Alien Relic Hunter

"Sir?" the porter asked again, "Are you sure you are going to the East 10th District?"

"Yes, yes, that's right." Ishikawa Teru nodded repeatedly, "There is a little matter... that I need to go... and handle it myself."

"Then why don't you take the light rail? The light rail is much cleaner than the freight train, and it's also more comfortable." A trace of doubt appeared on the porter's face, "You... don't look like the kind of person who can't afford the fare. ."

"I'm in a hurry. The light rail has just left the station. I missed it. I have to wait for more than half an hour for the next train." What Ishikawa Teru said was true, but at the same time, there was a layer of fear in his heart - —Fortunately, I missed the light rail. You must know that the light rail will record every passenger’s information. As long as he purchases the ticket through formal channels, the passenger’s identity, departure station and destination station will be uploaded to the public network. It is not necessary at all. Possibly escaping the eyes of the guards.

"That's right..." The porter nodded doubtfully, "It's not impossible to give you a lift, but this carriage is full of goods..."

"It's okay if it's a bit crowded, as long as there's room for me to stay. I'm really in a hurry." Ishikawa Teru emphasized again and again.

"Okay, come with me." The porter put down the things in his hands and walked inside with Ishikawa Teru.

The two of them didn't stop until they reached the fifth carriage. The porter turned around and said to Ishikawa Teru: "Only the fifth carriage has room left. If you don't mind, come and get closer here."

Ishikawa Teru looked in through the half-open door of the carriage and saw a gap about thirty centimeters wide between two rows of large plastic boxes, which could barely fit a person in... As for the comfort level along the way, there was no need. You know, this will definitely be a torturous journey.

"Okay... okay." At the moment of major events, Ishikawa Teru had no choice, "How much will it cost?"

"It's just a hitchhiking. I'll give you a discount, five hundred." The porter said.

"What?" After hearing this number, Ishikawa Teru almost thought he had heard it wrong.

The porter talked about a discounted price, but what he quoted was an out-and-out black price. The fare for a first-class light rail carriage was only 350 points, and it also came with a food coupon. Eat at the station restaurants along the way or exchange for pre-made meals on the bus. But the truck in front of you, which has no service and has to squeeze in with the cargo, actually costs 500?

Obviously, the porter was convinced that he was in a hurry, so he dared to open his mouth.

"This is really a discounted price. If you don't believe it, you can check it online. The cost of pulling a truck of leather goods here is tens of thousands. You are on this truck, so naturally it is our goods. We charge you five Hundred, isn’t that too much?” A very disproportionately evil smile appeared on the porter’s honest and honest face.

"Five hundred is five hundred." Ishikawa Teru was about to take out the information terminal to pay, but then he thought about it. If he was wanted, the payment record would also become a clue for the guard to track down. When the time comes, he would find the porter and ask him. , you can ask yourself when you went to the East Tenth District... If you hadn't found a hiding place in the East Tenth District at that time, I was afraid that you would be caught by the guards in a matter of minutes...

He knew the nature of those people in the slums very well. If the guards told them that they could get paid for providing the whereabouts of a strange face, those people would sell themselves out without mercy... and even take the initiative to give him money. Guards lead the way.

The saying that people in slums are difficult to catch is only limited to the local "indigenous", but outsiders like him, in the first few months after arriving, were undoubtedly as eye-catching as a light bulb in the dark... He also heard It is said that there is a special profession in the slums called "stalking". These people are particularly careful about the "new faces" that appear in their territory. If someone tracks down this place in the future, as long as the price is right, these "stalking" people will be happy to track down the new faces. Their whereabouts can be exchanged for supplies or credits.

In addition to criminals wanted by the authorities, those who fled to the slums also included old gangsters who owed money, gangsters who were hunted by their enemies, and unlucky guys who accidentally offended someone they couldn't afford to offend... These kinds of people are there every day. A large number of people flow into the slums, and the idle "stalkers" who usually rely on reselling the information of these people make a living. When they meet the "high-value" people, they can also make a fortune.

