Chapter 191-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World

Chapter 191 Abandoned

There was no twenty percent of uncontaminated land in this world. All land was polluted. Zhu Ning and Huo Wenxi had only glimpsed a fragment—this thing was surely abundant outside the walls.

Zhu Ning was from the bottom rung. The world she knew had been deliberately obscured by the First District. So what was the truth?

Huo Wenxi shook her head. "I don't know. Humans were curious at first—that's why they sent out Old World investigators, searching for truths left behind in the old era, hoping to end the contamination."

"I don't know if you've heard this theory. It sounds naive now, but back then many people believed it: the entire world is one massive contamination zone with a single Core Contamination Source. Find it, and the world would be purified."

Zhu Ning asked: "Is it true?"

If so, where was the Core Contamination Source?

Huo Wenxi smiled bitterly. "Who knows?"

"For the first thirty years, human investigation activity was at its peak. People were eager to venture out and frequently brought back news from beyond the walls. But they quickly realized the information they brought back was useless."

Huo Wenxi: "In the past two years, investigation activity has all but ceased."

The exact reasons were hard to pin down. Was someone in the First District blocking it? Or had the investigations simply yielded no results? Either way, humanity had given up.

They'd ceded the land to contaminants, creating one so-called "god" after another.

When a species begins worshipping the supernatural en masse, it's essentially finished.

Even if doomsday arrived—a meteorite crashing down on their heads—they'd cry out that it was a divine miracle.

It was precisely because of overwhelming despair that people worshipped the contaminant below as a god.

Zhu Ning asked: "Did you report this up the chain?"

Huo Wenxi's position was Investigation Team Leader. Any information she obtained would certainly be reported to headquarters. Given the severity of the situation, how would the First District respond?

Requesting the First Military District to send troops sounded like fantasy, but any support at all would help right now—even if it was just intelligence.

To the elites in the Divine Kingdom, this information was a trivial matter. To the people of District 103, it was life-saving intelligence.

Right now there was a colossal entity below. Shouldn't ordinary people be evacuated to shelters?

Huo Wenxi: "I reported to the First District before coming here. According to internal communications, they're going to activate a district-wide A-Level Program. If you have family you want to send away, I'd suggest having them leave now."

District-wide A-Level Program? Zhu Ning froze for a moment before understanding what that meant. She'd only experienced an A-Level Program once—at the Mechanical Oceanarium.

That time, Xuan Qing had initiated it: set a countdown, activated the barrier, surrendered bodily autonomy to Prometheus, then detonated everything inside. Everyone still in the Oceanarium was abandoned.

If this program was expanded to the entire district...

Zhu Ning had seen the High Walls before. Above the walls was an arc-shaped dome. At the time, they'd explained that in an emergency, the program would seal District 103 shut to prevent contaminant intrusion.

Now it was clear—that barrier wasn't meant to keep external contamination out. It was meant to keep the internal contaminant from spreading beyond.

Huo Wenxi said coldly: "The district-wide barrier will close. All Federation institutions are withdrawing—Garrison Troops, security departments, fire services have all received advance notice. Starting this afternoon, they've been leaving one after another. District 103 has been abandoned."

There wasn't even any resistance. They'd simply left, clean and decisive.

Huo Wenxi: "The news has leaked online."

Zhu Ning had woken up to find Huo Wenxi there—she hadn't even had time to check her Sub-Brain.

She opened it now. Sure enough, the internet was in chaos. With no confirmed information, it was all rumors and speculation.

Messages were flooding social media: "Is something about to happen? All those rich bastards suddenly ran."

"My company just gave us sudden time off. Feels weird."

"The port is packed with people—where are they all going?"

"Hahaha, guess I'll just wait to die then. I'm not running. Whoever wants to run can run."

Zhu Ning had only slept one night. She'd known things might not be great, but hadn't expected it to be this bad. Rumors were flying—yet for the first time, rumors seemed utterly lacking in imagination compared to reality. They couldn't even match a single finger of the contaminant below.

Zhu Ning asked: "What about the people who are left?"

Huo Wenxi: "Some information has leaked, but most people can't react quickly enough. Some are trying to leave but can't get tickets. Travel Permits are impossible to come by. The issue is—tomorrow evening at six, the port will close. That's the narrow window for escape."

