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墨書 Inktalez
Chaos!
This was Lin Yuan's first impression.
Despair!
This was Lin Yuan's second impression.
Clearly, feelings of safety, belonging, and the sense of home were nowhere to be found here, nor did anyone dare to hope for them. Almost everyone, at every moment, was preparing to kill others or to be killed themselves!
There was no faith, no hope, no refuge. Living here reduced existence to mere shells; everything reverted to the instincts of beasts.
This was the Slum of Mechanical City!
Worse than Lin Yuan had imagined.
As he reached the end of the passage, a hunched figure with a face full of wrinkles stood there, an extremely old man staring blankly at Lin Yuan and his group. Only when his gaze fell on Thomas did a barely perceptible warmth flicker in his eyes.
"Hey! Captain, Kress, let me introduce you. This is my brother, George III. Ahem, this is actually my home. Although it's a bit messy, at least it's a place to stay, right? The main thing is that if you're not familiar with this area, it's hard to find your way around because all the buildings in District 98 are haphazardly constructed. There are new changes almost every day. Even someone like me, who knows the ins and outs, could easily get lost in no time."
Thomas awkwardly introduced.
"I understand; it’s not bad here. Let’s go inside!" Lin Yuan replied calmly but took an extra moment to observe Thomas's elderly brother. It was indeed a bit strange, but he understood it was related to the Cell Vitality Modification Point. Perhaps long ago, Thomas had managed to break through to E1 level and gained a stronger and younger body, but his brother George III had not been so fortunate.
It seemed that life at the very bottom of Mechanical City was far from optimistic; even someone like Thomas, an E1 level Mercenary, struggled to support his family and could only take care of himself.
Thomas's home was chaotic but spacious—probably over a thousand square meters—filled with various clutter as if it were a junkyard.
"Hey! Captain, sorry for the mess. This house was built by my parents five hundred years ago. Back then, it only had 1,097 floors. In just a few hundred years, it has accumulated nearly two thousand floors! I remember when George and I used to run around here every day," Thomas continued with a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
Lin Yuan listened with great curiosity. "You built it yourselves? Is there no one to manage it?"
"Of course, Captain, you might not believe it, but three thousand years ago, when District 98 was just opened, the highest floor was only a few dozen stories high. As the population increased, the buildings gradually grew taller. Since there was no land left on the surface, if you wanted to build a house, you had to construct it on these high floors. You only need to pay a fee to the local powers here, and the rest is up to you to build. Fortunately, Mechanical City lacks many things, but it never runs out of discarded Mechanical Bodies, which are incredibly sturdy. So, it's quite easy to construct something. Of course, there are regulations; for example, the height must be guaranteed at zero meters, and the load-bearing pillars of the house must connect successfully with the next floor. As long as this is ensured, even if a battle breaks out here, building up to a thousand floors would pose no safety hazards. Even you, Captain, would take at least an hour to destroy an entire floor. So overall, it's not too bad."
"However, because of this, those living on the higher floors are mostly the poor and beggars. The wealthier people reside on the lower floors, while the surface becomes extremely luxurious—every inch of land is precious. There, you can buy almost anything at reasonable prices. But don't expect genuine goods; everything sold in the Slum is black market assembly products. If you have time, Captain, you might as well take a stroll; I guarantee you'll get your money's worth! Back in the day, that troll loved digging around there for treasures," Thomas added with some insight.
"Hey! Enough already! Mr. Papaya, you need to fulfill your promise!" At this moment, Kress, who had been irritated for a while, finally exploded.
"Ah, sorry about that; it was my oversight!" Lin Yuan smiled slightly and then released Kress from his confinement. "Kress, you're free now; you can go wherever you want."
"Not so fast! The matter isn't over yet; you still haven't told me what happened back at Sub-base S-15! How did you know Jordo and Vansdell were internal threats?" Kress was clearly stubborn and still fixated on what had happened earlier.
"Alright then, I have questions for you too, Kress. This time I'll explain first." Lin Yuan didn't pretend to be mysterious this time and explained directly: "Here's how it went: I'm not a prophet or anything like that. However, my friend Thomas has a crush on Wansdell; he sees her as his childhood goddess. So for Cheng Ren's sake, I sent him and Fat Three to practice with Wansdell and cultivate their relationship. When Vansdell first knocked Thomas and Fat Three down like dogs, she secretly spread Ghost Bacteria III into their wounds. Based on my current guess, she probably recognized my identity when we first met; that's intriguing but not important. What matters is that someone as clever as Wansdell didn't anticipate how close Thomas and Fat Three were to me."
