21 Containment Department

◎No man is worth her money, thank you◎

It was already four in the morning when Pei Shu received the call and rushed to the hot pot restaurant.

They brought a team of professional demon hunters, but before they arrived, they received a report from the technical department of the cleaning center: Hao Zhai Lai Hot Pot Restaurant is a Class C pollution area and was just activated tonight.

Before they came, they had already made preparations to collect Liu Niannian's body. As an ordinary person, she had entered the contaminated area for more than two hours and might have been assimilated into the pollutants.

If it really becomes a pollutant, the demon hunters cannot even kill Liu Niannian on the spot. They have to take a more roundabout way to bring Liu Niannian back to the laboratory.

They had made full preparations and planned to prepare three, envisioning various possibilities, but they did not expect the scene to be far beyond their imagination.

Liu Niannian sat alone on the steps in front of the hot pot restaurant, her white protective suit covered in blood.

The eldest lady held her chin in her hand, looking thoughtful.

The security team leader, Pei Shu, was a little unsure of what was going on. "Miss?"

Liu Niannian did not respond.

Pei Shu didn't dare let his guard down. He gestured, and the security team entered the area and began searching. Eight minutes later, someone reported back: "The area is clean. There are no living contaminants or remaining contaminated spores."

If the absence of pollutants is understandable, then what about the absence of contaminated spores and rotting flesh? Did someone not only flatten the contaminated area, but also decontaminate it?

In his opinion, this task would require at least a professional team of exorcists and a professional team of cleaners to complete.

Has anyone from the cleaning center been here?

But Pei Shu confirmed that he was the first team to arrive.

The person who actually cleaned up the hot pot restaurant is gone. Who is he? Why did he save Liu Niannian first and not contact the Lu family?

Pei Shu asked, "No one else?"

"No, we searched the entire street, and only the young lady was there."

Pei Shu wasn't stupid. How could Liu Niannian have accomplished this alone? Pei Shu stood respectfully beside Liu Niannian and asked, "Shall we go home first?"

If you have anything to say, let’s talk about it when we get home. We have disturbed a lot of people tonight. It is always unsafe to stay outside for too long. We can ask about it after we take him home.

Liu Niannian held up his chin and asked, "Tell me, have I been choosing the wrong direction in life all along?"

Pei Shu: “?”

His idle and useless eldest daughter has started to think about life?

Liu Niannian: "Could it be that I have a talent that has never been developed?"

Pei Shu: “???”

Narcissistic rich second-generations often believe they are highly capable and have a distorted view of the world. Liu Niannian had always wanted to be a demon hunter, but Pei Shu knew she had no talent.

She used the pseudonym Liu Niannian when she went out. After learning that one of her gardeners had been mentally polluted in a hot pot restaurant, she wanted to see with her own eyes what a real polluted area looked like.

In Pei Shu's eyes, this behavior was considered courting death. Just because he successfully escaped from the contaminated area once, he thought he had the talent of a demon hunter?

Pei Shu thought she was going to brag again, and was ready to give her a perfunctory compliment. He patiently asked, "What talent?"

"Tell me," Liu Niannian looked at his hands, "Is there a possibility that I am particularly good at something, but I don't know."

Before leaving, Zhu Ning said that she was very talented at sweeping up garbage, kept the area clean, was very fast, and provided excellent service, and that she would like to work with her again if she had the chance.

For the first time, someone asked her to do a job. She fell into a state of reflection and even reconsidered her own dreams.

Liu Niannian muttered to herself, "I'm actually... really good at sweeping garbage?"

Pei Shu: “???”

Sweeping garbage? He would never have thought that sweeping garbage and being a young lady could be combined. This must be spiritual pollution.

…

Zhu Ning's backpack was very heavy.

She collected the contaminated spores in the area, increasing the purification value by 1060.

She also got 1,060 contaminated spores and a pile of rotten meat. The storage tools in the cleaning backpack could condense one cubic meter of rotten meat into one centimeter of cubed meat.

Zhu Ning's cleaning backpack was full. But she ran into a problem: she was carrying a backpack full of rotten flesh and contaminated spores. This was definitely not something she had obtained through official channels. What should she do with it?

