coobybook Chapter 463 Street Scene
Chapter 463 Street Scene
If a scholar were willing to study the stories of the inner streets of the capital, it could easily become a thick book.
Compared to the 'civilized' areas on the imperial capital's circular road, these areas, clinging to the main roads like branches or veins and hidden behind gleaming buildings, resembling wild forests, are more like a desolate wasteland.
It doesn't refer to a lack of civilization, but rather a lack of discipline in terms of rules.
Survival, struggle, elimination—everything here follows the cold, hard laws of nature, as Miss Dust, the local bully, explained.
The people in the inner streets are like wild animals, with a strong sense of territory. Each area is controlled by gangs or similar organizations, and their belief in power and the strong far exceeds that of the outside world.
Because here, violence is the only value.
The stronger members of the community have the biggest fists, so they can grab a spot closer to the main road and get relatively better working conditions.
If a ruler lacks power, he can only cower in a remote corner, doing the worst jobs and earning the meager wages.
In this alien world where the power disparity is vast, the powerful at the top don't even need the lower classes to create value; the only ones who need them are the gods and the church.
But the most devout faith is born only in suffering, so improvement and protection are out of the question.
"We've arrived," Dust said to the area ahead.
Fan Wei stopped on the already narrow road and looked at where they had arrived. Under the cover of white snow, the impression of dirt and disorder had faded a lot.
What I saw looked a bit like a sketch.
The soot from the fire stained the snow in varying shades of blackish-gray, which, combined with the dull colors of the houses and the cloud-covered sky, created a somber painting.
There were people doing things on the street not far away, and Fan Wei went up to say hello.
However, upon hearing only the crunching sound of footsteps on the snow, the person immediately turned around, and upon seeing the stranger, pretended to walk away quickly.
"This?" Fan Wei didn't understand, but he sensed a kind of cautiousness mixed with fear in the other party.
"As I said before, the people in the inner streets hate risks. Isn't contacting strangers a risk? They are very good at reading people and distinguishing between predators and prey."
Dust curled the corners of his mouth and caught a glimpse of Misser's sullen face.
"Someone like you can scare away a whole bunch of people the moment you show your face, not to mention the person next to you."
"Let me do it."
The archbishop's influence worked; when dust led the way, the people in the inner streets reacted much less, as they at least recognized the forces not far away.
A series of houses, seemingly haphazardly interwoven, form the central area of the inner street.
It was much more bustling than I had imagined, resembling a giant anthill, with many people still out and about despite the freezing weather.
Because wood and coal are expensive, most of the heating fuel here comes from the remains and fragments of the labyrinth monsters.
The capital city has the technology to extract energy from the corpses of monsters. After being processed, the monster corpses are dehydrated and shrunken, and although they no longer have any processing value, they still retain a little bit of magic power.
Once broken down into sufficiently small pieces and mixed with the Magic Furnace waste liquid containing a catalyst, it can be directly ignited to release heat.
The narrow streets were filled with the dull smell of burning ashes, and most people were busy chopping and smashing their share of warmth from the piles of hard bones at their doorways.
"Oh, Your Excellency the Bishop is here again. Who are these two gentlemen?"
As soon as the three approached, a gangster wearing a thick leather coat and carrying a sheathed sword came up to question them.
His eyes cautiously swept over Fan Wei and Mei Jieka Luo, his back tense, and he muttered to himself.
What the hell is this kind of thug doing in the inner streets?
“Let me introduce you, Misel Van,” Dust said simply and directly. “The person I mentioned to your boss last time, the one who wants to organize an event.”
"Our boss didn't refuse to do that kind of thing..."
The thug muttered a couple of things, glanced fearfully at Fan Wei, then took back what he was about to say and chuckled, "If you're going to hold a drinking contest and provide alcohol, then I'd like to participate."
"Of course, no problem."
Contrary to the thugs' expectations, the extraordinary man in front of them was surprisingly gentle and readily agreed.
"What are you after?" He didn't know the identity of this strange man, or how strong he was. But from that attitude of his, it seemed like he could achieve anything and was fearless.
The thugs felt that this person was not simple!
“Picture…” Fan Wei wanted to explain his thoughts, his philosophy, what he wanted to achieve and change, but the naive mistakes he had made before made him pause.
He uttered a different set of words:
"I want everyone here to know me and remember my name!"
The serious tone startled the thug, who immediately began to speculate.
