cost
After saying that, he continued to clean up the empty bowls and plates on other tables, piling the iron trays up high. However, the robotic arm was still dragging it steadily without any sign of shaking.
After saying goodbye to the boss, the three of them walked out of the noodle shop. Ding Ruotong, who was walking last, was savoring the food she had just eaten and looking at the sign of the noodle shop with some reluctance in her eyes. Her stomach had been completely captured by this shop.
Liu Xia turned her head inadvertently and saw everything Ding Ruotong did.
The idea of living in the City of Black Gold permanently began to emerge in her heart. Since her body in the real world was dead, it meant that her consciousness would be trapped in the wasteland world forever. Instead of wanting to die in the garbage area, it would be better to try to gain a foothold in this City of Black Gold.
"If we want to obtain the identity to stay here, what do we need to do?" Liu Xia stared into the void and thought for a while, then turned to look at Song Xuan beside him. "Or, is there any price to pay?"
From the side, Song Xuan's nose is very straight, and his face is stern when he is not smiling. He is indeed a rare handsome guy. Compared with those stars in real life or on TV, he has his own merits. But at this moment, his hair is wet and sticks to his forehead due to the heat, and he looks a little embarrassed.
"The price?"
Song Xuan took a deep breath. Surprisingly, he wasn't happy that Liu Xia wanted to stay. He silently put the bulging bag on his back and shook his head. "It does cost money. You don't want to stay here."
"I'll take you to where you live first."
After saying that, he walked forward, not wanting to continue discussing this topic.
Liu Xia looked at Song Xuan, who was walking silently in front of him, in confusion. His straight back seemed to sag a little because of this topic.
What kind of price could have caused Song Xuan, who always remained calm when faced with a trap, to avoid it so desperately?
How terrible is the price?
The residence is not far from the hospital. It is a five-story low-rise building. The mottled exterior walls and faded window frames give off a sense of decadence from years of disrepair. When viewed from downstairs, it looks a bit old and dilapidated.
However, looking at the dilapidated old buildings, they can actually stand the test of time better than those super high-rise buildings with thirty or forty floors. This can be seen from the fact that there are almost no buildings with more than twenty floors in the City of Black Gold.
The corridor was surprisingly clean. It was obvious that the people living here took good care of their living environment. The strange thing was that the building was now deserted without a single human voice. The only sound one could hear was the footsteps and friction of three people's shoes on the concrete stairs, as if it were an empty building.
When he reached the fifth floor, Song Xuan used an old-fashioned key to open the iron security door on the left side of the stairs. The iron door was covered with a thin layer of dust. Judging from the thickness of the dust on the door lock, the owner of the room had obviously been out for some time and had not returned.
Although the room is simply furnished, it is surprisingly tidy. The afternoon sunlight shines through the old-fashioned window frames, forming several oblique squares on the tiles, vaguely reflecting the scenery outside the window.
Liu Xia looked at the furnishings in the room. It had two bedrooms and a living room, and was fully equipped with basic amenities such as a sofa, desk, coffee table, and bed. There was even an old 50-inch TV. He just didn't know if this big thing could still be used. It was once again consistent with his impression of an ordinary house.
“This house is well preserved.”
Liu Xia couldn't help but sigh softly, and then turned around inadvertently, and saw Ding Ruotong following closely behind him, looking at the furnishings in the room like a curious baby, and seemed to be very novel about the environment here.
"Atong, haven't you seen this kind of old-fashioned room?" Liu Xia asked puzzledly.
Ding Ruotong was stunned by the question, then smiled sheepishly and retracted her curious gaze. "I think everything here is very novel. The fresh vegetables and braised fish, and the delicious noodles just now, are all things I've never seen before. This house is also like..."
"Like what?" Liu Xia asked.
Her expression showed an exploration of new things. Her usually dull look became lively, and her peach blossom eyes with slightly upturned corners became sparkling, not even the bloodshot eyes caused by fatigue could hide it.
"It's like coming to a new world. Don't you think everything here is very different from the outside?"
Liu Xia was slightly stunned, recalling everything he had experienced since arriving in the wasteland world.
The City of Black Gold is indeed very different from the wasteland. Except that everyone has mechanical prosthetic limbs, the people here retain their living habits before the nuclear explosion, and even the living environment is almost the same as in the real world.
The environment in the garbage area is more like the world after a nuclear explosion, with people struggling to survive under nuclear radiation, and even slaughterhouses and gourmet restaurants that use human flesh as food.
"Yeah, why is there such a big difference?"
Liu Xia suddenly realized that she didn't find it strange because she had memories of the real world, so she took it for granted that everything was normal.
"In the City of Black Gold, ordinary residents, with the exception of the hunting teams, are unable to leave. Everything here is controlled by the Leviathan, and everyone must perform their duties like machines within a specified timeframe."
Song Xuan stood in the middle of the living room, looking at Liu Xia. He placed his backpack on the coffee table and said solemnly, "Haven't you noticed that since arriving here, aside from the occasional hunting team, there are almost no people wandering around the streets?"
The two were attracted by Song Xuan's voice and looked at him together.
Liu Xia suddenly thought, no wonder he hardly saw anyone from the Black Gold City in the garbage area, this was the reason.
Song Xuan walked to the door and closed it, then continued, "This city is like a giant machine. All residents must strictly abide by the rules of Leviathan. Otherwise, they will be expelled to the polluted area and won't even be eligible to work as scavengers in the garbage area."
"What rules?" Liu Xia asked puzzledly.
"If you were a resident here, your body, your offspring, your life, everything you own would belong to Leviathan," Song Xuan said with a pained expression. "That's the price I just mentioned."
"Everything..." Liu Xia looked at Song Xuan in shock, wondering if he had heard it wrong.
If it comes at the cost of giving up human freedom, perhaps people living in garbage areas are not all unwilling to do so.
The wasteland world is indeed very anti-human no matter where you live.
"Yes, everything." Song Xuan's eyes were filled with despair. He pointed at his mechanical prosthesis and continued, "The first rule is that all residents of Black Gold City who reach a certain age must undergo mechanical prosthesis modifications corresponding to their occupations."
"Many people die every year because of this rule, especially residents whose occupations are classified as hunting teams. This is why the living conditions here are good, but the population hasn't grown much."
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