Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 519 - 106: Underground Shopping Street (Part 2)

"Rumors? Rumors from where?" Sun Hang asked, "Do you have accomplices?"

"No! They're not accomplices, just people living together..." The scavenger shrank his neck, "They're like me, surviving off this..."

"Where did you say there was something strange?"

"Underground... the underground part of the mall." The scavenger immediately answered.

"What's strange about it?"

"Several times I've heard strange noises coming from beneath... but I don't know what kind of sounds they are... It sounds like some kind of gas flowing through pipes, or perhaps like something swallowing..." the scavenger said, "So I never go to the underground part, and I never go near the entrance to the passage leading down."

"Have any other scavengers gone underground and come out alive?" Sun Hang continued to ask.

"I... I don't know." The scavenger shook his head, then hesitated and nodded slightly, "It seems like there was one person who claimed to have been down there, but that guy liked to brag, so I don't really believe him..."

"What did he say?"

"He... said the streets on the first underground level were covered in blood, as if many people were killed, but there wasn't a single corpse. He didn't dare go deeper, just grabbed something and ran." The scavenger answered, "No one believed him on our side..."

"If you don't believe him, why don't you check out the underground mall yourself?"

"Not believing is one thing... but I don't want to take the risk, besides, there's plenty of things above ground..." the scavenger said softly.

"Come with me." Sun Hang tied the other person's hands with mycelium and headed straight for the escalator.

"W-where are we going?"

"Underground," Sun Hang said.

The scavenger shivered, seeming reluctant, staying still for half a second, but then followed behind Sun Hang.

"Why do you do this?" Sun Hang suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"I mean, why do you come here to steal? What's with your family?"

"They all died... in... the earthquake." The scavenger said softly.

"Earthquake?" Sun Hang was taken aback, could it be that this person, like Ling Xiao, was a victim of the Dragon Rock Fortress incident?

"Did you used to live in the west of the city?" Sun Hang confirmed with her.

"Yes..."

"If I remember correctly, several refugee camps were built in the west of the city. Did you escape from there?"

"Yes..." the scavenger nodded again.

"Why?"

"The camps... one tent crammed with over a dozen people, often not enough to eat... and people bullying, stealing... I frequently got beaten, and those vile old men... they wanted to r-r*pe me..."

"You didn't report it to the camp authorities? Didn't they intervene?" Sun Hang asked in amazement.

He knew nothing about the exact situation in the camps; all he knew from Yang Qi was the number of deaths caused by the disaster and the number of refugees in camps. Regarding their lives there, she'd never mentioned a word.

Sun Hang had only visited a few camps during initial recruitment phases for soldiers and field operatives. But that was when the camps had just been set up. Besides, upon hearing that higher-ups were visiting, the camp authorities would surely dress things up... at least on the surface.

Now, with time passing and lockdowns persisting, the shortage of supplies had worsened by the day. Many camps' living conditions had drastically worsened in a mere half-month, compounded by the severe lack of manpower as resources were all diverted to the Chimera 17 pesticide plan, leaving the camps with even less attention.

As long as no one died, the higher-ups rarely paid attention to camp matters.

After all, if they couldn't solve Chimera 17, not just the camps, but the whole Tianfu City would be doomed.

"Reported... but the managers preferred turning a blind eye... there's too much of this going on. They simply can't handle it." The scavenger said, "Those who report usually face retaliation... the more you report, the worse it gets... eventually, no one dares to report anymore."

"So you escaped from the camp?"

The scavenger nodded.

"Where do you and your 'colleagues' usually stay?"

"At unfinished construction sites or deserted buildings in the suburbs..."

"Do they all have similar experiences to yours?"

"Some do, some don't." The scavenger said, "The one who claimed to have been underground, he was a migrant worker here in Tianfu City, renting a place before... but then the eternal night came, he lost his job and couldn't afford rent, and was kicked out by his landlord..."

"So you guys are really doing this out of necessity?" Sun Hang glanced at her, "But I'm curious, you lack clothes and food, just gather some to take back, why bother with luxury items, electronics, and jewelry? These things can't be eaten or worn."

"There are people who specifically buy these things. Valuable stuff can be exchanged with them for food or a place to stay." The scavenger replied.

"Tsk..." Sun Hang glanced at the scavenger's wristwatch, a green Submariner, still tagged with a price of 159999, "Look, this watch of yours, how much food can you get for it?"

"This one? This one's in good condition, no dents or scratches, I can at least exchange it for four or five boxes of instant noodles, and even half a box of sausages!"

"Four or five boxes of noodles..." Sun Hang smirked, though luxury items have exaggerated markups, trading a genuine green Submariner originally priced at 160,000 for just four or five boxes of noodles... what a black-hearted trade...

In a true apocalypse, the Submariner would indeed be worthless except for telling time, but this 'apocalypse' is still confined to the Shuzhou Territory. Those guys buying luxury goods from scavengers merely need a way to transport them to other cities and they can make a fortune.

It's almost a risk-free profit... with these reckless scavengers bearing most of the risk for them.

"Even I'm tempted by such a deal." Sun Hang commented.

"What?"

"Nothing." Sun Hang stopped in front of a clothing store on the first floor, went in, picked out the smallest sized down jacket, and threw it to the scavenger whose lips were turning purple from the cold.

"Put it on, don't freeze to death mid-way."

"Th-thank you..."

Sun Hang released the mycelium binding, and the scavenger clumsily put on the down jacket, then cupped her half-numbed hands over her mouth, blowing warm air.

The two soon reached the entrance to the underground mall. Sun Hang glanced at the dark elevator shaft, then looked at the scavenger following him, and chose to take the fire escape stairs instead.

The first underground level of the mall was a commercial street, mainly for various food outlets, along with some commercial entertainment projects like pool halls, escape rooms, and board game shops. The first shop from the stairs was a quite spacious escape room experience center, the ghost face carvings at its entrance looked very lifelike at a glance.

Sun Hang didn't feel much about it, but the scavenger clearly got startled.

The two continued forward, and soon, Sun Hang saw the "bloodstains everywhere" described by the person the scavenger mentioned who had been underground — a stretch about 30 meters long with dark brown liquid marks on the street tiles, which indeed looked like spilled blood from a distance.

Sun Hang approached, crouched down, and poked the "bloodstains" on the ground with his finger.

The "bloodstains" were not completely dry and felt somewhat sticky.

He raised his head and suddenly saw the sign of a beverage store on the street.

"It's not bloodstains." Sun Hang said.

"Huh? Then... what are these things?"

"It's probably syrup or some kind of beverage concentrate." Sun Hang put his finger in his mouth... sure enough, a sweet taste spread throughout his mouth.