After a brief pause, Haixi spoke again,

"When I was a kid, I always thought this was my future life, but when I was ten years old, everything changed.

“My mother was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and treatment requires high costs. Even the cheapest specific drugs are not something our family can afford.

“My mother signed a temporary labor contract with the cleaning company, so that the cleaning company did not have to purchase medical insurance for her, and we had to bear all of my mother’s medical expenses, and the family’s savings were quickly gone.

"After my mother was diagnosed with a tumor, her health became worse and worse. She was soon unable to work and was bedridden.

"In order to earn money for my mother's special medicine and to maintain the family's life, my father worked crazy overtime, sometimes working night shifts for a week or two in a row. At that time, I didn't realize anything. I only knew that the bread at home was getting more and more.

It tastes bad, and my father comes home later and later.

"It was like this. Although life was difficult, it seemed to be manageable. But one day, my father's factory called my mother and told me that my father had passed away. He accidentally got caught in the machine while working the night shift. Except for some scraps of clothes, everything

None were left.

"The factory said that my father did not buy accident insurance and there was no compensation. Out of humanitarianism, they gave us 5,000 federal dollars.

"They packed up some of my father's belongings and gave them to us. On the day we received the belongings, my mother got up from the bed, dressed up for a long time, and took me to the factory. It was my first time going there. I only remember that.

The factory is very big and luxurious,

“The clerk who took us in said that the landscape tree at the entrance of the factory only costs 5,000 federal coins.

"Later I learned that that factory was one of the largest factories under the Huiermei Consortium.

"After my father passed away, my mother's health became worse and worse, and she spoke less and less. One morning, when I woke her up, she never woke up again.

"The tenant who rented the same house helped me call a car from the funeral home and took my mother away. The rent of the funeral home, labor costs, transportation fees, cremation coffins, and service fees all added up to more than 6,000 federal dollars.

"But at that time, I only had 5,000 federal dollars given to me by the factory. Among them, I spent 500 federal dollars to buy medicine for my mother, leaving less than 4,500 federal dollars. My parents' credit card had been maxed out a long time ago and was used to buy medicine.

I can't borrow any money either.

"The staff at the funeral home looked at me pitifully. They raised money to help me advance a lot of money. In the end, I only gave 3,800 federal dollars. I couldn't afford a cemetery or an urn, so the staff at the funeral home found one for me.

A small wooden box contains my mother's ashes.

"Shortly after I returned home, people from the apartment management company came to collect the rent arrears, which totaled 600 federal dollars. I couldn't pay the rent for the next month and was kicked out of the apartment.

"That year, I was ten years old, holding my mother's urn and sleeping on the street. At first I was in the Plant District. Later, when the neighborhood was being cleaned up, I and the homeless people around me were kicked out by the neighborhood management staff.

My mother's urn was also snatched away by adults in that chaos.

"I only recovered a small handful of ashes. I kept those ashes and later sealed them in artificial amber."

At this point, Haixi paused and said, "Sorry, my story is too long."

And He Ao just said gently, "I'm listening."

Haixi paused for a moment, turned to look at He Ao, and looked at the gentle cheek stained with blood under the moonlight. For some reason, the tension in her heart relaxed a little.

She turned her head and continued to look around, "Later, I lived in several places and was kicked out by the neighborhood or apartment management. Finally, I arrived in the West District. No one drove us away, but there were gunshots everywhere. Every day

Everyone died.

"I formed a group with some similarly homeless children. We helped each other, went to gang-managed restaurants to steal food, picked up trash on the streets, and sold it to cleaning companies or machinery modification shops. I gradually became the boss of the children.

"Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. The surrounding gangs gradually noticed us. One of our children was caught stealing food at a restaurant managed by the gang and had his leg broken. I took people to the restaurant to cause trouble and retaliate. The result was

It was a trap. I was caught by the gang boss in order to cover the escape of others."

The off-road vehicle passed a streetlight, and the dim light reflected on Haixi's twinkling pupils, "The boss said that my eyes were beautiful, and then he blinded my eyes and broke my hands and feet, and then I fell into a coma.

past.

"When I woke up, I found myself thrown on a street I had never been before. There was nothing around me. I couldn't see anything. I just felt weak. I thought I was going to die."

"You met the scavengers?"

Heao asked.

"Um,"

Haixi nodded slightly, "I met the priest who was a scavenger outside buying medicine. He is a C-level transcendent, 'Talent Sequence 71: Pharmacologist'. I call him grandpa."

