novelhk Chapter 22 Businessman
Chapter 22 Businessman
The settlement is a "doomsday fortress" built by the Federation for the survivors after the end of the shelter era.
On this planet, there are hundreds of settlements, named with a unified number prefix. They vary in style, but each is said to be able to withstand almost all natural disasters.
This information came from Lily, while Xu Yang himself held a conservative view on it.
Can withstand all natural disasters?
If human regimes truly possess such formidable technological capabilities, why bother with dividing up buffer zones and safe zones? Wouldn't it be simpler to just lead humanity back?
All these thoughts wavered after seeing the scene ahead clearly.
Like in a science fiction movie, a hollow, giant black cuboid stands in the distance, facing a huge square opening. The details inside are unclear, but it emits a hazy white light, creating a kind of psychedelic beauty.
The vehicle continued on its way.
A row of gray walls, adorned with peculiar circular "ornaments," appeared on the highway, blocking the road to the settlement.
The two cars slowly came to a stop in front of the wall, and the decorations on the wall emitted a red light that swept across the vehicles from top to bottom.
Then, very quickly, with an almost imperceptible tremor, the wall slowly collapsed into the ground...
But for Xu Yang, the matter did not end there.
Behind the wall, in a place that looked like a sentry post, two burly men in black came out and immediately impounded his car.
Then, he was asked to show his ID card.
This is a card used to record identity and for everyday transactions.
But Xu Yang is not Lily; in this world, he is even an unregistered resident.
Without an identity card, where would the identity card come from?
Just when he thought he was about to suffer a terrible fate, the two men suddenly became happy and, without saying a word, pulled him into the outpost...
A short while later, Xu Yang walked out of the outpost, holding a white card in his hand.
This is the ID card; it's valid in any gathering place.
From now on, his identity has changed from an illegal immigrant from another world to a legitimate federal citizen.
The identity card even came with 100 contribution points, and Xu Yang didn't even know what he had contributed.
I just went in and had my name and face recorded; the whole process took no more than five minutes.
……
"Is this Human Federation alright?"
Xu Yang held the steering wheel with one hand, while using the other to feel the gentle breeze outside the car window.
My heart is pounding!
Ahead lay a cluster of houses of all shapes and sizes.
There are no skyscrapers, only buildings of various haphazard shapes and random colors: shacks made of bones, huts made of brown wood, detached houses, semi-circular metal dwellings, and even houses made directly of mud and thatch...
They surround the massive rectangular building, presenting completely different styles: the former is a rough, magical realism, while the latter is a cold, technologically advanced future.
It presents an extremely absurd style.
The vehicle slowed down slowly, and the two parked it on the cement ground marked with white lines. It was a public parking lot.
At that moment, other people were also parking their cars nearby.
Xu Yang stretched his legs, feeling as if he had returned to the world before he transmigrated.
He looked in the direction of the sound of the door slamming shut.
It was a yellow sports car, the kind that looked very expensive just by looking at its lines.
Xu Yang originally thought that a man in a suit and tie would walk out from among them.
Then, a metallic clanging sound was heard, and a man wearing cold steel-colored medieval armor stepped out from the other side of the car.
The armored man noticed the gaze from the side and slightly raised his somewhat comical frog-beak helmet.
He said, "Isn't my armor cool?"
"..."
"handsome."
That's how male friendships begin.
Xu Yang learned that the armored man's name was Feng Yue, a "genuine" survivor of Settlement No. 3, who ran a clothing store with his father.
The armor he was wearing was one of the items among them.
Xu Yang was very interested in this. If he also wore a metal can and activated the Body-Shattering Technique, the visual effect would be explosive.
However, they both had things to do right now, so they simply exchanged contact information and agreed to talk again when they had the chance.
……
Xu Yang followed Lily toward the huge rectangular building.
The building has a name; the survivors call it the entrance to the settlement.
On his way to the entrance, Xu Yang felt as if he had met everyone he hadn't seen since his transmigration.
