Black Cave Settlement

Irin told Liao Ji that the settlement was not far from the Relic Cave they were currently in, only about a dozen kilometers away.

At the time, Liao Ji didn't think much of it.

It wasn't until they had walked only a few kilometers that he began to break into a sweat, and a dull, aching pain started to creep into his calves.

Noticing the look of disdain from the girl beside him, Liao Ji couldn't help but recall that back in high school, he had achieved a perfect score in physical education. Forget long-distance running; he could even do over a dozen pull-ups. Yet, after graduating from university, he had somehow devolved into a physical wreck.

Damn it!

Why didn't I take better care of my body when I had the chance?

As this classic internal cry echoed in his mind, Liao Ji's resolve to level up as quickly as possible only grew firmer.

Half an hour later.

"Look, see that? That's our Black Cave Settlement up ahead." Irin, looking as if she had finally been liberated, pointed toward a barrier not far away for the young man behind her.

The phrase she had heard most often along the way was, "How much further?"

Liao Ji, panting heavily behind her, glanced at the girl who was still full of energy as if nothing had happened after walking over a dozen kilometers, then looked out in the direction Irin was pointing.

What came into view was a tall, circular wall standing on the wasteland. The width of the wall seemed endless, and one could see numerous convoys and pedestrians coming and going at its base.

"You call this a settlement?" Liao Ji looked at the girl in confusion.

With this flow of people, this surface area, and these rampart-like walls, wouldn't it be more accurate to call it a base city?

In the game, a settlement with over a thousand people was considered large, but looking at the scale of the Black Cave Settlement before him, the population had to be counted in the tens of thousands at the very least.

Could it be that the world five hundred years later had developed this well?

Clearly not.

"This is all thanks to you lot." Irin pointed at Liao Ji.

"What do you mean?"

"It's the 'legacy.' The old Relic Cave was considered quite famous in the Holy Kingdom. Every year, large groups of newcomers would come here, hoping to unearth the legendary legacy of the Great Emperor. At the height of the craze, there was no shortage of large corporations and financial conglomerates among them. Over time, the settlement naturally grew in stature and size along with it."

"Nowadays, although the craze for the Relic Cave has passed and many major factions have left one after another, the scale and development the settlement formed have remained. As for why they haven't applied for city status and insist on not changing the name..."

Irin paused here to build suspense.

Once she led Liao Ji to the entrance at the base of the Black Cave Settlement's wall, the girl pointed to a dense crowd of people queuing up at the checkpoint to enter, curled her lip, and said sarcastically:

"If it became Black Cave City and was brought under the unified management of The Church of the Holy Kingdom, how would these gangs still be able to extort road tolls in broad daylight like they do now?"

Liao Ji followed Irin's lead and observed the entrance carefully. He discovered that the so-called inspectors didn't wear any unified uniforms. Instead, they were dressed similarly to the scar-faced man and his group from the secret room: leather jackets, ammunition belts hanging prominently around their waists, and large tattoos visible on their exposed arms and shoulders.

They had cigarettes dangling from their mouths, chatting and joking with each other while using the firearms in their hands to urge those wanting to enter the settlement to hurry up.

As long as people paid the money honestly, they would give them a perfunctory glance and let them through. If they encountered someone who hesitated or looked like they had deep pockets, they would immediately stop their idle chatter and surround them in groups of three or five.

Just having these armed, burly men standing in front of them was enough to make most civilians wanting to enter the settlement submit obediently, no matter how unwilling they were. Those who had made gains outside had it even worse; they had to hand over thirty percent of their earnings before being allowed through.

However, through his observations, Liao Ji also noticed that the checkpoint was divided into two lanes: one for pedestrians and another specifically for convoys to drive through.

Compared to the unreasonable behavior on the pedestrian side, which was exactly the kind of toll extortion Irin had described, the convoy lane seemed much more restrained, with some being let through without a single question asked.

Seeing Liao Ji notice the other lane, Irin sneered, "Hmph, after all, those who can afford cars are either wealthy and powerful, or they are members of the gangs themselves. These bullies who fear the strong and prey on the weak naturally wouldn't dare to rob them openly."

Nodding, Liao Ji withdrew his gaze.

The next problem was that if it were the kind of settlement he had imagined earlier, it would be fine. But now, to enter, he had to get past the gangs. Although they seemed careless and it should be fine if he just paid the money, it would be troublesome if they discovered Irin's identity.

Irin noticed Liao Ji's concern.

A look of pride appeared on the girl's face.

The girl patted Liao Ji on the shoulder with ease.

"Alright, old-timer, stop staring. Do you think I'm the type who would let these bastards—the gangs—rob me every time I come and go? We Scavengers naturally have our own exclusive passage for entering and leaving the settlement."

This was truly an unexpected surprise.

Liao Ji's eyes lit up, and he gave Irin a thumbs-up: "I didn't expect you to be quite capable!"

"Hmph, I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve!"

A few minutes later.

In a dark, narrow alley somewhere in the Black Cave Settlement.

The manhole cover on the ground shook; the screws that should have been there had long since vanished. Soon, with a "bang," the cover was flipped over, and two figures climbed out one after another.

"So." Liao Ji, having emerged from the sewer, let go of his pinched nose and finally had both hands free to scrape off some unknown, mushy filth from the soles of his shoes using a stone from the roadside.

He couldn't help but ask the girl beside him: "This is your Scavenger exclusive passage?"

"What else? You think we could dig a dedicated tunnel just for us?" Irin shook off a stinking apple peel hanging from her shoulder, looking as if she had done this many times before.

Fine.

In his heart, Liao Ji retracted his previous comment about the girl being quite capable.

"Let's go, the clinic is over there, three or four blocks away from here." Irin said as she prepared to move; with her mother's life at stake, the girl was very anxious.

However, the young man behind her grabbed her and pulled her back.

"What are you doing!?"

"Do you intend to just go and find your mother like this?" Liao Ji asked in return.

"I..." Irin was reminded by this point that she couldn't just show her face whenever she pleased, at least not so openly.

Because they lacked the money to go to the large hospital run by The Church, her mother could only stay in a private black clinic for treatment, and that place was in a gray area—crowded and chaotic, where there was no guarantee that Kalleva gang informants wouldn't be lurking.

If she were discovered by Kalleva, and it turned out that while their brothers sent out to find the "legacy" had no news, she, the "guide," had secretly returned first, then things would become a huge problem.

"The better you stay hidden, the longer it will take for the gangs to investigate. This time gap is enough for us to pick up your mother and fly far away, leaving this place behind."

"So don't be anxious; time is on our side. Sorry, if your mother has some kind of acute, critical illness that could worsen at any moment and is life-threatening, then we can set off immediately, and I won't have any objections at all."

Facing Liao Ji's questioning gaze, Irin shook her head.

"No, although my mom is seriously ill, the doctor at the clinic told me that as long as we scrape together the surgery fees and get the operation, she can be cured quickly. It hasn't reached the point of being life-threatening yet."

After hearing this, Liao Ji clapped his hands: "In that case, we are even less in a rush. So, at the very least, let's find a place to change our outfits and disguise ourselves—preferably something that makes it impossible for people to recognize us at a glance."

"O-okay." Irin felt that what the young man said made sense; avoiding the gangs was the priority right now.

But then—

"What are we waiting for? Hurry up and lead the way!" This time, it was Liao Ji who started actively urging her.

The young girl looked at him, completely bewildered.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"To our place, of course!" Liao Ji blurted out with an expression that suggested the question was obvious.

"..."

Irin: "?"