Chapter 40 Underground World
The night wind was a little cold, and it poured into the hovercraft, blowing Heshia's hair. She sat alone in the back seat with her head on her hand, thinking about what happened just now.
Heshia has never been fond of a social marginal person like Qiaolong. If it weren't for her special talent that made her sure that the other party was not lying, she would never agree to come out.
Accepting an invitation from a stranger or even an enemy and going to a dangerous area is not a wise move.
But because of the talent of the singer, under the perception of soul synchronization, Qiaolong's anxious and regretful emotions were conveyed to her, which made her hesitate a little. Should she really refuse and watch a life pass away? That person was someone she had met before.
She stood in the corridor and thought for a minute. If she refused this time, although it was not her fault, she would always feel a little regretful and sad.
She was really soft-hearted, like a fool, Heshia thought to herself.
But if everyone lives so smartly and profitably, it would be very tiring, right? She just follows her feelings and does what she wants to do. If even this is distorted, then what is the point of all the efforts?
After experiencing many life changes, Heshia has long seen the truth of life, and she no longer cares about many things that outsiders care about.
"I can't escape this feeling of being right."
Although she doesn't like Qiao Long, she doesn't want to go against her heart when it comes to saving people.
After sorting out her thoughts, the girl felt inexplicably lighter in her heart, as if she had broken through some mental barriers.
"What situation did you encounter tonight?" She suddenly asked.
"Sorry, Miss, I didn't tell you clearly before." Qiao Long answered in time in the front row.
"It's not a fight or brawl between lower-level gangs. I'm embarrassed to disturb your life with such a thing. This time we encountered a special situation. The other party is not a normal human being. He is like the master before, losing his mind and losing control like a beast."
"Are there many such cases?" Heshia originally thought that only a few people encountered the same situation as herself, but according to Qiao Long's description, it seems that the real situation is not the case.
"Although the underground world was very chaotic in the past, and many people went to extremes in pursuit of strength improvement, in general, it was still for desire or ambition, and they would not be so stupid as to make themselves crazy, which would be no different from death."
"But this time the scope of the impact is very wide, as if suddenly, there was a group of people in the underground world, they attacked people like mad dogs, and made a mess."
"Such a situation, the Federation will not care?" The girl was puzzled.
"The federal government will take care of the residential areas above the 70th floor, while some of my companions stay in the world below the 70th floor, which is a place that the star network cannot reach, and it is very bad and chaotic."
"Why are they there?"
"Because most of them don't have normal identities, just like you think, there are many scum, illegal residents, and fugitives there, but there are also some people who are stranded underground for historical reasons."
"In the corridor of your residential area, you should still see some protest slogans in the past." Qiao Long suddenly mentioned this.
"I know, what are those?" Heshia had a vague understanding in her heart.
"That's right. In the past, there have been serious protests in Arpeggio City, or in the northern districts. At that time, the conflict between residents and the government had reached a very serious level, and the federal government even had to mobilize troops from the south to suppress it."
"The decline of the Four-Leaf Crystal Star Region has led to many social problems. Welfare has been cut continuously, and life at the bottom has become increasingly difficult, while a small number of upper-class people are not affected. This has led to deeper and deeper resentment, and finally erupted."
"People smashed government facilities and institutions, destroyed surveillance, robbed supermarkets, and so on. In the chaotic situation, order gradually collapsed."
"My master was involved in one of these incidents and was eventually expelled from school. A serious record was left in his file, which resulted in him no longer being able to enter major colleges to study, and even finding a job. From a genius who was the focus of everyone's attention, he fell into an unemployed vagrant in the lower-class residential area."
"Under the threat of the government's troops and the appeasement of the government, the turmoil of that year gradually subsided, and many people were pardoned, but a small number of core members in the conflict were expelled, or had serious records in their files. They were displaced and could only flee to the underground world to survive together."
"They also have children and descendants, but these children do not have federal resident ID cards and can only live there for the rest of their lives."
"My little brother Blue, the one you feel is very fat and tall is him. He was born like this."
"He has been with me for many years, from the age of 15 to now. He has grown from being dark and thin when he was a child to being white and fat now. Later, I spent some money to get him an identity at the police station, so that he can enter and exit some facilities in the federation normally."