Each one made him feel that this person had something more to offer. After a brief moment of dizziness, he asked with surprise and a hint of awe.
"Are we going to see our boss?"
“No need.” Fan Wei’s thinking shifted. He suddenly felt that perhaps Meggie Caro’s approach was not entirely wrong.
It's just too extreme.
"I need to go and check on the situation here."
With the thugs not daring to stop them, Fan Wei and his group truly stepped into the living circle of the residents of the inner street, where there was also trade, and even some unique goods.
"Sleeping pills, sleeping pills, good sleeping pills."
A little girl wearing a red headscarf stood in the snow, carrying a basket and loudly hawking her wares in her childish voice. Unlike in fairy tales, her business was booming.
This stuff called sleeping pills sold out very quickly; soon, the basket was more than half empty.
Do people living in the inner streets also suffer from insomnia?
Fan Wei found this unusual sight very strange. Chen Hui shook his head and explained, "This isn't for treating an illness, but rather the kind of medicine that will make you wake up."
"There's no pain."
“In winter, some people will become a burden, and sleeping pills are the last bit of warmth that family members can give.”
"Huh?" People really do exclaim when they're shocked. Fan Wei then turned to look at the people who had bought medicine from the little girl and were leaving, clutching it tightly in their hands.
A storm was brewing inside me.
“Sleeping pills are part of the gang’s business. If the family is willing to sell the body, they can make some money, which might be enough to help the family get through the winter.”
Dust was nothing new to them.
The mixed-race people had a worse life than the residents. In the unchanging history, her small settlement also relied on the sacrifice of its members to ensure the survival of others.
But for Fan Wei, a young man born into a privileged life, this was truly a shock.
He paused for a moment, unsure of what to say or do. After a brief pause, a question popped into his head.
What do gangsters want with corpses?
"...I don't know either." Dust hadn't paid attention to this issue, and Megikaro was even less likely to know.
Fan Wei fell silent. He continued walking forward, and the people on the inner street avoided them as if there were a thick barrier between them, but there were also some who did not avoid them.
They were equally strange; despite the freezing weather, they were only wearing a thin layer of clothing, huddled by the roadside with several empty wine bottles scattered around them.
With temperatures nearing minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius today, it would probably turn into a human-shaped popsicle in just a few minutes.
Whoosh—Fan Wei ignited the Sun God Fire with his fingertips, projecting heat to warm these poor people who were already frozen stiff, but this good intention made them look up in fright.
"Why, why?" He spoke with a slurred speech when he was drunk.
A slightly more lucid person looked at Fan Wei with sorrowful eyes and asked a rather strange question.
"You're freezing to death."
"We're going to freeze, freeze to death... No, it won't be painful, it'll be very, very fast..."
His intermittent answers left Fan Wei speechless once again.
Dust explained in a low voice, "These are bachelors. They don't have families, so when they're desperate, they don't use sleeping pills. They exchange their clothes and other last possessions for liquor."
"Lying on the snow after getting drunk has the same effect, and you can indulge yourself one last time."
Overcome by intoxication, the drunkard stopped muttering to himself and plopped back down on the snow, awaiting his peaceful eternal sleep.
The sun god's fire at his fingertips slowly died out, and endless chill once again enveloped the path.
"Let's go."
His voice was as faint as a sheet of paper. Fan Wei restrained his desire to stay and do something. His eyes reflected a frosty look as he suppressed his emotions with reason.
Just as I stepped into the inner street, more than a dozen lives were lost before my eyes.
How many inner streets does Beijing have? And how many of those inner streets are like these back alleys? And how many people in this world are suffering and waiting for death right now?
The more I think about it, the more insignificant I feel.
In the past, Fan Wei would have acted immediately, numbing himself with the idea of starting by rescuing those around him, but his trip to the capital city did bring about some changes in him.
He developed a domineering ambition to rule and control.
Without addressing the root cause, all actions will be in vain!
He accepted his powerlessness and indifference at that moment, which transformed into a burning grief and indignation in his heart. There is no better motivation in the world than pain.
The pace slowed considerably afterward; the gloomy sketch of the inner street was monotonous.
Yet it seems to hide many details.
A wisp of heat wafted from the leaky window of a roadside house, mingling with the strange smell of burning monster remains on the street, which was keenly noticed by Fan Wei, the chef.
Even though he was already feeling very down, he still muttered a curse under his breath.
Damn... it smells like our own kind being cooked!