Find a place to bury it? What if the land is polluted?

Zhu Ning was like a criminal who had obtained a batch of weapons and didn't know what to do with them. Then she used a stupid method and made good use of the search engine.

Forum search: "Excuse me, how should I deal with contaminated spores of unknown origin?"

I have to say, this method is very practical, and there's actually a helpful post about it. A search immediately popped up with a very detailed step-by-step guide, which required going to the Contaminated Spore Containment Department, part of the Cleaning Center branch.

The containment departments are scattered throughout the city, disguised as various stores, to collect contaminated spores from the public. If anyone collects contaminated spores, they can exchange them.

The post is very smart. After automatic positioning, it shows the nearest shelter, which is quite thoughtful.

After Zhu Ning automatically locates you, the nearest shelter is displayed: the Honorable Queen Store.

Zhu Ning: “…”

Huh? That shop owner in the purple autumn sweater is from the Inclusion Department?

No wonder he was so kind to show me the way and acted so convincingly!

Zhu Ning, a local from the zombie world, went to a duck restaurant for the first time in his life and was immediately stunned by the enthusiastic cultural atmosphere there.

There was a row of muscular men inside for her to choose from. When she came in, the owner of the purple autumn clothing store was not there, and she was greeted by the introducer from the store.

"Don't like it? Isn't it too straightforward?" The introducer said, "We also have the business elite type, the soft and handsome type, the green tea brother type, and the honest and dull type."

Zhu Ning: “…”

Rich in categories, worthy of being professional.

Zhu Ning had just come out of the contaminated area. He had been dealing with the disgusting pig-headed man before, but now he plunged into the duck shop, his whole body exuding a sense of confusion and clarity.

Seeing that Zhu Ning was still not satisfied, the introducer thought that this time he had high demands and said, "If you don't like it, you can customize it."

Zhu Ning was curious: "Customized?"

"There are newly created blank characters with no memories or past. You can input any preferences you like. If there are any problems, our store can provide warranty repairs, but if you want a custom face, that's a different price. There's a copyright fee."

In the technologically advanced wasteland world, the blank person is like a blank sheet of paper, upon which customers can draw freely. This is the ultimate in objectification, where even humans themselves can be bought and sold.

What he meant by customized exclusive face was that you can buy the face of a certain celebrity, and the celebrity sold his or her appearance to the production company.

It can be mass-produced to satisfy fans' fantasies, and they earn more copyright fees for every face sold.

In the wasteland world, not only people's music, film and television works can be bought and sold, but also their faces.

After becoming famous, many celebrities sell the right to use their faces. From then on, they no longer need to sing, dance or act, and can just lie at home and collect money.

The introducer smiled and said, "Customization starts at 50 million Singapore dollars."

Zhu Ning: “…”

No man was worth her money, thank you, not even a virtual one.

"My lady, you really came out?" Zhu Ning suddenly heard a familiar voice and turned around to see the shop owner coming down the stairs.

The shop owner spoke in an exaggerated manner. Zhu Ning had dealt with him once before and was familiar with his style. He was very calm inside when he spoke, "Brother, stop pretending."

Zhu Ning: "That..."

Can you save her?

"This is my customer." The shop owner leaned against the wall and smiled peacefully, "This way, baby."

Zhu Ning, who was called baby: "..."

I didn't even know which leg to move first.

Song Zhizhang led her into a room. The door was surprisingly Barbie pink, with "Gentle Warmth Room" written on it. Inside, she found it very formal. It was decorated in pure white, with a large desk and running equipment behind it.

The shop owner really runs a duck shop during the day and deals with contaminated spores at night. It's always good to have many skills, and it's always good to have unique skills.

"Please sit down." The shop owner pointed to the chair opposite and sat on the black swivel chair.

His condition was different from before. He looked less worldly and exuded a sense of professionalism.

The shop owner coughed lightly and said, "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Song Zhizhang."

I can't believe that someone with such an elegant name and such unique dressing taste is actually called Song Zhizhang?

Zhu Ning paused, then gave his real name: "Zhu Ning."

We will have to deal with each other again in the future. Song Zhizhang is from the shelter department and has access to the internal network of the cleaning center. It will be easy for him to find out who Zhu Ning is. There is no need to hide it.