Ishikawa Teru thought for a while. His current identity was just a member of the returnist organization with no criminal record. He should not let the guards go to war for him, but it was best to avoid the trouble that could be avoided.

Ishikawa Teru took his watch, handed it to the porter, and said: "I just realized that I seemed to have forgotten to bring the information terminal. This watch should be used for the fare, and the extra part can be regarded as a tip for you." "

"Watch?" The porter looked at the table and said, "I don't know how much this thing is worth. Besides, it looks like you have worn this watch for many years. There are so many scratches on it... Is it worth five hundred?”

"This is a Seiko mechanical watch. It had more than three thousand credits when I bought it. It's probably worth more than a thousand now. What, are you planning to send it for appraisal?" Ishikawa Teru frowned, somewhat said unhappily.

"More than three thousand?" The porter swallowed greedily and quickly stuffed the watch into his pocket, "For a person from the upper class like you, what you are wearing must be genuine. There is no need to authenticate it. There is no need to authenticate it." Come on, please find a place to sit down quickly, we will leave in five minutes."

The porter turned around and was about to close the door. As if he remembered something, he added: "Oh, by the way, there are a few things I need to make clear to you first. We are a truck and there are no traffic conditions on the road. It will stop, so this carriage will only open again when it reaches the terminal. It may be a bit boring after a long time, so you have to endure it. Also, there may be some bumps on the road, so be careful. If you bump into something, We are not responsible... After all, in principle, trucks cannot carry people. I am already risking violation of regulations to make an exception for you. I hope you will not do anything to embarrass us."

"I know." Ishikawa Teru responded casually.

With a "bang" sound, the car door was closed, and the car was plunged into darkness.

Fortunately, Ishikawa Teru's figure is not that strong, and he doesn't have the big belly that is common among middle-aged men. Although the thirty-centimeter wide gap is not wide, it will not trap him in it. He groped and leaned against a On the relatively clean plastic box, he put the bag of bread aside and took out the information terminal in his pocket.

Turning on the screen, he checked his mailbox one last time. He did not receive an email from the guard asking him to surrender, which meant that he was not yet on the wanted list.

Ishikawa Teru breathed a sigh of relief, took out the chip in the information terminal, and snapped it off - although the information terminal he used claimed to be able to resist tracking and prevent positioning, since it was an information terminal, it was inevitable to interact with it. The communication base station is connected to the Internet. When the guard wants to determine his location, they only need to see which district's communication base station his information terminal is connected to.

Accompanied by a burst of alarm bells, the freight train began to accelerate slowly and drove out of the station. The inertia during the start made Ishikawa Teru catch him off guard and bumped his head against the box on the opposite side. A big bump appeared on his forehead - and the built-in buffer device. Compared with the advanced light rail with adaptive seats, the structure of this industrial freight train is so simple that it can be described as rough.

But it is true that as long as this kind of transportation vehicle is fast, strong enough, and has a large transportation capacity, other issues are not considered at all.

Although he was mentally prepared early in the morning, when the carriage started to bump, the uncomfortable feeling still made Ishikawa Teru feel miserable... After two and a half hours of driving, he felt as if half of his life had been lost. As if, he vomited four times along the way. Not only was the floor of the carriage and the plastic cargo box covered with vomit, but even his expensive long windbreaker was not spared.

When the porter opened the carriage door again, he looked at Ishikawa Teru in his eyes full of disgust and disgust, but fortunately he didn't say much and didn't let Ishikawa Teru stay to clean up - probably because he was afraid of Ishikawa Hui regretted that he wanted to redeem the Seiko watch, and immediately started to chase people away with curses and waving a rag.

Ishikawa Teru didn't stay much after being kicked out of the East 10th District Freight Transfer Station, and walked quickly towards the black market - this was not his first time in the East 10th District. Before this, in order to purchase the raw materials needed for the experiment, he I have been to the black market in the East Tenth District many times, and the location of this black market is right in the middle of the slum area.

