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墨書 Inktalez
In the Beggar's Nest, solitary beggars could be seen wandering around at any time and place. This had once been their paradise, where heaps of garbage were transported from various locations.
Their daily meals consisted of whatever scraps they could find among the trash. If they were lucky enough to encounter fresh refuse, they might come across a piece of bread or something similar. This kind of existence, relying on begging and scavenging for food, was prevalent in many places, regions, and even across the world.
Long ago, during the early days of the Nuclear War, developed countries used to provide relief supplies to these beggars. For instance, they established hardship assistance foundations. A certain television station, driven by a spirit of altruism, sent out a documentary crew to delve into the issues surrounding the plight of wandering beggars.
An old beggar squinted his eyes; from the side, it seemed as if he was gazing up at the gray sky. In reality, his closed eyes were filled with longing for the good days when he received help, still lingering in his memories.
The old beggar muttered a name: "Muzi." "Muzi is a good robot; he shouldn't have died."
Xiao Qiang was drawn in by the old beggar's words and halted his hurried steps. He leaned closer to the old man and shook his dirty arm. "Sir, are you okay?"
The old beggar suddenly opened his murky eyes. His thick lips, missing several teeth, moved as he said, "Muzi is dead. No one brings me food anymore; this old beggar is going to starve."
"Who is Muzi?"
"A robot."
"A robot? Did he bring you food?" Xiao Qiang thought he must have misheard and pressed on. "Is it really a robot? What about your family?"
The old beggar's lips quivered as he struggled to contain his sorrow. "They are all dead; it's been many years. They never found the body."
Xiao Qiang couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. He turned back to Nair and said, "Cancel the order; wait for me here."
Nair stood there in a daze, her eyes darting as she focused on the old beggar.
Xiao Qiang dashed back to the car to find some food.
Indeed, there was food in the police car; it was Zhong Xuan's habit to eat whenever trouble arose or things got tense. So there were supplies in his vehicle. When Xiao Qiang returned, he had several packages of prepared food in hand.
The old beggar cradled the food given by this stranger, tears welling in his eyes as he stared at it for a long time, trembling lips unable to form words.
"Sir, where did you say that Muzi robot is? Can you tell me?"
The old beggar raised his murky eyes and replied, "Muzi is dead; he died right here—burned to death."
“……” Xiao Qiang was stunned, not expecting that the suicidal robot had a name. “Old man, do you know anything else about the other robots?”
The Old Beggar seemed genuinely hungry, devouring the food without responding to his inquiry. Xiao Qiang handed him a bottle of pure water. “Take your time eating, old man. Don’t go anywhere; just wait here for us. I’ll come back to take you to a good place.”
The Old Beggar nodded mechanically and suddenly said, “There’s someone crying in the black house to the east.”
“In the black house to the east? Who is crying?”
The Old Beggar fell silent again, and no amount of urgency from Xiao Qiang would change that. The Old Beggar appeared insane, leaving Xiao Qiang unsure whether his words were true or false.
Without further thought, he sprinted towards the location of the black house in the east.
Han Ming and Zhong Xuan followed the Foreign Guards to check nearby houses, which were all dilapidated ruins. These were the homes where beggars survived.
Some had no doors, only two walls, resembling broken houses with a shape similar to a flatbread. They were filled with various repair tools used by the Foreign Guards for fixing machinery.
Zhong Xuan went with the guards to inspect one of the houses but didn’t notice when Han Ming slipped away from his side.
Han Ming felt uneasy; he was disturbed by the memory of someone shot dead by the guards earlier. He recalled that just minutes ago, he had separated from Xiao Qiang to check out the surrounding area.
Anxious, he intended to discover who had been killed. He stepped into an open space and scanned his surroundings until he finally spotted a corpse lying not far away.
Han Ming rushed over, momentarily forgetting that there were gunfire points set up inside the metal framework. As he exposed himself to their line of fire, a sudden burst of gunfire startled him so much that his heart nearly leaped out of his throat.
Fortunately, there was a pile of scrap materials next to the body, and he quickly took cover behind it. His heart raced wildly.
The gunfire also alerted Zhong Xuan and the guard.
The cold-blooded guard chuckled and said, “Nice! Another one bites the dust.”
Hearing this made Zhong Xuan feel cold all over; it seemed they treated killing someone as casually as squashing an ant. Anger burned within him as he wished he could smash that guy's head in. But upon reflection, given his age, he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against him.
Then he remembered Han Ming. “Han Ming? Where is he?” Zhong Xuan became anxious and hurriedly told the guard, “My assistant has wandered into your line of fire.”
The guard grinned maliciously. “Oh no! He’s done for.” The Sichuan dialect rolled off his tongue so smoothly that if one hadn’t seen him, they might have thought he was from Sichuan himself.
Zhong Xuan's anger was instantly ignited by the other person's casual remark. In close proximity, with the opponent completely unguarded, he suddenly drew the hidden handgun from his back and pressed it angrily against the guard's temple. "Quickly tell your buddy down there that the person below is mine."
The guard, taken aback, warned Zhong Xuan to be careful and not to accidentally pull the trigger. He helplessly replied, "It's useless. Whether I go or not, I'm dead. That position has no lookout tower and no telescope. As soon as they see anyone in the area, they'll shoot to kill—there's nothing we can do about it."
Zhong Xuan gritted his teeth in frustration, cursing the Outsider for being so brazen as to kill and set fire on his turf. He urged, "Stop wasting time and hurry up to give me a signal."
Under Zhong Xuan's pressure, the foolish guard reluctantly took off his shirt, hoping that another guard would see him. He stepped into the open area, waving his shirt vigorously and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hi is my—"
"Bang bang bang!" The bullets flew without mercy, hitting their target. The once arrogant guard suddenly went pale, his body riddled with holes. Blood oozed from the wounds as he swayed unsteadily, his eyes wide open in terror as he stared at Zhong Xuan.
At that moment, Han Ming seized the opportunity to escape. Sprinting at full speed, he reached Zhong Xuan and grabbed him to run away together. They dashed into a room that resembled a storage area, filled with the smell of gasoline and cluttered with scrap metal.
"That's not scrap metal; it's a robot," Zhong Xuan said as he moved closer to inspect it.
Indeed, it was the remains of a robot.
Xiao Qiang had also heard the gunfire but was now too close to a dark room in the east to retreat in time.
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