Chapter 2817: "Commodity"
Tang Xu let out a strange laugh, looking at the flying vehicle behind them. "A pretty little girl like this—how can you bear it? Since you're going to kill her anyway, you might as well give her to me!"
"Shut your stinking mouth!" the other man roared. "This woman is already sold to me. Even if she becomes a corpse, she's mine to deal with. What business is it of yours? Give her back!"
Hearing this, Tang Xu glanced at the kneeling woman. "Lift your skirt."
The woman had somewhat regained her senses by now. Hesitating, she eventually lifted the hem of her skirt. On her right thigh, just above the knee, there was a unicorn tattoo.
"Brother Xu, this is a bit tricky," Tang Xu said, looking at Xu Huo. "Selling oneself is legal in Zone 003. She sold herself to the man behind us. According to the law, she's already a commodity. Life or death is up to the owner, and no one else can interfere."
Xu Huo frowned slightly. "What about a trade?"
Tang Xu shook his head. "Maybe at other times, but not this time. I have a grudge with the youngest of the Hui family back there. If I try to buy her, he definitely won't agree, and he might even torture her to death out of spite."
The two flying vehicles quickly came to a stop. The opposite hatches opened, and a gaunt young man on the other side swept a gloomy gaze over the beetle-shaped vehicle before fixing his eyes on Tang Xu. "You come back and immediately start trouble with me? You want to fight?"
Tang Xu waved his hand. "Who wants to fight you? I've finally returned, and I want a couple of days of peace."
He introduced Xu Huo. "This is a new friend I made on the train. He's taken a liking to this woman. Do me a favor and sell her to him."
The gaunt young man understood Tang Xu well enough to know he wouldn't lift a finger without profit, so he didn't dare underestimate Xu Huo. Instead, he stared at Tang Xu and said, "She wanted to treat her parents' illness. First, she sold me one of her legs, then her head and skin, and finally her internal organs. When the contract expires, she's mine. Don't talk to me about making her kneel and serve me—even if I told her to lick my boots, she'd have to smile and do it. Since she sold herself, who is she to put on airs of righteousness? If she had any guts, she shouldn't have cheapened herself in the first place!"
Tang Xu looked helplessly at Xu Huo. "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help..."
Before Xu Huo could respond, the woman who had recovered suddenly grabbed the water glass on the table, tipped her head back, and drained it dry. Then she spoke to the two of them. "Thank you for saving me. Hui Peng is right—I sold myself to make my parents' last days a little easier. But as for serving you and being your beast of burden? Don't even think about it!"
The last sentence was directed at Hui Peng. The woman glared at him hatefully. "If it weren't for Hui Corporation tricking my parents into participating in drug experiments, they never would have gotten sick! I'm just an ordinary person. I can't take revenge, and I can't do anything to people like you. The most I can do is swindle some money out of you... Remember this: I'm not the first person who wanted revenge, and I won't be the last. One day, the flames of hatred will turn into a blazing inferno and burn the Hui family to ashes!"
With that, she resolutely leaped into the air!
Hui Peng was furious. He ordered the players beside him, "Don't let her die so easily!"
But the two players beside him only moved slightly before sitting back down.
"Are you deaf..." Hui Peng's words died in his throat. Like his two accompanying players, he froze in place. He slowly turned his head and met Xu Huo's gaze. Just one look, and cold sweat poured down his face.
"You can have the person," he said, knowing when to yield. After all, they were in the middle of nowhere—if he died here, no one would even know.
Tang Xu chuckled and chimed in, "Well, well, first time I've seen you be so reasonable. You almost don't seem like a scumbag."
He extended his gem-covered hand. "Give me the contract."
Hui Peng quickly pulled out the contract and tossed it to him, then urged the players with him to close the hatch and leave immediately.
The flying vehicle sped away quickly. Xu Huo didn't make a move. The woman who had sought death was pulled back inside the vehicle. Staring at the contract on the table, she couldn't control the tears streaming down her face. "As long as I'm still in Flowing Gold City, if I don't die today, I'll die tomorrow."
Tang Xu had the female companion beside him help her up. "This is a small matter. Since my brother here stepped in to help you, I'll definitely find you a place. My family has some influence in Flowing Gold City. I'll give you a position in my company. The Hui family won't bother you."
"As for this..." He held up the contract and looked at Xu Huo. Seeing him shake his head, Tang Xu burned it without hesitation and said cheerfully to the woman, "Now you're free."
The woman sobbed uncontrollably. She had been prepared to die, hoping to disgust Hui Peng, but now the tide had turned, and she could actually survive...
"Thank you, thank you..." She repeated the words over and over.
Tang Xu had his female companion take her to rest.
"It's hard to imagine that human trafficking could be legal at a B-level wormhole point," Xu Huo remarked.
"Human trafficking isn't a glorious thing at any wormhole point. The more civilized a place, the more it's strictly prohibited and severely cracked down on. Otherwise, why would those mercenary groups go around kidnapping and selling people?" Tang Xu swirled his glass. "But there are exceptions to everything. At its root, this whole thing started with the pursuit of freedom."
Seeing that Xu Huo was interested, he continued. "There are all kinds of people in the world. Laws can only try to accommodate the majority. Some minority groups—they don't interfere with them, but they won't openly provide them with convenience either."
"Although technological advancements have allowed laws to be truly enforced, the world is never short of people in desperate straits or those with insatiable greed. While selling others is still strictly prohibited, people are absolutely free. Others can't sell you, but you can sell yourself."
"As for whether you're willing or not—who cares? If you're not willing, there are plenty of ways to make you 'willing.'"
"The cheapness and diversity of human beings, combined with the pleasure of inflicting violence on one's own kind—far surpassing any other violent act—makes this kind of thing impossible to ban."
"Zone 003 has had many protests about banning the sale of human bodies, but they all fizzled out in the end."
Tang Xu sighed. "After evolution, people hardly even get sick. And even if they do, they can replace their organs with mechanical ones. All in all, people living in today's game world have very few needs from others. Sometimes I don't understand these people either. There are so many fun and delicious things in the world—why do they have to do these twisted and utterly worthless things?"