Chapter 63 Is This Not a Corpse?
“I don’t mind at all,” Vivienne replied as she returned from her brief surprise. “Having someone willing to give me a ride to work is certainly more comfortable than biking myself.”
“But…” She looked around unsteadily, frowning, “Where are you planning to find a truck? Don’t say I didn’t warn you, stealing or robbing in the southern part of the city is strictly prohibited in the Hailake Community.”
“Just in the south? So that means it’s allowed in the north?” Luxianbei keenly caught the hint in Vivienne’s words, raised his eyebrows slightly, then shrugged and said, “Don’t worry, my truck is definitely legitimate.”
As he spoke, he turned and walked towards a small alley not far away.
A few minutes later, an unlicensed van slowly emerged from the alley.
Oh? Is it a truck summoned through abilities? What an interesting power! Vivienne squinted her eyes a bit, then walked forward, opened the passenger door, and got in.
“Let’s head southeast.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me where I got this truck?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Vivienne replied.
“You’re not afraid this is something that was stolen?”
“If it is, I’ll just return it later…” Vivienne said, “As long as I return it after I’m done using it, doesn’t that mean it’s not stealing?” Hearing this, Luxianbei nodded.
He felt that Vivienne’s reasoning made sense, or rather, it was deeply agreeable to him…
The sky was overcast with dark clouds, looking like a heavy rain was brewing.
Street 76, where the Hailake Community is located, is in the southeast of the Free City. To the west is the famous South Street, and further south is the bay that separates the Free City from the Queen’s City by a long distance.
As they departed from Street 76, the pedestrians on the street quickly dwindled.
Between Street 76 and South Street lies a well-known area locally, about the size of half of Street 76, characterized by old apartment buildings and unfinished constructions, where a significant number of the so-called lower class congregate…
Broken streetlights, trash scattered everywhere, an unpleasant smell wafting in from who knows where, and the eyes of homeless people glinting like beasts…
A pale woman with sunken cheeks, dressed in filthy clothes, leaned against the shadow of a street corner, her crying baby in her arms, yet it seemed as if she hadn’t heard a thing, stretching her trembling hand towards a discarded syringe on the ground.
All signs indicated that this area had long been neglected by municipal management.
Typically, no one would stay in such a place for long; impoverished and filthy, plagued by diseases, people would do anything for a measly profit…
At that moment, a shadow darted across the uneven pavement, “smack!” it was crushed by the passing van, spraying foul-smelling bl**d and flesh everywhere.
Feeling the truck jolt slightly, Luxianbei turned to look at the drowsy Vivienne in the passenger seat, “We just ran over something, it seemed alive… Should we get out and take a look?”
Vivienne lifted her eyelids and dismissed it, “No need, just a rat.”
She always seemed to be this way, unfazed by anything, not even expressing any opinion when Luxianbei suddenly “brought” an unlicensed van; she was the first to get in the car, seated in the passenger seat, buckled up, and waiting to depart.
After observing, Luxianbei felt that the only thing that could stir this girl’s emotions would probably be the alcohol in her hand.
“A rat? That big?” Luxianbei exclaimed.
The size of that shadow made him suspect it might have been a cat or a small dog.
He’d heard that accidentally running over cats or dogs was a serious matter in M Country, easily inviting extreme reactions from people, and if it was someone’s pet, it would be even more troublesome, so his fears weren’t unfounded.
“Speaking of which, is no one managing this situation here?” Luxianbei hesitated, asking Vivienne.
Since arriving in M Country a few days ago, he had been on the go, rushing around to complete the tasks assigned by the Wordless Book and dealing with various random matters… He hadn’t had the time to properly observe the Free City itself.
Now, driving to their work location, witnessing scenes he had only seen depicted in movies about slums — dirty, chaotic images — he felt somewhat surprised.
Everything he was seeing was quite different from his understanding of M Country.
