With a snap, all the lights in the room came on. Zhang Qinghuan found himself in the living room of a dilapidated apartment building, the windows covered with thick curtains.
His brothers were still lying unconscious nearby, none of them dead.
Zhang Qinghuan's mouth slowly opened wide as he looked across at his opposite.
Sitting opposite him was Luo Wanya.
“Well, I’ve interrogated your younger brothers. You really didn’t let slip anything about Qing Chen Supervisor, at least your mouth is still tight,” Luo Wanya smiled. “What I fear most is meeting a useless person, without any merits. After all, we need to use this gang’s cover to work for the Leader.”
Zhang Qinghuan's mind was a little muddled. He had clearly heard the sound of throats being slit, knives piercing flesh, and the sound of gasping breaths, so how come none of his brothers were dead?
At this time, a Silver Family member not far away moved his mouth slightly and then mimicked those sounds again.
Zhang Qinghuan was startled. There was actually someone here who was skilled in vocal imitation, what artistry!
Luo Wanya asked: “Your Arts Society… what kind of name is this for a gang? I’ve seen Black Dog Gangs, Protein Bar Freedom Gangs, Daily Homosexual Gangs, but to be honest, this is the first time I've seen a gang like yours. It's serious, yet has a hint of unseriousness, making it seem like a literary and art troupe.”
“It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?” Zhang Qinghuan weakly said.Luo Wanya thought for a moment and said: “Next, you have to cooperate with us. We’re going to pretend to be members of your gang to do some things. By the way, what do you guys who are in gangs usually do?”
Zhang Qinghuan was stunned for a moment: “Big brother, we usually spend our time in prison.”
Luo Wanya: “?”
Zhang Qinghuan reacted: “We usually just smuggle some Cybernetic Limbs, and occasionally go to nursing homes to act as thugs.”
“Interesting,” Luo Wanya gestured for the Home Families to untie Zhang Qinghuan and the others. “I’ve been ordered to do something in City 22. What just happened is a necessary process. These days, being cautious is responsible to your brothers, I hope you don’t mind, we’ll all be family from now on.”
“Okay… okay,” Zhang Qinghuan slowly stood up.
He was a little bewildered. What was Qing Chen Supervisor trying to do by sending so many Gene Soldiers here?
Wipe out all the gangs in City 22?
……
……
Ninth District, Pigeon Cage Building.
“Bang bang bang!”
There was a rough knocking at the door, the dilapidated apartment door creaking.
There were several bullet holes on the apartment door, and someone outside was using a mechanical eye to peek through the bullet holes, looking inside like a cat’s eye, not at all shying away from the fact that the owner of the house was inside.
Qing Chen calmly asked: “Who is it?”
“Blackwater Gang collecting protection money!” a young voice shouted.
Blackwater Gang, Qing Chen had an impression of this organization. They were the ones he had mowed down with an automatic rifle on the Steam Train.
They made their living by smuggling, trafficking women and children, and selling human organs.
Qing Chen calmly walked to open the door. As soon as the door opened, a cold pistol was shoved into his chin.
Three young men crowded in, one of them smiling and saying: “Newcomer, where are you from? Are you ready for the protection money?”
Qing Chen slowly backed away: “Sixth District, my investment in the blockchain went bankrupt.”
“No wonder you’re still intact, it seems like you had a pretty good life before,” the young man sneered. “How much do you owe? Do you want me to find you a way to make money? Otherwise, you won’t even be able to pay the protection money.”
“Why should I pay protection money?” Qing Chen asked.
“Because this entire building is managed by our Blackwater Gang, everyone who lives here has to pay two thousand yuan a month,” the young man said. “If you pay, you won’t die. If you don’t have the money, I’ll find a way for you to make it.”
Qing Chen curiously asked: “What way? I don’t sell organs.”
“You don’t have to sell organs to make money,” the young man smiled. “Have you heard of Cross Game?”
Qing Chen shook his head: “No, I haven’t.”
“It’s run by bigwigs in City 22, specifically to help poor people in the lower three districts get out of poverty. As long as you win the game, you can get a lot of money,” the young man said.
“What do I need to do?” Qing Chen asked.
“You need to be the prey, and then big shots will hunt you down,” the young man explained. “Within 168 hours, you just need to do everything you can to survive in this city, you can’t leave the city, you can’t fight back and kill anyone, as long as you make it to 168 hours, you can take away 10 million!”
In the Federation, 10 million was enough for a poor person to make a class leap, at least enough to buy a small house in the fifth or sixth district. As long as you don’t live extravagantly, you can live your whole life without any problems.
The young man asked: “So, pay protection money or become prey, or are there other ways to make money, those methods are simpler.”
Qing Chen calmly said: “I’ll pay protection money.”
Saying this, he took out two thousand yuan from his wallet.
The young man's eyes lit up, because he saw that Qing Chen still had a few hundred yuan left in his wallet.
However, these young men didn’t continue to press him, they just patted the money in their hands: “He’s sensible, let’s go, brothers!”
After saying this, they turned and left.
Qing Chen pondered, they just left like that?
