Chapter 1486: Chapter 1487: Sothing Unusual
Satisfied with the man’s tact, Xu Huo turned and went downstairs.
As he turned away from the crowd and stepped onto the staircase, a player gave a aningful glance to the man behind the desk. The man looked at Xu Huo’s back, torn with indecision, but after much hesitation, he decided against the ambush.
Xu Huo could easily subdue them, and the likelihood of a successful strike wasn’t high. Once a fight broke out, even if they managed to kill him in the end, their losses would be grave, leaving them at others’ rcy.
The harsh environnt had taught everyone here the art of flexing and adapting. The man didn’t rush to save face but instead quietly instructed to spread so ambiguous rumors: that the outsider had a grudge against the Underground Palace, claid not to care about it, and seed to have co to Zone 026 injured, which is why he hadn’t left yet; he was very “compassionate,” distributing food to alley dwellers and planning to stay for a long ti…
Xu Huo returned to the lower level with the boy, and in the process, he had already figured out the arrangent of the Water Shop, which was no surprise.
The slum didn’t seem big, but it had quite a few factions and gangs. Afraid of being swallowed by others, they didn’t choose to confront directly on their turf. Instead, they used so false information to provoke other factions, making others think Xu Huo intended to do sothing here, hoping to make him the target of collective animosity.
This survival trick could unite the scattered forces controlling the slum.
Xu Huo didn’t mind. He had walked around the slum several tis, confirming there were no Rank-B players here.
Indeed, it’s difficult for people coasting through life to reach Rank-B, and those who achieved it surely wouldn’t stay in such a hellhole.
“Thank you for saving …” The boy still followed behind him, softly voicing his gratitude.
Xu Huo nodded to show he heard it. Then, he climbed up twice more, reaching midway up the mountain each ti before descending again, and from a certain distance, he observed the slum’s water facilities before he prepared to return to the small inn.
Upon returning to the small inn, quite a few children gathered in the alley beside it, all of whom had received cookies, including the pair of brothers. They huddled at the alley’s entrance, and upon hearing footsteps, they all looked up, their eyes appearing especially large against their sunken sockets, filled with hope as they gazed at him.
The innkeeper stood guarding the door, frowning at Xu Huo, saying, “They’re all here because of you, let
be clear, they can’t co in.”
“Do these children have no parents?” Xu Huo asked.
“Most don’t,” the innkeeper said matter-of-factly. “Even feeding them once or twice won’t help; most won’t survive past ten anyway.”
People with strong constitutions might survive in this environnt, but children are the weakest of the weak. Not to ntion eating proper als, even if they ate half a bag every day, the toxins in the food would accumulate and damage their bodies over ti.
Xu Huo handed so money to the innkeeper, “Buy so food and cook them a al. Keep the rest for yourself.”
The innkeeper, surprised and puzzled, looked at him, but seeing that Xu Huo did not intend to explain, he pinched the White Notes in his hand, “A hearty al would do.”
The innkeeper picked two of the older children to go buy groceries with him.
Xu Huo had the boy bring the pair of brothers into the inn.
As soon as the younger one entered the room, he bowed three tis to Xu Huo, lifting his head with effort to smile, “Thank you, uncle!”
Xu Huo checked the older brother’s leg; the injury wasn’t severe, but it hadn’t been treated properly, leaving his knee swollen so much that he couldn’t bend it. Over ti, it affected the entire leg, rendering him unable to walk.
“This is a Healing Potion,” he said, taking out an injection of Level E Self-healing Agent, which he administered near the knee. After observing the potion’s effect, he said, “You’ll be able to walk in a few days.”
The boy’s lips quivered, and after a while, he managed to thank Xu Huo.
The younger brother approached the bedside, “Brother, does your leg still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt as much,” the older brother replied, holding the younger one’s hand, while quietly glancing at Xu Huo with sothing new in his eyes.
The boy at the side looked at the brothers with envy, then glanced down at the bruises on his own legs, and his envy quickly turned to disappointnt and despair.
The innkeeper soon returned, and because Xu Huo gave enough money, he had conscientiously bought so semi-fresh vegetables, even a piece of at. As the aroma of food wafted out, even the boy upstairs seed distracted.
“Go downstairs,” Xu Huo instructed, letting him carry his brother down. He didn’t plan to go down himself.
“Uncle, aren’t you eating?” the younger brother asked, sniffing, his mouth watering. “The food slls so good!”
“You go eat,” Xu Huo said with a faint smile.
The three kids went downstairs, and soon the innkeeper’s shouting could be heard—telling the kids to “line up,” “no scrambling,” and “don’t overeat,” but gradually, these were drowned out by the sounds of the children devouring the food.
Xu Huo ate so dry rations and began going through the ledger he took out from a Water Shop.
The clean food in the slums was all transported from big cities. Due to the poor environnt for cultivation, the prices were exorbitant. You couldn’t even find leftovers in the garbage bins in the slums, only the places where players lived occasionally discarded so leftovers, but those spots had long been claid by other adults.
Very few people in the slums were candidates for work because there were hardly any jobs to do here other than repairing or transporting items for players, or running errands for them. Those with reasonably presentable faces might have been taken away early, leaving behind those who subsisted in hunger, living and dying with no regard.
Yet, childbearing was still encouraged here. Ordinary people could receive a sum of money for having children, and if the child had a good constitution, player forces might even give money for upbringing.
But this was exceedingly rare. Most children beca orphans, and even if they managed to survive infancy, most did not live past ten.
By comparison, the big cities were much better. From the inventory records in the ledger, the cities not only had grain and vegetable plantations but also produced fruits, clothing, and decorations; all the necessities of life were secured. The forces able to export supplies were player groups, each with their own nas.
However, from the accounts, the monthly export of living supplies from the city to the slums had a fixed quantity. Sotis more could be bought, and other tis only a little was available.
The most crucial account was water. Every month the Water Shop had to pay the city a fee to purchase water rights, with a fixed monthly quota; any excess wouldn’t be provided, and any surplus wouldn’t roll over to the next month.
From glimpses through the ledger of a single Water Shop, one could see that the slums were essentially dead water, with ordinary people contributing little. In such a place, with no food sources, the fact that so many people were still alive seed sowhat abnormal.
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