Chapter 949: The Overtime Incineration Plant
The female mayor's voice echoed through the city at regular intervals, but the broadcasts about standing together with W37 until the end usually did not feature her image, and there was basically no information about the relevant government personnel. The confidentiality work was very well done.
Of course, this was also thanks to the tree canopy pillars. The buildings above those pillars were the main places where high-level government activities took place. Ordinary people and players who had not joined W37 generally could not go up, nor were they allowed to.
Such strict isolation of communication and the clear division of upper and lower ruling relationships would normally lead to irreconcilable conflicts, but so far, the residents of W37 that Xu Huo had encountered had no objections to this.
It wasn't that they had been tamed, but rather that the W37 base city had experienced quite a few attacks in the past. Players, ordinary people, and even infected individuals could suddenly turn into attackers. The endless stream of attacks had also brought considerable losses to W37. The most serious incident was the destruction of a batch of grain seeds that had just passed experiments.
Grain was a lifeline for ordinary people. To accumulate a new batch of seeds, the food supply on the market was reduced by a third during that period. Almost all residents went from their normal three meals a day to two meals. The people who had gone hungry decided to find a way to prevent such incidents, so the proposal to build the main government departments and important laboratories high in the air came into being—this was the result of a vote by all residents.
Later, some players came to W37 to cause trouble, but it had a smaller impact on the basic operation of the city, which fully proved the correctness of the decision.
The car passed by the experimental fields due east of the base.
There was a transparent wall between the experimental fields and the city. The two sides could not directly interact, but both could see each other. On the other side of the experimental fields, there was also a dense cluster of residences, which should be the living quarters for the infected individuals working in the fields.
Obvious patches could be seen on these people's bodies.
The state of both sides was very stable. When the car passed by, the people working in the fields would even look up and greet them. There were no negative emotions stemming from being crowded into a narrow space.
Of course, the other residents in the city were not just receiving benefits for free. Everyone had to work, and everyone was working at the bottom level of the city.
Xu Huo glanced at the low-rise houses that were still being built, then turned his head to look at the endless stream of people on the nearby streets. He closed his eyes slightly.
He didn't get off at the station closest to the incineration plant but chose the nearby bar street—this was the place the old lady on the express train had recommended as the most popular gathering spot for outsiders. The prices weren't high, and there were many job channels. If he wanted to stay long-term in W37, he could come here and try. Sometimes the government also recruited here, but generally only for players.
"Handsome, want some wine?" As soon as he got off the car, a woman with a full figure approached a few steps. "My place's wine is only diluted with ten percent water."
A casual glance would show that many bars on this street had signs out front listing their specialty wines, with the dilution ratio being one of the selling points.
"Diluted with so little water, can you still make a profit?" Xu Huo followed the woman.
"Handsome, you must be new here," the woman explained eagerly. "Water is also a precious commodity here. The water we dilute with is also charged for. Wine is definitely more expensive than water. I can tell at a glance that you're not short of money. Wine diluted with too much water has no taste. Try my place's strong liquor, it's especially fragrant!"
There were quite a few customers in the woman's small bar. Even though it wasn't dark yet, some people were already drinking with flushed faces. In the ten or so meters to the bar counter, several drunkards reached out to grope the woman:
"Boss, your butt is perkier today. Sit down and have a drink, big brother's treat!"
The woman navigated among the guests with ease, inviting Xu Huo to the bar and telling the bartender to serve him wine.
Xu Huo looked at the menu, which also had food, so he didn't order wine but got some food instead.
The boss wasn't disappointed either. She told the bartender to take good care of him. A drinker slumped against the bar laughed, "Why come here to eat? You should drink!"
The bartender brought out some cooked food, and Xu Huo was already burying his head in eating. The drinker found it boring and turned his head away.
It was a bit strange to have someone burying their head in food in a bar, but the people coming and going only glanced briefly, involuntarily ignoring his presence.
Not long after, three middle-aged men entered the bar. They sat down and immediately called for the boss to bring undiluted wine.
"Old Ding, your incineration plant has been doing well lately, huh? You can even afford undiluted wine," someone who knew them said.
The man with the bushy beard boasted with a hint of pride, "Of course! Working overtime nonstop. There's another batch of goods coming tonight to be burned. Looks like we'll be busy for a few days!"
"The overtime pay at the incineration plant is very high. If you work consecutive overtime, they even compensate with potions. Not to mention the wages, potions are good stuff! Usually only players drink them!" The person who greeted them leaned over enviously and lit a cigarette for Bushy Beard Old Ding. "You guys have been working overtime a lot lately. Do you need to hire anyone?"
Old Ding took a drag on his cigarette and squinted at him. "When we were so idle we could catch birds, why didn't I see you coming around to join in the fun?"
The man said with a completely frank expression, "I just happened to have nothing to do now."
"What's there to do at the incineration plant? The lab doesn't send stuff every day. They have to wait for our exploration team to hunt down xenomorphs. If there's not much, people can't be bothered to come all the way here," another person said. "Besides, burning xenomorph corpses and mutant plants every day... who knows when you might get sick and die!"
Old Ding slammed his glass down on the table. "The ash from burning is all fertilizer. Even the grain seeds are grown with the ash from our incineration plant. Without the incineration plant, what would you eat!"
The unemployed man quickly smoothed things over. "He's just jealous. Don't mind him. Tell us, how come the lab has been sending out so much stuff these past few days? Is the government planning some big move?"
Old Ding took a couple of gulps of wine. "What big move? The lab has been clearing out its inventory lately. They just throw out the useless stuff to be burned. It doesn't take up space and can be used as fertilizer. It also lets us earn some extra cash."
The operation of the incineration plant wasn't a secret. Many people knew about it, so they started guessing in twos and threes whether the players had brought back something from outside, forcing the lab to clear out space.
Xu Huo finished his meal in the corner, drank a glass of water, paid, and left. The boss, who was soliciting customers outside, handed him a business card. "Come by anytime. We have cooked food during the day, and after eight o'clock at night, we have freshly made specialty dishes. The taste is good, and the price isn't expensive."
Xu Huo nodded and moved the card slightly to the left, just avoiding a hand reaching from behind to snatch it.
The other party paused when he saw him dodge. "A player?"
Xu Huo looked at the newcomer. It was a somewhat aged, skinny man with lively eyes that darted between him and the boss. With a hint of wariness, he fixed his gaze on the boss. "Your new lover?"
(Chapter End)