“Then just throw them outside the city. Nobody cares about what happens in the Ruin Zone anyway.”
“Alright, alright, stop talking about that useless crap,” a raspy voice interrupted them. “I just want to get back and have a good sleep. These past few days have been exhausting.”
“Sleep?” the first voice chimed in again, tinged with a lewd chuckle.
“I heard some new streetwalkers arrived over at East Street. They’re young, maybe seventeen or eighteen—real fresh.”
“For real?” another voice immediately grew interested. “How much for a session?”
“Dirt cheap. You can play all night for thirty or forty Star Coins.”
“Thirty or forty? That cheap?”
“No kidding. Those pariahs are lucky just to be alive. You think they’re going to charge a premium? Give them a bite to eat and they’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Hehehe...” A wave of vulgar laughter erupted in the vehicle.
Su Wan kept her eyes closed, her expression remaining perfectly still.
“Let me tell you, the one I went to last time looked decent enough, but she was too thin. Nothing but skin and bones. It was actually uncomfortable.”
“Well, what do you expect? Which of those women in the Outer City isn’t starving? You think they’re going to be plump and fair like the ladies in the Inner City?”
“True. But being thin has its perks. Thin waists, long legs—they’ve got plenty of energy when you’re messing around with them.”
“That’s nothing compared to what I found,” the raspy voice spoke up again, boasting with a hint of pride.
“Last time I was on patrol, I ran into a cleaner over on East Street. She was in her thirties, looked average, but that body... hehe...”
“A cleaner? One of those people who sweeps the streets?”
“Yeah, one of those. It was the middle of the night, and she was out there sweeping alone. I went up and asked her how much for a night.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she didn’t do that kind of work. I told her, ‘If you don’t do that, why are you loitering on the streets in the middle of the night?’ She said it was her job, arranged by the City Defense Force.”
“And then?”
“And then I just dragged her into an alley.”
The vehicle fell silent for a split second before exploding into even louder laughter.
“You bastard, weren’t you afraid of being reported?”
“Reported? By who? She’s a cleaner. You think she’d dare report the City Defense Force? Does she have a death wish?”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Besides, let me tell you, those women are practically begging for it.”
“How so?”
“Think about it. How much does she make a month? A hundred Star Coins if she’s lucky. I gave her twenty Star Coins for one night. That’s enough to buy food for several days.”
“You’re right! Those pariahs will do anything for a bite to eat.”
“Exactly, exactly...”
The conversation trailed off into another round of lewd jeering.
Su Wan’s fingers curled slightly, but she quickly relaxed them.
“Hey, do you think we can snag some loot during this mission?”
“Snag what? Those vagrants are dirt poor. What could they possibly have?”
“That’s not necessarily true. I heard that ‘Terminal Station’ has plenty of good stuff—robots, medicine, even real food.”
“For real?”
“Of course. The guys from the Blood Fang Gang saw it with their own eyes.”
“Then we better search the place thoroughly. We can’t let those pariahs keep the good stuff...”
“Alright, alright, don’t get ahead of yourselves. Let’s finish the mission first.”
The laughter in the unit gradually subsided, but the contemptuous tone and the way they viewed others as mere trash caused the chill in Su Wan’s heart to deepen.
Her mental power drifted into another armored vehicle.
“Hahaha...”
“Let me tell you, I was patrolling the Outer City once and found a vagrant. Don’t know how he snuck in, but he was crouched by a wall chewing on a piece of moldy bread.”
“And then?”
“And then I kicked the bread right out of his hands.”
“Hahaha, you’re cruel.”
“The pariah actually tried to argue with me. I gave him a solid kick to the gut. He couldn’t even get up for ages.”
“Those pariahs just need to be taught a lesson.”
“Exactly. They don’t listen unless you beat them.”
“Hey, if we catch a few vagrants during this mission, do you think we can sell them?”
“Sell them? Who would want them?”
“Sell them to the Research Institute! They’re always looking for live subjects for their experiments. They’ll take as many as we can get!”
“True! Then we should grab a few more this time. We can make a nice profit if we sell them back at the city.”
“Forget it. The orders from above are to ‘disperse them on the spot; kill those who refuse to leave.’ They didn’t say anything about taking prisoners.”
“So we grab a few on the sly. Who’s going to know?”
The coldness in the depths of Su Wan’s eyes had frozen into ice.
These soldiers of the City Defense Force didn’t view the vagrants of the Ruin Zone as human beings at all.
The streetwalkers, the cleaners, the vagrants eating moldy bread...
In their eyes, these people were no different from stray dogs on the side of the road.
They were playthings, punching bags, ants to be trampled upon at will—anything but human.
And yet, they considered themselves the high-and-mighty City Defense Force, the protectors of Panshi City, the symbols of order.
How ironic.
Every single one of them deserves to die!
Su Wan was about to give the command when a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
Ordinary soldiers would become blind and deaf in a sandstorm. Under the dual effects of swirling dust and mental interference, they wouldn’t even be able to tell north from south.
But Level 2 was different.
The perception of a Level 2 Ability User far exceeded that of an ordinary person. A sandstorm might obscure their vision, but it couldn’t completely block their senses.
If they sensed something abnormal during the sandstorm...
For instance, if the command vehicle veered off course, or if Iron Bone and Cold Wind acted strangely...
The entire plan could fall apart.
Su Wan’s brow furrowed slightly.
Aside from Chen Chen and Lu Ming, she had to find a way to get rid of the other Level 2 Ability Users.
She contacted Cold Wind through their contract link.
“Cold Wind, before you set out, did the City Defense Force give you any preliminary tasks to complete on the way? Like scouting or clearing obstacles?”
Cold Wind’s consciousness responded, “Yes. Before the operation, City Defense Force Headquarters issued a mission list. It included setting up three scouting posts on the edge of Area A5 to monitor Aberrant activity in the Ruin Zone and provide intelligence for future operations.”
“However, the list was only a suggestion, not a mandatory order. The commander thought it was too much trouble and decided to deal with it on the return trip.”
The corners of Su Wan’s mouth curled up slightly.
“Now, make the commander change his mind.”
“Tell him that Aberrant activity in the Ruin Zone has been frequent lately. If you don’t set up the posts in advance, the consequences will be disastrous if you’re ambushed from behind during the operation.”
“With your strength, he won’t dare ignore your suggestion.”
Cold Wind immediately replied, “Understood.”
A few minutes later, Cold Wind’s voice rang out through the convoy, clear and steady.
“Commander, there is something I need to discuss with you.”
The commander leaned his head out of the armored vehicle. “What is it?”
Cold Wind walked up to him and handed over the mission list. “Regarding the three scouting posts on the edge of Area A5—I suggest we send people to set them up right now.”
Rate on N.U.