Zhu Ning had seen contaminants. She'd witnessed existences terrifying enough to make her tremble. Yet none of it was as piercing as these few sentences from Huo Wenxi.

Those Defectives. The people living on Garbage Mountain. Zhu Ning had once been one of them. She knew what would happen to them in a situation like this.

They would truly die without ever knowing what killed them.

Huo Wenxi continued: "After the port closes tomorrow, even I won't have the authority to leave."

Zhu Ning closed her Sub-Brain and rubbed her brow. She asked a critical question: "What about the other people at the Sanitation Center?"

At a time like this, every additional person helping improved their odds. How many would voluntarily stay to fight the contaminant?

"I don't know. I'll make a public report tomorrow." Huo Wenxi paused here. "Trust me—what comes next will be even more chaotic than you imagine."

Once the barrier sealed shut, all factions would be locked in the same arena. There was no telling where a stray arrow might come from. Forget finding allies—you could die without ever knowing how.

If human society was normally civilized and orderly, this was the prelude to lights-out. Once civilization's switch was flipped off, District 103 would enter true darkness.

Zhu Ning looked at Huo Wenxi and saw the same emotion in her eyes. This was a desperately hopeless fight.

Zhu Ning asked: "Does the First District know the truth?"

Huo Wenxi: "At minimum, my family does."

Unfortunately, Huo Wenxi hadn't passed her family's test. Her actions were tantamount to betraying the Huo Family.

Huo Wenxi had once been the family's pride, but at the critical moment she hadn't stood with them.

The Huo Family knew. The Lu Family knew. The elites knew how this world truly operated. Only those at the bottom lived in ignorance.

How unfair. Wealth and status were unequal—and so was information. People at the bottom might die without ever understanding why.

Judging by the First District's attitude, they'd long known District 103 would fall. But why?

Was this some kind of deal with the contaminants?

Or was it a ritual? Something even more frightening—were they feeding the contaminant?

"Zhu Ning," Huo Wenxi reminded her. "Even though we're working together, our odds of success are probably less than five percent."

They were essentially gambling—throwing everything they had at the most unlikely possibility.

But if they truly prevented this crisis, it would prove that contamination wasn't irreversible. On a world where all land was polluted, District 103's victory would represent humanity's first successful reclamation of contaminated territory.

If they succeeded, they'd find the key to purifying the entire world.

That was Huo Wenxi's true reason for cooperating with Zhu Ning.

She was betting on five percent. As Zhu Ning said—interrupt the divine descent, find the contamination source before it fully formed. If this path was viable, she would commit every resource to the gamble.

This was the calm before chaos. Zhu Ning rubbed her brow, forcing herself to stay clear-headed amid the turmoil.

She carefully reviewed the clues she currently had. Less than six days until doomsday. Time was running out.

There were still unsolved mysteries—like the biggest question of all: what was the Mechanical Oceanarium used to relocate? What exactly had happened at the Eternal Pharma Foundation?

Zhu Ning looked up at Huo Wenxi. "Commander, I have some requests."

Huo Wenxi found the title amusing. One word from Zhu Ning had elevated her to a position where she couldn't easily refuse.

Huo Wenxi: "Go ahead."

Given the current situation, Zhu Ning could ask for the moon and Huo Wenxi would at least consider it.

Zhu Ning: "There are five days left. I want to get inside the Eternal Pharma Foundation in District 103."

This time Huo Wenxi wouldn't need to send investigators. Zhu Ning was going in person—to find the connection between the Revival Society and the contaminant.

At the same time the Mechanical Oceanarium incident occurred, something had happened at the Eternal Pharma Foundation too. They probably couldn't have erased all traces completely.

Zhu Ning couldn't enter the Foundation alone. This required Huo Wenxi's involvement.

The family head had once warned Huo Wenxi that the day of the Mechanical Oceanarium was her last chance. Huo Wenxi had missed it.

Huo Wenxi: "If there's still something inside, the Foundation could very well be a trap."

Zhu Ning responded immediately: "Walking into the trap is the only way to find the truth."

They knew far too little. In a war, reliable intelligence was critical. They couldn't go in completely blind against their enemy.

Huo Wenxi didn't hesitate. "I'll arrange it. Someone will be assigned as your teammate."

