The Road There and Back × Filth Like Mountains

A convoy travels through the jungle.

Looking at the lush greenery outside the window, Melusina inside the car was slightly puzzled.

"This road doesn't look like it leads to the landfill."

Not to mention the dense jungle surroundings, even the road they were traveling on wasn't properly constructed; it looked more like a path that had gradually turned into a muddy forest road that could be used by vehicles.

"That's right, this is the road. I used to come out this way."

Shalnark sat beside her, staring blankly out the window, and said...

Hava, who was in charge of driving, said, "This road isn't exactly a garbage dumping route. It's said that it was carved out by people who used to go to Meteor City and those who wanted to leave Meteor City."

"If we don't want to go in through the various gang routes, this is the only way."

Normally, most of the roads leading into Meteor City are controlled by gangsters.

As for how to dispose of the garbage.

Naturally, there are two methods.

One method is to use trucks to dump and pile up the waste directly outside the landfill; the other is to use Airship to enter the landfill directly and dump the waste from the sky.

Otherwise, if we keep expanding outwards like this, no matter how much territory we have, it won't be enough.

Nowadays, most of the garbage dumping has been replaced by Airship, which are then dropped from the sky.

Therefore, those cleared roads become invaluable.

"In the past, if we Little Black had the ability to recruit people here, we would take this route."

Meteor City's main partners are the Ten Elders, and the roads are thus controlled by these people.

But even Little Black have certain needs, so they can use this side road.

It's not that the gangs weren't greedy enough, but that this shortcut had to be left open.

"Did you walk out of the junkyard on your own?"

Melusina couldn't help but ask, as this was the first time she had heard of it.

While at the Nosra Manor, few people asked Shalnark about her past.

After all, it's hard to have any good memories in Meteor City.

During this time, Melusina and Shalnark had a long chat.

But the vast majority of them are question-and-answer sessions.

That's just Shalnark's personality.

Shalnark nodded in response to Melusina's question.

"Yes, I wanted to come out and see what was going on, so I came out."

Although Shalnark looks a bit dazed, she's not stupid.

She simply has a poor memory, and the reason for this is that she forgets things she deems unimportant immediately.

And the perpetually expressionless face is simply a habit formed from childhood.

It's not indifference, but rather a lack of emotional intelligence, social skills, and a sense of purpose.

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked you yet how you learned Nen ability?"

Melusina asked curiously.

After all, she had spent more than ten years in the Village, and living in the Village, Nen ability was not a rare thing, so she was never surprised by Nen ability.

After coming out with Kevin, I realized how rare Nen ability were in the outside world.

It's the same situation as in the comic.

She had always thought that the superpowers and special abilities possessed by some characters in comics were Nen ability.

The result is merely the cartoonist's imagination.

However, perhaps it is precisely because she believes that the abilities in these comics are real that she is able to construct similar Nen ability.

Upon hearing Melusina's words, Shalnark didn't answer immediately; instead, she began to think.

Seeing this, Melusina smiled, not bothering her, but rather feeling somewhat helpless.

How can you forget something like this?

However, the fact that Shalnark made this thoughtful expression suggests that she probably still remembers, even if the memory is from a very distant time.

If it's something she doesn't remember at all, Shalnark will immediately show an expression of confusion.

"I remember one night, it hurt a lot, it hurt so much, I've never felt pain like that before."

Shalnark recalled the events with a blank expression.

Those who know her well understand that if she can use such descriptive words to describe it, then the pain she endured that night must have been truly beyond imagination.

"But then the pain stopped. When I woke up, I felt stronger and saw the gas floating around my body." As she spoke, Shalnark stretched out her hand and waved it twice, controlling her Nen Aura to slightly surge out.

Pain? And then mastering Nen ability?

Melusina frowned in thought.

She didn't have a deep understanding of Nen ability, but Kevin did. So they often talked about related things, and Melusina took the opportunity to learn more.

She remembered Kevin saying that it was very painful to be forced to have one's Initiation by violence.

If you survive this, you'll be able to learn Nen ability.

