Tokyo underground city

Chapter 273 Ore Disease

"Here, put it on."

Before officially entering the Shibuya Underground City, Kamiya Chun put the gas mask on Lin Huaien's face.

The moment the mask was placed on his face, Lin Huai'en actually felt his breathing became much lighter.

He looked at the mask Kamiya Tsubaki gave him. Different from the gas masks commonly used by urban explorers, Kamiya Tsubaki's mask was a full-face mask between a diver and an astronaut. The entire face was covered with a high Behind the molecular plastic.

A small filter and blower are connected under the mask, which can be driven by simply placing a crystal core.

"Is Shibuya Underground City so dangerous?"

Lin Huai'en was a little surprised. He glanced at the others. Hara Yumu was holding Kamiya Tsubaki's spare mask, while Kamiya Tsubaki herself and Tanya simply covered their faces with scarves.

"If you don't want to get mineral sickness, just wear the mask honestly."

Kamiya Chun waved to Lin Huai'en and walked forward first.

"Where are you and Tanya?"

Lin Huaien followed.

"Her and I have different physiques... You are also someone else's captain after all. Can't you even see that?"

Kamiya Chun glanced at Lin Huaien helplessly.

Lin Huai'en was just a little confused: "Can't you see anything? Is there something wrong with your physique?"

"It's demon infection."

However, at this moment, Tanya took the rare initiative to say: "The concentration of magic power here is very abnormal, and it is somewhat similar to the underground city of Kadchan... No, it should be said that the pollution here is more serious than Siberia."

"Contamination...spread of anomalies?"

Lin Huaien's heart tightened. When he mentioned Kadchan and Siberia, this was his first reaction.

"Roughly the same."

Kamiya Chun glanced at Lin Huaien: "Unlike the Moscow Association, although our Tokyo Metropolitan Government failed to control the invasion of the underground city, there is no place to escape except Tokyo Metropolitan Government, so we have always claimed to have the situation under control. But in fact it just allows a large number of ordinary people to live in an environment like a dungeon."

"The Shibuya Underground City, which has been assimilated with the surface world, has produced serious magic pollution. The underground city here is filled with high concentrations of mineral dust. Once too much dust is inhaled, the mineral dust will accumulate in the blood, and eventually Crystallizes in the liver.”

"This mineral crystallization phenomenon is called ore disease here. There are no signs at first, but as the disease progresses, it will soon enter a state of failure. Every year, tens of thousands of people die silently from this disease. Demonic disease."

"This kind of demon infection is also found in Tanya, but in the Moscow Association, the specific demon infection is lycanthropy, which is somewhat similar to rabies. After being bitten by a werewolf, you will suddenly go crazy a few years later, and your whole body will Grow white hair.”

"...but we have brought lycanthropy under control over there."

Tanya said suddenly.

"Yes." Kamiya Chun glanced at Tanya: "But there will still be some people who slip through the net, especially those who can maintain their human form in normal times."

Having said this, Kamiya Chun suddenly patted his chest proudly and said triumphantly:

"Just like me!"

"When I was born, I was already a carrier of demon infection. The doctor at the Tokyo University Affiliated Hospital said that I would not live to be 13 years old. But not only did I survive, I also gained the ability to transform into evil spirits, so Tanya and I No matter what, you are not afraid of being infected by the demon disease again."

"Tanya too?!"

Lin Huaien looked at the hunter girl in surprise.

The white-haired girl just glanced at Kamiya Chun speechlessly, and then raised the "White Wolf's Kiss" on her shoulder: "She is right, I am indeed an early stage survivor of Demonic Disease."

"Agustus let me go many times for this reason."

Looking at Lin Huaien's thoughtful expression, Tanya nodded.

As if she didn't want to mention it, she took the lead and walked forward. Naturally, Lin Huaien and the others couldn't let Tanya, the sniper, act as the vanguard.

He quickly followed him.

.

With Tsubaki Kamiya's foreshadowing, Lin Huai'en entered the Shibuya Underground City again, and looked at the Tokyo explorers coming and going, his eyes became a little strange——

"Are these people immune to the disease? Why is no one wearing a gas mask?"

"Because I can't afford the wear and tear on the mask."

