Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 25 Sinners
The interrogation room was brightly lit and glaringly bright, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

Grey Goose sat in the center of the interrogation room.

Her back was very straight, and her hands were flat on her knees, motionless.

This is her fifth day back at the headquarters of Sharp Point, and the eighth round of scrutiny she has undergone.

"I'm still very curious, why would you allow an S-class wanted criminal to control the shelter, and even cooperate with him?"

“Under those circumstances, there was no other choice,” Grey Goose said slowly.

There are always choices.

The inspector smiled, revealing his neat teeth. "For example, you could choose to shoot him on the spot, or die inside with him. Either way, it would be better than the current outcome."

The room fell silent again.

The man stared at the brainwave data on the floating screen, swiping his finger across it arbitrarily.

"The results are in. There's no change. Your memory fragments are complete and logically consistent. There are indeed no signs of tampering."

He looked at the grey goose, his eyes filled with regret:

"To be honest, I admire you. Your mental fortitude is the best I've ever seen."

The greylag goose did not respond, quietly awaiting the conclusion.

"There are not many S-rank hunters in the mercenary group, and each one is very precious. Women are even rarer."

The inspector continued, "If you had a bit more ambition and were more tactful, you could have been much more than just a team leader."

He paused for a moment to observe the greylag goose's reaction.

But she didn't react at all.

“The captain, or even the supervisor, could be one of them,” the inspector emphasized.

"That's very kind of you."

Grey Goose's voice was flat and emotionless. "I think the team leader is pretty good."

The examiner was somewhat displeased with her composed attitude. He leaned back in his chair, his voice returning to its icy tone.

"Unfortunately, you couldn't even keep your position as team leader."

"The notice has been issued. From today onwards, you are no longer the leader of the Seventh Action Group."

"Your position will be taken over by Harry, and you will be demoted to deputy team leader."

“I have no objection.” Grey Goose accepted the arrangement.

“I know you have a problem with Harry, but the people above value him a lot.”

The examiner added, almost like a handout, "Once he gets promoted, this position will still be yours. Just do your best in the meantime."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the interrogation room was silently pushed open.

Harry walked in.

He changed into a brand-new uniform, the rank insignia on his shoulder clearly indicating his current status as team leader.

Behind him, a middle-aged man in a black suit walked up.

The man walked with a steady gait, and a small, exquisite badge was pinned to his chest—the emblem of the Nuclear Corporation.

The examiner immediately stood up, a smile spreading across his face, and bowed slightly.

"Sir, this is Grey Goose."

Harry pointed at Grey Goose, then frowned slightly and gestured with his eyes for her to quickly cover her face.

The greylag goose pretended not to see it.

The man from the nuclear group nodded slightly to them and walked straight up to Grey Goose.

"Ms. Grey Goose".

His voice was steady and powerful, carrying a kind of authority that came from long-held superiority: "S-rank hunter, I have long admired your name."

Grey Goose stood up and met his gaze.

"I have read your report."

The man spoke, "He's capable of capturing targets quickly, fending off hordes of zombies, and killing wanted criminals; his abilities are quite outstanding."

"It's not your fault that he was able to escape."

Harry's lips twitched; both he and the examiner looked somewhat awkward.

"Nuclear Group welcomes you to join us at any time."

The man's eyes were sincere. "As long as your contribution is sufficient, the group's biological laboratory will do its best to restore your appearance, or even... replace you with a completely new clone."

The examiner tensed up instantly and glanced at Harry.

If the Sharp Edge Mercenary Group loses an S-rank hunter, it will directly affect the guild's annual rating.

Harry shook his head slightly, deciding to wait and see.

And his gaze toward Grey Goose now held an undisguised hint of jealousy.

"Thank you for your appreciation."

Grey Goose's voice remained calm, "I'm used to a small team, and I'm used to this face. I have no plans to change my body for the time being."

A hint of regret flashed in the man's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

"Ok."

He stopped insisting. "So, based on your professional judgment, where is Zhang Dafan most likely to be right now?"

"City."

Grey Goose answered quickly, demonstrating her talent as a top hunter.

"The open field is too large a target and would be easily exposed. If it were me, I would definitely infiltrate the nearest coastal city or the South City."

The man frowned: "But we've laid a trap; there's no way he can get in."

"No matter how sophisticated the security system is, there will always be loopholes."

Grey Goose explained, "Once you successfully sneak into the checkpoint, it's the same as disappearing."

"It's darkest under the lamp...that makes sense."

The man seemed thoughtful. "We will focus our screening on the migrants in these two cities. Thank you for your suggestion."

"You're welcome."

