Yaoguang

Li Wei knew very well that the gains from this transaction would be far greater than the 30,000 legal currency reward from the mission!

With over 12 million in debt, if he received half of it legally, that would be over 6 million, providing enough experience to boost him directly to level 8 or even level 9.

Even a pig could figure out which was more valuable compared to a mere 30,000 in cash.

As for what Li Ming might think, that was not something Li Wei needed to consider.

While the mist had yet to dissipate and a light drizzle still fell from the sky, Li Wei brought Feng Zi to Station 76.

This was not a platform for labor trains, but a supply depot used for bulk cargo transport, surrounded by a high wall and typically avoided by everyone.

Just as the two of them arrived outside the perimeter wall, Li Ming was already there, pacing back and forth anxiously.

Seeing Li Wei and his companion, his expression relaxed slightly. He stepped forward quickly and handed two Labor Union uniforms to them.

"Change quickly. I cannot stay here too long; there are too many things going on lately, and if the wrong people find out I came here early in the morning, it will inevitably raise suspicions! I have already arranged everything for you in the last carriage. No one is stationed there, so you can hide inside once you arrive. It won't stop until it reaches Radiance District, and by then, you will have to find your own way off the train and sneak out of the station!"

As he spoke, he shoved an envelope into Li Wei's hand and held two sheets of paper in his other.

"Inside is the information you requested and the people you can contact once you reach Radiance. There are two copies of our contract, both stamped with the Labor Union's official seal. Check them, and if there are no issues, sign both so we can each keep one."

Li Wei took a brief glance at the contents of the contract. There was nothing amiss, except that the originally agreed-upon fifty-fifty split had been changed to 70% for Li Wei and 30% for the Labor Union.

This made him look up at Li Ming, who simply said calmly.

"These accounts had long since become bad debts within the union, so 30% is enough for the union to provide some basic living guarantees for the widows and orphans."

Li Wei did not say much more about this. Since Li Ming was willing to give him an extra 20%, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

He signed his name on both copies of the contract immediately and kept one.

Although Feng Zi was curious about the deal they had struck, she did not step forward to ask at that moment.

After changing their clothes and ensuring everything was ready, Li Wei and Feng Zi used the passes Li Ming had given them to successfully enter the station.

The train, loaded with cargo, was parked inside. Grimy laborers were working hard to load coal onto it, and the two of them successfully reached the last carriage and hid inside.

The space here was quite spacious, and the cargo did not appear to be fully loaded.

Half an hour before the train departed, a dozen police officers conducted a thorough inspection of all the carriages. Li Wei and Feng Zi hid on top of the carriage to avoid them before returning inside.

As the train whistle blew and the wheels began to turn slowly, Li Wei could clearly see the shanties of Yuguang receding rapidly through the gaps in the carriage.

Soon, the iconic shanties of Yuguang vanished from sight.

They were traveling across a bridge over an underground river about a kilometer long; this river was specifically used to isolate Yuguang from Radiance.

The current of the underground river was extremely swift, making it impossible for an ordinary person to cross. The only connections between the two sides were two railway bridges, one on the east and one on the west of Sun City, both under extremely strict control.

After crossing the bridge, everything around them became remarkably different.

Unlike the vast, desolate gravel flats on the outskirts of Yuguang, the outskirts of Radiance were filled with lush green grass and gardens.

With the light drizzle still falling, the air here felt much fresher and sweeter.

The smog that inevitably appeared every morning in Yuguang, making it difficult to breathe, was nowhere to be found here.

"When the weather is nice, the people of Radiance love to come here for outings. They call this place the Radiant Garden."

Feng Zi said in a low voice. Despite the beautiful scenery that should have been relaxing, her mood seemed particularly heavy.

Li Wei raised an eyebrow.

"That's a nice name. It sounds much better than something like the Barrier Field District."

After passing the gardens, scattered buildings began to appear. Each of these small houses was beautiful, with white exterior walls and red roofs. Almost every house had a small courtyard in front, with two or three cars parked in each.

All the roads here were paved with concrete and maintained in a very clean state; everything was pleasing to the eye.

As the large stretches of grass and gardens gradually thinned, modern urban architecture began to reveal itself!

Compared to the deathly stillness of Yuguang during the day, Radiance was much livelier.

On the roads, one could see pedestrians strolling leisurely, cars waiting at traffic signals, neatly arranged and clean residential buildings, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, and so on—all the necessary facilities were present.

Near the White Tower that radiated sunlight, there were even several skyscrapers, some of which had billboards playing video advertisements!

This scene made Li Wei feel as if he were in another world.

Separated by only a bridge, Yuguang felt like a slum from the steam age at best.

Radiance, however, seemed to have developed hundreds of years ahead, reaching the level of a modern society.

But looking at those magnificent, beautiful buildings and the glamorous people, Li Wei quickly lost interest.

It would still be a while before the train stopped, so he lowered his head, opened the envelope Li Ming had given him, and took out three documents.

They were three human resources companies. Aside from acting as intermediaries in the Radiance District, their biggest source of income was actually the legal trafficking of people from Yuguang.

And those who were trafficked here, of course, were not arranged with any decent jobs.

The vast majority were divided by gender, with only two destinations.

The women were sold to the red-light districts, while the men were sold into the Radiance District to work in black-market factories involved in shady businesses.

This was a highly profitable business because the human attrition rate in both places was extremely high, allowing the three companies to maintain a long-term business rather than a one-off deal.

This thick stack of documents alone revealed to Li Wei how many corpses, filled with blood and tears, were buried beneath the glamorous exterior of Radiance.

Li Wei put away the documents and looked up toward the center of the city, at the White Tower, and that ray of sunlight that even the lowest laborers, prostitutes, and beggars took pride in!

It was a beautiful city, far more beautiful than Yuguang.

But he had come to collect a debt!