"Although such a file is not strong enough and cannot withstand too deep investigation, it is already a very good treatment compared to those brothers and sisters underground. They can even receive free relief meals every month."
"Relief meals..." Heshia fell into deep thought.
She had eaten that kind of thing before. To be honest, the taste was very bad. It was to mix artificially synthesized protein powder and other nutrients into starch, and then compress and seal it after mixing evenly. It had to be soaked in hot water to eat, otherwise it would be difficult to swallow.
Unless they were beggars or people who really couldn't go on, no one would go to get this kind of thing to eat.
But even so, such food was a rare hard currency for the underground world.
Because there is no star network and various facilities and terminals, the electronic federal currency cannot be used in the underground world, and most of them rely on barter.
"What do people in the underground world usually eat?" The girl continued to ask.
"Eat garbage." Qiao Long answered.
Arpeggio City is an industrial city, and there are also many food production plants. After producing T5\T6-level food, there will be a lot of unqualified products and wasteful raw material residues. Although normal people will not want these garbage, they are important products for the underground world.
Every year, underground gangs will fight and kill for these "garbage". The large-scale death of normal federal residents will attract the attention of management AI, but the lives in the underground world are not valuable. Three T6-level standard meals can make a small gangster kill for you.
"Do the government and the police know about these situations?"
"Of course they know, but maybe they don't understand them carefully." Qiao Long shook his head slightly.
"As long as we maintain a certain level of peace and order and do not disturb the lives of residents in the city above the 70th floor, they will not bother to care about us sewer rats."
"Sometimes we will also help the police deal with some inconvenient things, such as finding people and lost items, and knocking on certain companies and enterprises."
"Some companies' legal affairs are very powerful, and they will also seek a lot of profits for themselves within a 'reasonable' range, withdraw and leave afterwards, and then throw the remaining problems to the government. When these governments and police are not convenient to take action, they need us."
"Alas..."
The girl sighed softly, not wanting to comment on such a gloomy and real world.
"Let's talk about what happened tonight." She turned to ask about the specific matters of tonight.
"Okay, what happened tonight is mainly related to the blocked D390 industrial zone. There is a milk factory there, and it is also the place where we often receive 'garbage'..." Qiao Long began to talk about the chaos caused by the milk factory and then spread.
...
"In other words, everyone who drank their milk tonight has undergone a mutation?" The girl sorted out her thoughts.
"Yes, because the milk is about to expire or has expired. It can't be stored anymore. After being transported to the underground world, it will be consumed quickly."
"Didn't you check it? Oh, I was wrong." The girl shook her head. Why would she check the taste and safety when she had to survive on garbage and expired food?
"No, because I've been here before." Qiao Long answered and continued.
"When they first drank it, some people said they felt full of strength and inexplicably excited, and then many people responded that they felt the same, so more people tried it."
"Everyone thought that what we encountered today was a batch of excellent defective products, that is, T4-grade food that was eliminated. T4-grade food has certain extraordinary effects, even if it is expired and damaged. It is normal to feel powerful."
"Just like that, the situation slowly changed during the scramble. Some people became more and more excited and started fighting. The impact expanded until it became unmanageable. Those who drank the milk also became like crazy and became out of control..."
"The above is all the information I know. I hope it can help the young lady."
"Uh, actually you don't have to call me young lady."
Heshia suddenly realized that Qiao Long's address was wrong. This was the nth time he said this tonight. She was thinking about something before and didn't pay attention.
"I'm just an ordinary student. You probably know my family situation." Heshia denied.
"It has nothing to do with family background. You are willing to take risks to come to the underground world to save my companions. Out of respect and gratitude for your character, I am willing to call you Miss."
"I am very sorry for what happened before. It was my mistake. I am willing to accept any punishment from you in the future. If you need me, you can use me at will."
"It's too humble to use me at will," the girl shook her head.
"But maybe, there are indeed some things I need you to help me find out..." She thought of her father who had been missing for nearly a year.
She didn't know what happened to him and why he suddenly left home.
The secrets of the past were waiting for her to reveal step by step.
(End of this chapter)
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