Riding coattails really did make things easier. Zhu Ning was practically being treated as a demon, yet even in this extreme situation she'd have teammates.

Zhu Ning thought for a moment and raised a second request. "Oh—could you also look into Cheetah Squad?"

"Cheetah Squad?" Huo Wenxi clearly found the name unfamiliar.

When Cheetah Squad's incident occurred, Huo Wenxi had been sixteen—she hadn't even entered the Sanitation Center yet.

By the time she joined, those files had long been buried.

Zhu Ning: "Nine years ago, Cheetah Squad received a mission to secretly investigate Eternal Pharma. But that mission was erased. Their members died, and to this day someone is still searching for their whereabouts."

Zhu Ning didn't say who the member was. Huo Wenxi heard it anyway and asked: "Xu Meng is looking into this?"

Zhu Ning's eyelid twitched. Huo Wenxi really was sharp.

Zhu Ning had accidentally sold Xu Meng out.

Huo Wenxi: "Good. You've just answered my last remaining question too."

She'd long felt something was off about Xu Meng.

Xu Meng's file had been specially processed. When Huo Wenxi investigated her, all it showed was a former Monster Hunter who'd been reassigned. The key information had been redacted.

Zhu Ning had promised to share all intelligence. Now that she'd spoken, she could only continue: "The Monster Hunter from Cheetah Squad who carried out the mission was named Cheng Mofei. He infiltrated Eternal Pharma and sent half of a file to his superior. The other half remains locked. Xu Meng is trying to crack it."

Zhu Ning paused. "I suspect Cheng Mofei learned the truth nine years ago. He tried to report it to the Sanitation Center's top brass. And then he died."

Zhu Ning had raised this before—if someone learned of doomsday ahead of time, how could they safely report it?

An ordinary person who stumbled upon a horrifying secret had only one fate: death.

Huo Wenxi frowned. "You really do know how to give me extra work."

The questions Zhu Ning raised were valuable. Huo Wenxi would pursue this angle when she got back.

Finding out why Cheetah Squad's operation went wrong could reveal the traitor inside the Sanitation Center—and might yield new discoveries.

Huo Wenxi: "If there was an error in that old mission, I'll correct it. Tell them not to worry—though they might not care anymore."

Zhu Ning hadn't said anything explicit, but Huo Wenxi had guessed the current circumstances of Cheetah Squad's surviving members. The justice they'd waited so long for might finally arrive.

With Huo Wenxi involved, at minimum a complete investigation report on Cheng Mofei would be produced. His death wouldn't go unaccounted for.

Zhu Ning trusted her on that.

Huo Wenxi stood up and put her gloves back on. She needed to get to the Sanitation Center immediately.

Zhu Ning: "Should I go with you?"

Huo Wenxi turned back to look at her: "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Zhu Ning fell silent.

Huo Wenxi: "The rumors about you are getting more and more outrageous. People who want you dead are lining up. Watch yourself. Don't show your face until I contact you. Get some rest."

Zhu Ning was the "garbage purifier." Huo Wenxi had to ensure this rare machine's safety.

"Commander." Huo Wenxi was about to leave when Zhu Ning called out to her.

Huo Wenxi turned around. Zhu Ning said: "Find the contamination source, and we still have a chance."

A district-wide infection required a contamination source. They would find clues within the limited time, deduce the complete answer, and ultimately destroy the source.

That logic still held. Their opponent had always been the contaminant.

Zhu Ning believed this firmly. It was the cornerstone of their alliance.

Huo Wenxi asked: "Are you trying to comfort me?"

Zhu Ning: "I suppose?"

Huo Wenxi: "Then thank you for the comfort."

Huo Wenxi fished a very flat box from her coat pocket and set it in front of Zhu Ning. "Your reward."

Reward?

"Tomorrow at three PM, someone will come to pick you up." With that, Huo Wenxi left. Zhu Ning was alone in the room.

After Huo Wenxi's departure, the room felt empty and quiet. Zhu Ning opened the box. Inside lay two chips.

Travel Permits.

Huo Wenxi had given her two Travel Permits. Zhu Ning had shown her Lin Xiaofeng and Song Zhizhang—so Huo Wenxi would take care of Zhu Ning's people.

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