Generally speaking, this is something the enemy does intentionally.

Because for ordinary people, attacks from Nen ability are difficult to withstand, and they can easily lose their lives.

This is equivalent to the enemy's energy directly entering the unsuspecting body, rampaging wildly inside, and forcibly opening the Aura Nodes. "You were forced to Initiation by someone else, and it was in the form of an attack."

"Melusina said."

"Really?" Shalnark remained expressionless, tilting her head in a daze. She didn't remember any of these things.

Melusina smiled helplessly and didn't pursue the matter further.

Furthermore, it's not necessarily this situation. It's possible that while picking up trash, one touched an offensive Nen ability object and was attacked, which could also cause such a situation to occur.

Moreover, this situation might be more in line with the ecology of Meteor City, given that it is surrounded by garbage everywhere.

"And then what? I remember Kevin saying that when he first met you, your Nen ability was already quite mature, but you weren't very good at using various techniques."

This time, Shizuku didn't think Shalnark and blurted out, "It was the Council of Elders. The elders found me, took me there for training, and that's how I mastered Nen ability."

"The elders only hope that if I go out to work, I can donate a portion of my income to the Council of Elders to give back to more people in Meteor City."

This is why Shalnark keeps sending money back to Meteor City; it's a way of repaying the kindness of Meteor City in raising her.

She may seem indifferent to worldly desires, but she is actually very grateful for the nurturing she received from Meteor City.

Moreover, the amount given was actually not much, and Meteor City did not require a specific amount; it all depended on the people's conscience, and it didn't matter if some didn't give anything.

The two chatted idly like that.

Just as an overwhelming stench began to waft over, a maid sitting in the front passenger seat immediately waved her hand.

"The Air Freshener!"

Nen ability [Aroma Purification].

She was also one of the maids in the Manor, but her Nen ability was not very useful.

Simply put, it purifies the air, but tests have shown that it cannot purify some of the tiny harmful substances in the air.

But it's fine against general toxic gases and germs, as well as unpleasant smells.

She can control the subtle fragrance that emanates from the purified air, and she can also give clothes a pleasant scent that is much more natural than perfume.

I brought her along this time.

As soon as she activated her Nen ability, the smell inside the car immediately dissipated, and the stench that had just wafted from the car vanished in an instant.

Thank you, Mona.

Upon hearing Melusina, Mona simply turned her head and smiled, teasingly saying, "This is a new flavor I recently created. What do you think?"

The two of them took a slight sniff of the air.

"Hmm—why does it smell like Kevin?"

Melusina narrowed her eyes slightly.

Shalnark seems to have a different opinion.

"It tastes like... Pairo?"

"Huh? What could Pairo possibly smell like?" Melusina, somewhat puzzled. "Haha, a great success!"

Mona exclaimed with delight, "It tastes like love! I actually succeeded! I'm a genius!"

She looked really excited.

Perhaps due to the influence of Nion and Melusina, the younger maids in the Manor all possessed a certain naivety and dreaminess.

Melusina clapped her hands in surprise. "Congratulations! Your Nen ability seems to have become stronger."

The ability to transform a simple, pleasant fragrance into this somewhat vague conceptual action—that's definitely an upgrade in Nen ability.

However, at this moment, everyone's attention was drawn to the scenery ahead.

If the mountains covered in trash can be considered scenery.

No, it's not a mountain of garbage.

Instead, it was a mountain of garbage, piled up together, thickly compressed to form a pattern resembling the trees on either side of a mountain ridge.

The road ahead leads inwards, like a mountain path through Garbage Mountain.

Even if the air smells pleasant, seeing such a disgusting place can still make your brain involuntarily feel as if you're smelling a stench.

Melusina was somewhat shocked by what she saw.

Not only him, but even Hava, who was driving, was stunned.

This was his first time here; he had only heard of it before.

"You used to live in a place like this?"

Melusina couldn't help but turn to look at Shalnark, her eyes filled with undisguised heartache.

Shalnark nodded calmly. "Yes, I lived in a place like this when I was little. Would you like to go and see it?"

