Chapter 171-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 171 Another Self (II)
"Hello?" Little Ghost called out. "Xiao Yuan?"
But no sound came from the other end for a long time—only the sound of extremely heavy breathing. Little Ghost tried calling out many more times.
With a sharp crackle, Xiao Yuan hung up the call, vanishing completely.
Little Ghost sat stunned for a long while. He rarely encountered situations like this. The show's flow had essentially been cut short—the second half was supposed to be his analysis of Xiao Yuan's problem, with the chat audience offering suggestions to the caller.
Little Ghost looked dazed. He didn't dare speak at all, utterly unable to bring himself to comment on the story he'd just heard.
Some eerie force was stopping him. He had a gut feeling that commenting carelessly would lead to something terrible.
The livestream fell into silence. A full two seconds passed before the chat erupted.
[What happened? Why is there no sound? Don't scare me!]
[Xiao Yuan, are you okay? Do you need me to call someone for you?]
[That's so scary—she wasn't attacked, was she? But she didn't say anything, help!]
The livestream was drowned in a blizzard of comments. The discussion was so intense that eventually someone posted a warning in red text—just a few bold words.
[Don't talk to it!]
[Don't talk to it!]
Red comments flooded the entire livestream. Immediately after, the video cut out. The Dead Post had been read to the end.
Ding—
[Congratulations, random quest triggered: Another Self. Quest objective: uncover the secret of the other self, assist in finding the truth behind the death, and purify the Contamination Zone. This is a random quest, not mandatory. Please choose whether to accept.]
[This quest will automatically close before dawn. Please make your decision carefully.]
The side quest "Find the Truth Behind the Death" progress bar had only a sliver left. It seemed this quest could fully complete it.
The quest name was interesting too—straightforwardly called "Another Self." Was it hinting at something for Zhu Ning?
This quest might be the final stop. Zhu Ning clicked "Yes."
[Quest accepted successfully. Please complete before dawn.]
Before heading out, she decided to do some homework. Zhu Ning opened her Sub-Brain and searched the internet for related information. She couldn't find the show "Little Ghost's Ghost Talk"—the host had absolutely zero trace online.
Why? Had the show been scrubbed?
Zhu Ning tried different keywords—"another self," "identical self," "extra person in your life."
This time she found a few scattered posts from netizens sharing their experiences. Various versions of the story circulated, seemingly an urban legend. They all basically described feeling like something was off about their life—that there was an identical person in their home.
A widespread warning circulated online: if someone identical to you appears, never speak to it. The moment you speak, some kind of exchange is completed, and you vanish for good.
With no leads online, Zhu Ning could only carefully replay the video she'd just watched. There were several key pieces of information.
First, Xiao Yuan was most likely female. Although a voice changer had distorted her voice, her word choices and the closeness with her older sister made her gender apparent.
Second, Xiao Yuan had many brothers and sisters. This was unusual—the living pressure in District 103 was enormous. The world was so bleak that most people felt bringing children into it was a sin. Everyone was acutely aware they were expendable. Someone like Huang Yaruo choosing to be child-free was far more common.
Third, her house must have been fairly large. She'd mentioned the kitchen being on the ground floor, which meant there was at least a second floor.
Fourth—why hadn't she mentioned her parents?
Zhu Ning couldn't find any concrete information. If this was truly the final stop, things inside would be complicated. Before leaving, she thought for a moment and sent Xu Meng a message—she'd previously promised to check in with her wherever she went.
[Captain, I'm heading out on a mission today.]
Xu Meng didn't reply—probably still asleep. Zhu Ning sent the location as well. [I'm going here. I'll come see you tomorrow.]
She'd received the Dead Post at one in the morning. Everything else was in Huo Wenxi's hands now. The Sanitation Center was in chaos, and Zhu Ning—a nobody—couldn't do anything about it.
Zhu Ning went back to the Dignified Queen shop and suited up in a full black Protective Suit, strapping on her Sanitation Backpack and the weapons Prometheus had prepared for her.
The luxury car engaged autopilot and headed for the destination. It was close to the junkyard too—she could see the garbage mountains from here, not far from The Hive.
Zhu Ning noticed that many of her mission locations had actually been quite close to her home.
She parked the car and spotted a red building hidden in a pitch-black alley.
The red house was old and somewhat faded, without a single light on. In the darkness, it looked like an eerie red graveyard.
The building's style was remarkably archaic—it was actually made of wood. Standing in the steel jungle of District 103, it was like an ancient structure that had been teleported straight into a high-tech era.
There was no Federal cordon. Zhu Ning searched the exact coordinates in the Sanitation Center's technical department database—this Contamination Zone wasn't registered at all.
Meaning the Sanitation Center officially had no idea this place existed?
Zhu Ning searched around some more. Nobody seemed to know what this place was. Was it really this secretive?
All information about this Contamination Zone seemed to have been scrubbed clean. There wasn't a single word about it online. Zhu Ning didn't even know what the building was for.
Had Prometheus deliberately hidden this place?
But without a single clue, what role was she supposed to play once she entered the Contamination Zone?
Weeds had overtaken the area around the red house. It looked like no one had lived here for years. Zhu Ning walked up to the front door and opened it with her master key.