Although he had learned about such chaos in M Country through online channels a long time ago, it seemed the situation wasn’t as severe before the nights began to lengthen.
It was almost as if the city had contracted some kind of chronic disease, and with the lengthening of the night, it suddenly developed into Nightfall Syndrome, reaching a level where it could swallow lives at any moment…
Once, someone had managed things, but now there was nothing, and even if they did intervene, it would be of no use. Vivienne gave a somewhat perfunctory explanation, then took a swig from the bottle that only had a little alcohol left.
Passing through this chaotic area and heading towards the Grand Canal, a relatively large waste treatment plant soon came into view, surrounded by an endless barbed wire fence. Through the wire, mountains of garbage could be seen, with some large excavators operating within, engines roaring as they dug deep pits to push the trash into and then cover it up.
Landfilling… This was a common waste treatment method in M Country.
Deeper within that garbage site, smokestacks could vaguely be discerned, continuously belching thick smoke, filling the air with a foul smell.
Could it be related to Ariel Corporation? Those trash bearing trademarks probably need special handling, right? Luxianbei pondered.
He suddenly realized that if the trademarks of Ariel Corporation, which were omnipresent in the Free City, had a special connection to the trademark curses, then the materials added during the production of those trademarks inevitably involved substances related to those curses.
As they passed by the barbed wire fence, Luxianbei noticed where it had been cut; it seemed someone had snipped it open. From the gap, he occasionally saw figures reminiscent of scavengers entering and exiting.
If certain groups realized those trademarks contained special materials and secretly collected them for refinement, what could they obtain?
Could the “items” that supply spirit energy to those vigilantes that Zhipianxian mentioned be related to this?
Seeing those figures, such thoughts arose in Luxianbei’s mind.
Just then, before he could think further, Vivienne’s voice interrupted his musings.
Years ago, the municipal management agencies had spent a great deal of time and money to rectify this area, but each time after they finished, within a few months, everything would return to square one, like weeds that wouldn’t burn out.”
The half bottle of alcohol had finally been consumed, and noticing that Luxianbei was still observing the scenery outside the window, Vivienne began talking to herself.
Later, under some indescribable influences, the municipal management of the Free City finally freed themselves from this haunted place that had drained their spirits.”
“Indescribable influences?” Luxianbei frowned slightly, “Are you referring to Ariel Corporation?”
In the silence, Vivienne turned to look at Luxianbei, her gaze warily assessing him from top to bottom.
Could this woman suspect that I have any relation to Ariel Corporation? It was true; I was just being targeted, Luxianbei thought, shrugging and explaining in as casual a tone as possible, “I’ve heard a little about the grievances between our community and Ariel Corporation.”
“Did Annie tell you that last night?” Vivienne sighed without sound, “Just consider everything you heard about Ariel Corporation’s retaliation as nonsense; don’t take it seriously!”
Although there were rumors that the waste treatment plant, controlled by Ariel Corporation, was built there as a revenge against the southern residents, it was only speculation without any real evidence to prove they truly had such intentions.
After a pause, Vivienne muttered to herself.
Another claim was that half of this city was dead; even without Ariel Corporation secretly working harm, it could never be fixed, or rather…
The entire M Country, the whole world was… Vivienne supplemented the second half of the sentence in her mind.
“Crash!”
As Vivienne spoke, the long-awaited heavy rain finally began to fall.
The rain mingled with pollutants wafting in the air, taking on a gray-black hue, pattering against the windows with a “whoosh.”
Vivienne’s voice was soft, and it was unclear whether she was speaking to Luxianbei or just to herself, which prevented Luxianbei from catching the latter part about Ariel Corporation.
“What did you say? Dead?”
“Nothing, just focus on driving!” Vivienne rolled her eyes, pointing at the clock on the dashboard, “Doing the math, we have only forty minutes to work when we hit the canal. Can’t you hurry it up?”
“If we don’t return on time today, this debt will be on your head.”