Melusina looked at the other person, leaned over, and took her hand.

"Okay, let's go take a look together later."

As we drove along the winding road, there were no green plants on either side, only a filthy landscape of piled-up garbage.

As we continued forward.

Everyone seemed somewhat numb; the amount of garbage here far exceeded their expectations, reaching a level they couldn't comprehend.

These piles of garbage formed one large and one small mountain after another, arranged and pressed against each other.

As we delve deeper...

They could vaguely see figures flashing by on these Garbage Mountain.

Some of them were dressed in shabby clothes and covered in filth.

Some were dressed in protective suits, completely covered up, and stood in groups at the edge watching.

Even worse, some were dressed in tattered clothes, disheveled and filthy, already resembling homeless people on the Garbage Mountain.

With the relevant memories in her mind, Melusina easily distinguished the differences between these people.

Although the first type is somewhat filthy, they are already considered followers of Meteor City.

This means they have a stable and relatively clean environment to call home, where they can cleanse and rest their bodies.

So their condition just appears to be that the plane is dirty.

The second type is members of the Council of Elders, or rather, members of the official Meteor City organization.

Wearing protective suits, they walked through some dangerous garbage areas to protect themselves from the toxic fumes in the air.

There's nothing we can do about it.

The fact that these harmful and toxic gases are produced and mixed in an area indicates the presence of some high-value waste.

After these waste items are brought back, they are repaired, disassembled, and cleaned, and then they can be sold directly.

It is considered one of Meteor City's valuable sources of funding.

The last category consists mostly of people with disabilities or limited mobility.

In Meteor City, a place where the strong prey on the weak, their physical condition already indicated that they would find it difficult to win in conflicts with others.

Losers can't find a good area, and can only scavenge in areas with few resources.

This group is quite large, even far exceeding the size of the other two groups.

You should know that Meteor City has a large population.

Furthermore, abandoned babies are frequently left in Meteor City; if these babies are found before they die, they are considered lucky.

However, it is sometimes necessary to understand that the reason why abandoned infants are abandoned is that a large proportion of them may have congenital problems.

This has resulted in an extremely high proportion of disabled people and people with various congenital problems among the residents of Meteor City.

Fortunately, the fact that they survived to adulthood indicates that these disabilities and congenital problems are at least not too serious.

If it's a very severe type, the child won't grow up and will die young.

Melusina leaned against the window, staring intently at the scenery outside.

His complexion also became increasingly unpleasant.

Even if you've seen this scenery in your memory, the sight before you when you actually visit the place is still breathtaking.

"Won't they attack the convoy?"

Mona asked, slightly frightened.

Although she knew that Melusina and Shalnark were very powerful, her fear was only somewhat alleviated because of this. At this moment, Shalnark spoke up to explain.

"No, anyone who can drive in a convoy like that is either a gangster or someone else they're working with."

"For the residents of Meteor City, being chosen means escaping this harsh environment and region; they yearn for it."

Simply put, it's a way out.

They wouldn't cut off their own path to survival, otherwise they would incur public wrath.

The people of Meteor City are well aware of this as well.

If they have no skills or abilities here, even if they leave, they will face great difficulties in going to the outside world because they do not have identification documents, and in the end, they will only end up homeless again.

It won't be much better than Meteor City.

If they could be noticed by a gang, it might be much better than them going out into the outside world on their own.

"Didn't you consider getting out through gang channels?"

After all, with Shalnark's strength, gangsters would definitely be scrambling to get her, and she wouldn't be doing badly.

Shalnark shook her head. "When I was very young, the gangsters were bad, and I didn't like them."

Melusina silent for a moment.

And so we continued forward.

The size of the Garbage Mountain exceeded their expectations.

They drove through this garbage dump for nearly three hours before finally seeing a city in the distance.

A city surrounded by garbage.

The city is not made up of low-rise tile-roofed houses; you can even see some dilapidated high-rise buildings.

The environment on the outskirts of these cities is much better; at least it's not a place where garbage piles up everywhere.