After the matter was settled, the man turned and left without saying another word.

Harry immediately followed, bowing and scraping as he saw him to the door, muttering something under his breath.

Only Grey Goose and the Inspector remained in the room.

The examiner sat back in his chair, remained silent for a long time, and began to reassess the woman in front of him.

The door was pushed open again.

Harry returned, his humility vanished, replaced by a morbid excitement.

"Go pack your things," he said in a commanding tone.

"Come with me to Linhai City first thing tomorrow morning. This is your chance to redeem yourself, so make the most of it."

He looked Grey Goose up and down, his eyes scrutinizing it like a piece of filthy merchandise.

"Also, cover your face."

"It looks disgusting."

Grey Goose picked up the tactical mask from the table, silently put it on, and covered half of the horrific scar.

Several of her men stood not far away, their fists clenched white, but they could only suppress their anger.

Linhai City, border defense area.

This is a scar on the city, and also a forgotten corner.

All vagrants who committed crimes and owed huge debts were taken in here.

Zhuang Fan followed the crowd, passing through one iron gate after another. Each time a gate closed behind him, it made a heavy, loud noise.

The air was murky, and in some areas that the fog lights couldn't reach, there was still a lot of eerie fog.

The criminal camp and the mutant camp were clearly separated, with a high-voltage power grid separating the two areas, emitting a continuous "buzzing" current.

A huge searchlight cast a beam of light from above, illuminating everything below.

Armored soldiers patrolled the outposts, their guns always pointed downwards, aimed at every living creature in the camp.

Zhuang Fan's gaze swept over the mutant camp.

It was a huge open-air factory, and the inside was bizarre and grotesque.

A mutant with a shark-like head, nearly two meters tall, is using its massive jaws, covered in sharp teeth, to bite through thick logs, making a "crack" sound.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

They numbly repeated this action, then sorted and piled up the cut timber.

Not far away, dozens of scorpion-men wielded their enormous pincers, forcefully cutting through bundles of steel bars.

As for the deadly tail spike behind it, it was used to hook and secure the steel pipe to prevent the material from slipping.

Those bear-men who are over three meters tall are covered in black fur, and you can see their strong muscles.

These burly men carried huge precast concrete slabs to build a new wall, and each step they took caused the ground to tremble slightly.

Further out, there are endless production lines. Hundreds and thousands of ape-men are doing the most tedious mechanical work—labeling bottles of Nuka-Cola and placing them on conveyor belts.

Their movements were even more precise than the old robotic arms next to them.

In the largest freight area, hundreds of elephant-men, each four meters tall, are skillfully using their trunks to roll up I-beams and then toss them onto transport vehicles.

Dull, tedious, and never-ending.

This place is like a distorted industrial hell, where every mutant is assigned to the most suitable job based on their physiological characteristics.

"Roar--!"

A burst of rage shattered the order and drew the attention of Zhuang Fan and the others.

It was a lion-man, strong and powerful. It smashed past the overseer and charged madly toward the camp exit.

It had only run less than ten meters when the metal collar around its neck issued a warning, and the three green indicator lights instantly turned red.

"laugh--"

A very slight pressure release sound, and several sharp barbs popped out from the collar, precisely piercing its cervical vertebrae.

"Puff-"

The lion-man's head, accompanied by a gushing spray of blood, rolled to the ground.

The headless, enormous body lurched forward a few more steps due to inertia before crashing down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

And that head still maintained its angry expression.

The mutants around them ignored this and continued with their work, as it was already commonplace.

Two elephant-men walked over, lifted the lion-man's corpse, and threw it into the nearby recycling room.

A werewolf overseer, expressionless, picked up the lion's head from the ground and casually tossed it into the adjacent raw meat processing area.

The lizardman inside caught it precisely, extended its forked tongue, licked the blood, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Extra dinner tonight: braised lion's head meatballs."

Zhuang Fan felt a chill on his neck and subconsciously touched his own matching bracelet.

One of the migrants walking in front was clearly terrified and tried to pull off his collar, but then the three green lights started flashing and turning red.

"Emotional fluctuations, first warning."

"Tear off the collar, second warning."

Upon hearing this, the refugee dared not move again.

Subsequently, Zhuang Fan and hundreds of newly arrived refugees were herded into the 86th Battalion of the Criminals Camp and assigned to a hive-like settlement with a population of 100.

One hundred berths, stacked like coffins, were all embedded in the walls.

Each berth has only a thin wooden board, without even a blanket.

The air was stale and had a musty smell. The lighting was dim, with a light bulb in the center that flickered on and off, providing weak illumination.

