Chapter 997: Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area and Underground City
When the Real Protection Association learned of my decision to rush to the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area to meet Monroe, the spiritual leader and president of the main association, I had already left the surface city of Igaso.
The Association quickly sealed this news and made every effort to cover up the fact that the Catastrophe Witch had left.
Dawn naturally took over the temporary powers from the Catastrophe Witch.
Although some people were unhappy about this, they had no choice; the Catastrophe Witch was the main reason why the surface city of Igaso remained stable.
Even with the establishment of the Power Network, they were still reluctant to rely on this power and engage with the expedition teams of the Demon Cities.
Therefore, borrowing the name of the Catastrophe Witch was in everyone’s best interest.
However, these people were also reaching their limits with Dawn.
Dawn generously informed them that before leaving, the Lady Witch had temporarily entrusted some important powers to him.
No one knew what those powers were; perhaps it was the highest authority over the Wanlian Main Network Tree, or perhaps the authority to deprive someone of using the Power Network.
In the end, the association experienced a few minor setbacks but ultimately stabilized.
Only Dawn did not relax, as during their last conversation he was still observed by the Lady Witch, who would keep an eye on whether the surface city of Igaso would be targeted by the All Worlds Terminal Headquarters after her departure.
If it was targeted, then Monroe would essentially be declared problematic.
However, the Supreme Agreement shouldn’t be that foolish, so they wouldn’t take action against the surface city of Igaso before officially announcing the Catastrophe Witch’s death.
With the departure of the Catastrophe Witch, the association’s original plan to infiltrate surrounding cities also slowed down. After all, without the safety net of the Catastrophe Witch, they naturally dared not reach too far.
Returning to my perspective.
The Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area was still some distance away from the surface city of Igaso.
The surface cities on both sides of the resettlement area had little connection with the edge regions of the surface city of Igaso.
Even though they were both surface cities, there was a huge gap between them.
However, despite being far apart, for a witch with flying capabilities, this was not an issue.
High above, I saw the rift that ran through the earth, like a scar of the world etched onto the ground.
The surface cities on both sides flickered with faint light in the night sky, having infinite source perpetual motion machines; the Game World enjoyed the pleasure of “infinite electricity” in advance.
Of course, this world was not powered by electrical technology, but purely by extraordinary energy, dispersed from the Void Rifts, based on the energy provided by the All Worlds Terminal.
I must say, this world was capable of reaching such a level through the All Worlds Terminal; spreading this power to every corner of the world must have taken a great deal of charm to make that decision at the beginning.
That person truly thought of everyone in this world.
But now…
My gaze turned towards the distant horizon, those chaotic areas and beneath the Ground Fault Resettlement Area; this contrast was indeed a testament to the charm of the predecessors.
According to my knowledge, the surface cities located on either side of the rift were Intango and Backala.
These place names were transliterated from the language of the Game World.
The closest one to me was the Intango surface city, which appeared even more developed than the surface city of Igaso, being near the inland core area of the All Worlds Terminal Headquarters.
The architectural scenery reflected an almost dreamlike three-dimensional city, though the developed transportation hubs appeared more decorative than practical to me.
The foot traffic within the city was sparse, after all, it was nighttime, but it seemed they lived quite indulgently at night.
I had no interest in understanding their lifestyle in detail; ultimately, I merely landed on a daily garbage truck.
Contrary to the foul odor you might expect, food was scarce in this world, which meant there was no concept of kitchen waste, and, of course, no fermented sour smell.
But to say it was pleasant… that was not the case.
This truck’s destination was above the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area.
As it tilted to dump its load, I finally saw the scenery below.
It was… a vast network.
“Here comes the garbage〜!”
Accompanied by a shout from below, the garbage poured out.
As I fell, I got a clear view of the immense entirety of the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area.
The rugged cliffs on both sides were essentially filled with houses, hand-built extensions made from those material pixel structures that emerged from the house frames.
