City of Time: Falling into the kill zone at the start

Chapter 056 Tell Me Directly

"193 people, all from the same 'batch' of recoveries, didn't they make many friends?"

When Yu took the initiative to talk about the past, Lu Chen couldn't help but become interested.

Then Yu said softly, "No."

"Among those who recovered, I was picked up earlier, but the treatment took a long time, and the recovery ceremony was not held until March 17."

"When I walked out of the recovery center, more than half of the dozens of people who had recovered in February had died."

"—Basically, after paying the bank interest for 2 months of [300 days], they squander the remaining 60-odd days, and their [timer] reaches zero and they die."

"Some people have also been cheated out of a lot of their time and, unable to find a quick way to get more time, feel they can't repay their bank debts and choose to give up on themselves."

...

"By the end of the year, of the 193 recoveries, including myself, only six or seven were still alive."

"We both became scavengers, and then we never saw each other again."

"—I did run into one of them on the black market last year."

"He's not doing well."

"Very thin and weak."

"The stalls on the street only sell very common items—matches, lighters, ropes, and the like."

"They must be desperate and making a last-ditch effort."

Lu Chen nodded in agreement.

Of the nearly two hundred people, only six or seven survived within six months, and all of them became scavengers.

It seems outrageous, but it is actually very reasonable.

Just imagine.

You are a scavenger.

Recently, an area in the light radiation zone has been discovered where hibernation pods can be easily dug up.

You were lucky enough to get one and bring it back to the city.

Unfortunately, the hibernation pods contained medical experimental subjects burdened with substantial bank debts.

After roughly figuring out the situation, he kept pestering you with questions, wanting you to point him in the right direction so he could earn time to pay off his debt.

Would you talk to him?

Would you treat that clueless giant baby the way Yu treated Lu Chen?

Even if you do;

Why did you do that?

Outside the city, in the lightly irradiated zone, there's a large area of ​​hibernation pods waiting for you to "pick up money"!

Where do you get the time to waste your precious time dealing with such a giant baby?

...

Clearly, most scavengers at the time would immediately leave the city and head to the hibernation pod area after retrieving the hibernation pods.

Even if they wanted to guide the rehabilitated individuals they had rescued, they simply couldn't spare the time or the opportunity.

Thus, the resurrected, without guidance, wandered aimlessly throughout the city like headless flies.

Someone was scammed out of [time].

Some people, driven to desperation by heavy debt, choose to live for the moment, squandering their last bit of time before facing death with equanimity.

—Anyway, they're all medical test subjects, people who've already died once.

Being able to 'resurrect' and enjoy a final period of health is already a gift from fate.

Others, without realizing it, "accidentally" squander their time and waste it.

Because in the City of Time, many expenditures that seem "normal" to the survivors are actually extravagant.

Drinking a glass of water to maintain energy, is that right?

—A cup of [6 hours] could have bought 90 slices of black bread.

Is it alright to stay overnight and rest?

—A decent hotel, starting at 15 hours per night, can be booked for 75 days at the Rope Hotel.

Such expenses, which seem "perfectly normal" to the survivors, unknowingly hasten their deaths.

That's why Yu was so surprised when Lu Chen asked her about the cheapest food and accommodation after he recovered.

Because most recovering individuals only realize they need to gain time after they have recovered.

However, they are completely unaware that saving time is the most important thing that recovering patients should learn.

After all, there are only a few ways to obtain [time].

Coal mines and power plants—you can go and do those jobs;

If you're going out of town to scavenge, someone can guide you.

However, saving time is quite difficult for those who are used to a life of ease after recovery.

"Those who survived, shouldn't they be considered your 'kind' as well?"

"It's the same batch again, why not deal with them?"

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Chen asked a question.

Seeing that Yu did not answer, he asked again, "And what about that 'kindred spirit' you met on the black market last year? Why didn't you help him?"

Upon hearing this, Yu remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, he said in a strangely low voice, "I am not the same kind of person as them."

"They survived not because they became scavengers and could afford the interest on their bank debts."

"It's because they ganged up on each other and killed their own scavengers."

……

After he finished speaking, the two remained silent for a long time.

Lu Chen had made some guesses.

Yu wondered if those people might have done something wrong that made her feel they were not trustworthy, so she kept her distance from them.

I just never imagined that the 'bad thing' could be this bad.

"What exactly happened?"

Lu Chen's question elicited a slight shake of Yu's head, and her mood became increasingly dejected.

"After no more hibernation pods could be dug out from that area, the scavengers all returned to the city."

"These few were noticed by their respective scavengers, who wanted to train them to be teammates."

"—It's also possible that they felt they had the potential to pay off their bank debts and thus their personal debts."

"So, they were lucky enough to get the opportunity to go out of town to scavenge."

...

"Everything was normal at first."

"They each followed the scavengers out of the city to earn money and pay off their bank debt interest—they weren't rich, but at least they survived."

"Until that time."

"—Over the course of three days, six scavengers each led one of the six resurrected individuals out of the city."

"On the fourth day, the six revived individuals were brought back by another unfamiliar scavenger."

"Six people, six vehicles, registered as six scavengers."

At this point, Yu took a deep breath and remained silent for a moment.

Then, he poked his head out of the "makeshift hospital" and looked down at Lu Chen again.

My wariness of you is based on these past experiences.

"—A bloody lesson."

"I didn't abandon you because I was never abandoned by scavengers back then."

...

"I've been a scavenger for six years."

"If given the opportunity and a better option, I might also prefer to stay in the city."

"you are right."

"No matter how high the profits from scavenging are, they can't outweigh the risks outside the city."

"In the city, it's the opposite—no matter how high the business risks faced by farmers and ranchers are, they don't reach the level of life and death."

After saying that, Yu gazed intently into the depths of Lu Chen's eyes.

After a long pause, he finally said, "If one day you want to take all our profits, or even my pickup truck—you can just tell me."

"I can give you all the profits from that trip out of town, and the pickup truck too."

"Let's go back to the city together, and then go our separate ways."

"You don't have to kill me to get these things."