RNP Chapter 396 -396-Gamma City, the Lower Level?
Chapter 396 -396-Gamma City, the Lower Level?
Caelan and Vivian walked together along the city streets.
Although the city gave off a thick futuristic sci-fi atmosphere, quite a lot of garbage was piled up on both sides of the road.
The cleaning robots responsible for sanitation were currently on strike. According to the information Vivian shared through her data terminal, the city had already been at a standstill for a full week.
For a moment, Caelan actually felt a little dazed after hearing this.
Just then, a figure suddenly rushed out from a café by the roadside.
When Caelan saw that a human awakener had appeared here, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.
Vivian, who was beside him, thoughtfully explained,
"According to the ancient contract, some members of the human race did indeed participate in the construction of the passage. Because of that, they also possess the authority to enter this place."
"Of course, it is not limited to humans. Other races from the World of Myriad Races also have similar arrangements."
Caelan nodded. Suddenly, a question emerged in his mind.
With the strength of the Grey family, could they also possess similar access rights, only he simply did not know about them?
At that moment, Caelan had already made up his mind. After returning, he would definitely ask his grandfather and his maternal grandfather properly. If the Grey family or the Merlin family truly had something similar, it would save him a great deal of trouble!
Caelan shook his head, temporarily pushing aside those messy thoughts. At the same time, he turned his head and looked at Vivian.
"Where are the locals here? Why haven’t I seen any native races?"
Vivian did not immediately explain. Instead, she pointed toward a mechanical man in the distance who was currently drinking heavily and said,
"Those vagrants are the bottom class among the locals. They are also the ones who have undergone the most body modification."
"Because of all the modifications done to their bodies, they suffer from severe rejection reactions. As a result, they need to continuously use medication to suppress it. Also, they are absolutely forbidden from drinking alcohol."
When Caelan heard this, a stunned expression immediately appeared on his face.
"If alcohol is forbidden, then isn’t what they’re holding wine?"
A meaningful smile appeared on Vivian’s face.
"They are indeed drinking alcohol, because they cannot afford the expensive medication that suppresses the rejection reactions."
"Those technology companies set the price of prosthetic modifications very low. But after the modification is complete, the person must take anti-rejection medication for a long time. For these companies, this is also a method of making money."
When Caelan heard this, he immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
Could this be what capital looked like after it evolved into the future?
But immediately afterward, he raised a fatal question.
"Since prosthetic modification is obviously a huge trap, why do these lower-class people still choose to undergo modification? If they don’t modify themselves, they won’t have these problems."
Vivian pointed toward an energy processing plant in the distance. Over there, the energy factory was producing massive amounts of waste.
And that waste could not be transported using large-scale machinery, so people had to go in manually to process it.
"That waste exceeds safety limits for all kinds of radiation. If they do not accept prosthetic modification, they will be eliminated by society. They may not even be able to find work."
"Although no one in this city will truly starve to death, the food provided by welfare institutions is nothing but monotonous high-protein powder. In other words, it is food made by grinding dried insects into powder. Trust me, you absolutely would not like the taste."
The corners of Caelan’s mouth twitched slightly.
He could roughly guess what kind of miserable lives the creatures in this city were living.
"What about the upper class? Have they also undergone prosthetic modification?"
Vivian pointed toward a skyscraper in the distance.
"That is the headquarters of Global Commerce. Their chairman was among the first batch of digitized beings. You can understand it as brain uploading, allowing them to replace their body infinitely."
Good grief. Wasn’t this basically Night City from cyberpunk science fiction?
Caelan could not help but complain inwardly. At the same time, he also felt that living in a place like this was far too oppressive.
Just then, Caelan noticed a large number of mechanical bodies gathering in the distance.
They all moved in the same direction, gathering in front of a church. Then, with extreme devotion, they clasped their hands together and knelt down in worship.
???
Robots had religious beliefs too?
However, Caelan soon understood their behavior.
It turned out that all these mechanical bodies worshipped the God of Puppets.
After thinking about it carefully, it was actually understandable. After all, the God of Puppets had given them another body. In a sense, he had granted them a new life.
Caelan followed Vivian around Gamma City for roughly one full circuit.
He finally gained a certain level of understanding of this place.
As long as any living being in the Gamma Sector chose to believe in the God of Puppets, they would receive a blessing.
The contents of that blessing were not any kind of tangible reward, but rather...
Coupons!
That was right. As long as one prayed sincerely, a voucher with a random face value would be automatically issued every morning at nine o’clock.
According to Vivian, over the past ten years, a full ten believers had obtained a ninety-percent discount on prosthetic modification.
As a result, the number of followers who believed in the God of Puppets grew larger and larger.
After Vivian led Caelan around Gamma City, they finally found a café and temporarily sat down to rest.
This time, Vivian also took the initiative to ask a question for the first time.
"Mr. Caelan, may I ask what plans you have in coming to the [Celestial Realm]? Or are you simply here for sightseeing?"
Caelan smiled faintly, picked up his coffee, and took a sip. Then his eyes lit up slightly.
He had to admit, the coffee here tasted richer and more mellow than any coffee beans he had ever drunk before.
The layered flavor upon entering his mouth almost amazed Caelan beyond words!
He subconsciously used [Eye of Insight] to examine the ingredients inside the cup.
Sure enough, everything was exactly as he had expected.
Aside from coffee, this cup of coffee contained basically everything else.
All kinds of technological tricks and artificial additives had been stirred together. And the price of one cup was equivalent to one hundred gold coins.
Tsk, tsk...
As expected of you, Night City!
"I came here because I want to find an answer. While I’m at it, I also want to ask the administrators of the [Celestial Realm] whether they understand the concept of protecting intellectual property rights."
Vivian: ???
Vivian fell into a brief state of system freeze. After remaining silent for quite a while, she finally spoke in a dry tone.
"Mr. Caelan, if you have any questions, I believe you may go to the Gamma City Service Center for the appropriate consultation."
Caelan nodded, drained the coffee in his cup in one gulp, and then entered the city service center together with Vivian.
However, the instant he stepped inside, his gaze was drawn to a graceful figure at the eleven o’clock direction.
Wait.
Why did she seem somewhat familiar?