The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"You...could it be that you changed rooms with the previous family?"

A family of three lived in a small dormitory where four people should live. Instead, these four gangsters lived in a relatively luxurious single room.

Of course, the sanitary conditions are not much better, but at least the space is spacious enough, with a living room and a kitchen. There is a table of unfinished card games in the living room, and the kitchen is filled with the dual smell of detergent and grease.

The large bedroom was divided into four parts with baffles. The bed was just like the bunk beds in the dormitory. The sheets were equally damp and greasy, but what caught Mikael's attention the most were the large and small bags piled on the floor. Open a blue bag, which is full of green cans, and then open one of the few small red bags, which contains a dozen detonators.

"Tell me, how does that person owe you money?"

"Hehe... He didn't want to work, so he asked us to borrow money to avoid military service, and then he couldn't pay it back..."

"Why isn't he working?"

"Oh my lord, aren't you just asking this knowingly? Who wants to go to work! If you have that time, wouldn't it be nice to play games at home and sleep well?"

"That might be true for him."

Mikael took out a can and weighed it in his hands, "But for you guys, why should you lend him money? What did he mortgage with you? Huh?"

"Eh...hehehehe..."

The leading gangster slowly opened the cabinet on the side, rummaged around inside for a while, and finally took out two gold bars.

"Hey, there are only these two left. This is enough to get you two days of exemption from military service, but when the Honkai Impact is over, these will be treasures!"

"Then since you already have these things as collateral, why do you want to trouble him again? If he doesn't repay the money he owes, wouldn't these collaterals be yours? No, to be precise, this is not like a It’s more like a mortgage than a pawn.”

"Of course that is true, but if everyone were like this, our material reserves would have been borrowed long ago. These gold and silver cannot be used as food, and there will not be so much market demand for a while, so debt collection is still Necessary. Besides..."

"Besides?"

The gangsters didn't want to tell the truth, but for some reason, as soon as Mikael stood there, their true thoughts came out of their mouths non-stop:

"Besides, this family is so poor that there is no need to exist anymore. Kill them all. Once the rooms are vacant, new immigrants will move in, and then we can... uh..."

"What if they don't need to borrow money?"

"How is that possible... We will make them gamble... In short, we will try every means to make them owe money. Of course, it is not impossible to borrow money, but we also charge protection fees!"

"..."

Seeing the gloomy face of the adult in front of him, the leading gangster felt anxious, but he kept talking:

"Half of the supplies they get from their work need to be handed over to us, and we will give the other half to the 'building manager' with clearly marked prices, so that no one can be deceived."

That's it. Logically speaking, although the taste and ingredients of D-class materials are extremely poor, and they are almost all highly processed foods, they contain a lot of calories. With careful calculation, a family of three with a young child can only consume 100% of the calories every day as long as the father maintains Working steadily, the materials obtained are basically enough for minimum survival. If production is carried out occasionally, there will still be a surplus.

But this is only on the surface, not to mention that after layers of deductions, a D-class material still has 80% of its original share when it is distributed to the grassroots. After that, it will still be used by these so-called gangsters. Exploiting with the "building manager".

If that man worked honestly, he might still be able to survive, but the situation in that family just now...

And judging from what these guys said, family situations like that are not uncommon, and life is so difficult, boring and full of pain. Instead of struggling hard, it is better to have wine in the morning and get drunk in the morning. If debt collection really comes to your door, you will be broken. The jar is broken.

"It's time for the handover of the second shift soon. If that man comes back, what are you going to do?"

"Kill...just kill..."

Mikael's chest rose and fell rapidly, then calmed down again, and he asked:

"Last question, are there organizations like yours anywhere?"

"We don't know about other buildings, but ours is like this. There are probably two or three on each floor, or even one like ours... I guess. The territory has been divided in advance. I really don't want to have a fight!"

Mikael closed his eyes, and the image of the [Tower] played on a loop in his mind——

Two or three dead soldiers were sitting in front of a human corpse, holding the meat that had just been dug out of the corpse and feasting on it.

Hearing the sound coming from outside the door, the dead soldiers held flesh and blood in their hands, but their necks were twisted behind their backs in a 180-degree rotation, and they looked at the intruder with grins.

Their lips were full of blood, and the gaps between their teeth were filled with strands of flesh. The corners of their lips twitched twice and slowly lifted up, as if they were smiling.

This was the most terrifying impression that tower had ever left him.

Open your eyes, then close them again - "Poof!"

