Chapter 178-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 178 Another Self (IX)
Zhu Ning leaned against the wall. A chunk of her helmet had been sheared off, and the cracked screen partially blocked her view, so the Li Xin she saw was incomplete—she couldn't see the full picture.
"You're an Ant-Mimicking Spider?" Zhu Ning asked.
Li Xin touched her own face. The freckles and the crawling spiders blended together, making it hard to tell them apart.
Li Xin said, "I think so?"
She wasn't entirely sure what she was. She simply existed within the Red House, devouring one prey after another.
Zhu Ning fell silent. Non-Natural Humans had long existed within human society. Li Xin and "Jiang Ping" were the same type of case.
Li Xin crouched down, meeting eight-year-old Zhu Ning at eye level. "Are you trying to get me to talk again?"
Just like when Zhu Ning first entered—separated by a wall, using a childish reporting format to draw information out of Li Xin.
Very cunning.
Zhu Ning: "I forgot."
Li Xin smiled. After all these years, Zhu Ning hadn't really changed. Still the same as before.
Li Xin tilted her head. Her innocent eyes gazed at Zhu Ning, her tone calm. "I did help them fulfill their wishes."
"Jiang Ping" had said the same thing—helping humans fulfill their wishes.
The fundamental fabric of this world was mental energy. The mind determined everything.
Mechanical Mother could never complete the tasks her programming demanded. The orphans who already knew their death dates could only take life one day at a time.
The Red House had been abandoned—like an apple that had rolled under a bed, slowly rotting away.
If there was such a thing as pent-up resentment, the Red House's was building like pressure in a pressure cooker with the relief valve blocked, on the verge of exploding.
It wasn't just Mechanical Mother who wanted her children to become perfect. Everyone longed for a perfect version of themselves.
That was when an Ant-Mimicking Spider infiltrated the group. Feeding on human psyche, using the pretext of granting wishes, it silently completed the replacement.
After consuming her kind, she hung them inside the walls and carved their headstones.
The young Zhu Ning had stumbled into the spider's nest, mistaking an Ant-Mimicking Spider for an ant.
Li Xin asked, "Does this help you remember?"
Something churned in Zhu Ning's mind. Countless images were merging, making it impossible to tell fantasy from reality.
She understood now the meaning of Prometheus sending her to the Red House—no, she should say: the purpose of arranging her own final stop here.
The system's mission was to find the secret of the other self.
She wasn't here to resolve this place. She was here to reclaim her memories.
Eleven years ago.
Zhu Ning was sent to the Red House by Lao Yang and Liu Sheng. They'd wanted to give her a better life. They never imagined they were sending her into an abyss.
On her very first day, Zhu Ning sensed something was deeply wrong with this place.
She stood beneath the bulletin board, reading the slogans. Mechanical Mother had polished the glass so bright it was practically the cleanest spot in the entire Red House.
"Don't worry—we'll never get any orders." While Zhu Ning was reading the information, she suddenly heard someone speak beside her.
It was a little girl, the same age as her, face covered in freckles. She looked pretty cute.
She'd appeared without a sound. Zhu Ning had just checked the area—no one was around. How had she walked over so silently?
Li Xin said, "It's been a long time since anyone new came to the Red House."
Even Zhu Ning's arrival was unusual. New admissions had grown increasingly rare. By rights, this place should have been completely forgotten by the outside world.
Zhu Ning was quietly thinking—this was going to be tricky. She'd been hoping to pick up some marketable skills so she wouldn't be this poor forever.
That was the first time Zhu Ning met Li Xin. She'd always loved making friends—a naturally sociable person. She asked, "Are there any shooting clubs around here?"
"Shooting clubs?" Li Xin had never heard the term. "What's that?"
"Competitions." Zhu Ning made a finger-gun gesture and went bang. "They pay really well."
Li Xin's eyes widened. She found it fascinating.
Zhu Ning clicked her tongue. "But there probably aren't any around here."
Even if there were, how would she get in? The Red House looked haunted. Honestly, she always felt like the people around her were all ghosts.
Li Xin: "Why don't we just look it up?"
"Hm?" Zhu Ning thought this girl was really something—so helpful.
Li Xin took Zhu Ning and snuck into Mechanical Mother's room, where there was an old computer.
Li Xin was leading Zhu Ning into mischief, but Zhu Ning was actually the worried one. When she'd first arrived, she didn't know the rules and kept getting thrown in the isolation room. She didn't want to drag someone else into it.
But Li Xin seemed completely at ease, as if she wasn't the least bit afraid of being caught by Mechanical Mother.
Li Xin typed in "shooting club." A flood of results appeared—many clubs spent big money on marketing.
The top search result was profiles of star players.
Zhu Ning was looking at this for the first time and felt dazzled. Different clubs had different tournaments, and each had their own star players.
She scrolled down the page and saw the top prize for the upcoming league.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands—" Zhu Ning counted the zeroes. "Three million in prize money!"
Li Xin let out a wow of amazement. For children of the Red House, three million was an astronomical sum.
Zhu Ning: "Quick—look up the recruitment info."
Zhu Ning urged Li Xin on. It was the first time anyone had ever rushed Li Xin like this. Zhu Ning's excitement was infectious.
The page showed that recruitment did exist, but applicants still had to pass evaluations. Most clubs scouted prospects from training camps.
As Zhu Ning kept reading, the light in her eyes dimmed. Joining a club required going through a training camp first, and she had no money for that.
This path had been closed to poor people from the very start.
Zhu Ning lost interest. In this world, she'd probably be better off studying mechanical engineering—more practical. The new era's equivalent of coding. A rock-solid fallback profession.