"My grandfather took me back to the Zarot neighborhood and cured my body, but my eyes couldn't be cured because they were discovered too late. He replaced me with a simple mechanical prosthetic eye, which helped me partially recover.

vision.

"Grandpa had no children, so the two of us depended on each other. That period was the happiest time in my life. Grandpa taught me many things, from astronomy and geography to pharmacology and arithmetic. Every time he went out, he would bring me delicious food.

It’s fun, and he also brings me interesting books.”

A faint smile appeared on Hai Xi's cheek. This was the first time He Ao saw a smile on her cheek since she told the story.

"Grandpa has a strong appeal among waste pickers. He often leaves the Zarot neighborhood to contact other consortiums, city council members, and mayoral candidates in the name of buying medicine, trying to fight for the rights of waste pickers.

His greatest ideal in life is to allow scavengers to live like normal federal citizens.

"He has been busy for this all his life, but he has achieved nothing. No one is willing to help him. Even if a new consortium is willing to contact him, it just wants to get a share of the cleaning company alliance. If they get the benefits, they will immediately cut off from Grandpa.

relation.

"Grandpa is not happy every time he comes back, but he will try to avoid me.

"But it all ended when I was seventeen years old. My grandfather was assassinated by a cleaning company when I went out to buy medicine. They could no longer tolerate my grandfather. Although he returned to Zarot alive in the end, his body suffered a lot.

Seriously injured.

"He gave me the best prosthetic eye at the time, bought me a lot of beautiful clothes, and asked a former acquaintance to find me a good job in the Saint-Lot district. He wanted me to leave."

Haixi's eyes flickered, and she smiled, "Actually, I knew why grandpa adopted me from the beginning. I have a grudge against the Huiermei Foundation. Although I was a street child, I was registered at birth and had my own social security account.

, is a federal citizen with status.

"The scavengers themselves have worked hard for many years, but still have not entered the society of Wetland and found their own allies, so my grandfather placed his hope on me, hoping that I can realize his ideals and those of the scavengers of all generations.

"But this old man hesitated in the end. He didn't want to put this burden on me. Especially after he was assassinated, he began to fear that I would repeat his fate."

"But then you convinced him?"

He Ao said slowly.

"Um,"

Haixi nodded, "After my grandfather died, I became the priest of the scavengers and inherited his talent sequence. During the period of gradual promotion, I began to use my status as a normal federal citizen to build my own power in the Western District.

, and finally got to where we are now.”

She turned to look at He Ao, showing an apologetic smile, "Sorry for making you listen to such a long story."

"So what happened to the gang boss who stabbed your eye out?"

He Ao asked with a smile.

"He did a lot of bad things. I also blinded his eyes and broke his hands and feet. But instead of throwing him on the street, I threw him in his base camp, in front of his

The face left."

Haixi smiled, "When I went to see him the next day, he was already dead. His body was covered with wounds, including knife wounds and gunshot wounds. His younger brother said he didn't know what happened last night, but he was covered in wounds.

Stained with blood."

"It seems that he is indeed unpopular."

He Ao nodded slightly.

His question suddenly eased the awkward atmosphere just now.

The flowing wind blew through Haixi's short burgundy hair. She turned to look at He Ao, "So what about you? You are obviously a professor..."

"Do you still remember the C-class who caught up with us in Huiermei Medical Building that day? Do you think there is anything wrong with his abilities?"

He Ao did not answer directly, but asked slowly.

"His power is weaker than that of a normal C-level, and his control is not very good," Haixi recalled for a moment and said slowly, "It looks like he was promoted with the help of some external force, and he was in a bad state when he died.

It’s also a little weird.”

"Gene Potion,"

He Ao reached out and held the pendant on his chest. The entrance to Zarot Street had appeared in front of him. He looked at Haixi and asked, "Can you lend me a gun if you have one?"

"Um?"

Haixi was stunned for a moment, then she quickly took out a powerful pistol from her jacket and handed it to He Ao.

"Thanks."

He Ao put down the sparkling water, took the pistol, and continued, "Please turn the steering wheel of the car in front to the left."

"good."

Haixi immediately picked up a walkie-talkie and repeated He Ao's words into the walkie-talkie.

At the same time, He Ao raised his pistol, turned around, and pointed it at the old building behind him.

The off-road vehicle in front made a left turn towards the edge of the street.

boom--

The scorching bullets pierced the cold night sky, grazed the frame of the off-road vehicle and hit the road ahead.
To be continued...