There was a pool of flesh and blood on the ground in front of him, and before he could react, another black shadow fell -

"puff!"

Blood and flesh splashed on the face, warm, sticky, and fishy. Just thinking about it made me feel like my fingers couldn't be clenched into a fist.

This is the current [Tower].

There are no dead warriors or Honkai beasts here.

Everyone living here is human, but there seems to be something mixed in that is not human.

What an irony...Mikael thought silently in his heart.

Maybe Honkai Impact is not a disaster for mankind, but a kind of salvation, right? At least, human beings can usher in a heroic and tragic ending, instead of heading towards irreparable decline in filthy self-destruction.

"Okay, I have nothing more to ask."

"Then walk slowly!"

"Well, you guys... walk slowly."

…………

When Mei and Michael finally took the elevator to the fifty-third floor, Michael also finished handling everything and walked slowly out of the room where the gangsters were.

Seeing Michael's figure, Mikael raised his eyebrows, and the fire in his heart ignited again - after all, as the mayor of the Third New Paradise City, this guy has an unshirkable responsibility for everything that happens here. .

But he didn't do it after all. No matter how angry he was, he couldn't save anything.

At least he and Mei are now in close contact with this darkness. Then, if there is still time, if there is still a chance, they should be able to make corresponding adjustments to make these people's lives easier.

Mikael leaned out from the railing. At a distance of more than a hundred meters, there were two small dots that almost merged together if not carefully distinguished. In the room behind him, blood that had not yet cooled down seeped out from the crack in the door. .

Nearly ten minutes had passed since the death of the mother and son. The whole building was quiet. Mikael knew very well that not everyone participated in the overtime work tonight. There would always be people who asked for leave, paid money and materials and were exempted from duty. People, the proportion of these people may be very small, but considering that a building can accommodate 40,000 to 50,000 people, even if it is only one percent of them, there are still hundreds of people still resting in this building.

They may not have heard the muffled sound of heavy objects falling to the ground and flesh and blood exploding, but it was hard not to catch the heart-rending cry. After all, this building is a closed structure. The sound rushes back and forth in the space surrounded by four corridors, and cannot find an entrance or exit. After reverberating countless times, it can finally only get through the cracks in the door and get into everyone's ears. .

But no one made any sign. They used not-so-thick doors to isolate themselves from the outside world. As long as what happened outside did not affect their own interests and safety, they would not care.

"Will anyone collect their bodies for them?"

Michael asked Michael.

"Logically speaking, yes, several towers will share a funeral team. After all, in such an era, accidental death is a normal thing. Of course, when will they arrive, and even whether someone will send a report to them at this time , are all a problem.”

"Then you'd better contact me proactively."

Mikael kept swallowing, and his Adam's apple kept going up and down like a leapfrog machine.

It's not good for the body to be exposed all the time.

"...Understood. However, Mr. Mikael and Dr. Mei, our next step is to continue to inspect the situation in the tower, go to other towers, or take advantage of the last two hours of overtime to see the situation in the factory. ?”

Mikael's breath suddenly became heavy. He stood there and took a deep breath for a long time. He did not give any response, but walked towards the elevator on his own.

Mei shook her head and tried to rub away her frown with her thumb, but no matter how hard she tried, the two eyebrows seemed to be stuck together and could not be separated.

The elevator takes three seconds to cover each floor, and for the fifty-third floor, it takes about two and a half minutes.

The large elevator car was dull and cold, and finally it was Mikael who spoke first:

"Those people just told me that when these rooms are vacated, new immigrants will move in. What's going on?"

"Well?"

Michael pursed his lips, and for a moment he didn't know what the meaning of Michael's question was - isn't it normal to fill someone up when there is a vacancy?

No, the more normal it is, the more serious the problem behind it is.

Like, where did these people come from? Why can they be replenished quickly?

"Actually... not everyone can live in the tower."

After saying this, Michael glanced at Mikael and Mei, only to see that they had no reaction. It seemed that he had expected this.

"There is nothing we can do about it. After receiving immigrants, the population of Third New Paradise City has exceeded 25 million, and it needs 500 such towers to meet the residential needs... Of course, when we applied for funds from the headquarters, it was indeed This number was applied for, but due to the inevitable loss of funds during the transfer process, just over 400 towers have been built so far.”

The inevitable loss of funds during the transfer process...isn't this corruption...

“What about the people who can’t live in the towers?”

