57: Chapter 41: Admission Tickets 57: Chapter 41: Admission Tickets Money for life…
“Do you see that guy in the red suit over there?” Little Fatty pointed to a blond man standing at the defense construction passageway entrance.
The man wore a formal red suit, sporting a black earpiece and was communicating nonstop, his lips moving constantly.
“He’s distributing ‘tickets’,” Little Fatty said, “He was in charge of coordinating the last batch.
At that time, there weren’t many people, and I was skeptical.
The tickets were also expensive; I hesitated about going.
Almost 2,000 people were let through.
Ah, I regret it so much now.
I was already in Hui City District.”
“Is there still doubt?
There are so many rats.” Xu Yang shook his head, “If there’s a chance, we must go.”
I was handling affairs here in Number 26 Highland,” Little Fatty said, anxious, “and then suddenly there was a power outage.
It took 30 minutes to come back on, and I had no idea what was going on.
Everyone was confused, and then gradually we heard that Katagi District was flooded by a huge swarm of rats.”
“It’s not just Katagi District; they’re coming here next.” Xu Yang looked back.
In these few hours, the Ratmen had been lying in wait, preparing a much larger offensive.
For the technically and physically weak Ratmen, facing the heavily defended Hui City District, they would certainly attack with caution.
“That’s why everyone is stopping here,” Little Fatty pointed at the crowd and the closed passageway, “literally waiting for death.”
Xu Yang looked at the checkpoint facilities, embossed with the nameplate of Aizu City’s Civic Service Company.
Every city had its own civic service company, providing services like water, electricity, roads, infrastructure, and security, but these were the most basic and rudimentary services.
Anyone who cared about quality of life would not choose them.
“They have no reason not to let us through,” Xu Yang said, “You should have all hired your own security services.”
The contract stipulated that in times of crisis, security companies must come to evacuate people from danger zones, and according to Corporate Alliance law, the civic service company had no right to stop people from leaving.
“Yes, yes, many of the last 2,000 people got through because they had bought security services.” Little Fatty sighed, “But what do you mean by ‘all hired your own security services’?
The reality is that most people haven’t!”
“What about your own security service?”
“The signal is too poor; I can’t connect with them.” Little Fatty said, helpless, “I went for something cheap from a security company in Great Ocean District.
They send me a message every two hours, always saying they’re on their way.”
Xu Yang used to work in Kyushu High Pavilion, where the company was directly responsible for his safety.
All employees were under the protection of Kyushu High Pavilion, and the majority of people from surrounding cities had purchased annual or lifetime security services from Kyushu High Pavilion.
But here, how could people afford security services?
They could only pay tribute to gangs for temporary peace.
There were at least 20,000 people here.
Xu Yang looked around.
Everywhere he saw was crowded with people, densely packed, an endless sea of heads, countless citizens overwhelmed and exhausted.
The colder he felt as he thought about it.
At least 20,000 people here…
When the Rat Tide approached, they would be trapped alive between the company-set checkpoints and the Ratmen.
“A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.” Xu Yang muttered to himself.
“What?” Little Fatty asked, puzzled.
“The Ratmen will consume everyone here, clean,” Xu Yang said.
“Impossible,” Little Fatty said with doubt, “If a Ratman army really does approach, the civic service company should let us through.”
“Not necessarily,” Xu Yang shook his head, “You all haven’t bought security services; to the company, you’re unplanned for, non-existent.
Only those who provide benefit to the company are considered valuable.
Maybe getting rid of you would actually be a good deal for them, making it easier to defend this place against the rats and to thin out the excess population.”
“I’m not excess population,” Little Fatty said urgently, “I’m also a boss, albeit a small one.
It’s just that my funds are too tight; who knew Aizu City’s Underground City would become so dangerous?”
“Yeah…” Xu Yang agreed, “This place is under Anjiu City, which in turn is right in the heart of Kyoto Infinity’s territory—a place that wouldn’t even be affected by corporate wars…”
“…” Little Fatty’s expression became more worried, “Really…
Are we really going to die here?”
“The chances are high,” Xu Yang said, “Since the city service company has blocked the connection…”
What if he hacked the barrier?
If he turned off those anti-riot gun turrets, retracted the barriers, shielded the interceptors, and took the electromagnetic interference devices offline, people could pass through the connection point without hindrance, leaving this cursed place for Hui City District.
This wasn’t the sunless underground excavation fields, just a step away from Hui City District, a return to the land of civilization.
The company could easily detect the hacking activity and then locate and deal with Xu Yang.
He was still on the Alliance’s wanted list!
It was too risky to act rashly.
Millions of people were likely eyeing his head.
Xu Yang thought silently.
Back in Number 26 Highland, Katagi District, one could say it was isolated from the rest of the world, but Hui City District was another scene entirely, and a fugitive would certainly not be allowed to roam freely under the company’s watch.
He would only attempt it if absolutely necessary.
“Brother,” Little Fatty sized up Xu Yang, “you don’t seem to be very anxious?”
“Ah, I’m still okay,” Xu Yang turned back and pointed to his shuttle machine, “Buddy, I have a shuttle machine I can use.”
“That won’t work,” the fat man said, “There are interceptors at the roadblocks that will shoot through the shuttle machine.”
“Yeah,” Xu Yang nodded nonchalantly, “I know.”
“” The fat man realized that Xu Yang had a way to break through the barriers.
