All the buildings that made up the slums were standard low-cost housing, which was the kind of building that maximised the use of land area . They naturally did not take into account natural illumination, air quality, view and so on . The building designers had only one concept in mind, and that was the concept which their superiors had repeatedly emphasised:
“I have only one freaking requirement for your design: just stuff as many residents as possible into each building! Stuff, stuff, stuff!! Stuff it so full that there won't be room for a stamp . Who cares about art, aesthetic or comfort! Even if you build the houses into presidential suites, the poor-a.s.s people who'll live here won't be able to pay an extra penny!!”
230 different designs were proposed at the time, and the final winner was an unknown designer . It was said that he had referred to the architectural layout of a certain overpopulated city in the Old Earth era…
It was for that reason that all residential housing in the Northern District had the same design . The buildings in the Northern District were similar to chicken cages in chicken farms . The developers only wished to accommodate as many chickens per unit area as possible . The building materials used were all black in colour for the purpose of durability and practicality . Therefore, there's another nickname for the Northern District — the Black Chicken Cage .
The giant conveyor belt did not reach the Northern District, because the construction cost of the device was not low (reminder: the main streets of Alps Base 7 have giant conveyor belts that can transport people around) . When Sheyan and Old Charlie came down from the street conveyor belt, what they saw in front of them was a very chaotic and noisy area . The place was almost as busy as a wet market, and various people were talking to each other while wearing hypocritical smiles on their faces . The content of their conversations were sometimes really ridiculous . For example, Sheyan overheard someone ask, “How much for two eggs?”
Okay, this question may sound pretty normal, but the answer did not make sense at all . The other guy replied:
“Forty ears…”
Old Charlie later “translated” for Sheyan that the so-called “eggs” were referring to grenades, while the ears were referring to a kind of local baked bread that were somewhat shaped like an ear . Such a strange way of conversing reminded Sheyan of bandits who used pa.s.swords and codenames when they conversed .
As Old Charlie led Sheyan deeper into the slum area, Sheyan realised that it would be very easy to get lost in this place because of the uniformity of the buildings . All the buildings looked the same . Of course, there were also crowded streets filled with countless people that had all kinds of different skin colours .
Numerous gazes followed after them, eyes filled with questions, envy, doubt, disgust, anger… Sheyan could sense that most of these gazes were directed at his unfamiliar face . It was fortunate that he had changed his clothes before he came, or this feeling of being the centre of attention would have been even stronger .
But Sheyan maintained his calm and ignored the gazes, while Old Charlie just huddled silently behind his coat and hat without batting an eyelid . As they moved along, Old Charlie also broke the fingers of two little pickpockets that looked no older than ten .
Soon, Sheyan finally saw a different kind of building, but the differences were still limited . It was just, in short, an unfinished building that had been abandoned . To get in, Sheyan and Old Charlie had to pay 30 Imperial currencies, which were almost equal to the purchasing power of USD $40 .
After entering the building, Old Charlie finally broke his silence .
“This is the best place for you to experience the city, master . Someone will bring us some food soon . After the meal, there'll be a black market auction today, and when the auction concludes, it'll almost be time to go back . ”
Sheyan nodded and smiled . “An auction? Let me check if I have enough money with me . The richest people are often born from the poorest slums . ”
Sheyan's remark was not groundless . There is a strange yet commonly-seen phenomenon where well-educated people would often work for less-educated people . Steve Jobs, for example, was an abandoned baby . He stayed in an orphanage in the slums before he was adopted . Thaksin s.h.i.+nawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand and former owner of Premier League team Manchester City, was born in an ordinary merchant family .
Therefore, you must never look down on the underground black markets in the slums .
Sheyan and Old Charlie were led inside while they conversed . Only after he entered the building did Sheyan realise that the unfinished building was only a facade on the outside . The interior was decorated into a fairly decent-looking little theatre . The box seats at the top even provided a view of the street outside . Although there was nothing really worth watching on the street, looking down on the numb crowd outside from a high position did give a feeling of power .
There were currently not that many people in the boxes yet . Before long, a few people brought them food . The first dish was a steaming hot tray of pastries . Although they tasted fresh and smelled nice, the texture was pretty rough .
The pastries were made from ca.s.sava (TL: It's like sweet potato) . The ca.s.savas were ground into paste, mixed, stirred, left to ferment, and finally divided into smaller pieces and steamed . They were neither hard nor soft and were served with a kind of dipping gravy called nyama . The gravy had chicken and beef in it, but could also be cooked with other types of meat .