As soon as he entered the slums, he saw two idle little boys sitting on the roadside. In their hands, they were playing with metal parts that seemed to have been removed from a certain machine, but their eyes were sneaking around at everyone passing by. Scanning the person's body - Ishikawa Teru knew that these two little boys were the so-called "stalkers".

Guys who can become "stalkers" all have certain talents. The two most important points are sharp eyes and good memory... Seeing the two little boys looking towards him, Ishikawa Teru quickly put the bag he was holding. He raised it up to cover his face.

Passing through the entrance is the "shanty town" that accounts for two-thirds of the slum area. This was originally reserved for construction, but because the development value of this area was not great, it remained empty. Over time, Naturally, it was "appropriated" by the people in the slums.

There are a large number of shacks set up in the open space, and all kinds of old clothes are placed on the racks outside the shacks. Garbage and feces can be seen everywhere on the ground - this scene is a bit like the "Husband" during the Great Depression of Emerican in the old era. Buddhist Village” (Note 1).

Ishikawa Teru doesn't have to worry about the brightly dressed self standing out in this environment - there are many upper-class people who often come to the slums, and some of them, like him before, want to buy something that only Things that can only be bought on the black market; some people do it to recruit cheap labor, bodyguards and thugs; others do it to "have fun".

After all, the slums can be regarded as the "lawless zone" on the Ark. Here, even if you commit a serious crime such as murder or rape, you can easily settle it as long as you have money. Not to mention that the guards won't come to the door, and they won't even leave any criminal records.

Ishikawa Teru didn't stop. He walked straight through the shanty town and walked to an abandoned RV across the interface. He raised his hand and knocked three times on the middle window on the left side of the RV.

With a "crunch", someone pushed up the car window from the inside, and a wrinkled woman's face appeared behind the window. She opened her mouth, and an unpleasant odor came from the yellow-teethed woman's face. The words floated out of his mouth: "Buy or sell?"

"Both." Ishikawa Teru whispered.

"You are lucky. There is a trade fair going on right now. Come in." After the old woman said that, the door at the rear of the RV opened.

This RV was actually welded to the ground. The bottom of the RV was a passage leading to the underground space, where the black market was located.

Ishikawa Teru walked down the steps. At this time, hundreds of people had gathered in the underground black market. Some people were sitting on the ground on the roadside. In front of them were some garbage that they picked up from nowhere and called "treasures". , more people stroll around leisurely, stopping for a few seconds in front of a certain stall from time to time, asking a few questions, and then continue wandering.

Except for those "time-honored brands" with fixed stores, ordinary mobile vendors have very little transaction volume.

Ishikawa Teru didn't pay attention to the street stalls. He directly found a buying house with a store, opened the door and walked in.

"What are you selling?" The boss of the acquisition house is a middle-aged man in his forties. He is sitting behind the counter playing games. When he saw Ishikawa Teru come in, he raised his eyes to look at him and continued to focus on On the screen and controller.

"This is the dress I'm wearing." Ishikawa Teru said, "You can sell it or exchange it."

He was sure that his face was not recorded by the "stalkers", but the clothes would definitely be remembered by them. If he wanted to hide his identity, changing the clothes was a top priority.

"Burberry's imitation cashmere windbreaker... It seems to be a winter model from 1998. It's a bit old and very worn... Tsk, the most important thing is why there are so many dirty things on it... I said, this one The clothes weren’t stolen by you, were they?”

"Don't buying houses never ask about the origin of things?" Ishikawa Teru frowned.

"I'm just saying casually, it's your business whether you answer or not." The boss waved his hand, "The things are okay, but I have to spend money to send them for dry cleaning, maintenance, repair... This is another huge amount of money. I’m afraid the price won’t make you very satisfied… As for changing, what do you want to change?”

"A set of clothes of the same size, a laptop, and a standard set of chemical laboratory equipment."

[P.S. Hooverville: refers to the financial crisis that broke out in the United States from 1929 to 1933. A large number of displaced people built shantytowns with iron sheets, cardboard and plastic sheets on the streets and parks. Because the president of the United States at that time was It was Hoover. In order to mock Hoover's incompetence, people called this shantytown "Hooverville". 】