Chapter 2769: City Roller Coaster
Rivi and Zhan Erliu acted together. Xu Huo sat for a while before parting ways with them. The matter of Black Sea Technology Company was soon concluded, especially with the involvement of the District Government. The legally strict interrogation agents were no longer so troublesome to use, so the final results were announced quickly.
When things weren't discovered, everyone turned a blind eye, but once they were exposed, the personnel sent by the District Government had no choice but to deal with the high-ranking officials involved in the local law enforcement department. Black Sea Technology also faced penalties, but since Toven Smith was already dead, he conveniently took the blame. As for that Punishment City, it wasn't, as rumored on the Message Collection Terminal, an underground live-streaming venue authorized by local law enforcement and built by Black Sea Technology. Instead, it had just been completed and wasn't yet fully operational. The government had merely been exploited through a loophole.
Of course, the players who died in Punishment City were glossed over. Even though the District Government was also furious about the incident, they had to suppress their anger. If the public found out that players from the Enforcement Department were so easily defeated, it would likely cause panic.
Naturally, the law enforcement department was also tracking down the players who escaped from Punishment City, but they hadn't made any progress for the time being. Occasionally, there were traces, but they turned out to be smoke screens set by Outer Zone Players. Moreover, taking advantage of this incident, a small number of Outer Zone Players caused trouble, but it didn't stir up much of a wave.
The matter had completely settled.
While the local government was busy tracking Xu Huo's whereabouts, he had already arrived at the largest transportation hub on the route map. Unlike other cities known for their scenery or culture, the main attraction here was the intricate network of transportation tracks connecting the sky and underground, earning it the nickname "City Roller Coaster."
This transportation hub city restricted aircraft, so rail transit bore much of the transportation pressure.
The intercity train Xu Huo took nearly circled all the aboveground and underground transportation routes. It was a sightseeing route, with many fellow travelers, most of whom came for the underground holographic show.
It was said that to increase revenue, the government used the latest holographic projectors to create a massive technological cave underground, with different themes for each section of the route.
As the train entered the underground, Xu Huo successively saw Future City, Interstellar Travel, Black Hole Shuttle, and Time Travel.
Among them, Interstellar Travel and Black Hole Shuttle mostly recorded scenes from the universe, while Future City depicted a future based on more advanced wormhole points, though the real place names were blurred or modified. Time Travel, on the other hand, used this city as a blueprint, restoring the city's appearance from different times based on historical records.
After seeing so many unrealistic things, the nostalgic style was quite appealing. Xu Huo also caught glimpses of two generations of Grand Archons in the show. Although these two came from different families and had no blood relation, their appearances were strikingly similar, making them look like father and son.
Out of curiosity, he looked up some related information and found that both Grand Archons had been involved in a gene-editing crime case. It wasn't that they were supporters, but their names appeared in the "victim" data leaked by relevant personnel involved in the gene-editing experiment.
This case was from many years ago. The two Grand Archons were only a few years apart in age, and their parents had them participate in the gene-editing experiment, either knowingly or unknowingly. How this came to light was because the doctor conducting the experiment, out of personal bias, made some modifications according to his own preferences. This resulted in many of the children who grew up having similar appearances—but these children were indeed the genetic heirs of their parents. The reason for such astonishing coincidences, as experts later concluded, was that the doctor had already screened the subjects when selecting participants for the experiment. This was called "batch production" at the time.
Both Grand Archons were the results of "batch production." However, unlike other victims who underwent plastic surgery to hide their past, they didn't care about exposing their victim status at all. In fact, they even used it as an excuse to benefit themselves when appropriate.
Both Grand Archons were somewhat advanced in age, and the gene-editing crime had occurred at least decades ago. During this period, Zone 022 had gradually improved its relevant laws, and gene editing was absolutely prohibited in this district.
However, the success of these two inevitably made some people see the benefits, leading to ongoing calls for the legalization of gene editing.
Of course, the dire consequences of gene editing had long been made public. Both Grand Archons had announced that they suffered from new types of genetic diseases, which they hadn't inherited from their parents but had passed on to their own children and descendants.
"Legalizing gene editing" was only a minority opinion.
Passing through the underground and back to the surface, the train moved high in the air, offering a panoramic view of the entire city.
In the distance, there was a fireworks show. A massive projection reading "Happy Birthday" floated in the air, clearly visible from any angle in the city.
"Is the Grand Archon's youngest daughter's birthday still not over?" someone on the train discussed.
"Rich people take a long time to prepare for birthdays. Just the guest list for the banquet takes them ages to arrange," another person said, then added enviously, "How great it is to be the Grand Archon's daughter. She could casually take a doll out, and that doll would skyrocket in price. Even if I had a genetic disease, I'd accept it."
Someone nearby mocked him for wishful thinking, but another said, "I see the Grand Archon celebrates his youngest daughter's birthday every year, but I've never seen her face. I wonder what genetic disease she has that she can't even show her face."
"She's probably very ill, which is why they make such a big deal out of her birthday."
This wasn't a topic suitable for deep discussion in public. The chatter soon shifted, saying that the sculpture exhibition wouldn't start for a while, so they could go queue up for meerkat dolls first.
Xu Huo checked the time on the Message Collection Terminal and booked a ticket for the sculpture exhibition.
As he got off the train, the woman in front of him stumbled. He reached out to steady her, and when she turned around, he saw that her face was covered in something like pus-filled sores.
Noticing his gaze, the woman quickly pulled her face mask higher, muttered a thank you, and hurried away.
Given Zone 022's welfare system, it was rare to see someone on the street with severe skin diseases. Even if they couldn't afford long-term treatment, the government would find a way to help. Moreover, the evolution agents ordinary people took nowadays were quite effective, making severe skin conditions uncommon. For someone like this to appear, it was clearly abnormal.
Sure enough, not long after, the woman was stopped by the Enforcement Team. However, after checking her documents, they let her go, only advising her not to wander around in public and to go home quickly.
She was also going to the sculpture exhibition. By the time Xu Huo arrived, she was already queuing in the middle of the line.