"So when I saw Thomas and Fat Three getting beaten up like that, I generously gifted them precious Modification Points. At that time, although Ghost Bacteria III silently invaded their bloodstreams, it hadn't fully taken effect yet. Thus I easily discovered it. As we all know, Phantom Bacteria is indeed powerful but also easy to clean up. So not only did I save Thomas and Fat Three, but I also learned that Wansdell had some undisclosed interest in me. Therefore, I ordered Thomas and Fat Three to maintain their original appearances while keeping in touch with Vansdell and observing how things developed."
"During this process, I discovered something wonderful: every time Wansdell knocked Thomas and Fat Three down again, Mr. Jordo personally brought them back to me. That was interesting; if I hadn't known Wansdell's intentions beforehand, I might have overlooked it. But why was Mr. Jordo so eager? Just for a little gambling incentive? After all, he's a D1-level expert! So I concluded that Mr. Jordo must have his own story."
"But I still didn't act rashly until Captain Bermington of the Interstellar Exploration Ship appeared. Initially, I planned to be just an extra or even join Bermington as a filler subordinate. But then I was surprised to find that Mr. Jordo and Wansdell remained loyal to him. So I decisively concluded that this was a huge conspiracy; if I really chose to be an extra or hide behind Bermington's side, I'd probably lose my life. Thus I reluctantly stood by your side, Kress; as for what happened later... well, you already know!"
Lin Yuan spoke quickly but clearly enough for Kress to understand. Her expression changed several times before she finally sighed in resignation. "Alright then; I believe everything you've said so far about Mr. Papaya. Therefore, I must express my gratitude to you; we need to talk privately."
"Understood!" Lin Yuan waved his hand as Thomas and Fat Three along with his brother George III stepped outside.
But Kress still wasn't reassured; she quickly took out three glowing sticks and tossed them into the air. Once activated, they formed a private secure space.
"Mr. Papaya," Kress said solemnly now, "after hearing my secrets, you may inevitably get caught up in this whirlpool. Are you sure you want to hear more?"
"Do I have any choice? Although Bermington is wanted by Mechanical City’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for some reason he knows my identity; no matter what I do he and his backer won't let me go," Lin Yuan replied calmly. "So just tell me everything you know!"
"Well, Mr. Papaya, since you were once an Executive of the S-15 Sub-base, you must be familiar with the term 'rebels,' right? So, what do you think rebels are?" At that moment, Kress unexpectedly turned to Lin Yuan and asked.
"Rebels? Well, literally speaking, it refers to the act of resistance, usually manifested as the weak opposing the strong or as justice fighting against evil. I rarely hear about evil resisting justice or the strong opposing the weak because that wouldn't be called rebellion; it should be termed as harm and oppression, wouldn't you agree?" Lin Yuan said proudly. It was quite a feat for him, someone who had never excelled in language, to come up with such a classic explanation, almost comparable to a masterpiece.
Kress paused slightly, looking at Lin Yuan with a strange and surprised expression. He seemed to ponder something but ultimately said helplessly, "Alright, Mr. Papaya, let's pretend I never asked this question. It's quite amusing that you believe this world exists in shades of gray rather than black and white, that there can be situations beyond just good and evil! From the beginning, Mechanical City has been the strongest Lifeform faction of the Galactic Federation, always aiming for aggressive expansion. As long as any Intelligent Life within this range reaches a technological level capable of exploring the stars, they will be forcibly relocated to Mechanical City through various means to form a united empire. Earth Humans are just one of them. Before that, countless Intelligent Life forms had already been relocated by Mechanical City. About a million years ago, Mechanical City forcibly relocated the Intelligent Life from Mars within the Solar System to Mechanical City, which is when Mars transformed into what Earth looks like today."
"At that time, Martians secretly formed a rebel organization. They allied with other intelligent races multiple times in an attempt to overthrow Mechanical City's rule. Although they ultimately failed each time, this organization did not perish; it continued to gather strength in secrecy while waiting for the opportunity to resist. When Earth Humans finally met the criteria three thousand years ago and were relocated here, it was no surprise that this rebel organization initially formed by Martians also included Earthlings. To my knowledge, all of Earth's Seven Great Families participated in this organization, including my own family. Initially, I had no strong objections to this rebel organization; I even supported it. However, after learning some truths later on, I became filled with disgust towards them. I'll just mention one point."