“Take me with you,” the fat man hurried to say, “I have money, I’ll give you as much as you want!
“Don’t rush,” Xu Yang gestured for the other to calm down, “My surname is Xu, what about you?
What exactly do you do?”
“I’m Zuo Hongchen,” the fat man said, “I run an import and export trade company in Hui City District, Jumen Commerce Corporation.”
“So you are the head of a trade company,” Xu Yang found this interesting.
Although the other party was a capitalist, he was of the lowest class.
“Right,” Zuo Hongchen sighed, “Look at me, now I am just a small business owner trapped here, who knew that in just one day’s work, I wouldn’t be able to return to my company.”
“Anyone who can set up a company under the pressure of giant corporations is pretty impressive,” Xu Yang mused, “And you’re so young, too.”
This little fat guy was probably around 24 or 25 years old, probably a rich second generation.
Zuo Hongchen didn’t respond, seeming very uncomfortable.
He bent down and stared at the ground for a long time before finally straightening up.
“My mouth is dry and I’m thirsty,” Zuo Hongchen’s voice was hoarse, “To be honest, I haven’t eaten anything for 10 hours.”
“You should’ve said so earlier, brother.
I still have some supplies here.” Xu Yang pulled Zuo Hongchen towards the shuttle machine.
“What the hell happened?” Farosa immediately pressed Xu Yang for answers as he approached, “You’ve been talking for so long, is there anything useful?”
“The passage was sealed by Aizu City’s Civic Service Company,” Xu Yang explained, “The reason is simple, the people here are too poor to be worth saving; and by sealing off this only passage, it’s convenient for them to deal with the rats.
As long as the people here don’t rush over and cause trouble, they can comfortably prepare their defenses on the other side of the corridor.
Hui City District has basically resolved the disturbances caused by the rats, leaving only us stuck here.”
“Then we’re done for, aren’t we?” Farosa didn’t quite understand some of the details but could draw a conclusion.
“Wait and see how things unfold,” Xu Yang said calmly, “We must not panic.
Besides, if they really intend to be ruthless, I wouldn’t mind doing something drastic.”
Zuo Hongchen, exhausted, leaned against the shuttle machine, no longer having the strength to climb in.
Asa Katsuragi inside helped pull him in.
He sat weakly in the seat, and Xu Yang handed him a bag of potato chips and a bottle of cola.
He ate non-stop, and when Xu Yang gave him a box of cookies and a pack of biscuits, he ate even more enthusiastically, stuffing his mouth and then taking a big gulp of cola to swallow everything down.
“He looks so happy eating,” Farosa frowned.
“There’s plenty of good stuff in this era,” Xu Yang handed Farosa a bottle of cola too.
“Wow…” Farosa took a sip, very surprised, “What is this?
Everyone couldn’t help but glance at Farosa with suspicion, wondering if she had lost some basic memories.
“There’s plenty of good stuff,” Xu Yang said with a smile.
Suddenly, loud noises began to emanate from the junction.
“Citizens, thank you for waiting!” It was the man at the door who had been distributing “tickets” speaking.
“Tickets!” Zuo Hongchen couldn’t care less, he put the food and drink on the seat and rushed out, nearly falling over.
He ran toward the junction but soon stopped, as 20,000 people began to move all at once, and he realized he couldn’t squeeze into the crowd.
The man in the red suit pressed the megaphone to his throat and spoke loudly.
“Due to the emergency situation,” he announced, “citizens, after review, the Corporate Alliance has recognized the situation here and determined that Aizu City’s Underground City has experienced a B-5 level disaster and has decided to enforce a lockdown on Hui City District.
Now, it is impossible to enter Hui City District from Number 26 Highland.”
“What’s he talking about?” Farosa asked.
“B Series disasters refer to biological disasters,” Xu Yang explained, “ranging from cross-regional invasive species to creatures from other planets.
The rampage of the Ratmen also counts as a biological disaster, and the number indicates the level of disaster, with 1 being the weakest and 12 the most horrific.”
“So B-5 is not that serious?” Farosa figured.
“Yes, it’s not that serious for the Corporate Alliance, after all, even major casualties to them are just numbers,” Xu Yang pointed out the problem.
Upon hearing that Hui City District was ordered closed by the Corporate Alliance, the crowd became agitated, shouting loudly, with the man in the red suit taking quite some time to quiet everyone down.
“Please rest assured, citizens!” the man in the red suit declared, “We have countermeasures in place, please allow me to introduce them!”
People quieted down, listening in silence to the man in the red suit’s speech.
“To express our gratitude for the persistent support from our valued clients, we are now launching the Midsummer Special Protection ‘Immediate Action’ service.
Users who purchase our 50-year protection package on the spot will receive the ‘Lifeline’ mega package.
Not only will they be able to go to the designated shelters in Hui City District for our company to avoid risk, but they will also receive an additional 5 years of free extended security service, 36 months of Cloud streaming membership, 2 years of free shuttle machine and vehicle maintenance service, a heartwarming personal cyborg care worth 100,000 funds, and most importantly, one special message privilege in Suzukawa Kiyo’s live broadcast room!
Now, our company’s 50-year protection package doesn’t cost 10 million, not even 5 million, just 1 million, 1 million!
Instant reward binding on the spot, and safe travel to Hui City District!”
Upon these words, the whole place erupted.