Luxianbei: “Who was the one who took so long and still dares to put it on me?”
But what does that mean? Only “half died”…
From her tone, it seemed she wasn’t referring to being abandoned, neglected, or stagnated in development?
He couldn’t comprehend how a city could be “dead.”
However, as they gradually approached the Grand Canal, seeing the other side of the canal, he understood one thing — undoubtedly, the half that had not died should be the north side of the city.
The sky was hazy, and even through the rain, the northern part of the Free City looked breathtakingly beautiful, despite only being able to see vague outlines.
In the distance, within the district filled with skyscrapers, an above-ground building was continuously playing various advertisements for Ariel Corporation; some figures probably from a girl group danced gracefully in the mist and rain, showcasing their youth and beauty…
Bang!
The doors of the boxy truck slammed shut.
Dressed in black raincoats, Luxianbei and Vivienne jumped off the vehicle, the silver reflective strips on their clothing glinting faintly in the dim light.
“Here, this is for you.” After rummaging around in her coat, Vivienne pulled out a mask and gloves made of some special leather and handed them to Luxianbei.
“What is this?” Looking at the oddly shaped mask and gloves, and then at Vivienne, Luxianbei voiced his confusion, “What is this?”
“Protective gear!”
Vivienne rolled her eyes.
“Are you planning to come into direct contact with those corpses? You should know that genuinely valuable corpses are mainly spirit ability users, and do you know what a spirit ability user’s corpse signifies?”
“I don’t know.” Luxianbei said expressionlessly.
In front of Vivienne, he was still the amnesiac Yu Yinchuan. How could the amnesiac Yu Yinchuan know these things?
Of course, acting should be thorough!
However, he was well aware that a spirit ability user’s corpse signified the Nightfall Syndrome.
Even for high-level spirit ability users like “Yu Yinchuan,” prolonged exposure to the Nightfall Syndrome would cause significant damage to their bodies.
So… Is Vivienne actually quite nice? Luxianbei thought.
Vivienne gazed at Luxianbei for a couple of seconds with profound meaning before pouting, “If you don’t know, then fine. Just make sure to wear it if you want to live; otherwise, in less than a month, your body will have serious problems.”
“By the way, this set of protective gear costs two thousand five hundred dollars from the official price, but I’ll charge you two thousand six. Just remember this debt will be deducted from your salary each month!”
“Wait?!” Luxianbei interrupted with a frown, “The official price is two thousand five, and you charge me two thousand six?”
“What else?” Vivienne rolled her eyes, “Do you think this stuff is available to anyone?”
Although Ariel Shipping claimed that this protective gear sold for two thousand five hundred dollars was available at all shipping stations, in reality, it was impossible for the lower-level staff to enforce it strictly.
Buying protective gear for a hundred or two hundred dollars above the original price was common for those wanting to join the corpse retrieval profession.
It proved true that no matter where you are, there will always be those who take advantage of the little power they possess to do as they please.
Luxianbei: “I take back what I just said.”
Just as he was at a loss for words, Vivienne had already headed towards the riverbank.
The river churned with a murky gray-black color, faintly exuding the Nightfall Syndrome.
If there were deep-water monsters hidden beneath this canal, Luxianbei wouldn’t find it surprising.
Vivienne crouched on the riverbank made of dark gray bricks, staring at the river surface, slightly lost in thought.
Seeing this, Luxianbei walked over and tentatively asked, “So… what are we doing next? I mean, what’s the main task of our work?”
The work content, of course, was to retrieve corpses… Vivienne replied blandly, “What else can corpse retrieval workers do?”
“I know that, but…”
Luxianbei looked at the empty surface of the river, “Where’s the corpse?”
“Isn’t that a corpse?”
Vivienne’s voice rang in his ears, and as Luxianbei looked down, he saw that the previously still river surface had, unbeknownst to them, quietly revealed a corpse that had turned pale from soaking, as if summoned by her words.
Luxianbei, “???”