The door creaked open, and she was hit by a wave of dust and a foul stench—as if something had died inside.
[Confirmed: Cleaner Zhu Ning has entered the Contamination Zone. Contamination Level roughly estimated at B-rank. Please choose whether to report to the Sanitation Center Technical Department.]
[Current peak Contamination Level: 170. Contamination Zone size: 25,000 cubic meters. Unable to detect whether Contaminants are present inside.]
Only B-rank? The same Contamination Level as the Black Dental Clinic. She'd assumed the final stop would at least be S-rank.
Then again, if the Contamination Level were too high, it would definitely attract the Sanitation Center and get cleared out early. Nobody paid much attention to a B-rank Contamination Zone.
Her helmet's night-vision activated, and gray-black outlines appeared before her eyes as the Contamination Zone's backdrop materialized.
The interior of this house had also been painted red. Under the green filter, it looked deeply sinister.
The place was empty. The red house had at least eight floors, each with a row of small rooms. It didn't look like an ordinary home at all—more like school dormitories or an orphanage.
Yes—an orphanage. Zhu Ning suddenly understood the Dead Post caller's situation.
Why hadn't she mentioned her parents? Xiao Yuan was probably an orphan to begin with. That's why she'd said she had many brothers and sisters.
For an orphanage, this place wasn't actually that large—it could house a hundred children at most.
Zhu Ning's "original self" was likely an orphan too. She recalled the files Yue Kaiyuan had found, which showed she hadn't been raised by Old Yang but by Mechanical Mother. So which orphanage had she been in?
The walls were covered in children's doodles—black pen strokes stretching from one end all the way to the other.
Dust blanketed the floor. After entering, Zhu Ning moved carefully. The red wooden floorboards creaked with every step.
Matching Xiao Yuan's description, there was indeed a kitchen on the ground floor.
The kitchen was sizeable—big enough for twenty people to work in, practically a hotel kitchen.
The stainless steel countertops were coated in dust. There were traces of food on the tables. Anything perishable had long since rotted away, leaving only a pile of animal bones draped in cobwebs.
There was still rotting meat and bones in the pots, as if someone had once been cooking here.
No wonder Demon Hunters loved brute-force purging. Once you'd grown to a certain level, you really didn't have the patience to hunt for clues. Unfortunately, she wasn't here to purify—she'd come specifically for clues and had to sift through everything bit by bit.
Earlier, Xiao Yuan had said her other self was right here in the kitchen with her sister, doing chores. And Xiao Yuan herself had been outside the window.
Xiao Yuan had ducked down the instant her sister turned around, hiding herself. This was a blind spot—crouching below the wall made you completely invisible.
Zhu Ning tried to reconstruct the scene. Here was where the fridge would have been. The corresponding position should be this table, which faced the window directly.
While still searching for the right spot, Zhu Ning suddenly looked up and caught a black shadow flash across the window's reflection.
She'd already prepared herself mentally. In this Contamination Zone, she might well encounter another version of herself, so she didn't panic.
By normal logic, she'd look up and see another version of herself staring back in horror, reliving Xiao Yuan's terror.
But no. When she looked up, all she saw was an ordinary pane of glass, so dusty she could barely see outside.
Beyond the window stood an old tree. Wind stirred the leaves, making it look as though a shadow had drifted past.
That was anticlimactic?
Finding no clues in the kitchen, Zhu Ning turned to leave. She planned to visit every location Xiao Yuan had mentioned.
The kitchen, the dining hall, the media room, and most importantly—the closet.
The closet was Xiao Yuan's last known location. What had she encountered? How had she suddenly vanished? Because she'd accidentally spoken to her other self?
This Contamination Zone was strange—no Contaminants had appeared so far. It was just an ordinary abandoned orphanage.
Zhu Ning climbed to the second floor. The second floor seemed to be the children's "dormitory"—rows of small doors like pigeon coops. She carefully pushed one open. Inside was a single bed, still unmade, the bedding reeking of mold and decay.
The room contained a wardrobe, a bed, and a desk. Certificates of merit hung on the wall—things like "Outstanding Student" and "Best Sprinter."
Many children liked to display their honors on the wall. She hadn't expected the wasteland world to be so traditional in this regard—just like the old days.
From the traces in the room, she could infer a little boy had once lived here. But what had happened to this place? Not even the luggage had been packed—it was as if every child had evaporated overnight.
What had ultimately happened to Xiao Yuan? Had the other children been replaced by their other selves too?
Zhu Ning inspected the rooms one by one, trying to piece together any scraps of evidence from each.
What did Xiao Yuan's room look like? She definitely couldn't swim. There was probably a game console inside, or maybe some novels.
She was alone in the entire red house. The hallway was gloomy, emanating a chill, gray-black outlines on every side.
She entered the next room. Same layout—a pitch-black window straight ahead, a wardrobe with its door half-open, a few moldy athletic shirts hanging inside. She determined this was a little girl's bedroom.
This child had an impressive number of certificates, densely plastered across the wall. But they were so old the paper had yellowed and crumbled at a touch.
Zhu Ning had been browsing casually when she suddenly froze.
Among the pile of certificates, one stood out. On the yellowed paper was a line of text: First Place, Women's Shooting Competition—Zhu Ning.
This was her room?
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