However, Kamiya Chun was a little surprised and led the way: "Do you think any explorer can afford the consumption of crystal cores of about 5,000 yen an hour?"

"You are just passers-by, and we are the ones who want to survive in a place like this - not only the underground city, but most of Tokyo on the ground are also polluted by ore dust. If we use crystal cores every day It would be better to get the ore disease and die when the time comes."

"...I remember that there are many mountainous areas outside of Tokyo, right? Can't you retreat there?"

Lin Huaien hesitated and asked subconsciously.

"In that case, there would be no need to develop industry and social activities - anyway, it didn't become so serious from the beginning. It's just that over time, everyone has adapted."

Kamiya Chun said calmly, without seeing much dissatisfaction or feeling much sadness.

This may have something to do with the fact that she won't get the devil disease again.

But Lin Huai'en can also feel some "inhuman" qualities from Kamiya Chun.

Just like a girl who wants to become a "white card explorer", compared to the urbanites on the ground, the part of her that belongs to the underground city is stronger.

But there is no doubt that she is still an explorer belonging to Tokyo.

Looking at the coughing Tokyo explorers passing by in the turbid Shibuya underground city, Lin Huai'en suddenly realized something -

"The reason why you bought the [Pure Panacea] from me was because of mineral sickness?"

"[Panax] is one of the few dungeon medicines that is also effective against demonic disease."

Kamiya Chun glanced at Lin Huaien with a calm expression——

"I'm going to use it to save one of the three most important beings in my life."

.

With Tsubaki Kamiya leading the way, Lin Huaien and the others arrived at the above-ground part of Shibuya Underground City smoothly.

Unlike the new Changying Underground City, Lin Huaien could clearly feel that Shibuya Underground City was a "fully developed" underground city along the way.

The so-called complete development means that from the 20th underground floor to the 1st underground floor, all shallow and extremely shallow underground city spaces are filled with ordinary people like [hyenas].

They were either carrying spears or mining hammers, and using only the most basic exploration equipment, they fought against all the monsters in the Shibuya Dungeon. During the intervals when the monsters hatched, they used the mining hammers to dig out a piece of the dungeon. Pieces of ore that shimmer with various metallic colors are given to companions pushing mine carts to transport them to the ground.

"Unlike the regular dungeon, the Shibuya dungeon does not produce food, but thanks to the continuous supply of dungeon ore, the income of the Tokyo Metropolitan Association is not bad, and at least it can afford the daily life of most dungeon explorers. overhead.”

"...even if it comes at the expense of demon-infected disease and health?"

Lin Huai'en was silent for a moment and then asked.

"Demon disease also varies from person to person. Some people breathe mine dust for decades without any problems, while some people die at a young age in their twenties."

Kamiya Chun replied calmly:

"According to a study by the Tokyo University School of Medicine, the ore-type demon infection in Shibuya Underground City is not much more dangerous than smoking and drinking alcohol."

"The incidence rate of lung cancer is 6 per 10,000 people, and the mortality rate is 5 per 10,000 people. In other words, among the 14 million people in Tokyo, 8,400 people will suffer from lung cancer every year, and 7,000 people will die from lung cancer."

"And the death toll from the demonic disease is only about 10,000 people."

"...It's really a cold number..."

Lin Huai'en didn't know why Kamiya Chun remembered these numbers so clearly, but it was obvious that she was deeply impressed by these numbers.

"When you feel like the sky is falling, mathematics can tell you that you are just a small denominator in the huge statistical probability..."

Kamiya Chun looked at the street in the distance, the corners of his mouth slightly twitching.

It looks bitter and helpless——

"So, I have no choice but to accept this unacceptable fact."

.

Even after leaving the Shibuya Underground City, Lin Huai'en could clearly feel that the air in Tokyo was dark and turbid.

Unlike the underground city of Shangdu, although the Shibuya underground city also has large-scale suppression facilities, the sharp cone-shaped underground city derivatives have broken through the restrictions of the sealing bolts and grown above the ground.

After Lin Huai'en and the others were far away from the underground city, when they looked back, they could only see a few shots of black and red behemoths like mountains of needles, standing on the horizon.

Like abscesses on the earth, they grew out of the ruined urban agglomerations.

"Is this [laissez-faire]? It feels like you just reluctantly accepted this fact."