The lower it went, the dimmer it became.
Between the cliffs were crisscrossed “bridges” built from things resembling garbage.
Some were horizontally aligned, some slanted upwards, and others were vertical.
This place resembled a modern version of a primitive forest, with those tangled artificial constructs reminiscent of vines and moss clinging between wild forests.
In the end, they intertwined to create such a “harmonious” living framework.
“Wow! Whose house is this? Did they throw out a first-rate doll?!”
“That guy is a person! A person, do you understand? Stupid!”
“Whoa, whoa! Wow! That person flew away!”
“I think you’re seeing things?”
Raucous exclamations and bickering constructed the colorful “harmonious” community atmosphere here.
And I quickly disappeared from their sight.
According to my understanding, the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area had specialized elevator structures, but that enormous vertical elevator had long been out of service.
The purpose was to prevent the lowly poor from the resettlement area from stepping on the eyes of the people from the surface city.
It couldn’t be more ironic.
The sides of the rift also had horizontal structures, but these were very few, making it very inconvenient to pass through, which led the impoverished residents here to build ropes for two-way communication.
As for safety hazards?
For them, there was no problem at all; they would change them periodically, but when to change… well, naturally, they would replace them after breaking.
Entering through a narrow passage from one side, I finally experienced what an underground city was.
The Game World’s surface cities certainly had their underground cities.
And the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area was the “entrance” to the underground city.
The downward rifts opened up natural advantages for vertical passage.
This was entirely different from the underground city of Ninglan New City.
The residents of both cliffs of the rift were just the tip of the iceberg of the resettlement area; in fact, a much larger area lay horizontally within.
Inside was mixed with all kinds of people, and a unique foul odor permeated the air.
The cramped space was filled with people, giving me my first clear experience of what it meant to have human presence.
In the Game World, this clone was just an outer incarnation; many means could not achieve outcomes, for instance, my understanding of ordinary subjects could not reach the desired effect with appropriate skills.
In this rule-less place, being attractive was not necessarily a good thing.
As for safety hazards?
For them, there was no problem at all; they would change them periodically, but when to change… naturally, they would replace them after breaking.
Entering through a narrow passage from one side, I finally experienced what an underground city was.
The Game World’s surface cities naturally have their underground cities.
And the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area was the “entrance” to the underground city.
The downward rifts opened up natural advantages for vertical passage.
This was entirely different from the underground city of Ninglan New City.
The residents of the two cliffs of the rift were just the tip of the iceberg of the resettlement area; in fact, a much larger area lay horizontally within.
Inside was mixed with all kinds of people, and a unique foul odor permeated the air.
The cramped space was filled with people, giving me my first clear experience of what it meant to have human presence.
In the Game World, this clone was just an outer incarnation; many means could not achieve outcomes, for instance, my understanding of ordinary subjects could not reach the desired effect with appropriate skills.
In this rule-less place, being attractive was not necessarily a good thing.
So I simply disguised myself, perfectly blending my attire and disheveled hair into the ambiance.
With my understanding of ordinary subjects, I could reduce my visibility in the eyes of others.
The underground city connected to the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area was even more complex than I expected. Even using the Earth Vein to obtain three-dimensional imaging of the terrain was dizzying.
It gave the illusion of a man-made ant nest; probably only those seasoned veterans who had lived here for years could navigate it so skillfully.
The Game World had a very thin concept of law; in fact, this world didn’t even have a concept of nations. They followed the rules within the game, which also synchronized with some rules of reality, encompassing the validity of law.
However, the binding force of these rules was effective only in surface cities with a sound enforcement framework, whereas here in the underground city, it essentially became a mere façade.
That was the part that made me sigh in awe.
It really is a world that can persist no matter what… But since this world can exist for so long, it has its reasons.
According to the information Dawn provided me, their channel for obtaining information from Monroe came from the real world.