That was when Li Xin suddenly said, "Look at this—this one does charity events."
The screen displayed a club called Fire Seed. Its logo was a burning torch.
Zhu Ning perked up. The information showed they regularly held charity events at orphanages. It was hard to scout real talent this way—more like a community outreach program, mainly to make the kids happy.
After all, they were all Defectives. Hidden gems were not expected.
Li Xin's expression fell as she read on. "They won't come to the Red House."
The Red House was far too insignificant. Even when Fire Seed Club held charity events, they chose the large orphanages.
The kind Mechanical Mother longed for—institutions that could land contracts with big corporations.
Li Xin: "We've never had a charity event."
Nobody cared about the Red House. If anyone had, the problems here would've been discovered long ago.
The worse a place was, the more forgotten it became. They were like a city's festering sore.
Zhu Ning was unfazed. She asked, "Where are they going next?"
Li Xin said flatly, "Bright Orphanage, District 103."
Zhu Ning: "Is it far from here?"
Li Xin's eyes widened. "You're going to go?"
Zhu Ning: "Of course I'm going. Is it far?"
Li Xin checked. For an adult, it wasn't far. For a child, it was.
And if Mechanical Mother found out, there was absolutely no way she'd allow it.
Zhu Ning memorized the exact address. She didn't have an auxiliary brain yet back then—she could only commit the route to memory.
Li Xin found Zhu Ning fascinating. Truly fascinating. The Defectives of the Red House spent whatever time they had left just enjoying life.
To Li Xin, Zhu Ning's actions seemed like pointless flailing—completely meaningless.
Zhu Ning had it all planned out. She had to seize this opportunity. On the day of Fire Seed Club's charity event, she could make herself stand out. If she succeeded, she'd have a way forward.
Li Xin: "How do you know you'll succeed?"
Zhu Ning: "Because I'm amazing."
She refused to believe she couldn't beat the junior division.
Li Xin let out a little ah, thinking Zhu Ning was incredibly full of herself.
Li Xin propped her chin on her hand and asked, "And what if you do succeed?"
Success wouldn't change the reality that her lifespan was about to end. That was irreversible.
Zhu Ning actually thought about it. "Nothing, really."
Did any of this even have a point? Winning a prize and joining a club wouldn't add years to her life.
Zhu Ning added, "Earn some money, then I can just lie around after that."
There was a difference between lying around in comfort and lying around in poverty. At least she could enjoy a good life before dying.
Li Xin went quiet. She didn't ask any more questions.
Zhu Ning had her plan laid out, running through the steps in her head. She'd have to cross most of District 103 alone, sneak into another orphanage, and perform in front of those people.
Quite the undertaking.
Mechanical Mother was cleaning rooms on the ninth floor that day. Zhu Ning crept downstairs, then suddenly turned back and asked, "Do you want to come?"
Li Xin clearly hadn't expected Zhu Ning to ask. Zhu Ning's expression was perfectly natural—as if she were simply inviting a friend.
But Li Xin couldn't leave the Red House.
Li Xin shook her head. "I'm afraid Mechanical Mother will scold me."
Zhu Ning thought that was fair. She'd definitely be thrown in the isolation room when she got back. She slung her backpack on and said, "Then wait for me to come back."
Zhu Ning left.
Li Xin didn't know what happened to Zhu Ning after that. Zhu Ning didn't come back by dinnertime. Mechanical Mother was furious, waiting downstairs for her.
Zhu Ning didn't return until the middle of the night, long after lights-out.
Li Xin watched Mechanical Mother, incandescent with rage, shaking Zhu Ning's arm and demanding to know why she wouldn't behave. She locked Zhu Ning in the isolation room.
A full twenty-four hours. In that cramped space with only a tiny window, it was easy for a child to develop claustrophobia.
Li Xin figured after this punishment, Zhu Ning would finally settle down. No more unrealistic fantasies.
When the time was up, Zhu Ning was released. The next day, they woke to the morning bell. Zhu Ning was brushing her teeth beside her.
Li Xin looked at her. Zhu Ning hadn't changed, and yet Li Xin sensed something different.
She was radiant—as if reborn.
After breakfast, Zhu Ning secretly slipped Li Xin a certificate. She raised her eyebrows, practically glowing.
Li Xin opened it. It was an award. The text was simple:
Shooting Competition, Women's Division, First Place—Zhu Ning.
The Red House Defectives entered various competitions and rarely placed well. But this was the first time Li Xin had ever seen an award for a shooting competition.
Zhu Ning had opened a door to an entirely new world for her.
She'd actually done it.
Zhu Ning had found the rules of survival. In theory, as long as she kept on this path, she could earn money and improve her life.
But before she could celebrate for long, Xiao Yuan disappeared.
She got distracted by it. Was something really going on in the Red House? Zhu Ning had always thought it was strange but could never put her finger on it.
Zhu Ning asked, "Don't you feel like something's weird about this place?"
Li Xin was eating at the time. She looked up at Zhu Ning. The freckles on her face looked like dozens of tiny eyes.
Zhu Ning asked, "Do you think the world has ghosts?"
Li Xin froze for a moment. She found Zhu Ning both adorable and foolish—so interesting.
There were no ghosts. But there were Beasts.
The first friend Zhu Ning ever made in this world was a Non-Natural Human.
Author's Note
Bright Orphanage, District 103 was mentioned back in Chapter 61, during Yue Kaiyuan's interrogation. His investigation of Zhu Ning's "records" showed she came from Bright Orphanage, but she actually came from the Red House.
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