The so-called Bar Street.
It was nothing more than a few dilapidated buildings in a garbage valley, serving as entertainment for the Scavengers.
I heard that this was once the location of the Pentagon of a certain European superpower in the old era.
Of course, by now, that Pentagon was long buried under the garbage.
Looking into the distance, only a few once hundred-story skyscrapers barely managed to poke their heads out of the garbage.
Several Scavengers wandered slowly, their figures hunched, wearing tattered and heavily patched protective suits that appeared fragile in the harsh environment.
People who lived long-term in the Garbage Earth were filled with complex and contradictory emotions.
Despair and helplessness.
Numbness and adaptation.
Reality and fantasy.
Loneliness and detachment.
Greed and adventure.
Most adult men, in their free time, would come to Bar Street to drink a cup of low-quality alcohol contaminated with various chemical elements. In this situation, they pursued... fleeting happiness and satisfaction.
A young boy, and a nanny robot draped in burlap, appeared at the street corner.
He slowly walked towards the bar.
The broken spaceship glass window by the roadside reflected his figure.
The boy's hair was long, covering his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes, and it was covered in dust.
He wore a dark blue Scavengers' cloak full of holes.
This cloak served two purposes: first, it represented a low-level Scavengers, and second, if trapped deep in the garbage, the relatively conspicuous cloak could attract attention for easier rescue.
However, there were no rescue teams in this world; once trapped, it was a wait for death.
He wore black radiation-proof trousers and a jacket, which to the naked eye looked very similar to old-era leather clothing, like a young cowboy.
The boy stopped and looked at the red-dressed figure across from the bar.
Hena was the most beautiful sight on Bar Street.
She might even be the most beautiful sight in the entire Garbage Earth.
She sat on an abandoned fuel barrel, leaning gently, her spotless white feet exposed beneath her vibrant red dress. Hena was beautiful, as if she didn't belong to this world. In Cheng Qi's perception, all the men on the entire Garbage Earth liked her.
Cheng Qi walked past Hena.
Hena turned her head, her black curly hair on her fair neck swaying with the movement. She blinked her narrow eyelashes, her beautiful eyes looking at Cheng Qi.
In her pupils, there was a faint blue halo, crystal clear, mysterious and magical.
That was a symbol of high-grade genes.
After the Great Universe Era began, human gene modification technology also thoroughly rose.
Through the quality of genes, humans were divided into different ranks.
Cheng Qi had ordinary genes, meaning he was an ordinary human from the old era, which in this era was equivalent to garbage.
Scavengers all had ordinary genes.
Hena, however, was a natural E-class. Although only slightly stronger than ordinary people, she was a brilliant and dazzling pearl on this Garbage Earth.
Not only because Hena was beautiful.
As long as one procreated with her, the next generation's genes were highly likely to evolve to a higher level, thus having a chance to completely escape from this Garbage Earth beneath their feet.
“Everyone wants to get close to me, everyone says they like me.”
Hena's voice was clear and clean. She turned to look at a suitor holding a plastic bouquet, “But no one respects my opinion. Perhaps my criteria for choosing a partner have never been genetic standards, but rather choosing someone I truly like.”
Hena maintained her politeness, her beautiful face, her captivating pupils, “Too many people approaching me has already caused me trouble. Promise me, from now on, please give me some comfortable distance.”
Cheng Qi tilted his head for a moment, then continued walking forward.
Hena’s father was the leader of the Scavenger Alliance; no one could force her to do something she didn't want to do.
Cheng Qi admired Hena.
But not simply for Hena's genes; she possessed independent values. In this dirty and chaotic environment, her heart maintained its own pure world, like a white lotus.
“Stupid kid…”
“Always thinking about unrealistic things.”
Inside the bar, Hyena Luke secretly observed Cheng Qi, then pulled the bolt on the beam pistol he had repaired countless times to barely fire.
Then.
He said to his 7 subordinates behind him, “All ambushed, guard all exits. Once that little piece of garbage enters, he won’t have to leave again!”
Cheng Qi pushed open the bar door.
Under the dim lights, several dazed drinkers were scattered around, one of whom had fallen under a table, possibly passed out or dead, as some of the alcohol here had side effects comparable to poison.
Hyena was not in the main hall, which was somewhat unusual, yet also within Cheng Qi's expectations.
Behind him.
A fierce-looking big man slowly closed the bar door, then gestured with his chin towards Cheng Qi, “Hyena is waiting for you in the back room.”
Cheng Qi slowly walked towards the back room. In the corridor he passed through, two more fierce-looking big men stood.
Hyena wanted to cover his tracks and destroy the evidence at the same time.
Pushing open the door to the back room, Cheng Qi finally saw Hyena Luke, who had a yellow Mohawk hairstyle.
He was sitting behind an office desk made of Deprecated metal, his feet crossed on the tabletop, a mold-spotted cigar clamped between his teeth.
All of his teeth had been replaced with sharp black amorphous alloy, and the cigar was pierced, making him look very ferocious.
Hyena Luke first gestured for Cheng Qi to sit down, then pulled out a fully charged beam pistol from his Pregnant.
Then he gently tapped the tabletop with his heel.
Behind his desk, a white-haired old man, his face covered in blood and his mouth torn open, slowly crawled out.
That was Old Lin, a good friend of Cheng Qi's grandfather during his lifetime. Scavengers often went hungry, and Old Lin had helped Cheng Qi and his grandfather more than once. In other words, without Old Lin's past assistance, Cheng Qi would not have survived to this day.
Hyena looked up again at the big man standing in the corner. This big man's hands had both been modified into hydraulic mechanical arms, capable of unleashing astonishing power. This guy was also the top enforcer on Bar Street.
Surrounded, hostage, fierce enforcer.
All arranged for Cheng Qi.
Hyena Luke truly did not want any slightest accident to occur.
“Haha, you wouldn’t be trying those ‘I didn’t bring the stuff, kill me and you get nothing’ tricks, would you?”
Hyena Luke smiled sinisterly, “Little garbage bug, I have a few questions for you. Where did you get…”
But Cheng Qi interrupted him, slowly pulling out a piece of intermetallic compound from his Pregnant and placing it on Hyena’s desk.
“This is to repay your usury.”
“Oh, the little fellow is quite sensible!”
Cheng Qi then pulled out a translucent golden metal from his Pregnant, “This is what I want to sell.”
“Holy crap, it’s the real deal!”
Hyena Luke’s eyes widened, his pupils constricted, and it took him a full seven or eight seconds to react, “Kid is too sensible!”
Cheng Qi still ignored him, and again pulled out another translucent golden metal from his Pregnant, quietly placing it on the desk.
“Holy crap, crap!”
Hyena swallowed his saliva, “You actually have two pieces of amorphous alloy!”
Cheng Qi still went about his business, continuing to pull out a third, fourth, fifth… and sixth piece of amorphous alloy from his Pregnant.
“Holy crap, crap, crap?!”
Hyena Luke’s eyes went straight, and the cigar in his mouth snapped with a crunch, “You actually have so many?!”
Then.
Hyena craned his neck, looking at Cheng Qi’s chest pocket, confirming there were no more alloys in there.
The next second, this guy was practically overjoyed.
This stupid kid, he brought his entire fortune in one go?
It saved me so much trouble. Before, I was afraid he’d hide his treasures and rather die than confess. Clearly, I was overthinking it!
He really thinks I’ll buy them?
At this point, if I don’t kill him, my character will be totally ruined!