I even witnessed some species diversity on the streets, where houses and shops were roughly separated—
You can see two green-skinned burly men arguing with each other, a woman with a colorful snake tail, and an octopus wearing a fitted suit, among other things.
Compared to these survivors whose species are not even clearly distinguishable, the tattooed women in ancient costumes with their flamboyant, punk-chic style are clearly conservative.
In short, there are quite a few survivors in the neighborhood who have begun to resemble humans, but most people still maintain their human form.
Xu Yang thought he had entered some kind of hellhole, but Lily remained calm and composed, with the air of a seasoned veteran.
……
Upon entering the settlement, the black walls were covered with gaps that shimmered with white light, illuminating the entire space.
In the center, there are four bases at the four corners, forming a square silver-white light curtain.
Lily disappeared immediately after stepping into the light curtain. Xu Yang stepped forward, feeling somewhat excited.
Teleportation!
Lily had explained this before she entered the light curtain.
On the other side of the light screen is the actual area of Settlement No. 3, which is located underground and is jokingly referred to by the survivors as the "tunnel".
The buildings on the ground today were constructed by the survivors to facilitate reconstruction after the most chaotic and dangerous period of the cataclysmic era had passed.
Xu Yang slowly walked into the light curtain, looking left and right. There was almost no hesitation in his movements, and the scenery in front of him suddenly blurred.
He was now in a plaza, with a giant "artificial sun" overhead.
Warm and bright light spilled over several regular buildings, most of which looked like metal matchboxes of different sizes, with a few high-rise buildings, but overall they all had a kind of cold regularity.
That's how it should have been.
Unfortunately, some of the "matchboxes" have various signs hanging on their outsides, and some sales shelves are placed on the edge of the road.
The streets were bustling with people, but not as lively as up there.
Lily was waiting for him up ahead.
They had two purposes for this trip: first, to dispose of the supplies they no longer needed, and second, for Xu Yang to undergo implantation of a lubricant at the clinic.
……
Before long, the two stood in front of an impressive metal building, smaller than any of the surrounding "matchboxes." Above the glass doors was a plaque with a rather fantastical name—the Secret Treasure Tower.
Xu Yang stared at the bare roof and the somewhat bulky overall architectural design, still unable to find the "tower"...
"Welcome!"
Upon entering the shop, a small yellow ornament resembling a lucky cat on the counter makes a sound.
There were four other men nearby.
They were tall and burly, fully armed, and didn't look like the kind of people who would joke around. One of them even had a silver metal arm and was sitting near the door in the store.
They appear to be bodyguards to prevent unruly customers from skipping out on their bills.
Behind the counter was the shop owner, a slightly overweight middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, whose face looked quite friendly.
At this moment, he was holding a bottle filled with black liquid, trying to sell his product to the customer opposite him.
"This is all fresh black water. I had someone bring it from Future City. It was extracted from the cyborgs that the research institute rejected. The yield rate is very high."
"I'm not lying to you, it's two thousand a bottle, you won't find it for a lower price, I'm just making enough to cover my travel expenses."
The customer across from him was clearly interested. He was a young man with white hair. He carefully took the bottle of black liquid and examined it closely.
He hesitated for a long time before taking out his ID card from his pocket to pay.
Xu Yang, on the other hand, felt somewhat suffocated.
He looked at the "black liquid" in the guy's hand; it was a "burnt biochemical plug-in".
Perhaps it's an isolated case, but shifting our gaze to the row of shelves behind the shop owner—[Water with dye added], [Burned...], [Water with dye added]...
Good heavens, there were nineteen bottles of black liquid in total. Thirteen of them were counterfeit products with added pigments, and the rest were just waste liquid.
A genuine swindler!
Xu Yang glanced at the bodyguards next to him a few more times. He had previously thought that the bodyguards were arranged to prevent guests from stealing things, but now it seemed more like they were there to prevent the boss from being beaten to death.
At this moment, the owner, having seen off the previous customer, greeted her warmly: "Oh, it's Lily! You're back so early. Looks like you had a good haul. What did you bring back this time?"