Old Charlie advised Sheyan not to dip the pastries in the gravy . With the expansion of the population, there would inevitably be a shortage of food and other daily necessities, so the meat used for the gravy was probably rat meat . Sheyan actually did not mind as long as he would not find any rat fur or rat innards in the gravy .
The fruit that was served next also felt pretty novel to Sheyan . It was about the size of a grapefruit . Before it was served, the top was cut off, and a few drops of soy sauce were actually dripped inside . The flesh of the fruit could then be scooped out with a spoon . It was especially crisp and refres.h.i.+ng . The soy sauce and the fruit combined into a very unique taste .
Finally, they were each served a gla.s.s of brownish-red wine called Hanis.h.i.+ .
According to Old Charlie, in the northern area of the eighth planet of the Andromeda Galaxy, the strange climate there bred a kind of tree called the Hanis.h.i.+ tree . The Hanis.h.i.+ fruits produced by those trees were a unique kind of fruit that tasted sour and astringent . Every spring and early summer, people on the planet would collect the Hanis.h.i.+ fruits and extract their pulp . The pulp would then undergo a sweetening and fermentation process, and wine would be extracted from it .
The extracted Hanis.h.i.+ wine would be stored in oak barrels for 2 years to let it age . Finally, the aged wine would be blended with fresh cream to make this smooth tasting wine with a unique flavour .
The sip Sheyan took tasted sweet and rich . First, the tip of his tongue tasted the sweetness of the cream, then the taste buds on both sides of his tongue perceived a faint bitterness similar to coffee . When the wine reached his throat, he felt a pa.s.sionate heat .
Nearly three-quarters of the seats had been filled while Sheyan was dining . An overweight man with curly moustache walked to the centre of the theatre and took off his hat .
“Gentlemen, we have just received news that an important person is visiting this sinful base that is full of opportunity, so we expect that public order control will soon be imposed . Therefore, we will no longer wait . We shall start this auction ahead of time . ”
After a dull thud of the hammer, the first to come on stage were three women — three naked women . Although Sheyan was an adult male, he had higher standards now because he had Zi as a reference . Therefore, he was not interested in these vulgar practices . He naturally pa.s.sed on them .
The following auction lots were nothing more than drugs, weapons, and other forbidden items . They made Sheyan yawn . Fortunately, some specialty products smuggled from other planets started appearing in the auction not long after that . To Sheyan's surprise, he even found an unknown mysterious item among these auction lots, and it was actually high-end stuff that could be sold for 5 achievement points!
The unknown mysterious item came from the eighth planet on the Centaurus constellation . The air was so dense on the planet that moving in the air was no different to the lifeforms there from moving in the water . There was a certain creature with few natural enemies on that planet called the elephant whale .
The unknown mysterious item came about when another parallel dimension overlapped with the primary plane, and the entry point happened to be on this planet . An elephant whale was. .h.i.t by a dimensional rift derived from the phenomenon and, of course, died immediately, but for some reason, one of its huge teeth survived the terrible turbulence . That became the unknown mysterious item .
In terms of economic value, it was naturally worthless, but this trash in other people's eyes was an invaluable treasure to Sheyan . Fortunately, not many people competed with Sheyan for the item, so he easily got his hands on it .
When Sheyan saw the next auction lot, he did not know whether he should laugh or cry . And yet, the bidders were making very generous bids for it!
The auction lot in question was an edited video clip! It was none other than a video of the contestants' experiences on planet Uplos taken from Old Charlie's eye . However, the battle scenes had all been cut, probably to avoid scaring off potential investors . The emphasis of the video was on the rich mineral deposits, and of course, the natural environment on Uplos .
This video was sold for an astronomical price in the end . Its appearance here also proved that the boss behind this place was not simple, since he could even acquire this kind of thing .
After some time, the auction was finally reaching its conclusion . When the finale was brought out, it gave everyone a shock . It was a solo-sized mech suit, and it was even a military model! Although it was stated that it could only provide seven times of enhancement, it seemed to be in brand new condition, and all its weapons were still intact . It was definitely not the economical version!
It was obviously a hot commodity . Nine out of ten people present at the auction wanted this thing . Who would hate having too much power? But right when the crowd was getting restless, a hoa.r.s.e voice pierced through the noise in the theatre .
“This thing is mine . Bring it to me . ”