"Don't be afraid," Song Zhizhang said, "I only collect the spores, I don't care about anything else."

Zhu Ning felt relieved.

Song Zhizhang looked at her with great interest. Zhu Ning took off her helmet after entering the room. She was quite tall, probably over 175cm tall. But she didn't look like a fierce person at all. Her facial features were very three-dimensional, her face was small, and she looked heroic.

It's the kind of look that's very popular in the market, one that can be both sweet and salty. This look is particularly popular among tailors recently. She hastily tied her hair into a ponytail, which is now made messy by the helmet. She looks like she has just graduated.

But Zhu Ning flattened the Class C contaminated area. If the information he had was correct, this was Zhu Ning's second time entering a contaminated area.

The polluted area has existed for 30 years. As its old neighbor, Song Zhizhang is very familiar with it. A person who enters the polluted area and comes out alive is very extraordinary.

Song Zhizhang: "This is the first time I've seen someone go it alone."

Zhu Ning raised her eyebrows. Was he praising her?

Song Zhizhang explained: "Usually there are at least two people coming out, a demon hunter and a cleaner. Sometimes there is a demon hunter with three cleaners."

As the pollution area rating becomes higher and higher, more logistics personnel are needed, and one person simply cannot accommodate it all.

Zhu Ning also discovered this time, and she would have to solve this problem sooner or later.

"Where are your contaminated spores?" Song Zhizhang stopped chatting with her.

Zhu Ning handed over the contaminated spores and the cubes of rotten flesh. Song Zhizhang put the spores and rotten flesh into the translucent machine behind him, which was constantly scanning with red light.

"1060 contaminated spores, 300 pieces of contaminated rotten flesh." Song Zhizhang read the machine data.

"We use the same algorithm as the cleaning center. For Class C contaminated areas, the spores are charged at 700 Singapore dollars each, and the rotten flesh is charged at 500 Singapore dollars each."

"Killed 39 pollutants and flattened a Class C contaminated area."

"Pollution spore income: 742,000, rotten flesh: 150,000, pollutants: 1,170,000, contaminated area: Level C: 1,000,000."

With every number Song Zhizhang announced, Zhu Ning's joy level climbed higher.

"A total of 3,062,000 Singapore dollars." Song Zhizhang gave the final price. "Without teammates, this money doesn't need to be divided equally."

Three million! Zhu Ning earned three million from his second mission!

Song Zhizhang: "After deducting the one million yuan for the pollution containment and treatment costs, you still have 2,062,000 Singapore dollars left."

Zhu Ning: “???”

Are you trying to rob me?

Song Zhizhang explained: "Unofficial processing channels are more expensive, so I didn't make any extra money from you."

The technology for treating contaminated spores is monopolized by cleaning centers, and no other company is doing it. The cost is high, and the price is correspondingly high.

Zhu Ning used to work for the official cleaning center and didn't have to worry about how to contain and deal with the contaminated spores.

Zhu Ning asked, "Aren't you from the cleaning center?"

"Yes and no." Song Zhizhang: "It's hard to explain. You will find out slowly in the future."

It sounds like it was once a department of the Cleaning Center, but was later suppressed and moved underground. Grave posts are not visible to everyone and must be pushed to the "right" people to avoid causing confusion.

The polluted areas mentioned in the tomb posts are all old areas that the cleaning center does not care about. Resources are limited, and as long as there is no pollution chaos, the cleaning center will not interfere. I don’t know how many Hao Zai Lai hot pot restaurants there are in every corner of the federation.

Zhu Ning thought about it and decided that there must be an underground organization.

They provided people with a full set of standard weapons and equipment, professional uniforms, and even equipped them with specialized helmets with smart panels. They posted notices directing people to decontaminated areas, and finally established specialized facilities to contain the contaminated spores, forming a complete industry chain.

Such a large organization and institution must have someone behind the scenes.

Only one person can do all this and connect the resources and information of the entire cleaning center.

Zhu Ning thought of someone and asked, "Who is your boss?"

"Just as you thought," Song Zhizhang looked at her steadily, "He's the one who chose you and me."

Prometheus, is it really it? Why would an artificial intelligence do this?