It was an original means of information transmission across cities controlled by the association, with a high distortion rate in the interpretation of information.
That association president Monroe wanted to meet me in a secret area at the lowest level of the underground city within the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area.
I quickly marked this location on the three-dimensional map of the ground ridge.
“That old man is really confident… it’s so complicated in this underground city, will I really find it? If I agitate someone right now… am I not afraid of directly smashing this underground city?”
I muttered to myself, not giving this guy any face.
Regardless of whether this was a method to test me or if he was genuinely unable to disclose more details about his situation, I had to complain.
Before heading to that place, I used the authority of the Great Knowledge Seed again, employing simple observational techniques to examine the Burdines Ground Fault Resettlement Area.
The fortune there was very chaotic and mixed; perhaps my arrival had stirred things up, but that couldn’t be helped since I had to personally intervene.
Yet even so, I did not observe any targets as identifiable as the Child of Fortune.
“That old man is probably middle-aged now, right? If the Child of Fortune is middle-aged and still like this, it really isn’t suitable.”
I murmured as I walked deeper.
Even though I had mentally prepared for the situation here, I was still shocked by the baseline of life here.
The resettlement area did not have formal food purchasing channels like the surface city.
Or rather, it had been completely controlled by certain forces, and the garbage dumped here was the food for the lowest class people.
However, even so, the residents of the resettlement area at least had game devices, which were relatively widespread.
But upon closer inspection, I found that the sources of these game devices were rentals.
It could be said that as long as one played games here, they were essentially moving bricks for those in power in exchange for device rental fees.
Since the surface city needed game currency, it meant they at least weren’t completely disconnected from the Infinite Group.
From what my other clone had learned about some chaotic areas, the game equipment there was scarce, almost self-sustaining.
After wasting a bit of time, I finally arrived at the location.
Yet even reaching this place, the area still seemed vast.
Moreover, based on my perception and the displayed information, this location had already reached the very bottom of the underground, even to a certain extent below sea level.
“Hey! That old man over there!” This place is where you can stroll with nothing to do!
Do you want to go feed the fishes with corpses or what?!”
Suddenly being recognized caused me to pause.
The “old man” they referred to was naturally my appearance after disguise, slightly hunched over, so it was normal to be called an old man.
I had been purposely discovered by them. After all, how would they know I was coming without making some noise?
“Twister! When you encounter someone, report to the boss!” at this moment, another person spoke up.
“Report? That lavish big boss surely wouldn’t want to see an old man, would he?”
“Right, boss~! Didn’t that big boss say he would focus on things in a few days? Won’t bringing this guy over so soon…”
“Then… just get rid of this old thing!”
The three people guarding the few pathways leading to this area thought for a second with their knees and then disdainfully waved their hands at the one called Twister.
Just as they were about to handle it this way, I suddenly spoke in my original voice.
“You should responsibly listen to the orders from that lavish big boss.” After I finished speaking in a crisp, pleasant female voice in a wildly contrasting manner, they were momentarily dumbfounded.
Before they could even react, the two minions next to the one called “boss” exploded in a flash of fire.
—The fleeting flames illuminated this dark area.
Originally, the spot where an old man stood was now replaced by a young girl.
Her long hair gently flowed in the gust created by the explosion, and the silver hue was reflected in the orange-red light.
Seeing such a girl who was out of place in this underground city, even a trace of evil desire could hardly rise in his heart.
The two blasted figures covered in blood and flesh splattered onto him, warm and bloody liquid flowing down his face.
Instinctively, his legs weakened, and he knelt down, wanting to speak but finding he had completely lost his voice…
“Don’t beg for mercy. What I want to know, your memories will tell me.”
I spoke softly, casually deciding this person’s life and death, just like he had earlier said “deal with that thing.”
Then, his body collapsed to the ground.
The soul material returning to the circulation of the Earth Vein and the memories wrapped within were soon taken over by the Earth Vein identification wood with minimal loss.