"That is, this rebel organization developed a virus similar to mechanization. They attempted to use this virus to enhance Earth Humans so they could resist Mechanical City's relocation efforts. This is the truth behind the so-called Energy Crisis; the virus they spread ultimately caused at least hundreds of millions of humans on Earth to mutate into Mechanical Monsters, including insects and plants, completely leading to Earth's destruction. However, this experiment was clearly a failure; Mechanical City instead launched a devastating campaign and forcefully eliminated most of the mutated Mechanical Monsters on Earth, relocating the remaining approximately 100 million Earth Humans to Mechanical City."
"But they did not stop there. Did you notice those twenty identical Mechanical Warriors beside Bermington? Doesn't it seem strange? Indeed, that's part of their newly executed plan. I don't know what methods they used; they can seemingly assemble a Mechanical Body equivalent to an E7-level Mechanical Warrior out of thin air. Then all they need to do is transplant and connect an Intelligent Life's memories into it to instantly create a makeshift Mechanical Warrior—convenient, quick, and absolutely cost-effective! If their plan succeeds, they could accumulate hundreds of billions or even trillions of Mechanical Warriors in no time!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan finally understood everything. He had been curious why Gatekeeper only had a memory program yet could instantly transform into an E7-level Mechanical Warrior; now he realized where the problem lay.
However, Lin Yuan remained calm and said, "I can assure you they won't succeed! No matter how many Mechanical Warriors they manage to create, it will be useless!"
Lin Yuan knew very well how formidable the upper echelons of Mechanical City were. Even those S-Class beings or SS Rank experts could easily crush those rebels without breaking a sweat; this wasn't an exaggeration but rather a suppression of strength. Moreover, how could such a powerful military as Mechanical City fear such trivial schemes?
"You are correct; however, here's the problem: What if this is actually sanctioned by the upper echelons of Mechanical City?" Kress suddenly exclaimed in shock.
"What?" Lin Yuan was genuinely startled by this revelation. "Do you have any evidence?"
"No. This is just my sister's speculation; therefore there’s no evidence or any clues indicating it's true!"
"Your sister Claire again? What exactly does she know that you don't? Damn it!" Lin Yuan said in frustration.
Seeing Lin Yuan like this made Kress smile slightly. "Mr. Papaya, judging by your reaction, it seems you're also lying to me in certain aspects!"
"Hmph! So what? You tell me all these secrets—what do you want? To awaken my sense of justice? Hmph! You're mistaken! I'm not interested in any of this! Also, if there's no evidence, it's best not to speculate recklessly! If the upper echelons of Mechanical City are indeed behind everything we’re discussing here—why bother struggling? We might as well just end it ourselves!" Lin Yuan said with some annoyance.
"That's not how it is, Mr. Papaya. Regardless of who they are, everyone has the right to survive. Of course, don't worry, I'm not a saint; I don't feel the need to save countless pitiful lives. I just want to save myself and find my sister. That is my greatest wish, my only wish. As for everything else, I won't concern myself with it. There's a saying: if you don't seek death, you won't die. Those people, since they want to resist, must be prepared to face slaughter. However, the current issue is that the resistance organization doesn't need to wait until they confront Mechanical City directly; they will capture us and kill us first. Mr. Papaya, you, me, Thomas, and Fat Three—we're all in the same boat now; we can't escape. So, after saying all this, I just hope we can cooperate and share the risks together!"
At that moment, Kress revealed her cards seriously.
"What if I choose to refuse?" Lin Yuan remained unmoved. Why should he? If he entered Mechanical City's training camp now, it would guarantee him decades of smooth sailing. As for everything else—who cares?
"That's fine; you have the right to refuse. I just hope, Mr. Papaya, that you can keep this a secret for me. Of course, I'll keep your secret too—even if I'm captured! So, goodbye! If there's another chance."
To Lin Yuan's surprise, Kress turned and left decisively. He was still in a daze when Thomas and Fat Three returned. He had originally planned for what to do if Kress threw a tantrum or made a scene, but it seemed he had overthought it.
After a long while, Lin Yuan snapped back to reality and couldn't help but chuckle bitterly to himself—he really had thought of himself as the center of attention!
No one is that simple. Take Claire for example; she had been with him for so long and still had many secrets. Although this might be out of goodwill, Kress was a master of D-Class! As long as she acted cautiously, she could still thrive in Mechanical City!
So why did he think Kress would have to rely on him to survive?
Having figured this out, Lin Yuan felt much more at ease.
Whatever happens, let it come; challenges will arise and obstacles will block the way. Life is tough, but one must remain optimistic. Even if things get worse, he still wouldn't lose hope! (To be continued.)
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