here so fast?"
The message had only been sent five minutes ago, and Zhu Ning was already at the scene.
Zhu Ning kept a straight face. "I just happened to be eating nearby."
Fang Ying didn't ask further. "Get in the car and change into your uniform. It's a B-Level Mission. I'll discuss the mission details with you later."
There was a black car parked next to Fang Ying. Zhu Ning jumped on. Sure enough, emergency missions came with ample resources. Inside the car, there were Cleaner uniforms, cleaning backpacks, and a row of standard-issue weapons.
Zhu Ning was familiar with this now. She skillfully changed into a full set of Cleaner work clothes. Her changing speed was getting faster and faster; she could get it done in ten minutes.
After changing, Zhu Ning ran into Li Nianchuan and Xu Meng.
Xu Meng was dressed differently from when Zhu Ning saw her earlier. No sun hat or sunglasses; she wore a white shirt and black pants, her usual attire.
The two of them seemed to have come together.
Xu Meng was that fast? She was nearby just now. Getting here as fast as Zhu Ning was possible, but did she deliberately delay to avoid suspicion?
Li Nianchuan saw Zhu Ning and greeted her, "You're fast."
"Happened to be nearby," Zhu Ning asked. "Did you two come together?"
Li Nianchuan: "Met at the Sub-rail exit."
Li Nianchuan thought Zhu Ning was just asking casually, so he didn't say much. They had received an emergency mission and didn't have time for pleasantries. After speaking, Li Nianchuan and Xu Meng got in the car to change. Xu Meng behaved very naturally from start to finish.
If Zhu Ning wasn't certain she had seen her at the Foundation event, she would have thought she was dreaming.
Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan had been colleagues for a long time. She could probably guess Li Nianchuan's movement patterns. Flying cars weren't as fast as the Sub-rail; the fastest way for Li Nianchuan to get to the Mechanical Aquarium from his home was to take the Sub-rail.
Xu Meng must have found a place to change clothes, then walked to the Sub-rail exit to stage a "chance encounter" with Li Nianchuan. Li Nianchuan became Xu Meng's witness.
Should she ask her?
But questioning Xu Meng would require explaining why Zhu Ning appeared at the Foundation, and she couldn't answer that question.
Zhu Ning still didn't understand how this series of coincidences had happened.
In a B-Level Contamination Zone, personal issues between her and Xu Meng had to be put aside for now. Too many distractions could easily lead to an early death; she had to prioritize.
Zhu Ning withdrew her probing gaze. The staff moving nearby wore full-body orange-yellow protective suits. They were the real Logistics Department, generally responsible for evacuation, scene surveying, and logistical supplies.
In short, they did the odd jobs that Cleaners and Demon Hunters didn't do.
They saw Zhu Ning wearing the black Cleaner protective suit and nodded to her.
Zhu Ning walked inside the police tape. The situation was more or less under control, but she still saw blood. Red-black blood flowed slowly down the steps. Five corpses lay at the entrance of the aquarium; someone was collecting the bodies.
Zhu Ning could see the eyes of one corpse. He had died with his eyes open, staring wide as if he had seen something extremely terrifying before death.
His chest had been pierced by something. A creature looking like a mechanical tentacle was wriggling inside his chest, half of its tail exposed. When Zhu Ning looked at it, it was still drilling deeper into the corpse.
Someone wearing a full orange-yellow protective suit fired two shots at the corpse.
Bang! Bang!
After two shots, the mechanical tentacle exploded into a pile of meat paste, completely motionless. Then, a white cloth was draped over the corpse, cutting off Zhu Ning's line of sight.
What was that just now? Was this the legendary large-scale urban contamination?
Author's Note: While revising the text, I considered the work's completeness and added the detail of the high heels back in. Fang Ying wearing high heels is a character setting; it will be explained in later chapters and does not represent the author's personal stance.
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