The Smell of Corruption

"Ugh--------"

The scarlet liquor, half-digested protein chunks, and meat skewers were vomited out by Zhou Yun from his throat, forming a foul-smelling pile on the muddy ground.

Only after the freight train behind him pulled away along the dilapidated tracks did a little color return to his pale face.

Last night, Old One-Eye had treated him to a drink with scarlet foam to thank him for taking the job.

Afterward, he had kept his promise and bought a round for the Hive City workers in the bar, and he himself had drunk quite a bit.

Who knew how many fusel alcohols and potent concoctions were fermented in Old One-Eye's brew, likely from some dark sewer or cellar. Zhou Yun, who usually got a headache from just two cups, felt like a completely naked Angron, Gao Mao Er Ge, and The Emperor were wrestling fiercely inside his head after drinking more. The pain was so intense he could barely see straight, forcing him to make do with the back room of the bar for the night.

The next morning, not yet fully sober, he was arranged by Old One-Eye onto a rickety freight car.

This broken-down train was used to transport goods between different sectors of the Hive City. The tracks were so neglected that hardly anyone maintained them, making the ride terrifyingly shaky. Houses built by the Hive City residents lined the tracks on both sides, and the train threaded its way through residential buildings. At one point, someone was even drying laundry on the tracks.

Several times, Zhou Yun thought the train was about to take itself and the nearby residents to see The Emperor.

"Ugh--------"

After spitting out a few mouthfuls of sour water, Zhou Yun's throat was only left with a dry, nauseating feeling, unable to produce anything more.

"Actually, I can offer you a more efficient means of transportation."

The winged figure in the white light said, fluttering its wings.

"I can let you soar through the sky."

"The Hive City has no sky----and you have this capability?" Zhou Yun glanced strangely at the figure in the white light.

"Just inject a bit of my Psykana into your body, and I can grant you wings------"

As he spoke, the figure in the white light flickered its pure white wings behind it.

"Stop, stop, stop. That sounds like some kind of blasphemous corruption from the Warp."

Zhou Yun quickly waved his hand to refuse. He didn't want to turn into a winged bird-man. If he grew wings out of nowhere, the chances of being seen as a saint or an angel were slim, but the possibility of being mistaken for a mutant was quite high.

Even in the lower levels, a place that could be considered the sewers where humanity resided, the Hive City residents would occasionally sigh with relief at their own fortune when they thought of the chaos and darkness of the under-hive. At least they weren't born in the under-hive, at least they had pure human skulls, not deformed and grotesque mutants.

The very bottom of the Hive City, the dark sewers beneath the lower levels, that was the domain of mutants, heretics, monsters, and madmen. Compared to that place, the lower levels were practically paradise.

"Do you have to stand in the middle of the road with your vomit?"

A low voice interrupted Zhou Yun's thoughts.

Two figures, shrouded in thick, heavy hoods, stood before him.

Zhou Yun blinked and realized that he and his vomit were blocking the narrow path.

"Monger, have you forgotten the teachings of the angels? Be patient, as patient as the god we devoutly serve."

The taller of the hooded figures admonished the one who had just spoken. Then he looked at Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun moved aside, clearing the path for the two of them.

The taller man gave Zhou Yun a slight nod of thanks, and they walked past him.

Whether it was Zhou Yun's imagination or not, he faintly smelled a sweet, rotten fruit scent from the two men who brushed past him. He seemed to hear a low buzzing sound, and a swarm of fruit flies, as fine as black rice grains, flickered before his eyes.

The white light in the corner of his eye flickered slightly, and his pure white wings fluttered twice. These seemingly illusory sights vanished from Zhou Yun's vision.

"It wasn't an illusion." The winged figure in the white light said softly.

The discomfort Zhou Yun felt immediately subsided by more than half.

He glanced at the spot where the two figures had disappeared but merely shook his head. Curiosity was not a good quality in this world, and he had no interest in scrutinizing others' purity. Moreover, those two had shown no malice towards Zhou Yun. In his memory, before the arrival of the swarm on Asphodel, there hadn't been any large-scale cult incidents. Therefore, as long as they weren't Genestealers, Zhou Yun wouldn't even spare them a second glance.

He navigated through the maze-like streets, following the map Rag had given him towards the location where the entrance to Old Sector Eight had been discovered. In a short while, Zhou Yun saw the so-called entrance to Old Sector Eight. The main reason was that it was too conspicuous: it was a collapsed building ruin that had smashed directly through the Hive City's artificial ground, plunging into the deep chasm below.

According to the intel Old One-Eye gave him, a scavenger found a soda can stuck between buildings while scavenging.

He pulled the can out, completely oblivious to the warning sign nearby that read, "The nearby houses all rely on this soda can for support. Do not touch."

The moment the soda can was pulled out, the surrounding houses collapsed with a roar, smashing a crater into the artificial ground of the Hive City and revealing Old Sector Eight, buried underneath.

Regarding this, Zhou Yun could only say: Just another day in the Hive City, I'm used to it.

The vast majority of buildings in the Hive City were like shit code written by programmers who graduated from vocational schools, possibly running on some kind of bug.

If a building in the Hive City hadn't collapsed, it was best not to touch it. Who knew if the reason it still stood wasn't just a soda can in front of your eyes?

Zhou Yun walked a few steps and found that the area around the crater had already been cordoned off. It looked like it was members of a local gang.

He shook his head; there was no rush to find a way in.

His head was still throbbing, and he felt a wave of nausea rising in his throat. He'd best find a place to rest nearby first.

Zhou Yun knocked on the door of a dilapidated residential building not far from the entrance to Old Sector Eight.

"Damn it, who is it now? I don't take in strange people overnight."

A grumbling voice echoed from inside the residence.

A clanging sound followed, and a Hive City worker's face, full of coarse flesh, poked out from the gap in the door, sizing Zhou Yun up.

Zhou Yun remained silent, merely reaching into his pocket.

"Kid, I'm telling you, I don't let people stay in my house. Go find a trash heap yourself—"

Zhou Yun shoved a pack of Lho-sticks into the door gap. The man's expression instantly froze, then he forced a rather ugly, brilliant smile.

"My lord, please, come right in!"