Lin Huai'en looked at the magic concentration indicator on his hand. Even after being one kilometer away from Shibuya Underground City, the magic concentration here was still around 11.0.

Slightly lower than Kadchan, but not much different.

In comparison, the scarier thing about Shibuya Underground City is that it is located in the densest and most prosperous residential area in Tokyo. Along the way, Lin Huai'en kept seeing housewives and children wearing simple masks. They were holding hands and laughing in the turbid air without realizing it.

That scene made him look extremely depressed and heart-wrenching, as if he was isolated from this land.

"This is the Tianshui Pavilion. A big shot from the Heshen Group originally invited dad to move the Tianshui Pavilion to the core area of ​​​​the circle, but dad refused."

Kamiya Tsubaki pointed to a dojo only a few kilometers away from Shibuya Underground City and introduced it to Lin Huaien and the others.

The distance here is so close that they don't even need to take a car. They can reach it in ten minutes just by relying on their feet as dungeon explorers.

However, compared to the dilapidated and crude Tianshui Pavilion, which only covers a huge area and is worth mentioning, Lin Huai'en is more concerned about other statements in Kamiya Tsubaki's words -

"[Heshen Group]? [Inside the Circle]?"

"Yes." Kamiya Tsubaki nodded, took Lin Huai'en and walked a few steps to the side, bypassing the giant building complex blocked by the Shibuya Underground City and the huge ground derivative——

“That’s [inside the circle].”

Lin Huai'en looked at the giant building that was like the Tokyo Dome, but thousands of times larger, and his mouth widened in surprise——

"After the medical alliance in Tokyo was disbanded due to Shibuya Ore Disease, some medical elites headed by the Tokyo University School of Medicine formed the [Tsurukami Group] with health care as its core."

"And [Tsurugami Group] has a huge influence in the political and military circles that is comparable to [Heiryo Group] because it controls the medical resources that the Chiyoda Ward [Old People's Association] relies on to survive."

"The [White Dome] is the [Medical Isolation Area] established by the Heshen Group in order to maintain the rule of the Old People's Association. Because it uses a large-scale fully enclosed air circulation system, the concentration of mineral dust in the White Dome is only that of the outside One hundred thousandth.”

"So except for the Heshen Group and the Elderly Association, we all call the White Dome [inside the circle]."

"Residents of Tokyo who are not in the [circle] naturally belong to the [outsiders]."

Kamiya Chun said as he took out the key and opened the door of Tianshui Pavilion.

After opening the door, a burst of unusually clean air came out.

Even through the thick gas mask, Lin Huai'en could feel that the air was much more fragrant in an instant——

It was only then that he realized that compared with the Tokyo in his impression, he didn't see any flowers or plants along the way——

Everywhere is covered with a thick layer of ore dust.

Only in the courtyard of Tianshui Pavilion, this scene cannot be seen at all.

"Welcome to [Tianshui Pavilion]."

Kamiya Chun opened his arms to Lin Huaien and others in a welcoming gesture——

"This place is also called [the only pure land outside the circle]!"

.

At Chun Kamiya's signal, Lin Huai'en took off the gas mask he had worn for three days.

A rough calculation showed that in the past three days, he had used crystal cores equivalent to about 22,000 yuan - this amount of money is not a lot, but it is almost equivalent to one month's rent in a remote place in Tokyo.

Anyway, it is definitely more expensive than smoking.

Kamiya Tsubaki asked him and Hara Yugure to wear masks all the time, mostly out of courtesy to the guests. As dungeon explorers, with his and Hara Yugure's visceral patience, they should not get sick even if they don't wear gas masks. Ore disease——

This is what Lin Huai'en originally thought.

Until he saw the patients with mineral syndrome in Tianshui Hall——

"What kind of [Pure Land] is this? It's basically hell, right?!"

Yuan Ximu's whisper was like Lin Huaien's inner voice, revealing his thoughts.

Kamiya Chun turned around and glanced at the two of them:

"There is no way. Tensuikan is the only [low-pollution zone] near Shibuya Underground City. In order to prevent patients with ore syndrome from getting worse, Yu and my sister let them enter Tensuikan to rest -"

"Waiting for death."

I had a headache and bought a new desk. The air in the study was not well ventilated and I was suffering from mild formaldehyde poisoning.