"Uh... this problem can be divided into several categories. First of all, people who are willing to enter the tower will be arranged to live in air-raid shelters inside and outside the protective net. Since they are not engaged in production, they can only obtain very few supplies, so a small number of them Everyone will choose to join the military police, and others will have to wait for a space to become available in the tower...

"But not everyone is willing to accept the forced working mode of the tower. These people either break away from the supervision of the coalition government and go to survive in the world outside the protective network——

"Anyway, the scale of collapse in America is low and the intensity is low. It is not impossible for ordinary people to survive in the wild if they are equipped with weapons. Moreover, since you want to pursue absolute freedom, you must have enough courage.

"Of course, we are also happy to see this. Anyway, those who do this are a very small number of people. Allocating their production tasks to millions of other people will not cause too much burden, and rationing them We can also accept the supplies.

"The gentlemen in the upper-class areas also like this kind of people. They need weapons and equipment to survive in the wild. I only need to report a military exercise, and the embezzled ammunition is enough for these people to use for nearly a year. But they want to get these For ammunition, you have to pay a higher price - wild animals and plants, medicinal materials, minerals, and even mercenaries for the upper class gentlemen.

"As for the remaining people, if they don't want to enter the tower and don't have the courage to go outside the protective net, they can only go to the upper area and work in the service industry."

"Service industry..."

Mei closed her eyes and tried to use her imagination to describe the scene in the so-called uptown area, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt that that was what the city really looked like.

It is almost not engaged in production, has accumulated a lot of wealth, has a developed service industry, and has gorgeous and destructive neon lights at night...

In such a gloomy, dead and apocalyptic world, Mei felt... that it was not worth being happy to see such a city.

Since some people can live in such a chic manner, it must be based on the oppression of others. As mentioned before, the so-called upper-class areas are almost not engaged in production, so their own food, clothing, housing and transportation are what they pay to service industry workers. Where did everything come from?

It is clear that it is these people who live in the towers who share the production work that should be performed by them.

Besides, even those who work in the service industry in the upper areas are really better off than those in the towers?

"The population engaged in the service industry is highly mobile, and these populations are difficult to replenish in upper-class areas, so they must..."

"That's right..."

Michael nodded lonely, "In order to ensure that these people can stay in their own positions safely, it is best that there will never be any changes. Therefore, after these people enter the upper-level area, the work contracts they sign often exceed five years." Ten years, and even more than half of the contracts last until death.”

"What's the difference between this and being a slave!"

"There is still a difference. Their next generation will not be forced to sign an employment contract...well, there is actually no difference."

Even former slaves do not have no chance of gaining freedom. However, after being restored to freedom by their masters, these freedmen will rarely leave the master's shelter directly. Instead, they will continue to serve the master as a retainer, and even There are those who are willing to be slaves rather than be freedmen.

And these so-called next generations who are born free are just like children born into families in ancient times, and most of them only have nominal freedom.

"However, it is not limited to 'services'."

Michael pondered for a while, then added:

"Many families in the upper-class areas have opened some estates outside the protective net at the city boundary, mainly growing economic crops, such as fruits and medicinal materials. Even the most common apples can be exchanged for a half-pound can of beef. Of course, it’s not just cash crops, they also have factories.

"And as I said before, those who have become mercenaries from upper-class families, their main duty is to serve as guards for these manors and factories."

It is conceivable that in fact, in the upper area, even if they are similar to slaves, the quality of life is probably much better than in the tower.

However, once Honkai is defeated, these people in the tower can quickly return to their original lives, and those living outside the protective net can also be quickly readmitted. There are only these slave-like existences in the upper area...

Of course, May will think about these issues, but it does not mean that Mikael will also think about these issues.

After a slight shock, after the anger subsided, boundless numbness struck again, making him sink.

"Wow——"

The elevator door opened, but the three of them had not yet decided where to go next.

Suddenly, Mikael's ears moved, and he seemed to hear the sound of messy footsteps, hard and crisp, and they should be military police wearing leather boots.

Soon, the passage they had entered earlier was opened, and the bright light of the flashlight came in messily, and then five military police filed in.

When they saw Michael, several military policemen were stunned, as if they had not expected to meet their mayor here.

"What mission are you carrying out in a hurry?"

Michael put on a smile and tried to ask questions in a relaxed and flirtatious manner as usual.

"Reporting to the city magistrate, we received a report that four people in room 002N039 of the building collectively skipped work. According to regulations, each person will be punished with six canings."

Michael turned his attention to Mikael, and the latter's answer was also very simple, with only two words:

"have a look."