The young man’s look as he left told Qing Chen that these people would definitely come back again, but they couldn’t do it now.
It seems that there are certain rules in this lower-class world, gangs can’t openly attack those who have paid protection money.
Otherwise, collecting protection money in the future will be very difficult.
At least not openly.
Qing Chen looked around the cramped room, ten square meters, one room and one bathroom, except for a dirty bed, there was almost nothing else.
The water pipes in the pigeon cage building were still good, but the sewage had long since broken down, so the toilet couldn’t be used.
The landlord simply blocked the toilet.
At this time, Qing Chen sent a message to Yang Yang: “As agreed, I’m in the lower three districts now.”
Yang Yang: “Now you know why we want to change the world.”
Qing Chen: “I know.”
Yang Yang: “As agreed, although it’s hard there, you must stay for at least a month.”
This was the exchange condition between Yang Yang and Qing Chen. She went to Osaka to take young Zhenji to see her mother and then bring young Zhenji back to Luo City, that’s what Yang Yang needed to do.
And what Qing Chen needed to do was to experience the lower three districts for a month.
Actually, in this exchange, Yang Yang didn’t really benefit, she just wanted Qing Chen to understand what the Inner World was really like.
Qing Chen put down the phone and shook his head. Actually, the moment he stepped into the lower three districts, he understood everything.
He didn’t dislike it at all, instead, he breathed in the pain of every person, every second, and thought about his own direction.
As he was thinking, a small head poked in from outside the door. Qing Chen looked, and the moment the other party met his gaze, he immediately shrank back in fright.
It was the little boy who had stolen Qing Chen’s phone before, the mechanical eyes on his eyes looked particularly jarring.
“Come in, I have a few questions for you, I’ll give you money,” Qing Chen said.
The skinny boy, who looked like a matchstick, walked in timidly: “What do you want to ask? One question for one yuan, no less.”
“What’s your name, how old are you?” Qing Chen asked.
“Zhang Mengqian, 13 years old, that’s two questions, you have to give me two yuan!” the little boy said.
Qing Chen frowned and looked at the little boy, silent for two seconds before asking: “Where are your parents?”
Zhang Mengqian leaned against the wall, his voice filled with indifference: “I don’t have parents.”
“I’m paying,” Qing Chen said.
Zhang Mengqian hesitated: “This question costs two yuan. I ran away from home from the seventh district. They’ve already booked a buyer. When I turn fourteen, they’ll take my kidney.”
Qing Chen felt his breath catch in his throat.
So, this was the Inner World.
Master Li Shutong adopted so many orphans, it wasn’t a matter of whether he wanted to fight or not, but if he didn’t adopt them, some children really wouldn’t survive.
Qing Chen asked: “Why did you come here?”
“I think you’re different from the people here. Let me remind you, honestly paying protection money will get you killed. You have to understand what resistance is, only then will they dare not touch you easily,” Zhang Mengqian said. “A kid like me understands this, why don’t you? Consider this my repayment for you catching me but not beating me up.”
Qing Chen asked: “What will those from the Blackwater Gang do to me?”
“Although they’ve left now, they’ll still sneak into your room at four or five in the morning, first anesthetize you, and then take one of your kidneys,” Zhang Mengqian said.
“Understood,” Qing Chen nodded.
“Why aren’t you scared at all?” Zhang Mengqian asked.
“I’m scared, very scared,” Qing Chen got up and walked towards the door.
“You haven’t paid yet,” Zhang Mengqian said, chasing after him. “Also, I’ll give you some information. They’ve definitely tricked you into participating in Cross Game, right? Actually, everyone who participates will die. Those rich people will use the most advanced weapons to hunt down the prey. Even if the prey miraculously survives for 168 hours, they will die anyway because they don’t want the media to know about this game. Besides, the reward is actually given to the intermediaries like the Blackwater Gang. They don’t really intend to pay 10 million to an ant.”
This child was surprisingly precocious, and when he talked about the things in the lower three districts, he was very knowledgeable.
Qing Chen took out a hundred-yuan note from his wallet and gave it to Zhang Mengqian, who directly stuffed it into his pants, making sure it wouldn’t be visible when he walked before he felt relieved.
Even today, in a technologically and internet-advanced Inner World slum, paper money is still used because it is still the safest way to avoid taxes and launder money under big data surveillance.
At this time, Qing Chen passed a door, and saw five people inside wearing brain-computer interfaces, sitting quietly, occasionally making painful sounds.
“What are these people doing?” Qing Chen asked.
Zhang Mengqian glanced over and casually replied: “They’re hired by businessmen, using brain-computer interfaces to connect to their brains, and then using their brain’s computing power to mine in the blockchain. The businessmen rent them equipment and pay them wages. This way of making money is quite simple, but it kills you quickly.”
“These people look young, but many of their brains can’t take it, usually they’ll die before they turn thirty.”
Qing Chen calmly looked at this scene. This is the world where the weak are no longer protected by the law, the oppression from capital is not to lock you in a cage, but to let you go in yourself, and then willingly become a pig.
He turned around and walked down the stairs out of the pigeon cage, the little boy asked behind him: “Where are you going?”
“To work.”