There are only three or four fog lights.

At that moment, a man whose left arm had been modified into a telescopic chainsaw stood in front of the crowd.

His bare chest was covered with hideous scars and some rough implant interfaces.

The chainsaw, under his control, emitted a piercing buzzing sound and sparks flew everywhere.

"Welcome to the 86th Battalion. My name is Nissen, and I'm the manager of this hideout."

His voice was as piercing as a chainsaw.

"Now you all listen up!"
"First, no one is allowed to go out after the curfew."

"Second, fighting is prohibited."

"Third, obey work arrangements."

Nissen's gaze was piercing, scrutinizing everyone present.

"Your hourly wage is 7 credits. You must work a minimum of 12 hours a day, and overtime is voluntary, with a maximum of 15 hours."

“Every month, credit points will be automatically deposited into your account; the collar is your account.”

Credit points... Zhuang Fan analyzed the old man's memories.

This is a quantum cryptocurrency based on the human brain matrix that can circulate in cities.

Excluding the black market exchange rate, the official, publicly available conversion is:
1000 Credits = 1000 Gold Coins = 1 Gram of Gold

Nissen grinned, revealing a mouthful of gold teeth.

"As for the 'friendship collars' around your necks, they're worth 3000 credits. Once you've saved enough money to redeem them, you can get out of here."

3000 credits... Zhuang Fan did a quick mental calculation.

Working 12 hours a day, you can earn 84 points a day, and 2520 points a month.

Working 15 hours a day, you earn 3150 points a month.

If you save money and work overtime like crazy, you can leave in as little as two months.

But when the thin man next to him heard this, his face turned ashen, filled with despair.

"The price has gone up! Why has it gone up again?"

Zhuang Fan realized that he might have oversimplified the problem.

"at last."

Nissen's tone grew colder: "As newcomers, each person needs to pay a management fee of one thousand credits."

"Who has any objections?"

His gaze was menacing, and no one dared to utter a sound.

Just then, the thin man next to Zhuang Fan mustered his courage: "But I don't have any credits."

"good question!"

Nissen strode up to him, his voice booming.

“You penniless bastards, your pockets are emptier than your faces, so just owe me for now. Anyway, I’ll give you very low interest, 5% per month.”

The truly wicked not only rob people, but also charge interest.

Nissen held the wrist device and touched each of their neck collars one by one, directly completing the deduction process and binding them as creditors.

Now, these people owe him 1000 credits, with a monthly interest rate of 5% and an annual interest rate of 60%.

The crowd was furious but dared not speak out, and no one dared to resist.

It was the same thin man. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm sorry, I don't want to give it to you."

Nissen's smile vanished as the chainsaw was pressed against his throat.

"Om-"

The high-speed rotating saw teeth were only one centimeter away from his skin.

"Then kill me and see how the battalion commander reacts."

Although the thin man was afraid, he still held his head high.

"Oh, another old criminal."

Nissen put away the chainsaw, punched the man in the stomach, and kicked him over like a football, leaving a trail of footprints.

"You think this money belongs to me? It's tribute to the higher-ups, a bunch of ignorant fools!"

Only when the man was on the verge of death did Nissen pick up the machine, touch it to his neck, and bind a debt relationship of 1000 credit points.

Zhuang Fan witnessed the whole thing and chose to tolerate it.

He didn't want to cause trouble; he just wanted to figure out how things worked here as quickly as possible and then escape immediately.

But when Nissen walked up to him, his cloudy eyes gleamed with an undisguised desire.

"Brother, you look a bit rough around the edges, but you have a good appearance."

Nissen, full of sarcasm, stretched out his greasy hand, trying to touch Zhuang Fan's face.

Zhuang Fan stepped aside, his eyes icy.

"What are you hiding for? Come over here tonight." Nissen continued to reach out his hand.

"If you reach out again, I'll break it."

Zhuang Fan's voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable chill.

He was already filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it after being inexplicably brought into the criminal camp.

Nissen dared to push his luck further; even at the risk of fainting and being exposed, he was determined to inject the eerie mist into the man's head.

Nissen's hand froze in mid-air, and he suddenly hesitated.

He stared into Zhuang Fan's eyes, which held no emotion, only a deathly coldness, and immediately backed down.

"Very well, I'll keep your body for now."

He withdrew his hand, his face contorted with rage, but he refused to admit that he was actually afraid.

"You, and you too."

He pointed the chainsaw at Zhuang Fan and the thin man lying on the ground.

“Starting tomorrow, you two will both be on guard. Let’s see when you give in and kneel down to beg me.”

(End of this chapter)